Month: August 2008

Hürriyet
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
U.S. presses Turkey to allow NATO forces’ deployment to Black Sea

The United States is expected to pile pressure on Turkey to deploy permanent
NATO navy forces for patrol missions in the organization’s summit which
would start in Brussels. Turkey is concerned that such move would open a
debate on the 1936 Montreux Convention and eventually harm its sovereign
rights on the straits.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan attended the meeting of 26 NATO foreign
ministers that met in Brussels on Tuesday. The members are expected to
reaffirm their support for Georgia and send a strong message to Russia
without freezing out Moscow diplomatically.
Turkey has long opposed to the deployment of NATO navy forces on the Black
Sea, saying the region is safe and the Blackseafor’s, which was formed by
the contribution of the surrounding countries, patrol mission is sufficient.
Diplomatic sources, however, told hurriyet.com.tr that the clashes between
Georgia and Russia had weakened Turkey’s thesis, prompting the U.S. to
relaunch its bid for deployment of NATO forces on the Black Sea.
The deployment of NATO forces in the Black Sea would breach the Montreux
Agreement, which limits the total weight of the warships that a country who
does not have border with the Black Sea can deploy to 45,000 tons.
The Turkish Straits are considered as one of the most strategic waterways of
the world and located within Turkey’s territorial waters. The Montreux
Convention, reinstating its sovereignty over the strategic Turkish Straits,
and regulating navigation through them, was signed in 1936.

The West encouraged Georgia’s reckless assault
By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

e9-469a-4106-9b70-78187144096b
Published on 8/17/2008

Moscow – The past week’s events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and
pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands
have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins.
Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning
to all.

The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia’s separatist
leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to
be a time bomb for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Each time
successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force – both
in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are
similar – it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old
injuries.

Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For
some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The
peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians
fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live
close to each other, found at least some common ground.

Through all these years, Russia has continued to recognize Georgia’s
territorial integrity. Clearly, the only way to solve the South
Ossetian problem on that basis is through peaceful means. Indeed, in a
civilized world, there is no other way.

The Georgian leadership flouted this key principle.

What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The
Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali
with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas.
Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against `small,
defenseless Georgia’ is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of
humanity.

Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision
whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different
nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this
only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more
powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S.
instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a
number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of NATO membership,
emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with
a `blitzkrieg’ in South Ossetia.

In other words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was expecting
unconditional support from the West, and the West had given him reason
to think he would have it. Now that the Georgian military assault has
been routed, both the Georgian government and its supporters should
rethink their position.

Urgent steps must be taken to help the victims and to rebuild the
devastated towns and villages. It is equally important to start
thinking about ways to solve the underlying problem, which is among the
most painful and challenging issues in the Caucasus – a region that
should be approached with the greatest care.

When the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia first flared up, I
proposed that they be settled through a federation that would grant
broad autonomy to the two republics. This idea was dismissed,
particularly by the Georgians. Attitudes gradually shifted, but after
last week, it will be much more difficult to strike a deal even on such
a basis.

Old grievances are a heavy burden. Healing is a long process that
requires patience and dialogue, with non-use of force an indispensable
precondition. It took decades to bring to an end similar conflicts in
Europe and elsewhere, and other long-standing issues are still
smoldering. In addition to patience, this situation requires wisdom.

Small nations of the Caucasus do have a history of living together. It
has been demonstrated that a lasting peace is possible, that tolerance
and cooperation can create conditions for normal life and development.
Nothing is more important than that.

The region’s political leaders need to realize this. Instead of flexing
military muscle, they should devote their efforts to building the
groundwork for durable peace.

Over the past few days, some Western nations have taken positions,
particularly in the U.N. Security Council, that have been far from
balanced. As a result, the Security Council was not able to act
effectively from the very start of this conflict. By declaring the
Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American
continent, a sphere of its `national interest,’ the United States made
a serious blunder. Of course, peace in the Caucasus is in everyone’s
interest. But it is simply common sense to recognize that Russia is
rooted there by common geography and centuries of history. Russia is
not seeking territorial expansion, but it has legitimate interests in
this region.

The international community’s long-term aim could be to create a
sub-regional system of security and cooperation that would make any
provocation, and the very possibility of crises such as this one,
impossible. Building this type of system would be challenging and could
only be accomplished with the cooperation of the region’s countries
themselves. Nations outside the region could perhaps help, too – but
only if they take a fair and objective stance. A lesson from recent
events is that geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in
the Caucasus.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DIVIDED THEY STAND: NATO SEARCHES FOR A STRATEGY TO CONFRONT RUSSIA

The Times
August 19, 2008
UK

Tony Halpin in Gori and Charles Bremner in Paris

The Russian Army continued to occupy Georgia in defiance of the West
yesterday as Nato leaders gathered to hammer out a united response
to the new military threat from Moscow.

There was no sign of a withdrawal from Georgian soil despite a
declaration from Moscow that a pullout had begun. The Georgian
Government in Tbilisi countered that Russian forces were still trying
to take more territory.

Nato foreign ministers will meet in Brussels today to try to overcome
deep-seated divisions on the best way to confront the first Russian
invasion of a neighbour since the end of the Cold War. The United
States, Britain and many Eastern European states are pressing for a
tough stance but France, Germany and others are reluctant to alienate
Moscow.

Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, told forces veterans in the
city of Kursk, the scene of one of the decisive battles of the Second
World War, that Russia would deliver a "crushing response" to any
attack on its citizens. A Nato spokeswoman said that its 26 foreign
ministers would "reiterate full support for the territorial integrity
of Georgia" and its eventual membership of the alliance. A package
of support measures could include aid to rebuild Georgia’s military
infrastructure, which Tbilisi says has been wrecked by Russian forces.

Dmitri Rogozin, Russia’s Ambassador to Nato, warned the alliance that
its relationship with Moscow would suffer if the foreign ministers
expressed support for Georgia. Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign
Minister, also disclosed that Russia was "not inclined to accept"
a team of 100 European observers to monitor the ceasefire in Georgia.

The Times witnessed Russian forces continuing to man checkpoints
and defensive positions 40km (25 miles) from Georgia’s capital,
Tbilisi, yesterday. Troops controlled the road to the city of Gori,
which remained under Russian control.

Hundreds of Georgian soldiers sat in pick-up trucks about five miles
from the first Russian checkpoint, waiting to reclaim control of
Gori. After some hours, however, they retreated towards Tbilisi when
it became clear that the Russians were not leaving.

Russian troops blocked access to Gori, although humanitarian aid
was allowed in, and a series of explosions could be heard in the
city. Several blasts were also heard in the town of Senaki, where
Russian troops also barred reporters from entering.

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said that there was "not even a sign"
of a Russian withdrawal, adding that police had deterred a Russian
advance into the town of Sachkere and the spa resort of Borjomi in
central Georgia.

The deputy head of the general staff in Moscow announced the start of a
pullout from Georgia but gave no indication of when Russia would comply
with US and European demands for a complete withdrawal. Colonel-General
Anatoly Nogovitsyn said: "I can only say that we will not be leaving
as fast as we came."

The White House repeated its demand for a withdrawal "without
delay". US Defence Department officials said that Russia had moved
SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia that are capable of
hitting Tbilisi.

EU leaders have been hardening their attitude as patience over Kremlin
intransigence runs out. President Sarkozy of France, the EU’s current
chairman, said he would call an emergency summit "to decide what
consequences to draw" if Russian forces were not pulled out.

President Sarkozy, who brokered the ceasefire deal with Russia last
week, warned President Medvedev on Sunday that there would be "serious
consequences" for relations with the EU if Russia did not comply with
the accord.

Germany is working on a proposal for a reconstruction conference for
Georgia involving the EU and Georgia’s neighbours in the Caucasus,
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Before flying to the Nato meeting, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary
of State, said that Russia’s reputation lay in tatters. She said:
"We are going to help rebuild Georgia into a strong Georgian state. The
Russians will have failed in their effort to undermine Georgia."

A President Saakashvili’s future seemed less certain in Georgia as
criticism emerged of his decision to send troops into South Ossetia
on August 7.

Opposition leaders said that he would face hard questions once Russian
tanks had left Georgia.

Nino Burjanadze, a former ally in the 2003 Rose Revolution that swept
Mr Saakashvili to power, is emerging as a potential challenger. She
told Reuters: "Georgian mothers are very brave and they are ready to
send their children, their sons, to fight to defend their country. But
Georgian mothers, as all mothers in the world, have a right to know
why they are doing this."

Iran successfully launches its first satellite into space

18:07 | 17/ 08/ 2008

TEHRAN, August 17 (RIA Novosti) – Iran has successfully launched its
first domestically built satellite, the news agency of the Islamic
Republic reported on Sunday.

The satellite called Omid or Hope was delivered into orbit by an
Iranian carrier rocket, IRNA said, referring to the Iranian Armed
Forces General Staff.

In February Tehran successfully launched the Explorer-1 research
rocket, which is reportedly capable of carrying a satellite into orbit,
and unveiled the country’s first domestically built satellite, named
Omid.

The Neocons Do Georgia
Humanity’s Greatest Enemy?

8.html
August 15, 2008

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

The success of the Bush Regime’s propaganda, lies, and deception with
gullible and inattentive Americans since 9/11 has made it difficult for
intelligent, aware people to be optimistic about the future of the
United States. For almost 8 years the US media has served as Ministry
of Propaganda for a war criminal regime. Americans incapable of
thinking for themselves, reading between the lines, or accessing
foreign media on the Internet have been brainwashed.

As the Nazi propagandist, Joseph Goebbels, said, it is easy to deceive
a people. You just tell them they have been attacked and wave the flag.

It certainly worked with Americans.

The gullibility and unconcern of the American people has had many
victims. There are 1.25 million dead Iraqis. There are 4 million
displaced Iraqis. No one knows how many are maimed and orphaned.

Iraq is in ruins, its infrastructure destroyed by American bombs,
missiles, and helicopter gunships.

We do not know the death toll in Afghanistan, but even the American
puppet regime protests the repeated killings of women and children by
US and NATO troops.

We don’t know what the death toll would be in Iran if Darth Cheney and
the neocons succeed in their plot with Israel to bomb Iran, perhaps
with nuclear weapons.

What we do know is that all this murder and destruction has no
justification and is evil. It is the work of evil men who have no
qualms about lying and deceiving in order to kill innocent people to
achieve their undeclared agenda.

That such evil people have control over the United States government
and media damns the American public for eternity.

America will never recover from the shame and dishonor heaped upon her
by the neoconned Bush Regime.

The success of the neocon propaganda has been so great that the
opposition party has not lifted a finger to rein in the Bush Regime’s
criminal actions. Even Obama, who promises `change’ is too intimidated
by the neocon’s success in brainwashing the American population to do
what his supporters hoped he would do and lead us out of the shame in
which the neoconned Bush Regime has imprisoned us.

This about sums up the pessimistic state in which I existed prior to
the go-ahead given by the Bush Regime to its puppet in Georgia to
ethnically cleanse South Ossetia of Russians in order to defuse the
separatist movement. The American media, aka, the Ministry of Lies and
Deceit, again accommodated the criminal Bush Regime and proclaimed
`Russian invasion’ to cover up the ethnic cleansing of Russians in
South Ossetia by the Georgian military assault.

Only this time, the rest of the world didn’t buy it. The many years of
lies–9/11, Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, al Qaeda connections,
yellowcake, anthrax attack, Iranian nukes, `the United States doesn’t
torture,’ the bombings of weddings, funerals, and children’s soccer
games, Abu Ghraib, renditions, Guantanamo, various fabricated
`terrorist plots,’ the determined assault on civil liberties–have
taken their toll on American credibility. No one outside America any
longer believes the US media or the US government.

The rest of the world reported the facts–an assault on Russian
civilians by American and Israeli trained and equipped Georgian troops.

The Bush Regime, overcome by hubris, expected Russia to accept this act
of American hegemony. But the Russians did not, and the Georgian
military was sent fleeing for its life.

The neoconned Republican response to the Russian failure to follow the
script and to be intimidated by the `unipower’ was so imbecilic that it
shattered the brainwashing to which Americans had succumbed.

McCain declared: `In the 21st century nations don’t invade other
nations.’ Imagine the laughs Jon Stewart will get out of this on the
Daily Show. In the early years of the 21st century the United States
has already invaded two countries and has been beating the drums for
attacking a third. President Bush, the chief invader of the 21st
century, echoed McCain’s claim that nations don’t invade other nations.
.stm

This dissonant claim shocked even brainwashed Americans, as readers’
emails reveal. If in the 21st century countries don’t invade other
countries, what is Bush doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what are the
naval armadas and propaganda arrayed against Iran about?

Have two of the worst warmongers of modern times–Bush and
McCain–called off the US/Israeli attack on Iran? If McCain is elected
president, is he going to pull US troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan as
`nations don’t invade other nations,’ or is President Bush going to
beat him to it?

We all know the answer.

The two stooges are astonished that the Americans have taught hegemony
to Russians, who were previously operating, naively perhaps, on the
basis of good will.

Suddenly the Western Europeans have realized that being allied with the
United States is like holding a tiger by the tail. No European country
wants to be hurled into war with Russia. Germany, France, and Italy
must be thanking God they blocked Georgia’s membership in NATO.

The Ukraine, where a sick nationalism has taken hold funded by the
neocon National Endowment for Democracy, will be the next conflict
between American pretensions and Russia. Russia is being taught by the
neocons that freeing the constituent parts of its empire has not
resulted in their independence but in their absorption into the
American Empire.

Unless enough Americans can overcome their brainwashed state and the
rigged Diebold voting machines, turn out the imbecilic Republicans and
hold the neoconservatives accountable for their crimes against
humanity, a crazed neocon US government will provoke nuclear war with
Russia.

The neoconservatives represent the greatest danger ever faced by the
United States and the world. Humanity has no greater enemy.

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the
Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street
Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He
is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at:
[email protected]

ERGENEKON DOCUMENT REVEALS MÄ°T’S ASSASSINATION SECRETS

Today’S Zaman
Aug 19 2008
Turkey

A New Document From The Ergenekon Archive Has Revealed That The
National Intelligence Organization (MÄ°T) Paid Regular Salaries To
Ultranationalists To Carry Out Illegal Operations.

Ergenekon is a shadowy criminal network with links to the bureaucracy,
state security forces and other agencies whose members are accused
of orchestrating various murders and attacks so as to create chaos
and trigger a coup d’état against the government.

The information about MÄ°T has been suspected for a long time, but
this is the first time a document will appear in court that exposes
the details of an episode in which some members of the Nationalist
Movement Party’s (MHP) extreme nationalist groups, also known as
the Grey Wolves, were armed and funded by the state to carry out
political murders.

The document, found in Ergenekon archives and presented to a civil
court of law last month along with the indictment against the
group’s suspected members, revealed a deal made between various
ultranationalists who had fled the country as fugitives after being
involved in a number of acts of political violence in the prelude to
the violent coup on Sept. 12, 1980, most significantly the murder of
Milliyet newspaper Editor-in-Chief Abdi Ä°pekci (1977) and the brutal
killings of seven left-wing university students (1978).

These nationalists — including Abdullah Catlı, Oral Celik and Mehmet
Å~^ener, who are all publicly associated with such activities as the
drug trade, extortion, and the kidnappings and murders of southeastern
businessmen — were hired to assassinate targets, mostly members of
Armenian terrorist organization the Armenian Secret Army for the
Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), which frequently attacked Turkish
diplomatic targets abroad in those days. Later, some of them were
brought back to Turkey to stage illegal operations against the
terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

An earlier record of evidence of shadowy MÄ°T operations only included
the names of Catlı and Haluk Kırcı. The secret archive document from
the Ergenekon investigation was found at the office of the Workers’
Party (Ä°P), a small neo-nationalist party whose leader is currently
in jail over alleged Ergenekon membership. It lists the names of
everyone on the assassination team and reveals that Catlı acted as
the group’s leader, or "reis" in Grey Wolf jargon.

According to the Ergenekon document titled "The Armenian Question
2000-2002," the administrators in power in 1982 — the generals who
staged the Sept. 12 coup — decided to retaliate against ASALA’s
terrorist attacks. MÄ°T’s Deputy Regional Director Metin Gunyol was
assigned to lead the operation. He quit his position at MÄ°T in order
not to expose his true identity and flew to Europe under the name
Veli Ozpınar. Once in Europe, Gunyol contacted former Grey Wolf
Cengiz Cömert.

Cömert was later mentioned in a parliamentary commission report
prepared after the Susurluk affair of 1996 — a car accident that
exposed for the first time the shadowy relations between state security
forces and the criminals they were employing for operations outside
the law — as being linked to the murder of southeastern businessman
Mehmet Ali Yaprak, who was kidnapped and then killed.

Gunyol, after his initial contact with Cömert, set up a team of 12
individuals, including Abdullah Catlı (using the name Mehmet Sarol),
Oral Celik (Atilla Celik) and Mehmet Å~^ener (DurmuÅ~_ Unutmaz); others
included former nationalist club leaders Ramiz Ongun, Enver TortaÅ~_,
Tevfik Esensoy, Bedri AteÅ~_ (Ugur Ozgöbek), Rıfat Yıldırım,
Turkmen Onur and Uzeyir Bayraklı.

MÄ°T initially allocated $320 monthly to this group from the state’s
discretionary funds for fighting terrorism; later they increased the
amount to $4,700. The group was supplied with five 7.65 mm Belgian
Brownings, five nine mm Brownings, two Kalashnikovs, nine blocks of
TNT, five blocks of plastic explosive and other ammunitions delivered
by couriers.

The group bombed the Armenian genocide memorial in Alfortville, Paris,
on May 3, 1984. The French police soon discovered that the operation
was commanded by the Turkish MÄ°T.

The indictment against Ergenekon argues that based on information
from the group’s archive, the network planned to "learn" from MÄ°T’s
"experience against ASALA." Ergenekon’s plan was to turn Turkey’s
economy into a narcotics-based industry, which would erode American
support for Turkey and at the same time "end peace and stability in
Armenia completely and until the end of time."

–Boundary_(ID_A2QWJCMiyXWH8/+1lmovIg )–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIA MAY TIGHTEN ITS POLICY TOWARDS THE CIS COUNTRIES

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 18, 2008 Monday
Russia

Parrying the aggression of Georgia against South Ossetia has
demonstrated this

This is understandable because Saakashvili and Yushchenko being
supporters of Washington have become allies in the anti-Russian
attitude a long time ago. But why have Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia
and other closest allies of Russia kept silent? Attempts to answer
this question enable us to say that Russia is to blame for such a
stance because of many reasons. Moscow makes too many concessions
and courtesies towards its allies.

But what we are to do?

First, with regard to some unfriendly opponents of Russia, we need to
continue a harsh policy. Taking into account the explosive situation
in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and a possibility of unleashing of a
new large-scale war there, we think that it is necessary to tighten
sanctions of Russia against Georgia. Russia has the right to demand
this from its CSTO allies (exactly, to demand this!). This is not
an arbitrary action but an element of harsh policy. Russia has a
right to, having obtained support of the UN, to undertake a course at
demilitarization of Georgia. For example, it can organize its maritime
and aerial blockade and to implement examination of ships arriving
to its ports via the Black Sea from the standpoint of transportation
of armament and ammunition.

Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, who had been the director of the
main department of international military cooperation in the Defense
Ministry for a long time, announced that Russia stopped combat
operations against Georgia too early and agreed with a dialogue with
intermediaries from the European Union.

Ivashov said, "the victory over Georgia was given to Sarkozy who
already changed the paragraphs of the conflict regulation, which
would definitely have the most negative impact on the geopolitical
interests of Russia in Georgia and in entire South Caucasus in the
future." According to Ivashov, having characterized Georgia as an
aggressor country that allowed genocide of Ossetians and Russians the
Russian authorities had not to enforce peace on Georgia but to achieve
its capitulation as had happened to fascist Germany in the past.

Ivashov says, "for the purpose of prevention of new aggression,
it would be possible to broaden the security zone of South Ossetia
by 30-40 kilometers to the south of the country having reached
Gori. In Western Georgia it would be possible to take the strategic
paths leading to the Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi under
control. However, we have not even managed to impose a paragraph on
the complete demilitarization of Georgia on the European Union. This
means that we are not protected from new aggressive actions on the
part of Georgia."

Second, we need aggressiveness not only on the military and diplomatic
level but also on the economic one. Russia has economic leverage to
pressure Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova. It is necessary to reinforce
them. Russia is catastrophically losing many markets on the territory
of the CIS but invests petrodollars in the economy of the US and other
Western countries. Why cannot we invest them in the economies of the
aforementioned countries thus connecting them to our country not only
in business but also in policy? Probably then they will become more
loyal towards Moscow?

Third, it is necessary to give up the tactic of "sick and carrot"
towards the allies of Russia in the post-Soviet space (first of all,
in the field of military technological cooperation). It is necessary
to tell the CSTO allies: security in exchange for economic concessions
in business.

Fourth, it is really high time for Moscow to manifest its will and to
fulfill what is written in the foreign policy concept (FPC) with regard
to the role of the collective security system in the post-Soviet
space. For example, the FPC says that Russia views the CSTO as
"a key tool in maintenance of stability and provision of security
in the CIS emphasizing adaptation of the CSTO as a multifunctional
integration structure to the changing situation and transformation
of the organization into the main institution of security provision
in the zone of its responsibility." Unfortunately, this has been
said at least for ten years. However, the CSTO was passive when
the "tulip" revolution happened in Kyrgyzstan. There is also no
participation of the CSTO in the peacekeeping activities in the
post-Soviet space. Probably that is why NATO ignores contacts with
this organization. However, Moscow wants to change the situation in
this aspect and this is inspiring.

Henceforth, the plans for improvement of efficiency of the CSTO are
formulated in an official Russian document. It is necessary only to
make the CSTO such key tool in provision of security on the territory
of the CIS like this is written in the FPC.

Fifth, Russia needs to determine its opponents in the CIS in the
conceptual aspect. For example, the FPC says that the attitude
of Russia to sub-regional formations and other structures without
Russian participation in the CIS space is determined "proceeding from
evaluation of their real contribution to provision of good neighborly
relations and stability, their readiness to really take into account
the legal Russian interests and to respect the already existing
mechanisms of cooperation like the CIS, CSTO, Eurasian Economic
Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organization." It seems that this
is written correctly but the aforementioned mechanisms themselves
require improvement. This means that in its activities Russia needs
to write principles of interaction with these organizations in a
more. It seems that this is written correctly but the aforementioned
mechanisms themselves require improvement. This means that in its
activities Russia needs to outline the principles of interaction
with these organizations in a more detailed manner and clearer. We
should not be afraid of harshness. If Russia has real allies they
will understand this harshness. This means that we need to build a
new system of relations and contacts with them.

It is also possible to mention other necessary measures in foreign
policy of Russia towards the CIS countries. These measures will be
justified if they lead to growth of authority of Russia as the leading
country in the CIS.

Source: . The events connected with the conduction of the operation
of peace enforcement in the zones of the Georgian-Ossetian and
Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts by Russia have demonstrated not only the
increased combat readiness of the Armed Forces of Russia but also the
will of our country to defend its geopolitical interests in the South
Caucasian region. The main principles of resolving of the conflict
situation between Russia and Georgia were determined with mediation of
France. It would seem that having used military force Russia achieved
what it wanted: the aggressor was ousted from the territory of South
Ossetia and measures of humanitarian and political nature for provision
of assistance to the suffered population were taken. Meanwhile, if
we analyze lessons of these events, we encounter a very sad fact: the
allies of Russia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)
and in other organizations did not support Russia in a difficult time.

When the Russian troops were parrying the attack of the Georgian
aggressor at South Ossetia tete-a-tete, assistance was coming
only from the regions of Russia and CIS countries had either
incomprehensible silence or ardent zealous condemnation of Moscow,
which was demonstrated by the regime of Victor Yushchenko.

FRANCE: JONATAN CERRADA IN A MUSICAL ON AZNAVOUR

esctoday.com
s/read/12211
Aug 17 2008
Netherlands

Jonatan Cerrada, the 2004 French entrant, will soon sing in a musical
entitled "Je m’voyais deja", at the Theâtre du Gymnase in Paris. This
musical comedy features the best songs of legendary Charles Aznavour.

The show is based on Charles Aznavour’s most famous songs and it
will feature other names known to the French public. First role is
given to Diane Tell, a French-speaking artist from Canada, living in
France. Also on stage is Pablo Villafranca (Maurane’s ex-husband –
he played in "Les Dix Commandements. The casting was made by Bruno
Berberes, French Head of delegation for Eurovision since 2002.

The man behind this musical is Laurent Ruquier, a very famous French
comedian and TV talk show presenter. He also commented the Eurovision
Song Contest on two occasions : 2003 and 2004. Besides his television
appearances, Ruquier wrote around 10 plays (he’s the one who adapted
"Chicago" in French) and directed many other comedians in their
first steps.

"Je m’voyais deja" (it refers to one of Charles Aznavour’s songs) will
be premiered next October 2nd, until January 4th. And there will be
a live orchestra, Even with stilts, Belgian-but-with-Spanish-origins
Jonata Cerrada only placed 15th in Istanbul with "A Chaque pas"

–Boundary_(ID_pw75h8/eYDal1ui00xkCdg)- –

LORRY COLUMN CONSISTING OF 37 PETROL TANKERS TO BE DIRECTED TO ARMENIA FROM BATUMI

arminfo
2008-08-19 14:55:00

ArmInfo. Lorry column consisting of 37 petrol tankers will be directed
to Armenia from Batumi, executive director of the transport company
‘Apaven’ Gagik Agajanyan told ArmInfo correspondent.

‘At the moment all our petrol tankers are the oil terminals of Batumi
and a part of them has been already loaded’, – he said and added that
about 1800 tonnes of petrol of Armenian "Flash" company are in the
Batumi terminals and this amount will be delivered to Armenia over
the next days. Moreover, "Apaven" has already formed the second lorry
column, consisting of 40 petrol tankers, which will be directed to
Batumi soon.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SPOUSE OF OSCE MG US CO-CHAIR HOPES USA WILL BE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN ARMENIAN-AZERBAIJANI CONFLICT

arminfo
2008-08-19 14:53:00

ArmInfo. The spouse of OSCE Minsk Group US Co-chair hopes the USA will
be directly involved in the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict. Zeyno Baran,
Senior Fellow and Director of Hudson’s Center for Eurasian Policy,
said in an interview with 1news.az.

Asked about the influence of the South-Ossetic conflict on
neighbor-states – Azerbaijan and Armenia, she said that she is unaware
how the South-Ossetic situation will be resolved. Georgia lost the
war, she said. Leader of South Ossetia Kokoyti who was supported by
Russia admitted that ethnic purge of Georgians was carried out in
South Ossetia, Z. Baran said. Earlier Abhkazia was also ‘cleaned’
of Georgians. Now Russia demands establishment of the status of these
regions through a referendum using Kosovo precedent. If they succeed
in it, the Armenian stance to conduct a referendum to determine
the status of Nagorny Karabakh will get a great support. However,
Z. Baran doubts that the result will be such since the USA and EU
will be against the referendum in South Ossetia not to encourage the
aggressor, she said. In addition, if the referendum is held in Georgia,
Iran will strive for referendum to settle the future of Israel. Kurds
will want a referendum for the future of Kirkuk, which is inadmissible,
Z. Baran said. It is against Russian- Iranian adequation and it is
time for the West to admit that, Z. Baran said.

She believes the second point is the future of diplomatic
initiatives. She is sure that Russia will be no longer perceived as
a neutral peacemaker and Russia’s involvement in the determination
of the future of the two separatist regions will not be the same as
America’s involvement. Z. Baran could not say how it may influence
the OSCE Minsk process so far. However, she is sure that it will
influence the process since the US and Russian co-chairs will not
cooperate in settlement of a regional conflict when they have quite
different stances. That is why, she hopes the USA will be directly
involved in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict not as a member of a
group of states. Z. Baran said France and Russia have similar stances
in the case of Georgia. But the US stance on Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict will change only after the presidential election in the USA,
Zeyno Baran said.