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TURKEY FOR PEACE THAT SATISFIES AZERBAIJAN
[December 08, 2004, 21:18:55]

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Dec 8 2004

Chairman of Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Azerbaijan Republic Murtuz
Alaskarov on 8 December has received the newly appointed ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Turkey to Azerbaijan Turan Morali.

Congratulating the Ambassador on his mission and wishing success in
his activity, Speaker of Azerbaijan Parliament said the friendly and
fraternal relations between two the countries have ancient history,
nevertheless, after return of the national leader of Azerbaijan
Heydar Aliyev to power a new phase opened in development of the
Azerbaijan-Turkey relations. At present, President Ilham Aliyev
successfully pursues this course. Large-scale projects realized in
the region bring closer our brotherly countries and peoples.

Then, Murtuz Alaskarov updated the Ambassador on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict, stressed fair position
of Azerbaijan related to the issue. Speaker of Azerbaijan Parliament
expressed gratitude for position of Turkey in the mentioned problem.

Ambassador Turan Morali thanked for sincere reception and said he
would make every effort to promote development of bilateral relations
between two countries. As to the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, Turkey
will support the peace that will satisfy Azerbaijan and his country
would render any possible assistance in settlement of the conflict.

There are forces in Turkey who are interested in establishment of
economic and political links with Armenia, the diplomat said. “But
this is not official position of Turkey. Turkey will neither open
the borders, nor establish diplomatic links with Armenia until the
Nagorny Karabakh conflict found its fair solution and the refugees
and IDPs return to their homelands”, Mr. Turan Morali emphasized.

In the meeting, also were exchanged views on a number of other
questions representing mutual interest.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia offers Gazprom role in Iran pipeline project

Interfax
Dec 8 2004

Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia’s government and Gazprom are discussing
a role for the Russian gas giant in the construction of the Kadjaran –
Ararat section of the gas pipeline between Armenia and Iran.

An Armenian government source told Interfax that Gazprom might
be invited to build and renovate 200 km of pipeline at a cost of
approximately $90 million.

Gazprom might receive the incomplete No. 5 generating unit at the
Razdan power plant, in which Gazprom has shown an interest, to
reimburse its costs.

Razdan is Armenia’s biggest heat and power plant, producing 20% of
the country’s electricity. It has capacity of 1,100 megawatts and
operating capacity of 800 megawatts.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1994 provided
a loan worth $61.5 million to build the fifth block at the Razdan
plant. Work on the unit was halted in 1996 after $60 million had been
spent on it. Another $60 million or so will be needed to complete
the unit. Armenia is spending $500,000 in budgeted funds each year
to keep the unit in mothballs.

Russia and Armenia signed a protocol at the start of this year to
transfer the existing four units of the Razdan plant to Russia in
payment for Armenia’s state debt. ZAO Inter RAO UES assumed management
of the plant. The fifth unit will be a separate legal entity.

Work on the Armenian stretch of the pipeline began at the end of
November. Construction of Iran’s 100-km stretch began in July. The
Iranian Export and Development Bank set aside $30 million to finance
the Armenian stretch.

Iran signed a deal to supply Armenia with 36 billion cubic meters
(bcm) of gas per year over 20 years with the possibility of extending
this by five years and gas supplies to 47 bcm in May this year.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Patriarch blames Turkey for poor relations

The Armenian Patriarch Karekin II said that the genocide issue was not one that could be debated.

NTV/MSNBC (Turkey)

December 8 – The Patriarch of the Armenian Church on Wednesday claimed
that Ankara was responsible for lack of formal diplomatic relations
with Yerevan.

Patriarch Karekin II said that this was because Turkey insisted on
setting preliminary conditions for the normalising of the relations.

However, Karekin II said that it was essential to resolve the question
of Ngorno-Karabag region of Azerbaijan and which is currently occupied
by Armenia, and the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide.

“Undoubtedly in such a climate it is of special importance to open
the border and improve co-operation,” he said.

But he stressed that the issue of genocide was not an issue that
could be the subject of debate.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Jewish Press, NY
Dec 9 2004

The Banality Of Denial:Israel And The Armenian Genocide
Posted 12/8/2004
By Aharon ben Anshel

We have an ugly name for people who commit the ugly crime of
declaring that The Holocaust never happened — they are called
“deniers,” and have been successfully prosecuted both here and
abroad. But “our” genocide was not history’s only crime against
humanity, and even in our time we have witnessed several other crimes
of mass murder, including Rwanda and Biafra, from which the blood of
the victims cry out from their graves.
No less a personage than the then American diplomat, and Ambassador
to Turkey, Henry Morgenthau, kept a diary and eventually wrote a book
describing what he observed as a genocide of Armenians then residing
in the border area with Russia by “The Young Turks” of the Ottoman
Empire in 1915. Under the guise of “relocation” at least
three-quarters of a million to as many as one-and-a-half million
Armenians — including Armenian members of the Turkish armed forces,
were either systematically starved to death or driven in forced
marches or simply killed in situ.
Prior to the armistice that settled the boundaries of World War I,
the Armenian nation had been promised statehood, but the Turkish
regime decided that this “Third column” that may have become faithful
to their Russian sponsors were a danger to the new nation-state and
decisions were made to “deal with them.” In the ensuing years,
conflicting opinions even in Turkey resulted in some 1,400 military
courts martial, with punishments meted out to the perpetrators — but
then “mysteriously” — most of the official records vanished.
Yair Auron’s book doesn’t itself delve into the actual facts or
issues of the Armenian genocide, but deals with the posturing of
historians, both in and outside of Israel, of not wishing to deal
with the issue or to even deny that there ever was a genocide. He
discusses the uncomfortable position of the government of Israel,
which has been pressured by the government of Turkey — Israel’s major
trading partner among Muslim countries — to not officially bring up
the subject of the Armenian genocide.
He bemoans the influence — and interference — of Israel’s foreign
ministry on the Israeli Academy, and delves into the delicate
governmental “pandering” to the Turks during times when they were the
only Muslim nation — with a substantial Jewish community — to
maintain friendly relations with the State of Israel. He also bemoans
that there is still no current curriculum for the study of the
Armenian genocide in Israel’s school systems; that textbooks
(including one written by him) on the subject have not been
promulgated nor published; that educational television programs
produced by Yad Vashem and for an American production have still not
been aired in Israel; that Yad Vashem has — unlike New York’s Museum
of Jewish Heritage and Washington, D.C.’s United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum — still not provided recognition that the Armenian
genocide “may” have happened (although they have provided recognition
to the nazi genocide of Europe’s Roma (“gypsies”).
Each time governmental action is called for, in recognition and for
educational efforts in Israel, the foreign ministry, and
coincidentally, also the Prime Minister’s office, are pressured by
Israel’s Turkish allies into quashing the effort. The Turkish
position is that such “discussion” is more properly in the academic
sector among historians and the like. But — each time the subject
comes up the Turks evenly “trounce” the sometime perpetrators of
truth. This happened when The First International Conference on the
Holocaust and Genocide was held in Tel Aviv in 1982. Among over one
hundred fifty lectures only six included mention of the Armenian
genocide, and through Turkish and Israeli governmental pressures
these were neatly excised before the event was even held.
Elie Wiesel, who was President of the conference, resigned over the
pressure, and Prof. Arthur Hertzberg, who offered his services as
Keynote speaker in Wiesel’s stead, also withdrew over the issues
after enormous pressure. The resulting colloquium was thus
emasculated and muzzled by the Turks who, to this day, deny the event
of the Armenian genocide and still hide relevant documents in their
governmental archives from all but the friendliest researchers who
have been completely “vetted” in advance.
Truth, especially so many years after an event, is always elusive,
and there may be more than one “correct” version. It has already
taken more than half a century for many truths to arrive about the
German Nazi experience, with new revelations arising almost weekly,
such as that as many as ten-percent of Hitler’s soldiers may have
been “Mischlinge” (half or quarter Jews), and even that it was a
German officer who rescued The Lubavitcher Rebbe from the Warsaw
Ghetto. Post-war Germany, much as post-Apartheid South Africa, has
owned up to the nation’s crimes and in each case delivered up the
most serious perpetrators either as international criminals or at
least for hearings.
Turkey, on the other hand, continues to deny all, and modern
moralists and humanists wish to assist the efforts of the
international Armenian community to resolve the issues to their
satisfaction to help heal their communal memory of affliction.

–Boundary_(ID_8P/gOqRnWBieg1l2gvtnQg)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian, Azeri foreign ministers to meet in Brussels on 9 December

Arminfo
8 Dec 04

Yerevan, 8 December: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will have a meeting in
Brussels on 9 December. The meeting will be attended by the co-chairmen
of the OSCE Minsk Group to settle the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,
the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry has told Arminfo
news agency.

The Armenian foreign minister arrived in Brussels from Sofia
yesterday to participate in a meeting of the foreign ministers of
the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (CEAP). As was reported, the
two countries’ foreign ministers also held a meeting in Sofia.

According to the source, Oskanyan today held a meeting with the
ambassadors of CEAP member countries and representatives of analytical
centres drawing up European policy. During the meeting, the sides
touched on relations between Armenia and Turkey, Armenia’s prospects of
integrating into and expanding cooperation with the European Union in
the context of Europe’s New Neighbourhood policy. The foreign minister
then met the European Commission’s commissioner for expansion issues,
Olli Rehn, to present Armenia’s approach to the 17 December summit of
the European Union regarding Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

[Passage omitted: Vardan Oskanyan also met other European officials]

Armenian Patriarch blames Turkey for poor relations

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Dec 8 2004

The Armenian Patriarch Karekin II said that the genocide issue was
not one that could be debated.

