Author: Badalian Vardan

SARKOZY IN THE CAUCASUS
by Kamer Kasim

JOURNAL OF TURKISH WEEKLY

Oct 21 2011

USAK Center for EU Studies

During his recent visit to Armenia, President Nicolas Sarkozy of
France made statements which sparked reaction in both Turkey and
Azerbaijan. This was not just because they reflected a general
tendency by France to accept Armenians’ historical claims against
Turkey but also because they contained messages regarding Turkey. It is
well-known that the Armenian diaspora has an established place in the
French political system. During election campaigns French politicians
endorse Armenia and Armenian claims of genocide in order to pick up
Armenian votes. President Sarkozy’s remarks have to be viewed within
the context of the presidential elections due in France in 2012. In
addition it is striking that the French president’s visit to the
countries of the southern Caucasus. Because of its petrol and natural
gas resources, as well as its population size and income levels,
Azerbaijan is usually considered to be the most important country of
the southern Caucasus, but despite France’s energy interests in this
country, Sarkozy gave priority to Armenian.

Azerbaijan will no doubt closely review this fact.

France is also the co-chairman of the Minsk Group, set up by the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to resolve
the Nagorno Karabagh dispute. The Minsk Group has not only failed
to find a solution and France in particular has not maintained
an impartial stand. In March 2008 the UN General Assembly adopted
a resolution concerning occupied Azerbaijani territory. Both the
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group voted against the resolution
which stressed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and called on
Armenian forces to withdraw from the Azerbaijani territory that they
are occupying. This shook Azerbaijani confidence in the Minsk Group.

Inside the EU there was discussion about the possible removal of
France from the joint chairmanship of the Minsk Group and the EU being
represented there instead. France vehemently opposes this proposal.

France is trying to play a role in the Middle East and the Caucasus
out of proportion to its strengths and its actions there suggest that
it places its French identity about its EU identity. Turkey possesses
more soft power than France does in the Middle East and Caucasus and
its influence there is steadily growing. The transformation which
we call the ‘Arab Spring’ is causing the emergence of a style of
popularly-based government and in the future this factor will operate
even more in favour of Turkey. This situation makes France uneasy.

Sarkozy opposes Turkey’s accession to the EU and he regards the
Armenian genocide claims as an instrument to deploy against the
Turkish candidacy. The French head of state jumbles historical facts
and cannot confront his own history, so naturally there is nothing
whatsoever that he can say to Turkey.

Looking specifically at Sarkozy’s visit to the southern Caucasus,
it was the messages relating to his own domestic politics delivered
during the Armenian leg of the journey which attracted attention.

During his visit to Azerbaijan, the essential stress was on cooperation
between the two countries in the field of energy. Another noteworthy
point was that Sarkozy’s called for talks on the Karabagh Problem
to be reviewed within the framework of the Minsk Group and that
he sounded excessively optimistic on the subject. During his visit
to Armenian, Sarkozy remarked that the existing status of Nagorno
Karabagh was not sustainable indefinitely and this was favourably
received in Azerbaijan. But Sarkozy does not hold that the occupation
of Azerbaijani territory there should end and that UN Resolutions
on the issue should be enforced. The President’s visit to Georgia
was taken up with discussions of events during the Russian-Georgian
conflict of 2008 and subsequently. As France was president of the EU
at the time of the crisis, Sarkozy met President Medvedev then and
a six point Declaration of Principles was agreed.

This declaration made the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia a matter
for international discussion but Russia has nonetheless recognized
the independence of these two areas. Sarkozy stated that he had
been able to obtain the maximum result by obtaining the withdrawal
of Russian forces from all Georgian territory outside Abkhazia and
South Ossetia and these remarks were criticised by some observers in
Georgia. Alexander Rondeli, President of the Georgian Foundation for
Strategic and International Studies, says that the situation being
described as a ‘maximum result’ was not really a gain if it simply
secured the withdrawal of Russian forces from territory occupied in
August 2008 and not that occupied earlier.

In neither of its roles – whether in its efforts to find a solution for
Nagorno Karabagh as joint chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group or in the
quest for a settlement in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in August 2008
and later – France has not been an effective player. What is more,
these were issues where the EU could play an effective role by acting
in unison, but by suppressing the EU role and giving priority to its
own issues, France has impaired the influence of the EU.

DR. KEVORKIAN’S FAMILY WANTS HIS PAINTINGS BACK AND THE LAS VEGAS MOB EXPERIENCE FILES FOR CHAPTER 11

mediabistro.com

Oct 21 2011

Museum News in Brief

Two pieces of random museum news to share to close out the week
for this writer. First, the organization that you would think had
found the perfect subject matter in the perfect locale with the most
perfect visitor base has run into some trouble. Earlier this week, the
Las Vegas Mob Experience museum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The
museum had opened just this past spring and apparently had spent too
much constructing its building only to receive too few visitors.

However, despite being in debt to the tune of just shy of $6 million,
the Wall Street Journal reports that a holding corporation may have
stepped in to help buy it out of its troubles.

Elsewhere, and completely unrelated unless you tie the two together by
having museum in common, the Armenian Library and Museum of America in
a suburb of Boston is fighting off the estate of right-to-die activist
Dr. Jack Kevorkian over 17 works of art the recently deceased doctor
had painted. The AP reports that the family wants to include the
pieces in an auction next week of the doctor’s effects and estimates
the paintings, many of which “depict death or dying and could provoke
or disturb viewers” are worth somewhere between $2.5 and $3.5 million
(one of the paintings was made “with a pint of his own blood”). The
counter-argument argues that the pieces were donated specifically
to the museum, where they have hung since 1999. The family debates
that, saying Kevorkian only lent the art to the museum temporarily
while he was serving a lengthy prison sentence for assisting in a
patient’s suicide.

MAN WHO DIDN’T KNOW HIS RACE SPEAKS
By Amy Schweitzer

Grand Island Independent

Oct 20 2011

Imagine discovering you are not the person, or even the race, you
grew up thinking you were.

Michael Fosberg, the keynote speaker at the Multicultural Coalition
Conference in Grand Island Thursday, found out when he was in his
30s that his biological father is African-American.

He told his story of self-discovery of family and race in a one-man
play he wrote about his life. It is called “Incognito.”

After Fosberg~Rs mother and stepfather divorced in the early 1990s,
he began asking questions about his father, whom he hadn~Rt seen
since he was 2 years old.

“It was like I~Rm a jigsaw puzzle and there is this one last piece
missing that I need to find to complete the picture,” he said he told
his mother.

Knowing only his father~Rs name and the last city he was known to
have lived in, Fosberg was able to find his father. But in the first
phone call, he learned his mother had left out a few details.

“There~Rs one thing I~Rm sure your mother never told you ~W I~Rm
African-American,” his father told him. Because Fosberg has very
light skin, he had never guessed he was part black.

“I went from growing up in a middle class white family to being a
black man in the blink of an eye,” Fosberg said, adding that at first
he was angry with his mother for not telling him sooner, but then a
friend helped him realize what she had probably gone through as her
parents forced her to come live with them.

She was a 19-year-old, first-generation immigrant Armenian girl in 1957
forced to leave the man she loved to return to a mostly hostile family
environment and raise her child as a single mother, Fosberg said.

Once he met his father, whom he looks just like, and the rest of his
“black family,” he started thinking about where he stood as far as
race was considered.

“What race am I? Am I white? Am I black?” Fosberg asked himself,
adding that he believed he was more than a label or a race.

“I’m a triple A – African-American-Armenian,” Fosberg with a smile,
also wondering if he is “less black” because he was never persecuted
for his race growing up.

“I was not raised black. I did not live through the black experience.

I was not singled out because of the color of my skin,” he said. “Did
I have to have that experience to be black?”

He told the audience that he has come to believe that although
ethnic groups certainly share some cultural similarities, everyone
has different experiences.

“There are cultural differences among all of us,” Fosberg explained.

“There is no one black experience or white experience or Hispanic
experience.”

Always an actor, about seven years after finding his father, he first
performed “Incognito” and he has been performing it for schools,
civic organizations and conferences for the past eight years.

“As a biracial person, and there are many of us now, we have an
obligation to help bridge the gap between the races and cultures,”
he said. “We all look for differences first. What if we looked for
similarities first?”

AZERBAIJANI LOBBY BEGINS TO GROW SPROUTS – NEWSPAPER

news.am
Oct 21 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN. – The Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional
Cooperation carried out several programs, in recent times, which deal
with a variety of European universities, Aravot daily writes. And
the Centre’s director Stepan Grigoryan recorded an interesting fact:

“There is a fairly large number of Azerbaijani academics who work
in very important European universities, which provide the future
presidents and other senior officials of those countries. They [the
Azerbaijani scholars] occupy significant positions. It is clear that
they introduce their ideology, [and] push forward their position,
which creates an environment. This is a process which later will
yield quality, and this is a result of precise and determined activity.

Tremendous amount of money is spent on those people, and it is not
surprising that Azerbaijani lobby is slowly beginning to grow sprouts,”
Aravot writes.

KARABAKH CONFLICT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHILE DECIDING ON AZERBAIJAN’S -UN OFFICIAL

news.am
Oct 21 2011
Armenia

YEREVAN.- The membership of five new states to the UN Security Council
is still under discussion, UN Resident Coordinator/ UNDP Resident
Representative in Armenia Dafina Gercheva said at a press conference
on Friday.

Gercheva stated that Azerbaijan also claimed for the membership. While
making a decision, ding the fact of unsettled conflicts in the region,
especially Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, will be taken into account,
as well as the consequences which Azerbaijan’s possible membership
may have in efforts into settling the conflict.

She stressed that UN has no mediating function in the settlement of
Karabakh conflict. However, it supports OSCE MG sparing no effort
for solution to the conflict through peace and in accordance with
the international norms.

WAS IT REALLY GENOCIDE?

Namibia Economist

Oct 21 2011

Written by Administrator

Dear sir,
An often heard expression in connection with our past is ‘genocide’.

It is unclear what the genocide in the context of the uprising of
the Herero was. What makes a colonial war as ugly as the annihilation
wars waged in other parts of our world?

Let us look at examples that had an aim to eradicate peoples. The old
Romans fought such a war against the people of Karthago; Turkey tried
to exterminate the Armenians, Hitler went against the Jews and some
African people went against each other, for instance the Rwandan and
Burundi people will be a good modern example. Genocide is nothing less
than the serious, planned attempt to annihilate a people or part of it.

This was not the case in the then German-Southwest Africa. The Germans,
a mere handful of people, were truly invited by the Herero people
to protect them against the Nama people; the Herero and Germans
signed a contract. Even the Nama people, at a later stage, signed
such a contract and all the indigenous tribes accepted the rule of
the Kaiser. The Schutzgebiet and its hierarchy was established.

The Schutzgebiet was a rather poor country at that time. Besides the
enormous wide, ‘open’ space, little riches could be seen; the presence
of diamonds and uranium were unknown. The South produced nothing;
its people, the Nama and Oorlam tribes hunted or stole domestic stock
from each other and they made war against any opponent deemed weaker
than themselves, especially the Herero, from whom they stole cattle
by the hundreds of thousands over the years.

Yes, the Herero produced cattle, really lots of cattle. However,
these huge herds of cattle were their wealth and wealth in its final
form and seldom sold, seldom butchered – we all know it. Milk was a
staple food, not so the meat of the cattle. The Nama warlords sold
these cattle, mainly in exchange for weaponry, clothing, groceries
and alcohol from South African dealers.

