Agence France Presse — English
September 22, 2004 Wednesday 2:28 AM GMT
Europe rendezvous: Art without borders for cultural impresario
STRASBOURG
As Europe forges ever tighter bonds, Dimitri Konstantinidis, whose
vocation makes him the embodiment of a European art without borders,
seems to have been constantly one step ahead.
“I am Greek, and also French from Alsace, but I feel equally at home
in Prague or anywhere else,” says the cultural impresario, and points
— almost accidentally — to his background to prove it.
Born at Kavala, on the Aegean Sea’s northern shore, with Turkey to
the east and the Balkan patchwork of nations to the north, he has
always seen borders as something you cross.
What then could be more natural for this former student of art
history than to settle in the border city of Strasbourg, itself a
cultural crossroads, and create Apollonia, the association of
European contemporary art?
“The urge to travel, to see what’s happening in the next field, came
to me young,” he said. “The chance to move on came when I was a
student, and I took it.”
The Soviet Union seemed to beckon — he was developing an interest in
Byzantine art — but in 1979, aged 19, he opted finally for eastern
France, partly on the recommendation of a Greek friend who was
already living there.
There, working for a regional cultural association while preparing a
doctorate on “the spatial concept in fifth and sixth century icons”,
he found himself rubbing shoulders “with lots of immigrants from
Poland, Italy and Portugal.”
>From a modest background, he could see “nothing cosmopolitan” about
his origins — but then recalled that his family hailed from Trabzon,
the eastern Turkish port city formerly called Trebizonde, “where
Greeks, Turks and Armenians used to live happily together” until
nationalist pressures led to the population exchanges of the 1920s.
Called upon to organise exhibitions of contemporary art, it was to
eastern Europe that he turned for inspiration, ingoring the Berlin
Wall which at that time still divided Europe into antagonist blocs.
Following a two-year break to do his military service in Greece —
“so as not to cut myself off from my country” — he was selected to
head Alsace’s Regional Contemporary Art Fund (FRAC).
Created in 1983, the body was set up to collect works of contemporary
art, largely for educational purposes.
“I realised that Alsace, and Strasbourg, because of their
geographical situation and the presence of the European institutions,
had a particular role to play. I thought I had to do something,” he
said.
This “something” took the form of an “inventory of contemporary
culture of the Eastern European states,” a project funded by the
Council of Europe (one of several European bodies located in
Strasbourg) and featuring 250 artists from 17 countries in a series
of exhibitions.
Not all local deputies were enamoured of Konstantinidis’ efforts to
give the FRAC a “European dimension”, and in 1989 he left to create
his own association, Apollonia, as a “platform for European artistic
exchanges” with a strong focus on central and eastern Europe, the
Balkans and the southern Caucasus.
Since then Konstantinidis has been crossing borders to his heart’s
content, travelling from one country to another to seek out artists
whose works can be exhibited in Strasbourg and elsewhere.
Apollonia’s current show is representative, a collection of
contemporary Polish work themed around “the quest for identity” and
scheduled to travel on to Greece and Poland.
To facilitate cross-border initiatives of this kind, Konstantinidis
is pushing for the creation of a common status for associations that
would harmonise their administrative situation throughout the EU and
“promote cultural pluralism in Europe.”