December 8— The Patriarch of the Armenian Church on Wednesday claimed
that Ankara was responsible for lack of formal diplomatic relations
with Yerevan.

Patriarch Karekin II said that this was because Turkey insisted on
setting preliminary conditions for the normalising of the relations.

However, Karekin II said that it was essential to resolve the question
of Ngorno-Karabag region of Azerbaijan and which is currently occupied
by Armenia, and the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide.

“Undoubtedly in such a climate it is of special importance to open
the border and improve co-operation,” he said.

But he stressed that the issue of genocide was not an issue that
could be the subject of debate.

“This was a real experience, the Patriarch said. “But without any
hesitation I have to say that this problem has to be overcome and
relations between the two nations should be re-established.”

–Boundary_(ID_87ArFnMHUviOAw61XMJskQ)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish Press
Dec 8 2004

Russia and the West
BYEGM: 12/8/2004
BY SAMI KOHEN

MILLIYET- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Ankara this
week coincided with a problematic period in terms of our relations
with the West. Before and after the visit, Turkey’s warmth for Russia
stood in contrast with its coldness towards the US and certain EU
members. In fact, Putin’s visit highlighted the positive atmosphere
between Ankara and Moscow. For example, the Turkish media’s interest
and positive take on relations with Moscow surprised even Russian
observers. However, there’s been a negative shift in Turkey’s feelings
for old friends. Particularly its anti-US feelings are about to upset
relations. The key factor in this is criticisms of US policies in
northern Iraq and towards PKK terrorists. As a decision on our EU
membership talks looms, there’s also difficulties and discomfort in
our relations with Europe. Particularly certain EU members’ recent
stances and a draft statement for the summit caused disappointment.

Putin’s visit to Ankara in such an atmosphere, taken as the
beginning of a new era for Turkish-Russian relations, served to
relax Turkey. However, we shouldn’t consider this an alternative
to our relations and common interests with the West or an escape
from the West by leaning towards Moscow. If Russia is seen in terms
of multidimensional relations, relations are positive. Ankara and
Moscow still have common views on many issues, for example, Iraq
and the Middle East. However, they disagree on others, for example,
Cyprus, Armenia and Northern Karabakh. We have good cooperation in
some areas, particularly economics. However, there is disharmony over
Straits traffic and energy transportation. Putin said in Ankara that
if Turkey becomes an EU member, due to EU restrictions, it wouldn’t
be able to buy inexpensive energy from Russia, as it has done, and
that many Russian tourists would no longer be able to visit Turkey.
In fact, these negative predictions for the next 10-15 years were
surprising. Putin gave the impression that he didn’t favor Turkey’s
EU membership and that Ankara should prioritize its relations with
Moscow. I wonder if he was trying to send a message even as Turkey
is working to get a date for EU membership talks.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia’s plans to open tourism outlets in Garabagh to fail

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 9 2004

Armenia’s intention to open tourism outlets in Upper Garabagh,
Azerbaijan’s region currently under Armenian occupation, is nothing
but nonsense, Minister for Youth, Sports and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev
told journalists.

He said that Armenia is trying to complicate the current situation.
Pointing out the low number of tourists visiting Armenia, Garayev
said that “if anyone visits Upper Garabagh, they are most likely
representatives of the Armenian Diaspora”.

The minister didn’t rule out that Armenia receives assistance
from international organizations for the development of tourism in
the occupied Azerbaijani territories. He stressed that the World
Tourism Organization has repeatedly condemned Armenia’s activities
and issued statements recognizing Upper Garabagh as an integral part
of Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Georgian-Israeli relations light up at Hanukah
By Keti Sikharulidze

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 9 2004

The start of the Jewish festival of light, Hanukah, on Tuesday evening
was also a time for Georgian officials and Jewish leaders in Georgia to
cast their own light on the relationships between Israel and Georgia.

To mark the occasion, the Jewish Agency for Israel (Sokhnut) and the
Israeli-Georgia Chamber of Business celebrated with a concert December
7 at the Tbilisi Opera House.

Symbolically lighting what he called the ‘the symbol of Jewish soul,’
President Mikheil Saakashvili helped light the menorah and praised
Georgia’s rich historical friendship with Judaism.

“I am very proud of the Jewish nation, and the inspiration and
willingness of Jewish soldiers to defend their country,” he said,
“I wish that our soldiers had the same inspiration.”

Immediately after lighting the candle, the Israeli singer Liora
presented the president with a red rose.

Saakashvili added that he looks forward to a closer relationship
with Israel: “We have 2,600 years of a relationship, but it needs
broadening and there are great prospects to build it.”

Speaking with The Messenger, the president of Israel-Georgia Chamber
of Business Itsik Moshe approved the president’s words saying that a
“new stage” of relations has begun and that this holiday “has given
light” to the strong Georgia-Israeli relationship. Moshe stated this
holiday represents the beginning of a new era between Georgia and
Israel relationship.

“After 15 years there is a new reality and we have a historical
opportunity to begin a new stage of relations with the Georgian
government, and I think that the Georgian government can make it and
Israel is ready to support it,” stated Moshe.

This year is particularly significant because the Jewish Agency for
Israel is celebrating its 75th anniversary and its 15th anniversary
of its establishment in Georgia.

The head of Jewish Agency for Israel Representation in Georgia and
Armenia, Dov Pikulini, told The Messenger Tuesday evening that “our
organization will continue its traditions and activities.” Pikulini
added: “Let the candles of Hanukah lighten the victory of small
nations over large nations.”

One evidence of the ‘new era’ in relations is already being recorded
in a sound studio. The Georgian singer Merab Sepashvili and Israeli
singer Liora are compiling a new album of Georgian and Hebrew songs.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GAS SUPPLY IN THE REPUBLIC

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
08 Dec 04

At the beginning of our talk with the executive director of
“Artsakhgas” State CJSC Maxim Mirzoyan we touched upon the situation
in the sphere. In ten months of the year 2004 the number of natural
gas users in the republic grew by 1428, and thereby against the same
period in the previous year additional 78 million drams were paid to
the state budget. And in the past 18 months 809 flats in Stepanakert
were connected to the gas supply system. There were problems because
the majority of these flats were on the outskirts of the town. “On
the whole gasification of the capital may be considered complete
except for detached houses and three dormitories located far from
the main supply system,” said Maxim Mirzoyan. The question of these
remains unsolved because there are problems of usage security to be
solved. Maxim Mirzoyan drew attention to the installation of a new type
of gas stoves in block houses, which are safe to use. Already more
than 650 stoves have been installed. “Figuratively speaking, it means
saving 650 lorries of wood thereby saving the forest,” concludes the
executive director. In reference to the problem number 1 of Stepanakert
(that is, the worn-out underground pipeline which is already 25 years
old) M. Mirzoyan said that in the mentioned period 30 per cent of the
pipeline was replaced. The same cannot be said about gas distribution
booths, the replacement of which requires 200 million drams. “Today we
lay an emphasis on the regions,â~@~] says the head of ‘Artsakhgas’. In
the region of Martouni five contractors carry out the installation
of the gas pipelines and lateral gas pipelines. Gasification works
are carried out in 12 communities of the region. Two automatic gas
distribution booths have been installed in the villages Chartar
and Karmir Shuka, which will enable 100 per cent gas supply of all
the villages of the region. In the regional center low-pressure
reducers were installed most of which supply gas to 600 flats. In
parallel three medium-pressure gas reducers were placed to supply
five offices. On the whole, about 100 km of gas pipeline was built.
The schools of the villages of Shekher and Herher are heated on gas
(the school of the village of Chldran in Martakert is also heated on
gas). According to Maxim Mirzoyan, in 2005 the installation of the
pipelines of the regional center, as well as the villages of Gishi,
Khnushinak, Spitakashen, Chartar, Karmir Shuka, Taghavard will be
completed. In 2004 the number of gas users in the regional center
increased by 284, and in another 300 flats the local network has
been installed. Low-pressure pipelines were built in 17 communities
of Askeran. All the communities of the region of Shoushi except for
the small village Tsaghkadzor have gas supply. The most part of the
inhabited houses of Shoushi has natural gas. The work done here in 2004
costs 10 million drams, and another 116 families have gas supply. In
total, there are 523 users in the regional center and 298 users in
the villages. In 2005 again works of 10 million drams will be carried
out in the region. It is planned to provide the regional hospital with
gas, which means that the blocks situated along the pipeline will also
have gas supply. Despite the undeniable contribution of the region of
Martakert in the GDP of Nagorni Karabakh the region was not gasified
during the Soviet years. Today only the village of Vank has gas supply
(the gasometers were provided to the villagers by the benefactors
from Toronto through the all-Armenian foundation “Hayastan”. The
infrastructures of the villages Tsmakahogh and Shahmasur are ready
for use. In 2005 it is planned to include the region of Hadrout,
low-pressure pipelines will be installed in the villages Drakhtik,
Azokh, Mets Tagher and Togh.

NIKOLAY BAGHDASSARIAN. 08-12-2004

–Boundary_(ID_hn6nRyhPq7HDObUVVFcfOw)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress