Payvand, Iran
Aug 11 2004
Iranian University to Start Teaching Kurdish
In a groundbreaking attempt, Kurdish would be taught at Kurdistan
University, west of Iran, for the very first time come the new
academic year, Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency reported on
Wednesday.
It is decided that 30 eager students would be allowed to learn the
historical language academically, announced Bahram Valadbeigi, head
of the Kurdistan Institute.
He highlighted the similar roots of Kurdish and Persian languages,
saying `Expanding local languages would definitely boost the official
one.’
The editor of the Kurdish weekly `Ashti’ (reconciliation) also
expressed his gratitude to authorities in Iranian Higher Education
Ministry and hoped the language be taught in other universities as
well.
In Iran, 90 percent of Kurds live in villages, the rest are nomadic.
With a checkered history of acceptance and restriction of Kurdish in
modern Iran, a thriving literature in Iran has been slow to develop.
Since 1984 government policy has been open: Kurdish is permitted in
schools in Kurdish areas; a stream of publications has begun to
appear, and there are long-wave external broadcasts in Kurdish as
well as regional broadcasts on medium-wave radio in Kurdish and other
minority languages.
Kurdish, as a term, is often used to refer to two separate but
closely related language variants: Kurmanji (or Northern Kurdish) and
Kurdi (Southern Kurdish). Kurdi (sometimes Sorani) is spoken in Iraq
(2.8 million people), and in Iran (3 million people), especially in
regions bordering on Iraq and in a small enclave in the northeastern
province of Khorasan.
Kurmanji (sometimes Kurmanci) is mostly confined to Turkey (4
million) and northern Iraq (2.8 million). It is also spoken in Syria
(500,000); Armenia (100,000) in regions bordering Iraq; and in Iran
(100,000) south of Armenia and east of Iraq. There are unknown
numbers of speakers in Georgia and Azerbaijan. Smaller communities
speak the language (about 70 thousand) in Lebanon and in Europe, the
US, and Canada.
Total speakers of Kurdi probably number about 6 million and Kurmanji
speakers about 7 million, although some authorities cite a total of
20 million. Estimates of ethnic Kurds, not all of whom speak Kurdish
today because of assimilation, also are high. Some people who regard
themselves as Kurds speak Gurani and Zaza (or Dimli), closely related
Indo-European languages of a non-Kurdish group.

Voice of America, DC
Aug 11 2004
International Community Criticizes Nagorno-Karabakh Election
Bill Gasperini
Moscow

The United States and some international organizations have
criticized last Sunday’s local elections in the Azerbaijan’s
breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying it will not help ongoing
negotiations over the status of the enclave. The local elections,
which Nagorno Karabakh officials say could help pave the way for the
region’s international recognition, angered the Azeri government.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is
sponsoring negotiations to bring peace to the region, said Sunday’s
election in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated province of
Azerbaijan that broke away after a bloody war, was not helpful to the
peace process.
OSCE spokesman in Vienna, Ayhan Evrensel, says that any lasting
solution must come from within.
“What the OSCE through the co-chairs is trying [to do] is to
facilitate a solution, to bring the sides together and discuss about
the issues,” he said. “It has to come from both sides.”
Under the auspices of the OSCE, a group of countries forming the so
called Minsk group, has been talking with Armenia and Azerbaijan in
an effort to resolve the conflict. They have made numerous proposals
over the last decade, but little headway.
The U.S. State Department said the elections have no effect on the
peace process. In a written statement, the State Department said,
“Obviously we don’t recognize Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent
country. The future status of Nagorno Karabakh, the State Department
said, is a matter of negotiation in the Minsk process.
The United States, along with France and Russia are leading the
negotiation process.
Azerbaijan lost control of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjoining
districts after a six-year conflict with Armenia, which broke out in
1988 and claimed more than 30,000 lives. It ended with a cease-fire
agreement in 1994, and left Armenian forces in control of the enclave
and the buffer zone around it.
The United Nations Security Council has denounced the occupation of
Azerbaijani lands and has demanded that Armenia withdraw its forces.
With the exception of Armenia, no nation recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh
as an independent political entity.
Nagorno-Karabakh authorities defended Sunday’s elections as an
expression of democracy in the enclave. But authorities in Azerbaijan
reacted strongly to this assertion, calling the elections illegal
because they were held outside their jurisdiction.
Officials in the Azeri capital Baku said people uprooted during the
war over the enclave were unable to vote, and that the elections
could not be called representative.
While the cease-fire generally holds the two countries at an uneasy
peace, shooting incidents still occur periodically along the
cease-fire line not far from Nagorno-Karabakh’s capital city,
Stepanakert.

Karabakh war games as realistic as possible – NKR DM
Arminfo, Yerevan
10 Aug 04
STEPANAKERT
One of the principles applied to the large-scale military exercises
conducted by the defence army of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR)
was to bring these exercises as close to military operations as
possible, the defence minister of the NKR, Seyran Oganyan, said
commenting on the exercises of the Nagornyy Karabakh defence army.
“I think future military operations, if they happen to take place,
will be different from those of 1992-94. The present exercises were
like military operations that could be expected in future,” Seyran
Oganyan added.

AUTHORITIES OF NAGORNO KARABAKH EXPRESS WILLINGNESS TO GIVE UP
AZERBAIJAN CAPTIVE IF OFFICIAL BAKU WISHES
YEREVAN, August 10 (Noyan Tapan). Dweller of Baku Anad Mamedov, a
21-year-old Azeri serviceman, was taken captive by the Nagorno
Karabakh Armed Forces in connection with the violation of the border
on August 6. According to the press service of the NKR Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the NKR authorities reported about it to the ICRC
Stepanakert Office, as well as to the OSCE. Now the republican legal
bodies undertake corresponding measures for the specification of the
reasons and purposes of the violation of the border by the captive.
According to the same source, the NKR authorities gave the
representative of the ICRC Office in Stepanakert an opportunity to
visit the Azerbaijani military prisoner, at the same time expressing
willingness to give him up, if official Baku wishes.

ENTERPRISE OF STONE PROCESSING TO BE PUT INTO OPERATION IN IJEVAN TILL
END OF THIS YEAR
IJEVAN, August 11 (Noyan Tapan). The enterprise of stone processing
will be put into operation in Ijevan till the end of this year.
Noyemberyan felsit, basalt and travertine from the Ararat Valley will
be processed in the industrial shop of 1,800 square meters. The
construction is carried out upon the initiative of Artur Baghrian, a
businessman and philanthropist living in Moscow, knight of
“St. Gregory Illuminator” order. A church and a sport school have also
been constructed due to his funds in the village of Voskevan of the
Tavush region beforehand. Misha Gamzian, head of the construction
work, told NT’s correspondent that part of stone-processing lathes and
saws have already been imported from Italy. Laying-in of raw materials
also started.

IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAMS OF 12 BLN DRAMS TO BE IN CENTER OF
ATTENTION OF RA PRIME MINISTER
YEREVAN, August 11 (Noyan Tapan). The process of the fulfillment of
the instructions given by RA Prime Minister Andranik Margarian during
the previous consultation within the framework of the application of
the RA law “On the Introduction of Amendments in the RA Law “On 2004
State Budget” was discussed during the August 10 consultation held at
the RA Prime Minister. According to the RA government’s press service,
during the June 16 consultation the RA Prime Minister mentioned that
the implementation of programs planned at the expense of 12 bln drams
and approved on the basis of the amendments proposed by the government
will be permanently in the center of the attention of the RA Prime
Minister. He especially stressed the importance of quick and
qualitative carrying out of all the work. The Ministers of
Agriculture, Transport and Communication, the Chairman of the State
Water Committee have already presented reports on the carried out
work. Estimating, in general, the presented results as satisfactory,
the RA Prime Minister gave instructions on the improvement of the
quality of some work on road construction and asphalting. The RA
Minister of Urban Development, the Yerevan Mayor and the Heads of the
regional administrations of the republic presented the process of the
work carried out at the expense of the above-mentioned 12 bln drams,
in particular, the work directed at the construction and overhaul of
the entities of education. According to these reports, the RA Ministry
of Urban Development mainly carries out the work on the holding of
tenders and on the conclusion of agreements in satisfactory rates: in
the regions and Yerevan, the Governor’s Offices of Armavir, Ararat,
Lori, Kotayk, Shirak, Vayots Dzor and Tavush. The Governors of
Armavir, Shirak and Vayots Dzor reported that the majority of work on
construction and overhaul of schools has already started in their
regions. It was mentioned that repeated tenders were announced for the
repairs of some buildings of schools. In the Shirak region it was
decided to start the construction of a new building of the school in
2005 instead of the unexpedient repairs of a school in the village of
Vardakar. The Yerevan Mayor’s Office, the regional administrations of
Syunik, Gegharkunik and Aragatsotn haven’t held tenders for
construction and repairs of schools yet. The official registration of
planning-estimate documents draws to an end here. During the period
under review the RA Prime Minister estimated their work as
satisfactory. Andranik Margarian instructed the heads of the
Ministries and Departments, as well as the Governors to pay more
attention to the process of the official registration of documents for
the holding of tenders, to the qualitative carrying out of the work in
the speeded up regime in order to put the education entities into
operation in set terms. The RA Prime Minister once again mentioned
that such consultations will be held periodically till the end of this
year with the purpose of consideration of the already carried out work
and the problems of the next stage.

PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED IN SEVEN BORDER VILLAGES OF TAVUSH
REGION
IJEVAN, August 11 (Noyan Tapan). The “Hope of Communities” public
benevolent organization along with the “German Technical Assistance”
organization and the branch of the British OXFAM organization is
implementing the “Primary Health Protection” program in the seven
border villages of the Tavush region. The repairs and modernization of
medical points have already been carried out and training has already
been held for nurses in the villages of Berkaber, Tsaghkavan, Kirants,
Sarigyugh, Itsakar, Hakhtanak and Chinchin. Besides that the packages
of hygienic items and the literature on health protection were given
to the population of the indicated villages, lectures on medical
topics were also organized.

25 STUDENTS OF YEREVAN INSTITUTE OF PEOPLE’S ECONOMY DO THEIR SUMMER
PRACTICAL WORK IN NOYEMBERYAN FORESTRY
NOYEMBERYAN, August 11 (Noyan Tapan). 25 students of the Yerevan State
Institute of People’s Economy did their summer practical work in the
Noyemberyan forestry. Vasil Chilingarian, Director of the forestry,
told NT’s correspondent that the students carried out work on the
sanitary cleaning of the forest. The practical work of the students
was organized by the RA Ministries of Education and Science and
Agriculture.

Rumsfeld in Azerbaijan for talks
Agence France-Presse
August 11, 2004
BAKU, Aug 11 (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived here
Wednesday for talks with leaders of Azerbaijan, the only predominantly
Muslim country with troops in Iraq.
Rumsfeld, who flew here from Afghanistan, was expected to meet Thursday
with President Ilham Aliyev for talks on issues ranging from maritime
security in the oil-rich Caspian to efforts to prevent proliferation of
nuclear materials.
He also was expected to thank leaders here for sending troops to
missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo, and supporting US
counter-terrorism efforts since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the
United States, officials said.
Azerbaijan was Rumsfeld’s third stop on a trip that began in Oman.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
August 11, 2004 Wednesday 8:06 PM Eastern Time
Tbilisi doesn’t want escalation of conflict in SOssetia – minister
MOSCOW
Georgian Defense Minister Georgy Baramidze said Tbilisi was not
interested in a conflict flaring up in South Ossetia, and that it had
come up with peaceful initiatives to resolve the problem.
The first initiative envisions the withdrawal from the zone of the
Georgia-South Ossetian conflict of all armed groups, except the
peacekeepers and police, Baramidze said in an interview with the
newspaper Kommersant, published on Thursday after his talks in
Moscow.
The second initiative proposes to expand the mandate of OSCE
observers and increase their numbers, foremost near the Roksky
tunnel.
Baramidze also said Georgia was ready “to open gates to investments”
by both private and official Russian capital. “We are ready to give
/Russia/ the opportunity to take part in the privatization of not
only ordinary economic facilities, but also strategic ones,” the
minister stated.
He noted that Russian capital could participate in privatizing the
central gas pipeline which supplies Armenia, the power grid and
Georgian ports.
“We realized that it poses no threat /to Georgia/; on the contrary,
it would be excellent for economic development and the settlement of
relations with Russia,” Baramidze said.
“Having attained civilized influence in the sphere of economy, Russia
will have a serious argument as to why Tbilisi can be trusted. It
will mean that Georgia won’t go anywhere,” he added.