What attracted the Germans were, indeed, the wide but actually not
so open, and rather waterless spaces and to acquire part of these
was their aim. However, the land, tormented by wars and its people
decimated, had to be appeased to make it fit for use. This was highly
important. It was also important for them to have cheap labour.

A ‘genocide’ on the Ovaherero and other tribes would not have served
their aims altogether and was never planned; an empty land, bare of
people would have made the colony worthless. We have to think again
about these facts before we attempt to speak about a ‘genocide war’.

And before we judge what happened about a hundred years ago, we have
to look at the general thinking of that time.

We also have to try to evaluate the human thinking about the [value]
of other human beings, about wars, imperialism, about how humans
justified wars and all of these issues and many more in relation of
the change of times and dynamics of perceptions.

If some of us try to judge what happened in a way to be ‘politically
correct’ now, they may be factually very wrong. They will be wrong
politically too. Today we are building a nation by looking forward.

Building monuments to remember a certain genocide will quickly expose
other ‘genocides’. Asking for reparations from Germany will certainly
open the way for our San and Damara people to ask for reparations
from the Herero and Nama who hunted these people down and killed or
enslaved them and drove them into the mountains and deserts. Both
Herero and Nama did it in the olden times, when their perceptions
of San and Damara were different from their perception about a human
being altogether.

P. Rudolf Windhoek (Letter shortened – Ed.)

“HOT LINE” ON HIV/AIDS LAUNCHED FOR THE SUBSCRIBERS OF VIVACE-MTS AND ORANGE ARMENIA

/ARKA/
October 21, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, October 21. /ARKA/. “Hot Line” sms-line on the issues of
HIV/AIDS launched in Armenia in cooperation with the Armenian Red Cross
Society (ARCS), Peace Corps, and the main operators VivaCell-MTS and
Orange Armenia.

Subscribers of VivaCell-MTS and Orange Armenia can get answers to their
questions regarding HIV/AIDS by sending free sms-message on the number.

“Practice shows that the countries where the society gathers its
efforts in struggling against HIV/AIDS gain success. One of the options
of such a consolidated struggle is our project and we welcome everybody
who wants to join to this or other similar initiative”, said the Head
of ARCS Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan to the journalists on Friday.

Due to the Armenian mentality, many residents of the country do
not know how to behave themselves correctly, do not understand the
seriousness of the illness and do not apply for consultation.

“In this case our ethnic characteristics and shame are an obstacle
for applying to the doctor. Therefore, there was a need for advice
anonymously”, said Mnatsakanyan.

In Armenia as of August 31, 1.1 thousand cases of HIV infection
were recorded.

“In total, this figure is 33.3 million worldwide. It seemed that the
disease is not so common in Armenia but it is very dangerous and we
should think how to stop its growth”, he said.

VivaCell-MTS General Director Ralph Yirikyan said that HIV/AIDS is
a great evil which every year takes away more and more lives.

“We must struggle together against it and not allow the disease to
develop. Unfortunately, businessmen who are willing to invest money,
is not sufficient. That is why I would like to call other companies
for joining this project as much as they can”, he said.

Orange Armenia General Director Bruno Duthoit said that they were
getting prepared to the launch of the hot line for a long time.

“Our participation in the project was conditioned by a number of
reasons. First of all, it is implemented for public welfare in order
to combat the terrible disease like AIDS. It is consonant with the
approach of our company – use of technologies for the benefit of the
society and this project provides us this opportunity”, he said.

With the help of Red Cross volunteers trained in the National Center
of AIDS Prevention there is a 24-hour service to promptly respond
the messages and an information site. Volunteers will also actively
inform population on the program through social networks.

As of August 31, 2011, 1.1 thousand cases of HIV disease were
registered in Armenia, of which 71.8% of infected (747 people) are
men and 28.2% (293 people) – women. Among children 22 cases of the
disease (2.1%) are registered. About 58% of infected are within the
age group from 25 to 39.

ARMENIA’S PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS

Tert.am
21.10.11

Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan met with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
on Friday and discussed issues related to the current state of peace
talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to a press release by the presidential office, Sargsyan
and Robert Bradtke (US), Bernard Fassier (France) and Igor Popov
(Russia) also spoke about the necessity of strengthening trust among
the conflict parties.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict sparked in the early 1990s when Karabakhi
Armenians voiced their intention to live independently and later
spiralled into a bloody war, leaving around 30,000 killed and more
than a million displaced.

Earlier in the day, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs were received by
Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan.

The co-chairs visit come after a statement by the Azerbaijan Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who said that the goal of the co-chairs’
visit is to prepare the parties for a coprehensive agreement.

AMERIABANK OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE TO DEPOSITS – STANDARD GOLD BARS

arminfo
Friday, October 21, 16:08

Ameriabank offers an alternative to deposits – standard gold bars,
Trade Operations Manager of Ameriabank Sergey Shevchenko said in an
interview to ArmInfo.

He said that the bars are produced in Central Europe, particularly,
in Switzerland. The bank sells 999.9 gold bars weighing 1 ounce,
10 grams, 20 grams, 50 grams, 100 grams and 1 kilogram.

The costs of the bars will depend on the USD rate and gold prices in
the world. For the moment 10 g cost 214,450 AMD, 20 g – 417,560 AMD,
1 ounce – 643,498 AMD, 50 g – 1.025mln AMD, 100 g – 2.022mln AMD,
1 kg – 20.009mln AMD.

Concerning the prospects of the “gold” market in Armenia, Shevchenko
said that since the country’s securities market is not developed,
the local population is forced to look for alternatives and gold bars
are a good alternative to deposits.

Shevchenko said that the monthly gold bar turnover in Armenia is 100-
150 kg. The sale of gold bars is exempt from VAT.

Ameriabank also offers metals accounts for unallocated gold operations.

According to international stock exchanges, Oct 21 one troy ounce
cost $1,605-1,628 against $1,644 Oct 20.

The other Armenian banks using standard gold bars are INECOBANK,
Armswissbank, Converse Bank, Unibank, VTB Bank Armenia and Artsakhbank.

USAID ARMENIA MARKS PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP WEEK

Noyan Tapan
21.10.2011

This week, as part of its 50th Anniversary, USAID is highlighting the
role that public-private partnerships play in fostering development
around the world. Since the creation of the Global Development
Alliance program ten years ago, USAID has been a recognized leader
in public-private partnerships. USAID has created more than 1,000
partnerships with over 3,000 partners, leveraging billions of dollars
and impacting the lives of millions of people around the world.

Public-private alliances catalyze foreign investment and motivate
new players to enter the local market. In Armenia, the USAID Mission
has leveraged resources through partnerships to foster private sector
growth, promote environmental preservation, increase energy efficiency,
and improve women’s health and well-being.

In the area of technology and innovation, USAID Armenia established the
Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) in partnership with Microsoft RA. The
MIC assists small- and medium-sized enterprises and professionals to
create innovative new products and services and bring those products
and services to market.

In the area of health and social welfare, USAID Armenia has partnered
with World Vision to improve the quality of rural health services; with
the Armenian-American Wellness Center to improve women’s health; and
with the Tufenkian Charitable Foundation and the Armenia International
Women’s Association to treat and prevent domestic violence. A recently
concluded alliance with the Armenian EyeCare Project also targeted
diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases across Armenia.

As USAID Armenia marks the 10th anniversary of the Global Development
Alliance program, the Mission recognizes the achievements of past
and current partnerships and continues to seek out private sector
partners that bring unique expertise and resources to further Armenia’s
economic, democratic, and social progress.