Author: admin

‘Aggressor unequivocally turned into object of reproach’ – President

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2004

President Ilham Aliyev stated with regard to the closeness observed of
late in the Armenia-Iran relations that bilateral relations between
Azerbaijan, which pursues an independent foreign policy course,
and Iran should meet both countries’ interests.

The President pointed that the dialogue between the two countries has
intensified and that this country has repeatedly supported Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity with regard to the Upper Garabagh conflict.

As for Iran’s relations with other countries, Aliyev termed this as
this country’s prerogative.

He emphasized the importance of taking into account every process
that takes place in the region in maintaining relations.

“I hope that the aggressor has unequivocally turned into an object
of reproach for the sake of peace and stability, and international
organizations and regional states should state their position on the
issue as well.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia says Azerbaijan should talk with Nagorno-Karabakh authorities

The Associated Press
12/18/04 10:04 EST

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia called on Azerbaijan on Saturday to
negotiate directly with the leadership of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed
enclave within Azerbaijan that fuels enmity between the two ex-Soviet
republics a decade after a cease-fire.

The comment from Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Gamlet Gasparian
came after Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev reacted angrily to a
statement from Russian parliament speaker Boris Gryzlov, who referred
to Armenia as Russia’s outpost in the Caucasus region.

“We are confused: We have always considered Armenia a state, but
now it turns out that it is an outpost,” Aliev told journalists on
Friday. “So whom should we negotiate with now – the outpost or the
master of the outpost?” he said.

Responding in turn with sarcasm, Gasparian said that “if the
Azerbaijani side is confused and doesn’t know with whom to negotiate,
we must point them toward Stepanakert,” referring to the capital of
ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh. “We hope they know well
where Nagorno-Karabakh is,” he said.

Ethnic Armenian forces backed by Armenia drove Azerbaijani troops out
of Nagorno-Karabakh in a six-year war that killed some 30,000 people
and drove a million from their homes. A cease-fire was reached in
1994, but the unresolved conflict damages both nations’ economies
and raises the threat of renewed war.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been involved in an international effort
to reach a settlement, sponsored by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe and led by Russia, France and the United
States. Azerbaijan refuses to negotiate with the international
unrecognized government of Nagorno-Karabakh.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Press and Information Office, Occupied Northern Cyprus
Dec 17 2004

Cyprus PIO: Turkish Press and Other Media

[01] Turkey refuses to accept the decisions of the EU Summit.
[02] Erdogan wants to have a peace coffee with President Papadopoulos
amongst the thousands of occupation troops.
[03] Hours before the EU Summit Erdogan declares ready to take a step
regarding the Cyprus problem.
[04] Solana: It will be difficult for Turkey to accede to the EU
without recognizing the Republic of Cyprus.
[05] Turkish sources on the meeting between Mr Karamanlis and
Erdogan.
[06] EU Commission President is quoted to have said that Turkey would
be in a position to recognize all the EU members when it becomes full
member.
[07] Gul rules out direct or indirect recognition of the Republic of
Cyprus.
[08] Berlusconi explains that the 3rd October was fixed to give
Turkey time to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
[09] Erodgan is quoted to have reprimanded the Dutch Presidency for
not ignoring the Greek Cypriots who are only 600,000.
[10] Turkey ordered investigation against Kurds.
[11] Serdar Denktas stated that the first step in removing the
“isolation” imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to come from the USA.
[12] How the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot press covers last
night’s Summit.
[13] Direct trade with the occupied areas of Cyprus of concern for
Spain.
[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS
[14] Columnist in STAR argues that Turkey´s refusal to co-operate
with the US during the Iraq war has meant the end of the two
countries´ strategic partnership.

——————————————————————————–

[A] NEWS ITEMS
[01] Turkey refuses to accept the decisions of the EU Summit
Ankara Anatolia news agency (A.A) (17.12.04) reported from Brussels
that the second day of the meeting of the European Council started on
Friday with delay as compromise could not be reached between Turkey
and the European Union (EU).
EU heads of state and government waited till the end of the meeting
between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the EU Acting President the
Netherlands.

Also, European Parliament (EP) President Josep Borrell and United
Nations (UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan can’t obey their earlier
set schedule.

On the other hand, Balkenende is expected to brief EU heads of state
and government on his meeting with Erdogan. Sources say that there
can be some new meetings between Erdogan, who is still in the
building where the summit is being held, and EU representatives later
today.

Ankara Anatolia further reported from that scenarios circulate in
Council lobbies regarding alternative ways out as the meeting between
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Dutch Prime Minister Jan
Peter Balkenende, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency,
continued.

The first scenario is: ”Turkey will accept extending the Ankara
Agreement to cover all the European Union (EU) countries including
Cyprus, by putting some conditions.”

Diplomatic sources said the EU presidency would then have the chance
to put pressure on the Cyprus government.

The second scenario says: ”Turkey will depart from Brussels without
signing the presidency conclusion added to final statement.”
Diplomatic sources said the ”ties would not be broken” in this
case, stating that a negotiation process that will continue till
October 3rd, 2005 could start.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands
and Greece convened to assess the Cyprus issue.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter
Balkenende, French President Jacques Chirac, and German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder are discussing overcoming the deadlock regarding
Cyprus.

[02] Erdogan wants to have a peace coffee with President Papadopoulos
amongst the thousands of occupation troops
Ankara Anatolia news agency (16.12.04) reported from Brussels that
during a meeting with Turkish columnists in Brussels, Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Turkey’s accession into
the European Union will result in conciliation of civilizations. “Our
European friends are aware of the role Turkey can play in harmonizing
relations between civilizations. There are now many European circles
that look at Turkish membership as crucial and absolutely necessary,”
told Erdogan.
In response to a question on Turkey-Armenia relations, Erdogan
replied that if and when a positive approach is witnessed from the
Armenian side, Turkey would be ready to open its border gate with
Armenia. “Whatever took place in history must remain in history. We
must build our new world on peace. We are positive towards Armenia.
We want national borders to be respected. We have made Turkish air
space available to Armenian commercial planes. There is no reason as
to why we should not open the border gate as well. However, we want
to see the same positive attitude from the Armenian side as well. An
important part of Azerbaijan is still under Armenian military
occupation. This fact should not be ignored and forgotten,” said
Erdogan.

Erdogan said Turkey is prepared for a temporary ban on the free
movement of Turks in EU countries. “Yet a permanent ban on the free
movement of Turkish nationals would be against the EU laws and
regulations.”

In reference to the problems created in Cyprus by Turkey´s occupation
of its Northern part, Erdogan remarked that Turkey is ready to
discuss Cyprus during its entry talks with the EU.

He noted that it would mean failure of all efforts if EU leaders put
a text which they would not say “yes” on the table. “I hope they
won’t,” he added. Turkey expects the formal announcement on the
conclusion of the EU summit tomorrow (Friday) at 13.00 hours. “It
would be wrong to declare the summit’s decision as victory. We must
not be spoiled by our success. Furthermore, a possible negative
summit decision should not be viewed as a big disaster. Whatever the
decision at the summit, Turkey can continue to develop on its own
feet,” said Erdogan.

