Author: Badalian Vardan

“Turkish-Russian Relations: Implications for Eurasia’s Geopolitics”
PINR The Power and Interest News Report
Feb 9 2005
As a result of its geography, Turkey maintains a multi-dimensional
and dynamic foreign policy. Turkish foreign policymakers are
carefully analyzing their foreign policy options in light of the 9/11
attacks and the war in Iraq. Within this set of complex links,
Turkish-Russian relations appear rather perplexing. Historically,
there have been many wars between these two states up until the end
of WWI. Both countries have imperial legacies and have experienced a
post-imperial traumatic loneliness. Great imperial legacies and the
feelings of isolation after the collapse of the previous empires are
important factors that shape the national memory of these countries.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Turkey in December
of last year, Turkey’s prime minister paid a one day official visit
to Russia on January 10, 2005. It is relevant to analyze current
factors that determine the relations between these two states.
Domestic politics in Russia is often the result of competing views of
Westerners, anti-Westerners, Eurasianists, ultra-nationalists and
nostalgic communists. Russian foreign policy is generally determined
along the line of domestic political preferences. There is a symbolic
pendulum in Russian foreign policy that vacillates between Europe and
Asia depending on the political balances currently at play. Russian
foreign policy is today more critical of the West and follows a more
Eurasian-oriented path.
For Moscow, the existence of such national memory and geopolitical
orientation makes it difficult to determine a fixed and
well-functioning foreign policy towards Turkey. Like Russia, Turkey
has Caucasian, Balkan, Middle Eastern and European identities and
different interests at stake in all of these regions. Another
significant factor is that both countries are going through dynamic
domestic and economic transformations. The change in the early four
years of the current decade is surely dramatic at both societal and
state levels.
Issues at Stake
More specifically, the future of Turkish-Russian relations will be a
product of bilateral, regional and international developments.
High-level mutual visits in the recent period underline a number of
important issues between the two states. Although observers seem to
have an optimistic perception of the relations both in Moscow and
Ankara, there are issues of contention between the two states.
The issues of bilateral relations will be trade, investments by
Turkish and Russian businessmen, tourism, natural gas purchases,
Russian oil tankers transiting the straits, future pipeline projects
that may pass through the Trace or Anatolia, the Chechen question,
Russian arms sales, and the actions of Kurdish separatists on Russian
soil. A major recent development is the Russian leader’s statement
that the Turkish society in Northern Cyprus deserves better treatment
from the international community, since the Turkish Cypriots voted in
favor of the U.N. plan designed to put an end to the division of the
island.
Although there is much talk about the convergence of interests
between Turkey and Russia, one should also point out the conflicting
ones. Both countries favor improving their current relations and
adopting a more pragmatic stance on the international arena.
Officials on both sides signed a number of agreements, which will
surely facilitate the establishment of constructive relations.
The volume of bilateral trade reached $10 billion in 2004, and both
sides aim to increase this volume to $25 billion by 2007. Turkey’s
construction sector is active in Moscow and is increasing its market
share in Russia. Russian businessmen closely follow Turkey’s
privatization process and want to take part in energy projects in
Turkey. Another major cooperation area is Russian arms sales to
Turkey. Considering the Iraq crisis and potential instability in Iran
and Syria, Ankara pays serious attention to military modernization
projects and has an interest in Russian arms supplies. Finally,
Russian tourists increasingly prefer Turkey’s Mediterranean coast for
their vacations.
At another level, the mutual agenda is set around Russia’s energy
geopolitics, its near abroad policies, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(B.T.C.) oil pipeline, ethnic secessionist movements in the Caucasus,
the reduction of Russian military forces in the region in accordance
with international agreements, and the problems emerging after the
Iraq war. Russia dislikes the B.T.C. pipeline, which is expected to
transit Azeri and Kazak oil to the West. Moscow regards this pipeline
as a challenge to its status in the Caspian basin and an obstacle to
its oil trade. Although the major conflict surrounding the B.T.C.
pipeline was between Russia and a number of former Soviet states, it
indirectly influenced Turkish-Russian relations. However, the Blue
Stream project — a natural gas pipeline that runs from Russia to
Turkey via the Black Sea — and several other Turkish-Russian oil
pipeline projects have led to the emergence of a “low profile” policy
concerning oil politics on the part of Russia. Although it is
speculative at the moment, the head of British Petroleum Company in
Azerbaijan recently floated the possibility of carrying Russian oil
through the B.T.C.
According to the official Turkish policy line, the Chechen question
is a Russian internal problem. Turkish officials frequently declare
that Russian security measures should not violate human rights in
Chechnya. However, a large Chechen diaspora in Turkey follows a
different line and tries its best to assist Chechen guerrillas,
creating significant tensions between the Turkish and Russian
governments. In return, Turkish officials have expressed discontent
about the Kurdistan Workers Party’s — a separatist Kurdish armed
movement — activities in Russian territories. For the time being,
both sides extend considerable vigor in order not to sever their
relations on account of trans-boundary ethnic problems.
Toward a New Geopolitics
Russia has a regional profile and is sensitive about losing its
influence in ex-Soviet territories. Since 1991, Turkey has emerged as
a significant regional player, pursuing a special relationship with
the E.U. and paying serious attention to building good relations in
the Caucasus and Central Asia. How closer Turkish-Russian relations
will be interpreted in Brussels and Washington is another important
question.
The U.S. military deployment in different parts of Eurasia, the
pro-Western change in domestic landscapes of Georgia and Ukraine, the
U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are, among others, the developments
that have paved the way for the emergence of a new geopolitics in
Eurasia. The European and U.S. expansion into former Soviet
territories influences Russian policymakers to seek new alliances in
Asia. Russian rapprochement with Iran, China and India are examples
of this new policy. In this sense, the new developments in the
aftermath of the 9/11 attacks are bringing together the policies of
not only Russia and other major Asian powers, but also some critical
European states like France and Germany.
After receiving a negotiation date for E.U. membership, Turkey is
emerging as a European actor in the region. However, Turkey’s new
orientation was tested during the subsequent domestic transformations
of Georgia and Ukraine. Turkey adopted a low profile attitude toward
the Russian policies vis-à-vis Ukraine and Georgia, and sensitively
displayed a constructive outlook by pointing to the relevant
international norms and agreements as the way to resolve the crises.
Ankara tries to avoid taking sides in any “Russia versus the West”
struggles, while developing its own relations with Moscow.
One other important area of contention is Turkish-Armenian relations,
which are held hostage to historical enmities and Turkey’s
pro-Azerbaijan policies in the Caucasus. Currently, Russia is the
main ally of Armenia, and possible Russian mediation between Turkey
and Armenia on a number of issues can be expected. Following recent
positive developments on this front, there may be Russian-Turkish
joint attempts to solve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
Conclusion
By looking at the current developments, it can be concluded that
Turkish-Russian relations will improve in the political, economic and
security realms. However, the relations are not free from a number of
serious problems that could threaten to derail these growing ties;
both countries have converging and conflicting interests in
neighboring regions, and this status makes Turkish-Russian relations
promising yet difficult. Turkey and Russia are two influential actors
in the Eurasian geopolitics and their relations have implications for
the whole Eurasian region. Because of this, internal and external
players in Eurasian geopolitical gambling will keep an eye on this
growing relationship.
Report Drafted By:
Dr. Bulent Aras
The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an independent
organization that utilizes open source intelligence to provide
conflict analysis services in the context of international relations.
PINR approaches a subject based upon the powers and interests
involved, leaving the moral judgments to the reader. This report may
not be reproduced, reprinted or broadcast without the written
permission of [email protected]. All comments should be directed to
[email protected].
–Boundary_(ID_EjscDefBJQr1PpCUd7SCdQ)–

Azeri journalist to visit breakaway Karabakh
Regnum, Moscow
5 Feb 05
The Nagornyy Karabakh authorities have accepted the proposal of the
Azerbaijani journalist and correspondent of the Monitor magazine,
Eynulla Fatullayev, to visit Nagornyy Karabakh.
At yesterday’s press conference in Stepanakert, the foreign minister
of the Nagornyy Karabakh republic, Arman Melikyan, gave a positive
assessment to the visit in terms of establishing mutual understanding
between the sides to the conflict. At the same time, the minister
pointed out that pressure had been put on the journalist in Baku.
The visit of the Azerbaijani journalist, who intends to meet
representatives of social and political circles and the local media,
is scheduled for 10 February.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RIA OREANDA
Economic News
February 4, 2005 Friday
“Gazprom” Increases Gas Supply to Armenia
Moscow. The working meeting of the Chairman of the Board Alexey
Miller and the General Director of JSC “ArmRosgazprom” Karen
Karapetian has been held in the central office of JSC “Gazprom”.
The parties have discussed questions on bilateral cooperation in
power sphere in view of growth of economy of Armenia. The special
attention has been paid to the program of gasification of the
republic.
The decision to supply “ArmRosgazprom” with additional volumes of
natural gas over stipulated balance for coverage of growing needs of
Armenia in energy carriers in 2005 was adopted.

Short-hold World Bank-funded IT (education system) project in Georgia
via BISNIS
BISNIS
February 2, 2005
What: Georgian Ministry of Education tender
Deadline: March 7, 2005
Education System Realignment and Strengthening Project in
Georgia
Invitation for Bids for Supply and Installation of Visual Control,
Recording and Archiving System at Examination Centers
(GEP/G/002/ICB/2004)
Credit No. 3474 GE
1. This invitation for bids follows the general procurement notice for
this project that appeared in Development Business, issue no. 629 of
April 30, 2004.
2. The Government of Georgia has received a credit from International
Development Association (IDA) toward the cost of Education System
Realignment and Strengthening Project, and it intends to apply part of
the proceeds of this credit to payments under the contract for Supply
and Installation of Visual Control, Recording and Archiving System at
Examination Centers (GEP/G/002/ICB/2004).
3. Georgia Education Project Coordination Center now invites sealed bids
from eligible bidders for Supply and Installation of Visual Control,
Recording and Archiving System at Examination Centers in Tbilisi,
Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Zugdidi, Gori, Kutaisi, Poti, Rustavi, Signagi,
Telavi, Ozurgeti.
4. Bidding will be conducted through the international competitive
bidding procedures specified in the World Bank’s Guidelines: Procurement
under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits, January 1995 (revised January and
August 1996, September 1997 and January 1999) and is open to all bidders
from eligible source countries as defined in the Guidelines.
5. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from
Georgia Education Project Coordination Center and inspect the bidding
documents at the address given below from 10:00 – 18:00 (local time).
6. A complete set of bidding documents in English may be purchased by
interested bidders on the submission of a written application to the
address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee USD100 or
equivalent in GEL. The method of payment will be direct deposit or
transfer to the Account: JSC Basis Bank, Account No.133052, Bank code:
220101956. The document will be sent by express mail and e-mail.
7. Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before March 7,
2005, 17:00 Tbilisi time. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security
of USD 6,000 or an equivalent amount in GEL. Late bids will be rejected.
Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who
choose to attend at the address below on March 7, 2005, 17:00 Tbilisi time.
Georgia Education Project Coordination Center Office
Contact Person: Thea Kvintradze
52 Uznadze St., room #102, 0102 Tbilisi
Telephone: + (995 32) 95 98 37
Fax: + (995 32) 95 83 13
E-mail: [email protected]
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION and ASSISTANCE
William Center, Senior Commercial Officer
Commercial Service Liaison to the World Bank
US Executive Director’s Office
World Bank
Tel: 202-458-0120
Fax: 202-477-2967
Email: [email protected]
For more information on Georgia, visit BISNIS online
********** Forwarded by: ***************************
Ellen S. House, BISNIS Trade Specialist for Georgia
Chang Suh, BISNIS Trade Specialist for IT sector
U.S. Department of Commerce
Tel: 202/482-4655
Fax: 202/482-2293
NEED FINANCING FOR A PROPOSED SALE TO EURASIA?
BISNIS FinanceLink helps U.S. companies find financing for export
transactions where a Eurasian buyer has already been identified. For
more information:

JEW AND POLISH COMMUNITIES TO COMMEMORATE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF AUSWENTSIN
LIBERATION
Azg/arm
3 Feb 05
The Armenian Office of the International Center for Russia’s
Scientific-Cultural Cooperation initiated an arrangement at the hall
of Union of Relations with Foreign Countries. The arrangement was
dedicated to 60th anniversary of liberating the Auswentsin
prisoners. The Jewish and Polish communities of Armenia also
participated in the arrangement.
Genady Barishnikov, representative of the ICRCSC Office in Armenia,
stated that they will do everything so that people do not forget these
important period of the world history, when the Soviet Army greatly
contributed to achieving full victory over the Nazi. “The Russian
President emphasized in his speech dedicated to liberation of
Auswentsin prisoners that very often people confuse the terms `to
liberate’ and `to conquer’, a`victim’ and an `executor’. This widely
spread phenomenon is not accidental, people mix these terms
deliberately to hide the dark pages of the past and pretend heroes
today,” he said.
Valeria Fljian, representative of the Jew community, talked of the
awful brutality of the Nazi that killed a great number of Jews. “When
talking of Auswentsin, each Jew remembers Holocaust, as they are
directly connected with each other. One can hardly imagine how the
Nazi could annihilate all these innocent people,” she said.
“I was 14 when the WW II broke out. I saw and heard everything. I have
exciting memories and I want the humanity to remember forever these
horrible years when great number of innocent people died. I was in
Poland and I visited Auswentsin and suffered that horror after so many
years. We pray so that our children do not pass this path of
tortures. We pray for a better and a brighter life for them. We pray
for Peace,” Alla Kuzminskaya, head of the Polish community said.
Nikolay Madoyan, honored violinist of Armenia, Eduard Baghdasarian,
People’s Artist of Armenia, Vazgen Ghazarian, 5th year student at
Yerevan State Conservatoire, and the Chorus of the Polish Community
performed a concert during the evening.
“I think that such arrangements are very important, as they build a
bridge between the old and the new generations and give them an
opportunity to learn lessons from the history,” Mr. Barishnikov said.
By Ruzan Poghosian

The U.S. Department of Commerce, SABIT Program is pleased to announce
the 2005 SABIT Grant Program
SABIT
February 1, 2005
Please share the following information with U.S. companies and
organizations interested in building commercial partnerships in Eurasia
– Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.
Applications are available by registering on SABIT’s website (an
automated response will provide a link to the 2005 SABIT Grant
Application to the registrant’s email address):

All applications and supporting documentation must be received by April
1, 2005.
To speak to a SABIT representative about the Grant Program, or to
request a hardcopy of the application, please contact:
Patrick Brennan
SABIT Marketing Coordinator
International Trade Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
T-(202) 482-2077
F-(202) 482-2443
[email protected]
Visit

s/places-that-dont-exist.s
html
HOLIDAYS IN THE DANGER ZONE:
PLACES THAT DON’T EXIST
Part 1: Tuesday 1 February 2005 9pm-10.30pm; 12.30am-2am;
Saturday 5 February 7.30pm-9pm
Part 2: Wednesday 2 February 2005 9pm-10pm; 12.45am-1.45am; Sunday 6
February 11.40pm-12.40am; 2.40am-3.40am
There are almost 200 official countries in the world, but there are dozens
more breakaway states which are determined to be separate and independent.
All of the breakaway states have declared independence after violent
struggles with a neighbour. Some now survive peacefully, but others are a
magnet for terrorists and weapons smuggling, and have armies ready for a
fight.
In these two programmes Simon Reeve visits six such places: Somaliland,
Trans-Dniester and Taiwan (part one); Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and
Abkhazia (part two).
Interview: Simon Reeve
BBC Four: Was there one country that was the starting point for thinking
about these “places that don’t exist”?
Simon Reeve: Yes. A friend of mine mentioned that he was doing business with
some Somalilanders. I said, “Somaliland? Where’s that?” He said it was a
country in the north of Somalia and to my shame I didn’t know anything about
it. I found out that it’s a functioning state within Somalia. It seemed
extraordinary to me that there is no real government in Somalia but the
world recognises it as a country, and then there’s Somaliland which has
elections and a functioning democracy, but the world doesn’t recognise it as
a proper country. It just seemed a very strange situation. I discovered that
there were all these other countries, some of which I’d vaguely heard of,
some I hadn’t. Then of course there’s Taiwan, which everybody has heard of,
but not everybody knows isn’t recognised as a proper state. It has no seat
at the United Nations and no major countries have an embassy there.
BBC Four: What are the main negative factors affecting these countries
because they are not recognised?
SR: It leaves a lot of these people in limbo. Many people can’t get proper
passports and it’s difficult for them to travel because no other governments
recognise their country. To many of them I also think it’s a bit of an
insult that they’ve built a functioning state and yet the rest of the world
won’t recognise their existence. From our perspective I think it’s better to
bring them inside the international community. When they are outside it
doesn’t give international organisations the chance to keep an eye on what’s
going on. For example, Interpol can’t efficiently operate in Trans-Dniester
because it doesn’t recognise it exists. There are great concerns about the
risks of arms manufacturing there, but nobody can really find out the truth
because they can’t go there.
BBC Four: I got the impression that you enjoyed Trans-Dniester because it
was in such a Soviet time warp.
SR: All the places we went to were fascinating, but Trans-Dniester was very
unusual because it did feel like stepping back in time. I didn’t go to the
old Soviet Union, I was a bit too young then, but Trans-Dniester is how I
imagine it would have been. Indeed, people there said that they didn’t
really want to change when the Soviet Union collapsed, didn’t want to be
become a Western European state, and didn’t want McDonald’s and Starbucks.
They’d kept things pretty much the way they were, so it was a fascinating
place to visit precisely because of that.
BBC Four: Did you have a favourite?
SR: The whole thing was a great adventure frankly and a chance to go to
places that very few people get to visit, and to show people countries
they’ve never even heard of. Somaliland was perhaps the highlight because it
was incredible to see what the people had achieved with virtually nothing.
That was a very moving experience and the people were quite inspirational.
They rebuilt their country after a devastating civil war with very little
help from the outside world, but with sheer hard work and a belief in their
own national identity they’ve been able to build a functioning state.
Speaking on a personal level I find it very sad that their requests for
international recognition fall on deaf ears. This is a country which has
virtually no foreign debt. Now that’s rare in Africa and it’s primarily
because they aren’t recognised so the IMF won’t give them loans. It also
means that there’s not a lot of money sloshing around in the government
coffers so there’s not much corruption. We met the president of Somaliland,
which was quite interesting. He made the point that he runs the country on
just a few million pounds a year. It seems incredible to us that they can do
such things, but everybody accepts that they’ve got less money.
BBC Four: And a least favourite?
SR: Each country was very different and had something special about it.
Everywhere we went we met truly wonderful characters who were brimming with
hospitality. But Nagorno-Karabakh was a place that made me quite sad because
everywhere you went, on both sides, people loathed the other side. There
didn’t seem to be much hope for any improvement for the people there. With
people still in trenches facing the opposition in Azerbaijan – there’s the
threat of war there at any moment.
BBC Four: These programmes always have surreal moments, but this series
seemed to have even more than your last one. Are there any that stick in
your mind that were particularly bizarre or unexpected?
SR: I actually got quite emotional when I saw the Chinese tourists trying to
look at the Taiwanese propaganda. I was more emotional about it off camera
than I was on camera. It just seemed such an extraordinary situation. You
had tourists from a country which is emerging as one of the world’s great
economic, and potentially military, super-powers. They are very keen to find
out what’s happening in the rest of the world, including just over the water
in Taiwan. For years they’ve been able to see these small signs on the
horizon which have been spouting out Taiwanese propaganda, and then as soon
as they try to get close to the signs to see what they say, the Taiwanese
coast guard turns them back. It was a very weird situation.

BBC Four: I enjoyed your encounter with Mr Big Beard in Somalia.
SR: Yes, buying a Somali diplomatic passport from Mr Big Beard in a
Mogadishu back street market was a fairly weird experience.
BBC Four: Mogadishu did seem genuinely hairy.
SR: It is a very, very dangerous place. It seems to have been virtually
abandoned by the rest of the world precisely because it is so dangerous.
That just condemns the people who live there to almost perpetual suffering.
It actually made me think of Afghanistan in terms of how the rest of the
world was involved there at one point. There was foreign involvement in both
Afghanistan and Somalia in the 1980s and then in the early 90s the
international community pulled out of both countries. It was still pretty
bad when the rest of the world was in Somalia, but then they pulled out and
the inhabitants have been left to suffer on their own ever since. I think
there is the potential for similar problems to those in Afghanistan if the
rest of the world doesn’t get involved properly in Somalia.
BBC Four: There also seemed to have been a lot of instances when the camera
had to be pointed at the ground to avoid your filming being noticed.
SR: There were a few times when filming became dangerous. The countries we
were in are inherently lawless by their very nature. They exist in a vacuum
of their own. There is no British embassy you can turn to. You take
somewhere like Trans-Dniester, which is quite clearly functioning as a
country, but the international community does not operate there and there’s
no one to turn to if you get into trouble. So you are entirely dependent and
at the mercy of the local government and the local security people or secret
police. You do have to be responsible and careful. If someone points a gun
at you, you point your camera the other way, and if they tell you to stop
filming, then you have to make a judgement on whether you are going to get
into a lot of trouble if you do carry on.
BBC Four: I realise that they are all very different, but where do you think
these countries are going?
SR: All of these countries have sought independence after a war or major
conflict and the threat of a future war hangs over them. Taiwan is the most
serious for the rest of the world, because if Taiwan and China go to war, it
will drag in other countries in the region, and possibly even the United
States. I think Somaliland is a likely candidate for international
recognition. The government and the people there have done so much to build
a functioning country that it does make you wonder how the rest of the world
can ignore them. It’s a real African success story.

Prove Hitler wrong
Remember Ottoman Turkey’s slaughter of Armenian Christians:
Saturday October 23rd, 2004
World Magazine

By Marvin Olasky

Editor’s warning: This article contains graphic material.

VAN, Turkey — As Turkey moves toward eventual membership in the
European Union (see Madisonian Turkey from this week’s issue), this
Muslim nation should also come to grips with a terrible crime that has
gone largely unpunished.
Armenians, many of them Christian, lived in this area of what is now
eastern Turkey for about 2,000 years. Despite suffering massacres in
1894 and 1895 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, they still numbered
well over 1 million in 1914. Ten years later only scattered handfuls
were left.
Adolf Hitler used what is now called the Armenian holocaust as his
model for an even greater holocaust. Ottoman Turks developed
techniques later used by the Nazis, such as piling 90 people into a
train car with a capacity of 36, and leaving them locked in for days,
terrified, starving, and often dead.
Hitler was even more impressed with how the Turks got away with
genocide. When Hitler on Aug. 22, 1939, explained that his plans to
invade Poland included the formation of death squads that would
exterminate men, women, and children, he asked, “Who, after all,
speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
In recent years some have. Books such as Peter Balakian’s The Burning
Tigris (HarperCollins, 2003) tell of the Armenian tragedy in a way
that also helps us to understand radical Islam. That’s because the key
incitement to massacre came on Nov. 14, 1914, when Mustafa Hayri Bey,
the Ottoman Empire’s leading Sunni authority, urged his followers to
commence a jihad: One pamphlet declared, “He who kills even one
unbeliever . . . shall be rewarded by Allah.”
The jihad proclamation received wide dissemination. When a priest
asked a Muslim army officer how he could participate in killing
several thousand Armenian women, Captain Shukri’s answer was simple:
It was jihad time, and after the murders he could “spread out my
prayer rug and pray, giving glory to Allah and the Prophet who made me
worthy of personally participating in the holy jihad in these days of
my old age.”
The Ottoman Turk government set up and paid special killing
squads. The Ministry of the Interior gave instructions to “exterminate
all males under 50, priests and teachers, leave girls and children to
be Islamized.” Historians and journalists have estimated that Turks
killed 800,000 to 1 million Armenians in 1915 alone, and an additional
200,000 to 500,000 over the next seven years.
Here in Van 89 years ago, provincial governor Jevdet Bey gained the
nickname “the horseshoe master” because he nailed horseshoes to the
feet of Armenians. Henry Morgenthau, the American ambassador to
Turkey, described in 1918 testimony of torture he had heard: “The
gendarmes would nail hands and feet to pieces of wood–evidently in
imitation of the Crucifixion, and then while the sufferer writhes in
his agony, they would cry, ‘Now let your Christ come help you.'”
Aurora Mardiganian, the only member of her family to survive, told of
killing squads that planted their swords in the ground, blade up, at
intervals of several yards. Killers on horseback each grabbed a girl,
rode their horses at a controlled gallop, and tried to throw the girl
so she would be impaled on a sword: “If the killer missed and the girl
was only injured, she would be scooped up again until she was impaled
on the protruding blade.”
The silent film Ravished Armenia, based on Aurora Mardiganian’s
account, caused a U.S. sensation–but British officials demanded
before showtime in London the deletion of a scene of Armenian women
being crucified. Miss Mardiganian agreed that the scene, which showed
the women being crucified on large crosses with their long hair
covering their nude bodies, was inauthentic.
The scene was inaccurate, she said, because the crosses in the film
were large, but in reality they were little and pointed: “They took
the clothes off the girls. They made them bend down. And after raping
them, they made them sit on the pointed wood, through . . .”
Americans, she said, “can’t show such terrible things” (and I can’t
write about them in full detail).
After the World War ended in 1918 several Turks, including “the
horseshoe master,” were executed for war crimes. Hundreds of
perpetrators went free, and to this day Turkish textbooks cover up the
slaughter of Armenians, as they also cover up the slaughter of Greek
Christians in western Turkey during that same era.
Prove Hitler wrong.
Governments are to wield the sword to bring justice, so remember
Armenian and other victims of governments that killed their own
people, and thank God that the United States has worked to protect
innocent people in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Sudan.
Copyright © 2005 Armenian National Committe of Australia

Alcatel launches its 3GRC in Moscow
3GNewsroom.com
January 30, 2005
Alcatel announced the inauguration of its latest born 3G Reality
Centre (3GRC) in Moscow, Russia. The Moscow’s 3G Reality Centre,
powered by Alcatel’s industry-leading Evolium global mobile solution,
is using a fully open multi-standard infrastructure compatible with
all technologies. It will nurture local apprenticeship and research
for innovative 2.5G and 3G end-to-end mobile multimedia solutions in
Russia and other CIS countries.
This unique facility is part of the Alcatel’s worldwide 3GRC program
which offers to operators, content and service providers as well as
terminals manufacturers a live business environment for service
innovation, dedicated to the development, validation, testing and
demonstration of exciting next generation mobile applications and
services.
The Moscow’s 3GRC will present a large variety of broadband
user-centric audio, video, and messaging services:
— A broad range of mobile video solutions, spread over two segments:
video content delivery (video streaming, video downloading), and video
communication (video messaging, video telephony, video conferencing,
video mailbox).
— Personalized Ring Back Tone (PRBT) is a new music service available
for Russia and other CIS countries. Personalized Ring Back Tone
subscriber will be able to personalize the usual mechanical ring back
tone heard until the call is connected, by selected music tracks,
sound effects or personal messages.
— Furthermore, forecasting the future of multimedia mobile services
in Russia and other CIS countries, Moscow’s 3GRC will also be able to
showcase services such as video calls, video streaming, high-speed
Internet access and videoconference that require higher transmission
speeds.
“The growth in mobile communication market in the coming years will
depend on the development of multimedia services that can bring value
to all the relevant players in the new value chain,” stated Johan
Vanderplaetse, vice-president of Alcatel in the CIS countries. “The 3G
Reality Centre in Moscow will open new opportunities for introduction
of mobile multimedia services in the fast developing Russian and CIS
mobile market. The opening of this centre paves the way for the
development of 3G mobile services in Russia and is totally in line
with Alcatel’s world-wide user-centric broadband vision.”
* The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) includes: Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova,
Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

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01/31/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) OSCE Mission Inspects Occupied Azeri Lands 2) European Armenians Denounce Removal of Armenian Genocide from German Schools 3) Wales Community Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide 4) Armenian Dram Again Rising against Dollar 1) OSCE Mission Inspects Occupied Azeri Lands STEPANAKERT (Combined Sources)--Officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) began on Monday, a first-ever international inspection of Armenian-controlled Azeri territories around Karabagh, aimed at investigating Baku's allegations that they are being illegally populated with Armenians. The fact-finding team, led by a senior German Foreign Ministry official Emily Habber, and accompanied by the French, Russian, and US co-chairs of the OSCE's Minsk Group visited the Kelbajar district west of Karabagh before arriving in Stepanakert later in the day. They met there with Mountainous Karabagh Republic President Arkady Ghukasian. "We have heard many interesting details and I am confident that those details will help us assess the situation correctly," Habber told local journalists afterward. Stating that their mission is technical and not political, she said the OSCE mission will spend ten days traveling around the occupied lands and submit a report to the Minsk Group later on. The fact-finding mission was sent to the region as a result of a compromise agreement between the conflicting parties and the mediators that prevented a vote in the UN General Assembly on an Azeri draft resolution that condemned the decade-long occupation of the seven Azeri districts seen by the Armenians as a vital buffer zone guaranteeing Karabagh's security. The resolution was endorsed by many Islamic nations but the United States, Russia, and France warned that it would hamper their peace efforts. Meeting with the OSCE officials, Ghukasian reaffirmed that his government is not encouraging the resettlement of Armenian families in those areas and said those Armenians who have moved there since the 1994 ceasefire are mostly former refugees from Azerbaijan. Ghukasian also urged the visitors to inspect Azeri-controlled areas of Karabagh that were formerly populated with Armenians. He expressed hope that the mission's report would contribute to forming a constructive environment for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, as well as conclusively dismiss the false claims of Azerbaijan. The OSCE delegation held talks with Azeri officials in Baku before traveling to Karabagh via Armenia. 2) European Armenians Denounce Removal of Armenian Genocide from German Schools BRUSSELS(Combined Sources)--Reacting to the eastern German state of Brandenburg's removal of a reference to the Armenian genocide from a German school curriculum, the European Armenian Federation denounced the unacceptable attitude of the state, expressing that the decision of the local German authorities is symptomatic of a lack of courage by a certain segment of European leaders in dealing with this critical issue. Following extensive pressure from Turkish authorities, the German state of Brandenburg eliminated half a sentence on the Armenians included in ninth and tenth grade history classes after a Turkish diplomat complained to state Prime Minister Matthias Platzeck, the newspaper Die Welt reported. Prime Minister Platzeck is a member of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD). Schroeder is a strong supporter of Turkey's bid to become a member of the European Union. The Federation explained that this position only encourages Turkey to export its denialist propaganda to Europe. It continued to deplore the deep consequences of the complicity between and European leaders and Turkey's historical revisionists on the European project. "How can we believe the goodwill statements made by German leaders when they allow genocide denial to be instilled in the minds of the German children?" asked Hilda Tchoboian, chairwoman of the European Armenian Federation. "The 90th anniversary of the Genocide must mark the end of European complicity, as shown by its silence during the extermination of the Armenians. We call upon all German political leaders to turn this regrettable initiative into an act of justice best representing this great nation," said Tchoboian. Brandenburg was the first German state in 2002 to include the Armenian genocide in its teaching guidelines. In October 2004, however, the Ministry of Education reversed a decision calling on Bochum's Institute for Genocides and Diasporas to prepare a book on the Armenian Genocide. The book would have been the first of a series of three on genocide related issues and collective violence in the twentieth century. The order was cancelled by incoming Minister of Education Holger Rupprecht (SPD), at the request of Prime Minister Platzeck, who had succumbed to Turkish lobbying efforts. Bochum University's Director of the Institute for Genocides and Diasporas, Prof. Mihran Dabag, denounced the decision, stating, "The Armenian genocide is inseparable from European remembrance. It is the first genocidal achievement of our common history." He continued to argue that, "At the very time when the world commemorates the victims of the Nazi camps, our country must, if we are sincere in our fight against negationism, and give a firm answer to Turkey's denial. The Brandenburg government must reconsider its decision and carry out its genocides teaching project." The Potsdam government's announcement provoked a chorus of protests in German television news shows and dozens of print articles, available on the European Armenian Federation's website-- Policy-makers from throughout the political spectrum denounced the unacceptable position of the state. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which serves as junior coalition partner in Brandenburg's government, is infuriated over the change to the state's schoolbooks. "The impression created is fatal," said Sven Patke, the state CDU secretary general. The head of the Central Committee of Armenians in Germany, Schavarsh Ovassapian, told Die Welt the move was "a scandal." "It is depressing, if what's in schoolbooks in Brandenburg can be dictated from Ankara," he said. 3) Wales Community Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide LONDON (Combined Sources)--On Wednesday, January 26, the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide was marked at a commemoration held at the "Temple of Peace and Health" in Cardiff, Wales. Organized by the Welsh Center for International Affairs (WCIA), the event also commemorated the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime, and was attended by a number of government representatives, including the First Minister of the National Assembly of Wales, Rhodri Morgan. The commemoration drew the attention of the British government, which listed it on the website government sponsored site dedicated to the National Holocaust Memorial Day. During the commemoration, Jenny Randerson, a senior figure of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and a former minister in the Assembly, spoke about the Republic of Turkey's denial of the 1915 genocide and its policy of exerting pressure on all those who affirm the genocide. Randerson has been harassed by the Turkish government since 2001, when she made her first public statements about genocide. Established in 1973, the WCIA is organization dedicated to promoting world peace, securing human rights, and educating the public about atrocities of the past. 4) Armenian Dram Again Rising Against Dollar YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The US dollar fell against Armenia's national currency, the dram, despite the dollar's rally in world financial markets this month. The dram gained 5 percent in value against the dollar over the past 10 days, approaching its three-year high registered in the middle of December. It was trading at an average of 473 against $1 on Monday, with a 20 percent increase in value from a year ago. The trend is surprising given the almost 5 percent increase in the dollar's value against the euro since the beginning of this month. Some economists speculate that the Central Bank is artificially bolstering the dram in an effort to benefit importers of key commodities. The Central Bank argues, however, that the stronger dram is the result of increased cash remittances from Armenians working abroad. An estimated amount of at least $760 million was sent to Armenia last month through banks and wire transfer networks. The bank's chairman Tigran Sarkisian insisted that the strong dram is a positive for the Armenian economy because of resulting low levels of inflation. "The dram's strengthening has had a major restraining impact on the prices of imported goods," he said in late December. 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