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06/01/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Armenian Military Plans to Set Up 'Dro' Think-Tank 2) ANC Central California Demonstration Delivers Message to Speaker Hastert 3) US Officials Discuss MCA 4) Georgia's Carrot-and-stick Approach with South Ossetia 5) Iraqis, US Cut Deal on President, Car Bomb at PUK Headquarters 1) Armenian Military Plans to Set Up 'Dro' Think-Tank YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The Armenian Defense Ministry unveiled on Monday plans to set up a special think-tank that will advise it on defense and national security issues. Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and the leadership of Armenia's Armed Forces attended an official ceremony marking the start of work on a building that will house the ministry's National Strategic Research Center. Officials said its construction will cost $600,000 and will be complete within a year. The center will be named after the late General Drastamat (Dro) Kanayan, one of the most prominent military commanders of the first Armenian Republic that existed from 1918-1920. Kanayan's US-based descendants have donated $350,000 for the project and were also present at the ceremony. The rest of the money will be raised by the Diaspora-financed All-Armenian Fund Hayastan. Sarkisian said that the center, the first of its kind in Armenia, is expected to provide the Armenian military and other security agencies with "quality advice" on security challenges facing the country. The think-tank will be headed by Colonel Hayk Kotanjian, who until recently served as military attaché at the Armenian embassy in Washington. It is not yet clear whether its personnel will be dominated by army officers or civilian 2) ANC Central California Demonstration Delivers Message to Speaker Hastert FRESNO (ANCA-Fresno/Fresno Bee)--Local Fresno community members mobilized on very short notice for a demonstration in support of a coordinated national effort to urge Speaker Hastert and Majority leader Frist to bring House Resolution 193 (H.Res.193) to a floor vote. Speaker Hastert was in town to support Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn's bid for Congress. Area Armenian Youth Federation and Homenetmen youth, along with community members were present at the gathering organized by the Armenian National Committee Central California, Fresno. Extensive coverage was provided by media outlets, with news crews there from local ABC and CBS affiliates, KMJ Radio; a feature article also appeared in the local newspaper, The Fresno Bee. After the fundraising event, Ashburn said he told Hastert he supports the resolution that recognizes the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1923. If elected to Congress, Ashburn said, "I would ask Hastert to bring it to a vote." Demonstrators handed out information flyers, while enlarged poster size replicas of the ANCA postcards from its postcard campaign served as protest signs, along with others reading, "Hastert Hear the Cry From History" and "Hastert Holds the Genocide Vote Hostage." The House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the resolution more than a year ago, but Hastert has not brought it to the House floor for a vote. "It has international consequences to it, and it's something that we have to work with the State Department on and the White House" Hastert commented to local radio reporter Ron Statler about the issue. Statler said the Speaker "declined to say what changes are needed or what the international implications are." ANC spokesman Richard Sanikian informed listeners on air about the nationwide phone, WebFax, and 100,000-postcard campaign calling on Speaker Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Frist to take action on the measure. "After a year, he's not gotten back to us," noted Sanikian. Sanikian said local leaders who support the resolution include Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa; Fresno Mayor Alan Autry; and Ashburn's political rival, former state Sen. Jim Costa. Costa, a Fresno Democrat, and Ashburn are battling for the open 20th Congressional District seat. Incumbent Cal Dooley, D-Fresno, is not running for reelection. The Central Valley is home to more than 60,000 Armenians, one of the oldest ethnic groups in the area. H.Res.193 marks the 15th anniversary of the US implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. If Speaker Hastert does not bring the legislation to a vote in the next six months, it will die at the end of this congressional session. For more information log on to , or anca.org. 3) US Officials Discuss MCA YEREVAN (Armenpress/RFE/RL)--Senior US government officials opened talks with Armenian leaders in Yerevan on Monday to discuss expectations of economic assistance under Washington's Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). Armenia is among 16 nations eligible for the multimillion-dollar plan to promote economic and political reforms in developing countries around the world. Aid allocations are to be decided by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US government agency handling the scheme. The corporation's chief executive Paul Applegarth, and three of his top advisers began their three-day visit to Armenia with a meeting with Prime Minister Andranik Markarian. Applegarth also met with Armenian President Robert Kocharian to review terms for assistance. Kocharian commented that the program can serve as a tool to assess work already carried out, but said there remains much to do. "This is a good opportunity for the country to improve conditions and create a good basis for further development," the president said. Parliament speaker Arthur Baghdasarian, who also met with the delegation, said the parliament will take part in formulating the program proposal which will target as priorities, development of sub-structures, promotion of small and medium business in the provinces, housing construction, and implementation of a poverty reduction and anti-corruption programs. Senior State Department official Carlos Pascual who co-chairs a US-Armenian intergovernmental "task force" cautioned earlier this month that the aid allocation is not a forgone conclusion, but will depend not only on the quality of the proposals but also on the improvement of the Armenian authorities' human and civil rights record . "The expectation, in order to be able to move forward with the program, is that there would be progress on these issues and not movement backwards," he told a news conference in Yerevan. A statement issued by the US embassy in Yerevan on Monday cited Applegarth as saying that it is also essential for the aid proposals to be the result of "wide discussions" and consensus among various strata of Armenian society. 4) Georgia's Carrot-and-stick Approach with South Ossetia (Eurasianet.org/Interfax)--Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is wielding a stick and extending a carrot to the separatist region of South Ossetia. Georgian leaders say their actions are driven by a determination to eradicate smuggling and corruption. Government critics, meanwhile, charge that Saakashvili seeks a repeat of the "Ajarian" scenario, in which Tbilisi brings a break-away region back under central control by fomenting popular unrest in the region. In late May, Tbilisi stepped up pressure on South Ossetia--an autonomous republic of Georgia that secured quasi-independence during a separatist struggle in the early 1990s--by establishing checkpoints at Georgian-Ossetian administrative border crossings. Those checkpoints are designed to cut off the flow of contraband between the region and Georgia proper. South Ossetia has long had a reputation as a smuggler's haven. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania asserted during a May 31 broadcast by Imedi TV that the checkpoints reduced smuggling "to nil," adding that the government's success in curbing the illicit trade "has made people who have been making a lot of money through these channels nervous." South Ossetia's armed forces "have been ordered to destroy any aircraft or regiments that cross the border," Interfax cited Eduard Kokoity, the region's president as yesterday. Georgia is trying to accumulate as many Georgian forces as possible on the border "and to use them if an incident occurs." Tension escalated May 31 when Tbilisi dispatched Interior Ministry forces in to reinforce the checkpoints. The Russian commander of a joint peacekeeping force in South Ossetia, Maj. Gen. Svyatoslav Nabzdorov, called the Georgian move "a dangerous provocation that could have unpredictable consequences," the Interfax-AVN news agency reported. Georgian officials countered that they deployed reinforcements after Russian peacekeepers threatened to use force to remove the checkpoints, the Civil Georgia web site reported. South Ossetia, a region of about 100,000 people, set up a pro-Russian autonomous government in the 1990s and Russia maintains troops in the region. Georgia, which last month built police posts near the border, late yesterday withdrew the new units sent to the area, Interfax cited Lieutenant General Valery Yevnevich, a commander with Russian peacekeeping forces, as saying. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili said last week, while his government won't accept the disintegration of Georgia, it is willing to consider models for a state that take into account the interests of regions such as South Ossetia. Georgia last month ousted Aslan Abashidze, the leader of the region of Ajaria, which also set up an autonomous government in the 1990s. 5) Iraqis, US Cut Deal on President, Car Bomb at PUK Headquarters BAGHDAD (Reuters)--Iraqi leaders cut a face-saving deal Tuesday with the United States and United Nations on a president and government to lead the country out of occupation. An 11th-hour compromise saw Washington's choice of president make way for tribal chief Ghazi Yawar. He was then sworn in with an interim cabinet of technocrats in a televised ceremony rich in symbolism at a palace complex built by Saddam Hussein. A car bomb that tore through the nearby offices of a Kurdish political party, killing and wounding several people, underlined the scale of the challenge the interim administration faces in organizing first free elections in the New Year. Several rockets also landed around the US compound as officials were meeting, wounding one Iraqi. And a suicide car bomber killed 11 Iraqis outside a US base north of Baghdad. CAR BOMB The death toll was unclear in the bombing of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's Baghdad headquarters. A US officer said three people were confirmed dead and 20 wounded, but police at the scene said the toll was considerably higher. A huge crater was blown into the ground at the entrance to the PUK building, close to the "Green Zone" compound where officials were announcing the deal on the new government. In a face-saving maneuver, the 22-member Governing Council initially dropped its objection to Pachachi. Then, within minutes, the 81-year-old former foreign minister renounced the post and Brahimi declared that Yawar would become head of state. Officials then announced that the Council, whose members US officials had accused of trying to cling to power by claiming positions in the new government, was being wound up. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets.