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Armenian minister says EU membership talks with Turkey “politically-motivated”

Mediamax news agency
11 Oct 04

Yerevan, 11 October: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in
Yerevan today that the decision of Brussels to give the “green light”
to open membership talks with Turkey is “largely politically-motivated
because Turkey does not fully comply with the requirements set forth”.

Vardan Oskanyan was quoted by Mediamax as saying that Armenia cannot
play a crucial role in the issue of EU admission talks with Turkey
because it is not a member of the European Union itself.

Vardan Oskanyan expressed concern about the fact that Turkey was
considerably behind Romania and Bulgaria which are also in talks with
the EU. The minister also voiced his regret about the fact that the
EU has not given a due assessment of the fact that Turkey is refusing
to open the border with Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-

PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:

PRESS RELEASE

08 October 2004

Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Shugarian Addresses Participants of
Training Course on Capacity Building in International Relations in
the South Caucasus

On 7 October, Deputy Foreign Minister Ruben Shugarian, spoke before
organizers and participants of the Capacity Building in International
Relations in the South Caucasus training course in the Media Hall of
the Ministry.

The course was held in Armenia for the first time (all previous such
courses were organized in Georgia) and was attended by participants
from Armenia and Georgia. The trainers were experts and scholars from
Switzerland, Netherlands and other countries.

The training course conducted between 25 September – 9 October was
co-hosted by the Foreign Ministry and Swiss Development Cooperation
(SDC) in cooperation with Caucasus Institute for Media Development
(CIMERA).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sporting Life
Oct 10 2004

Finland 3 Armenia 1

Finland dismissed Armenia for the second time in just over a month
with a hard-fought win in Tampere.

First half goals from Shefki Kuqi and Aleksei Eremenko had put the
Finns in control before Armen Shahgeldyan’s deflected shot set up a
tense second half.

But a late second from Kuqi secured all three points to put Finland
level on points with Romania at the top of Group One.

The victory follows Finland’s 2-0 win in Yerevan last month, and the
hosts got out of the traps even more quickly on this occasion, going
1-0 up after only eight minutes.

Aleksei Eremenko’s shot from just inside the area took a deflection,
and Kuqi proved quickest to the rebound, slotting the ball past Armen
Hambartsumyan from point blank range.

Armenia responded with a Andrei Movsesyan volley from the edge of the
area forcing a great save from Antti Niemi.

But Finland doubled their lead just before the half-hour when
Eremenko struck a brilliant free-kick past Armen Ambartsumyan.

The two-goal advantage lasted only four minutes, however, as Armenia
pulled a goal back when Armen Shakhgeldjan’s free-kick from the edge
of the box glanced off Liverpool defender Sami Hyypia, giving Niemi
no chance.

A cagey second half almost came to life after 75 minutes but Joonas
Kolkka’s header only found the side-netting.

However, with only three minutes left, Finland did restore the
two-goal cushion when Kuqi rifled home from fully 20 yards to make
absolutely sure of the points.

Teams:

Finland Niemi, Pasanen, Saarinen (Kallio 69), Hyypia, Vayrynen,
Nurmela, Kolkka (Johansson 84), Kuivasto (Tainio 46), Riihilahti,
Kuqi, Eremenko Jr.

Subs Not Used: Jaaskelainen, Pohja, Multaharju, Lagerblom.

Booked: Vayrynen.

Goals: Kuqi 9, Eremenko Jr 28, Kuqi 88.

Armenia Hambardzumian, Dokhoyan, Hovsepyan, Vardanian, Khachatrian
(Aleksanian 37), Nazarian, Mkhitarian, Shahgeldyan, Movsisian,
Grigorian (Manucharian 61), Tadevosian.

Subs Not Used: Gasparyan, Melikian, Galust Petrosian, Mkrtchian,
Hakobian.

Booked: Movsisian, Hovsepyan.

Goals: Shahgeldyan 32.

Att: 10,000

Ref: Herbert Fandel (Germany).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian-Georgian border checkpoint reopens

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
10 Oct 04

Tbilisi, 10 October: The Verkhniy Lars checkpoint reopened on the
North Ossetian section of the Russian-Georgian border today. Hundreds
of cars and passengers have passed through the checkpoint to Georgia
and Armenia, and Georgian cars have been able to enter Russia, Mindia
Arabuli, head of the Georgian checkpoint Kazbegi, which is on the
same section of the border, has told ITAR-TASS on the telephone.

He said, “The Russian side has informed the Georgian border guards
that the Verkhniy Lars checkpoint will be open until 2000 1600 gmt
today”. “There is no information so far about its future working
schedule,” Arabuli said.

The Verkhniy Lars checkpoint was closed after the tragic events in
Beslan. In the last 40 days it has been opened three times for three
to four hours. The Georgian authorities have been repeatedly asking
that the checkpoint be reopened as soon as possible.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Philip Terzian: Knock on the door

Providence Journal 10-10-04
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 10, 2004

WASHINGTON

TUCKED AWAY on the back pages of most newspapers was last week’s most
important story.

The executive branch of the European Union has proposed opening formal
negotiations over membership for Turkey.

It’s a big story, all right, but it’s just beginning. The European
Commission’s proposal needs to be endorsed by leaders of the E.U.’s
25 members, who meet in December. They are not likely to veto the
proposal. But the green light only signals forward motion. Many
obstacles remain for Turkish membership, and the process could well
take a decade or longer.

What are the obstacles? Let me count the ways. Everyone agrees that
Turkey has some distance to go before its penal code and human-rights
practices are in accordance with European standards. Turkey is much
poorer than most E.U. member nations, and its economy is straitjacketed
by government controls. Everybody admires the “secular” character
of this overwhelmingly Muslim republic — decreed by its founding
dictator, Kemal Ataturk — but it is not quite accurate to call Turkey
a democracy. There is self-rule, and the Turkish parliament enjoys a
certain independence, but real power resides in the councils of the
Turkish army. Nothing happens without the approval of the generals.

To its credit, Turkey has sought to reform itself by stages. It no
longer actively persecutes its Kurdish minority, it has instituted
judicial reform, and it has made significant changes in its notorious
prison system. The economy is being liberalized, and there have even
been legislative motions designed to limit the power of the army. A
recent measure to outlaw adultery was scuttled when the E.U. raised
objections.

But these are, so to speak, technical matters. The big question
is fundamental — Is Turkey part of Europe? — and the answer is
unsettled. Moreover, it is difficult to discuss the subject with
candor, since European identity has much to do with culture, ethnicity
and religion. The Turks have capitalized on this sensitive issue
by asserting that Europeans hostile to Turkish membership regard
Europe as a “Christian club,” and only a bigot would block their
entry. Our own State Department, which has lobbied vigorously for
Turkish accession, regards concerns about culture and religion as
“racism”: end of argument.

Yet the question cannot be ignored. A look at the map reveals that
Turkey is, by any definition, a crossroads nation, straddling Asia
and Europe. As a member of NATO since 1949, and an ally of the United
States and Israel, it has looked westward in the great game of power
politics.

There is a division, however, between the Turkey that the State
Department knows and the country that borders Iran. Not is it only
predominantly Muslim, but Islam is also far more actively enshrined
in national life than Turkey’s official “secular” posture would
suggest. Orthodox Christians, concentrated mostly in Istanbul,
are under siege and dwindling in numbers. Less than a century ago
the Turks were liquidating Christian Armenians by the hundreds of
thousands and ethnically cleansing Greeks who had inhabited the
eastern Mediterranean for millennia.

The challenge for the Europeans is not an easy one. Do three or four
years of legislative reforms constitute fundamental change, and is
Europe prepared to absorb a society of 70 million Muslims circulating
freely around the continent? The present Turkish government is headed
by an Islamist — albeit a “moderate” Islamist — party, and while
Turkish public opinion supports admission to the E.U., it is not
clear whether this reflects a desire to be European or aspirations
to join a lucrative job market.

In that sense, Turkish membership seems a genuine gamble for the
E.U., and it is obvious why some critics believe the United States
supports Turkey as a means of weakening European unity. Moreover, if
Turkey is admitted, how would that define, or redefine, the outlines
of Europe? On Turkey’s eastern border lies Armenia, a democratic
Christian nation where a European language is spoken and the economy
is considerably freer than Turkey’s. If Turkey is admitted to the E.U.,
it is difficult to see why Armenia should be excluded.

Which, in a sense, may argue for Turkey’s eventual accession. One E.U.
member, Cyprus, currently suffers the illegal occupation of a third of
its land by Turkey. Ankara can hardly join the European Union when
its army squats on the sovereign territory of an E.U. member. And
the landlocked Armenians suffer from a petulant Turkish blockade of
its border — not to mention refusal to acknowledge the genocide of
Armenians by the Ottoman Turks.

Turkey’s weaker neighbors, Armenia and Cyprus, might well regard E.U.
membership as a civilizing influence, and hope for the best. But power
resides elsewhere — in Berlin and Paris — where the sound of Turkey
ringing the doorbell must set off a long and contentious debate.

Philip Terzian, The Journal’s associate editor, writes a column
from Washington.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A charity born in the cab of a broken lorry
By Ruth Gledhill

The Times/UK
11 Ooct 04

WATCHING yet more television news footage of starving children in
some God-forsaken country, it is easy to wonder whether the world
needs another overseas aid charity.

But there are issues that pictures alone cannot convey, and one of
the best people to explain them is Baroness Cox, a tireless human
rights campaigner who has travelled 27 times to Sudan alone, defying
numerous death threats in the process.

Her new charity, the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, or Hart, will
concentrate on regions bypassed by the large aid providers and the
media. These would include parts of Sudan, East Timor, Burma and
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The idea for Hart came to Cox in a 32-tonne truck on a bitter winter
night in a forest in northern Poland.

The country had just been placed under martial law, and Baroness Cox
had agreed to be patron of an aid organisation, on condition that
she could travel with the aid to be certain it reached its intended
destination. Her truck broke down, and the driver went for help,
leaving her in the cab in freezing darkness. Suddenly that the words
came to her: “Share the darkness.” Since then the “Battling Baroness”,
as she is described in Andrew Boyd’s biography, has risked her life
by travelling to danger spots.

Her work in “trying to bring light to people in dark days” included
helping to set up the first professional foster-care programme for
some of the 750,000 abandoned children in Russia and a rehabilitation
centre in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The new charity, whose international director is Jayne Ozanne, a
member of the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England, is also
committed to advocacy, alongside aid, accountability as well as the
gathering of first-hand evidence of oppression. Although Lady Cox is
a Christian, the charity does not have an overtly Christian agenda.

“Those of us originally involved in it are motivated by the Christian
mandate which is to speak for the oppressed, to try to heal the sick,
feed the hungry, clothe the naked. But the Bible does not say feed
just the Christian hungry.”

Of all the suffering places she has seen, the worst has been Sudan,
where, even before Darfur, she had “walked through miles of human
corpses, cattle corpses, burnt homes.” At the end of one visit, she
says, “I just sat under a tree and wept. It was the sheer enormity
of the carnage. It has been going on in Sudan since the coup in 1989.”

The intractable vastness of such disasters is daunting. Baroness Cox
advocates raising awareness, getting communities involved, mobilising
other and local aid organisations. “In Darfur, the media got in and
the world woke up, but this was two million too late as far as the
people of southern Sudan are concerned.”

But other tragedies in far-flung places never achieve
recognition. “There are two possible answers. One is that the Western
media will all go to one place together, such as Somalia or Bosnia. It
means oppressive regimes elsewhere can get away with murder with
impunity behind closed borders because no one is reporting what
is happening.”

Another reason that some abuses never get the attention they deserve
is that other governments can be anxious to protect their interests
in those countries. She is herself considered an enemy of some of
the countries where she has worked. A prison sentence awaits her in
Khartoum, Sudan, and there is a price on her head in Azerbaijan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Market Wire (press release)
Oct 7 2004

Legendary Casper’s Hot Dogs Chain to Close Flagship Location on
October 22

Historic Bay Area Eatery Closes Doors After Over 60 Years of
Operation

OAKLAND, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — 10/07/2004 — Casper’s Hot Dogs, one
of the Bay Area’s oldest, family-run fast-food chains, has announced
that it plans to close its flagship store in Oakland, California on
October 22nd.

Originally opened in the early 1940s, the Casper’s on 1st Avenue has
been a favorite hang out and eatery for area neighbors. When the
store was moved from its original building to the current location at
1240 1st Avenue in the late ’40s, it quickly became a mainstay for
professional athletes, judges, and rock stars due to the store’s
close proximity to The Oakland Coliseum and the Henry J. Kaiser
Auditorium which is across the street.

“We just don’t see the activity that we used to down in that part of
Oakland,” says Ronald Dorian, one of several third-generation owners
of the Casper’s family and co-General Manager. “But it doesn’t seem
all that long ago that it was a busy location,” he adds.

This closure is particularly sad because of the recent loss of
92-year-old Rose Agajan, the last founding member of the partnership
that started the chain, which included Rose and her husband Paul, and
their partners, Stephen and Ardam Beklian — all immigrants who had
survived the Armenian Genocide.

The Casper’s story began in 1934, when several Armenian families
moved from Chicago to Oakland to sell their hot dogs from stands
along Telegraph Avenue and Fruitvale Boulevard. After gaining a
reputation for serving extra long frankfurters in freshly steamed
buns, a freestanding store was opened on 1st Avenue.

Longtime Casper’s employee Dolores Larkin was hired to work at 1st
Avenue almost 50 years ago and still remembers the prices: “The hot
dogs were only 25 cents, drinks were 10 cents, and chips were 5
cents,” remarks Larkin. She is currently the manager of the Casper’s
Hot Dogs restaurant in Pleasant Hill, located at the corner of Vivian
Dr. and Contra Costa Blvd.

“I still get phone calls at the store from people who have just
landed at Oakland Airport and want directions to the 1st Avenue store
because they’ve heard about our famous hot dogs and want to find out
for themselves if they’re as good as their reputation,” says Paul
Rustigian, another third-generation owner and co-General Manager with
Dorian.

Today, there are 10 Casper’s throughout the Bay Area, including
locations in Oakland, two in Hayward, Dublin, Walnut Creek, Pleasant
Hill, San Pablo, Richmond, and Albany. The “Casper Dog” has become so
popular throughout the years, that they have won many “Best Of”
awards in the Bay Area, including Best Fast Food Restaurant in the
Bay Area from the listeners of KABL radio station.

Oakland’s Mayor Jerry Brown remarks: “Casper’s hot dogs, with their
unique fixings, have been an East Bay fixture for 70 years. We lament
the closing of the 1st Avenue location but are heartened by the fact
that the delicious Casper’s dogs we all know and love are still
available at nine other locations.”

Norman Tuttle, a longtime Oakland lawyer adds: “Whew! We are glad
that only one Casper’s is closing! We discovered Casper’s when we
moved to the East Bay in 1950 and have always thought of them as the
great American hot dog.”

For additional information, interviews and photos, please contact
Caroline Rustigian at (310-399-5525) or [email protected].

About Casper’s Hot Dogs

Casper’s, the award winning hot dogs west of the Rockies, have been a
California favorite since 1934. At the Casper’s restaurants, this
tasty old-fashioned style hot dog is made from a street vendor recipe
and garnished with mustard, relish, freshly cut tomatoes and onions,
and made to your order on a feather-light, steamed bun. Casper’s has
restaurant locations in Oakland, Hayward, Dublin, Walnut Creek,
Pleasant Hill, San Pablo, Richmond and Albany. In 1989, the partners
opened SPAR Sausage Company and began production of their proprietary
hot dog for wholesale distribution, and now deliver the Bay Area
delicacy to club and grocery stores throughout the western region of
the United States. The family expanded their manufacturing facility
in 1997, and SPAR is now housed at 688 William Street in San Leandro
()

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Oct 8 2004

ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN COMMENTS ON AZERI PRESIDENT’S
INTERVIEW

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenpress news agency asked
Hamlet Gasparian, a foreign ministry spokesman, to comment on a
recent interview by Azeri president Ilham Aliyev to Reuters, in which
he again complained of the international community’s reluctance to
curb Armenian “aggression,” warning also that “Azerbaijan will not go
for compromise and that Nagorno Karabagh will never be independent.”
Gasparian was asked to share Armenia’s position in the light of the
recently stepped up negotiation processes over Karabagh resolution
and the expectations of the international community.
“Usually the president of Azerbaijan does not save words to praise
his father, Heydar Aliyev’s contributions to the development of
Azerbaijan, calling him “the national leader of Azerbaijani people,
he symbol of Azerbaijan, its independence, dignity and courage,”
Gasparian said.
“I should remind that Aliyev Sen. accepted arrangements, reached
in Paris and Key West, which his son is now rejecting by brandishing
his sword. I should also like to remind that today, when Azerbaijanis
keep on calling Armenia “aggressor,” they should remember the
1991-93, when they launched a large-scale offensive along the entire
front line, nearing Stepanakert and neighboring areas that were under
constant fire day and night and only due to the courage and heroism
of Karabagh people they were pushed back. Today Azeris are reaping
the fruits of the military aggression they themselves unbridled,
becoming the captives of their own policy towards Nagorno Karabagh,”
he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ArmenPress
Oct 8 2004

CCG PLEDGES $30 MILLION FOR REPAIR OF DVIN HOTEL

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8, ARMENPRESS: The Caucasian Communication Group
(CCG), the new owner of Dvin hotel in Yerevan, has pledged a $30
million investment to restore the biggest Armenian hotel.
Andreas Ghukasian, a CCG representative, told a news conference
today the major repair of the hotel will take from 3 to 5 years. Some
$2 million of this money are earmarked for reinforcing the building’s
seismic resistance. He said part of the rooms located on the last
four storeys, will be sold as private apartments.
The repair will start next spring by a company that will win a
tender, Ghukasian said, adding that after the repair the hotel will
have 160 rooms. He did not brush aside press reports that the hotel
was bought by a Russian singer Joseph Kobzon, saying the new owners
will visit Armenia in mid-November.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 9, 2004 Saturday 11:42 AM Eastern Time

Ukraine has the largest GDP in CIS countries

By Valery Rzhevsky
KIEV, October 9

Ukraine has the largest GDP among the CIS countries. “Ukraine’s GDP
grew by 13.6%, the fastest rate among the CIS countries, in
January-August 2004,” says a report of the CIS Committee for
Statistics that was published in Kiev on Saturday.

The economies of Tajikistan, Belarus and Armenia developed at a rate
of 11.7%, 10.7% and 9.6%, respectively. Then come Azerbaijan (9.5%),
Georgia (9.42%), Russia (7.55%), Kirghizia (7.3%) and Moldova
(6.52%).

The GDP in the CIS countries grew at an average rate of 8% in
January-August 2004. Industrial production also grew at 8%. The
growth of retail trade turnover is estimated at 12%, the report says.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress