ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
07/26/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Turkey and Azerbaijan 'Failed States,' According to Foreign Policy Magazine Index 2) Hovhannisan Tells Youth that Armenia Has Nothing to Negotiate 3) Ciao Mediterranean, Ahoy Atlantic! 4) Armenian Relief Society's 85th Convention Concludes 1) Turkey and Azerbaijan 'Failed States,' According to Foreign Policy Magazine Index By Aris Babikian In its July /August issue, Foreign Policy magazine published its first annual Failed States Index. Turkey and Azerbaijan are ranked 49 and 50 respectably out of 60 countries surveyed. Turkey accumulated 86.1 points and Azerbaijan 85.7 points. Armenia was not included in the Index. Produced by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace, the ranking measures the world's most at-risk countries, based on 12 social, economic, political and military indicators. The Failed States Index was compiled using the Fund for Peace internationally-recognized Conflict Assessment System Tool (CAST). According to Fund for Peace, a state is failing when its government begins to lose physical control of its territory or lacks a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Other indicators include the breaking down of authority, resulting in inability to make collective decisions, and become incapable to formally interact with other states as a full member of the international community. As suggested by the list of 12 indicators, extensive corruption and criminal behavior, large-scale involuntary dislocation of the population, widespread violation of human rights, sharp economic decline, group-based inequality, and institutionalized persecution or discrimination are other hallmarks of state failure. States can decline at varying rates through explosion, implosion or erosion. The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned, "Ignoring failed states creates problems that sometimes come back to bite us." French President Jacques Chirac has spoken of "the threat that failed states carry for the world's equilibrium." The 2005 Failed States Index is based on a sample of countries deemed to be the most vulnerable to violent conflict. The Fund for Peace updated a list of vulnerable countries using the "World Conflict and Human Rights Map," produced by Leiden University in Holland. The map identifies states with a history of high levels of internal violence and political oppression. Tens of thousands of articles from global and regional open-sourced media were collected from May to December 2004. The Failed States Index will be updated annually. The Fund for Peace is a non-profit educational, research and advocacy organization based in Washington. Its mission is to prevent war and to alleviate the conditions that cause war. Since 1996, it has specialized primarily on reducing conflict stemming from weak and failing states. Foreign Policy is published since 1970 and is a major, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas. It is published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 2) Hovhannisan Tells Youth that Armenia Has Nothing to Negotiate YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--A senior member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) echoed findings of a study conducted by the Armenian-European Policy and Legal Advice Center (AEPLAC), a research center funded by the European Union, which concluded an open border with Turkey would do little to give a strong push to Armenia's economic development. Vahan Hovhannisan, who is the vice chairman of Armenia's parliament and a member of the ARF Bureau, stressed however, that Turkey must eventually lift its blockade of Armenia, in aspiring to join the European Union. The blockade was instituted in 1993, in the heat of the Karabagh conflict. It resulted in a total shutdown of land and air communications between Turkey and Armenia. Speaking to a gathering of the Third Pan-Armenian Youth forum, taking place in Yerevan, Hovhannisian added that the border is open from the Armenian side, and that Armenia has nothing to offer to Turkey in return of its opening the border. "We cannot give up what Turkey demands. It demands that Armenian forces leave Karabagh. In addition, Armenia cannot drop its demand for the recognition of the Armenian genocide. That process is in place even without Armenia's participation," said Hovhannisian, citing the recent passage of Armenian genocide legislation by Venezuela. "Armenia's role was minimal." AEPLAC's findings run counter to the opinion of Western donors and some members of the Armenian government who say that an open border would help restore the Turkish-Armenian rail link and give Armenia alternative routs to take its products to other markets. Currently over 90 percent of Armenia's external trade is carried out through Georgian territory. 3) Ciao Mediterranean, Ahoy Atlantic! YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The Armenian "Cilicia" sailing ship, named and modeled after the 13th century vessels used in and around the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, dropped its anchor in the Mediterranean Sea, and will sail the Atlantic ocean in two days. Diaspora Armenians and deputy speaker of Britain's House of Lords Caroline Cox will be present as it passes the Strait of Gibraltar. The vessel has been in 9 seas and 10 islands carrying the flags of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh Republic. Cilicia's Seven Seas Navigation expedition began in June 2004, as it sailed through the Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean, and Adriatic seas to arrive in Venice in September of 2004, where it stayed for the winter. The crew returned to Venice to start the second leg of the expedition, taking the ship from the historic Italian city to circle Europe and arrive in Amsterdam by September 2005. 4) Armenian Relief Society's 85th Convention Concludes WOODLAND HILLS--The Armenian Relief Society's 85th Convention took place in Southern California from July 21 to July 24, with the participation of 36 delegates from 26 chapters. Participants included ARS Central Executive members Hasmig Derderian and Anahid Meymarian, and invited guests ARS Western Region (ARS-WR) Executive member Lucine Isjanian, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee member Vahe Bozoian, and former ARS-WR Executive Secretary Dr. Rita Vorperian. During the course of the four day convention, delegates made recommendations for the coming year, after reviewing the fiscal year's activities, and the regional executive's financial records, and finally, elected the 2005-2006 executive. Five new members--Garine Parigian-Setian, Christine Keshishian, Hourig Aintablian, Adrineh Postoian, and Rose Altounian--were elected to serve. Continuing their term are executive members Angela Savoian, Rita Hintlian, and Maral Nashalian-Arsenian. The convention also elected three delegates--Annie Keshishian, Sona Madarian, and Sonia Peltekian--to represent the ARS Western Region at the organization's International Convention. 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) 2005 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.