“Maybe we can go to Northern Cyprus one day, and invite Papadopoulos.
We can have a coffee of peace and a meal of peace there,” Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan added.

[03] Hours before the EU Summit Erdogan declares ready to take a step
regarding the Cyprus problem
Istanbul NTV television (16.12.04) broadcast the following:
“Turkish Prime Minister Mr Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held a news
conference in Brussels where he commented on the EU summit. He
stressed that Turkey will not reach a decision on Cyprus that runs
counter to national interests. He said: “We are ready to take a step
in Cyprus, but the nature of the step is important.”

The prime minister held a 25-minute news conference for the reporters
who are constantly following him. He talked about all his talks
today, and pointed out that he met with 12 leaders throughout the
day. He summarized the situation ever since the Customs Union of
1996.

The EU leaders are currently at a dinner. Chirac is not attending
this dinner. Prime Minister Erdogan said that Chirac would not be
attending the dinner due to his own private affairs. Erdogan said
that after the dinner, term president Balkenende will call him on the
telephone and update him on the developments.

The prime minister was asked about the Cyprus question, because the
Greek media reported that at their meeting today Greek Prime Minister
Karamanlis asked Erdogan for a written declaration that he would
recognize the Cyprus Republic, and that Erdogan rejected this offer.
Erdogan said at his news conference: Things that we have not said
were published. That is out of the question. This is gossip. These
things are not even in the text of the document. The basic principle
of our government and of our party is not to take any step that may
run counter to our national interests. Neither our training nor our
view of history would allow us to do such a thing.

Erdogan stressed that all the leaders he met today did their homework
very well and were aware of Turkey’s sensitivities. He added: The
terms that are used in bilateral talks, especially the terms used in
the text of the document, carry different weights. You cannot use
certain terms on certain occasions. It is true that we are ready to
take a step in Cyprus, but the nature of the step is extremely
important for us.

The prime minister said that during the talks he noticed that the
issue of privileged partnership is completely out of the agenda. He
added: The hard negotiations will begin after the text assumes its
final shape. Those developments will take place in the morning hours.
We will make our final decision at 1300 tomorrow. You will see then
what I am going to do.”

[04] Mr Javier Solana stresses that it will be difficult for Turkey
to accede to the EU without recognizing the Republic of Cyprus
Ankara Anatolia news agency (16.12.04) reported from Brussels that
Finland has extended full support to opening of entry talks between
Turkey and the EU.
Releasing a written statement prior to the EU Summit, Finland said
that Helsinki was in favour of opening of entry talks between Turkey
and the EU in 2005. Finland stressed that the only target of the
talks should be full membership of Turkey.

Meanwhile, EU Policy Chief Javier Solana called on Turkey to
recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

“If you want to become a part of a family, you have to recognize all
members of that family, otherwise you cannot become a member of that
family”, Solana told reporters.

Solana stressed that if Turkey did not recognize the Republic of
Cyprus side, its full membership would be difficult.

[05] Turkish sources on the meeting between Mr Karamanlis and Erdogan
in Brussels
Ankara Anatolia news agency (16.12.04) reported from Brussels that
Greek Premier Costas Karamanlis told Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip
Erdogan that they want Turkey to recognize the Cyprus Republic.
Sources said that during the Erdogan-Karamanlis meeting, the Cyprus
problem was discussed and Karamanlis told Erdogan: ”It is
unacceptable if a country which wants to be an EU member does not
recognize an EU member.”

Sources said that Karamanlis told Erdogan: ”At the first stage
Turkey can sign the Customs Union protocol covering all new members
of the EU and then it can officially recognize the Cyprus Republic”.
” Erdogan in return said: ”A solution within the framework of the
UN is necessary in Cyprus,” and he repeated the Turkish stand.

Erdogan did not present a new proposal to Karamanlis, added the
sources.

The sources said: ”At the current stage, negotiations are still
continuing. Other EU member countries also have the same stance as
Athens.’

[06] EU Commission President is quoted to have said that Turkey would
be in a position to recognize all the EU members when it becomes full
member
Ankara Anatolia news agency (16.12.04) reported from Brussels that
the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday
told a press conference prior to EU summit that a historic decision
would be made for Turkey, and noted that Turkey was a very different
country with its geographical position, position as bridge, economic
power, and potential.
Barroso said a balanced attitude was pursued towards Turkey, noting
that they were aware of the problems, but at the same time the steps
Turkey made were also taken into consideration. He said: ”Time came
to start negotiations” and stressed that the target would be full
membership in negotiations.

Mentioning the concerns in several member countries and Europe´s
public opinions about Turkey’s accession to the EU, Barroso called on
Turkey to take more steps toward Europe.

Barroso said Greek Cypriots would also be at the table, ”however,”
he noted Turkey did not recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

Replying to a question about the Cyprus issue, Barroso said no new
political conditions would be imposed on Turkey and that Turkey would
be in a position to recognize all the member countries when it
becomes the EU full member.

Replying to a question about permanent derogations proposed for
Turkey, Barroso said he thought this problem would be solved in the
summit and that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
sensitively focused on this issue.

Barroso said the European Commission brought this proposal about free
movement of Turkish workers, yet that any discrimination or special
status was not in question. He said there was much concern about this
issue in some member countries, noting that permanent derogations
were implemented on some member countries.

Focusing on the concerns of the EU public opinion often, Barroso said
Turkey would be in a position to struggle much to convince the
public.

Replying to a question about the genocide committed against the
Armenians, Barroso said bringing new political conditions in front of
Turkey at the last minute was out of the question.

[07] Gul rules out direct or indirect recognition of the Republic of
Cyprus
Ankara Anatolia news agency (16.12.04) reported from Brussels that
the Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr Gul on Thursday said: ”Direct or
indirect recognition of the Cyprus Republic is out of the question
for Turkey,”
When reporters reminded the statements of Danish Premier Anders Fogh
Rasmussen who said, ”Turkey is ready to recognize Cyprus,” Gul who
is in Brussels said: ”There are misunderstandings about these
issues. Direct or indirect recognition of the Cyprus Republic is out
of the question for Turkey.”

[08] Berlusconi explains that the 3rd October was fixed to give
Turkey time to recognize the Republic of Cyprus
Local KIBRIS newspaper (17.12.04) reports that the Italian Prime
Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, has said that if Turkey does not
recognize the Republic of Cyprus until October the 3rd 2005, the
negotiations cannot start.
“We expect that until the 3rd of October 2005 the Turkish government
will recognize the Republic of Cyprus”, Mr Berlusconi said.

The paper also reports that the Italian Prime Minister said that the
Turkish Prime Minister told him that they could recognize the
Republic of Cyprus but this can be done by a decision of the
Parliament and they need time.

“In order to provide time to Erdogan we have chosen the 3rd of
October”, said Mr Berlusconi, concludes KIBRIS newspaper.

On the same issue, Ankara Anatolia (17.12.04) reported from Brussels
the following:

“The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has quoted Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying that ”they were ready to
start initiative to recognize ‘Cyprus Republic’, but they needed time
to make majority of Turkish parliament accept it in the past.”

Berlusconi told a group of journalists in French: ”Erdogan has told
me that they were ready to start initiative to recognize Cyprus, but
they would need time to make the majority of Turkish parliament
accept it. We have given him required time. One should recognize all
members of the family if he wants to join that family. This is not a
condition, but a reality.” Noting that Austria and France did not
take a step back in the working dinner, but they supported Turkey and
they would do their best till morning.

Turkish diplomatic sources told A.A that Berlusconi made this
statement in French which he was not very fluent so that there may be
differences in the meaning. They added that ”it was out of question
that Erdogan made such statements regarding Cyprus to Berlusconi.”

[09] Erodgan is quoted to have reprimanded the Dutch Presidency for
not ignoring the Greek Cypriots who are only 600,000
Istanbul NTV television (17.12.04) broadcast the following dialogue
with its correspondent Unsal Unlu in Brussels: “Good morning Unsal,
what are the issues on today’s program of Erdogan and Gul? And is
there any possibility of the Cyprus predicament turning into a
crisis?
Mr Unlu replied: It is still too early to say whether it would turn
into a crisis. But it is possible to state clearly that there is a
serious anxiety concerning this issue. Even, according to information
reaching us, during yesterday’s meeting between Balkenende and
Erdogan voices have been raised a bit. The condition for the indirect
recognition of the Greek Cypriot sector, that is the extension of the
Ankara agreement by 3 October, has infuriated Prime Minister Erdogan.
Prime Minister Erdogan has said: You preferred 600,000 Greek Cypriots
to 70-million Turks; this means that we have not been able to explain
anything to you.

Erdogan has openly voiced his concern on this issue by saying: How
can I explain this to 70-million-strong Turkey?

Let me also note that the final draft from the delegation has again
been submitted to the EU term chairman. We can say that the talks
that continued into the morning hours have entered their last round.
The leaders will pose for a family photo at around 1300 [1000 GMT]
and with that the time will have reached for the knot to untie, as
Prime Minister Erdogan put it yesterday. The summit text will be
announced then. The text is proposing the start of Turkey’s
negotiations with the EU on 3 October 2005, but the condition on the
recognition of the Greek Cypriot sector has greatly disturbed
Turkey.”

[10] Turkey ordered investigation against the Kurds for the
advertisement published in foreign newspapers
Ankara TRT 1 Television (16.12.04) broadcast the following: “An
investigation has been launched into the advertisement scandal. The
Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation
into the advertisement that appeared in foreign newspapers and which
was signed by the former DEP [Democracy Party] deputies, certain
mayors, and others.
The Justice Ministry sent newspaper clippings of the advertisement to
the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for an investigation.
Press Prosecutor Kursat Kayral has been assigned to conduct the
investigation.

After the advertisement was published in foreign newspapers, some of
the persons who had signed it said that they had not seen the last
version of the text”.

[11] Serdar Denktas stated that the first step in removing the
“isolation” imposed on the Turkish Cypriots to come from the USA
Turkish Cypriot daily KIBRISLI newspaper (17.12.04) reports that Mr
Serdar Denktas, the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP) and
so-called minister of foreign affairs of the occupation regime made
statements to the paper as regards the issue of lifting the so-called
isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriots.
Mr Serdar Denktas stated that after the 17 December he expects steps
to be taken as regards the removing of the “isolation” imposed on the
Turkish Cypriots. However he said that these steps will not come only
from the EU, but firstly from the USA.

[12] How the Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot press covers last
night’s Summit in Brussels
The Turkish and the Turkish Cypriot press covers today (17.12.04)
widely last night’s Summit in Brussels.
Turkish mainland MILLIYET under the banner headline “Marathon
bargaining for Cyprus”, writes that Ankara gave the message “we will
take steps”, as regards the Cyprus problem which was an issue of
priority in Brussels. It also writes that the Ankara formula is the
following: It can sign the Customs Agreement but Ankara will
determine when.

Turkish mainland HURRIYET, under the title “New life”, writes that
the historic date was announced for Turkey as regards the EU
membership which will be the second most important step for the
country since the establishment of the republic. It also writes that
the decision is the beginning of a new era.

In addition Turkish mainland SABAH newspaper has Ataturk’s picture in
its first page with the caption 29 October 1923-17 December 2004, and
under the banner headline “Gentlemen!” writes the following using
capital letters: “We said what we said 81 years ago. We did for
ourselves what we did for the modernisation. From now on we will move
forward on the road we consider to be right”.

Local KIBRIS newspaper, under the headline “Date for Turkey” writes
that the leaders of the EU suggested the 3rd of October 2005 as a
date for the beginning of the negotiations for the country. It also
writes that the end of the negotiations is still open and there is no
guarantee for full membership.

AFRIKA under the title “3rd of October 2005 the final date for
Turkey” writes that the negotiations will start aiming for full
membership and that a compromise solution will be found in case the
negotiations will not be completed successfully. In addition the
paper writes that Turkey will recognise the Republic of Cyprus before
the 3rd of October 2005.

Under the headline “Destiny date”, VATAN quotes the Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s statement that if the developments are not
as Turkey wants them to be, they will “cut” the efforts for joining
the EU as Norway did.

ORTAM covers the issue under the title “Danger from the bitter result
for the Turkish Cypriots” publishes statements by Mr Huseyin
Angolemli chairman of the Communal Liberation Party that the policy
of “wait-and-see” until the 17 December on which the Turkish Cypriots
were relying on started to give results and stated that these results
will be bitter for the Turkish Cypriots.

Under the title “Open-ended negotiations for Turkey”, HALKIN SESI
writes that Turkey will start negotiations on the 3rd of October and
the target of the negotiations will be the full membership of Turkey.
In addition it writes that the bargaining as regards Cyprus and the
derogations will continue until the last moment.

CUMHURIYET North Cyprus, under the title “We will not recognise
Cyprus at this point” writes that the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan
did not change his attitude despite all the efforts made by President
Papadopoulos.

GUNES, under the title “Cyprus knot” writes that the Turkish Prime
Minister did not support the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus
before a solution. It also writes that Mr Erdogan met with the Geek
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and that he said that “tomorrow
(today) at 13:00 ‘the Cyprus knot’ will be solved”.

VOLKAN under the title “If they have the firman (the imperial edict)
we have the mountains”, writes that the Turkish Prime Minister
Erdogan by saying that ‘the Cyprus knot will be solved today at
13:00’ it became obvious that the fate of the persons who live in
occupied Cyprus will be determined today.

YENI DUZEN under the title “Cyprus ‘calm’ before the storm” writes
that after the end of the 17 Summit very important developments will
follow and stresses that most important of them is related to the
issue of the recognition of the Republic of Cyprus which, according
to the paper is a tough issue.

KIBRISLI is the only paper which gives minimum coverage to the Summit
in its first page and writes only that the 3rd of October 2005 was
the suggested date for the beginning of Turkey’s EU negotiations.

[13] EU regulation for direct trade with the occupied areas of Cyprus
is a great concern for Spain
Turkish Cypriot daily YENIDUZEN newspaper (17.12.04), under the title
“Spanish obstacle to Direct Trade”, reports from Brussels that
besides Greece and the Cyprus Government, Spain as well, is against
“direct trade” with the Turkish Cypriots, because they worry that
then it will open the road for the “direct trade” to the communities
of Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar, which are under the administration
of Spain. However, it is reported that the regulations of the
European Commission can only be accepted with “weighted vote”.
An EU official, who said that there is on the negotiation table a
“package” of the regulations of the Direct Trade and the Financial
Aid, which is about 259 million Euro, noted that the “Greek Cypriot
Administration’s” attempt to separate the two regulations were
unsuccessful.

The surprise is that apart from the Greek Cypriot side and Greece
that are against the direct trade Spain is also against. The reason
that the Madrid administration, which did not say much until now
about the Cyprus issue, is against the regulation is very
interesting.

A high level official from the Enlargement Section of the EU
Commission made interesting statements to YENIDUZEN at the Brussels
summit regarding the efforts of lifting the isolation and what is
expected at the Cyprus problem after the summit.

The high level official, who wanted to remain anonymous, reminded
that the preparations regarding the isolations, which were decided
after the outcome of the referendums, were suspended until the 1st
January 2005, when Luxemburg will take over the EU’s term Presidency.
The official, who believes that the new term President will bring to
the agenda for discussion this issue, sent the message that important
developments are expected after the 17 December summit.

The official announced that Spain doesn’t support the direct trade
with the Turkish Cypriots and gives support to the Lefkosia
administration and Athens on that issue.

According to the information the EU official gave, the reason why the
Spanish administration is against the direct trade is three small
areas, two near Morocco and one in Gibraltar. Giving direct trade
possibilities to the Turkish Cypriots will create precedence to these
three areas, namely Ceuta, Melilla and Gibraltar.

——————————————————————————–

[B] COMMENTARIES, EDITORIALS AND ANALYSIS
[14] Columnist in STAR argues that Turkey´s refusal to co-operate
with the US during the Iraq war has meant the end of the two
countries´ strategic partnership
Istanbul STAR newspaper (15.12.04) publishes the following commentary
by Tulin Daloglu under the title: “Strategic partnership ends!”:
“While hoping that we shall be moving one step closer to the European
Union at the end of this week, Turkey’s foreign policy, which all
along has been one step more on the side of the United States, has
changed direction because of the Iraqi war. Having reluctantly
accepted within democratic rules the result of the voting on the 1
March [2002] authorization bill [for the dispatch of Turkish military
units abroad and deployment of foreign forces in Turkey], the US
officials had said the decision, although a democratic one, would
inevitably have a cost in the political sense. It appears that this
political cost has spelled out the end of the strategic partnership,
which had a name but no effect in the relations between the two
countries. Well, what does this mean? How does Washington assess an
Ankara that is close to Europe? Here are a few observations:

Following his talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in
Ankara in April 2003 and in Washington in July 2003 and January 2004,
US Secretary of State Colin Powell had described, at the joint press
conferences, the relations between the two countries as strong,
friendly and historic. He had not used the word strategic. This must
not have been a coincidence, because former US Ambassador in Ankara
Mark Parris, with the comfort of having retired, said there were
certain issues that would not be conducive to continuity in the
relations with Turkey due to the Turkish Government’s dialogues with
Washington in the last two years. He noted, though, that this was not
due to Turkey’s closer relations with Europe.

Despite the fact that the Americans officially state that they have
overcome the 1 March shock, they do not fail to say that a strategic
partner would not have acted in the way that Turkey did. It is the
failure to overcome this shock that has led Washington to watch with
caution and interest Ankara’s approach to Brussels. Let us
immediately emphasize, though, that Washington lends full support to
Turkey’s EU objective. Yet, ahead of our historic week, both Parris
and Under Secretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, in the
statements they made on various occasions, emphasized that Turkey did
not have to distance itself from the United States just because it is
approaching the EU.

While stressing that political and economic stability in Iraq would
be to Turkey’s advantage, Grossman also gave the message: You should
not forget that this depends on our success in Iraq. Behind this
warning is the unease felt over the increasing opposition to the
United States in Turkey. The accusation that the United States
committed genocide in Iraq has been viewed as a criticism that goes
too far, does not reflect the realities and does not reflect well
upon an ally. The United States expects a debate on how Iraq may be
led to stability rather than expressing the view that whatever it
does in Iraq is wrong.

Would the priority be Iraq or the PKK [Workers Party of Kurdistan]?
Judging from the present-day realities, it does not seem possible
that the United States will get what it expects from the Turkish
public opinion since it has not engaged in any military operation
against the PKK. On the contrary, it is believed that the United
States follows policies that threaten the territorial integrity of
Iraq by ultimately creating an independent Kurdistan. By refusing to
take a position on the side of the United States, Ankara believes
that it has taken the measures to overcome its fear. History has
proved that the cost of wrong alliances has been high. The story as
to how Iraq was established after it was broken away from the Ottoman
territories may be cited as an example. History proves that the
British had no intention to tear up the Ottoman territories until the
Ottomans joined an alliance with Germany in World War I. Commenting
on Turkey’s stand against the United States, a senior US official
said: “Such a fear on the part of Turkey would be unfounded. We are
after stability. An independent Kurdistan will create uneasiness in
the whole area rather than only in Turkey. This conflicts with our
interests.”

In the meantime, Parris pointed out that the best period of
Turkish-American relations was between 1997 and 1999, when the
relations with Europe were severed. It is known that at the end of
this period, the United States had caught PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan
and had handed him over to Turkey. If you view it from a natural
theory of logic, the reason for the lack of action against the PKK is
as old as the Stone Age.

Continue with both

As a matter of fact, Grossman’s and Parris’ messages to Ankara are
clear: Turkey should not choose between the EU and the United States.
It should vigorously keep up its dialogue with both. Otherwise, the
loser will be Turkey. Turkey needs both the EU and the United States
in order to be an effective country in its region. One wonders
whether Washington is trying to prepare Turkey to serve as a bridge
between the EU and the United States before it becomes a bridge
between the East and the West”.

–Boundary_(ID_rDKduYN2CVKO6pB6JUtprQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SURPRISES IN THE PACKAGE

The Hindu, India
December 18, 2004

THE CHENNAI International Film Festival (on till December 27),
organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation, has expanded this
year to screen five films a day at Anand and Little Anand Theatres,
and four films at the Film Chamber of Commerce.

Anand is the place to be on December 18 where award winning
Armenian-born, Canada-bred Atom Egoyan’s “Ararat” (2004) is being
screened. The film probes into tragedies of living families and
distant history. Raffi’s cans of films are relentlessly examined by
about-to-retire customs officer David, struggling with his own
adjustment problems with gay son’s lifestyle. The interrogation
becomes a quest for identity through deceit, denial and repression.

The day ends with a Brazilian romp in “Celeste and Estrela” (2003)
where Paulo Estrela narrated a hilarious story of falling in love
with film maker Celeste who is passionate about making a
gut-wrenching film about her motherland. Finding funds is an arduous
struggle. We flit in and out of corporate houses, studios, script
writing classes, location shoots, and into the dreams of Celeste and
Estrela. Betse de Paula’s film foams with farce and irony, turning an
amused but sympathetic eye on men and women with and without
missions.

A wistful note

Known more for his kooky grotequerie, Giuseppe Pupi Avati strikes a
wistful note in “The Heart is Everywhere” (Italy, 2003). A
nondescript teacher’s son is urged by cranky father to find a wife,
stumbles into a home for the blind and meets the stunning woman,
robbed of her eyes in an accident. Silvio Soldini’s “Agata and the
Storm” trickles into a woman’s craze for younger men and her
lost-and-found brother’s infidelities.

Karen Shakhnazarov’s “The Rider Named Death” (Russia) shows Moscow at
the dawn of the 20th Century. This is the acclaimed depiction of the
plot to assassinate a Grand Duke in his home and at the Bolshoi
theatre.

A sweet-sad tale

The CIFF also brings “Shwaas” (Marathi, Sandeep Sawant), India’s
entry for the Oscars on December 19. This debut film is a sweet-sad
tale of a grandfather trying to do his best for the grandchild with
retinoblastoma, who must lose both his eyes to survive. The film had
a commercial success in Maharashtra before winning the National Award
for Best Film. The day also brings “Nizhalkuthu” (Film Chamber
Theatre), part of the festival’s retrospective on one of India’s best
film makers. Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s narrative resounds with the
echoes of a parable. We watch the village hangman at home,
interacting with family and community, until the ominous call comes
for him to discharge his duty. The son has to shoulder the job now.
The eerie count down begins…

Catch up with “Goodbye Lenin” if you haven’t seen it already. A young
man struggles to save his politically active mother from the shock of
learning that her world has crumbled. (She goes into a coma in
Communist East Germany and wakes up in a capitalist nation). Visually
thrilling moments include the floating of Lenin’s figure above and
across the street, pointing a grim finger at pedestrians below.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RECOVERY OF POPULATION’S SOVIET TIME SAVINGS IS MORAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEM

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18. ARMINFO. The recovery of the population’s
Soviet times savings is a moral, social and economic problem, says
Artak Arakelyan, MP representing the State of Law party.

“We owe money to those who built the country that was successfully
destroyed later. Even though we have been taught how to cheat in the
past years the money should still be returned,” says Arakelyan.

He notes that nobody pressured him and some other MPs to collect
signatures for calling a special session on the issue. He says that his
party drafted such a bill as early as 2000 but it has never reached the
parliamentary floor. Now the parliament has to consider three bills at
a time. “We should find an optimal solution,” says Arakelyan. He calls
a bluff the talk that WB and other international financial institutions
may refuse Armenia further financing if the savings are returned.

Arakelyan is sure that this issue will cause no split inside the
ruling coalition but regrets that socially oriented ARFD objects to
returning people their own money. Let them come and vote against rater
than deliberately boycott the session, he says. As for the Republican
Party’s skepticism Arakelyan calls it political jealousy.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IMF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE DOES NOT GIVE POSITIVE ESTIMATION TO SITUATION OF
CUSTOMS AND TAX SPHERES OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18. ARMINFO. During the Dec sitting IMF Executive
Committee did not give positive estimation to the situation in the
tax and customs spheres of Armenia. IMF Resident Representative to
Armenia James McHugh stated in the interview to daily “Republic of
Armenia”. According to him, it seem that the affairs in this sphere
are not so good as they could be.

Mr. McHugh expressed an opinion that in today Armenia the most
anxiety is aroused by the low level of tax collection which creates
problems in the budgetary sphere. He stated that this problem is
directly connected with corruption phenomena. According to him,
IMF has agreed with the government of Armenia for introduction of
new software and systems in tax and customs bodies. They will allow
to estimate the impartiality of amounts of fixed payments. The IMF
initiates elaboration of a code of behavior of an agent of customs
service and a department is established which will carry out a control
after clearance. Another innovation must bring to minimum the direct
contact of freight forwarders and recipients with customs officials.

At the same time James McHugh informed that IMF task group will visit
Armenia in March of the next year, and it will prepare proposals
concerning a new credit program. By this period the fund will form
the list of the so-called preliminary actions whose fulfillment will
prove about the adherence to the government to the selected course
and it will include the arrangements for perfection of the tax and
customs spheres. Nevertheless, IMF executive committee members think
that Armenia has reached significant economic results and is following
correct way. James McHugh noted that Armenia remains in the list of
the state with low income per capita.

It should be noted that at the beginning of Dec IMF allocated the
last tranche to Armenia worth 9 mln SDR under the program PRGF worth a
total of 69 mln SDR. In total, during 10 years of cooperation IMF has
provided a credit assistance to Armenia worth a total of some $300 mln.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Constitutional reforms doomed to failure – Armenian opposition MP

Arminfo
18 Dec 04

Yerevan, 18 December: “The draft constitutional changes proposed
by the Armenian authorities are doomed to failure in their present
form,” a member of the Armenian National Assembly from the opposition
Justice bloc and the leader of the National Democratic Party, Shavarsh
Kocharyan, said at a meeting with journalists at the Azdak club today.

He said that since the overwhelming majority of the people do not trust
the authorities, it is almost impossible for the draft constitutional
changes proposed by the ruling coalition to receive the necessary
support from one third of the overall number of voters to be adopted.

“This can only be done through massive falsification of the results
of the plebiscite. However, I do not think that the powers that be
will do so because they resort to any violations only when their
self-preservation is at stake,” Kocharyan said.

At the same time, the only way out of the current situation would be
to put up for debate by the people draft constitutional amendments
resulting from public concord, he pointed out.

“If representatives of the ruling coalition started a dialogue
with the opposition on constitutional reforms not in words, but
in deeds, then we would regard the basic law as important to the
country’s future without changing our position on the illegitimacy
of the regime and would probably reach an agreement on this issue,”
Shavarsh Kocharyan said.

Passage omitted: The Justice bloc has submitted its own constitutional
changes to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

By the Highest Standards

Kommersant, Russia
Dec 18 2004

The year 2003 was a year of large-scale mergers and acquisitions for
Russia. They included the formation of the BP–TNK alliance, the
buy-up of the Georgian power industry by Russian natural monopolies,
and Shell’s commitment to invest $10 billion in the Sakhalin-2
project. However, the volume of failed deals is even more telling.

British Petroleum–Tyumen Oil Company

Photo: Aleksei Kudenko

Under the leadership of Sergei Bogdanchikov (in the photo), Rosneft
acquired AO Northern Oil for $600 million (one of its co-owners,
Andrei Vavilov, is shown in the photo on the lower right)
On February 11, the owners of Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) announced that
they were merging their assets with those of British Petroleum (BP)
in Russia and Ukraine to form a single company. The final agreement
between the shareholders was signed in London on June 26. The amount
BP paid for its share in BP–TNK was reduced by $600 million to $2.4
billion. TNK’s shareholders received $6.85 billion from the
Anglo-American British Petroleum for the right to set up a joint oil
company with TNK. In order to do this, TNK’s largest owners, Mikhail
Friedman and Viktor Vekselberg, had to give up the title of oil
magnate, since TNK shareholders receive only 50% in the new company,
called BP–TNK. Friedman believes that the next deal of this size
involving Russian businessmen will have to wait for at least two or
three years.

In many respects, the deal with BP stemmed from the Anglo-American
company’s less than successful development in the mid-1990’s,
particularly the muddled and complicated business with SIDANKO, which
bankrupted TNK. However, TNK made no secret of its intentions to form
a partnership with BP by any possible means. The deal will probably
enter textbooks on strategic management: it was the first time a
Russian company had successfully convinced a Western partner that it
was more advantageous to work with it than to expand in Russia
independently.

Rosneft–Northern Oil

Photo: Vasily Shaposhnikov

Andrei Vavilov
On February 12, Rosneft announced the acquisition of AO Northern Oil
(Severnaya neft) for $600 million.

The oil industry was the leader in the number of large deals at the
beginning of the year, although in January everyone expected problems
in this sector: it was assumed that war in Iraq would lead to a drop
in prices. Nevertheless, Russian oil became a very attractive asset
in the first quarter of 2003. For example, the owners of Northern
Oil, who included former deputy finance minister Andrei Vavilov, sold
the company to Rosneft for an even $600 million. In a departure from
Russian business tradition, the parties paid for Northern Oil through
Sberbank of Russia rather than through offshore or Western banks.

With this deal, Northern Oil set still another record as the only
relatively large oil company to increase its market value
approximately ten times between 1999 and 2003, while increasing oil
production on the same scale. It was rumored that after the head of
Rosneft, Sergei Bogdanchikov, had familiarized himself with Northern
Oil’s operations, he gave orders not to make any major changes, but
to turn the company into a model subdivision of the state company
that they could show to foreign delegations and visiting government
officials.

The Northern Oil deal sparked a lot of hearsay and false rumors. In
particular, there was talk about a huge kickback received by
structures of the presidential administration for supporting it.
Nevertheless, this deal was important primarily because it gave the
entire market an excellent reference point. A company that had grown
from zero to $600 million in only a few years was worth that much for
Rosneft as a business, not as a source of oil reserves or as a means
of increasing capitalization.

Mechel–Korshunov Ore Mining and Processing Plant

Photo: Valery Melnikov

The main event in the area of railway reform was the formation of AO
Russian Railways, headed by Minister of Railways Gennady Fadeev
Mechel’s acquisition of Korshunov Ore Mining and Processing Plant
(Koshunovsky GOK) was the last big old-style deal in the
metallurgical industry. The history of the sale by SUAL-Ruda GOK,
which supplied raw materials to Siberian steel plants, began with the
standard Russian scandal: the Korshunov plant was bankrupt, and
Mechel’s rivals from Evrazholding made no secret of their intentions
to fight for Korshunov GOK using all available means, including
force.

Nevertheless, Mechel obtained a final decision on the question at the
negotiating table and in the arbitration court, although during the
struggle for Korshunov GOK, the company had used more habitual means
of fighting for industrial facilities, e.g., legal actions, police
officers, “dropping in” on the plant’s management, and other romantic
stuff of the mid-1990s. The question cost Mechel 2.4 billion rubles,
a sum that included the amount of the deal along with Korshunov’s
debts, which the owner assumed in order to get the company out of
receivership.

The Korshunov plant was the last large ore mining and processing
company without a major corporate partner. The other ore companies
had long ago become part of Russian metallurgical companies. Not
everyone was lucky: some Russian steel companies were left without
their own raw material sources. Their only option is to buy mining
assets from other owners. Therefore, both metallurgists and analysts
believe that the investment attractiveness of Russian ore mining and
processing companies will increase.

The tension is heightened by the rapid increase in world prices for
steel raw materials resulting from increased demand for ore in
Southeastern Europe. Another source of raw materials for steelmakers,
scrap iron and steel, is inadequately collected in Russia and cannot
be relied upon.

It is not surprising that the last ore mining and processing company
went to Mechel. In 2003, Mechel had already expanded its operations
beyond Russia and the CIS and had started buying companies of its
profile in Romania and Slovakia. Thus, the company had an acute need
for a raw material base, and it had to buy this base in a way that
would not raise doubts among future partners and investors in Europe
and in other parts of the world. A reputation is worth money, so
there was simply no question of settling the situation with Korshunov
GOK by force.

Troika Dialog–Rosgosstrakh

Troika Dialog Investment Company (IG Troika Dialog) paid 661 million
rubles for the right to control Rosgosstrakh, one of the best known
brand names of Soviet times. On the results of three auctions, Troika
Dialog became the owner of 49% of Russia’s oldest insurance company
at the end of 2001. The government owned a block of 26% minus one
share of Rosgosstrakh, which it also put up for auction. Bidding for
the share package of the former Soviet insurance monopoly took all of
three minutes, beating the record set at the Slavneft auction by one
minute. As a result, Troika Dialog became the owner of 75% minus one
share of Rosgosstrakh.

The amount collected from the sale of the former giant hardly
disturbed anyone except Duma deputies, who even tried to annul the
auction. “The winning consortium of investors led by Troika Dialog
has to solve the very urgent problem of attracting investments to the
Rosgosstrakh system, ” the system’s press secretary, Igor Ignatev,
told Kommersant. According to Ignatev, Rosgosstrakh will require
about $50 million to develop automobile liability insurance programs
alone.

The government intends to keep a blocking parcel of Rosgosstrakh
shares at least until 2004, according to Kirill Tomashchuk, deputy
head of the State Property Fund. The Ministry of Property Relations
wants to use the blocking parcel as a guarantee of debt payments
under policies written by Gosstrakh (Rosgosstrakh’s Soviet-era
predecessor). However, at Rosgosstrakh, they told Kommersant that
judging from the pace of the debt offset program, it will take at
least ten years to pay off all the debt.

National Reserve Bank–Aeroflot

Monopolies, both past and present, are becoming more and more
attractive to Russian businessmen. National Reserve Bank (NRB), which
was once closely connected with both Gazprom and RAO UES of Russia
(RAO EES Rossii), turned its attention to former Soviet monopoly
Aeroflot and bought 26% of the company’s shares for $135 million, a
record amount for the Russian airline industry.

It is not hard to understand why the bank headed by Aleksandr Lebedev
wanted the shares. Aeroflot flatly refuses to buy Il-86 airplanes,
and NRB is actively involved in an Il-86 production program. Now that
it has seats on Aeroflot’s board of directors, NRB is counting on
convincing the company of the undeniable advantages of Russian
aircraft over Airbus and Boeing. A scandal is anticipated. Aeroflot
has repeatedly stated that problems with access to Western airplanes
are having a negative impact on the company’s business. Despite some
improvements in Aeroflot’s financial indicators, the company’s
situation is far from ideal. At the end of the year, Aeroflot began a
“rebranding” campaign to bring its image more in line with its
Western competitors.
Ministry of Railways–Russian Railways

AO Russian Railways (Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi; RZhD), perhaps the
largest Russian company in terms of assets, was formed in Russia at
the end of September. Anna Belova, who at the time was still Deputy
Minister of Railways, announced that the ministry would be
transferring property worth 1600 billion rubles to Russian Railways.
RF Minister of Railways, Gennady Fadeev, was appointed president of
the company split off from the Ministry of Railways. The Ministry is
expected to be eliminated by combining it with the RF Ministry of
Transport, but Russian Railways has already started operating. It is
still difficult assess the results of the deal, since there are no
noticeable practical differences in Russian Railways’ operations
compared with the Ministry of Railways.

Georgia–Russia

The business calm in Russia did not prevent two Russian economic
giants, Gazprom and RAO UES of Russia, from carrying out an economic
blitz with record speed in a country that was previously not very
welcoming to Russian investors. The two unreformed monopolies
captured Georgia’s power industry in about a month.

On July 1, Aleksei Miller, chairman of the board of Gazprom, signed a
cooperation agreement with Georgia’s Minister of Fuel and Energy,
David Mirtskhulava, which gives Gazprom the prospect of acquiring up
to 100% of the Georgian gas market. Then in early August, RAO UES of
Russia bought 75% of the shares of the Telasi power distribution
network in Tbilisi and two power-generating units of the Tbilisi
Thermal Power Plant with a total capacity of 600 MW (this represents
a large part of Georgia’s power industry) from the American company
AES Silk Road and its partners.

On August 1, RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of RAO UES of Russia, bought
all of the American group AES’s Georgian business, which amounted to
nearly 50% of Georgia’s power facilities. RAO Nordic paid $70 million
for the assets; the only reason for such a low price was that the
assets were burdened with monstrous (by Russian standards) debts,
both payable and receivable.

The Georgian opposition accused President Eduard Shevardnadze of
betraying national interests, but neither RAO UES of Russia nor
Gazprom seems to have had any particular political aims. Although
accusations of “selling the homeland” played a certain role in the
Georgian president’s resignation, immediately after the coup,
contrary to expectations, the new Georgian leaders said nothing about
a possible review of the deals. Gazprom’s only actual interests in
Georgia are the long-distance gas pipeline to Armenia and replacing
Itera Oil and Gas Company (NGK Itera) on the Russian domestic market.
This second aim is already succeeding in a way: the first thing the
new managers of Tbilisi’s gas supply systems did was to cancel the
contract with Itera.

Russian natural monopolies had never carried out this sort of blitz
before, but RAO UES of Russia did not stop there. In keeping with
chairman Anatoly Chubais’ political policy of creating a “liberal
empire” through economic domination of the entire CIS, the company
bought 33% of the shares of a Ukrainian company owned by ten regional
power companies. RAO UES of Russia intends to continue expanding into
Ukraine next year. Gazprom’s plans include the formation of a joint
venture with the Belarussian company Beltransgaz, investments in
Central Asian gas pipelines, and a whole set of “imperial deals”.

SUAL–Fleming Family & Partners

In February 2003, OAO SUAL announced the formation of a transnational
corporation that included SUAL’s aluminum assets, the coal company
Access Industries (Eurasia), and two facilities of the English
company Fleming Family & Partners in Cuba and Mozambique. Chris
Norval, former vice-president of strategic planning of the South
African company BHP Billiton, was appointed general manager of the
SUAL International industrial group and president of SUAL Holding.

Despite of its lack of publicity, the deal between SUAL and the large
English private fund was one of the signal events of 2003. SUAL is a
company able to compete with Russian Aluminum (Russky alyuminii),
which has a virtual monopoly on the aluminum market, and Viktor
Vekselberg is one of biggest players of the “oligarchic” political
scene, which increases the investors’ risks. Nevertheless, the
Flemings approved the deal, which made similar investments in Russia
an acceptable risk for other serious partners. After all, the matter
concerns a resolutely nonpolitical deal that is also one of the
year’s ten largest transactions, which in theory should form the
basis for an increase in foreign investments in Russia and
globalization of the Russian economy.

Shell–Sakhalin-2

On May 15, 2003, the Sakhalin Energy (SE) consortium, shareholder of
the Sakhalin-2 project, decided to begin the second phase of the
project. The partners, the main one of which is Shell, committed to
invest $10 billion in Sakhalin-2.

SE had planned to make the decision to start the second phase of
Sakhalin-2 in the first half of 2003; but after SE’s management
expressed a number of complaints about legislative guarantees of the
safety of future investments (particularly the inconclusive
settlement of SE’s rights to set tariffs for oil and gas pipelines
from fields offshore Sakhalin to ports on the southern part of the
island), there was talk of suspending the project. According to
unofficial versions, SE and its shareholders (Shell, 55%; Mitsui,
25%; and Mitsubishi, 20%) wanted to postpone the decision on starting
the second phase until fall 2003 or even later.

The main factor in making the decision to start the project was
apparently a contract concluded between SE and the Japanese company
Tokyo Gas for delivery of 1.1 million tons of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) per year for 24 years. Philip Watts, Shell’s CEO, recently
announced that the company plans to conclude similar contracts for
LNG deliveries to Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States
in the near future. However, it is not inconceivable that Shell
decided to speed things up as a result of unofficial statements from
Gazprom to the effect that if something happened, Gazprom’s status as
coordinator of gas field development in Eastern Siberia and the Far
East and gas exports from Russia to countries in the Asia-Pacific
region might be extended to Sakhalin-2 as well. Shell decided not to
wait until Gazprom’s hints turned into concrete actions and announced
the start of the largest investments in Russia’s history.

No Deal

Despite the impressive appearance of the first ten deals, the list
would have been much more impressive if a number of large deals in
Russia’s most important economic sector, the fuel and energy complex,
had taken place or been concluded.

First of all, the future of the merger of YUKOS and Sibneft into the
unified company YukosSibneft, the largest deal in Russian business
history, is still unknown at present. On April 22, 2003, YUKOS and
Sibneft announced the start of the merger into YukosSibneft. In the
first phase, Sibneft shareholders were to sell 20% of their shares to
YUKOS for $3 billion; and then in the second stage, they would
exchange their remaining Sibneft shares for about 26% of
YukosSibneft’s securities. However, after the head of YUKOS, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, was arrested, Sibneft announced a suspension of the
deal that might have formed a company worth $50–55 billion, making it
the largest company in Russia in terms of capitalization and giving
it control of nearly one-third of Russian oil production.

Two other failed megadeals also have a chance of taking place in
2004. The first is a deal to give a consortium made up of Gazprom and
the Ukrainian company Naftogaz of Ukraine control of all of Ukraine’s
gas pipeline infrastructure (for an estimated cost of no less than
$25 billion). One of the main reasons for the holdup is Kiev’s
obstinate insistence on including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and
Turkmenistan in the gas transport consortium (gas from these
countries is exported through Ukrainian pipelines, but their
membership in the consortium means that Gazprom would lose its
monopoly position as natural gas exporter to Europe.

The second is the creeping privatization of Bashkortostan’s oil
production and oil refining industries. In early August, the
government of Bashkortostan reorganized the property structure of AO
Bashneft and Bashneftekhim, which had previously belonged to it in an
ownership chain, with the aim of protecting them from possible
privatization. Now the companies control their own capital according
to a complex scheme. The problem is that as a result of the deal the
republican budget lost assets worth at least $2 billion. The deal is
also being contested and is directly dependent on the outcome of the
pre-election fight between President of Bashkortostan Murtaza
Rakhimov and his rivals.

The last two deals are the attempted acquisition of Surgutneftegaz by
Sibneft shareholders, which led to an unprecedented increase in
Surgut shares in spring 2003, and the would-be sale of a large
package (25 to 40%) of YUKOS shares to either ExxonMobil or
ChevronTexaco. Based on estimates of the company’s market value, the
deal should have been worth $20–35 billion, which beats the record
set by BP–TNK by several times. Strangely enough, President Putin was
the first to officially announce that negotiations were going on. The
company itself is keeping dead silent; and Lee Raymond of ExxonMobil,
who met with nearly all members of the government and oil and gas
industry elite in Russia last October, has not said a word about the
results of these meetings.

It is certain that three of these five deals have not taken place
because of active interference of the Russian authorities. The YUKOS
affair in particular, which arose as a result of the initial efforts
to form YukosSibneft, became the determinant for businessmen who had
been planning deals two or three orders of magnitude smaller. By the
end of 2003, there were noticeably fewer of them than at the
beginning of the year; and this should be considered one of the
year’s main results.

by Dmitry Tatarinov

;node=469&doc_id=439336

–Boundary_(ID_+NBVOOPN0inPkcPDmjRF/A)–

Christmas is Busy Time for Catholic Charities
By TATYANA NYBORG, A Contributing Writer

Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers, OK
Dec 18 2004

“This time of the year, we have Christmas toy distribution and will
give about 1,000 food baskets and toys to 300 families,” says Quentin
Henley, associate director of Catholic Charities, located on 739
North Denver street in Tulsa.

Another Catholic Charities project is collecting coats for
distribution. Yale Cleaners and TV Channel 6 provide support for the
project that distributes about 10,000 coats.

Most Catholic Charities’ services are free. “We are amazed by peoples’
generosity,” says Henley. “Almost all funding comes from donations of
Catholic and other communities. We have about 300 volunteers helping
throughout the year.”

Catholic Charities offer free food and clothing. Every month they
donate clothing to about 17,000 households and food to 13,000
households.

Catholic Charities have several buildings in different locations
in Tulsa and other towns to hold the clothing and food as well as
residential homes for programs that support individuals and families
with special needs.

Families who need support to get back on their feet can live in St.
Elizabeth Lodge. Seven families live there presently, but it can
accommodate up to 12 families. Madonna House is a program for women
in crisis. Most of the women living there are expecting. It has
eight rooms with usually six or seven filled at a time. St. Joseph
residency is for people infected with HIV. The residents of the St.
Joseph home are provided with 24-hour care. There are currently 12
residents with a capacity of 13, and there is a waiting list.

Xavier Clinic is a free medical clinic supported by the Catholic
Charities. It is a joint program with Saint Francis hospital. Doctors
and nurses from the hospital volunteer their time to help people
without health insurance. Patients can consult with therapists once a
week, take pregnancy tests, and attend a once a month diabetic clinic.

Catholic Charities provided 1,400 hours of counseling for individuals
and families, and helped families adopt 12 children through their
adoption agency in 2004.

Marina Williams, a refugee resettlement and immigration coordinator
of the Catholic Charities, works through an agreement made between
the U.S. government and the Charities about financial, immigration
and housing help for refugees from other countries. Williams told
about incidences where she and Catholic Charities were able to help.
Fifty-two welders from India came to Oklahoma to work for an American
company. But the company violated their contracts. They were paid only
$2.00 per hour, and the owners of the company held their passports
and did not allow them to leave the factory. So Catholic Charities
helped the welders fight for their rights and get permanent residency
in the United States. “There are many people coming to the U.S. from
the war zones.” Williams says. “For example, an Armenian refugee
from Azerbaijan came here recently. When the military conflict
in Nagorny Karabah between Azerbaijanians and Armenians started,
she left everything to escape. She and her son arrived in the United
States without a home, job or even passports. Catholic Charities helped
them with everything. They got Social Security numbers and immigration
papers so she could find a job. They lived in the St. Elizabeth lodge
and the Catholic Charities paid for their utilities, food, clothing,
transportation and health screening.” Williams is now helping the
Indian welders to bring their families to the United States.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YOUNG ARMENIANS STAGE PROTEST IN FRONT OF EUROPEAN UNION OFFICE IN YEREVAN

YEREVAN, December 17 (Noyan Tapan). The European Union member states
should not start the negotiations on the issue of Turkey’s joining the
EU until Ankara has not recognized the Armenian genocide committed
in 1915-1923. This was stated during the December 17 protest action
staged before the EU Armenian office. Representatives of the ARF
“Nicol Aghbalian” students union, the “Mitk-Kentron” youth analytical
organization and the students unions of various higher educational
institutions took part in the protest.

The protesters handed a letter over to the representative of the
European Union office. In the letter they express their concern about
the fact that Turkey consistently renounces the Armenian genocide,
conducts a hostile policy with respect to Armenia, as well as about
the scandalous facts of the human rights violation in this country. In
the document the Armenian youths express hope that the EU leasders
will not yield to an inoportune and momentary interest, to Ankara’s
“insincere and vain reforms” and will make a correct decision by
rejecting the negotiations on Turkey’s joining the EU until in
particular Ankara does not recognize the Armenian genocide

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress