Author: admin

U.N.: Almost a million refugees face hunger in 2005
By JONATHAN FOWLER

The Associated Press
12/21/04 11:09 EST

GENEVA (AP) – Around a million refugees could face hunger and
malnutrition next year because of meager donations from governments
of more prosperous countries, the United Nations said Tuesday.

Several hundred thousand refugees are already struggling to survive
because aid agencies have had to drastically reduce rations to ensure
there is enough to go round, said Ron Redmond, spokesman for the
U.N. high commissioner for refugees.

“We are especially worried for refugees in Africa,” Redmond told
reporters.

In Zambia, handouts already have been halved in the past two months
and soon will be slashed again, putting 87,000 people at risk of
malnutrition.

“Already, we are hearing reports of refugee women resorting to
prostitution to support themselves and their children,” Redmond
added. “Field offices in Zambia also report there has been a marked
increase in children dropping out of school, presumably to help their
families find food.”

In Tanzania, rations were cut by a quarter in October. UNHCR and the
World Food Program found last month that malnutrition is rising among
some 400,000 refugees from Burundi and Congo who live in Tanzania’s
camps.

Malnutrition also threatens some 118,000 refugees in Ethiopia, and
another 224,000 in Kenya, Redmond said.

In conflict-ravaged Congo, WFP says that next month it will need to
make ration cuts of almost one third, Redmond noted.

“Africa is not the only continent facing a breakdown in the food
pipeline,” he said.

In January, 140,000 displaced a decade ago by conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan face a complete cut in rations – just two months after
handouts were halved.

Non-U.N. aid agencies also have sounded the alarm, but some have
chastised the United Nations for failing to respond fast enough
to crises.

On Monday, U.S.-based Refugees International said the world body was
moving too slowly to hand out food to people who fled the conflict
in Ivory Coast.

But the Rome-based WFP said Tuesday it can only provide food assistance
to refugees who have a registration and a ration card issued by UNCHR,
given the limited resources of the agency. The ration card is the
only document that makes a refugee eligible for U.N. food assistance.

“We need to be absolutely sure that who gets the food is in need of
it,” said Caroline Hurford, WFP spokeswoman. “Otherwise, what would
we tell our donors?”

Hurford said food supplies are already in the border zone. But many
Ivorians are going back to Ivory Coast to harvest their crop and then
returning to Liberia to look for extra food.

“The process of feeding is not always easy with flows of population
going back and forth,” she said.

Associated Press writer Marta Falconi in Rome contributed to this
report.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A new era regarding the Armenian Question

Yeni Safak Newspaper
11/27/2004

Ali Bayramoglu ([email protected])

As the December 17th date (of EU deliberations on Turkey’s candidacy —
MG) gets closer, the attitudes regarding Turkey’s candidacy become
articulated, sharpened. Especially “Armenian diaspora” in France
has locked its entire energy to the “target of rejecting Turkey.”
All the way from the attempts in Marseilles by Dashnak groups attacking
Chirac physically to the declaration yesterday in Paris of an Armenian
organization that, not content with the recognition of the genocide,
demanding (for the first time) physical and material reparations in
relation to the events of 1915 as a precondition of Turkey’s membership
in the EU, the bar placed in front of Turkey keeps rising.

The actions, attitudes and timing of these groups make it evident
their intention is not to discuss but to punish.

The most significant glue of the identities of the Armenian diaspora,
that is, Armenians living outside of Turkey and Armenia (they make
up 5 million of the total Armenian population of 8 million) is the
1915 reference and “the fundamentalist struggle against Turkey,
therefore taking a stand against Turkey, even Turkish animosity,
as if there were a state of continuous war.”

Still, as we stated yesterday, Turkey’s getting closer to EU
membership has livened up Armenian politics and commenced the process
of differentiation among the Armenian communities.

Three different communities or actors of Armenian society with their
different experiences, different relations, and different communal
relations, are quickly getting politically differentiated from one
another.

Armenia, due to its societal-political interests and the geographical
conditions within which it is situated, is pursuing to develop gradual
relations with Turkey that takes as an index not the past but the
present and the future.

Likewise the Armenian community in Turkey, living with the Turks
and sharing the same destiny, problems and concerns with them, and
locked into the same target of elevating the quality of its societal
existence and life and rights, sails in the waters of the “present
time.” More importantly, it is escalating its democratic voice and
force through some of its natural leaders and representatives both
internationally and within the Armenian communities every passing day.

As for the diaspora that appears to be the strongest in terms of both
numbers and voice, the diaspora is becoming increasingly fragmented
within domestic Armenian politics. It has suddenly started to find
confronting it “Armenian voices” that it has not been used to hearing.

This situation and contradiction is evident: For the diaspora
Armenians, that which represents “the present and future time” is
their economic, social and emotional lives, the relations they have
in the countries they live. Many of them do not know Armenian, do not
care about Armenia, and for them being an Armenian and the Armenian
problem is an issue defined by history and the past that is located
in a chest and occasionally taken out.

And the past is basically treated in relation to the events of 1915.
For them, the Armenian identity is located on a one-dimensional image
of the “historical Turk.” This is a viewpoint that lives the past
as if it were the present, that makes the switch between the past
and the present totally nonexistent. At the meeting in Marseilles,
an Armenian explained the claim that the Turks knew everything about
the 1915 events with the following words:

“Your prime minister made everything public a few days ago.”

When we asked in disbelief which prime minister he was referring to,
he replied “Damad Ferit Pasha.”

The diaspora which has the “luxury” to live by freezing time, by
living the past Armenian identity in the chest as if it were today
is located, with its atemporal identities and hierachical problems,
right at the center of a definition of “patriarchy.”

This definition of the Turk and this exercise in reductionism express
a radical nationalism that feeds on the conception of the other.

What is important today is for the hegemony of the diaspora to become
contested.

For both Turkey and Armenia, this differentiation process opens novel
rational spaces within which to solve an ancient problem.

>>From the viewpoint of Turkey, relations established with Armenia
could enable the politics of today and tomorrow to triumph over the
reflexes of the past.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian speaker criticizes Russian counterpart’s remarks on ties

Aravot, Yerevan
21 Dec 04

Text of report by Anna Israelyan in Armenian newspaper Aravot on 21
December headlined “Replying to Gryzlov”

Yesterday 20 December the chairman of the Armenian National Assembly
Artur Bagdasaryan expressed his negative attitude to Russian State
Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov’s statement that Armenia is Russia’s
outpost in the South Caucasus.

“Certainly, I treat this statement badly,” Mr Bagdasaryan said. “First,
the Republic of Armenia is a sovereign state and cannot be an outpost
of any state. Second, the Armenian-Russian relations develop naturally
and the statement of the Azerbaijani president that Azerbaijan
is confused and does not know whether the peace talks should be
conducted with the outpost or its master should be considered just
in this context. For instance, today there is not an Azerbaijani
delegation in the Council of Europe, there is a Turkish-Azerbaijani
delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and
they jointly discuss and vote for all the issues,” Bagdasaryan added.

In fact, chairman of the National Assembly duplicated Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan, who replied to Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev’s statement: “For instance, we are not concerned about
warm Turkish-Azerbaijani relations”. But is it worthy to compare
the Armenian-Russian and the Turkish-Azerbaijani relations?

Artur Bagdasaryan replied: “No, we do not have an ethnic problem here.
Everybody understands that Russian-Armenian cooperation, including
military and political ones, has deeper roots than cooperation of
Russia with other states of the region. The Turkish-Azerbaijani
relations are qualitatively higher than the Armenian-Russian
ones. Anyway, the Armenian-Russian relations are unique due to
the dynamic of their development, and the Azerbaijani president’s
statement should be also considered in this context because the finger
was pointed not only at Armenia, but Russia as well. For this reason
we should be able to strengthen our sovereignty”.

Incidentally, the chairman of the National Assembly also joked that we
may thank Gryzlov for saying this, emphasizing that the word “thanks”
should be in quotation marks.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Democracy Group Blasts Russia’s Political Situation

PolitInfo.com, Germany
Dec 21 2004

A U.S.-based pro-democracy group has blasted recent political
developments in Russia, saying the country is moving toward
authoritarian rule.

In its annual global survey, Freedom House said it now classifies
Russia as “not free” amid restricted political rights and civil
liberties.

It said a growing trend exists under Russian President Vladimir Putin
to concentrate political authority, harass the media, and politicize
the country’s law enforcement system.

The group says the changes mark what it calls a dangerous and
disturbing trend toward authoritarianism in Russia.

In its survey, Freedom House gave the lowest possible score for
political rights and civil liberties to Burma, Chechnya, Cuba, Libya,
North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tibet and Turkmenistan.

It accused Armenia of increasingly unresponsive and undemocratic rule
and said Belarus remained Europe’s least free country.

The group did note positive political developments in Ukraine and
Georgia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KARABAGH HEALTH AUTHORITIES TO FEEL MORE FREE NEXT YEAR

ArmenPress
Dec 20 2004

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: The 2005 draft budget of the
government in Nagorno Karabagh sets a significant rise in the amount
of money that it can use to address the population health problems.
Authorities there believe that raising the health allocations from 871
million in 2004 to 1.210 billion for next year, almost a 40 percent
growth, will facilitate their efforts to extend qualified medical
services to rural population.

Karabagh health minister Zoya Lazarian believes the additional
money will be instrumental in upgrading rural health stations and
buy new equipment for them. Overall the 2005 budget earmarks around
$20 for each resident of Karabagh to address their health problems.
Concurrently doctors wages will increase twofold and nurses by almost
40 percent.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT COMMENTS ON ISSUE OF RETURN OF POPULATION’S DEPOSITS WITH
SAVINGSBANK OF FORMER USSR

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20. ARMINFO. The fact that Armenian President
Robert Kocharyan signed a decree on convocation of a parliamentary
extraordinary sitting to discuss the return of the population’s
deposits with the Savingsbank of the former USSR does not mean the
president supports the given initiative. President Robert Kocharyan
made this statement at a press-conference on Lori region.

In his words, he has never promised to return the population’s
deposits when running for presidency. Today, discussion of the state
budget for 2005 is more important and urgent for Armenia as the whole
financial activity is connected with this document, the president
thinks. Meanwhile, involvement into such a disputable and complicated
issue before discussion of the state budget will endanger the budget’s
adoption. This budget provides for a rise in the wages of teachers,
medical personnel, militaries and others, the president says. He notes
that it seems to be a escpecially planned action pursuing a goal of
creating tension to divert the attention of the government and the
parliamentary coalition from solution to the major issues. I am sure
that the number of reasonable MPs in the parliament is much higher
and the right ways towards solution to this issue will be found,
Robert Kocharyan says.

In the president words, a commission was convened in the parliament,
which works on the issue of returning the population’s deposits and
a governmental commission will be formed in late January, 2005 in
conformity with his instruction in order that the given problem be
further studied. As long as we lack a final idea of how to solve the
issue, we will not know the possible consequences of our decisions for
the country’s economy, and hereby, we shall not be able to solve the
problem, the president says. He expressed readiness to consider the
possible ways of its solution. Robert Kocharyan is of the opinion that
the action initiated in the parliament pursues a goal of making Orinats
Yerkir party to join the initiative hereby leaving the coalition in
an awkward situation. Meanwhile, the population’s problems bear no
relations to this interest, the president says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kazakh TV says bank chief’s death may remain mystery

Kazakh Television first channel, Astana
20 Dec 04

The death of the Kazakh TuranAlem private bank’s president, Yerzhan
Tatishev, may remain a mystery, Kazakh TV first channel has said. The
TV report also said that an attempt was made on Tatishev’s life in
2002. Tatishev was shot dead in a hunting accident in southern Kazakh
Zhambyl Region on 19 December. The following is the text of report
by Kazakh TV on 20 December:

[Presenter] Despite the fact that media sources have said that Yerzhan
Tatishev’s sudden death was an accident, as the head of a leading
financial establishment and a well-experienced and rich banker, his
death will undoubtedly give rise to various rumours. There had been
few rumours even before Tatishev’s death.

[Correspondent, over video of an archive footage of Tatishev at a
meeting, a TuranAlem bank office] The name of Yerzhan Tatishev, who
put the TuranAlem bank to its feet and brought it to the international
financial market, became well-known after his joining the Democratic
Choice of Kazakhstan [opposition] party. However, Tatishev left the
party two years ago, saying that the bank should be engaged in its
professional business and, first of all, be concerned with depositors’
interests.

A rumour, which damaged not only the bank chairman’s name but the
country’s international reputation, was circulated on an Internet
web site in summer last year. According to the rumour, the bank
chairman appropriated all the funds of the bank and escaped to the
USA. Tatishev denied this rumour via a video-link while being on a trip
to the USA. The rumour’s authors linked Tatishev’s trip to the USA
with the early release of Mukhtar Ablyazov [a former minister and an
opposition leader who was given a prison sentence for abuse of power].

In addition, an attempt was made on the banker’s life two years
ago. But he was not in a service car [when attacked]. The police said
there was a hidden political motive. Having signed the statement by
major Kazakh banks, Tatishev recently once again said that he would
not be involved in politics.

Some foreign media sources link the name of the TuranAlem bank chairman
with Kazakhstan’s debt worth 2.5m dollars to Uzbekistan.

In recent years, the Kazakh bank has started to penetrate the financial
markets of CIS countries. Ukrainian media sources called the TuranAlem
bank’s intention to buy a bank in this country a Kazakh offensive. The
bank also has its branches in Russia and China.

The bank ranks sixth among private banks in the CIS. Its assets are
worth 4bn dollars. The bank has recently voiced its plans to open joint
ventures in Azerbaijan and Armenia and to buy a bank in Tatarstan.

No matter what they say, it is possible the banker’s death at the age
of 37 will remain a mystery. There are a lot of questions which have
not been answered yet.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Pressure on Turkey

Fresno Bee
December 19, 2004

I was pleased to read of the continued effort of the European Union
as well as (dare I say) the French in stepping up to the plate on
Turkey’s human rights issue. The EU urged Turkey to “promote the
process of reconciliation with the Armenian people by recognizing
the genocide perpetrated against the Armenians” in 1915-1923.

The European Parliament also called on Turkey to reopen its border
with Armenia “as soon as possible.”

Turkey should comply, or simply be left behind. Turkey can continue
to have a plummeting economy, or it can do the right thing to embrace
the European economic community.

Turkey can show, through proper genocide acknowledgment, that it can
move toward respect toward humanity rather than defacing it as it
has for close to 90 years.

Self-interest foreign policy is something the United States, in
particular, has hidden behind long enough. What about the interests of
all the other countries in the world? What did they lose by doing the
right thing and holding Turkey accountable for its misdeeds? Turkey’s
“special relationship” with the United States didn’t count for much
when we needed them most. Our soldiers were left to double back on
our ships when they were forbidden to cross Turkey during the initial
invasion of Iraq.

I hope U.S. foreign policy can follow the international community’s
lead on human rights, because we definitely haven’t shown such
leadership thus far.

Richard Sanikian

Fresno

;;

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA SHOULD GRADUALLY QUIT NEGOTIATION PROCESS, KARABAKH POLITICIANS CONSIDER

PanArmenian News
Dec 20 2004

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “The principal part of the conflict remained beyond
the negotiation process. Besides all, we were the belligerent”,
member of the commission for foreign policy of the NKR parliament,
AFR Dashnaktsutyun representative Maxim Mirzoyan considers.
Non-participation of the Karabakh party in the negotiations is not
justified, he said in his interview with Azg Armenian newspaper.
Editor-in-chief of “Demo” newspaper Gegham Baghdsarian says there are
issues “Armenia is not empowered to negotiate on, for example, the
issue of the liberated territories”. Developing the topic, Mirzoian
says that Armenia should categorically state that she will not take
part in the talks without Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, Armenia should
gradually quit the negotiation process, leaving Stepanakert and
Baku at the bargaining table”. Karabakh political scientist Murad
Petrosian is of the same opinion: “Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian’s statement that if Baku brings forward the discussion of
the issue in the UN Armenia will quit the negotiation process should
have been made still in 1994”, he says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL CALLS ON IRAN TO PROVIDE FUEL AND FERTILIZERS

IPR Strategic Business Information Database
December 20, 2004

According to “Tehran Times”, Khachaturian, the governor-general
of Armenian Siunik Province called for Iran to provide fuel and
fertilizers required by the farmers of his province. Khachaturian
visiting governor-general of the Iranian East Azarbaijan Province,
Mohammad Ali Sobhanollahi said that Iran -Armenia ties and East
Azarbaijan-Siunik relations should be in the way to represent a model
for other provinces. The Armenian governor-general also said that
dam construction and the third electricity transmission line are
among projects that are presently being implemented between the two
countries. In conclusion, the Iranian governor-general called for
the re-establishment of Tabriz-Yerevan airline as well as removing
the impediments in expansion of ties between the two provinces.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress