ASBAREZ ONLINE [09-30-2004]

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09/30/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly 2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War 3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia 4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq 5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters 1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly NEW YORK--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian delivered Armenia's annual message at the United Nations on Wednesday, speaking to the 59th Session of the General Assembly on such issues as UN reform, Millennium Development Goals, and the fight against terrorism. At the same time, he addressed the Mountainous Karabagh conflict, and Armenia's position on prospects for its resolution. He said that Armenia is ready to "compromise and collaborate" with neighbors only if they are ready to make history, not rewrite it. "We want to work with an Azerbaijan that understands its place in a rule-based international order, not one whose policies, practices and statements threaten the fragile peace and stability of our region." Azerbaijan maligns the OSCE Minsk Group, stressed Oskanian, in order to mask its refusal to consider proposals. "For more than half a decade, it has rejected every proposal placed before it from the Common State Proposal in 1998 to the Key West document of 2001," revealing that the same proposals emerged from discussions and negotiations that included the participation of Azerbaijan's leadership. He concluded saying that though Armenians and Azeris were forcibly linked together during the last century, they have, nevertheless, earned the right to determine, in the coming century, whether they will live in peace. "If we are serious about becoming full, deserving residents of the European neighborhood, where borders don't matter, but intentions and tolerance do, we will have to come to terms with our past, with our history, with the realities that have gripped our region." Local students and representatives of Armenian organizations were present to hear the statement, and later participated in a short question-and-answer period with the Minister. The speech came at the conclusion of a three-day visit during which Oskanian met with various UN officials, as well as foreign ministers. On Wednesday, the Minister met with the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, with whom he discussed various UN issues, as well as matters related to Armenia-UN cooperation. At the Secretary General's request, the Minister briefed Annan on the Mountainous Karabagh peace process. Earlier in the day, Oskanian also met with the Secretary General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Juan Mendez. Minister Oskanian held a short meeting with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre Moussa, where the two welcomed Armenia's inclusion in the Arab League with observer status. Within the margins of the UN, Minister Oskanian conferred with the foreign ministers of China, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon. He also met with the US Undersecretary of State Mark Grossman, the US Co-chair of the Minsk Group Ambassador Steven Mann, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy. 2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net)--The consequences of renewed hostilities in the Mountainous Karabagh region would be extremely grave both for Armenia and Azerbaijan, warned Armenia's Minister Serge Sargsian, who is also the Secretary of the President's Defense Council. Speaking on Armenian Public TV on Wednesday, Sargsian emphasized Armenia's resoluteness to steer clear of war. "The outcome of any possible war--even the most favorable for Armenia, means casualties; we have no desire to be involved in military operations." It would even be no consolation, said Sargsian, that odds would be in Armenia's favor, as was the case in 1992-1994. "There are, after all, huge prices to pay for war--delays settling social problems, limitation on freedoms. . . " Sargsian said that Armenia would be forced to pursue war, only if Azerbaijan advances the attack. "In this case, I assure, we will respond adequately, and the response will be one that will, for many years--crush Azerbaijan's desire to fight." 3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia MOSCOW (Interfax)--At a ceremony marking the dispatch of humanitarian aid from Moscow to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on Wednesday, president of the breakaway republic Eduard Kokoity, stressed the need for unity between north and south Ossetia. "It's time to forget the words 'southern' and 'northern.' There is one Ossetia, which will be part of Russia," Kokoity said, adding that nearly 98% of residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens. "We are aware of our responsibility before our compatriots in Russia, since geographically it is in a place where the future of the Caucasus is being decided," he said. A united Ossetian people would "do everything possible to rebuff the forces that are trying to oust Russia from the Caucasus," he said. "We shall work on several economic projects to integrate South Ossetia with Russia," he said. South Ossetia is legally a province of Georgia, but a conflict in the 1990s led to its de-facto independence. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has stepped up efforts to restore control over South Ossetia. North Ossetia is a constituent territory of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, South Ossetian Interior Minister Robert Guliyev told Interfax by phone on Thursday that Georgia has set up two army groups on the border with South Ossetia as part of its plans to launch strikes at the republic from the direction of Znauri and Tskhinvali. "By concentrating their forces in two directions--Tskhinvali and Znauri--the Georgian authorities are entrusting the task of surrounding Tskhinvali and closing the Trans-Caucasus highway to traffic traveling to [Russia's republic of] North Ossetia to these army groups. This will become possible as a result of two parallel strikes," Guliyev said. "An intelligence report suggests that up to ten T-72 tanks, some of which Tbilisi purchased in Romania and some other tanks that were repaired in Ukraine, have been deployed in Georgia's Kareli district alone. These tanks are expected to take part in an invasion of South Ossetia's Znauri district," he said. 4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq BAGHDAD--The Sydney Morning Herald reported that among three Lebanese travel agency workers kidnapped in Iraq on September 17, is Armenian Aram Nalbandian. The three men and their Iraqi driver were abducted by gunmen on the Baghdad-Fallujah highway, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official told The Associated Press The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three Lebanese worked for a travel agency that has a branch in Baghdad. The motive for the kidnapping was not immediately clear. Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid has instructed the Lebanese charge d'affaires in Iraq, Hassan Hejazi, to contact Iraqi authorities to secure the release of the three Lebanese, the official said. 5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters --Visit --Multi-Ethnic Review Reveals Deep-Rooted Frustration Across Diverse Communities WASHINGTON, DC--Community leaders representing millions of ethnic Americans are fed up with George W. Bush's neglect, opposition, and--all too often--outright assault on the issues and values they care about, according to a review released recently by the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC). "Each of the community leaders reached out to in this survey represents a different element of our nation's great ethnic diversity, but what they all have in common is a profound disappointment with how the Bush Administration has misled their communities and mismanaged issues--both domestic and international--that hold the most meaning for the ethnic voters they represent," said AADLC representative Tsoghig Margossian. "Over the past four years, Armenian Americans have suffered setback after setback under the Bush Administration's attack on the issues we care about as a community," added Margossian. "As the NDELC review makes clear, we aren't alone in our frustration over these disastrous policies, nor do we stand alone in our efforts to bring about real change this November." The National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC) is an ethnic constituency based organization encompassing the community of immigrants and descendants of immigrants who primarily trace their heritage from Europe and the Mediterranean. The groups include, but are not limited to Albanian, Arab, Armenian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, German, Finnish, French Canadian, Greek, Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish, and Ukrainian Americans. The purpose of NDELC is to continue the work of the 1990s to redefine how the Democratic Party communicates with ethnic Americans and to ensure that ethnic Democrats continue to be players in American politics. For more information about "Armenians for Kerry" and Senator Kerry's record on Armenian American issues, visit "Armenians for Kerry" works in partnership with the Armenian American Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC), a long-standing ethnic council of the Democratic National Committee's National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating Committee. The AADLC actively fosters support within the Armenian American community for the Democratic Party and national Democratic office holders, while promoting the election of Armenian American Democrats to political office and encouraging participation by Armenian American Democrats at all levels of the public policy process. The text of the NDELC review is provided below. For more information about the role that ethnic Americans are playing this election season, visit: George W. Bush is Wrong for Ethnic Americans* IRISH AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 44 million Irish Americans by failing to engage in the Northern Ireland peace process and standing by while a top advisor made reckless comparisons to the war on Al Qaeda." --Stella O'Leary, Irish American Democrats POLISH AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 10 million Polish Americans by relying on Poland's sacrifice in Iraq but continuing to impose burdensome and costly visa requirements on Poles coming to the US and by not facilitating bidding by Polish firms on post-war contracts in Iraq." --Nicholas Rey, Ambassador to Poland 1993-1997 ARMENIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Armenian Americans by breaking his pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide." --Aram Hamparian, Armenian National Committee of America ARAB AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 3.5 million Arab Americans by tolerating anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry from members of his Administration and allowing an unfettered John Ashcroft to run roughshod over the civil liberties of Arab immigrants, creating fear and mistrust." --Dr. Jim Zogby, Arab American Institute GREEK AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 3 million Greek Americans by failing to show the required leadership, diplomacy and commitment in resolving the Cyprus conflict to help bring peace and stability to the region." --Clay Constantinou, former Ambassador, Dean of Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relation UKRAINIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Ukrainian Americans by blocking legislation condemning Stalin's Famine-Genocide against the Ukrainian nation." --Julian Kulas, Ukrainian Americans for Kerry-Edwards MUSLIM AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 7 million Muslim Americans by speaking of inclusion while creating an atmosphere where law-abiding Muslim Americans are afraid of a government they thought was supposed to protect them, not harass them." --Isi Siddiqui, Undersecretary of Agriculture during Clinton Administration ROMANIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Romanian Americans by seeking to cut foreign aid, and failing to engage pro-democracy, anti-corruption forces in Romania." --Prof. Radu Florescu, Romanian American community leader ALBANIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Albanian Americans by abdicating America's traditional leadership role in resolving Kosovo's final status and securing stability in the Balkans." --Ilir Zherka, Clinton-Gore '96 Ethnic Outreach Coordinator SERBIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Serbian Americans by abandoning US efforts to promote regional stability in the Balkans and support for democratic forces within Serbia." --Obrad Kesic, Serbian American community leader HUNGARIAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Hungarian Americans by ignoring the human, civil, and religious rights of Hungarian minorities throughout Central Europe." --Peter Ujvagi, State Representative, Ohio District 47 CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 5 million Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, and Slovak Americans by failing to continue America's traditional engagement with pro-democracy forces." --Mark Brzezinski, former director Southeast European Affairs, National Security Council BALTIC AMERICANS: "George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian Americans by eliminating VOA and RFE radio broadcasts to the Baltic states." --Asta Banionis, Lithuanian American community leader *Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only. 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.