Author: admin

The Globe and Mail
Sept 6 2004

Classic match-up is set

Venus Williams meets Lindsay Davenport, while Agassi-Federer showdown
looms

By TOM TEBBUTT

NEW YORK — Week two of the U.S. Open begins today with the classic
match-up of Venus Williams against Lindsay Davenport and the strong
possibility of an Andre Agassi-Roger Federer blockbuster looming for
Wednesday night.

After their wins on Saturday, Williams and Davenport will play this
afternoon for the 25th time. Their career head-to-head competition is
deadlocked at 12-12. Williams returned to action at the Australian
Open in January after six months out with an abdominal strain.

Then she suffered a bad ankle sprain before the French Open and a
wrist problem this summer.

“I’m just now starting to get healthy,” she said on Saturday after
beating Chanda Rubin. Ranked No. 12, Williams, 24, resents that
injuries have made her vulnerable and implied that she had no choice
but to play the Athens Olympics, where she lost to Mary Pierce.

“It’s a terrible thing,” she said of her current status. “I mean, I’m
a former No. 1, Grand Slam champion. I’m Venus Williams. People come
out and start to think that they can win because I’m not on top. If
I’m playing well, normally I’m going to be in the winner’s circle.”

Davenport, 28, has had her injuries woes as well — right knee
surgery in 2002, toe surgery last October and continuing knee
cartilage degeneration — but is on a roll. She has won four
tournaments and 22 matches in a row as she winds down a career that
could be in its final few months.

“There’s not a lot of pressure,” she said of today’s showdown. “Maybe
that’s because I feel I played so well all summer. I just have a
belief in myself.”

That showed on Saturday when she coolly saved two set points in the
tiebreaker of a tense 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 win over red-hot Elena Bovina of
Russia.

The women’s event lost Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on Saturday
when her shortcomings on hard courts were exposed in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
loss to Pierce.

The 17-year-old Russian does not get the rewards for her power play
on hard courts that she does on grass and does not make any
adjustment to compensate.

Her loss removed a possible quarter-final match-up with top seed
Justine Henin-Hardenne, but the highly anticipated Jennifer
Capriati-Serena Williams quarter-final did materialize yesterday when
Capriati defeated Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 6-2 and Williams downed Patty
Schnyder 6-4, 6-2.

It will be their third consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final —
Capriati winning at Roland Garros and Williams at Wimbledon.

Last night No. 2 seed Amélie Mauresmo defeated Italian Francesca
Schiavone 6-4, 6-2 and will next meet Elena Dementieva.

In men’s action, Andy Roddick showed form worthy of a defending
champion, hitting 21 aces and no double faults in the 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
dismantling of Guillermo Canas of Argentina and Lleyton Hewitt ousted
Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Tommy Haas, after missing 15 months after two operations on his right
shoulder, continued an impressive 2004 campaign by beating Ricardo
Mello of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.

As a result of their victories on Saturday, Federer and Agassi are
destined for a quarter-final confrontation.

Today, Federer will take on Andrei Pavel, whom he has defeated seven
times in a row (four in 2004), while Agassi will plays his pal Sargis
Sargsian, with whom he shares Armenian ancestry.

He is 5-0 against Sargsian.

In doubles yesterday, No. 3 seeds Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Mark
Knowles of the Bahamas reached the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-1 win
over Americans Justin Gimelstob and Graydon Oliver.

“It’s always important in a match like that with a rowdy crowd
[Gimelstob is from nearby New Jersey] to get off to a good start,”
Nestor said.

That was on the Grandstand.

Later, in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, supermodel Naomi Campbell watched
Serena Williams, who wore a relatively modest black, silver-studded
dress. Campbell told a CBS interviewer that she liked the Williams
sisters’ fashion sense, proclaiming them “bold and interesting. I
love their looks.”

“She’s a really good friend of myself and my sisters,” Serena said.

On a more serious matter, Williams revealed that three doctors had
recommended she not play the U.S. Open because of the problem with
her left knee.

Explaining her participation, she said jokingly: “I became a doctor
just recently. I took my own doctor’s advice.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Farhat’s new album to be released in Germany

Tehran Times
Sept 6 2004

Tehran Times Art Desk
TEHRAN (MNA) – The new album “Angels’ Birthday” by Iranian musician
Shahin Farhat will soon be released in Germany.

Early this year, Farhat recorded a new selection performed along with
the Armenia Youth Orchestra in Armenia. The new album also features
Armenian tenor Narbeh Cholakian performing songs based on poems by
Hafez, Khayyam, and Sa’di.

The album is being released in Germany by a German company and will
probably be distributed in Iran at the same time.

Farhat is quite satisfied with his new album, saying that this is the
first time an Iranian classical work has been recorded in a foreign
country and hopefully it will hit the market soon.

Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia)
September 5, 2004 Sunday

DVD Review

by KAY SCHMIDT

DRAMA
Ararat
Imagine (MA)
In short: Focuses on the Armenian genocide, still denied by Turkey.

The players: Arsinee Khanjian, Christopher Plummer, Charles Aznavour,
Elias Koteas.

Verdict: A history lesson that is too wide-ranging to be involving.

AN ambitious, complex and informative film from Atom Egoyan (The
Sweet Hereafter), a Canadian of Armenian extraction. His deeply
personal mission is to draw attention to his heritage — the 1915
massacre of up to a million Armenians, which went mostly unnoticed
during World War I. He does so through several strands connecting
past and present, including a film within the film based on the
alleged atrocities.

New Times Broward-Palm Beach (Florida)
September 2, 2004 Thursday

Blood & Sweat
But no tears, pansy boy

All eyes — and all of ESPN’s cameras — will be on Hollywood this
Friday, when seven big, bad boxers beat the bejesus out of seven other
big, bad boxers during Hard Knocks at the Hard Rock. In a battle for
the world championship of the flyweight division, undefeated Colombian
Irene “Mambaco” Pacheco (30-0), 33, goes up against 28-year-old Vic
Darchinyan (also undefeated, with a 21-0 record). Pacheco’s skill
is unrivaled among flyweights, but his challenger, an Armenian, has
been training in Australia. And you know what that means: He’s been
around those boxing kangaroos.

Darchinyan’s handlers are saying the D-man is going to mop the floor
with Pacheco and then hop away with the loser in his joey pocket. The
co-main event features Daniel Judah versus Luis Alberto Gimenez. The
undercard has Colombian Angel Priolo going ten rounds against Juan
Keb-Baas. Then there are the locals: Hollywood’s own Ed Paredes and
Johnny Pawlowski are scheduled to get in the ring at the Seminole
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (1 Seminole Way, Hollywood). Tickets
cost $30 to $100; get them by calling 954-523-3309 or visiting
The first bout starts at 7 p.m. For more
information, see — Deirdra Funcheon

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
(A Division of the Zoryan Institute)
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: George Shirinian

DATE: August 31, 2004 Tel: 416-250-9807

40 STUDENTS IN US AND CANADA COMPLETE THIRD ANNUAL UNIVERSITY PROGRAM BY
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE & HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES

Toronto, Canada – Forty international students attending university
campuses in Minneapolis and Toronto have successfully completed the
two-week, accredited Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP)
for the third year in a row. Operating under a partnership between the
University of Minnesota and the International Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (IIGHRS), the
program graduated a total of 40 participants this year. This year’s
students were of Armenian, Azeri, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, English,
Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Romanian, Scottish, Turkish, and Vietnamese
descent. Nearly 100 students from eighteen countries have completed the
program thus far.

The faculty, many of whom are foremost experts in their respective fields,
was expanded this year from 12 to 17 instructors between Toronto and
Minneapolis.

“We are very gratified with the results of the program in both cities,”
said Dr. Roger Smith, a Co-Director of the program. “This is a unique
experience for both the students and the faculty. Students have the
opportunity to learn from a number of renowned specialists, and faculty
have the opportunity to team teach and interact with serious students who
come from around the world,” he commented. “Being together in class seven
hours a day, for two weeks straight, makes for a very intense experience,
both intellectually and emotionally. I am pleased that the students in each
location were able to develop into cohesive groups,” he added.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the other Co-Director of the program, indicated that
the Minneapolis program, which has been conducted in other forms since
1997, was directed at teachers seeking renewal credits, as well as upper
division undergraduate and graduate students. Several of those in the
Minneapolis program were looking toward careers in human rights law,
political science, history and other subjects with an emphasis on the study
of genocide.

Taner Akçam, who represented the University of Minnesota as the professor
of record for accreditation purposes in Toronto, has been with the program
since its inception. He observed, “This is a comprehensive course that
explores the causes, methods, and effects of genocide through an
examination of four major case studies. It does so through a study of
genocide theory, history, sociology, political science, and even art and
literature. I am proud to see so many highly motivated students come from
far and wide to participate in this program. I admire their idealism and
their commitment. I wish that we could run this program in Turkey one day.”

Among the faculty was Major Brent Beardsley of the Canadian Forces. In
1994, during the genocide in Rwanda, Major Beardsley served as the Personal
Staff Officer to then Major-General Romeo Dallaire, the Force Commander of
the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Major Beardsley
was an eyewitness to the genocide in Rwanda and earlier this year testified
for the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in
Arusha, Tanzania. He had this to say about the program. “Once again the
students attending this course never fail to amaze me. Such a diverse group
from so many backgrounds and locations, but unique, smart, swift and thirsty.”

Participating for the first time this year was Prof. Eric Markusen, Senior
Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies,
Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He enthralled the students
with remarks on his recent trip to Chad, where he was conducting an
investigation on behalf of the American Government into the genocidal acts
in the Darfur region of Sudan. Commenting on his experience at the program,
he wrote the following.

I want to express my thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to
participate as a faculty in this year’s [program]. I thoroughly enjoyed
every minute of it and came away invigorated and encouraged. It was great
to see old friends and wonderful to meet the amazing students from all over
the world. I was very impressed with the range and depth of the material
dealt with, as well as the fine organization…. Now that I have actually
experienced one of your summer [programs], I am more interested than ever
in pursuing … the possibility of holding an Institute here in Copenhagen or
elsewhere in Europe.

It was noted by Program Coordinator Amanda Duncombe that it would be much
easier for students from Europe, the Middle East and the Former Soviet
Union to attend the program in Copenhagen or another city in Europe.

Joyce Apsel is Master Teacher in the General Studies Program at New York
University, where she teaches courses in Great Books and on Genocide and
Human Rights, and is the Past President of the International Association of
Genocide Scholars. She both participated in the course as a faculty member,
and observed it as an auditor. As part of her analysis of the program, she
wrote,

The superb facilitation by Roger Smith as well as Stephen Feinstein created
an extremely positive learning environment which balanced the seriousness
of the topics and detailed information with humor, insight and concern for
students and their particular needs. (Individual projects were an excellent
mechanism to do this). The classroom environment during the sessions I
attended encouraged student input and dialogue.

Many of the students shared their enthusiasm with the faculty, as expressed
in their comments.

“Though I have examined these issues at the graduate level, the in-depth
manner in which each topic was treated enhanced my knowledge greatly of the
finer details of many subjects.”

“Wonderful experience. Learned more in two weeks that I have in a long
time. Particularly benefited from the high quality of both professors and
students.”

“I would like to thank you for the amazing opportunity you gave me in
Toronto with the GHRUP symposium. I learned an incredible amount, met
amazing people, and had the privilege of sitting in on some profound
lectures. I truly appreciate the scholarship you gave me as it allowed me
to have this experience that I will never forget. Not only has my knowledge
base in the subject area of genocide increased, but the program has
inspired me to further pursue this interest of mine in Human Rights and
Genocide in my future academic career.”

K.M. (Greg) Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute, having seen the
reaction of the students, their interest, and the demand for such a course,
along with the increased requests from scholars to expand the program to
universities in other countries expressed the hope “that community leaders,
philanthropic organizations, and government agencies will respond to the
call for supporting the Genocide and Human Rights University Program and
its expansion to Europe.” He added, “To provide such a unique and
high-quality learning experience costs approximately $90,000 per campus,
yet every effort made to raise awareness and ultimately finding ways to
prevent gross human rights violations and the killing of masses of people
is worth every penny we invest.”

The GHRUP examines many facets of genocide, starting with a theoretical
approach to the definition of genocide, an analysis of the development of
the concept of human rights, and the relationship between the two. The
program then examines four cases of genocide, including the Jewish
Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandese Genocide. Using the
Armenian Genocide, the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century, as a point
of reference, these case studies, along with others, are analyzed in a
comparative manner. In addition, special themes, such as genocide denial;
women, children and genocide; genocide and its relation to Diasporas;
education and genocide; the possibility of reconciliation between victim
and perpetrator groups; and the prevention of genocide are all explored in
an interdisciplinary manner, using the approaches of history, sociology,
political science, anthropology, and law. The overall objectives of the
program are a) teach students how to define and predict the conditions in
which genocide occurs; b) to thereby make it possible to prevent genocide;
c) to promote reconciliation; and d) to help develop a new generation of
young scholars to pursue advanced studies in this subject. In the process,
the course provides participants with the intellectual framework for
understanding the numerous, complex, and often emotional issues related to
genocide as a universal human experience.

More information about this year’s course, including the entire syllabus,
can be found at Registration for summer 2005 will
begin later this year.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

In the Caucasus, another crisis threatens
Neal Ascherson IHT

International Herald Tribune, France
Sept 6 2004

Abkhazia

LONDON — While President Vladimir Putin of Russia struggles to deal
with the fallout from the school siege that killed hundreds last
week in Beslan, across the border, Georgia’s new president, Mikhail
Saakashvili, faces simmering conflicts that may flare up dangerously
if they are mishandled.

The most daunting of them all concerns Abkhazia, a fertile and
beautiful coastal strip between the Caucasus mountains and the Black
Sea whose existence the outside world has all but forgotten.

Since he took power in a bloodless revolution last November,
Saakashvili, 38, has successfully tackled large-scale corruption and
set Georgia on a course toward Western-style democracy. But he has
run into trouble as he tries to “reintegrate” Adzharia, South Ossetia
and Abkhazia, regions that either refused to join independent Georgia
in the 1990s or tried to break away more recently.

In May, Saakashvili overthrew the secessionist regime of Aslan
Abashidze in Adzharia, the Georgian province bordering Turkey. But
this summer he failed to re-establish Georgian authority over South
Ossetia. Troops were sent in, but there was armed resistance from the
Ossetians, leading to more than a dozen deaths and furious protests
from Russia.

The fiasco in South Ossetia has damaged prospects for any settlement
with Abkhazia, the most difficult territorial problem facing
Saakashvili. Abkhazia fought a ferocious war of independence against
Georgian forces in 1993 and 1994, in which atrocities were committed
by both sides. More than 200,000 Georgian civilians fled Abkhazia
and survive as homeless refugees in Georgia.

The Georgians maintain that Abkhaz identity is little more than
a fiction that Russia supports in order to undermine Georgia’s
own independence. The Abkhazians retort that they had never been
an integral part of Georgia, and that they went to war only when
independent Georgia threatened to annex them after the fall of the
Soviet Union.

During the Soviet period, massive settlement of Georgians in Abkhazia
had reduced the Abkhazians to a minority in their own country. On the
eve of the 1993-1994 war, ethnic Abkhazians numbered only 100,000 out
of a population of 500,000. (There were also about 100,000 Armenians,
most of whom supported the cause of Abkhazian independence.)

But independence brought no happy end for Abkhazia. With the best
vacation beaches on the Black Sea, it might have become prosperous.
Instead, it became an unrecognized microstate, blockaded by the
outside world. Road, rail and air links were cut off. Ten years later,
Abkhazia’s government is disillusioned and defensive. There is an
elected Parliament, but democratic reformers have to struggle against
a culture of authoritarian rule and spreading corruption.

Recently Russian tourists have returned to the beaches and a flow
of imports fills the shops. If they apply for Russian passports,
Abkhazians can now travel abroad. But even today, about a third of
buildings in Sukhumi, the capital, remain gutted by war.

Peacekeepers from the Confederation of Independent States – Russian
troops, in other words – occupy the region bordering Georgia, while a
small United Nations force observes the cease-fire zone. But 10 years
of meandering peace talks between Abkhazia and Georgia have produced
no solution.