THE KOREA HERALD
September 22, 2004, Wednesday
‘Aida’ gets minimalist treatment
By Warren Lee
An upcoming production of “Aida” promises a fresh, new look for the
familiar operatic tale of love and war set in ancient Egypt.
The National Opera of Korea will present the Verdi classic at the
Seoul Arts Center next month in a production led by Dieter Kaegi,
with set and costume design by Bruno Schwengl.
Though Kaegi’s production is admittedly far from cutting-edge, it
does provide Korean audiences a glimpse of what a tried-and-true
classic would look like if it were to adopt a more progressive
approach to opera staging.
“In order for opera to have a future and bring in a new generation of
audiences, you can’t repeat the same thing over and over again,” said
Kaegi, who is artistic director of Opera Ireland in Dublin. “You need
a fresh visual concept, not just reproductions. Reproductions are
boring and they don’t work.”
Korean opera companies usually present only about two dozen or so of
the best known operas in the repertory, mostly by Verdi, Puccini,
Donizetti and other big-name Italian composers. And in staging these
operas, the elements that make up a production – such as set design,
direction, and costumes – usually come together to produce the most
realistic, and perhaps too literal, a depiction of the time and
setting in which the stories take place.
Productions of “Aida,” for example, tend toward recreating ancient
Egypt with sets that feature life-sized pyramids and a veritable army
of jewel-clad extras. But such lavish settings often detract from the
music and the story at hand, which paints the tragic struggle of a
slave woman torn between her love for a man and her native country.
“I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what this opera is
about,” Kaegi says. “‘Aida’ is not about outdoor amphitheaters and
the Triumphal March scene,” he said, alluding to an “Aida” staged
last year at Jamsil Olympic Stadium which featured a 100-meter stage
and a procession of live elephants and camels that circled the
audience on the running track. “The plot gets lost in large
productions. If it’s too sumptuous, the story gets lost.”
He added: “Of course, ‘Aida’ has to be very visually strong, with
lots of striking images.”
Schwengl’s set design leaves much more to the imagination. Aside from
a lone centerpiece that changes with each scene, the stage remains
mostly empty and spacious, flanked by a large pyramid split in half.
In the third act, which takes place along the moonlit banks of the
Nile River, an islet is represented by the half-exposed face of a
large, Sphinx-like statue emerging above the water line, while a
large, white disc hovers only several meters off the ground in the
background.
The uncluttered set design, Kaegi explained, allows the audience to
focus more attention to the intimate, complex dynamics that color the
love between Aida and Radames. “We try to make the conflicts between
the characters more evident.”
While this version of “Aida” is not a radical departure from others,
it will nonetheless serve as a way for local audiences to dip their
toes into more unorthodox stagings of popular works. Delivering
something new and fresh is vital for the future artistic and
financial well-being of opera, said the National Opera’s artistic
director, Jung Eun-suk.
“I think we are past the point where we have to present ‘La
Traviata,’ ‘La Boheme,’ or ‘Aida’ in historical settings. The
audience can tell what the whole production is going to be like with
just one glimpse at the set, and I find that troublesome,” she said.
“Europe has always experimented with their operas, even if they are
classics. I think this is a way to make something familiar more
modern to Korean opera goers.”
“Aida’s” cast will include Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, American
Adina Aaron, and Korean Lee Hwa-young who will alternate in the title
role with tenors Gegam Grigorian, Kim Nam-doo, and Ha Suk-bae singing
the part of Radames.
Italian conductor Riccardo Frizza will lead the Korean Symphony
Orchestra, the National Opera Chorus of Korea, and Euijeongbu City
Choir.
“Aida” will run Oct. 7-11 at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House,
located near the Nambu Bus Terminal Station, Subway Line No. 3, Exit
5. Weekday performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend performances start
at 4 p.m. Tickets start at 30,000 won and can be purchased at
1588-7890. For more information, call (02) 586-5282 or visit

Northern District Times (Australia)
September 22, 2004 Wednesday
No animosity insists group
A RYDE-based Armenian group has defended its relationship with
another Armenian group in the area.
The Northern District Times reported last month that the Armenian
Community Association of Australia (ACAA) was lobbying Ryde Council
to keep using a derelict clubhouse at Burrow Park.
Following the article, ACAA vice president Toros Boyadjian denied
claims Ryde Council offered his group an option to share the scout
hall at Santa Rosa Park, which is occupied by another Armenian group.
Mr Boyadjian said there were differences in dialect between the
parties but insisted there were no religious differences dividing
them.
Meanwhile, council has resolved to seek expressions of interest in
restoring the heritage building at a cost of $300,000.
“It’s expensive, I would be surprised if it turned out to be a viable
proposition,” Ryde Mayor Terry Perram said.
“It’s not a building that lends itself (to restoration).”
Cr Perram said the building would only have limited day use.
Mr Boyadjian said the ACAA would meet tonight (Wednesday) to discuss
whether it would pursue the option of restoring Burrow Park
clubhouse.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
September 22, 2004 Wednesday 11:44 AM GMT
Armenia prepared to send Iraq aid not troops: FM
YEREVAN
Armenia will not send troops to Iraq but is prepared to take part in
the country’s reconstruction, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian said
Wednesday.
“Armenia is not prepared to have a military presence in any foreign
country, but we have always said we would cooperate in the
reconstruction of Iraq,” Oskanian told a press conference.
The south Caucasus republic could send doctors, drivers and engineers
to Iraq, he said.
Earlier this month Yerevan agreed with Poland to send 50
non-combatant troops to Iraq to work with the Polish military
contingent there.
Parliamentary approval is required for the accord to come into
effect.
Armenian political circles expressed disquiet at the commitment,
fearing that the ethnic Armenian diaspora in Iraq, numbering around
20,000 people, could be targeted by Iraqi insurgents.
Officials here said around 100 Armenian families in Iraq have sought
temporary asylum in Armenia following last month’s wave of bomb
attacks on churches in Baghdad and Mosul, in northern Iraq.

Associated Press Worldstream
September 22, 2004 Wednesday 1:26 PM Eastern Time
Azerbaijan’s appeals court freed jailed Nagorno-Karabakh activists
BAKU, Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan’s appeals court freed six Nagorno-Karabakh activists
Wednesday, after reducing their sentences for public disorder in
protesting at a NATO forum earlier this year.
The activists, originally sentenced to 3-5 years in prison, received
suspended sentences on the charges, which also included hooliganism
and resisting officers.
All were members of the Organization of Karabakh Freedom, which calls
for the ethnic-Armenian enclave to be returned to Azerbaijan.
Armenian-backed forces won control of Nagorno-Karabakh after a
1988-94 war. More than 30,000 people were killed and a million driven
from their homes during the conflict.
Despite a 1994 cease-fire, the two countries continue to face off
across a heavily fortified no man’s land, and no final settlement has
been reached.
In June, the six activists, including the organization’s leader Akif
Nagi, pushed through police cordons, broke glass doors and stormed
into a conference hall, where a NATO forum was being held. They were
protesting the involvement of two Armenian officers in the event.
This month, Azerbaijani authorities refused to issue Armenian
officers visas to attend NATO’s “Cooperative Best Effort-2004”
exercises due to be held in Baku, prompting the military alliance to
cancel the event.

ANSA Notiziario Generale in Italiano
September 21, 2004
UE-TURCHIA: PAGLIARINI, ANKARA AMMETTA GENOCIDIO ARMENI
ROMA
(ANSA) – ROMA, 21 SET – Giancarlo Pagliarini, della Lega,
sostiene che la Turchia non puo’ entrare nella Ue se Ankara non
ammette le responsabilita’ storiche nel genocidio degli armeni.

“Anche se la Turchia riformasse il suo codice penale non
potrebbe comunque far parte dell’Europa – afferma Pagliarini –
se prima non ammette il genocidio del popolo armeno che l’impero
Ottomano ha compiuto nel 1915”. Pagliarini invita la
Commissione europea lasciar perdere “le furberie, il codice
penale, i requisiti” e domanda come reagirebbe “se la
Germania, faccio un esempio, a un certo punto dicesse: ‘ma cosa
vogliono gli ebrei? Noi non gli abbiamo fatto nulla'”. “Credo
che un’affermazione del genere sconvolgerebbe, giustamente, le
coscienze eppure e’ esattamente quello che la Turchia afferma
nei confronti del popolo armeno che ha massacrato”.

Pagliarini afferma poi che su questo genocidio c’e stato
solo silenzio: “al silenzio degli assassini si e’ aggiunto
quello degli stati, delle vittime, della diplomazia e della
coscienza degli uomini. E anche i pochi armeni che sono riusciti
a fuggire al massacro hanno scelto il silenzio – afferma
Pagliarini – per ricominciare a vivere”.

Per questo, “noi e i nostri colleghi, membri dei parlamenti
degli altri ventiquattro paesi che fanno parte dell’Unione
europea, abbiamo il dovere di interrompere questo silenzio delle
coscienze e di dare il nostro contributo affinche – conclude
Pagliarini – tutti i paesi membri dell’Unione europea proclamino
con forza e ricordino questa verita’ storica”.(ANSA).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARKA News Agency
Sept 22 2004
By late September Armenia to present its proposals on Millennium
Challenges program
Nagorno Karabakh does not have price – RA Foreign Minister
Open contest on project of memorable coin dedicated to 90th
anniversary of Armenian Genocide is started
Cinema department to be created in Armenian National Gallery
Representation of Philip Morris Company in Yerevan provides 6.5
million AMD worth humanitarian aid to 400 invalids
Robert Kocharian: Today’s Armenia is an established state
*********************************************************************
BY LATE SEPTEMBER ARMENIA TO PRESENT ITS PROPOSALS ON MILLENNIUM
CHALLENGES PROGRAM
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. By late September Armenia to present
its proposals to the American side on Millennium Challenges program.
As Armenian Government Public and Press Relations Department told
ARKA, this was stated by the Armenian PM Andranik Manukyan during his
meeting with Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of the US
to Armenia His Excellency John Marshall Evans. Margaryan stated that
the Trustee Council of Armenian Program of Foundation Millennium
Challenges made wide discussions of the proposals with business
circles and public organizations of the country. In PM’s opinion,
Armenia tends toward strengthening of positive tendencies recorded in
bilateral relations, especially when new areas of cooperation emerge,
the most important of which is inclusion of Armenia into Millennium
Challenges.
In his turn, the Ambassador added that after approval by the
foundation of the Armenian proposals, there will be new opportunities
for further cooperation.
As it is mentioned in the press release, touching upon the regional
issues, the sides mentioned interests of two nations in establishing
peace, stability and prosperity on the South Caucasus. In this
relation they mentioned the necessity of further enhancement of
Armenian-US economic and political relations attaching importance to
activity of Armenian-US Intergovernmental working group on economic
issues (USATAF).
Armenia was included in 16 countries list which will be assisted by
the US in implementation economic and democratic reforms in the
frames of Millennium Challenges. The list contains mainly African,
Asian, Latin American nations as well as USSR two former republics –
Armenia and Georgia. For the implementation of the program the US
envisages USD 1b and already requested from the US Congress to
allocate additional USD 2.5b for the implementation of the program in
the next year. T.M. -0–
*********************************************************************
NAGORNO KARABAKH DOES NOT HAVE PRICE – RA FOREIGN MINISTER
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Nagorno Karabakh does not have price
and position of Armenian party cannot be influenced or force it to
soon decision, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian stated today.
According to him, realization of different transport corridors in the
region, exclusion of Armenia will not force the country to make
concessions in Karabakh settlement. `Armenia does not see problems in
opening of railway communication Kars-Gyumri-Akhalkalaki and is ready
to take part in it, however if it will be connected with Karabakh
conflict, we will not take part in the project’, Oskanian said.
The Minister stressed, neither gas-mains nor railways are connected
with settlement of Karabakh conflict and Armenia does not plan to
exchange it on anything. Armenia cannot be threatened and will remain
out of any project if it has to make concessions on Karabakh.
`However, we are ready to participate in different regional
projects’, Oskanian said. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
OPEN CONTEST ON PROJECT OF MEMORABLE COIN DEDICATED TO 90TH
ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS STARTED
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Union of Armenian Jewellers and
Yerevan Jewellery Plant announce open contest on project of memorable
coin dedicated to 90th anniversary of Armenian Genocide. According to
the announcement, the coins must be made of gold, silver or other
metal with 38 or 46 millimeters diameter and 3 millimeters thick.
Besides, the texts on the coin (if there are any) must be written in
Armenian or English. Prize for the best work in 500 thousand AMD,
there are also some second prizes.
The deadline for submission of projects is Nov 15, 2004. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
CINEMA DEPARTMENT TO BE CREATED IN ARMENIAN NATIONAL GALLERY
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Cinema department will be created in
Armenian National Art Gallery, the Head of Cinema Department of
Washington National Gallery Margaret Parsons stated in Yerevan.
`Cinema department is an integral part of modern gallery’. She
expressed satisfaction that will take part in creation of similar
department in Armenia.
Parsons arrived in Armenia on the invitation of National Art Gallery
of Armenia. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
REPRESENTATION OF PHILIP MORRIS COMPANY IN YEREVAN PROVIDES 6.5
MILLION AMD WORTH HUMANITARIAN AID TO 400 INVALIDS
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Representation of Philip Morris
Company in Yerevan provided 6.5 million AMD worth humanitarian aid to
400 invalids, the company told ARKA. The action takes place in
cooperation to Armenian Association of Invalids. The invalids
received 5.2 tons of food and 400 packages of bed clothing.
Note the Philip Morris Management Services functions in Armenia about
8 years. L.D. –0 –
*********************************************************************
ROBERT KOCHARIAN: TODAY’S ARMENIA IS AN ESTABLISHED STATE
YEREVAN, September 22. /ARKA/. Today’s Armenia is an established
state ever growing tendency of deepening market reforms, democratic
transitions and international integration. This was stated by Robert
Kocharian speaking on the occasion of the 13th Independence of the
Republic of Armenia. According to him, `this choice of our people
brought us to a new domain’. As a result of the implemented systemic
reforms Armenia has experienced obvious progress. Today, Armenia is
defined in terms of sustainable economic growth and regular
implementation of the state budget. It is visible that small and
medium businesses are more active. ` Most of these results are
directed at social sector and the main problem today is the
elimination of poverty. Precise implementation of that program is the
duty of all of us ‘, said Kocharian. The President noted that the
establishment of free, prosperous and powerful Armenia had been a
dream of many generations. ` Our generation got the opportunity to
implement the most decisive phase of that dream and we fulfill that
historic responsibility with honor for the glory of Armenia and our
people ‘, said Kocharian. L.V.–0–

Wednesday, 22 September 2004 21:20
EXCALIBURONLINE V2.00

;task=view&id =959&Itemid=81

Memory, truth and the Armenian genocide
Written by Raffi Sarkissian – Contributor

On April 21, 2004, just three days before the official commemoration
date of the Armenian Genocide, the Canadian Parliament decided with a
vote of 153 to 68 to condemn the Armenian Genocide. Bill M-380 explains
that “this house recognizes the Armenian Genocide and condemns it as an
act against humanity.”

Eighty-nine years ago the Canadian press, like newspapers around the
world, published horrifying accounts from Anatolia of state-sponsored
genocide.

A 1915 headline from the St. Catharines Standard read: “Killed more
Armenians in 3 days than did Abdul Hamid in 30 years, Enver Pasha
proudly boasts that he has outdone the ‘Red Sultan’ – several once
prosperous villages now devoid of any sign of life.” A report from the
Ottawa Evening Journal that same year reads: “Turks drag 10,000 Armenian
Christians to Tigris, shoot all, and throw bodies into river.”

>From 1915 to 1917, the Turkish regime in the Ottoman Empire carried out
a systematic, premeditated and centrally-planned genocide against the
Armenian people, having set out to exterminate the Armenians from their
three-thousand year old ancestral homeland. Armenians were seen as an
obstacle to the creation of a homogenous Turkish Empire.
Relying on archival evidence from France, Britain, Russia and the United
States, world-renowned historians and scholars concluded that a
centrally planned genocide was indeed carried out by Turkey.

In March 2000, for example, 125 Holocaust scholars recognized the
genocide. In the same year, 150 distinguished scholars and writers
honoured the 50th Anniversary of the UN Genocide Convention by
commemorating the Armenian genocide and condemning the Turkish
government’s denial of this crime against humanity.

But eighty-nine years after the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish Republic
not only denies the genocide, but also gives financial support to
professors, politicians, and other influential people to deny the
genocide and to prevent any country from recognizing it formally.

In 2003, the Turkish government even hired former US Congressmen to
lobby on its behalf. Former Reps. Bob Livingston (R-LA) and Gerald
Solomon (R-NY), who were each paid $700,000, as well as former Rep.
Stephen Solarz (D-NY), who was paid $400,000, have aggressively lobbied
Republican and Democratic Congressmen to prevent US recognition of the
Armenian Genocide. For details, see teachgenocide.com.

Similar efforts were made in the Canadian Parliament, with Turkey
attempting to persuade Members of Parliament to vote against the bill.
Representatives of Turkey threatened that relations between Turkey and
Canada would be harmed. Specific emphasis was put on a possible threat
to Bombardier’s $1-billion deal to build public transit in Turkey.

This form of political and economic blackmail was also threatened
against France in 1998 and Switzerland in 2003. In both instances, the
threats proved to be bluffs.

However, such pressure tactics are still being applied, and now largely
focus on the United States. The US is quite attached to the air bases
and military outposts it is allowed to maintain on Turkish soil, and
these threats therefore carry some weight.

Some people have questioned why Canadians should care about something
that occurred 89 years ago, so far away. But it cannot be stressed
enough that we need to raise awareness about past acts of genocide if we
are to stop these atrocities from occurring in the future.

The Canadian Parliament’s decision, which followed the recognition of
the Armenian Genocide by the Canadian Senate (2002) and the provinces of
Ontario (1980) and Quebec (2004), is thus another step towards justice
and truth.

More steps along these lines should certainly be encouraged.

Armenianow.com
Sept 22, 2004
Coming of Age: Comments on change, as independent Armenia enters the teenage
years
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Thirteen years ago this week (September 21), more than 95 percent of the
electorate voted in favor of Armenia becoming an independent republic.
It was an easy decision, made in difficult times. The soul of society still
mourned the death of 30,000 earthquake victims. The heart of society was at
war over Karabakh. And the psyche of society was challenged by the reality
of “freedom”, after 70 years of reliance on Soviet care-giving.
“The proclamation of the independence of Armenia took place in extremely
hard political and economic conditions,” reminds the head of the Museum of
History and Archeology in Avan Ara Demirkhanyan. “During the process of
acquiring sovereignty none of the former republics of USSR was facing such
hard and urgent problems, which were present in great numbers in Armenia.”
The will to build a nation faced odds created by energy crisis (a result of
losing USSR power supplies), by transport blockade (by Azerbaijan since 1989
and Turkey since 1991), and by the influx of 350,000 refugees fleeing
Azerbaijan.
”Of course, the simultaneous coincidence of such serious problems occurring
on such a small and weak country left an influential psychological impact on
the public consciousness of the population, who were not ready for such a
situation,” says Hayk Manaseryan, of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia.
“We should not forget that, for instance, unlike the Baltic States, Armenia
had never stood for secession from the USSR so zealously, but, first of all
it had always been aiming at the reunification with Karabakh even within the
framework of Soviet Union.”
Statehood, independence, reunification have been idealistic struggles for
nearly as long as there has been a modern Armenia.
“Over thousands of years the Armenian nation has developed a natural
characteristic of its development, which is statehood,” says Doctor of
Geographic Sciences Hovanes Sahadyan. “By force of historical circumstances
it lost its political independence at least 10 times but every time it was
strong enough to find strength and abilities to revive statehood. There are
few analogous examples in the history of the world. I think this example
demonstrates something.”
Karabakh war veteran Hamik Sahadyan believes it was that history of
political struggle that made the transition to independence less traumatic
for Armenia than for its neighbors. Some face common difficulties, but none
have faced the considerable obstacles unique to Armenia.
”In the beginning of 1990s each Caucasus republic of USSR was up against
precisely such strategic missions and it seemed that the positions of
Tbilisi and Baku looked more preferable,” Hamik Sahadyan says. “Georgia had
all-powerful water resources and Azerbaijan had fuel. Besides, both
republics took incomparably more advantageous geopolitical positions than
Armenia and had bigger populations. It is important to underline that at the
moment of the collapse of the USSR, the Kremlin was supporting Georgia and
Azerbaijan both in territorial disputes and in politico-military aspects.
However, the question of territorial integrity has never become a unifying
factor neither in Tbilisi nor in Baku.”
History proves that Armenia can survive struggle, war, hardship. But can it
grow to a future of peace and prosperity?
”During the process of historical development, Armenian socio-political
thought has collected sufficiently rich and useful material concerning
national behavior in war and extreme conditions,” says Vardan Mkhitaryan, a
cartographer. “However, it hasn’t developed an agenda for peacetime, when it
has already become an independent state.”
For just that reason, Mkhitaryan is among citizens who believe that
high-ranking officials and the oligarchs who underwrite them – whose only
understanding of governing is conditioned by a communist past – is no less a
threat to Armenia’s growth than the ill intentions of its neighbors. The
Parliament assassinations of 1999 were evidence of that condition, he says.
“Since 1995 the use of rough and rude force for the purpose of achieving
political goals became an integral attribute of the election campaigns,”
says Hayk Manaseryan. “Today a majority of deputies of the National Assembly
of RA are from criminal entities.
“All of this demonstrates a regression of statehood in Armenia and a sharp
weakening of positions of precisely political structures. For this reason,
since the mid-1990s the idea that the Armenian people cannot build a country
for themselves has been prevalent in Armenia. Nostalgia for the ‘Soviet Past’
has appeared in Armenian society and is why some have suggested the
necessity for an Armenian membership in the Russia-Byelorussia Union.”
The past 13 years (like preceding centuries for Armenia) have proven that
independence may be more a goal than a destination.
Nothing seems to be as hoped. But hope is enhanced by significant signs of
progress.
Against considerable odds not found in most Commonwealth of Independent
States, Armenia has survived, and might even thrive. The well being of the
average Armenian doesn’t differ greatly from the livelihood of those in
other post-Soviet countries, whose transition has been less challenged.
“The only factor which can level the wide difference between, for instance,
the biggest country of Europe, the Ukraine with population of 50 million
people, and small Armenia is its socialist inheritance,” says geographer
Hovanes Sahadyan.
And that inheritance, he reminds, was spread over 70 years. It will take
more than 13 years for that part of Armenia’s heritage to pass.
And while that recent past lingers, reflection on Armenia’s entry into the
teenage years of independence comes with a question:
If a referendum were held today, would 95 percent of the population vote in
favor of independence?

The Messenger
Sept 22, 2004
Protesters plan to block Tbilisi-Baku railway
Inhabitants of the Gardabani region are going to block the Tbilisi-Baku
railway on Wednesday to demand the creation of a state commission studying
the corruptibility of local officials. Representatives of the Labor Party
told Prime News that they are also going to go on hunger strike.
According to the party, on August 18 the protestors addressed President
Mikheil Saakashvili, Labor leader Shalva Natelashvili and Minister of
Justice Giorgi Papuashvili with the request that corrupt local officials be
punished. They complain that the president’s representative in Kvemo Kartli,
Soso Mazmishvili, the majority MP of Rustavi Gogi Salakia and also the
Chairmen of the Board of Gardabani region conducted illegal personnel
changes.
Pipes from the gas pipeline Russia-Armenia are stolen and sold as scrap
metal, they allege, and bread prices were deliberately raised. GEL 3,8
million, which was allocated for carrying out repair works of the
Rustavi-Vakhtangisi highway, disappeared, the inhabitants declare.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress