Month: June 2005

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
June 11, 2005 Saturday 7:50 AM Eastern Time
Armenian pilots released in Equatorial Guinea return home
By Tigran Liloyan
YEREVAN
Armenian pilots who got out of jail in Equatorial Guinea a few days
ago have returned home.
In January 2004, crew captain Ashor Karapetian and pilots Samvel
Darbinian, Samvel Machkalian, Ramzik Khachatrian, Suren Muradian, and
Ashot Simonian left on a contract for Africa as the crew of an
Antonov-12 turboprop.
As the were leaving their homeland, however, they could not even
image that the authorities of Equatorial Guinea would put them into
jail a mere two months later on the charges that they had taken part
in an attempted military coup.
In November 2004, a Guinean court sentenced Karapetian to 24 years in
jail and the rest of the crew, to 14 years.
The country’s President pardoned them, however, by a decree issued
June 6, 2005.
Their route back home lay via Zurich and Moscow, where they addressed
a news conference at Itar-Tass headquarters.
One of the things they told reporters Friday was that they had been
kept in shackles for 15 months.
Ara Abramian, the president of the World Armenian Congress and the
Union of Russian Armenians, played a crucial role in attaining their
release.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the release it was
satisfied with the fact. It thanked the President and other
government officials of Equatorial Guinea for a show of understanding
of the problem.

The Times (London)
June 11, 2005, Saturday
Ghost-spotting time
Jill Crawshaw
A SEPTEMBER expedition in search of the rare Persian leopard is being
organised by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), the
only charity to run a UK wildlife trip to Armenia.
One of the last strongholds of these “invisible ghosts” -so-called
for their ability to live near people but remain unseen -is the
spectacular 250 sq km (100 sq m) Khosrov Reserve in the southeast, a
former royal hunting forest, where numerous leopard caves have been
spotted. Bezoar goats, Armenian moufflon and Syrian bears are among
the other endangered species in the reserve.
The 11-day tour also visits Lake Sevan, at 1,900m (6,200ft) one of
the world’s highest lakes, and a clutch of monasteries including the
4th-century Geghard monastery, built into the side of a mountain. The
landlocked, mountainous republic, which is smaller than Belgium, was
the first country to adopt Christianity -in AD301.
Travellers won’t go hungry on the tour: barbecued meat, bozbash soup,
sheep’s cheese and stuffed peppers feature on menus. And locals are
quick to point out that Sir Winston Churchill always preferred
Armenian to French brandy.
The expedition dates are September 14-24, the cost £845 for internal
transport, accommodation and meals, but not flights, which cost £519.

Embassy of The United States
Yerevan, Armenia
11 June 2005
The Honorable John M. Evans
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia
The Continuing Effect of the American Revolution
I am delighted to be with you this evening at the American University of
Armenia. There is nothing more important to the development of any society
than education, and this relatively new university is already making a solid
contribution to this old, but newly independent land, the Republic of
Armenia. I am proud that the United States Government supported the
establishment of this institution, and continues to support its quest for
full accreditation. The State of California, among the fifty states of our
Union, is a proven leader in public education, and this university’s
connection with the University of California seems to me a most appropriate
and fortunate one.
This evening I want to address a subject that has been much in the news
following the Rose Revolution in Georgia eighteen months ago, the contested
elections in Ukraine last fall, and the recent events in Kyrgyzstan and
Uzbekistan. I have borrowed the title of my talk from the eminent British
historian Arnold Toynbee, who delivered a lecture in Williamsburg, Virginia,
a cradle of the American Revolution, forty-four years ago today, on June 10,
1961. Toynbee entitled that lecture “The Continuing Effect of the American
Revolution.” The subject was relevant then, and it is newly relevant again
today. I will state my conclusion here at the outset: the principles of the
American Revolution continue to reverberate down through the centuries to
our own day, but it is the primarily the power of those principles and
ideals, and not the power of today’s American Government and its embassies,
that is bringing change to countries around the world, and to this region in
particular.
There has been much loose talk and conspiracy theorizing in the post-Soviet
media about the so-called Rose, Orange and Tulip revolutions and what
brought them about. There has been considerable speculation about what
country in this region might be “next in line” for a revolution in the
streets. One hears and reads that U.S. embassies have been turned into
headquarters for fomenting such revolutions, that millions of dollars have
been channeled to groups plotting to seize power. I have not yet heard it
alleged that the United States has sent anyone into this part of the world
in a sealed train, but it would not surprise me to hear such a thing.
These allegations are, of course, entirely unfounded. The United States
Government is not embarked on a campaign to destabilize the newly
independent states of the former Soviet Union, which we count among our
friends. The United States does not advocate mob violence in the streets or
unconstitutional or illegal activities of any sort. To the contrary, we
believe whole-heartedly in the principle that the citizens of a democratic
state should choose their new leaders via the ballot box, through free and
fair elections. And we are unabashed about saying so. We also are unashamed
of the fact that we have extended material support to governments,
parliaments, political parties and non-governmental organizations in this
part of the world to help them establish the conditions in which democracy,
and free and fair elections in particular, can flourish. Far from giving up
on this part of the world, and making the condescending assumption that
populations of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union are
somehow “not ready” for democracy, the United States has persisted in its
encouragement of the development of true democratic institutions. The
people — the voters – of Armenia and other countries in this region deserve
no less.
But let us go back for a minute to the eighteenth century and the American
Revolution, and to Arnold Toynbee.
It has been said that the division between the English-speaking peoples of
the world that took place in the last quarter of the eighteenth century was
a tragedy for mankind. Be that as it may, one effect of the American
Revolution was to alienate Americans from their English cousins. It is
indicative that Toynbee was only the second Englishman to be invited to
address the annual Prelude to Independence celebration in Williamsburg. John
Kennedy was our new president at that time, and Toynbee’s main purpose was
to explore the question of whether the United States would prove true to the
principles of its own revolution, as Kennedy had recently indicated in his
inaugural address that it might. Toynbee pointed out that every revolution
since 1776 had owed something to the American Revolution. He warned that if
America did not choose to lead humanity toward a more free, just and
democratic future, others would claim that right. He noted, in 1961, that
the majority of mankind was suffering not only from political injustice, but
from social and economic injustices as well. He called on the United States
to take the lead in what he called the “American-born world revolution of
our time.”
Let us look back at the American Revolution itself. The men who made the
Revolution were educated men, lawyers mostly, steeped in the thinking of
John Locke and other theoreticians of what was, at that time, the most
advanced political culture in the world. They were Englishmen still, very
hesitant, for the most part, to break with the Mother Country until a series
of ill-advised actions taken by the Government of Lord North drove them to
the extreme expedient of declaring their independence. England herself had
gone through a bloody civil war and the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. Many,
if not most, of the principles of the American Revolution were already
established in English precedent. But like most revolutions, the American
Revolution had its origin not only in the thinking and writing of
philosophers and intellectuals, but in a spark provided by a real political
crisis. In the American case, it was the imposition of taxes and customs
duties, on tea and other goods, that ignited the conflict. The high-handed
actions of the British Crown and Parliament revealed and made actionable
their lack of accountability to the citizens they presumed to govern. “No
taxation without representation” became the fighting slogan of the American
Revolution.
The men who made the American Revolution were, with the possible exceptions
of John and Sam Adams in Boston, Thomas Paine in Philadelphia and Patrick
Henry in Virginia, not hot-blooded or inclined to violence. It took several
years for the trans-Atlantic dispute over taxes and import duties to reach
the point of no return. But when the first shot rang out at Lexington and
Concord in the spring of 1776, it was indeed, “a shot heard ’round the
world.”
Although it began as a dispute over taxes and import duties, the American
Revolution ultimately gave voice to certain principles that were said even
at the time to have universal applicability, and which have, indeed, proven
to have universal appeal. It is those principles, and not the machinations
of the American foreign policy apparatus, that account for the “continuing
effect of the American Revolution.”
Toynbee noted in his speech in Williamsburg in 1961 that Britain herself was
actually the first country to profit from the liberalizing impetus of the
American Revolution. France’s Revolution may have been stimulated in part by
the American example, but its excesses had a chilling effect on most of
Continental Europe. Once recovered from the trauma of dealing with Napoleon,
Great Britain went on to adopt the Reform Bill of 1832, and the 19th century
saw Britain become the leading example of a limited constitutional
monarchy — albeit without a written constitution, which eloquently
demonstrates that the spirit of democracy, and the daily implementation of
democratic principles, may well be more important than what is written down
on paper.
The American Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 in
Philadelphia contains principles that have echoed down the centuries. The
idea that “all men are created equal” and are “endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights” was put forward as a universal claim. It has
been cited by revolutionaries seeking to break the bonds of oppression from
South America to Africa to Asia.
Having unleashed these revolutionary ideas into the world, the United States
has at various times taken greater or lesser interest in propagating them
overseas, but it has never wavered in its basic commitment to them. And the
spirit of democracy that we attempt to live by, that we try to demonstrate
in our daily lives and in our political life, is contagious.
The idealist and student of American history Woodrow Wilson was perhaps the
most outspoken of our Presidents on the desirability of “making the world
safe for democracy,” as he put it. But in our own time, President Reagan and
President Bush have renewed the call for liberty that first was heard in the
Declaration of Independence. In his Second Inaugural Address, President Bush
stated clearly that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and
support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation
and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.” This is
not a call to revolution in the streets; rather it is a challenge to all
citizens of the world to engage in the hard, daily work of perfecting the
democratic institutions of their own countries, to make governments fully
accountable to their citizens, to reinforce the rule of law and to ensure
respect for the individual. This challenge is in many ways more demanding
than a simple call for revolution, because it asks of each of us that we
contribute our time, efforts and skills in the arts of public discourse to a
never-ending struggle.
Let me quote Professor Toynbee once again. As he put it, in an echo of
Winston Churchill’s famous phrase, “.democracy has proved itself by
experience to be the least unsatisfactory of all political regimes that have
been devised so far.” But he went on to say that “Democracy, in the sense of
representative self-government. . .has been indigenous in only a few
countries; and, even in these countries, it has taken ages of time, and
successions of efforts and sacrifices to bring democracy to maturity.
Democracy is difficult to achieve and to maintain, because it requires for
its successful operation the active cooperation of a large contingent of
able, experienced, and public-spirited citizens. . . The supply of citizens
of the kind that is democracy’s lifeblood has never been sufficient even in
the handful of countries in which democracy is indigenous and more or less
effective.”
This, of course, is where education comes in, and where a university of this
kind can play a major role. Not that democracies should be run by
intellectuals, but an educated citizenry that can engage in civilized debate
and think about the important issues facing society, and not just about
where the next meal is coming from, is essential.
The job of building and perfecting democracy is never completely done. As
President Bush said recently, “the path to a free society is long and not
always smooth.” Speaking at a dinner of the International Republican
Institute recently, the President recalled the history of our own country,
noting that “the American Revolution was followed by years of chaos” and
that “it took a four-year war, and a century of struggle after that, before
the promise of our Declaration [of Independence] was extended to all
Americans.” And, the President said, “No nation in history has made the
transition from tyranny to a free society without setbacks and false starts.
What separates those nations that succeed from those that falter is their
progress in establishing free institutions. So to help young democracies
succeed, we must help them build free institutions to fill the vacuum
created by change.”
Let me relate what I have been saying — and what the President has said —
to the Republic of Armenia.
The job of building democracy in the Republic of Armenia has been well
started. The main principles of freedom and democracy have found their
expression in the Constitution and major legislation that is now on the
books. But what still needs work is the job of building and strengthening
the institutions that make a democracy function as it should. The United
States remains committed to helping Armenia — its government, courts,
parliament, political parties and citizens — build, strengthen and refine
the free institutions of which President Bush has spoken. Over the next few
years, and in particular in the time remaining before the elections of 2007
and 2008, the United States will work actively with our Armenian partners to
help make those institutions as good as they can be, for the good of the
people of Armenia, and for the advancement of freedom in the world. As
President Bush said on May 18, “This is the challenge of a new century. It
is the calling of our time. And America will do its duty.”
Thank you for your attention.

US PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR TAKES INTEREST IN REFORMS IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, JUNE 10. ARMINFO. Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
and Stephen J. Hadley, National Security Advisor for US President,
discussed process of peaceful resolution of Karabakh conflict in
Washington. It should be noted that Minister Oskanyan is on a two-day
working visit to the USA.
The Press and Information Department of the Armenian Foreign Ministry
informs ARMINFO that the sides touched upon the relations of Armenia
and Turkey. Stephen Hadley displayed a special interest in the
process of democratic, election and constitutional reforms in
Armenia. In Washington Vardan Oskanyan met with the members of the
Armenian Caucus members. At the beginning of the meeting, current
issues of Armenian-American relations were discussed. Oskanyan
informed the congressmen of the last news on the process of peaceful
settlement of Karabakh conflict as well as of relations
Armenia-Turkey. He thanked the congressmen for continuing
contribution to Armenia. The parties also discussed issues which may
be put on agenda of the Armenian-American Commission for Economic
Cooperation. Then, Armenian Minister Oskanyan met with
representatives of the National Committee of America and the Armenian
Assembly of America and discussed agenda of Armenian-American
relations. The source reports that it is the first visit of Vardan
Oskanyan to the USA after re-election of George Bush for second term.
Today the foreign minister will meet with US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, will speak at the US National Press Club and
“Bruckings” organization.

THEY IN AZERBAIJAN CONSIDER CASE OF TWO “DEFECTORS” FROM ARMENIA AS
FAILURE OF AZERI SPECIAL SERVICES
YEREVAN, JUNE 11. ARMINFO. The case of two “defectors” from Armenia
is considered in Azerbaijan as a failure of the Azeri special
services.
To remind, Roman Taryan and Artur Apresyan appeared in Baku in Apr
2004 asking for temporary political refuge and transit to a third
country but they are still in a solitary confinement cell of the
Azeri National Security Ministry.
The “pearl” of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian propaganda was the ANS TV
company showing quite recently the “defectors” as saying a year
before that “they could no longer stand conditions in Armenia and
came to Azerbaijan on their own will to go to a third country.” They
also thanked Azeri National Security Minister Namik Abbasov for
granting them sports suits.
But now the Azeri propaganda machine has got entangled in its own
misinformation net. In the May 21 Echo representative of Center for
Legal Information Support Alovsat Aliev says that the Taryan-Apresyan
case looked very much like a fraud from the very beginning. This is a
political issue. They were forced to receive political refuge.
Everything was very unreal and framed up. The Azeri authorities must
have done this to show themselves a democratic state ready to help
even Armenians. Taryan and Apresyan may well have been Azeri spies in
Armenia in the past. This may well be true, says Aliev.
Pro-governmental MP Siyavush Novruzov also hints that Taryan and
Apresyan may be former Azeri spies. The bubble of the Azeri
propaganda is that they could no longer remain in Armenia and fled to
Azerbaijan on their own will. And now this bubble is about to blow up
in the eyes of Azeri society. Earlier Deputy National Security
Minister Suilhamid Akper said that there are many unclear
circumstances in the case. The very case is due mostly to the
incompetence of the Azeri special services. And it will give no
result. This is impossible. What they did is simply inadmissible.
Now Baku sources are confirming what was evident from the very
beginning. An Armenian would seek better life everywhere but not in
Azerbaijan. Obviously this was dangerous for their life and as Akper
said “gave no result.”
The inability of the Azeri authorities to send the “defectors” to a
third country for over a year already is one of the unforeseen
complications. The fact is that the Azeri authorities are forced to
keep Taryan-Apresyan locked because they cannot feel themselves at
home in their “new homeland.”
When Aliev asked the Azeri National Security Ministry about the
expediency of keeping Taryan-Apresyan in the cells of the special
services the response was that this was impossible because of the
defectors’ nationality.
In fact the Azeri authorities have got into their own trap. Promising
security to the Nagorny Karabakh Armenians they cannot ensure one for
just two their own agents in their own capital. This makes ridiculous
their propaganda that 20,000 or 30,000 Armenians presently live
freely and peacefully in Azerbaijan.

ARMENIA HAS CHANCE TO USE BAKU-TBILISI-ERZERUM GAS AND
BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINES IN ITS OWN INTERESTS
YEREVAN, JUNE 11. ARMINFO. Armenia has a chance to use the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline in its own interests, says Director General of ArmRosgazprom
company Karen Karapetyan.
It would be desirable if the pipeline ran via Armenia but even the
very fact of their existence is already good. Georgia may give Armenia
part of its transit quota gas. Armenia may repay in electricity. It
depends on Armenia to what an extent it will be involved in these or
other projects, says Karapetyan reminding that Georgia has already
expressed interest in the Iran-Armenian gas pipeline project. Why can
we say that we want to take part in the construction of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline? wonders Karapetyan. Abundant in
electricity when completing the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline project and
restoring the Abovyan underground gas storage Armenia may become a
serious regional player.
We should turn negative geo-political situation into a positive one.
Armenia may become a good market for energy resource sale especially
that its neighbors may well face electricity shortage in the near
future. If we are aggressive and flexible enough we will get back what
we have lost, says Karapetyan. It is no coincidence that Georgia has
already begun talks for the construction of a new electricity
transmission line from Armenia, he notes.

The Gazette (Montreal)
June 11, 2005 Saturday
Final Edition
Pamuk mourns the loss of Istanbul’s greatness: Born at a time of
transition, author sees a city the world has forgotten
PAUL CARBRAY, The Gazette
Merging a writer’s life with a city isn’t a new idea. It’s been tried
countless times, and a couple of publishers recently began series
marrying a writer with a city or region.
Orhan Pamuk is well-qualified to write about Istanbul. He has lived
in the city for most of his life and is Turkey’s most famous
novelist, at least in the West.
This is not a conventional guidebook. Rather, it is a moody,
introspective look at a declining city that once ruled an empire and
at the life of a young boy trapped in a family riven by squabbles.
The Pamuk family, rich by Turkish standards, lives in the Pamuk
Apartments, a five-storey block. “My mother, my father, my older
brother, my grandmother, my uncles, and my aunts, we all lived on
different floors,” Pamuk writes.
The house is ruled by his grandmother, who spends most of her time in
bed, mourning while her sons squander the family fortune and the
marriage of Orhan’s father slowly disintegrates.
The reader is led into the decaying Istanbul of the 1960s to 1980s, a
city built on past glories and one that is trying to come to terms
with its past while turning its eyes toward the West.
Nineteenth-century wooden mansions called yalis are burning down
along the Bosphorus, a symbol of the destruction of Istanbul’s
Ottoman past.
“In my childhood, these Bosphorus villas had no attraction for the
nouveau riche and the slowly growing bourgeoisie,” Pamuk remembers.
“Because the rich of the republican era were not as powerful as the
Ottoman pashas, and because they felt more western sitting in their
apartments … viewing the Bosphorus from a distance, the old Ottoman
families now weakened and brought low … could find no takers for
their old Bosphorus yalis.”
It became public entertainment to watch these yalis burn down, and
Pamuk, his young girlfriend by his side, would watch with the crowds
on the water’s edge and draw his own conclusions about the loss of
empire.
Pamuk’s book is suffused with huzun, the uniquely Turkish form of
melancholy. He is saddened by what his once cosmopolitan city has
become, its once vibrant minorities, like Greeks and Armenians,
driven out by religious and secular strife, and the city transformed
by massive migration from the countryside.
The Turkish republic was 29 years old when Pamuk was born in 1952,
but Istanbul, the Istanbullus (what residents call themselves) and
the country were still in transition. Its script had been changed
from Arabic to the Roman alphabet, new dress codes were instituted
(at one point, wearing a fez was an offence), and the state was
determined to be secular.
Pamuk grows up to despise his compatriots’ slavish imitation of the
European west and misses the social cohesion of the old Turkish
empire.
Making the book more beguiling are its wonderful pictures, many of
them by Ara Guler, which record the Istanbul of times past. “I
relived much of the excitement and puzzlement of writing this book
while choosing the photographs,” Pamuk says.
But casting a shadow over everything is Pamuk’s sense of desolation,
his huzun, at what has happened to his beloved city.
“Gustave Flaubert, who visited Istanbul 102 years before my birth,
was struck by the variety of life in its teeming streets; in one of
his letters, he predicted that in a century’s time it would be the
capital of the world,” Pamuk writes.
“The reverse came true. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the world
almost forgot that Istanbul existed. The city into which I was born
was poorer, shabbier, and more isolated than it had ever been before
in its 2,000-year history. For me, it has always been a city of ruins
and of end-of-empire melancholy.”
Istanbul: Memories and the City
Orhan Pamuk, Knopf, 384 pages. $34.95

OPENING OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN BORDER TO TAKE MUCH TIME
YEREVAN, JUNE 11. ARMINFO. Turkey is not considering the opening of
its border with Armenia for the time being. This is a long time
consuming process, Turkish MP from JUstice and Development Party
Turhan Cemez has told ARMINFO.
Concerning the possibility of Turkey accepting Armenia’s proposal for
setting up an Armenian-Turkish inter-governmental commission Cemez
says that this is an academical rather than political issue. Turkey
wants peace in the Caucasus while its bad relations with Armenia are
having a negative impact on the situation in the region.
Cemez says that the absurd allegations by some Turkish scientists
that the Armenian minority in Turkey has committed a genocide against
Turks are one more evidence that this issue needs thorough
examination by historians.
Asked about Turkey’s pressuring the countries recognizing the
Armenian Genocide Cemez says that Turkey does need to pressure other
countries in their decision making.
Summing up his visit to Armenia Cemez says that his meetings in
Yerevan and particularly in the Armenian Parliament were friendly and
his Armenian colleagues were glad to welcome him on the Armenian
land.

ARMENIAN FM MEETS WITH US STATE SECRETARY
YEREVAN, JUNE 10. ARMINFO. During their today’s meeting in Washington
Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan and US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice
discussed a wide spectrum of issues concerning Armenian-US
inter-state relations.
The press service of Armenia’s FM reports the sides to note that
Armenian-US cooperation is dynamically developing especially in trade
and economy. Rice highly appreciated Armenia’s contribution to the
international anti-terror operation and the program to restore Iraq.
The sides also discussed the internal political processes in Armenia
and the course of democratic reforms in the country. Oskanyan told
Rice about Armenian-Turkish relations and the Karabakh peace process.
>From Washington Oskanyan is to go to Beijing.

6.5 KM TRENCH IS DUG AT ARMENIAN SECTION OF IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE
YEREVAN, JUNE 10. ARMINFO. 6.5 km trench has been dug at the first
section of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline from Meghri to Kajaran since the
beginning of this year, Director General of “ArmRosgasprom” CJSC
Karen Karapetyan stated journalists at today’s seminar dedicated to
issues of gas market development in Armenia.
In his words, the works at 41 km Armenian section will be completed
in time and Iranian gas will come in Armenia from January 1, 2007.
This project costs $140-170 mln, he informed. As regards the
possibility to widen the gas pipeline to transit, this project costs
$400 mln: it is unreal at present because of absence of financing
sources.
Karapetyan regards skeptically to financial participation of Georgia
in this project interested earlier in construction of transit line of
Iranian gas in Armenia’s and Georgia’s territory to Europe.
To note, 41 km Meghri-Kajaran section is constructed by $30 mln
Iranian credit. Construction works should be completed by Jan 1,
2007. In the beginning Iran should supply in Armenia 1.1 bln cubic
meter of gas annually, and 2.3 bln cubic meter annually since 2019.
The agreement will last 20 years. -r-