Observers hoped that Saakashvili’s democratic “revolution” might reduce
tension between Abkhazia and Georgia. But when I visited Abkhazia early
this year, I found that Saakashvili was regarded there as an erratic
Georgian nationalist determined to crush Abkhaz independence. Recently,
Georgian patrol boats fired on a Turkish vessel off the Abkhaz coast,
and Saakashvili has hinted that Russian cruise ships might be prevented
from entering Abkhaz ports.

Saakashvili’s use of force in South Ossetia confirmed the worst
Abkhazian suspicions about him. And yet he is trapped by his own
rhetoric on Abkhazia. He has to do something about it or lose the
confidence of his followers.

On Oct. 3, there will be presidential elections in Abkhazia. The ailing
president, Vladislav Ardzinba, who led the independence war, favors
Raul Khajimba, currently prime minister, as his successor. So does
Putin, it seems; Khajimba, like Putin, has a KGB background. But if
Khajimba wins, he won’t necessarily push Abkhazia toward integration
with Russia. Many Abkhazians are almost as worried about Russian
absorption as they are about Georgian threats.

A deal between Georgia and Abkhazia may still be possible.
Saakashvili’s enormous popularity means that, in theory, he could
afford a compromise: some sort of fudged confederation in which
Abkhazia could associate with

Georgia and yet retain “sovereignty.”

But Saakashvili and the new Abkhaz president will face two obstacles.
One is how to let the refugees return without overbalancing
Abkhazia’s demography. The other is gaining Russian approval. That
is even harder. As American influence in the region grows, with
huge U.S. investments in Caspian oil and trans-Caucasus pipelines,
Russia’s instinct is to hold on to any lever in its grasp – including
the military presence in Abkhazia that gives Moscow a decisive grip
on Georgian policies.

In the end, it is not Georgians or Abkhazians who will solve this
dangerous standoff. Only a global agreement between Russia and the
United States on the future of the Caucasus will end Abkhazia’s
isolation and bring Georgia and Abkhazia to a lasting settlement.

Neal Ascherson, who reported on the collapse of the Soviet Union
for The Observer, is the author of “Black Sea” and, most recently,
“Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

El Periódico, España
4 sept 2004

El polvorín del Cáucaso

• El territorio es un conjunto de pueblos y naciones de diversos
orígenes lingüísticos y étnicos
• Hay numerosos conflictos latentes que Rusia no ha sido capaz de
resolver

MARC SEMO
PARÍS

Después del desmembramiento de la Unión Soviética en 1991 y la
independencia de las repúblicas transcaucásicas (Georgia, Armenia y
Azerbaiyán), la Federación Rusa teme perder el control del mosaico
étnico del Norte del Cáucaso.

Una auténtica Babel
El Cáucaso es, en verdad, una auténtica Babel. Una extraordinaria
concentración de pueblos de origen turco, persa e indoeuropeo, pero
una cuarta parte de ellos son autóctonos, no se puede relacionar con
ningún otro grupo étnico o lingüístico en el mundo. “Son estructuras
sociales cercanas. La mayoría son musulmanes sunís, practicantes
tolerantes del sufismo”, subraya Georges Charachidze, especialista en
filología y civilización en el Cáucaso.
La conquista rusa conllevó el éxodo forzado en 1864 de la mayor parte
de cherkesos hacia territorio otomano y el aniquilamiento de los
ubiks. Fieles al principio de dividir para poder reinar, el régimen
soviético organizó la región en seis repúblicas autónomas que se
convirtieron después de siete años en una mezcla de pueblos
diferentes, incluso hostiles entre sí.

El conflicto checheno
“Los chechenos son los más numerosos y representan una masa compacta
dentro de un territorio continuo”, explica Charachidze. En Chechenia
había un millón de chechenos antes de las masacres y de las
deportaciones en masa, organizadas por Stalin, después de la segunda
guerra mundial. Después de su rehabilitación en 1956, volvieron a su
tierra. Y eran unos 800.000 en el momento de la disolución de la
URSS. Los chechenos han proclamado unilateralmente su independencia
en noviembre de 1991. La reivindicación fue encabezada por el general
Dudayev, asesinado en 1996
En 1992, los chechenos se separan de sus primos ingushetios, que
dudan en desafiar a Moscú. Creyendo que el “ejemplo checheno” no se
extiende, el presidente ruso Boris Yeltsin, lanzó en 1994 a su
Ejército contra la república separatista. La capital, Grozni, cayó
después de meses de combates encarnizados. En agosto de 1996, los
rebeldes chechenos conquistaron la capital. El acuerdo de Kasaviurt
selló la derrota rusa, dejando a la pequeña república en una
independencia de facto. Mientras, Moscú hizo todo lo posible para
favorecer el caos antes de intervenir de nuevo militarmente en
octubre de 1999.

Extensión del conflicto
El recorrido de los oleoductos ya construidos o en proyecto
acrecienta, aún más, la importancia estratégica del Cáucaso Norte,
así como la de las repúblicas transcaucasianas, formalmente
independientes, que Moscú sigue considerando como una zona bajo su
influencia. La tensión potencial más grande es con Georgia, república
presidida por Mijail Saakachvill.
El ataque contra Beslán, primera gran acción chechena en Osetia del
Norte, es desde esta perspectiva, inquietante. Osetia del Norte, que
pertenece a la Federación rusa, es una república mayoritariamente
cristiana. En 1957, la URSS le dio un 40% del territorio ingushetio,
y aparece como el punto de apoyo más fiel a Moscú. A este panorama se
añaden los numerosos micro-conflictos latentes atizados desde Moscú,
en el seno de las repúblicas autónomas, como la de los cherkesos. Los
combatientes chechenos, intentan, por lo que se refiere a ellos,
extender su lucha a los vecinos de Ingushetia y Daguestán. El mosaico
caucásico contiene al menos 26 pueblos diferentes, mayoritariamente
musulmanes, obligados a confraternizar por su condición de minorías.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Service de base francais
3 septembre 2004

Développement Turquie La délégation du conseil des Etats impressionnée par les réformes

Istanbul (ats) La Commission de politique extérieure (CPE) du Conseil
des Etats, en visite en Turquie, s’est dite “très impressionnée” par
l’impulsion donnée aux réformes dans ce pays. Il s’agit maintenant de
les traduire dans les faits, a déclaré son président, Peter Briner
(PRD/SH).

“Nous avons remarqué ici une atmosphère de renouveau comme on n’en a
plus vu depuis longtemps en Europe occidentale”, a dit vendredi à
l’ats le conseiller aux Etats. Celui-ci s’exprimait à l’issue d’un
séjour de cinq jours en Turquie.

Les membres de la délégation de la CPE ont pu constater, lors de
leurs rencontres et leurs visites à Ankara, Erzurum (est) et
Istanbul, que “la société et les gens sont pleins d’optimisme”.
Sensible à l’intérêt profond manifesté dans les milieux les plus
divers en faveur d’une adhésion à l’UE, la délégation a aussi été
“impressionnée par l’ampleur des réformes législatives adoptées
jusqu’ici”.

Visite de Calmy-Rey

Avec la Suisse, les relations bilatérales se développent de façon
“très positive”, a affirmé le conseiller aux Etats. “Nous avons vécu
ici une hospitalité extraordinaire” et les entretiens ont été “très
ouverts”, a-t-il ajouté.

La délégation suisse a notamment rencontré plusieurs membres du
parlement turc, le ministre des affaires étrangères Abdullah Gül,
Leyla Zana, tête de proue de la lutte pacifique pour la
reconnaissance des droits des Kurdes récemment libérée, ainsi que des
responsables économiques.

La discussion avec M. Gül a “permis d’apaiser les tensions dues à la
question arménienne”, indiquent les Services du parlement dans un
communiqué.

Le ministre a renouvelé dans ce cadre l’invitation à l’adresse de son
homologue Micheline Calmy-Rey. Prévue initialement en septembre 2003,
la visite en Turquie de la conseillère fédérale avait été annulée par
Ankara après la décision du Grand conseil vaudois de reconnaître
comme génocide le massacre des Arméniens par l’Empire ottoman en
1915.

Exportations suisses

Les difficultés rencontrées à la frontière turque par les
exportations suisses, malgré leur certification en bonne et due
forme, ont également été mentionnées par la délégation suisse. Côté
turc, c’est notamment le déséquilibre de la balance commerciale en
faveur de la Suisse qui a été évoqué.

NOTE: dépêche entièrement remaniée

Central Asian and Southern Caucasus Freedom of Expression Network
(CASCFEN), Azerbaijan
Sept 4 2004

Newspapers published with blank front pages

…To protest planned arrival of Armenian officers to Azerbaijan

CASCFEN, Baku, 4 Sept 2004 — Today about two dozens of dailies were
published with blank front pages to protest planned arrival of
Armenian officers to participate in maneuvers to take place in
Azerbaijan within NATO “Partnership for Pease” Program on September
12, 2004. The decision was taken by 9 leading mass media heads a day
before and others were called to join an action. As a result other
popular dailies joined action too. Alongside with dailies Group of
Companies ANS (includes TV, Radio channels, news agency and several
magazines) suspended broadcasts between 10am to 11am and 04pm to 05pm
and is going to suspend it from 08pm to 09pm. Among those published
with blank front pages are most popular newspapers such as “Azadliq”,
“Yeni Musavat”, “Baki Khaber”, “Xeber.net”, “Baku Today”, “Ekspress”,
“Uc noqte”, “Iki sahil”, “Sharq”, “525-ci qezet”, “Ayna”,
“Mukhalifet”, “Olaylar”, Russian-language “Zerkalo”, “Ekho”, “Novoye
Vremya” and others. The electronic versions of these newspapers
published protest slogans on their web sites too.

The statement published on the papers on Sept 3 warned that if the
arrival of Armenians will not be prevented media outlets reserve the
right to broaden protest actions: “Depending on development of events
we reserve the right to broaden our protest activities even further
and to suspend our activity for longer term”.

Those joining protest consider arrival of Armenian officers to
Azerbaijan as a disrespect for the nation: “Letting the officers of
occupational forces into the training facilities of Azerbaijan,
letting them train together with our soldiers means disrespect
towards the military interests of the host country and playing with
the nerves of the Azerbaijan nation”.

“We think that admission of the Armenian forces to Baku is insult to
Azerbaijani nation, which lost thousands of its sons, aggravates a
political situation in the country, causes mass protest, and creates
ground for infringement of existing stability and unpredictable
negative consequences”, reads the statement.

The Statement of Protest by Mass Media of Azerbaijan

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

4TH MEETING OF OSKANIAN AND MAMEDIAROV TOOK PLACE

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
4 Sept 04

Despite the recent statements of the Azerbaijani foreign minister
allowing to think that the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan would not take place, it nevertheless took place
in Prague on August 30. This was the fourth meeting on the level
of foreign ministers. As we had forecast, there was not much to be
expected from this meeting. According to the RA foreign minister,
“The only expectation was that the Armenian party may continue and
lead to its logical end what they had undertaken, at last making
it clear on what basis the talks between the two countries will
go on.” According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of RA, the American, Russian and French co-chairmen of the
Minsk Group Stephen Mann, Youri Merzlyakov and Henry Jacolin also
took part in the meeting of Oskanian and Mamediarov. The personal
representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk was
also present at the meeting. This meeting, as the previous ones,
did not have a special agenda. The ministers of foreign affairs of
Armenia and Azerbaijan went on discussing questions referring to the
prospect of regulation of the Nagorni Karabakh conflict. According
to the participants, the meeting was useful and positive. After the
meeting the RA minister of foreign affairs told the journalists that
the newly appointed ambassador of the USA in Armenia John Evans who has
recently arrived in Yerevan, must actively get involved in the talks
for the settlement of the Karabakh problem. As to the effectiveness
of the meeting, Oskanian noticed that this was an ordinary meeting
of which no results should be anticipated. “There may be news only
after the meeting of presidents,” said Vardan Oskanian. Therefore
we may state that the fourth meeting of Oskanian and Mamediarov did
not produce any results, at best it prepared for the next meeting
between Kocharian and Aliev. Let us hope that at least that meeting
will promote positive changes in favour of the peaceful regulation
of the Karabakh conflict.

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN.
04-09-2004

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress