CONSENSUS BARGAINING?
A1+
[06:20 pm] 10 October, 2007
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov expressed readiness
to conduct negotiations with the "Armenian Community of the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" provided Armenia recognises Azerbaijan’s
territorial wholeness.
According to Mammadyarov Azerbaijan is keen on shifting the Karabakh
issue to international organisations.
US WARNS OF TURKISH REPRISALS AS ARMENIA ‘GENOCIDE’ VOTE LOOMS
Agence France Presse
Oct 10 2007
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A bid by US lawmakers to label the Ottoman massacre
of Armenians a "genocide" will trigger Turkish reprisals and undermine
Iraq, Afghanistan and Middle East peace, the administration warned
Wednesday.
President George W. Bush and his top lieutenants were unusually
blunt in attacking what is a non-binding resolution in the House
of Representatives, highlighting anxiety over the impact on a key
diplomatic and military alliance.
Bush said the resolution would do "great harm" to ties with Turkey,
a Muslim-majority member of NATO whose territory is a crucial transit
point for US supplies bound for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This resolution is not the right response to these historic mass
killings; its passage would do great harm to our relations with a
key ally in NATO and in the global war on terror," the president said
outside the White House.
In a joint appearance following talks with Bush, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates also denounced
the measure as the House Foreign Affairs Committee convened for debate
later Wednesday.
Rice said she sympathized with Armenians’ fate during World War I,
when according to the Armenians, 1.5 million of their kinsmen died
in systematic deportations and killings under the Ottoman Empire.
"But the passage of this resolution at this time would, indeed, be
very problematic for everything that we’re trying to do in the Middle
East because we are very dependent on a good Turkish strategic ally
for this," she said.
The House resolution, which has a parallel measure in the Senate
pipeline, would be "very destabilizing for our efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan," Rice added.
Rejecting the genocide label, Turkey argues that 250,000 to 500,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia during
World War I.
Turkey has already warned that passage of the House resolution
could force it to bar the United States from a key military base in
its south.
Gates said that about 70 percent of all Iraq-bound US air cargo,
95 percent of tough new mine-resistant vehicles and one-third of the
military’s fuel transit through Turkey.
US commanders "believe, clearly, that access to airfields and to
the roads and so on in Turkey would be very much put at risk if this
resolution passes and the Turks react as strongly as we believe they
will," he said.
In a letter Tuesday to Bush, new Turkish President Abdullah Gul
"drew attention to the serious problems that will emerge in bilateral
relations if the bill is adopted."
But the measure has strong backing in the House, where the Armenians’
wartime plight has been likened to the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews.
The resolution authored by Democratic Representative Adam Schiff, whose
California district contains the country’s largest ethnic-Armenian
community, has won the backing of at least 226 co-sponsors in the
435-seat House.
"The United States has a compelling historical and moral reason to
recognize the Armenian genocide, which cost a million and a half
people their lives," Schiff said.
"But we also have a powerful contemporary reason as well — how can
we take effective action against the genocide in Darfur if we lack
the will to condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs?" he said.
The resolution says the World War I killings of Armenians was a
"genocide" that should be acknowledged fully in US foreign policy
towards Turkey, along with "the consequences of the failure to realize
a just resolution."
As the House vote has loomed, the US administration has deployed a
phalanx of top officials to cajole members into line for fear of the
impact on relations with a prickly but pivotal ally in the restive
Middle East.
Late last month, all eight former US secretaries of state still alive
wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to withdraw her support
of the genocide measure.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian responded that it was
"quite unfortunate that eight experienced diplomats would buy into
Turkish manipulation."
GUL TELLS BUSH "DON’T DO IT" WHILE BAGIS LAMBASTS PRO-ARMENIAN BILL
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 10 2007
President Abdullah Gul has sent a letter to U.S. President George
W. Bush and indicated that "the adoption of a bill currently before the
U.S. House of Representatives on the Armenian allegations regarding
1915 incidents would create problems in relations between Turkey and
the U.S.".
In his letter, Gul thanked President Bush for his efforts regarding
the bill.
Foreign Relations Committee at the U.S. House of Representatives will
vote the bill on Wednesday.
Meanwhile in Washington, Justice & Development (AK) Party Deputy
Chairman Egemen Bagis said "the bill on the Armenian allegations
belonged to the garbage can".
Egemen Bagis travelled to Washington accompanied by Republican People’s
Party Deputy Sukru Elekdag (Istanbul and Nationalist Movement Party
Istanbul MP Gunduz Aktan, to hold talks with officials from the US
Administration and Congress.
The Turkish delegation will tell the Americans about the negative
consequences that the bill would have on Turkey-US relations.
"I am worried because we are face to face with another move by ethnic
nationalists in the US who are motivated to cast a shadow on Turkey’s
past and present," told Bagis reporters in Washington.
Bagis said he did not want to define these (ethnic nationalists) as
Armenians and stressed that they did not represent the Armenian nation.
"These are narrow minded, spiteful, racist nationalist militants or
so-called genocide merchants. They make trade over history.
Unfortunately, for some people this bill has become the way for
earning bread".
Bagis regarded the bill as a new initiative launched by "these
militants" exploiting the weak spots of the US Congress against Turkey.
"We are here for this paper (bill) to be crumpled and thrown to the
garbage can, where it belongs," said Bagis.
Bagis emphasized that the US Congress was judging Turkey in a way
that far exceeds the limits of its authority and said the bill would
cast a heavy blow to both Turkey-US and Turkish-Armenian relations.
Bagis warned that the members of congress that backed the initiative
would loose the whole Turkish nation for the sake of a few hundred
thousand votes.
"Somebody has to tell them, what they will loose in the Middle East
and Central Asia, if they lost Turkey. It is enough just to take
a glance at the map. We want common sense, logic and intellect to
triumph and we want them to step back from this grave mistake. If
this bill is adopted, it will remain as a piece of paper that is
impossible to implement. But the heart of the Turkish Nation will
be broken. Otherwise the common sense will win. Then wide areas of
collaboration will be open before us and a process that involves peace,
justice and development for everyone will begin," Bagis stressed.
TURKEY WARNS BILATERAL TIES CAN BE DAMAGED IF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL PASES IN THE US CONGRESS
ArmRadio – Public Radio
Oct 10 2007
Armenia
President Abdullah Gul has written to US President George W. Bush
warning him that bilateral ties will be damaged if Congress approves
a bill recognizing the killings of Armenians in the last years of
the Ottoman Empire as genocide, the Turkish daily News reports.
"In his letter our president thanked President Bush for his efforts
(to block the bill) and drew attention to the problems it would create
in bilateral relations if accepted," said the presidential office in
a statement.
If the bill passes, Ankara might cut logistic support to US troops
in Iraq. The bulk of supplies for US troops in Iraq pass via the
Ýncirlik air base in southern Turkey.
In the meantime a senior lawmaker from the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP) said the place of the Armenian bill was
a dustbin.
The AKP’s deputy Egemen Baðýþ is lobbying in the United States against
the controversial bill together with opposition deputies.
Baðýþ is accompanied by a deputy from the Republican People’s Party
(CHP), Þukru Elekdað, and the Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP)
deputy, Gunduz Aktan, according to the Turkish Daily News.
–Boundary_(ID_oxlJSInIzEu3z2HQkGCrQw)–
GEORGIAN ARMENIANS TO GATHER AT U.S. EMBASSY IN SUPPORT OF H.RES.106
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2007 15:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The center of cooperation of Armenians will hold a
rally at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi October 10, Levon Isakhanyan,
representative of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.
"People will gather in support of the Armenian Genocide Resolution,"
he said.
"At least 100 people, not only Armenians but also Yezids and
representatives of other friendly nations as well as Armenian Genocide
heirs, will come," Isakhanyan said.
ROY EXUM: "MR. AVO" PLAYS HERE ON FRIDAY
by Roy Exum
The Chattanoogan, TN
20.asp
Oct 8 2007
About 15 years ago, on one a cold winter’s day, Phil Windham and I
decided we should see how we’d do as modern-day pirates so we went
down into the Caribbean and spent an evermore delicious week trying
very hard to lay siege to the islands.
Late one morning at the Hyatt resort outside of San Juan, we had a
breakfast caller and neither of us knew at the time our lives would
be enriched because of the portly old man in the crisp white Brioni
suit and stunning Panama hat who shared the day with us.
That same old man, now in his 80s but with eyes that still twinkle
like the stars over the West Indies, will be in Chattanooga this
Friday night. Avo Uvezian, one of the most wonderful gentlemen this
world has ever known, will play the piano and share his laughter at
a very exclusive gathering down on Cherry Street.
Sadly, the elegant new restaurant that Phil named in tribute to "Mr.
Avo" is too small to handle what would be a huge crowd and the kind of
ticket required to spend the evening with "The Ambassador to the Good
Life" is also prohibitive to those who do not fully comprehend the
curl of blue smoke off the end of arguably the world’s finest cigar.
But for the 60 people who will step forward and buy a commemorative box
of Avo’s best signature cigars, the Ambassador himself will autograph
that very box on a night that I can assure you will last long after
he’s played the last song of the evening.
His legend began when he, an Armenian, would play his piano for the
Allied troops during World War II in Syria and Lebanon, back when
"our boys" were on R&R and his gentleness, his great kindness, and
his absolute mastery of that piano even back then was so real some
men across this nation still recall it almost 70 years later.
Space prohibits the whole tale – it would take quite a book – but
fast-forward to the heady Palmas del Mar resort in the Caribbean in
the mid-1980s. By then Mr. Avo’s flair with his piano and his lifetime
of savvy had made him a very wealthy man.
But his childhood roots, his unquenchable work ethic and what can only
be described as his vow to the "good life" kept him in his piano bar
night after night. He played because he loved it, don’t you see?
For example, as an accomplished musician and composer, he wrote a rash
of songs but you’ll recognize one called "Strangers in the Night." With
all due respect to the late Mr. Sinatra, to hear Mr. Avo play it is
to hear the first birds sing on an Easter morning.
That day Phil and I spent with him in San Juan was unbelievable.
After breakfast the three of us retired to a deserted piano bar in
the Hyatt complex. Any "old standard" you can name Mr. Avo can play.
His hands move effortlessly, he can carry on an easy conversation
as he rolls from one song to the next, but it is his warmth that is
most magnetic.
Mr. Avo doesn’t need any music sheets or any of that. After just 15
minutes, there must have been a crowd of 50 jammed around that deserted
piano. The general manager of the place, having no idea who he was,
wanted to hire him right then!
Now the deal is that back when he was holding court with the swanky
in the ’80s, he used to get these handmade cigars rolled and, at night
when the fat cats would gather around his baby grand with those tanned,
long-legged women, Mr. Avo would share from his private stash.
As is the way in a blessed life, he was constantly running out. After
he was repeatedly urged to create his own brand, he did it in a way
that only adds to the legend.
He quickly learned who the best tobacco man in the world was at the
time and he sought out a genius named Henkie Kellner.
After Henkie and he cut a deal to produce the best cigar avoid of Cuban
soil, Mr. Avo immediately balked at signing the contract. "No, Henkie,
I must give you 25 percent more than we’ve agreed. You are worth it,
and probably more, but I cannot leave like this. Add 25 percent more
for you and I’ll sign."
There are some who laugh at such craziness, but they fail to understand
you never sneer at crafty. The moment Mr. Avo thus honored Mr. Kellner,
he cunningly assured his brand would have the absolute best of the
leaf, the most delicate shade wrapper, the perfect draw.
Don’t you see? A few years later, when the "cigar delight" arrived
in the United States, an Avo cigar was the benchmark, the chalk,
the best of the best. And, when he finally sold his brand to the
European Davidoffs several years ago, he did so for … well, many
millions of dollars.
Part of the deal was that the much-infatuated Davidoff dynasty could
tout Mr. Avo as its "Ambassador to the Good Life," that this beautiful
Armenian who once played for the boys in World War II would continue
to spread well over a half-century of that warmth and kindness and
exquisite piano talent all the world over.
Believe me, it is one of life’s richest stories.
When he comes here on Friday, the lucky ones will see the laugh lines
in his face are now deep enough to plant a row of Connecticut Shade.
Then, if they’ll add a dart of fresh lime juice to a neat glass of
top-shelf rum and combine the concoction with one of those Avo cigars,
they’ll hear the music, the glorious music, to which only those who
adore "the good life" can properly dance.
Trust me. When Phil Windham and I got to know Mr. Avo, we got to know
all about it, what is described in the Caribbean as a smooth sea and
a forgiving wind. This is about the good life.
For further information on Friday evening, which will include a lavish
dinner and an elegant crowd, please call Burns’ Tobacconist or the
Chattanooga Billiard Club as fast as you possibly can.
"MONEY TRANSFERS. RETAIL BANKING SERVICES" INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO LAUNCH IN YEREVAN ON OCTOBER 10
Mediamax Agency
Oct 8 2007
Armenia
Yerevan, October 8 /Mediamax/. The 4th international interbank
conference "Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services" will launch in
Yerevan on October 10.
Mediamax reports that the "Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services"
conference will launch on October 10 at 10:00 in "Tigran Mets" Hall of
"Armenia Marriott" Hotel.
The conference will be attended by the Chairman of the Central Bank
of Armenia Tigran Sarkisian, Chairman of the Association of Russian
Banks Garegin Tosunian, President of the Moscow International
Currency Association Aleksey Mamontov, representatives of money
transfers systems and banks from Israel, Estonia, Russia, Armenia,
Ukraine and Georgia.
During the "Money Transfers. Retail Banking Services" conference,
issues, concerning the improvement of technical platforms, the currency
integration innovational systems, extension and improvement of the
quality of services spectrum for the users of money transfer systems,
issues, related to the struggle against money laundering and others
will be discussed.
CQ Transcriptions
Oct 5 2007
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FRIED HOLDS A STATE DEPARTMENT
NEWS BRIEFING ON SECRETARY RICE’S UPCOMING TRIP TO MOSCOW
OCTOBER 5, 2007
SPEAKER: ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EUROPEAN AND
EURASIAN AFFAIRS DANIEL FRIED
[parts omitted]
QUESTION: They said both plans, as you know, for next week in the
Congress on the Armenian genocide resolution. All indications are
that that will make it through committee. What will the U.S. be —
what will the administration be saying to Turkey in the aftermath?
FRIED: The administration opposes House Resolution 106. And we think
it would do grave harm both to U.S. Turkish relations and to U.S.
interests including damage to — it would hurt our forces deployed in
Iraq which rely on passage through Turkey. It would do far greater
harm than good. It would do nothing to advance Turkish- Armenian
reconciliation.
But more to the point, it is not simply this administration which
opposes this bill, but all former living secretaries of state have
written to Speaker Pelosi in opposition, including Madeleine
Albright, Warren Christopher, Colin Powell, Henry Kissinger, James
Baker, Alexander Haig, George Schultz, Larry Eagleburger. They have
all expressed the view that this resolution could, and I quote,
"endanger our national security interests in the region including the
safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Now, no one, neither the former secretaries nor the administration,
denies that a terrible and inexcusable tragedy of mass killings and
forced exile befell innocent Armenians in the late — in the last
years of the Ottoman Empire, in 1915 and after. Those are historical
facts. Up to a million and a half people were killed or forced into
exile. The United States has recognized this. President Bush, like
President Clinton before him, has formally recognized it in annual
statements on Armenian Remembrance Day on April 24th.
So the administration does not deny anything. We do not deny
anything.
But we do not believe that this bill would advance either the cause
of historical truth or Turkish-Armenian reconciliation or the
interests of the United States. And we oppose it.
QUESTION: That statement seems to presume that Turkey will retaliate
by restricting some sort of access to Iraq by saying that this would
harm U.S. troops.
Do you presume that?
FRIED: I don’t want to discuss a possible Turkish reaction to a bill
that I hope doesn’t pass.
But it is true that the Turkish reaction would be extremely strong.
It has been strong when such resolutions have passed before. And we
have to be mindful of how much we depend and how much our troops and
the Iraqi economy depends on shipments from and to Turkey.
Pharma Investments, Ventures & Law Weekly
October 14, 2007
CHEMOTHERAPY;
Studies from T.K. Davtyan and colleagues reveal new findings on
chemotherapy
Pg. 821
"The systemic therapeutic application of iodophores has not yet been
accepted due to limited availability of safe and effective ionized
iodine preparations (see also Chemotherapy). Here we evaluated the
antibacterial activity of iodine-lithium-ei-dextrin (lL alpha D) both
in vitro and in vivo," researchers in Yerevan, Armenia report.
"The MIC values of IL alpha D against 189 bacterial isolates in
various growth media and in vivo toxicity and protective efficacy of
IL alpha D in preventing mortality of rats infected with
Staphylococcus aureus were determined. The intracellular killing of
S. aureus by neutrophils in the presence of IL alpha D and
myeloperoxidase (MPO)-catalysed oxidation of iodide was also
determined. The MIC values of IL alpha D against 189 Gram-positive
cocci and Gram-negative bacilli ranged between 124-512 mg/L in growth
media and 6.2-12.5 mg/L in buffer solution, and were highly variable
in the presence of amino -acids. We observed protection of S.
aureus-infected rats from death with significant reduction of
bacterial growth in organs upon intravenous administration of IL
alpha D at doses that are 4-12 times lower than maximal in vivo
tolerability dose. Intracellular killing of S. aureus by neutrophils
increased in the presence of IL alpha D probably due to MPO-catalysed
oxidation of iodide into hypoiodous acid. The pattern of IL alpha D
reaction with amino acids at different pH or halide ion content
determined both the generation of long-lived secondary oxidants and
antibacterial activity. Systemic application of IL alpha D proved to
be successful in the rat infection model by promoting host defence,"
wrote T.K. Davtyan and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "Probable mechanisms are increased
intracellular killing of bacteria by production of hypoiodous acid
and iodamines as well as anti-inflammatory activity."
Davtyan and colleagues published their study in the Journal of
Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (Evaluation of amino acids as mediators
for the antibacterial activity of iodine-lithium-alpha-dextrin in
vitro and in vivo. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy,
2007;59(6):1114-1122).
For additional information, contact T.K. Davtyan, Armenicum Research
Center, Laboratory Immunology & Virology, Yerevan, Armenia.
Publisher contact information for the Journal of Antimicrobial
Chemotherapy is: Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon St., Oxford
OX2 6DP, England.
Keywords: Armenia, Yerevan, Amino Acids, Antibacterial Activity,
Antibiotics, Antimicrobials, Chemotherapy, Drug Therapy, Drugs,
Enzyme Research, Lithium, Myeloperoxidase, Pharmaceuticals, Therapy,
Treatment.
This article was prepared by Pharma Investments, Ventures & Law Week
editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Pharma
Investments, Ventures & Law Week via Chemotherapy.
HAND IN HAND AGAINST ARMENIA
Armen Tsatouryan
Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Oct 5 2007
Recently the Azerbaijani propaganda has, by a wave of some "magic
wand", changed the preferences it had on the Armenian political
arena for around 10 years. Now the Azerbaijani Web sites, especially
"Day-Az", unanimously insist that instead of the victory of their
former idol, they favor the victory of Serge Sargsyan, their sworn
enemy.
Why have the outstanding representatives of the Azerbaijani
propaganda, i.e. Akper Hasanov, Ledani Guliev and the others have
within a few days diametrically changed their belief according to
which Levon-Ter-Petrosyan is the only person among the Armenian
politicians who is capable of making serious concessions with regard
to the Karabakh issue.
To answer this question, it is first of all necessary to pay attention
to the following fact.
Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s September 21 speech for a moment aroused an
obvious euphoria in Azerbaijan. But those singing praises to our
ex-President from Baku quickly realized that their words were first
of all addressed to the rivals.
It was quite natural and logical that after Ter-Petrosyan’s return
to active politics, the Azerbaijani propaganda, which had sung his
praises for around 10 years, would change its targets and direct its
blows towards the rival’s side. Because, if the former approach had
been preserved, Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s rivals would have made sure once
again that this person is trying to return to the post of President in
order to realize his well-known defeatist program adopted in 1997-1998
with regard to the Karabakh Issue.
It is quite conceivable that the "propaganda-based solutions" deriving
from the interests of one’s own country currently demand that people
like Eldanizguliev present Ter-Petrosyan as a clever and a much more
dangerous activist for Azerbaijan than Serge Sargsyan whom they hate
so much.
The following question comes up: what does our country’s national
interest demand in that case? The answer is clear and obvious: to find
out the causes of such a sudden transformation of the Azeri people’s
views and not to be misled by the change of their preferences.
Whereas the majority of the media supporting the Armenian pan-National
Movement are currently engaged in disseminating this kind of primitive
provocation elaborated by the Azerbaijani propaganda, and they are
trying to convince their readers that Azerbaijan is anxious rather
than happy by the prospect of Mr. Ter-Petrosyan’s return.
What makes those media engage themselves in disseminating Azerbaijan’s
"propaganda-based provocations"? Is it the lack of elementary knowledge
or the coincidence of interests with the Turks?
If this kind of approach results from ignorance or naivety, let them
at least remember the well-known proverb saying "Never confide in an
ass". And if they consciously commit themselves to disseminating the
Azerbaijani "target change" operation in Armenia, there is already
a certain role-casting between the Azerbaijani "Day-Az" and some of
our newspapers.
That is, on the one hand the Azerbaijani media are currently
presenting Levon Ter-Petrosyan as a dangerous and cruel rival, a real
"Armenian extremist" under whose rule the Armenians occupied Shushi and
performed the military operations of Khodjalu, and on the other hand,
by presenting to the reader the publications of "Day Az" and other
Web sites, the media supporting the Armenian pan-National Movement
are trying to convince us that it is by all means necessary to ensure
Mr. Petrosyan’s victory in the upcoming presidential elections in
order to give Azerbaijan a good lesson.
When the Armenian media engage themselves in disseminating Azerbaijan’s
primitive sabotage, it only remains to draw a conclusion that the
obvious role-castings between the "parties" are simply a manifestation
of a propaganda war against the "common rival"; they rather present
dangerous political provocations.