Month: April 2007

Azerbaijani ambassador extends a friendly hand: TRADE
by Brett Clanton, Houston Chronicle

The Houston Chronicle (Texas)
April 28, 2007 Saturday

Apr. 28–It was no accident that Yashar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s new
ambassador to the U.S., began his first official visit to the United
States on Friday with a stop in Houston.

His message to the energy capital of the world: The former Soviet state
has vast oil and natural gas reserves, a new pipeline to transport
them to the West and a strong desire to regain its status as a major
regional energy hub.

"Who else could be such a good bridge between Europe and Asia?"

Aliyev told the World Affairs Council of Houston during a luncheon
address at the Magnolia Hotel.

Azerbaijan, which gained its independence in 1991 with the collapse
of the Soviet Union, has struggled with the transition to a market
economy and democratic government. But investment by U.S. oil
companies has helped make the Eastern European nation one of the
world’s fastest-growing economies in recent years.

In a speech that was part history lesson and part sales pitch, Aliyev
reminded the crowd that Azerbaijan — not the U.S. — drilled the first
oil well in 1847, that its capital Baku at one point supplied half
the world’s oil needs and that American tourists are always welcome.

The best time to visit? "24/7, to say frankly," he said.

But he also criticized a 1992 U.S. provision that bans direct aid
to Azerbaijan as "not wise." The provision, known as Section 907
of the Freedom Support Act, was created to deter hostilities between
Azerbaijan and Armenia. The countries have had a long-standing conflict
over land in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region.

He also acknowledged that the country needs to diversify its
petroleum-based economy, a response to concerns that a huge influx
of oil revenues in coming years could lead to inflation.

In early 2006, a consortium of Western oil companies began pumping
1 million barrels a day from a large offshore field, through a $4
billion pipeline it built from Baku to Turkey’s Mediterranean port of
Ceyhan. By 2010, revenue from this project will double the country’s
gross domestic product, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence
Agency’s World Factbook Web site.

The pipeline is a challenge to Russia, a major supplier of natural
gas to Europe, which is trying to find other sources as Russia
raises prices.

And such projects could help Azerbaijan re-establish itself on the
world energy stage.

"Certainly, they have that potential," said Mustafa Erkan, a visiting
scholar to the University of Texas’ Center for Energy Economics,
who attended the Friday luncheon.

"I think Azerbaijan’s future will be as prominent as it has been in
the past," said Chuck Tanner, who oversees operations in Azerbaijan
for Devon Energy. The Tulsa, Okla.-based oil company has a 5.6 percent
stake in Azeri Chirag Guneshli in the Caspian Sea, one of the world’s
largest oil fields.

For his part, Aliyev said he wants to keep close ties to Houston,
which has had a sister city relationship with Baku since the 1970s.

To that end, he was scheduled to meet Friday with Mayor Bill White
about the prospect of participating in Houston’s International Fest
and enrolling more Azeri students in Houston universities.

Glendale News Press, CA
April 28 2007

FROM THE MARGINS:
Breaking ground in taboo territory

By PATRICK AZADIAN

A taboo topic can be forbidden because of social or cultural reasons
rather than legal prohibitions.

Every society has certain matters that it finds difficult to address.
And if the subject continues to cause pain for that particular society,
then the walls around the taboo are even more unassailable.

Ask a Cuban-American about the nature of Fidel Castro’s revolution and
you will understand what I mean. Bring up the topic of a united Ireland
to an Irish-American and you may realize certain issues are not up
for discussion. And try to have a dialogue with an Iranian-American
about the roots of the Islamic Revolution and you may be surprised
at the resistance in placing any responsibility for the events on
the pre-revolution dictatorship.

As traumatic as political upheavals may be, they are not in the same
league as the acts of genocide. Unlike wars and revolutions, there
are no two versions to the stories of systematic ethnic cleansing.

In the late ’90s, I took a class on the Jewish Diaspora with Rabbi
Chaim Seidler-Feller at UCLA.

On one occasion, Seidler-Feller invited his mother to attend the
lecture. She sat in the back of the classroom; the gesture was
endearing.

Within a half-hour, the setting that had started as sweet, had
become tense.

Seidler-Feller had chosen to tackle a sensitive topic on that
particular day. The question he posed was roughly: "Has the Holocaust
affected Jewish identity to the point where it has dominated the
definition of Jewish identity?"

Before long, the much-respected lecturer was facing a friendly revolt
on his own ground, and the leader of the mini uprising was no other
than his own mother.

Being a survivor of the Holocaust, she asked her son: "How can
we forget?"

Seidler-Feller’s question had nothing to do with forgetting or
forgiving. But it had broken ground in a taboo territory.

As a descendant of survivors of a genocide, I understood the
reaction. At the same time, as an "outsider," I was capable of
digesting the question.

A similar question in the Armenian-American community would get an
even harsher reaction. Understandably, this is due to a certain knot
in the whole process: The Turkish state has not yet acknowledged its
crime against humanity.

There are a few problems with this dependence on Turkish
acknowledgement.

As long as healing is conditional on Turkey coming to terms with its
history, an outside force is influential in the course chosen by the
Armenian-American community.

Moreover, by committing the act of genocide, Turkey has also altered
the evolution of the Armenian identity. In the post-genocide era, the
crux of the Armenian identity has become the "seeker of recognition
for the Armenian genocide."

Hrant Dink, the murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist, addressed the
issue of identity in his response to the charges brought against him
in a Turkish court.

"There is a certain history. A trauma. The Turk has become such a
source of pain that it poisons the Armenian blood.

"There are two ways of getting rid of this poison. One way is for
the Turks to empathize with you, and take action to reduce your trauma.

At the moment this seems unlikely. The second way is for you to rid
yourself of it yourself. Turn your attention toward the state of
Armenia and replace the poisoned blood associated with the Turk,
with fresh blood associated with Armenia," Dink said.

Without compromising the truth, Dink was clearly pointing to the
future rather than the past.

To be able to look to the future, however, a community needs to
possess a certain mind-set.

Is the Armenian-American community well equipped to tackle the issues
of today? Are community organizations passionate about dealing with
the issues of youth delinquency, drug addiction, domestic violence,
poverty and other social ills that plague all modern societies?

In addition, as ambassadors of American values abroad, is the
Armenian-American community the torchbearer of democracy for Armenia –
a nation that has the potential of being a small but a stabilizing
force in the Middle East and Eastern Europe? Is the community
involved in addressing the problem of human trafficking in that part
of the world?

It is time to heal?

Perhaps, it is time that healing is not dependent on the actions of
the perpetrator.

Healing does not even require forgiving the unrepentant. What it
does require, however, is caring about the present and the future
generations, as much as we care for the past ones.

PATRICK AZADIAN works and lives in Glendale. He may be reached at
respond@ fromthemargins.net.

Armenian Professional Society
P. O. Box 1944, Glendale, CA 91209-1944
e-mail: [email protected],
tel: 818-685-9946

Press Release
Armenian Professional Society Presents:

IF THE GENOCIDE IS RECOGNIZED, WHAT DOES THE ARMENIAN COMMUNITY EXPECT NEXT?

When: Monday, May 7, 2007
Where: Glendale Main Library Auditorium: 222 E Harvard Ave Glendale, CA,
91210
Admission: Free

NO DINNER, JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

The Armenian Professional Society has invited several prominent
community members to come and present their individual ideas about
what direction the community should take should take, if and when the
Genocide is recognized by the United States and Turkey.

Invited guests:
– Mark Chenin
– Dr. Levon Marashlian,
– Harout Sassounian,
– Hovan Simonian
– Vartkes Yeghiayan

Moderator: Dr. Hirair Dekmejian,

This event is guaranteed to be thought provoking. Come and hear what
the various views and opinions are contemplated from demands for
reparations to just being thankful that recognition was finally
obtained. A large part of the program will be devoted to questions of
the panel members and their answers. Be part of this necessary
process.

7:00 pm SHARP light refreshments will be served with the Program to
promptly start at 7:30 PM. Seating is limited to just 230. First come,
first seated.

Turkey faces military crisis

EU warns generals as army threatens to step in if Islamist minister wins
presidential election

Helena Smith and Ned Temko
Sunday April 29, 2007

The Observer

Turkey came under mounting pressure from the European Union last night
to rein in the influence of its generals, after the country’s powerful
pro-secular military threatened to intervene in the Islamic-oriented
government amid growing turmoil over the election of a new President.

Olli Rehn, the European Union enlargement commissioner, who has been
a keen supporter of Ankara’s eventual accession to the bloc, warned
the military to stay out of politics, saying the election was a
‘test case’ for the Turkish military’s respect for democracy.

Rehn issued the salvo after Turkey’s general staff weighed in on the
dispute, saying they would not flinch at intervention if it meant
upholding the Muslim state’s cherished secular values.

The country’s secular elite has voiced grave concerns over the
government’s choice of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul as a presidential
candidate, given the politician’s Islamist beliefs – his wife and
daughter wear the headscarf.

‘The Chief of the General Staff is answerable to the Prime Minister,’
declared Cemil Cicek, justice Minister in the government of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is a former Islamist but has
pledged his commitment to Turkey’s secular political system. Military
intervention would be ‘inconceivable in a democratic state,’
Cicek said.

Within hours of Gul’s failure to win enough votes in a first round
of balloting on Friday, the military, which has staged four coups
in the past 50 years, posted a statement on its website invoking its
role as defender of the country’s secular traditions as laid out by
Turkey’s modern soldier-statesman founder, Mustafa Ataturk.

‘In recent days, the problem during the presidential election has
focused on secularism discussions,’ the statement said. ‘This situation
has been anxiously followed by the Turkish armed forces. The Turkish
armed forces maintains its firm determination to carry out its clearly
specified duties to protect these principles and has absolute loyalty
and belief in this determination.’

The statement then went on to list the ruling AK party’s perceived
violations of secularism, including the fact that some headmasters
had been allowed to order the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s
birthday.

The military made the announcement after the secular opposition
appealed to the state’s constitutional court to cancel the election.

Many fear that if elected, Gul would be in a position to do away with
the checks and balances built into system by eroding the secular
nature of the courts and other autonomous bodies and appointing
Islamic-oriented candidates to powerful civil service positions.

Recently, hundreds of thousands demonstrated against the prospect of
the Prime Minister running in the election, whose second round takes
place this week.

According to Professor Ahmet Evin, who teaches political science
at Istanbul’s Sabanci University: ‘People fear that if someone who
is suspected of having Islamist leanings takes control of the post,
it will allow the AK party to move ahead on its Islamist agenda.’

A former firebrand, Erdogan has fiercely denied that he has a hidden
agenda, but critics say his actions often speak louder than words.

Since assuming office nearly five years ago, he has publicly endorsed
the lifting of restrictions on women wearing Islamic-style headscarves
in government offices and schools, attempted to outlaw adultery and
approved of alcohol bans by AK party-run municipalities.

In the first round of the election last week, Gul failed to reach
the two-thirds vote he needed to win. A second vote is scheduled for
Wednesday, when he will need a simple majority.

VARTAN OSKANIAN: WE’LL DEMAND THAT TURKEY OPEN THE lAST CLOSED BORDER
OF EUROPE AND ESTABLISH NORMAL RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

BRUSSELS, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Late April 27 the "Brussels Forum
2007" representative conference (organized by the German Marshall Fund
of the US and the Bertelsmann Fund) started its work in Brussels. The
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian is also participating in
the conference.

Estonian and Lithuanian presidents, Belgian prime minister, foreign
ministers of Georgia, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Canada, NATO
Secretary-General, commissionaires of the European Commission, other
high-ranking officials are among conference participants.

On April 28 V. Oskanian along with Georgian foreign minister Gela
Bezhuashvili and chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission of
Azerbaijani parliament S. Seidov was the prinicipal speaker at the
discussion "From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea: New Euroatlantic
Challenges".

In his speech the RA foreign minister addressed the role of European
and Euroatlantic organizations in the reagion, presenting some aspects
of relations of these organizations and other global forces with
Armenia. He spoke about the approach adopted by Armenia, which aims
to promote further intergation with European structures and takes
into account the interests of other forces involved in the region.

V. Oskanian also spoke about Armeni’s economic progress, noting that
a two-digital economic growth has been registered in the country for
the seventh consecutive year. Although, in his words, during the ten
years that have passed after the ceasefire, Azerbaijan and its ally –
Turkey were waiting for Armenia to collapse under poverty and economic
stagnation, this has not taken place and will not happen. The minister
noted with regret that no lessons are drawn from this experience, as
a result of which Azerbaijan and Turkey make new efforts to blockade
Armenia. One evidence is the 700 million dollar deal signed recently,
which envisages constructing a new railway that bypasses Armenia.

"The new railway will not cause greater damage than the closed
border. It is the political climate that will suffer, and not economic
benefits. We’ll continue to speak in favor of operating the existing
railway. We’ll go further and demand that Turkey open the last
closed border in Europe and establish normal relations with Armenia,
" the Armenian foreign minister stated.

V. Oskanian noted the contradiction between the approaches to conflicts
which are officially voiced by GUAM countries and their initiative
at the UN. He re-asserted Armenia’s position, according to which it
is impossible to address four different conflicts in one resolution.

According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, within the
framework of the conference, V. Oskanian had meeting with Georgian
foreign minister G. Bezhuashvili.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT DECLINES TO PARTICIPATE IN PARLIAMENTARY
ELECTIONS BY PROPORTIONAL ELECTORAL SYSTEM

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The "Armenian National Movement"
(ANM) party, which was registered for participation in the May 12
parliamentary elections by the proportional electoral system, on
April 28 submitted to the RA Central Election Commission (CEC) the
party board’s decision to give up further electoral struggle. NT was
informed about it from the CEC secretary Hamlet Abrahamian. According
to him, based on the submitted decision, the RA CEC will recognize
the registration of ANM election list as invalid at the upcoming
sitting of the CEC.

ATDA IMPLEMENTS WORK ON ARMENIA.TRAVEL DOMAIN CREATION

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. By late 2007, the Armenian Tourism
Development Agency (ATDA) plans to implement a number of programs with
the aim of expanding international cooperation in the tourism sector
and improving Armenia’s image as a tourism country. Syuzanna Azoyan,
ATDA Director for Marketing, told NT correspondent that Armenian,
Russian, French, Italian, German and Japanese versions of ATDA’s
English website () will be created by December
2007. "Refreshing the website will help increase the number of
individual tourist visits from abroad," she noted.

According to her, ATDA is conducting negotiations on creating the
Armenian domain "armenia.travel" at the domain "travel" of the famous
tourism website.

STS AND USAID SIGN DOCUMENT ON COOPERATION IN 2007

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Head of the State Tax Service (STS)
adjunct to the RA government Felix Tsolakian and Head of the USAID
Armenia Office Robin Philips on April 27 signed a document on 2007
activities aimed at improving Armenia’s tax sector.

NT was informed from the STS PR Department that this program has
been implemented since 2006 and its purpose is to improve tax
administration. Since early 2007, projects on increasing the level
of tax payers’ informaion and work on modernization of information
technologies used in the STS have been carried out. Besides, the
heating system and the consultation hall of the STS building were
repaired.

ARMENIA IN 74th PLACE AMONG 124 COUNTRIES BY TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS
INDEX

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia is in 74th place among 124
countries by its tourism competitiveness index, yielding only to two
CIS countries – Georgia (66th place) and Russia (68th place). This is
said in the first report on Armenia’s tourism competitiveness, which
was published by the research center "Economy and Values" in April.

The center director Manuk Hergnian informed NT correspondent that
the report contains information mainly based on the data of the
Global Competitiveness Report. The report on Armenia’s tourism
competitiveness also contains data of the RA National Statistical
Service, the International Civil Aviation Organization, UNESCO and
other international organizations.

According to the report, the subtotal of tourism business environment
and tourism infrastructures had a negative impact on Armenia’s position
– Armenia is in 96th place. Whereas in terms of the tourism regulating
field and the human, cultural and natural resources, Armenia is in
65th and 62nd places respectively.

THIS TIME ALSO 250 FILMS TO BE PRESENTED AT GOLDEN APRICOT
ITERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

YEREVAN, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The preparatory activities of Golden
Apricot (Voske Tsiran) international film festival started as early
as last year, immediately after the end of the previous festival. As
Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Mikayel Stamboltsian,
Director of festival’s programs, the festival’s poster will be changed
and a new catalogue will be formed this year, too.

In M. Stamboltsian’s words, it is planned to show 250 films in contest
and extra-contest programs in the days of Golden Apricot festival to
be held on July 9-15. The deadline for accepting bids was April 15.