Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

REPORT CONCERNING THREE REPUBLICS OF SOUTH CAUCASUS TO BE CONSIDERED
IN ASSEMBLY OF WEST-EUROPEAN UNION IN DEC
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25. ARMINFO. A report concerning the three
republics of the South Caucasus will be considered in the Assembly of
the West-European Union in Dec of the current year. Deputy Chairman of
the Assembly of the West-European union Marco Zacchera stated during
the press conference today.
He stressed that before preparing his report Zacchera will certainly
get acquainted with the document prepared by PACE Rapporteur for
Nagorny Karabakh Terry Davis. According to Zacchera, before the
discussions of this report at the sitting of the Assembly the document
will be sent for examination by the leadership of the three South
Caucasian republics. Representatives of the countries of the South
Caucasus will also be present during discussion of the report, Marco
Zacchera said, promising that the document will be balanced and the
positions of all the three republics will be indicated in the
document. “The purpose of my visit to the South Caucasian region is to
get acquainted with the situation in the place and to prepare an
impartial report”.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 24 2004
OSCE to Monitor Frontline
24/09/2004 17:18
The OSCE will hold a monitoring of the frontline between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the vicinity of Mezemli
settlement, Gazakh District, on September 24, the Defense Ministry
said.
Assa-Irada — The frontline will be monitored by the OSCE chairman’s
special envoy Anjei Kaspshik’s field assistants Miroslav Vimetal and
Imre Palatinus on the Azerbaijani side and by the special envoy and
his field assistants on the Armenian side.
No incidents were registered during the previous monitoring held in
the Shurabad settlement, Agdam District.

IRAQI ARMENIAN GEVORG URBANIAN DISCLOSED HIS SECRET
Azg/am
24 Sept 04
Mysterious Pages of Iraqi-Kuwaiti War
Gevorg Urbanian used to work for a Dutch company in Basra (well-known
these days) during the Iraqi-Kuwaiti war. Gevorg had to keep the
secret in the days of Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship fearing revenge.
It was in 1990 when one of the Arab workers of the company died. The
president of the company asked Gevorg to transfer the worker’s bodyto
his hometown of Malgiv. But Gevorg failed transferring the body to
Malgiv, and he buried it in the graveyard of Basra. Here the workers
of the graveyard told him abouta mass burial that took place the other
day. “A bus, chock-full of dead Kuwaitis, arrived and they buried the
corpses”. Grave diggers indicated the vast area where the war
prisoners allegedly were buried.
Two years ago Gevorg left for Tehran (his father was a citizen of
Iran) and called the consulate of Kuwait in Tehran and tried to tell
them his secret but nobody listened to him, saying that the consul was
not in the country. Thenhe returned to Baghdad and learnt that the
Kuwaitis of Baghdad were looking for the relatives they lost during
the war. He attempted to inform the staff of Kuwaiti TV that was in
Baghdad to make a film. Bahe Obu Zakaria, of the staff, told him that
they shouldn’t take the relatives back to those days.
Gevorg Urbanian together with his family settled in Armenia this year
after the oppression of Iraq’s Christian population started. 15 days
ago he heard on TV that the Kuwaitis keep on looking for their lost
relatives and even are ready to reward those who may help with
information.
Gevorg Urbanian turned to Azg Daily hoping that his voice will be
heard and that the Kuwaitis will respond. Those who are interested may
contact Azg Daily’ s editorial staff.
By Karine Danielian

Turkish opposition calls for key reform debate
EUobserver.com
22.09.2004
By Lisbeth Kirk
Turkey’s main opposition party, The Republican People’s Party, has
called for a special parliamentary session to be held on 28 September
to adopt the new penal code, in a bid to keep Turkey’s bid for EU
entry on track.
“We want to open a window of opportunity for Turkeyâ=80¦. Turkey
shouldnot destroy its advantages with its own hands”, leader of the
party, Deniz Baykal, told reporters, according to the IHT.
The governing party indicated yesterday (21 September) that it might
allow the Turkish Parliament to reconvene to pass the laws.
Last week Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was forced to
delay penal code reform because of a row within his own party over
plans to criminalize adultery.
The 346-paragraph code was originally intended to bring Turkey into
line with European norms, but the inclusion of the proposal to
criminalize adultery brought widespread protests in the EU as well as
in Turkey.
Turkish boders with Armenia – new prerequisite?
Meanwhile the European Commission has denied apparent comments from
President Prodi calling for Turkey to reopen its borders with Armenia
as a new prerequisite for starting EU membership talks.
On Tuesday a Commission spokesperson told Turkey’s Zaman newspaper
that Mr Prodi had said nothing that would lead one to believe that
such a condition would be placed on Turkey.
During a visit to the Southern Caucuses last week the Armenian
Mediamax agency reported that Mr Prodi said Ankara must reopen its
border gate with Armenia as a condition for eventual membership.
“I do not exclude that the issue of closed borders could be one of the
preconditions for Turkey’s membership”, Mediamax news agency quoted Mr
Prodi as saying.
Turkey closed its gate with Armenia and severed its diplomatic ties a
decade ago, in protest of Armenia’s occupation of the Azeri territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.
EU officials have called on Turkey to revise its decision but have
never publicly linked the issue to Ankara’s bid to join the EU.
Erdogan in Brussels on Thursday
In the final run up to publication of the Commission’s crucial report
due 6 October the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to
meet in Brussels on Thursday (23 September) with EU enlargement
commissioner Günter Verheugen and with leaders of the political
groups in the European Parliament.
The report will serve as a basis for a decision by EU leaders on 17
December on whether or not to give Turkey a starting date for
membership negotiations.

Morning Star
September 20, 2004
The first tragedy;
PICK:GEOFF SIMONS is shocked to discover the truth about a terrible
forgotten holocaust of the 20th century.
by GEOFF SIMONS
THE BURNING TIGRESS by Peter Balakian (William Balakian, GBP 18.99)
MANY of us are familiar with the words Adolf Hitler uttered to his
military advisers eight days before the nazis invaded Poland:
“Who today, after all, speaks of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
– a prelude to the nazi extermination of the Jews, Gypsies,
homosexuals and other victim groups.
Few of us, I reckon, know about the sheer scale of the vast crime
perpetrated by the Turks against the Armenian nation.
This was the first holocaust of the 20th century, predating by
decades the horrors of the World War II. Regarding the Armenian
extermination, the US was to emerge as a principal holocaust denier.
Balakian describes in graphic and harrowing detail the three stages
of persecution of the Armenian people, from the relatively
small-scale massacres under Abdul Hamid II to the ethnic cleansing
undertaken by the forces of the Turkish Committee of Union and
Progress under the cover of the first world war.
Extensive use is made of eyewitness accounts of US diplomats,
missionaries, massacre survivors and others and of the gruesome
testimony of the persecutors themselves, given during the short-lived
trials of the 1920s.
The great powers failed to respond effectively, just as they failed
to halt later genocides.
As Hitler knew, the fate of the Armenians was largely forgotten and
the dreadful lessons of the genocide were largely ignored.
It is to Balakian’s credit that he has helped to restore an early
20th-century tragedy to its rightful place in history.
I read this book with a mounting sense of shock. It is enough to
quote, almost at random, from the account of the massacres:
“Acommon practice was to . . . begin with bastinado . . . which
consists of beating the soles of the feet with a thin rod . . . until
the feet swell and burst . . . not infrequently, they have to be
amputated.
“In some cases, the gendarmes would nail hands and feet to pieces of
wood . . . they even delved into the records of the Spanish
inquisition and other historic institutions of torture and adopted
all the suggestions found there.”
The tortures were perpetrated as a prelude to or during the massive
phases of ethnic cleansing. ” The deportations quickly became either
scenes of mass killing for the men, death marches for the women,
children and elderly who were whipped, raped, tortured and shot in an
ongoing procession.”
In one account, a soldier wrestles a donkey away from a young woman
with a baby. “The Turk’s scimitar descended on her wrist and the hand
fell off.”
Rivers and brooks were filled with “swollen” and “worm-eaten
corpses.” There was no time to bury the thousands of bodies. “Most of
them had been partially eaten by dogs.”
At the village of Mollahkeuy, one of thousands similarly treated,
hundreds of dead bodies were scattered on the plain, nearly all of
them women and children.
Many of the women lay flat on their backs, showing signs of barbarous
mutilation by the bayonets of the gendarmes.
Ammunition was too valuable to use, so most of the killings were done
with “axes, cleavers, shovels and pitchforks.” The Turks “dashed
infants on the rocks” before the eyes of their mothers.
The carnage around Ankara was so vast that Talaat Pasha ordered more
than 40,000 bodies to be quickly buried in mass graves, “but the
stench of death and the mounds of bodies overwhelmed the landscape.”
As one witness travelled from Keghvenk to Mezre, he saw thousands of
corpses half buried.
On the beach of Lake Goeljuk, hundreds of bodies were piled on top of
each other, almost all women and children, all “naked” and showing
“signs of the brutal mutilation” that the Turks had inflicted.
In the valley, there were no fewer than 2,000 corpses.
The witness estimated “that, in the course of our ride around the
lake, we had seen the remains of not less than 1,000 Armenians.” The
“fiendish purpose of the Turks” was “to exterminate the Armenian
population.”
Another witness described the “game of swords” played by the Turkish
killing squads with Armenian girls.
Swords would be planted in the ground with the blades uppermost.
Then, men on horseback would each grab a girl and ride at a gallop,
throwing the girl to impale her on a sword.
If she was only wounded, she would be scooped up again and thrown
until she was finally impaled. The bodies were then thrown in the
Tigris river.
In 2000, an Armenian genocide resolution, acknowledging the full
horrors perpetrated by the Turks, was proposed by the US congress.
Turkey, in response, mounted a massive propagan – da campaign with
the support of Israel, declaring that, if the Bill were passed,
Ankara would close its airbase to US planes.
President Clinton then instructed House Speaker Dennis Hastert to
kill the Bill. “Once again, the attempt to commemorate the century’s
first genocide had been effectively censored by a foreign
government.”
In October 2000, shortly after Clinton had caved in to Turkish
pressure, France passed an A r m e n i a n genocide resolution into
law, declaring the fact of the vast extermination.
Turkey protested hysterically and withdrew its ambassador from Paris.
Six months later, Turkish diplomatic relations with France were
resumed and business was back to normal.

NUMBER OF ASYLUM SEEKERS FALLS AGAIN, IN AUGUST THREE HUNDRED
Czech News Agency
September 16, 2004
PRAGUE, Sept 16 (CTK) – Number of persons who seek asylum in the Czech
Republic has fallen to 301 in August, which is this year’s monthly
minimum, according to the latest data of the Interior Ministry’s
asylum and migration department.
Only 261 adults and 40 children applied for asylum in August, compared
to 354 persons in July. As for this year, the highest number of asylum
applications (988) was presented in March.
This tendency has been confirmed by the office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to the UNHCR report,
the number of applicants so far this year has been the lowest in the
last 17 years.
This is connected with the return of refugees to Afghanistan, Iraq
and Kosovo and stricter laws in European Union member states, the
report says.
The Czech Republic’s accession to the EU in May has been the main
factor behind the lower number of asylum applications, Jana Pintova
from the ministry’s asylum and migration department said.
Most of the asylum applications were filed in August by refugees from
Ukraine (106), China (57) and Russia (27).
>>From January to August, 4,123 applications were filed, most of them
(1,350 or 34 percent of the total number) by Russians, followed by
1,133 Ukrainians, 266 Vietnamese and 215 Chinese.
The number of applicants was the highest in 1990, when 18,094
foreigners sought asylum in the Czech Republic. Last year the number
was 11,400, this being the second highest. On the other hand, the
least applications (841) were presented in 1992.
This year, the applications were handed most frequently in the
refugee centre Vysni Lhoty, north Moravia, which has registered 193
applications, including 101 by Ukrainian citizens.
The Czech authorities granted asylum to 2,520 applications from July
1900 to August 2004. Most of the affirmative answers were given to
citizens of Romania (474), Afghanistan (296) and Russia (200).
>>From January to August, 95 refugees were granted asylum, including
29 Russians and 21 Belarussians. In 2003, 208 refugees were granted
asylum. The highest number of applications was approved in 1991,
when 776 people were granted asylum.
>>From July 1990 to August 2004, the Czech Republic granted Czech
citizenship to 533 refugees. Most often, citizenship was granted to
refugees from Armenia (87), Vietnam (85), Romania (79), and Ukraine
(29).
On the other hand, asylum was withdrawn from some 200 foreigners,
160 of them from Romania and 20 from Bulgaria.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 375033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 1) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 1) 52.48.46
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:
September 16, 2004
ACNIS Releases Public Opinion Results on Corruption in Armenia
Yerevan–The Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS)
today issued the results of a public survey on “Corruption in Armenia” which
it conducted among 1956 citizens from Yerevan and all of Armenia’s regions.
ACNIS director of administration Karapet Kalenchian greeted the invited
guests and public participants with opening remarks. “It would be illusory
to hope that discussions and debates on corruption could solve the problem.
However, we must carefully examine the issue in order to clarify the
directions, strategy, conception, and practical priorities of our common
campaign. Corruption is a public evil, and each of us, alone and together,
should struggle against it,” he said.
ACNIS legal and political affairs analyst Stepan Safarian focused in detail
on the findings of the opinion poll. Accordingly, a majority of surveyed
citizens (62.4%) assert that corruption in Armenia exists in all spheres and
at all levels, 29.9% think it exists in some areas, 3.7% can identify it in
but a few categories, while 4% find it difficult to answer.
42.8% of citizens think that corruption is a political phenomenon, that is,
authorities that come to power through election fraud and bribery are forced
to sponsor or give privileges to those who supported their “election.” 19.4%
believe corruption to be an economic phenomenon, as it is the most effective
way of amassing money, 19.7% assert it is a social function, and 12% explain
it as a cultural matter.
14.8% of respondents have given bribes because they were forced to do it,
39.5% have done it to solve a problem quickly and easily, while 45.2% have
never given bribes. The majority of surveyed citizens think that the health
care system is the most corrupt in Armenia (19.4%), 10.6% point to the army,
17.5% the courts, 5.2% the prosecutor’s office, 7.5% the educational system,
7.7% tax and 1.7% customs agencies, 4.4% the state transport inspection, and
4.7% the police. 23.2% are convinced that the most corrupt branch of the
Armenian government is the executive, while 15.6% blame the judiciary and
5.7% the legislature.
Among the surveyed public, 37% were offered a bribe during the presidential
or parliamentary elections of 2003. 32.5% of these actually took it, whereas
only 66.4% did not take it.
As to the principal factor fostering corruption in Armenia, 35.9% pinpoint
the arbitrariness and unaccountability of the authorities, 20.7% the
prevalence of private and group interests, and 12.8% a tolerance toward
unlawfulness in people’s consciousness. 25.3% of respondents do not believe
in the success of the Armenian government’s program against corruption, only
4.9% are optimistic on this score, and 69.3% find it difficult to answer.
The main reason for the inefficiency of the campaign against corruption, in
the view of 49.1%, is that corrupt authorities cannot struggle against
themselves. 14.8% think it is hampered by clans and oligarchs, and 14.3% say
it is adversely affected by the fact that society is not engaged in the
struggle.
The second item on the day’s agenda was a presentation by economist Ashot
Tavadian on “The Aims of the Campaign against Corruption.” “I am convinced,
and the survey proves it, that Armenia’s substantive development is possible
only by way of a serious campaign against corruption, whereas the aims of
the government’s program are declarative and unclear. In reality, the
program must persuade us that over time Armenia will achieve an
internationally recognized benchmark on the existence or non-existence of
corruption. It also should be composed based on the consensus of a large
number of political forces,” he underscored.
The formal presentations were followed by contributions by Edward Aghajanov
of the “Armat” center; law professor Hrair Tovmasian; Ruben Torosian of the
Supreme Council Deputy Club; Yerevan State University professor Gagik
Galstian; Artsrun Pepanian, political analyst for AR television; Gayane
Markosian of the Harmonious World NGO; economist Gegham Kiurumian; Armen
Ktoyan of the Institute of Management and Economic Reforms; Haroutiun
Khachatrian of Noyan Tapan news agency; National Press Club chairperson
Narine Mkrtchian; and several others.
42.7% of participating respondents are male and 57.3% female; 11.9% are
18-30 years of age, 23.6% 31-40, 21.4% 41-50, 12.7% 51-60, and 23.4% 61 or
above. 48% of the citizens surveyed have received a higher education, 11.1%
incomplete higher, 20.5% specialized secondary, 17.1% secondary, and 3.1%
incomplete secondary training. 57.6% are actively employed, 25.3%
unemployed, 9.8% are pensioners, 0.9% welfare recipients, and 6.1% students.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2004, the Center focuses
primarily on public outreach, civic education, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.
For further information on the Center or the full graphics of the poll
results, call (3741) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (3741) 52-48-46; e-mail
[email protected] or [email protected]; or visit or

NATO names envoy to boost C.Asia, Caucasus links
BRUSSELS, Sept 15 (Reuters) – NATO appointed U.S. diplomat Robert
Simmons on Wednesday as its envoy to the Caucasus and Central Asia
to build up cooperation between the 26-member alliance and states in
the two regions.
Former Soviet republics in the regions, especially Georgia, are widely
thought to have been the focus of threats last week by Russian Chief
of Staff Yuri Baluyevsky to mount pre-emptive strikes against terrorist
bases anywhere in the world.
“We’ve discussed Russia’s relations with Georgia with Russia and
Georgia for a long time … We urge both countries to cooperate
proactively,” said Simmons, who dealt with Eurasian policy at the
U.S. Department of State before going to NATO.
“Our focus is on greater inter-operability with NATO, helping them
with defence reforms and consulting on issues that are of concern to
them,” said Simmons.
Baluyevsky’s threat followed a Chechen rebel siege of a school in
the town of Beslan in Russia’s southern region of North Ossetia in
which more than 300 people — half of them children — were killed.
Moscow has traditionally seen the Caucasus and Central Asia as within
its sphere of influence.
The Caucasus states of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have joined
a European Union programme to boost ties.
09/15/04 13:43 ET

Azeri minister, NATO chief fail to agree on Armenian presence at Baku drills – TV
ANS TV, Baku
14 Sep 04
[Presenter] The position of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry over
the cancellation of NATO’s military exercises has been disclosed by
the ministry’s press service.
[Correspondent] The cancellation of NATO’s military exercises in
Baku has been discussed at a meeting attended by Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the head of the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service, Matin Mirza, has said.
He also clarified reports by some media outlets suggesting that
the Azerbaijani minister had allegedly been summoned to the NATO
headquarters. No-one can summon the Azerbaijani foreign minister,
he simply met the secretary-general on the sidelines of his visit
to Brussels, end quote. Matin Mirza added that while in Brussels,
Elmar Mammadyarov stated that the Azerbaijani side had no intention
of issuing visas to Armenian officers.
[Matin Mirza, captioned, talking to camera] It was also stated that
the participation of the Armenian side in the exercises in Baku
could deal a blow to the efforts being taken ahead of the meeting
of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents on the sidelines of the
forthcoming CIS summit in Astana.
[Correspondent] The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry does not believe
that the cancellation of the exercises could damage Azerbaijani-NATO
relations in any way.
[Mirza] Although the Azerbaijani side regrets the fact that the
exercises have been canceled, we would like to say that this will
not damage Azerbaijani-NATO relations. Relations between NATO and
Azerbaijan will continue to develop.
[Correspondent] Having completed his visit to Brussels, Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has left the Belgian capital for Astana
where the CIS summit is due to be held.
Mahir Mammadli, Ibrahim Telmanoglu, ANS.

Public objects to Armenian’s planned visit
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 14 2004
Azerbaijani people have not shared the presently-observed unity of
views for many years. Regardless of party affiliation, positions
held or views adhered to, the Azeri public has voiced a joint protest
against the planned arrival of Armenian officers to attend the NATO
exercises, which started in Baku on September 13.
The protest actions, which started early this month, are still
underway.
Some 400 members of non-government organizations (NGOs) held an
unsanctioned march on September 11 which ended in signing a joint
declaration by over 250 NGOs. On the same day, another march, started
by the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) from the Cemetery
of Martyrs, was prevented by the police. Employees of the ANS TV
channel also visited the Cemetery. Then, ANS TV and Radio suspended
their broadcastings for two hours, and showed films displaying the
atrocities and numerous crimes committed by Armenian soldiers against
the Azeri people.
On September 12, representatives of socio-political organizations and
other individuals held a sanctioned rally outside the Khatai cultural
palace in protest against the Armenians’ planned arrival.
The protesters held slogans “Keep away Armenian murderers”, “Death
to aggressor”, “Down with NATO’s double standard”, “Not train with
Armenians, but fight them”. In conclusion, a resolution was read out.
Parliament members have also expressed acute protests against the
Armenian officers’ intended visit. Seven MPs refused to attend a
parliamentary session on September 7 in this connection. Speaker
Murtuz Alasgarov said he agreed with the objections voiced by the MPs.
On September 10 Defense Minister Safar Abiyev said he strongly
objects to Armenians’ intended arrival, since there are no diplomatic
relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He also mentioned that
Azerbaijan refused to attend NATO exercises held in Armenia last
year. On September 11, President Ilham Aliyev, during his meeting
with the refugees living in Barda, expressed his disagreement with
Armenian’s intended participation in NATO exercises in Azerbaijan.*