ASBAREZ Online [07-26-2006]

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07/26/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1. House Backs Funding Ban on Turkish-Georgian-Azeri Rail Link 2. Baroness Cox Presents Julfa Monument Desecration at House of Lords 3. Armenia To Provide Relief To Lebanon 4. ARF Lebanon Meets with Religious Leaders, Ambassador 1. House Backs Funding Ban on Turkish-Georgian-Azeri Rail Link WASHINGTON (RFE/RL)--The US House of Representatives has passed legislation banning US government assistance to controversial plans for the construction of a railway that would link Turkey with Georgia and Azerbaijan and bypass Armenia. A resolution approved by legislators late Tuesday contains a provision which says that the US Export-Import Bank can not finance or promote "any rail connections or railway-related connections that do not traverse or connect with Armenia, and do traverse or connect Baku, Azerbaijan, Tbilisi, Georgia, and Kars, Turkey." The provision was unanimously backed by the House Financial Services Committee last month under pressure from Armenian-American lobbying groups. Its main sponsor, Congressman Joseph Crowley of New York, said the ban will "assist in promoting stability in the Caucasus region, help in ending long standing conflicts, and save US taxpayers the responsibility of funding a project that goes against US interests." "We thank Congressman Crowley, his Financial Services Committee colleagues Ed Royce and Brad Sherman, as well as the authors of the South Caucasus Integration and Open Railroads Act - Joe Knollenberg, Frank Pallone and George Radanovich - for securing the adoption by the House of this measure protecting American taxpayers from subsidizing an ill-advised and over-priced railroad project that--at the insistence of Turkey and Azerbaijan--has been proposed solely for the purpose of excluding Armenia," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America. The administration of President George. W. Bush did not voice objections to the bill, indicating its opposition to the railway project currently discussed by the governments of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan. "The proposed railway would bypass Armenia and thus not be beneficial to regional integration," Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried said earlier this year. Similar legislation is due to be debated in the US Senate soon. If passed, it will effectively block participation of US companies in the $400 million project that has prompted serious concern from Armenia's government. However, Turkish and Azeri officials have already downplayed the impact of US funding restrictions. "I think the three countries have enough funds to finance [the project] in one way or another," the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, Namik Tan, told RFE/RL on June 21. The Armenian government argues that there already exists a railroad connecting Turkey to the South Caucasus via Armenia and that the regional countries should reactivate it instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on building a new one. The Kars-Gyumri rail link has stood idle more than a decade as part of the continuing Turkish economic blockade of Armenia. Tan said it could be reopened only after a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. 2. Baroness Cox Presents Julfa Monument Desecration at House of Lords YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox told a press conference in Yerevan Tuesday that she has presented the ongoing desecration of Armenian monuments in Julfa (Nakhichevan) to the House of Lords, outlining that Azerbaijan systematically has destroyed 1000 such landmarks. During her presentation, Cox has demanded that the British government to exert pressure on Azerbaijan to allow international monitors and experts to visit the area to become acquainted with the situation. "What Azerbaijan is doing is a horrible crime. I will do my utmost to inform people about that and tell the world the truth," said Cox. Azeri army units stormed an Armenian cemetery along the banks of the Arax River in December, and with large hammers, shovels and tractors destroyed Armenian monuments, which had been salvaged in 2002. Cox also told journalists that Karabakh Armenians have the right to determine their future. Answering a question about her visions for Karabakh's future, the Baroness stated, "I cannot advise what to do; the people themselves should decide what is the most important thing for them" and added she was ready to support any action, which could lead to the conflict settlement and secure peaceful life. According to Baroness Cox, who has repeatedly been to the conflict area both during the war and after the cease-fire, Azerbaijan was the major aggressor in the Karabakh conflict and committed serious crimes against human rights. Perpetrating ethnic cleansing of the Armenians in Karabakh was a crime against humanity, the Baroness said. 3. Armenia To Provide Relief To Lebanon YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The Armenian government pledged on Wednesday to send humanitarian assistance to Lebanon as the number of people arriving in Armenia from the war-devastated country continued to rise. A government statement said Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan's cabinet will allocate on Thursday an unspecified amount of medicines, tents and fire-fighting equipment to the Lebanese authorities and ship them to Beirut via Syria later in the day. It said the aid will be provided in response to the Lebanese leadership's appeal to the international community to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the two-week Israeli bombardment. Details of the relief operation were discussed at a meeting of senior Armenian officials chaired by Minister for Local Government Hovik Abrahamian. The statement cited Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanian as telling the officials that more than 550 people have been evacuated to Armenia since Israel launched its onslaught on Lebanon on July 12. He said another 120 Lebanese residents are due to arrive in Yerevan on a special flight from Aleppo, Syria on Thursday. Most of the evacuees are Armenian nationals, the others being mainly ethnic Armenian citizens of Lebanon. In Gharibjanian's words, 49 Lebanese and two residents of Israel have applied for and will be granted asylum in Armenia. The government in Yerevan announced shortly after the start of Israeli military action that all Lebanese fleeing the conflict zone will be able to take refuge in Armenia for at least three months. The measure was primarily intended for members of the Lebanese-Armenian community. The cash-strapped government has not promised any financial aid to the arriving evacuees, though. But it said on Wednesday that it will look into ways of helping those of them who have no relatives and can not support themselves in Armenia. 4. ARF Lebanon Meets with Religious Leaders, Ambassador BEIRUT (Aztag)--A delegation from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Lebanon Central Committee met with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great See of Cilicia Tuesday at the Bikfaya monastery to discuss the ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Armenian community's role in light of the crisis. The ARF delegation updated the Catholicos on the humanitarian and relief efforts set forth by the Central Committee through corresponding organizations and the Bourdj Hammoud City Council to assist Lebanese refugees and victims of the attacks. The Catholicos praised the Armenian community's efforts, stressing that the community will be able to weather this crisis, as well. A Central Committee delegation also met with Armenia's Ambassador to Lebanon Vahan Ter-Ghevondyan and discussed coordination of efforts with the embassy. The delegation also met with the chairman of the Middle East Evangelical Church Organization, the patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church and the Prelate of Lebanon. During each meeting, the Central Committee delegation emphasized the importance of guaranteeing the safety and security of the community and the imperative for unity at the time of the crisis. They also discussed and coordinated refugee relief efforts with community leaders. 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) 2006 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.