Author: Arbi Tashjian

ARA ABRAHAMIAN RECEIVES LEGION OF HONOR OF FRANCE
Azg/arm
29 July 05
ITAR-TASS news agency informed that Ara Abrahamian, famous
entrepreneur from Russia and a public figure, was awarded Legion of
Honor, the supreme award of France. President Jacques Chirac France,
signed a decree on awarding Ara Abrahamian, chairman of the Union of
Armenians of Russia, chairman of the Armenian Congress, entrepreneur,
famous public figure, UNESCO good will ambassador, on July 27.
“Ara Abrahamian greatly contributed to the development of the
Russian-French relations,” Alexander Avdeev, Russian ambassador to
France, told ITAR TASS. “Ara Abrahamian is the co-chair of
Russian-French Dialogue Association thatwas created at his
initiative. Ara Abrahamian also assisted to the establishment of the
monument to the soviet soldier in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in
Paris,” Mr. Avdeev said.
He added also that Ara Abrahamian’s activities in the Russian-French
relations stand for not only warm and friendly position but also for
concrete deeds. Mr. Ambassador stated that he believes Ara Abrahamian
really deserves the supreme award of France, as he actively
participated in establishing Russian-French cooperation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RIA Novosti, Russia
July 13 2005
Armenian servicemen go to Iraq
YEREVAN, July 13 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – Forty-five
Armenian servicemen left Yerevan for Kuweit Wednesday to move on to
Iraq for a planned rotation later.
The contingent includes doctors, bomb disposal experts and drivers
who will return home on December 20, said Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, the
spokesman for the Armenian defense minister.
Another group of Armenian servicemen was to leave for Iraq last
Sunday, but was delayed for unspecified reasons. The U.S. military
plane that was to carry the Armenian servicemen did not turn up in
Yerevan.
Armenia’s parliament, the National Assembly, ratified a memorandum in
December of 2004 envisaging sending an Armenian contingent to Iraq
with a Polish division.
The first 46 Armenian servicemen left for Iraq on January 18, 2005.
The U.S. government covers all the expenditures for deployment,
logistics, communications, technological and medical provisions for
the Armenian soldiers.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1plus
| 20:48:30 | 07-07-2005 | Politics |
STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN IN ARMENTEL
Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Andranik Manukyan has
addressed ArmenTel company leaders a letter demanding to explain the causes
of cellular communication failure. The Minister called the situation
«incomprehensible»: within past week ArmenTel subscribers were twice
deprived of opportunity of sending and receiving calls.
He considers that it is ArmenTel to blame for the bad quality of
communication.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONGRATULATES NEW-ELECTED IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
YEREVAN, June 28. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan sent
a message to newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
congratulating him on his election, Armenian Presidential Press
service says. “Congratulate you on behalf of Armenian people and
personally on your election to the post of the President of friendly
country”. Armenians attach a great importance to relations with Islamic
Republic of Iran, Kocharyan said in his message. “I hope for further
development of the relations between our countries for the sake of
our nations”, the massage says. Armenian President also wished sound
health and good luck to his Iranian counterpart as well as peace and
prosperity to Iranian people. M.V. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Boris Goudenow, Boston Early Music Festival
By George Loomis
FT
June 17 2005 09:47
Opera-goers often encounter familiar subjects in diverse operatic
settings, but who would have thought a German composer would seize
on the saga of Boris Godunov 160 years before Mussorgsky? This shows
the resourcefulness of composers for Hamburg’s Goosemarket theatre,
a public opera house for which Johann Mattheson in around 1710 wrote
his Boris Goudenow, an opera that was never performed.
Long thought lost in the allied bombing of Hamburg, the score of
Mattheson’s Boris had in fact been relocated “for safe keeping”. As
with many musical treasures, however, the Red Army got there first. The
score resurfaced in the 1990s in Yerevan, Armenia, and now the biennial
Boston Early Music Festival gives its world premiere.
The subject does offer an appealing twist, but Mattheson’s Boris is
largely a run-of-the mill baroque opera driven by scheming lovers and
political intrigue. The most memorable scene comes when a chorus of
old men and children implore Boris to accept the throne, repeating
their entreaties to amusing effect each time the comic servant Bogda
tries to silence them. You could almost think Mattheson was satirising
Mussorgsky. But these Hamburg operas are curious works – throwbacks
to older Venetian operas in their blatant audience appeal, with many
short musical numbers in sound-bites and heavy, off-colour humour.
Mattheson, better known as a theorist than a composer, wrote
much engaging music for Boris, but composers such as Telemann and
Reinhard Keiser managed Hamburg’s peculiar requirements better. Lucy
Graham and Nils Niemann mastermind the lively stage action and David
Cockayne’s sets have a hint of old-style Bolshoi opulence. The young
Russian bass Vadim Kravers is impressive as Boris, though not yet
ready for Mussorgsky’s tsar. The other singers have the pleasant but
lightish voices early music attracts; among the lovers, the soprano
Nell Snaidas and the tenor Colin Balzer are especially good. Paul
O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs oversee the musical direction with verve
and scrupulous attention to detail.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian arms move to Armenia leaves balance of forces unchanged – minister
Interfax news agency, Moscow
14 Jun 05
St Petersburg, 14 June: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has
said that the planned withdrawal of some Russian weapons from Georgia
to Armenia will not change the balance of forces in the Transcaucasus.
“No change in the balance of forces is envisaged,” Lavrov said today
in St Petersburg in reply to questions from journalists.
The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that the Russian
side has informed Azerbaijan that the planned withdrawal of Russian
weapons to Armenia will not lead to a change in the balance of forces
in the region.
Earlier, Russian Defence Minister Sergey Ivanov said in St Petersburg
that some Russian weapons from bases on Georgian territory would be
transferred to a Russian base in Armenia. “This is not about giving
weapons to Armenia. The weapons will be moved to another Russian base,”
Ivanov said.
He stressed that Russia will observe the flank restrictions of the
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which provide for the presence
of required numbers of weapons in specific places.
Withdrawal of Russia’s last two military bases in Georgia will begin
in 2005 and end in 2008.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THERE HAVE BEEN NO UNCONDITIONED PROMISES
A1plus
| 18:47:02 | 13-06-2005 | Politics |
The press had informed that the RA NA deputy President Tigran Torosyan
had promised the Venice Commission experts to unconditionally accept
all the offers, including that of the electing the Yerevan mayor and
the absence of the President in the Justice Council. Today during the
press conference Tigran Torosyan announced that he is not authorized
to give promises, let alone unconditionally, but he has voiced hope
that all the problems will be solved.
By the way, he announced once more that the main conclusion was
positive and that there were only three main problems which deserved
negative conclusion.
Mr. Torosyan does not stress that these issues are the most important
of all.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish lawyers warn public against new penal code
Hurriyet website, Istanbul
12 Jun 05
The bar association chairmen of 13 provinces, issuing a joint
statement, have warned the public regarding “the dangers that arise
from the changes made in the new TCK [Turkish Penal Code].”
The joint statement, read by Izmir Bar Association Chairman Nevzat
Erdemir, included the following:
“With the changes that have been made, the establishment and operation
of illegal educational institutions is promoted, and the possibility
for these institutions to continue their activities is provided .”
“Should the draft become law in its current state, the way will
be opened to separatist terrorist organizations, those engaging in
missionary activities, and religious orders that want to establish
a state based on religion, and it will not be possible to prevent
structures that are contrary to the founding principles and philosophy
of the Republic of Turkey.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Oil pipeline completed: a sign of rising great power rivalry in Central Asia
By Peter Symonds –
World Socialist Web Site
May 31 2005
Last week’s ceremony in the Central Asian republic of Azerbaijan to
open the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline received scant coverage in
the international press. Nevertheless the completion of the US-backed
pipeline, which has taken a decade to construct, will inevitably
accelerate the scramble for oil and gas in the Caspian Basin region
and heighten the potential for conflict among rival major powers.
>>From the outset, planning for the oil pipeline was guided not by
immediate economic considerations but long-term US strategic goals.
Since the early 1990s, Washington has been determined to exploit the
unprecedented opportunity opened up by the collapse of the Soviet
Union to establish its hegemony in the key resource-rich region of
Central Asia.
The 1,770 km pipeline, simply known by the acronym BTC, is one of
the world’s longest and cost $4 billion to build. It snakes its way
from the Sangachal oil and gas terminal south of the Azeri capital
of Baku on the Caspian Sea through neighboring Georgia and some of
the most mountainous regions of the Caucasus to finally reach the
Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.
As far as Washington was concerned, the chief consideration in
plotting this tortuous path was to undercut the existing pipeline
system in Russia and to avoid Iran, which offers the shortest and
cheapest pipeline route from landlocked Central Asia to a coastline.
The US has maintained an economic blockade of Iran since 1979.
The resulting pipeline route through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey not
only created engineering problems but produced a decade of political
intrigue as the White House, first under Clinton then Bush, sought
to strengthen the US position in each of these countries. In 2003,
the Bush administration backed the so-called Rose Revolution that
ousted former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and installed
openly pro-US Mikhael Saakashvili in his place.
The BTC’s significance was underscored by the presence at the opening
of US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who read out a letter from
US President Bush, along with the presidents of the three countries
involved and also of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan. Just
prior to the ceremony, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbeyev
signed a declaration committing his country to transport some of
its huge oil reserves through the pipeline-a move that will create
tension with Moscow.
Lord Browne, chief executive of British Petroleum (BP), was also
present. BP with a 30.1 percent in the pipeline is the leading partner
in the controlling consortium, which also includes the Azerbaijani
state oil company SOCAR (25 percent), Unocal (US, 8.9 percent),
Statoil (Norway, 8.71 percent) and Turkish Petroleum (6.53 percent)
as well as French, Italian, Japanese and other US corporations.
Georgian President Saakashvili highlighted the strategic rivalry
involved in the BTC’s construction when he baldly referred to its
completion as “a geopolitical victory” for the Caspian Basin nations.
The obvious question is: “victory” over whom? The answer is just as
clear: it is a win for Washington and US-aligned Central Asian regimes
over Moscow, which is seeking to retain its economic and strategic
dominance in a region that has been part of Russia then the Soviet
Union for well over a century.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev commented at ceremony: “The
realisation of this project would not have been possible without
constant political support from the US.” American backing for the
pipeline to pass through Georgia has assisted Azerbaijan in isolating
its rival Armenia-also a potential route for a pipeline to Turkey. In
April, the US signed an agreement to provide a further $110 million
in aid to impoverished Georgia. Earlier this month, Bush included
Georgia on his European tour, hailing the “Rose Revolution” and
declaring Saakashvili as “a freedom fighter”.
In his letter read out at the opening ceremony, Bush declared the
pipeline to be “a monumental achievement”. “This pipeline can help
generate balanced economic growth, and provide a foundation for a
prosperous and just society that advances the cause of freedom,” he
stated. In fact, the pipeline will only reinforce the subordination
of the Central Asian republics to the US, heighten social inequality
and buttress the anti-democratic rule of the current regimes.
State within a state
The 50-metre wide corridor, through which the pipeline runs, is a
virtual state within a state. It is governed by the Inter-Governmental
Agreement signed by the participating countries. The agreement largely
exempts BP and its partners from any laws in the three countries by
allowing the consortium to demand compensation should any legislation
(including environmental, social and human rights laws) make the
pipeline less profitable. The pipeline passes through a national park
in Georgia and several other environmentally sensitive sites. Critics
claim that land has been taken from local farmers without proper
compensation.
BP has invested at least $15 billion in Azerbaijan. An article on the
Asia Times website last week commented: “According to Baku’s street
wisdom, the man who really rules Azerbaijan is David Woodward, BP’s
chairman, known as ‘the viceroy’, a walking oil atlas with more than
three decades working for the company from Scotland to Abu Dhabi and
from Alaska to Siberia. Woodward and BP mercilessly spin that BTC is
the cleanest and safest pipeline ever built. Georgian peasants and
English non-governmental organizations beg to differ.”
The Bush administration has not hesitated in supporting the corrupt
Azerbaijan dictatorship. Heydar Aliyev, a long-time Stalinist party
boss, ruled the republic as his personal fiefdom from 1969 as part of
the Soviet Union, then in the 1990s as a separate country. After his
death in 2003, his son Ilham, notorious as a playboy, casino owner
and vice-president of the state oil company SOCAR, took over the
reins. According to Transparency International’s global corruption
index, Azerbaijan ranks 140 out of 146 countries.
On May 21, Azeri riot police waded into an opposition protest of some
500 people with batons, arresting at least 45 people. The demonstration
was called to demand amendments to the country’s electoral laws, the
creation of an independent public broadcaster and the prosecution
of the killer of journalist Elmar Guseinov, a critic of the regime
shot dead in early March outside his apartment. The government banned
the protest, declaring that the timing was “inappropriate” just days
before the pipeline’s opening.
A report by Human Rights Watch last month criticized neighboring
Georgia, hailed this month by Bush as “a beacon of liberty”,
for failing to guarantee the end of torture and duress to extract
confessions from prisoners. “The new government… has taken some steps
to address abusive practices, but these efforts have proven inadequate
to stem them. Moreover, some of the government’s new law enforcement
policies appeared to trigger new allegations of due process violations,
torture and ill-treatment,” it stated.
All three participating countries are desperate for income. The
pipeline will take six months to fill and is projected to reach a
flow of one million barrels a day by 2008. Once fully operational,
Azerbaijan is expected to accrue $29 billion a year in oil revenues
and Georgia and Turkey $600 million and $1.5 billion in annual transit
fees respectively.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the standard of living in
both Georgia and Azerbaijan has plummeted, with the annual average
per capita income currently at just $730 and $710 respectively.
Little or none of the projected pipeline income will be used to end
the social crisis in these countries. One measure of the indifference
to the plight of ordinary people is the consortium’s token spending
on “community and environmental investment”-estimated to be just $30
million compared to construction costs of $4 billion.
As far as Washington is concerned, the pipeline’s projected economic
benefits are just one element of a more far-reaching plan. The BTC is
a convenient lever for the US to extend its political influence and
to buttress its military presence in Central Asia to the detriment
of its rivals-particularly Russia and China. The Bush administration
has already used its “war on terrorism” to establish military bases
for the first time in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Now the US is using
“pipeline security” as the pretext for forging closer military ties
with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Speculation that the US is seeking to base troops in Azerbaijan was
heightened by last month’s visit to Baku by US Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld. In congressional testimony earlier this year, US
commander in Europe General James Jones declared that the US was
interested in creating a special “Caspian guard” to protect the BTC.
The Wall Street Journal reported in April that the US plans to spend
$100 million on such a force, including the establishment of a command
centre in Baku. Concerned over Russian opposition, Azerbaijan has to
date been reluctant to commit itself.
Russian hostility to Washington’s growing intrusion into Central
Asia was spelled out by Mikhail Margelov, head of the international
affairs committee of the country’s parliamentary upper house.
“Russia’s attitude to proposals made by some politicians that this
task [pipeline security] should actually be delegated to the United
States, is firmly negative. Russia will always oppose the presence
of any foreign military contingents within the countries of the CIS
[Commonwealth of Independent States],” he commented.
Konstantin Kosachyov, a State Duma parliamentarian, pointed to
Washington’s geopolitical ambitions, stating: “It is absolutely obvious
that this project was born for political rather than economic reasons
in order to create a stable alternative for transferring Caspian energy
resources to the West bypassing Russia and some other states, such as
Iran.” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for
international energy cooperation, Igor Yusufov, was due to attends
the BTC opening ceremony but excused himself at the last minute on
the grounds of illness.
The completion of the pipeline is just the first stage in what
will certainly be sharpening rivalry in Central Asia for control
of the region’s largely untapped resources. The Caspian Sea basin
is currently estimated to contain eight percent of the world’s oil
reserves as well as having huge natural gas reserves. A gas pipeline
following the same route is due to be completed next year. An agreement
was signed in March 2005 between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to build
a pipeline across the Caspian Sea connecting the Kashagan offshore
oil field in Kazakhstan to Baku and thus the BTC.
This latter deal highlights the logic of the newly completed BTC
pipeline. Unable to fully utilize the BTC’s capacity simply from
oilfields in Azerbaijan, the BP consortium, with the backing of
Washington, is compelled to seek oil from Kazakhstan and other Central
Asian sources, intensifying competition and potentially leading to
political and military conflict.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia Confirms 2008 Military Bases Pullout From Georgia
MosNews, Russia
May 30 2005
MosNews — Russia has announced a breakthrough deal with neighboring
Georgia, promising to pull out the last of its troops from the Caucasus
state during 2008, Interfax news agency reported.
“The final withdrawal will be completed in 2008,” Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying after Moscow talks with
Georgian counterpart Salome Zurabishvili on the most painful issue
in relations between two ex-Soviet states.
The deal follows months of talks between Moscow and Tbilisi, whose new
pro-Western government compares the presence of Russian troops at the
two bases near the border with NATO member Turkey to an “occupation”.
Lavrov said that after Monday’s talks he and Zurabishvili signed a
joint communique, which included the main stages of the withdrawal –
something the Georgian side wanted to see before striking a final deal.
“We have reached the goal which we were aiming for,” Zurabishvili
said. “We would want to see this as a staged process which would
ultimately lead to the full closure of the Russian bases in Georgia.”
As local media reported earlier, bases can be transferred from Georgia
to Armenia that caused a negative reaction from Azerbaijan, which is
still in a state of undeclared war with the neighboring country over
Nagornyy Karabakh.
Up to 5,000 Russian troops together with 115 tanks, 220 infantry
fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, and 170 artillery
systems stay in Georgia at the moment.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress