AzerTag, Azerbaijan
25 Oct. 2004
AZERBAIJAN ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO COOPERATION WITH EU
[October 25, 2004, 23:54:41]
Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met on 25 October
with a delegation led by President of the Project on Transitional
Democracies Bruce Jackson. The Minister expressed confidence in success
of the visit and provided the guests with detailed information on
priority directions of the Azerbaijan foreign policy.
He described the successful cooperation of Azerbaijan with such
international organizations as European Union, Council of Europe, NATO
including the country’s participation in the EU’s “new neighborhood”
program as a graphic evidence of integration into the European
structures.
Minister Mammadyarov also dwelt on the large-scale energy projects
implemented in the country He noted that Azerbaijan’s oil would be
delivered through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export pipeline to
the European markets, that would lead to further expanding of the
country’s cooperation with European countries in energy sector.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh,
the Minister drew the delegation members’ attention to illegal
activities carried out lately in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan, pointing in particular to illegal settling of ethnic
Armenians on those areas. The international community should express
its resolute stance on the issue, he said.
The parties also spoke of democratic reforms implemented in Azerbaijan
and discussed a number of other issues of mutual interest.

Lukashenka & Co.
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
25 Oct. 2004
Lukashenka is one of a kind. For years, that has perhaps been a
comforting thought for many. Comforting but also wrong, as the past
week has helped to make clear. Like a greyhound at a starter’s gun,
Pavel Borodin, a senior figure in a bilateral organization that seeks
to unify Russia and Belarus, said, “A third, a fourth, a fifth term
[for Russian President Vladimir Putin] is completely possible,” adding
for good measure, “The kind of power held by Putin and Lukashenka is
God-given.” And in Armenia, the governing parties felt the need to say
that President Robert Kocharian will not be doing a Lukashenka and
changing the constitution to serve a third term.
Of course, a few statements might change nothing, and Putin’s press
officer said that Borodin’s statement had “nothing in common with
reality.” But it would be foolish to dismiss this all as mere
speculative froth. Someone has thrown into play a ball that should
simply not be in play. If a constitution says a president can stand for
only two terms, there should not even be talk of a third term. But that
ball is now in play, and suddenly the rules of the game are in doubt.
And, increasingly, it seems that Putin and Kocharian do share the same
goal: a third term.
That highlights the main reason why such statements should not be
dismissed: they have all too much in common with reality. Borodin has
merely revived a topic that was the subject of much debate even before
Putin won a second term in April. In the Russian republics, the
occasional president, such as Bashkortostan’s Murtaza Rakhimov, has
sought an unconstitutional third term. Somehow, they found Russia’s
courts happy to oblige. Now, having stripped Russians of the right to
vote for governors and republican presidents, it seems perfectly
natural for the energetic 52-year-old Putin to take the next step and
extend his rule.
As for Kocharian, the writing is already on the wall. We have been
pointing at the wall for some time, warning last year, for example, of
the risk of Caesarism and, this year, of dictatorial tendencies.
Armenia finds itself torn between Russia and the West. On the
geopolitical front, that seems an unequal battle: Russia patrols
Armenia’s borders and owns much of its economy. Armenia’s battle
between Putin-style “managed democracy” and Western-style democracy
seems equally uneven.
A SCHOOL FOR AUTHORITARIANISM
Lukashenka was never really one of a kind. He always company.
Traditionally, Lukashenka has been bracketed with Central Asia’s
leaders. But seeing as a Central Asian who’d lost his compass
mistakenly helped make him seem comfortingly unusual and isolated.
There was even a time in the 1990s when, for all his obvious
dictatorial inclinations, Lukashenka could have been looked at as a
junior pupil in a school for would-be lifetime presidents. As well as
the Central Asians, there were Balkan leaders, men such as Albania’s
Sali Berisha, Bulgaria’s Zhelyu Zhelev, and Yugoslavia’s Slobodan
Milosevic, presidents who all contemplated changing the constitutions
to get themselves a third term in office. (Alija Izetbegovic, the late
Bosniak leader, could even be added to the list: he carried the title
“president of the presidency” throughout the war even though the
constitution said he could hold the title for at most two years.)
Indeed, the longevity of presidencies could be treated as a gauge of
how far a country has traveled on its road away from communism. Based
on this yardstick, a map in the late 1990s would have shown the Balkans
and Central Asia barely on the road yet and Belarus going backward
after Lukashenka’s emergence. Russia and Azerbaijan would have had
question marks over them, mainly because of the age and, increasingly,
the debility or senility (or both) of Russia’s Boris Yeltsin and
Azerbaijan’s Heidar Aliev. There would also have been question marks
over Georgia, though Eduard Shevardnadze could be given the benefit of
the doubt because Georgia’s political system was all too clearly deeply
fractious.
Now the same map would show that the Balkans have shot ahead but that
Belarus and Azerbaijan have joined Central Asia, with huge question
marks hanging over Armenia and Russia. Only Ukraine and Moldova seem to
be difficult pupils in the former Soviet Union’s school of
authoritarianism, another reason why Ukraine’s elections in a week’s
time and Moldova’s in four months’ time are so important.
In short, by this map, the transitions process is in retreat in the
former Soviet Union. A depressing thought after 12 years.
LIBERTY’S CALL
So what happened to the “transformational power of liberty,” as
President Bush would put it?
In Belarus in the 1990s, Lukashenka was perhaps a man for his time. He
achieved what neither Yeltsin nor Ukraine’s presidents achieved, which
was to lessen some of the pain of transition and to provide some
continuity. For years, then, he could claim to be a legitimate ruler,
if not a democratic ruler. Now, even his legitimacy is questionable
(independent opinion polls show his popularity is well below 50
percent), but it is too late: he already has power enough to do as he
wishes. The same process is perhaps underway in Russia: a strong leader
retains legitimacy for long enough to be able to assume overweening
powers.
Apologists for Central Asia’s leaders used to argue, and still do
sometimes, that they meet two of the basic requirements for democracy
laid out by political scientists–legitimacy and good governance. That
claim to intellectual legitimacy was always thin and in any case it
becomes thinner by the year. (Apologists for Armenia’s Kocharian can
surely produce no such arguments: he simply seems to like power too
much.)
But in one palpable and important way the Central Asians have enjoyed
legitimacy. Unfortunately, it is diplomatic legitimacy.
Just how dismal Western diplomacy can be was shown in the past two
weeks, when it emerged the British government had withdrawn its
outspoken ambassador in Tashkent, Craig Murray. The latest addition to
his list of diplomatically controversial statements was that “we [the
British government] are selling our souls for dross” when it uses
evidence extracted from suspected terrorists tortured by the Uzbek
authorities. His argument about “dross” seems barely contestable: faced
with Uzbek torturers (and, as some have experienced, the possibility of
being boiled alive), most of us would say whatever was asked of us.
Fear, it seems, puts principles to one side. But principles weren’t
much in evidence even before 9/11. That isn’t to say that they haven’t
been there. Perhaps those principles were articulated in quiet
diplomatic words out of public earshot. Sometimes there have been token
gestures and protests. But, after 12 years and with the situation
worsening, something new is needed.
There needs, for starters, to be the courage of conviction about the
virtues of democracy. Kyrgyzstan’s Askar Akaev recently accepted one
fundamental argument by giving Kyrgyz villagers unprecedented electoral
powers. Shame, of course, that Akaev still retains such huge powers in
other levels of government (and may, true to Central Asian type, extend
his reign), but the move is a powerful victory for the argument about
democracy’s economic virtues. Kyrgyzstan’s government has failed to
help the poor much; Akaev appears to have calculated that if he gives
the poor some power they can help themselves.
Clearly, then, in this past decade the “transformational power of
liberty” needed some better helping hands. What that helping hand
should do now is a tough call. But understanding the success of people
like Lukashenka would help. Challenging states on some long-standing
problems might help (just as we have argued that Russia needs to be
challenged about its role in the South Caucasus and Transdniester).
Saying a few blunt things while searching for some form of engagement,
as West Germany did in its Ostpolitik, would surely be better than
sacking ambassadors. Underpinning all of that has to be a basic
recognition of one thing: in many countries transition is going in the
wrong direction.
Perhaps one way we will know democracy has really left its hallmark on
the region’s political system is when half a dozen former leaders from
the region take to the lecture circuit, happily find a life outside
domestic politics, or simply enjoy some quiet twilight years. By this
measure, the Balkans and even Central Europe have some way to go.
Montenegro’s Milo Djukanovic, Slovenia’s Janez Drnovsek, and
Yugoslavia’s Slobodan Milosevic have all hopped from one top post to
another to remain in political life. Czech President Vaclav Klaus
extended his overextended political life last year thanks to a
controversial vote in parliament. Lithuania’s Rolandas Paksas jumped
from multiple premierships to the presidency, finally to be impeached
after allegations of over-coziness with the Russian underworld.
So is there a shining example in what we could perhaps dub the
Presidential Index of Transition? There is perhaps one. He appeared on
the front page of the **New York Times** on 24 October dedicating
himself to helping the environment and promoting a solution in
Chechnya. He has been doing the lecture circuit for years. He has shown
an admirable, almost incredible ability to transform himself. He has
even appeared in a McDonald’s advert.
His name is Mikhail Gorbachev. The father of transition, it seems,
still knows how to lead the way.

The Gazette (Montreal)
October 25, 2004 Monday
Final Edition
Armenian fiddler stands out in growing crowd: Ladies’ Morning Musical
Club guest has presence, excellent ear, freedom from technical
encumbrances
ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, The Gazette
Young fiddlers are not exactly in short supply these days: a few more
and we will have too many. It is safe to say, however, that there will
always be demand for players of the calibre of Sergey Khachatryan, who
played yesterday for the Ladies’ Morning Musical Club.
Short, dark and handsome, this 19-year-old Armenian conveyed serious
intent with his very presence on the stage of Pollack Hall. Another
harbinger of his merit was the balanced, consequential program.
It was the playing, of course, that settled the matter. Bach’s Solo
Sonata in A Minor – especially the Fuga movement – established his
excellent ear and total freedom from technical encumbrances. With a
strong, ardent tone, Khachatryan could adopt the slow tempo he
preferred in the Andante. This was followed by a finale in which the
sudden, animating shifts of loud and soft were perfectly calibrated.
Next came Brahms’s Sonata Op. 108, also done in a deep, songful style.
Interesting how gifted musicians who are not coached in sounding
“modern” instinctively remind of us of great players of the past.
Khachatryan’s use of vibrato was pronounced, but not indiscriminate, as
he demonstrated in Mozart’s Sonata in E Minor by easing up a little on
the throttle.
In both of these probing works the young man was supported by his
sister Lusine with piano playing of spot-on coordination and great
expressive assurance.They collaborated to make a success of Arno
Babadjanian’s Violin Sonata of 1959, a 25-minute score of alternating
thunderstorm and moonlight. One might invoke Prokofiev as a very
distant musical relative of this late composer, but his style is quite
individual. Performed as splendidly as this, the Violin Sonata belongs
in the international repertoire.
There were two encores, Sarasate’s Playera (wonderfully dark and
simple) and Ravel’s Tzigane. I contrived to miss the latter showpiece
in my enthusiasm reach my computer and write the good news.

First among equals in the horrors of political violence
by Michael Sheridan
Sunday Times (London)
October 24, 2004, Sunday
POL POT The History of a Nightmare. By Philip Short. J Murray £25 pp671
In the hierarchy of mass murderers of the last century, the Cambodian
dictator Pol Pot remains unchallenged for the sheer extremism of
his theory and the implacable way it was put into practice. Stalin,
Hitler and Mao killed many more victims, but they had wider canvases to
paint with blood. The Cambodian experiment traumatised just one small
country and may have claimed “only” 1.5m lives. Yet it astonished
even Mao by its radicalism and proved that the Marxist utopia was a
vision doomed to failure no matter how ruthless its social engineers.
So, if Pol Pot belongs, strictly speaking, in the second rank of
butchers, alongside Saddam Hussein, perhaps, or the Young Turks who
orchestrated the Armenian pogroms, he still ranks first among equals
in the theory and practice of political violence.
Philip Short’s book sets out to show that rage and murder were
intrinsic to the Cambodian revolution. Their roots lay deep in the
Khmer psyche of absolute submission to absolute rulers and a blind
insistence on carrying theories through to the end. He reckons that Pol
Pot was not a classic communist functionary but more like one of the
ancient despots of Angkor Wat, in whose grandeur the revolutionaries
gloried.
Like the author’s biography of Mao, this is in essence a political,
not a personal history. Pol Pot revealed almost nothing about himself;
indeed, utmost secrecy was his code of practice and few witnesses
survived to testify about his daily life.
We know more about Hitler’s table talk, Stalin’s drinking bouts and
Saddam’s wedding feasts than we do about Pol Pot’s shadowy meetings in
jungle huts and his summits in the salons of Hanoi and Pyongyang. And
there is more documentation available for the Nazi Wannsee conference
of 1942 than there is for the meetings in 1975 at the Khmer Rouge
headquarters in Phnom Penh’s French colonial railway station, at which
the draconian decision to evacuate the cities of Cambodia was taken.
This leaves the biographer with a tough task. Short has dug around
assiduously for fresh material to illuminate the mind of the tyrant. At
the end, though, we are still left groping for answers.
Pol Pot’s youth provides few clues. Like Mao, he came from a prosperous
village family, precisely the sort of suspicious class background
that would suffice for a death sentence later on. Like Stalin, he
was exposed at a young age to the certainty of faith, spending a
year as a novice monk at the Buddhist temple of Wat Bottum Vaddei,
near the gilded royal palaces of Phnom Penh.
It is in Pol Pot’s adolescence that Short finds the most peculiar
anecdote about his subject. Within the palace walls, Pol Pot’s sister,
Roeung, was living as a secondary wife, in practice a concubine, to
the polygamous if elderly King Monivong. The boy would be allowed
to visit his sister in this “hothouse world”, as Short terms it,
because at 15 he was deemed a child. According to Keng Vannsak,
a contemporary of Pol Pot who later became his political mentor in
Paris, the harem women would indulge in sex play with him, stopping
short of intercourse.
There are so few other details known of Pol Pot’s intimate life that
this gem might seem a gift to Freudians.
Short passes briskly onwards, alas, to explore in burdensome detail
the development of Cambodian revolutionary theory in the 1930s. It
was a unique model.
It took its austerity from the Buddha, its extremism from Robespierre
and its leadership doctrine from Stalin. There was to be no compromise,
only violence.
Subterfuge was everything: it was only in 1976, a year after the fall
of Phnom Penh, that Pol Pot emerged in public as the leader, and only
then did the Khmer Rouge reveal itself as a Marxist-Leninist party.
Pol Pot was fortunate in his enemies. The playboy King Sihanouk -who
outlived him and who has just abdicated the throne -ruled a fantasy
realm of brutality and gross corruption that made 1950s Cambodia
ripe for revolution. When the uprising came, Pol Pot’s black-clad
legions faced the military strongman Lon Nol. “As silent as a carp,”
the French called him, while the despairing Americans put their
faith in B-52s to prolong his regime and Lon Nol himself resorted to
sorcerers, spells and a line of magic sand drawn in a circle around
Phnom Penh. The B-52s did not save Cambodia, but became a symbol of
the West’s blundering complicity in its destruction.
Yet Short’s most valuable contribution to the debates that still swirl
around the Cambodian fiasco is to bring clear thinking to the big
questions of blame. He takes issue with William Shawcross, who argued
shortly after the war that the pathological brutality of the Khmer
Rouge followed years of severe trauma under American bombing. Not at
all, says Short. Cruelty was ingrained in the Cambodian independence
fighters of the 1950s, the Issaraks, who devoured the cooked livers of
their victims. And Pol Pot institutionalised the killing of captives
before Kissinger and Nixon made Cambodia a cockpit of the cold war.
Short is brisk about the cynical policy of Vietnam, whose only
redeeming role in the affair was to invade Cambodia and topple Pol Pot
in 1979 after his excesses spilt across the border. He also indicts
the Chinese, who have largely escaped censure for their complicity
with the Khmer Rouge. Mao openly envied Pol Pot’s extremism. The
ultra-radical Gang of Four backed him. Then Deng Xiaoping played
power politics by sustaining him with weapons for a decade in the
jungles along the Thai border.
Pol Pot’s revolution, like Stalin’s, consumed his enemies, then his
comrades and finally his own family. His brother perished on a forced
march in 1975, his first wife, Khieu Ponnary, went mad, while sundry
relatives and in-laws fell to his purges. A few of his surviving
cronies will face an international tribunal next year. It will be
Nuremberg without Hitler, for Pol Pot died, apparently of natural
causes, in 1998. Of the 20th century’s great killers, only Saddam,
it seems, is likely to have his day in court.
Available at the Books First price of £20 plus £2.25 p&p on 0870 165
8585 and www. timesonline.co.uk/booksfirstbuy
–Boundary_(ID_cbFO1YWSJMHxnTJavnxxGw)–

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 25, 2004, Monday
THE SKY OF THE CIS DOES NOT UNITE EVERYONE
Another command-staff exercise of the CIS joint anti-aircraft system
was conducted in Moscow last Tuesday. CIS republics organize such
exercises practically every year. The majority of post-Soviet
republics, which joined the CIS joint anti-aircraft system in 1995,
participate in such exercise regularly. The CIS anti-aircraft system
consists of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. The Central Staff of
the Russian Air Force reports that at present the CIS Joint
anti-aircraft system consists of 31 anti-aircraft missile units, 15 air
squadrons and units of the pursuit aviation, 23 radio-technical units,
three detached electronic warfare units and two scientific and
educational institutions. At first sight, this is a substantial force.
In the meantime, not all these units participate in protecting the sky
of the CIS. For instance, only Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan participated in the
command-staff exercise in October. Ukraine, Georgia and Turkmenistan
did not take part in the exercise. This is a usual thing.
Ukraine usually participates in international anti-aircraft exercises
only on a bilateral basis. It sends its anti-aircraft units to the
Ashuluk firing range (Russia) every year. Georgia does not practically
have anti-aircraft units. Turkmenistan has not been taking part in
military exercises in the CIS for the past ten years.
It should be noted that Uzbekistan has participated in such exercise
for the first time over the past five to seven years. This year the
crews of the Su-27 fighters operated from the Khanabad airbase, where
US warplanes involved in the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan
are deployed. It’s not ruled out that the Pentagon’s radio-technical
services monitored the exercise of the Joint anti-aircraft system. The
interest of the Uzbek Air Force in defending its airspace in
cooperation with CIS republics is natural. As is known, a jetliner
carrying Talibs crossed the border and landed in Tashkent in 1998. At
present Uzbekistan’s policy toward Russia is more loyal. Uzbekistan has
left GUUAM, and cooperates with Russia within the framework of the
Shanghai Organization of Cooperation. This is why its participation in
the recent joint exercise is a natural move.
It should be noted that Russia is in charge of organizational issues
within the framework of the Joint system. Belarus and Kazakhstan, which
have anti-aircraft units and skilled servicemen, assist Russia.
Anti-aircraft units of these republics showed the best results. In
particular, Kazakh fighters landed near Novorossiisk, and Russian
fighters landed in Karaganda and other regions of the CIS. Belarusian
pilots coped with similar tasks. Around ten Russian and Belarusian
airdrome were involved in the exercise. The crews of Belarusian command
posts of operational commands of the Ground Force, operational-tactical
commands of the Air and Anti-Aircraft Force, units of the Air and
Anti-Aircraft Force and the Ground Force were involved in the
maneuvers.
In the meantime, the joint command-staff exercise was conducted under
the command of Russian generals. Lieutenant-General Aitech Bizhev,
deputy secretary of the coordinating committee of the CIS anti-aircraft
force, control the exercise. Colonel-General Boris Cheltsov, Chief of
the Central Staff of the Russian Air Force, participated in the
maneuvers. The staff of the CIS Joint anti-aircraft system stated that
around ten combat tasks linked with protection of the air border of the
CIS were solved during the exercise. In particular, control bodies
polished cooperation during different situations. Units focused on
operation against violators of the air border, assistance to jetliners
in emergency situations and prevention of terrorist acts.
In all over 1,500 servicemen and over 70 warplanes and helicopters
(Su-27, MiG-29, MiG-31, Tu-22M3, Mi-8 and Ka-26) were involved in the
exercise, anti-aircraft units used the S-300, S-125 and S-75 complexes.
The A-50 long-range radio-locating surveillance plane participated in
the maneuvers in the Caucasian region. The A-50 guided fighters to
targets.
Translated by Alexander Dubovoi
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sunday Mirror
October 24, 2004, Sunday
INTERROGATION: DAVID DICKINSON: I FOUND OUT I WAS ADOPTED WHEN I WAS 12′;
THE PERMA-TANNED ANTIQUES EXPERT TALKS ABOUT HIS LOVE OF Y-FRONTS,
DEIRDRE O’BRIEN
You’re a bit of a heart-throb. Do you get lots of pervy letters? David
Dickinson: Not really what I would call pervy. I sometimes get
semi-romantic letters, from ladies of all ages, right up to grannies.
But they’re not dirty, mostly they’re very pleasant. But I do have
young fans who are not romantically interested in me. I do a lot of
appearances at universities, for Freshers’ Balls, where there are 2,000
youngsters having a bloody good time. They’re fantastic.
Why do students love you so much? DD: I really don’t know. I have no
idea what they see in me, but they all say, Hey, it’s the Duke’ and I
love you, David’. I think I’ve been lucky. My daytime show was on TV
when they fell out of bed, so they’ve taken me to be their own. A lot
of it could be that I remember what it’s like to feel like an
18-year-old, and I think they must suss that out on some level.
Why did they give you the nickname The Duke’? DD: It certainly wasn’t
after John Wayne, that’s for sure. I think it’s because I was quite
smartly dressed. Someone said, Oh, he’s like the Duke’ and it spread
like a virus on the internet.
You do like your smart suits. Will we ever catch you in jeans and a
T-shirt? DD: Well, not on the telly. I’ve always loved suits. When I
was young, we wore jeans, white T-shirts, leather jackets and boots
because our idols were James Dean and Marlon Brando. Then we started
getting into art films like La Dolce Vita and saw all these men in silk
ties and slip-on shoes. It was a fantastic change from the dour
post-war fashion we grew up with.
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a suit? DD: I sometimes go
and buy a suit from Versace which might be a couple of thousand quid,
but normally my tailor does most of my things. I’m fussy about my
shoes, but that comes from growing up in a working-class home and
having my granny saying, Never go out with down-at-heel shoes.’ I
always make sure I have polished shoes and clean fingernails.
When did you first realise you were famous? DD: I’ve been doing telly
for about five years, but it wasn’t until I started Bargain Hunt that
it all really kicked in. People shout cheap as chips’ at me on the
street in England, but I was on holiday in Mexico, in this really
remote place with cactus weeds growing down the main streets, and I
heard someone yell, You won’t find any bargains down here!’
Why do you say cheap as chips’ all the time? DD: I picked it up in
Australia. My wife Lorne was a dancer, and she used to tour in theatres
there. I remember hearing an Australian guy saying it, and I adopted
it. I’ve registered it now. That and Bobby Dazzler’ are my personal
catchphrases.
Boxers or Y-fronts? DD: Lorne buys my underwear, but I’m a fan of
boxer-type shorts. When I was doing Strictly Come Dancing, the dresser
would bring these thong things that were cut away so they wouldn’t show
under the Latin American trousers, but they were a bit tight and
uncomfortable for me. I used to wear Y-fronts, but they seem very
old-fashioned now.
A lot has been made of your tan, but looking at you in the daylight,
you’re not that orange. DD: No, that tends to be exaggerated. Terry
Wogan says I’ve been dipped in tea and Jonathan Ross calls me The
Orange Man’. The impression show Dead Ringers calls me the love child
of Peter Stringfellow and a mahogany hat stand. But I’m naturally
olive-skinned. I don’t go on sun beds, and I’ve never used a spray tan.
I just go on a lot of holidays. I work hard, so when I have time off, I
treat myself and my wife to a wonderful hotel.
How long have you been married? DD: Thirty-four years. I’m very lucky.
I’ve got a great woman and I know that. We’re very happy with each
other. She was a dancer and I was her manager for 15 years, so we’re
used to being together all the time. When we go away, we don’t look to
meet anyone else. We just want sun, sea, sand and a nice bottle of
wine. Some people go away to meet people. We try to avoid them – you
see them circling you, then they move in. It’s scary.
If you were single, which celebrity would you like to go on a date
with? DD: Ooh, quite a few! Just because you’re married it doesn’t stop
you looking. Sophia Loren would be an all-time beauty. She’s still a
handsome woman, but 25 years ago she was a knock-out. I like Catherine
Deneuve too, and Juliette Binoche is wonderful.
Is it true you’re Armenian? DD: Yes, hence my colouring. My mother was
half-Armenian and half-French, and my father was English. I feel very
connected to the Armenian side – they have a great tradition of
trading, and I was always a wheeler-dealer. I was a swapper of marbles
as a child. It shows you how strong genetics are, because I was adopted
and brought up by an English family. I only found out I was adopted
when I was 12.
What was the worst time of your life? DD: When I went to prison for
fraud when I was 19. I got three years, and at that age having your
freedom taken away is appalling. And being in that hardened environment
was tough. But I deserved it. And it worked – I thought, I don’t like
this and I don’t want any more of this,’ so I made sure I never did
anything to put me in that position again.
How did you become an antiques dealer? DD: I always had an interest,
and I turned it into a career just by hard work and flair. People in
antiques say you can’t do it without a degree, but that’s rubbish. A
lot of people who speak terribly just so’ were ratty-arsed kids to
start with. There’s a lot of bulls**t in antiques.
You look pretty good for 63. DD: I work most days so my secret is early
nights. When I’m away with Bargain Hunt, I have dinner at 7pm, then I’m
tucked up in bed by 8.30pm. When I’m not, my wife and I will go to
dinner, or we have friends round – we kick our shoes off and have a
nice night. The way I see it, you’re paid to do a job and you want to
come in bright and sparky, not all baggy- eyed.
Do you work out? DD: Not at all. But I’ve just given up smoking after
40-odd years, and I do want to lose weight. I know I’m going to have to
do more physical activity.
Did you enjoy doing Strictly Come Dancing? DD: I did, but it was bloody
exhausting. The rehearsals alone nearly killed me. I’m not a quitter,
but after three weeks I was glad to come out. I was also offered Hell’s
Kitchen, but thank God I didn’t do it. Not for the abuse, just the
hours. I don’t think I’d take the abuse from Gordon, either. You’d have
to have a little go at Gordon, wouldn’t you?
>>From next month, David can be seen in the new TV ad campaign for Tetley
Tea. For more on Tetley see
DAVID’S REALITY CHECK
How much does a packet of 80 Tetley tea bags cost?
I don’t know. I’ve never done the shopping in my life. My wife does it.
pounds 3.50? (Wrong, it’s a bargain pounds 1.37)
How much is an average-sized portion of fish and chips?
It’s gone up quite a lot, I suspect. I’m going to say pounds 3.
(Correct)
When was the last time you used public transport?
I don’t use it – I never have, really. I’ve always driven, so I haven’t
really been one for buses.
Who is the Home Secretary?
Gordon Brown, no wait – the Home Secretary is David Blunkett. (Correct)

PM SPEAKS OUT ON RECENT EU REPORT AS HE ATTENDS OECD MEET
IPR Strategic Business Information Database
October 25, 2004
According to Milliyet, speaking at a press conference at an
Organization of the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting
in Paris, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey had
adopted all the values represented by the European Union, adding that
the Turkish nation favored these values being established. Erdogan
stressed that the decision on starting Ankara’ds EU talks at its
December summit would be a turning point not only for Turkish-EU
relations but also for the new world order. The premier further
stressed that he hoped Ankara’ds accession talks would begin as soon as
possible. Asked about the so- called Armenian genocide, Erdogan said
that Turkey was comfortable with the issue, adding that it should be
evaluated by historians and scholars. Also touching on the Cyprus
issue, Erdogan lamented the Turkish Cypriots’d continued exclusion from
the EU despite their approval of the UN Cyprus plan, while the Greek
Cypriots who rejected the plan had joined the Union.

ARKA News Agency
25 Oct. 2004
RA President meets with special representative of EU in South Caucasus
EU policy regarding “New Neighbors” will positively affect Karabakh
settlement
American International Union on Healthcare completes its mission in
Armenia
Self-regulation of Mass Media in the Context of Freedom of Opinion
Expression seminar takes place in Nagorno Karabakh
Independent and free Nagorno Karabakh is the result of joint efforts of
all Armenians
***********************************************************************
RA PRESIDENT MEETS WITH SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF EU IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharian met today
with Special Representative of EU in South Caucasus, Ambassador Heikki
Talvite. According to the Press Service Department of Ra President, the
sides discussed the policy of the European Union regarding the
member-countries of Wider Europe/New Neighbors program. According to
Kocharian, Armenia is ready to cooperate with EU in frames of the
mentioned program; however it is necessary to clarify the substance of
the “new neighborhood”, as well as actions expected on the part of
member-countries. The sides also discussed issues of Karabakh conflict
settlement, process of honoring the commitments to the EC, reforms of
Election Code of Armenia.
Talvite arrived in Armenia from Baku and will leave for Georgia
tomorrow. L.V.-0–
***********************************************************************
EU POLICY REGARDING “NEW NEIGHBORS” WILL POSITIVELY AFFECT KARABAKH
SETTLEMENT
YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. EU policy regarding “New Neighbors” will
positively affect Karabakh settlement, RA MFA told ARKA that it was
noted that RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian and EU Special
Representative to South Caucasus Heikke Talvitie at the meeting in
Yerevan. The parties discussed report of Armenia in the frames of EU
program and development of plan of activities. Oskanian represented
position of Armenia in the issue of Turkish entry in EU. L.D. –0–
***********************************************************************
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNION ON HEALTHCARE COMPLETES ITS MISSION IN
ARMENIA
YEREVAN, October 25. /ARKA/. American International Union on Healthcare
completes its mission in Armenia, the press release provided to ARKA by
USAID and AIHA says. In accordance to that the meeting of AIHA will
take place on Oct 26-27 in Yerevan.
Note since 1992 ÀIHA (American International Health Alliance) provided
financial support to more than 80 partner programs in the field of
healthcare in SUA, CIS states and Europe. Since 2001 AIHA realized in
Armenia 5 programs. L.D. –0–
***********************************************************************
SELF-REGULATION OF MASS MEDIA IN THE CONTEXT OF FREEDOM OF OPINION
EXPRESSION SEMINAR TAKES PLACE IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
STEPANAKERT, October 25. /ARKA/. Self-regulation of Mass Media in the
Context of Freedom of Opinion Expression seminar took place in Nagorno
Karabakh, organized by the press club of Stepanakert in frames of
Strengthening of Democracy in South Caucasus through freedom of Speech
project. The project is implemented by Article 19 international
organization with the financial assistance of Open Society Institute.
According to ARKA own journalist in Stepanakert the participants of the
seminar also discussed issues of mass media self-regulation, basic
norms of Ethics Code of journalists of Karabakh, freedom of information
and State secret, copyright and plagiarism, problems of journalist
solidarity and press accountability.
A council was elected from the representatives of various state and
independent mass media, which will develop and present for discussion
the Ethics Code of a Karabakh journalist in the near future. L.V. -0–
***********************************************************************
INDEPENDENT AND FREE NAGORNO KARABAKH IS THE RESULT OF JOINT EFFORTS OF
ALL ARMENIANS
STEPANAKERT, October 25. /ARKA/. Independent and free Nagorno Karabakh
is the result of joint efforts of Armenians of Karabakh, Armenia and
Diaspora. According to the Press Service department of NKR, this was
stated by Ashot Ghulyan, the NKR Foreign Minister at the reception in
Armenian Embassy in Washington. According to him, the authorities of
Karabakh are ready to discuss all the issues connected with conflict
settlement and regional cooperation.
Ashot Ghulyan, NKR Foreign Minister arrived with a visit in the United
States of America on October 19-24. The Minister conducted meetings in
US Congress, with collaborators of Hai Dat office of Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA), Ross Vartyan, the Executive Director of
Armenian Assembly of America (AAA), Harold Saunders, Director of
International Affairs at Kettering Foundation. Ghulyan also spoke in
the Center for National and International Studies in Washington. -0–
***********************************************************************
–Boundary_(ID_i+PQoFEUkuCmzt3BiiASdQ)–

Wales recognizes “Armenian genocide” of 1915 – Azeri agency
Assa-Irada
25 Oct 04
Baku, 25 October: The Cardiff County Council in Wales announced last
week that it recognized the so-called “Armenian genocide” [of 1915
in Ottoman Turkey]. Rodney Berman, member of the council and of
the Armenia-Wales friendship society, who reported this, said that a
monument would be erected in the city to the genocide victims in 2005.
Berman said that in the past three years the Armenia-Wales friendship
society had directed all its efforts to obtain the recognition of
the “Armenian genocide”. Members of the society assess this step
as a preliminary stage in the recognition of the so-called genocide
by Britain.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Two CIS-based bodies agree to cooperate on security
Interfax-AVN military news agency web site
25 Oct 04
Moscow, 25 October: The Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) and the Secretariat of the Eurasian Economic
Community integration committee signed a cooperation protocol in
Moscow on Monday [25 October].
The document was signed by CSTO Secretary-General Nikolay Bordyuzha
and Eurasian Economic Community Secretary-General Grigoriy Rapota.
“At the present time CSTO and Eurasian Economic Community member states
face a threat to security, including economic security. Thus, we have
agreed to exchange information and documents of common interest in
this sphere on a regular basis, provide mutual expert assistance,
and if necessary, establish joint working groups for working out
proposals on enforcing key issues pertaining to collective security
within the framework of both organizations,” Bordyuzha said.
Rapota noted that the agreement was proof that the CSTO and Eurasian
Economic Community member states were integrating to secure mutual
interests in the sphere of security.
The CSTO comprises the following six states: Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The Eurasian Economic
Community includes the following five states: Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, while Armenia is acting as an
observer.