Author: Chmshkian Vicken

Co unterPunch
February 15, 2008
George Szamuely
A Saga of Injustice and Hypocrisy
The Absurdity of "Independent" Kosovo

By GEORGE SZAMUELY

With their unfailing passion for the inconsequential and their knack
for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, NATO leaders appear
determined to carve the province of Kosovo out of Serbia and grant it
"independence." That they lack the physical, legal and moral power to
bestow independent statehood to a part of a state that is neither a
member of the E.U. nor NATO appears only to have emboldened them to
use this issue to demonstrate Western resolve. Just as in the 1990s,
and just as erroneously, a self-righteous West has seized on the
Balkans as an opportunity to parade before the world in the unfamiliar
guise of champion of democracy and national self-determination, and
protector of Muslims.

Much as it did before the invasion of Iraq, the United States has said
it will do whatever it wants to do — namely, recognize independent
Kosovo — with or without U.N. sanction. Unlike Iraq, this time the
Europeans intend to take an active part in the Easter egg hunt and are
as determined to ignore the United Nations as the Americans. Confident
that the new state of Kosovo will prove to be a reliable NATO/E.U.
satellite, key European countries, and especially the ever-compliant
British, promise to recognize Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of
independence on the very day it happens.

The line from Brussels and Washington is that the status quo in Kosovo
is unsustainable and that the status of Kosovo needs to be settled
once and for all. Final status means "independence" and only
"independence." The Serbs have been told to forget about Kosovo and
all the talk of historic patrimony and to focus instead on "Europe"
(the grand name the European Union has arrogated to itself).
Curiously, the Kosovo Albanians are not told forget about their
national aspirations and focus on Europe. Yet their claim to statehood
is particularly dubious since an Albanian state already exists in
Europe. There doesn’t seem to be any reason to have two Albanian
states.

Kosovo’s status is governed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244,
which envisages only self-government for Kosovo, and acknowledges the
"sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia." Kosovo’s status can’t be changed without a new
resolution.

To be sure, the status quo is unsustainable. But this status quo is
one entirely of NATO’s making. Eager to demonstrate that it had
relevance even though the Cold War had long ended, NATO pulverized
Yugoslavia with cluster bombs, depleted uranium and cruise missiles
for 11 weeks, in the name of its newly proclaimed mission of
humanitarian intervention. As the adoring media told and, in
subsequent years, retold the story, the United States and its
supposedly supine European allies were knights in shining armor,
selflessly killing and destroying in order to rescue the oppressed
Kosovo Albanians from the bloodthirsty Serbs. NATO forces marched into
Kosovo, stood by passively as more than 250,000 Serbs fled or were
driven out of the province and then cowered in the safety of their
barracks in March 2004 as the Kosovo Albanians went on a bloody
anti-Serb rampage.

Meanwhile, making use of the engineering skills of Halliburton
subsidiary, Brown & Root Services Corp., the United States built a
giant military base, Camp Bondsteel, covering some 955 acres or
360,000 square meters. The camp also includes a prison. According to
Alvaro Gil Robles, Human Rights Commissioner for the Council of
Europe, who visited the prison in 2005,

"What I saw there, the prisoners’ situation, was one which you
would absolutely recognize from the photographs of Guantanamo. The
prisoners were housed in little wooden huts, some alone, others in
pairs or threes. Each hut was surrounded with barbed wire, and guards
were patrolling between them. Around all of this was a high wall with
watchtowers. Because these people had been arrested directly by the
army, they had not had any recourse to the judicial system. They had
no lawyers. There was no appeals process. There weren’t even exact
orders about how long they were to be kept prisoner."

Shamelessly, but not at all surprisingly, the U.S. political
establishment, particularly its Clintonian wing (the bunch that did so
much to destroy Yugoslavia), seized on the March 2004 anti-Serb pogrom
as evidence that the Kosovo Albanians deserved independent statehood
immediately. On March 28, 2004, columnist Georgie Anne Geyer quoted
Richard Holbrooke as saying " ‘The recognition of an independent
Kosovo and eventual membership in the European Union would be the best
way to bring permanent peace and stability to the Balkans.’ The
leadership in Belgrade ‘should finally come to terms with the new
reality and choose either Kosovo or the E.U.but if Serbia chooses
Kosovo over the E.U., it will end up with neither."

Holbrooke, permanent secretary of state in waiting, notoriously
negotiated an agreement with President Slobodan Milosevic in October
1998. In return for the United States agreeing to put off the bombing
of Yugoslavia for a few months, Milosevic agreed to withdraw Serbian
security forces from Kosovo and permitted the arrival of an OSCE
mission-the so-called Kosovo Verification Mission. The agreement
wasn’t binding on the terrorist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), whose
members armed themselves and committed terrorist attacks, the purpose
of which was to provoke the Serbian forces to retaliate and thereby to
provide a pretext for the bombing the Clinton administration was
itching to launch. Milosevic, well aware of the trap that was being
laid for him, went out of his way to avoid being provoked. The Kosovo
Verification Mission did not remain passive in all of this. Led by
William Walker, U.S. ambassador to El Salvador during the 1980s, the
KVM actively colluded with the KLA, going so far as to fake the Racak
incident in January 1999 that served to trigger the NATO onslaught. It
isn’t surprising, therefore, that Holbrooke, who played such a crucial
role in that earlier charade, should play an equally crucial role in
today’s Kosovo charade.

Another establishment ticket-puncher, this time a member of its
Republican branch, also weighed in early demanding independence for
Kosovo. Frank Carlucci, a former secretary of defense and national
security adviser in the Reagan administration and a former chairman of
the Carlyle Group, global private equity firm for ex-government
officials, wrote in the New York Times on Feb. 22, 2005,

The only solution that makes long-term sense is full independence
for Kosovo, and the only question that remains is how to get there.
The best approach would be for Washington and its five partners in the
so-called Contact Group-Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia-to
initiate a process for a final settlement, or Kosovo Accord. First the
powers would have to establish a timeline and some ground rules. The
goal would have to be independence for the entire province, and all
other options — partition, or union with Albania or slivers of other
neighboring states where ethnic Albanians live — would be off the
table from the outset. Given the events of last March, the Kosovo
Albanians would be informed that that the pace of their progress
toward independence will be set by their treatment of Serbs and other
minorities.

So progress toward independence should depend on how the Albanians
treat Kosovo’s minorities. Holbrooke had no time for this. He
ridiculed the notion that independence should in any way be connected
to the Albanians’ treatment of the Serbs. "Standards before status,"
he sneered in the Washington Post on April 20, was merely a delaying
policy that "disguised bureaucratic inaction inside diplomatic
mumbo-jumbo. As a result, there have been no serious discussions on
the future of Kosovo."

Standards before status or status before standards, it really didn’t
matter too much. The United States pushed U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan to launch a fraudulent process that would — so it was it
believed — result in an independent Kosovo. In June 2005, Annan
appointed Norway’s ambassador to NATO, Kai Aide, to determine if
Kosovo has made sufficient progress in meeting accepted standards on
democracy and minority rights to merit a decision on its final status.
In October 2005, Aide duly reported to Annan that, yes, Kosovo had
made splendid progress and that any further delay on resolving its
final status would lead to catastrophe. Actually, the report said that
the "Kosovo Serbs fear that they will become a decoration to any
central-level political institution with little ability to yield
tangible results. The Kosovo Albanians have done little to dispel it."
The report concluded that "with regard to the foundation for a
multi-ethnic society, the situation is grim." Nonetheless, there
wasn’t a moment to be lost. "What’s important," Annan said, "is that
talks begin soon."

Talks did indeed begin. Annan appointed former Finnish President Marti
Ahtisaari as his special envoy to lead the negotiations on Kosovo’s
final status. Talk about rewarding terrorism! The Kosovo Albanians
rioted for several days in March 2004, and here they were, some 18
months later, about to be made a gift of independence. Ahtisaari was
as likely to act the honest broker as Holbrooke. One of the posts he
holds is chairman emeritus of the International Crisis Group (ICG),
one of those George Soros-funded organizations staffed by
out-of-office international worthies who invariably advocate for NATO
expansion/intervention and unhindered U.S.-E.U. foreign investment.
The ICG has for a long time been a fervent propagandist for an
independent Kosovo. On its board sit such veteran bomb-the-Serbs
alumni as Wesley Clark, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Joschka Fischer, Morton
Abramowitz and Samantha Power.

The negotiations under Ahtisaari’s aegis inevitably went nowhere, as
they were meant to. Given that key NATO/E.U. officials had already
declared that independence was inevitable, the Kosovo Albanians knew
they only had to sit tight, reject any option other than independence
and prepare to collect their reward within a few months.

In March 2007, Ahtisaari reported to the new U.N. secretary general,
Ban Ki-moon, that "the negotiations’ potential to produce any mutually
agreeable outcome on Kosovo’s status is exhausted. No amount of
additional talks, whatever the format, will overcome this impasse."
Therefore, he announced,

"I have come to the conclusion that the only viable option for
Kosovo is independence, to be supervised for an initial period by the
international community. My Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo
Status Settlement, which sets forth these international supervisory
structures, provides the foundations for a future independent Kosovo
that is viable, sustainable and stable, and in which all communities
and their members can live a peaceful and dignified existence."

Washington, London, Brussels and other capitals immediately embraced
Ahtisaari’s proposal and his noble, but entirely vacuous, sentiments.
Since a massive NATO military presence had not sufficed to ensure that
Kosovo’s "communities and their members" lived an even minimally
"peaceful and dignified existence" (as even Kofi Annan’s envoy Kai
Aide had admitted), the idea that in an independent Kosovo the
province’s minorities would be flourishing was laughable. Kosovo’s
Serbs — the few that remain — live behind barbed wire and need armed
escort whenever they step outside their enclaves. According to a
recent European Commission report, "only 1 per cent of judges belong
to a minority group and less than 0.5 per cent belong to the Serbian
minority. Only six of the 88 prosecutors belong to minority groups."
Overall, the report concluded, "little progress has been made in the
promotion and enforcement of human rights."

None of this really matters. The United States, the European Union and
Ahtisaari himself are as serious about protecting Kosovo’s minorities
as they are about creating an independent state there. In fact, the
last thing one would call the state that Ahtisaari envisages is
"independent."

To be sure, land would be taken away from Serbia, and the Kosovo’s
Serbs, Turks, Roma and other minorities would be booted out, even as
NATO/EU officials will doubtless go on avowing their commitment to a
multicultural, multiethnic, multi-whatever Kosovo. To be sure,
Brussels will probably succeed in bribing a few Serbs to come back to
— or even make a home in — Kosovo. These "returnees" will then be
touted as evidence that Kosovo is embracing "European values."

However, there is no plan to permit Kosovo’s Albanians to run their
own affairs. First of all, as in Bosnia, ultimate power will reside
with an internationally-appointed bureaucrat. This position of
colonial viceroy known as the International Civilian Representative
(ICR), will be held by one of the West’s innumerable, interchangeable
has-been politicians moving from one sinecure to another. The ICR
will, for example, have the authority to "[t]ake corrective measures
to remedy, as necessary, any actions taken by the Kosovo authorities
that the ICR deems to be a breach of this Settlement." Such corrective
measures would include "annulment of laws or decisions adopted by
Kosovo authorities," "sanction or remov[al] from office [of] any
public official or take other measures, as necessary, to ensure full
respect for this Settlement and its implementation," final say over
the appointment of the "Director-General of the Customs Service, the
Director of Tax Administration, the Director of the Treasury, and the
Managing Director of the Central Banking Authority of Kosovo." There’s
democracy for you.

In addition, the European Union is to establish a European Security
and Defense Policy (ESDP) Mission. This mission "shall assist Kosovo
authorities in their progress towards sustainability and
accountability and in further developing and strengthening an
independent judiciary, police and customs service, ensuring that these
institutions are free from political interferenceand shall provide
mentoring, monitoring and advice in the area of the rule of law
generally, while retaining certain powers, in particular, with respect
to the judiciary, police, customs and correctional services."

The ESDP mission will have "[a]uthority to ensure that cases of war
crimes, terrorism, organised crime, corruption, inter-ethnic crimes,
financial/economic crimes, and other serious crimes are properly
investigated according to the law, including, where appropriate, by
international investigators acting with Kosovo authorities or
independently." The mission will have the authority to ensure crimes
are "properly prosecuted including, where appropriate, by
international prosecutors acting jointly with Kosovo prosecutors or
independently. Case selection for international prosecutors shall be
based upon objective criteria and procedural safeguards, as determined
by the Head of the ESDP Mission." The mission will have the "authority
to reverse or annul operational decisions taken by the competent
Kosovo authorities, as necessary, to ensure the maintenance and
promotion of the rule of law, public order and security." The mission
will have "[a]uthority to monitor, mentor and advise on all areas
related to the rule of law. The Kosovo authorities shall facilitate
such efforts and grant immediate and complete access to any site,
person, activity, proceeding, document, or other item or event in
Kosovo."

There is also to be an International Military Presence (IMP)
established by NATO; it is to "operate under the authority, and be
subject to the direction and political control of the North Atlantic
Council through the NATO chain of command. NATO’s military presence in
Kosovo does not preclude a possible future follow-on military mission
by another international security organization, subject to a revised
mandate." Furthermore, the IMP is to "have overall responsibility for
the development and training of the Kosovo Security Force, and NATO
shall have overall responsibility for the development and
establishment of a civilian-led organization of the Government to
exercise civilian control over this Force, without prejudice to the
responsibilities of the ICR." The IMP will be "responsible for:
Assisting and advising with respect to the process of integration in
Euro-Atlantic structures" and advising on "the involvement of elements
>From the security force in internationally mandated missions."

So, Kosovo will have no say on taxation, on foreign and security
policy, on customs, on law enforcement. The only thing independent
about "independent" Kosovo is that it will be independent of Serbia.
In fact, there is not the slightest pretense that duly elected Kosovo
authorities will have any say about anything other than perhaps refuse
collection, though, doubtless even here, the authorities will have to
follow E.U. guidelines or pay a penalty.

Not that this talk of "mentoring," "monitoring," "training,"
"assisting," "advising" and "investigating" should be taken too
seriously. After all, the United Nations hasn’t taken it too seriously
during the past 8_ years; why should the European Union? Given the
E.U.’s contempt for international law, its pride over its
member-countries’ participation in the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia, its
dismissive attitude toward Serbia’s concerns about the loss of its
sovereign territory and its jurisdiction over its nationals, the idea
that the E.U. is now ready to draw its sword and to come to the aid of
Kosovo’s minorities is laughable. The soaring rhetoric over Kosovo’s
supposed extraordinary progress, under U.N. auspices, contrasts
starkly with the reality. According to Amnesty International’s recent
report on U.N.-style justice in Kosovo,

[H]undreds of cases of war crimes, enforced disappearances and
interethnic crimes remain unresolved (often with little or no
investigation having been carried out); hundreds of cases have been
closed, for the want of evidence which was neither promptly nor
effectively gathered. Relatives of missing and ‘disappeared’ persons
report that they have been interviewed too many times by international
police and prosecutors new to their case, yet no progress is ever
made.In terms of recruitment, it appears that at no stage were serious
efforts made to identify and recruit the most highly qualified,
experienced and appropriate candidates in the world for the job.A
significant concern regarding the fairness of the trials conducted by
international judges and prosecutors is the lack of attention that has
been given to the rights of the defense.Many of the trial
proceedingsare conducted in a language not understood by the accused
or their counsel. They are not simultaneously translated in full, but
simply summarized. In some cases, translated transcripts of trial
proceedings are not available until long after the time for an appeal
has passed.It is disturbing that of the war crimes cases conducted
only onehas involved a non-Albanian victim. In that case one of the 26
victims was Serb.

Some of the problems Amnesty mentioned: Trials are conducted "in
absentia"; there’s "use of anonymous witnesses"; "reconstructions of
the crime" take place "without the accused and defense counsel being
present"; "poor translation and interpretation and use of summaries by
interpreters instead of verbatim interpretation"; "poorly reasoned,
unclear and ‘incomprehensible’ decisions; "judgments based on
eyewitness testimony contradicted by forensic evidence or the prior
testimony of the witnesses"; "discrepancies between the evidence and
the verdict or insufficient evidence to support the verdict"; and
"significant differences between the oral judgment and the written
judgment." Otherwise, the judiciary is in great shape, and likely to
get even better under E.U. guidance.

No report about Kosovo’s dismal human rights record or its economic
and political failure as a ward of international busybodies, no
invocation by Serbia and Russia of international law, the Helsinki
Final Act or U.N. Resolution 1244 makes any difference: Washington
says it will do what it before the invasion of Iraq — ignore the
United Nations and recognize independent Kosovo. Brussels says it will
do likewise. Unlike 2003, however, the Russians this time have a card
up their sleeves. If Kosovo is to be permitted to secede, the Russians
have argued, then why not other nationalities or ethnic groups living
as minorities within someone else’s state? As examples, President
Vladimir Putin pointed to South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh
and Transnistria. But he could have mentioned innumerable others: the
Hungarians in Slovakia and Rumania, the Basques and Catalans in Spain,
Corsicans in France, the Flemish in Belgium, Russians in Estonia and
Latvia, the Turkish Cypriots.

The West responded with fury to the Russians’ argument. "Russia’s
position is cynical. It has no power to regain Kosovo for Serbia and
the Kremlin plays its own secessionist games in Georgia and Moldova.
President Vladimir Putin has simply been using Kosovo as a handy stick
to beat the West and to remind the world that Russia still wields a
Security Council veto," the New York Times thundered in an editorial
on Dec. 6, 2007. Holbrooke accused Putin of seeking "to reassert
Russia’s role as a regional hegemon." The suggestion that Kosovo has
any bearing on any other territorial dispute was "spurious," he
declared. Kosovo "is a unique case and sets no precedent for
separatist movements elsewhere." Why? "[B]ecause in 1999, with Russian
support, the United Nations was given authority to decide the future
of Kosovo." This is a typically shameless Holbrooke lie. The U.N. was
authorized to set up an interim administration "under which the people
of Kosovo can enjoy substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic
of Yugoslavia."

Moreover, given the utter failure of the U.N. administration to
fulfill most of the provisions of 1244, invoking this resolution as
authorizing the U.N. to do something is particularly egregious.
According to 1244, among the responsibilities of the interim
administration was "Demilitarizing the Kosovo Liberation Army,"
"Establishing a secure environment in which refugees and displaced
persons can return home in safety" and ensuring that "an agreed number
of Yugoslav and Serbian personnel will be permitted to return to
perform the following functions: Liaison with the international civil
mission and the international security presence.Maintaining a presence
at Serb patrimonial sites; Maintaining a presence at key border
crossings." Needless to say, none of this ever took place. In any
case, even if the U.N. was given the authority to decide Kosovo’s
future, then that’s precisely what Russia, as permanent veto-wielding
member of the Security Council, is insisting on by rejecting
unilateral secession.

That Kosovo was "unique" has been the Western officials’ mantra for
months. On Dec. 19, Zalmay Khalilzad, permanent U.S. representative to
the U.N., told the U.N. Security Council that "Kosovo is a unique
situation — it is a land that used to be part of a country that no
longer exists and that has been administered for eight years by the
United Nations with the ultimate objective of definitely resolving
Kosovo’s status.The policies of ethnic cleansing that the Milosevic
government pursued against the Kosovar people forever ensured that
Kosovo would never again return to rule by Belgrade. This is an
unavoidable fact and the direct consequence of those barbaric
policies."

On Dec. 21, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried said "Kosovo is obviously a unique case because
there’s no other place in the world where the UN has been
administering a territory pursuant to a Security Council resolution.
So there’s nothing else like it, so it clearly isn’t a precedent. It
is our view that Kosovo is not a precedent, not for any place. Not for
south Ossetia, not for Abkhazia, not for Transnistria, not for
Corsica, not for Texas. For nothing. Nothing." On Nov. 28, Under
Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns declared "It’s a unique
situation. Milosevic tried to annihilate over one million Kosovar
Albanian Muslims. He was denied that by NATO. We fought a war over it.
And the United Nations and NATO and the EU have kept the peace there
for eight-and-a-half years. And now, fully 94 or 95 per cent of the
people that live there are Kosovar Albanian Muslims."

The sheer absurdity of Burns’ hysterical statement illustrates the
lengths to which Western officials will go to justify what obviously
can’t be justified. Milosevic tried to annihilate over one million
Kosovar Albanian Muslims? The Foundation for Humanitarian Law led by
Nata_a Kandi_, much beloved and much bankrolled by Western governments
and non-governmental organizations, runs a project seeking to
establish the number of dead and missing in Kosovo. According to an
article in the Croatian magazine, Globus, "The project has documented
9,702 people dead or missing during the war in Kosovo from 1998 to
2000. Of this number, as things stand now, 4,903 killed and missing
are Albanians and 2,322 are Serbs, with the rest either belonging to
other nationalities or their ethnic identity remaining uncertain." One
should add also that these numbers say nothing about how people were
killed, whether in combat or otherwise, and by whom. And there’s no
clarification as to how many were killed by NATO bombs. What these
numbers do reveal is that it was the Serbs, not the Albanians, who
suffered disproportionately in Kosovo. If Burns is right and "fully 94
or 95 per cent of the people that live there are Kosovar Albanian
Muslims," that means that there are 19 times as many Albanians as
there are Serbs in Kosovo. Yet, according to these numbers, the
Albanians’ casualty numbers are only slightly more than twice the size
of the Serb casualty numbers.

The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh resulted
in far worse casualty numbers. The U.S. State Department itself
admits, "More than 30,000 people were killed in the fighting from 1992
to 1994."According to the CIA, "over 800,000 mostly ethnic
Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about
230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan
into Armenia."

In any case, if bad treatment of the local population were to
disqualify a state from exercising sovereignty over part of its
territory, then an awful lot of countries would be eligible for
enforced amputation: Turkey would have to be stripped of Turkish
Kurdistan; Israel would long ago have been given the boot from the
West Bank and other occupied territories; Indonesia would be denied
Aceh and Papua; Pakistan would lose Waziristan.

Kosovo’s claim to independent statehood is based on one fact only: The
Albanians are the overwhelming majority in Kosovo. They are Muslims in
a Christian state to which they don’t want to belong. Yet this
argument is convincing only to the willfully ignorant. First, the
majority of Kosovo may be Muslim; but the Kosovo Albanians are only a
small minority within Serbia as a whole. Kosovo would vote
overwhelmingly for independence; Serbia would vote overwhelmingly
against. Serbia is a legal entity; Kosovo is not. A Serbian vote
trumps a Kosovo one. Second, there is nothing unusual about an
overwhelmingly-Muslim inhabited province existing within a state that
is overwhelmingly non-Muslim. There are the Muslim Moros who inhabit
Mindanao in the Philippines. There is the Xinjiang province in China.
There is Kashmir, overwhelmingly Muslim, many of whom live under
Indian rule. Russia is replete with provinces in which the population
is overwhelmingly Muslim — Tatarstan, Bashkiristan, Dagestan,
Chechnya. Northern Cyprus is overwhelmingly Muslim — yet, except for
Turkey, no country in the world recognizes it as an independent state.
Muslim Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces in Thailand are waging
an insurgency to free themselves from Bangkok’s Buddhist rule. And of
course, there is the West Bank, yet another Muslim population,
subjected to the rule of non-Muslims. In all of these cases, there has
been an Islamic insurgency, a war seeking to liberate Muslims from the
rule of non-Muslims, and considerable government repression. Yet,
Western leaders do not splutter about unsustainable status quos, they
do not demand immediate U.N. Security Council action, they do not
insist that independence must be granted immediately and they do not
threaten to ignore the United Nations and embrace a seceding state.

Moreover, Kosovo has hardly made an even remotely plausible case for
its having earned independence. First, for all the talk of "Kosovars"
and "Kosovans," the residents of Kosovo identify themselves as either
Serb or as Albanian; the languages they speak is either Serbian or
Albanian. Creating a second Albanian state in Europe makes no sense
whatsoever. It doesn’t govern itself. It is a ward of various
international bodies. Economically, it is a basket case, and lives off
vast handouts. Kosovo is an example of an ethnic minority grabbing a
piece of territory, permitting unrestricted immigration by its
co-nationals from a neighboring state, ethnically cleansing the
territory of all other groups and thereby creating an artificial
overwhelming ethnic majority, and then demanding that these actions be
rewarded by the bestowal of independent statehood.

By comparison, the provinces whose demand for recognition the West
rejects have been self-governing entities for years. A
newly-independent Kosovo would have poor relations with Serbia and
would be subjected to an economic blockade. Its electric grid is
integrated within Serbia’s electric grid. Its debt has been taken care
of by Serbia.

Compare Kosovo with Transnistria. Transnistria declared itself
independent of Moldova in 1990. Transnistria functions as a
presidential republic, with its own government and parliament. Its
authorities have adopted a constitution, flag, a national anthem and a
coat of arms. It has its own currency and its own military and police
force. Yet the U.S.-E.U. position is that Transnistria has no right to
independence, and that Moldova’s territorial integirty must be
respected. In 2003, the U.S. and E.U. announced a visa boycott against
the 17 members of the leadership of Transnistria, accusing them of
"continued obstructionism." In 2006, Ukraine introduced new customs
regulations on its border with Transnistria, declaring it would only
import goods from Transnistria with documents processed by Moldovan
customs offices. The U.S., E.U. and OSCE applauded Ukraine’s action,
even though it was effectively imposing a blockade. In 2006,
Transnistria held a referendum in which 97.2 percent of voters voted
for independence. The OSCE refused to send observers, and the E.U.
immediately announced that it wouldn’t recognize the referendum
results. This is the same OSCE, E.U. and U.S. that, a few months
earlier, had leapt to recognize the results of Montenegro’s
independence referendum, despite the fact that the vote in favor of
independence was a bare majority, rather than the two-thirds normally
required for a constitutional change, and that Montenegrins living in
Serbia were denied the right to vote in the referendum.

Compare Kosovo with South Ossetia. Ossetians have their own language.
South Ossetia had been an autonomous oblast within the Soviet
Socialist Republic of Georgia. In 1990, the Georgian Supreme Soviet
revoked its autonomy. The OSCE declared its "firm commitment to
support the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia." In
November 2006, 99 percent of South Ossetians voted for independence
>From Georgia. The usual gaggle of international bodies howled with
indignation. The European Union, OSCE, NATO and the USA condemned the
referendum. The Council of Europe called the referendum "unnecessary,
unhelpful and unfair.[T]he vote did nothing to bring forward the
search for a peaceful political solution." The OSCE declared South
Ossetia’s "intention to hold a referendum counterproductive. It will
not be recognized by the international community and it will not be
recognized by the OSCE and it will impede the peace process." NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said "On behalf of NATO, I
join other international leaders in rejecting the so-called
‘referendum’.Such actions serve no purpose other than to exacerbate
tensions in the South Caucasus region."

Nagorno-Karabakh can also make a vastly stronger case than Kosovo for
independence. Since 1923, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast had
been part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, even though
about 94 percent of its population was Armenian. In November 1991, the
parliament of the Azerbaijan SSR abolished the autonomous status of
the oblast. In response, in December 1991, Nagorno-Karabakh held a
referendum, which overwhelmingly approved the creation of an
independent state. Yet the E.U., the OSCE and the United States took
the line that Nagorno-Karabakh must remain a part of Azerbaijan,
irrespective of the fact that almost 100 per cent of the populace
wants out. Interestingly, in declaring itself independent in 1991,
Azerbaijan claimed to be the successor state to the Azerbaijan
republic that existed from 1918 to 1920. The League of Nations,
however, did not recognize Azerbaijan’s inclusion of Nagorno-Karabakh
as part of Azerbaijan’s claimed territory. This makes
Nagorno-Karabakh’s inclusion within Azerbaijan even more questionable.
If the states that seceded from the Soviet Union are to be regarded as
independent states, it’s hard to see on what basis parts of those
states are to be denied the right to independence.

In 2002, Nagorno-Karabakh held a presidential election; in response,
the European Union presidency declared "The European Union confirms
its support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and recalls
that it does not recognise the independence of Nagorno Karabakh.The
European Union cannot consider legitimate the ‘presidential
elections.’…The European Union does not believe that these elections
should have an impact on the peace process."

In December 2006, Nagorno-Karabakh held another referendum on
independence: Something like 98 per cent favored independence. The
European Union immediately announced it wouldn’t recognize the results
of the referendum and said "that only a negotiated settlement between
Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians who control the region can bring a
lasting solution.The E.U. recalls that it does not recognize the
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh. It recognizes neither the
‘referendum’ nor its outcome." The E.U. added that holding the
referendum pre-empts the outcome of negotiations and that it "did not
contribute to constructive efforts at peaceful conflict resolution."
The E.U.’s attitude here is strikingly different from its attitude on
Kosovo. On Kosovo, the E.U. holds Serbia’s refusal to relinquish its
sovereign territory as the reason for the failure of negotiations,
which supposedly is the justification for Kosovo’s declaration of
independence.

The West’s entire approach to Kosovo has been marked by sordid
dishonesty and bad faith, supporting national self-determination and
the right to secession in one place and territorial integrity in
another, cheering on ethnic cleansing by one ethnic group and
demanding war crimes trials for another, trumpeting the virtues of
majority rule when it’s convenient to do so and threatening to impose
sanctions and penalties on majorities when that’s convenient. For the
Americans, Kosovo is nothing more than the hinterland of a giant
military base, a key presence in the eastern Mediterranean should
Greece or Turkey prove unreliable. As for the duly grateful Albanians,
they are expected to repay their benefactors by agreeing to be cannon
fodder in future imperial wars. For the Europeans, Kosovo is an
opportunity to show the world that Europe counts for something and to
conduct various pointless social experiments in multiculturalism and
multiconfessionalism — particularly pointless since Kosovo will be
one of the most ethnically homogeneous places in Europe.

George Szamuely lives in New York and can be reached at [email protected]

Chicago Tribune, IL
Feb 15 2008

Survival guide for Armenia, Cambodia

By Aaron Cohen | Special to the Tribune
February 15, 2008

At the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, a classically trained
vocalist intones a lullaby that connects contemporary Armenia to a
sound from 16 centuries ago. Meanwhile, in California, a
Cambodian-born singer revives Khmer-language rock from a more recent
past. They’re worlds apart to be sure, but both show how much music
can survive, even transcend, difficult times.

Shoghaken Ensemble, which will perform at the Old Town School of Folk
Music on Feb. 22, has exuberantly presented Armenia’s traditional
songs and dances since the country’s independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. Dengue Fever — appearing at the Empty Bottle five
days later — is helping to revive interest in 1960s Cambodian rock
‘n’ roll. Though vocalist Hasmik Harutyunyan of Shoghaken and singer
Chhom Nimol of Dengue Fever have never met, part of their motives are
similar.

"Everybody should understand where they came from," Harutyunyan said.
"These traditions are the way to do that."

On the Shoghaken Ensemble’s recent self-titled disc (on Traditional
Crossroads), duduk player Grigor Takushian’s incredible technique is
revealed through subtle movements on his indigenous double-reed
instrument. Harutyunyan, a trained mathematician, makes complex
Armenian time signatures seem simple. She adds that there’s a sense
of purity conveyed through the lyrics because "the Armenian women who
sang them were close to nature."

The ancient pastoral sounds of Armenian folk music take an epic turn
in the hands of this group. The musicians’ expert dance moves are
just as captivating.

Harutyunyan said that current economic struggles in Armenia have
split families apart with many wage-earners living abroad, and this
particularly hurts how culture is passed.

"We need to have a dialogue from generation to generation and that’s
a reason why I sing lullabies," Harutyunyan said. "It’s a bridge from
adults to children."

At the same time, a thriving Armenian immigrant community has
enriched Los Angeles. So have nearby Cambodian neighborhoods where
Nimol, now 28, resettled after she became a famous pop singer in
Cambodia. Her career took a different turn when she encountered
Californian guitarist Zac Holtzman and his keyboardist brother,
Ethan, seven years ago.

The Holtzman brothers had collected cassettes of 1960s Cambodian
singers who mixed their country’s language and melodies with the
upbeat surf and garage rock they heard on U.S. armed forces radio
broadcasts from Vietnam. The Holtzmans formed Dengue Fever to
reinterpret this sound, then met Nimol at a Cambodian-American
nightclub in Long Beach, Calif.

Nimol shows how garage rock could have used a Khmer lilt on top of
its more familiar organ lines and electric guitar stomps.

Memories of Cambodian rock’s glory years — which came to a terrible
end during the Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s — remain, even if
young people in Phnom Penh generally prefer karaoke-bar pop today.
When Dengue Fever performed in Cambodia a couple of years ago, Nimol
and Holtzman said their host audiences appreciated the visit.

"The Cambodians were worried that Nimol was gone for so long, she may
have forgotten her Cambodian roots," Zac Holtzman said. "But when she
went back they saw she Cambodianized a bunch of Americans."

Shoghaken Ensemble
So much more than lullabies
Where: Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
When: Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m.
Price: $25; 773-728-6000

Dengue Fever
Rock ‘n’ roll Cambodian-style
Where: Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave.
When: Feb. 27, 9 p.m.
Price: $12. (21+); 773-276-3600

RADIO LIBERTY ABSOLUTE LEADER AMONG MEDIA IN RESPECT OF RELIABILITY

Noyan Tapan
Feb 13, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, NOYAN TAPAN. According to the results of the
expert survey conducted in the second half of 2008 January among
nearly 100 Armenian parties, NGOs and entrepreneurial organizations,
the absolute leader among Armenian media in the respect of reliability
is Radio Liberty.

As Noyan Tapan correspondent was informed by Gohar Danielian, the
Director of the All Armenian Media Association, which conducted the
survey, Radio Liberty received 173.1 out of 500 possible points and
by about 20 points surpassed the Yerkir Media TV company, which took
the second place and was given 153 points by the respondents. In the
first ten the respondents also mentioned the Noyan Tapan information
center (146 points), the Shant TV company (143.5), the Aravot daily
(138), the A1+ website (121.5), the Arminfo information agency (119),
the Azg daily (117), the ARKA information agency (112), the Armenia
Now electronic newspaper (112), and the Kentron TV company (110.5).

The first ten is followed by Public Radio, which received 110 out
of 500 possible points, the Ar TV company 107 points, the Armenpress
information agency 105, the Shoghakat TV company 102, the Lragir.am
electronic newspaper 101, the Armenia TV company 97, the Haykakan
Zhamanak daily 94, the Iravunk newspaper 87 points. The Public
Television of Armenia received 80 points, and the Second Armenian TV
Channel 86.4 points.

According to G. Danielian, heads of 27 parties, 45 NGOs, 30
entrepreneurial organizations engaged in active work and periodically
using information sources took part in the survey. Their total number
was 102. The latters estimated the degree of media reliability by
5-point system in the questionnaires given to them. The results of
the survey showed that those constantly using media for the purpose of
carrying out their professional activity gave rather a low estimation
to the media reliability: thus, the medium, which took the first place,
received less than the half of the possible points.

The All Armenian Media Association was created in 2007. It includes
40 member-organizations from both Armenia and the Diaspora. According
to G. Danielian, the Association’s main mission is to bring to light
all Armenian problems with joint efforts and to offer variants of
their solution. The Association envisages to conduct such surveys
for finding out the rating of not only Armenian, but also Diasporan
media. The results of the surveys will be publicized periodically.

RON KLEIN: ONCE WE FACE ATROCITIES OF HUMANITY CAN WE PREVENT TRAGEDIES FROM OCCURRING AGAIN

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.02.2008 16:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Assembly of America will welcome
Congressman Ron Klein (D-FL) as a special guest speaker at its Annual
Member Meeting on February 23rd in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Klein, who represents Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, was one
of 27 Members who voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution
(H. Res. 106) which passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee
last October.

"As a student of history, I feel a solemn responsibility to fight for
memory of those who perished in the Armenian Genocide. Only once we
face the atrocities of humanity can we prevent tragedies like this
from occurring again," Klein said. "I look forward to working with
the members of the Armenian Assembly to advance the cause of justice."

"We commend Congressman Klein for his strong stand in support of the
truth and look forward to his remarks at our Annual Member Meeting,"
said AAA Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

As a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Klein sits on
the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. He was also recently appointed
to serve as Vice Chair of the Middle East Subcommittee. Klein is
also a Member of the Financial Services Committee, where he serves
on the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee,
Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, and the
Oversight Committee.

The Annual Member Meeting will provide a forum for members to come
together to review the activities and goals of the Assembly.

MANUK GASPARIAN’S SON BEATEN

A1+
12 February, 2008

On February 12 over 40-50 armed men broke into Christ Gasparian’s
office. Gasparian was severely beaten. To remind, Christ is the son
of prematurely deceased Manuk Gasparian, Leader of the Democratic
Way Party (ZhUK).

"We learnt about the incident from Christ Gasparian’s colleagues who
didn’t want to give their names.

"Everything happened in a twinkling of an eye. All of a sudden over
40-50 armed men intruded into the office and began beating Christ
with empty bottles.

Immediately afterwards, they took flight," they said.

Minutes later Gasparian was taken to hospital where he was rendered
medical aid.

"I tried to intervene and help Christ but they threatened me with a
gun just on the doorway," said one of Gasparian’s friends.

"I wanted to protect Christ with my body as I am a stout man and could
resist the blows. But after hitting me on the head they forced me out,"
said the other.

"We do not know the reasons for the incident. They hardly uttered a
word. They only kept railing at us.

Christ recognized some of them."

To note, Manuk Gasparian had announced support for presidential
candidate Levon Ter-Petrossian before his untimely death.

PRESS RELEASE
Date: February 12, 2008
Armenian National Committee of Illinois
1701 N. Greenwood, Glenview, IL 60026
Contact: Nairee Hagopian
Tel: 312-615-7698

ANC of Illinois Hosts Fundraiser for Congressman Lipinski

Palos Heights, IL- On February 1, 2008, the Armenian National
Committee of Illinois (ANC of IL) sponsored a fundraiser for
Congressman Daniel Lipinski (D-3). The event was hosted by Mr. and
Mrs. Sarkis and Betty Arakelian and held at Saints Joachim and Anne
Church in Palos Heights, Illinois. Over 40 supporters were in
attendance to thank and honor a Representative who is a strong
supporter of the Armenian American community.

Following the event, ANC of IL Chairman Ari Killian commented: "It
is a pleasure honoring an elected official who is committed to
issues that are important to Armenian Americans." The ANC of
Illinois recently endorsed Congressman Lipinski for the February 5th
primaries, which Lipinski won with over 53% of the votes.

In November of 2007, Congressman Lipinski gave a powerful floor
speech addressing the Armenian genocide and presenting its history,
denial, and need for remembrance stating: "…today we have the
opportunity to speak of the annihilation of the Armenians . We can
finally characterize the systematic murder of 1.5 million Ottoman
Armenians as genocide, and rightfully condemn those atrocious
killings that occurred 90 years ago. The prevention of future
genocides may depend on it." (Full speech can be read below).

Congressman Lipinski’s assignments include Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure, Committee on Science and
Technology, and Committee on Small Business. Lipinski is a co-
sponsor of House Resolution 106 Affirmation of the United States
Record on the Armenian Genocide Resolution, and is a member of the
Armenian Caucus.

Lipinski was elected in 2004. He is a Chicago native and currently
lives in Western Springs, Illinois with his wife Judy.

The Armenian National Committee of Illinois is part of the largest
and most influential Armenian American grassroots political
organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices,
chapters, and supporters throughout the United States and
affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively
advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad
range of issues.
####

Photo Caption: Standing L to R: ANC activists Greg Bedian,
Dr. Raffi Hovanessian, Sarkis & Betty Arakelian and Kevork
Arakelian Sitting L to R: Ari Killian, Cong. Lipinski, Judy Lipinski, Shohag
Hovanessian

Full text of Congressman Lipinkski’s Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address one of the darkest events of
the 20th century, an event that we must not let be forgotten.

During the First World War and in the final days of the Ottoman
Empire, one of t he worst atrocities in human history occurred.
Even among the chaos and violence of World War I, this atrocity
stood out, horrifying foreign witnesses, and prompting Theodore
Roosevelt to call it, "the greatest crime of the war." This crime
against humanity was the Armenian genocide.

Although large-scale violence against Armenians had
previously occurred, the events from 1915 to 1918 were truly
unprecedented. During this period, approximately 1.5 million
Armenians were systematically killed by the Ottoman Government,
while the surviving Armenians were left without homes, jobs,
possessions, and, most importantly, their loved ones.

Yet, despite overwhelming evidence that the Ottoman Government
actively sought to destroy the Armenian population, this genocide,
the first of the 20th century, has been overlooked by the United
States. This is simply wrong. Because, to end genocide, we must
stand up to it whenever and wherever it occurs. If we do not, we
only embolden those who would commit genocide elsewhere.

In 1939, while explaining his plan to destroy the Polish
population, Adolph Hitler stated, "Who, after all, today speaks of
the annihilation of the Armenians?" And many of my Polish
brothers and sisters died.

Mr. Speaker, today we have the opportunity to speak of the
annihilation of the Armenians. We can finally characterize the
systematic murder of 1.5 million Ottoman Armenians as genocide, and
rightfully condemn those atrocious killings that occurred 90 years
ago. The prevention of future genocides may depend on it.

NONE OF PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS REJECTED NOMINATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.02.2008 13:44 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ None of the presidential candidates has rejected
nomination, the RA CEC press office reported.

The Armenian Central Election Committee registered nine presidential
hopefuls. National Consent party leader Aram Harutyunyan, RA NA
former speaker, Orinats Yerkir party leader Artur Baghdassaryan,
National Unity party leader Artashes Geghamyan, ALM Holding president,
chairman of People’s Party of Armenia Tigran Karapetyan, chairman of
the National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukyan, RA NA vice speaker, ARF
Dashnaktsutyun Bureau member Vahan Hovhannisian, RA Prime Minister,
RPA chairman Serzh Sargsyan and Armenia’s first President Levon
Ter-Petrosyan will run for the post.

The CEC approved the form and contents of the ballot paper, where
nine candidates are listed in alphabetic order. 2 mln 390 thousand
ballot papers will be printed by Tigran Mets publishing house. Each
constituency will be provided extra 3% of papers.

Constitutional Right Union chair Hayk Babukhanyan announced that his
party will not support any of the candidates. "The Constitutional
Right Union will not back any candidate while rank-and-file members
are free to make their choice. They can support whomever they like
except Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Vazgen Manukyan," Mr Babukhanyan said,
elections2008.am reports.

8 criminal cases have been initiated since January 21.

Law enforcers will look into the assault on election headquarters
of Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Artur Baghdassaryan, a fight during
Ter-Petrosyan’s rally in Talin and Artashat as well as firing upon
Serzh Sargsyan’s headquarters in Yerevan.

The working group dealing with election campaign violations office
has received 34 complaints. "The public prosecutor’s office provided
explanation on 5 of them. 17 were rejected, 9 are under consideration,"
spokesperson Sona Truzyan said.

ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margarian’s speech at February 8 rally

08.02.2008 19:15

Yerevan (Yerkir) – ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margarian made a
speech at the rally on
February 8 rally.

Below is the text of his speech.

It’s been long since the Freedom Square saw such unification. It’s been
long we joined together for a good cause, for a positive cause that is
giving new hope. We have united today with confidence and decisiveness.
We have united to make a breakthrough in the life of our country. We
have united to set up a new government, a fair government, a government
for people, our government through elections. We are coming on a
positive wave, we are coming by setting up a positive axis and we will
succeed with your help, we will remove hatred, antagonism and violence
from our life. There are two groups at both sides of our positive axis:
the former regime is on the one side, and the current one on the other.
One of them is trying to achieve a regime change by hatred and
opposition; the other one is trying to maintain the current situation
via government leverage and pressures. We are not going to speak about
which of these groups is more negative because the choice should be not
between those groups but between the positive axis and those negative
groups.

Our reality is injured because there are injustice and poverty but it
is hard for me to speak about this today because everybody speaks about
it. The impression is that everybody opposes injustice, everybody wants
the poverty to be eliminated and that nobody’s rights are breached.
They say so, but it is not the aliens who have caused this injustice in
our country: it was you, the former and the current leaders, you are
the reason for this reality, and don’t speak about it so we don’t feel
shame for being like you. Today, your fight is not a fight for essence:
in issues like economy, social relations, democracy, fair elections,
justice you are the same. These people are your victims, the former and
the current regimes are not different when it comes to these issues,
and let nobody deceive us.

What are busy with today? Today, when there is a possibility to make an
aware choice and to form a new and normal political government, you
have spoiled the entire environment, you are threatening people with
each other, you are strengthening on the background of the other being
worse, leaving aside shame and responsibility. You are depriving the
people of making the right choice with a shameless, profanity-like
theater that you are staging. Restrain yourselves, gentlemen, don’t go
to extremes, don’t sacrifice our political stability for your dark and
evil games, we will not allow you to do that .

We believe that a new government should be formed in our homeland
through elections but it is possible through fair elections in healthy
environment, while this environment does not allow for it. It is
impossible to engage in fair election race in this unhealthy
environment and this environment is set up deliberately. The success of
the deception that the former and current regimes are engaged is
possible due to this tense and hostile environment. The former regime
is creating this environment because it helps it to avoid ideological
and political struggle because it is in this environment that they can
veil their real goal: the old regime is coming back because it wants to
change the political course, and the injustice, impunity, the lack of
democracy and liberties, corruption are just excuses for them.

We have to win. We have to win because the blood shed by Armenians in
Artsakh and border regions of Armenia should not be ignored. Forgetting
about the occupied Armenian Shahumian and Getashen, the former and the
current regimes are disputing about conceding territories, they accuse
each other of concessions. What are you conceding? Who has given you
the right to concede homeland? We, the Armenian people, will not allow
you to do so. Forgetting Azerbaijan’s role and positions, forgetting
the guilt of Azerbaijan, the former and current regimes blame each
other before the eyes of the world.

We are far from extremes and adventurism, we believe the Atsakh issue
should be resolved through negotiations and will mutual concessions.
But it is mutual concessions that should happen and not one-sided
concessions. We should not compromise our dignity, our homeland, any
part of the homeland.
The unhealthy environment is created by the current regime too.

We count on our people who is able to tell the truth from the lie.
Stability but not recession. Changes but not turmoil. Let’s not bring
the old back and let’s change the current ones.

When the government is an end in itself and there are no ideological
and political basis for it, and there are no supporters, the government
leans on the state apparatus and "prominent" people. On those, who can
guarantee their reproduction. When this is the reality, oligarchs
become a machine for giving away election bribes, a government
bureaucrat becomes a means for ensuring an army of voters, and then
oligarchs are granted privileges, the free competition is eliminated,
bureaucrat’s illegalities are ignored, the corruption flourishes, and
criminals set up a criminal government.

This exactly why the former and the current regimes are trying to get
to power with former and current oligarchs, criminals, bribe-takers.
We will change the current situation. We will change the unfair current
situation. We will put an end to unfair monopolies, we will bring fuel,
cereals, sugar and medicine monopolies to the formal field. We will do
this with the help of president Vahan Hovhannesian, led by him.

Vahan Hovhannesian, a person that has all the features and
possibilities to set up justice in this country. Our Vahan has the key
feature, courage: only a courageous person can fight the lie and
violence. Vahan’s entire life is a proof of this. He is a person who
does not depend on oligarchs, bureaucrats, and internal and external
secret unions and does not owe to anybody. A person, who had all the
reasons to break and be lured but he has remained as a person of
integrity and independent. He is a person who was able to form his
electorate in a short period of time, he is loved and accepted even by
those who do not know him. Vahan Hovhanesian has the Dashnaktsutyun, a
person who we the members of Dashnaktsutyun will obey as soldiers.

EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 8 2008

ARMENIA: TER-PETROSIAN FILES SUIT THAT COULD POSTPONE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
Marianna Grigoryan 2/08/08

Amid assurances from President Robert Kocharian that Armenia’s
upcoming presidential poll will meet international standards, leading
opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian, alleging unfair campaign
conditions, has filed a complaint that could lead to a postponement
of the February 19 election.

On February 7, Ter-Petrosian lodged the petition with the
Constitutional Court, Armenia’s highest court. In it, he asks the
high court to recognize that his election campaign faces
"insurmountable obstacles." Under Article 90 of Armenia’s Election
Code, such "obstacles," if recognized by the Court, can trigger a
two-week postponement of the presidential election.

At the end of that period, if the hindrances have been addressed, the
election would take place immediately. If it is decided that they
have not been addressed, the election would be held 40 days after the
end of the two-week postponement period.

The Constitutional Court will consider Ter-Petrosian’s application on
February 11, a source within the Court told EurasiaNet.

"[P]residential candidate Levon Ter-Petrosian’s pre-election
headquarters undertook all measures possible under the laws of the
Republic of Armenia to preclude violations of the law carried out
against the presidential candidate or to remove their consequences.
However, those initiatives did not yield any positive result," the
application submitted to the Constitutional Court reads.

The campaign claims that alleged government propaganda against
Ter-Petrosian, who resigned as president in 1998, has made it
impossible for the ex-president to have a fair chance at running for
national office. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Ter-Petrosian’s resignation a decade ago was sparked by a
disagreement with senior officials over the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process. Among the top leaders who opposed him back then were
then-prime minister Robert Kocharian and then-interior minister Serzh
Sarkisian, who is current prime minister and the government’s
candidate for president.

"There is total anti-campaigning going on against Levon Ter-Petrosian
on television channels, which impedes our activities," Arman
Musinian, a spokesperson for Ter-Petrosian’s campaign, told
EurasiaNet. The campaign singles out public television in particular
for biased coverage, but indicates that attempts have also been made
to derail the ex-president’s rallies. [For additional information see
the Eurasia Insight archive].

"Besides the anti-campaigning, the authorities are doing everything
in this period to create obstacles for us, and for this very reason
we have applied to the Constitutional Court," Musinian said.

The first interim report from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights election observation mission cited overwhelmingly negative
coverage of Ter-Petrosian, Armenia’s first post-Soviet president.
Local monitoring groups have reached similar conclusions.

While government officials have issued repeated assurances that the
election campaign is going relatively smoothly and comes close to
meeting "international standards," opposition leaders have frequently
complained about alleged cases of violence that they attribute to the
government.

On February 3, Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) Party leader and
presidential candidate Artur Baghdasarian declared at a rally in
Yerevan that he had received a death threat. A police investigation
is ongoing.

Pro-government media, however, have hinted that the claim is a
publicity stunt. Although he reportedly received the threat on
February 2, Baghdasarian did not visit the police until February 7,
noted Hayots Ashkharh. "This means Baghdasarian has absolutely no
problems connected with his personal security, as he announced at the
rally," said commentary published by the newspaper. "Or, he is really
determined to sacrifice his life for the sake of Armenia and does not
want that the police interfere in this."

Baghdasarian has since accepted protection from the National Security
Service.

Meanwhile, during a February 6 rally for Ter-Petrosian in the eastern
town of Artashat, in Armenia’s Ararat region, several young men
hurled stones and pieces of ice in the direction of the former
president. A scuffle between rally participants and the young men –
termed "hooligans" by Ter-Petrosian — broke out, injuring the
candidate’s deputy security chief. Campaign members have said that he
was hospitalized.

Ter-Petrosian’s campaign blamed the government for the incident and,
personally, on Deputy Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian and his
brother, parliamentarian Jonik Abrahamian, who are both from nearby
Artashat. The town is widely assumed to be an Abrahamian political
stronghold.

In response, the police have claimed that Ter-Petrosian and his
supporters "voiced personal insults and discrediting words against
certain officials."

"Three citizens participating in the rally demanded that the obscene
and offensive expressions be put to an end," an official statement
claims. It goes on to allege that "four or five young people from
among the supporters of the event organizers dragged, threw on the
ground and hit those who made the remarks, inflicting bodily injuries
on them."

A criminal case has been started in connection with the incident and
a police investigation is reportedly ongoing. The OSCE/ODIHR election
observation mission will be conducting its own inquiry as well,
according to mission head, Amb. Geert Ahrens of Germany.

Not surprisingly, opposition and government supporters are
diametrically opposed over who is responsible for the clash. "Those
are shows that the authorities from time to time organize to
discredit Levon Ter-Petrosian on public television," commented
opposition journalist Nikol Pashinian, a senior Ter-Petrosian ally.
"In reality, we are carrying out our campaign in an atmosphere of
terror created by the authorities."

Pashinian also holds the government responsible for a reported
assault on a Ter-Petrosian heckler in the town of Talin – an incident
cited by Ter-Petrosian opponents to underline the former president’s
supposed low tolerance for criticism.

Local government officials routinely intervene, Pashinian continued.
At a rally in Charentsavan, a town near Lake Sevan in eastern
Armenia, the town’s mayor stood near the demonstration and ordered
people not to attend it, Pashinian alleged.

"We get very warm receptions everywhere, with special ceremonies,
with horses, offerings, presents, and it is clear that [Prime
Minister and rival presidential candidate] Serzh Sarkisian does not
like all this," Pashinian said.

Orinats Yerkir Party spokeswoman Susanna Abrahamian – no relation to
the deputy prime minister — also claims that voters are afraid to
act freely during the campaign.

"In several cases during our campaign meetings people do not manage
to get to the place because of government intervention and
intimidation," Abrahamian claimed. "Despite that, things fortunately
have not gone as far as fistfights in our campaign." Orinats Yerkir
and Ter-Petrosian have reportedly recently held talks about forming
an alliance of some sort. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

Pro-administration officials, however, claim that the opposition
itself is staging the incidents. "One [player] is stirring up
everything, and that instigator is the opposition, which has created
a situation with such stories to make it appear that there is
pressure on them," alleged ruling Republican Party of Armenia
parliamentarian Rafik Petrosian. "We have stated many times that we
have sufficient strength and resources to cruise to an easy victory
in the election. And the opposition needs an excuse for their
[coming] defeat."

At a February 7 rally in the city of Vanadzor, Prime Minister
Sarkisian attributed the "mud slinging" to opposition candidates
"losing their conscience."

Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the
ArmeniaNow.com weekly in Yerevan.

ARMENPRESS

NAGORNO-KARABAKH FOREIGN MINISTRY HAS CENTER TO
PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL TIES

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 8, ARMENPRESS: The government
of Nagorno-Karabakh has decided to establish a foreign
ministry affiliated center to promote its
international ties.
Nagorno-Karabakh foreign ministry said to
Armenpress the new center will be headed by Ms. Janna
Krikorova, who served as secretary general of the
ministry.
It said also the new center will be seeking to
establish, promote and deepen international ties of
Nagorno-Karabakh and advertise it abroad. It will have
an expertise council comprising diplomats and experts.
The new center will be based in the town of Shushi.