Author: Christine Harutyunian

FRENCH PRIME MINISTER REMINDS TURKEY OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Azg/arm
24 Dec 04
Turkey waxes indignant every time the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide floats to the surface. Today, when the EU gave green light
to starting accession talks, Turkey is furiously balking at the idea
of Genocide recognition whenever European officials hint about it.
The French foreign minister Michel Barnier was one of those officials
who stated at the EU ministers’ get-together in Brussels on December
13 that Turkey has to put up with its past because France is going
to propose the issue of the Armenian tragedy during the talks.
Turkey was taken by surprise when Michel Barnier used the term
“Armenian genocide” instead of “Armenian tragedy” in his speech at
the French National Assembly on December 14 and in an interview to
French RTL radio on December 20.
Turkey’s response came on December 21 on the pages of Miliyetand
Radical. The Turkish newspapers wrote that though the French National
Assembly enacted a law in 2001 recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
the members of French government are cautious in using the term
“genocide”, and Barnier was the first to use it on December 14.
The French prime minister, Pierre Raffarin, followed Barnierâ~@~Ys
example soon after. In a parliament sitting to discuss Turkey-related
issues Raffarin reminded the Armenian Genocide, underscoring that the
Genocide issue together with the Kurdish issue will be brought before
Turkey. TurkishZamanin its turn responded to prime ministerâ~@~Ys
words on December 22.
By Hakob Chakrian
–Boundary_(ID_lcguzbAwjH6/y1ewSHKJ5A)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Monde
Mardi 21 décembre 2004
Charles Aznavour L’Intégrale ;
CULTURE DISQUES
par Véronique Mortaigne
DISQUE
TITRE: L’intégrale
AUTEUR: Charles Aznavour
Un monument, un vrai : 42 CD au sommet de la maquette métallique de
l’Arc de triomphe, avec un livret de 60 pages contenant un concert à
l’Olympia de 1976 inédit en CD et un long entretien donné à Alain
Poulanges en 1995 sur France-Inter. Aznavour reste le plus connu des
chanteurs français à l’étranger, il a fêté ses 80 ans cette année, et
si tous ses disques ont été réédités par ses soins, ils n’avaient
jamais fait l’objet d’une intégrale. Voilà Aznavour tel qu’en
lui-même depuis ses premiers essais en duo avec Pierre Roche (CD 1,
1948-1949) jusqu’à Je voyage (CD 42, 2003). Aznavour, petit émigré
arménien, a travaillé avec acharnement, a composé pour Edith Piaf et
beaucoup d’autres, a chanté Mireille et Jean Nohain (CD 2), joué en
grand dramaturge Je m’voyais déjà, fait swinguer For Me formidable et
a largement mérité sa hauteur, 48 cm d’Arc triomphal. –
–Boundary_(ID_jKq+arVBzjRTSQzpTCKdmQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL CALLS ON IRAN TO PROVIDE FUEL AND FERTILIZERS
IPR Strategic Business Information Database
December 20, 2004
According to “Tehran Times”, Khachaturian, the governor-general
of Armenian Siunik Province called for Iran to provide fuel and
fertilizers required by the farmers of his province. Khachaturian
visiting governor-general of the Iranian East Azarbaijan Province,
Mohammad Ali Sobhanollahi said that Iran -Armenia ties and East
Azarbaijan-Siunik relations should be in the way to represent a model
for other provinces. The Armenian governor-general also said that
dam construction and the third electricity transmission line are
among projects that are presently being implemented between the two
countries. In conclusion, the Iranian governor-general called for
the re-establishment of Tabriz-Yerevan airline as well as removing
the impediments in expansion of ties between the two provinces.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Wyoming News, WY
Dec 10 2004
Armenian family released from immigration center
DENVER (AP) – An Armenian family held in an immigration detention
center in Denver for nearly five weeks has been unexpectedly
released.
”I’m shaking. It happened so fast. It’s incredible. I feel like I’m
in a dream,” said Gevorg Sargsyan, moments after he, his sister
Meri, brother Hayk and father Ruben walked out of the center
Thursday.
The Sargsyan family was taken into custody while their attorney was
trying to obtain visas for them, based on their contention they were
victims of a con man who trafficked in fraudulent visas. That battle
is not over.
The family has lived and worked in the western Colorado town of
Ridgway for more than six years.
Hayk is a senior honor student at Ridgway High School. Gevorg was on
the dean’s list at the University of Colorado, where he was studying
chemical engineering. Meri was well known for playing piano in local
churches. Ruben, a space-optics scientist in Armenia, had been
working multiple jobs to provide for his family.
His wife, Susan, and their daughter Nvart, who both work in Ouray and
Ridgway, were not taken into custody because their immigration cases
were being heard separately.
Ouray County residents have raised more than $30,000 for their legal
defense, written hundreds of letters and e-mails and asked officials
from regional immigration officials to President Bush to take another
look at the case and allow the family to stay.
”We are very glad ICE made this decision,” said Pete Whiskeman, a
Ridgway businessman who has helped lead the effort.
Carl Rusnok, a Dallas-based spokesman for the immigration division,
said the Sargsyans were released on orders from Washington on
Thursday.
”They were released because they are not a threat to national
security and not a flight risk,” Rusnok said. ”Frankly, we can use
the detention space for more dangerous criminals.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Teenagers Act Out Tragedy to Reduce Tensions
By Anna Smolchenko, Special to The Moscow Times
Moscow Times
Dec 8 2004
Mike Solovyanov / MT
Actors performing the scene where a Russian boy, Yasha, is killed
trying to stop fighting between his Ingush and Ossetian friends.
A diverse group of teenagers with no acting experience has taken to
the Moscow stage with a play aimed at overcoming ethnic tensions
between Ingush and Ossetians.
They came from Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Moscow and St. Petersburg
— and had only met one week before the show.
The play, “The Time Is Right,” staged at the Central House of Artists
on Stary Arbat on Nov. 26 was no commercial production, but a drama
therapy project organized by the nonprofit Podval theater studio.
The 15- to 19-year-olds first met in a recreation center near Moscow,
where they got to know each other and took a crash course in acting.
“I don’t know how much it has to do with theater, but I do know it
has to do with love and faith,” said Yulia Shevelyova, the director
of Podval, introducing the teenagers’ performance.
The group uses art therapy techniques, role-play and training to
reach out to children and teenagers.
Podval takes its name from its home in the basement of an old
building on Ostozhenka. Shevelyova, a singer by training, and Vitaly
Vorobyov, a former engineer, founded the group in 1986. For the last
11 years Podval has been using drama to break down barriers between
Lithuanians, Poles and Russians living in Lithuania; Azeris and
Armenians; Jews and Russians; Catholics and Protestants in Northern
Ireland; and most recently, Chechens, Ingush and Ossetians.
The Beslan school attack in September that left more than 330 people
dead, including many children, reopened old wounds between the
Ossetian and Ingush peoples, who share bitter memories of interethnic
clashes in 1992. According to Podval, in that conflict 350 Ingush and
192 Ossetians were killed and more than 30,000 Ingush and 5,000
Ossetians were displaced from their homes.
The play, staged three months after the Beslan tragedy, brought
together Ingush and Ossetian teenagers to speak out against hate and
violence. Wearing blue, white and red T-shirts, the colors of
Russia’s national flag, they sang and danced variations of the
Caucasus lezghinka, at times intertwined with rap, and Russian round
dances.
The play’s storyline begins in August this year, just before the
Beslan school attack. On a trip to Moscow an Ingush boy, Amir, meets
Astemir and Ezira, a brother and sister from North Ossetia, through
his Russian friend Yasha. Amir falls in love with Ezira and is eager
to win her heart.
The tension between Amir and the girl’s brother is palpable, and when
the Beslan tragedy unfolds, it crushes the last hopes of the Ingush
Romeo. Fueled by mutual suspicion and grief, the Ingush and Ossetian
characters resort to threats and violence. They only stop when their
Russian friend, Yasha, is killed after trying to stop the fighting.
“Yulia Semyonovna [Shevelyova] prepared the play’s basic storyline,
but the words and dances were ours,” said 16-year-old Amir Matiyev,
from Nazran, Ingushetia, who played Amir.
Onstage the teenage actors, in lines they wrote themselves for the
play, slammed police corruption and posed several searching
questions.
“Why do we have to feel like foreigners in our own country’s
capital?” asked one actor, who played an Ingush in the play.
“As long as you pay, you can smuggle whatever you like, including a
nuclear warhead,” said another character.
“Why did television lie about the number of hostages?” asked a third.
“What else can a man do who has lost everyone overnight?” asked
15-year-old Ezira Dzioyeva from Beslan, playing the part of Ezira,
referring to the North Ossetians who have said they are ready to take
up arms to avenge their relatives.
Matiyev said that two of his friends had died in Beslan, but he had
never felt any hatred toward Ossetians, Russians or any other ethnic
group.
After finishing the performance, Dzioyeva started to cry. “I played
myself,” she said in the wings. “It wasn’t hard.” She said that she
and the other actors had tried to express what they felt and that the
play “reflects all our realities.”
Like some of the other teenagers in the play, she said it was her
first time in Moscow. “Tomorrow we are leaving,” she said with tears
in her eyes.
Vladimir Pozner, Channel One television anchor and president of the
Russian Television Academy, told the audience before the performance
that the play hoped to show a way to heal ethnic divides. “There is
nothing sillier, more stupid and shameful than rejecting or disliking
another person because he speaks a different language or has a
different skin color,” he said.
Pozner, who is a Podval trustee, hosted two television programs in
the early 1990s that brought together teenagers from different parts
of the Soviet Union affected by ethnic conflict, including witnesses
of a tank incursion into Lithuania and pogroms in Baku, Azerbaijan,
and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. “It’s through the kids that we can find
solutions that adults fail to find,” Pozner said.
The play was sponsored by Charities Aid Foundation, a British-based
charity that has been working in Russia since 1993, as part of its
response to the Beslan tragedy.
Through its LifeLine program, CAF has raised some $2.5 million for
medical treatment for victims of the Beslan tragedy, including
plastic surgery and the purchase of artificial limbs. It is also
offering longer-term help, such as psychological counseling.
More than $53,000 was raised for the Beslan LifeLine drive by
Independent Media, the parent company of The Moscow Times.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DENTAL CENTER AT ASU
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
02 Dec 04
The dental center provided with modern equipment has been operating at
Artsakh State University for three months already. On November 26 the
official opening of the dental center took place. In his address vice
rector Artem Abrahamian mentioned that the dream of ASU to have a
dental center at last came true, for which he thanked the rector of
the university. During his visit to Iran last year the rector of the
university Hamlet Grigorian managed to obtain modern dental equipment
with the help of the Union of Armenian Doctors of Iran. According to
him, education in any field must be practical. The center has three
dentist chairs, x-ray apparatus. Three doctors provide dental service
with the participation of students. The center provides free dental
care to students. Lecturers are given 50 per cent discount. The
dental center may admit also a limited number of other patients.
AA.
02-12-2004

40 Armenian nationals ousted from Russian province
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 23 2004
Forty Armenians have recently been evicted from Russia’s Krasnodar
province, Russian press reports said on Monday.
Officials of the province explain Armenians’ banishment with their
illegal migration and living in the region without any official
registration. However, the move was due to the fact that local
Armenians demand autonomy and claim that Krasnodar is a “historical
Armenian land”, a reliable source told AssA-Irada.
The leadership of Krasnodar, which is densely populated by Armenians,
began to oust Armenians from the province several months ago after
considering the increasing discontent of the local residents.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri presenter accuses OSCE’s “Christian” mediators of pro-Armenian bias
ANS TV, Baku,
14 Nov 04
An Azerbaijani TV presenter has accused of bias the OSCE’s mediatory
group, set up to resolve the conflict over the disputed territory of
Nagornyy Karabakh. Presenting ANS TV’s “Otan Hafta” weekly review
programme, Mirsahin Agayev said that the OSCE Minsk Group is taking
Armenia’s side in the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, as it is
composed of Christian states. The following is an excerpt from the
report by Azerbaijani TV station ANS on 14 November; subheadings
inserted editorially:
[Presenter Mirsahin] Yasir Arafat has died. There is a big vacuum in
the Middle East following his death. Arafat seems to be a man who can
influence developments even in his absence. [Passage omitted: details
of Arafat’s death].
Azerbaijan has also appealed to the UN, which stood in silent tribute
to Arafat. However, it would be naive to suppose that it will stand
again on this issue. Somebody has to die for this purpose. But there
is no death so far. There is still a cease-fire.
Minsk Group as spring-board for diplomats
[Presenter, over video of Karabakh, UN General Assembly session and
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen’s meeting] Azerbaijan has moved an
initiative to table its main problem, the situation around the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, at the 59th session of the UN General
Assembly and this initiative has caused naturally Armenia’s and,
unnaturally, the OSCE Minsk Group’s concern. The Minsk Group should
have seen the impetus of the direct or indirect involvement of almost
all the world’s countries in the resolution of the problem and should,
maybe really should, have grasped the chance to speed up a solution to
the issue to which it has been a hostage for more than 10 years. But
it failed to see and grasp this. Let us investigate the factors that
provoke these strange conditions and the co-chairmen’s concern. First
of all, the Minsk Group tackles the Nagornyy Karabakh issue as a
hobby. In fact, this group provides a useful opportunity for several
countries to have their representatives undergo diplomatic
courses. The representatives of the countries, which are the co-chairs
of the Minsk Group, learn diplomacy on us, under the pretext of
tackling the Karabakh problem, and gain an opportunity to make tourist
trips not only to two cities in the Caucasus, but also to dozens of
other big cities in the world. For example, after several years of
visits and meetings it becomes known that Kazimirov [former Minsk
Group co-chairman from Russia] is sent to some country as an
ambassador. So are other co-chairmen. Therefore, it almost seems that
it is not beneficial at all for the organizers of the Minsk Group, who
have set up an unnatural infrastructure for 10 years and lived well on
it, to resolve the Karabakh issue. In order not to be accused of
subjectivity let us refer to quotes and recall the following:
[Late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, 1993-2003, captioned, shown
speaking in Russian with Azeri voice-over] It has been 14-15 years
since the Nagornyy Karabakh problem surfaced, while it has been 10
years since the establishment of the OSCE Minsk Group. The USA, France
and Russia became co-chairs in the group in 1997. A long time has
passed since then, but there is no result yet.
[Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, captioned, shown speaking] The
activity of the Minsk Group has been unsuccessful and has given no
result for these 10 years. I don’t want to look into the reasons; we
all know them. But this is a fact.
OSCE “closer” to Armenia
[Presenter, over video of scenes, presumably in Karabakh] We hear
these statements nearly every day, conclude submissively every time
that there is no alternative to the Minsk Group, which was assigned
the task of solving the conflict, wait for the old 31 December and in
our new year congratulations hope that all our refugees will celebrate
the next new year on their own land. And our wish comes true, because
for 10 years refugee children have been celebrating their holidays on
the land where they were born: in Baku, Barda and Bilasuvar. The
Minsk Group co-chairmen tirelessly keep saying that the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents should solve the issue themselves. Thus,
Azerbaijan and Armenia expects the Minsk Group to solve the problem,
while the Minsk Group co-chairmen expect the Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents to do so. And the circle closes. It opens and closes.
We have said that the initiative to discuss the Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict at the level of the UN General Assembly irritates the Minsk
Group co-chairmen, as well as Armenia. But, on the other hand, we have
always felt that the co-chairmen are closer to Armenia than to
Azerbaijan. It has always been felt both in their uncertain stances on
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and in their consistent and
insistent efforts to tout Nagornyy Karabakh as a party to the
negotiations.
UN resolutions “old”
Russian co-chairman Yuriy Merzlyakov’s stance on the UN’s still
unenforced resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Armenia’s armed
formations from the occupied lands [of Azerbaijan] may be described as
the group’s way of approaching the problem. Let us recall that
notorious statement issued in Baku.
[Merzlyakov, Russian co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group, captioned, shown
speaking in Russian with Azeri voice-over] The UN Security Council
adopting resolutions doesn’t mean their enforcement. Recall how many
resolutions the UN passed on the Middle East and Cyprus. Have all of
them been enforced?
[Presenter, over video of Armenian President Kocharyan and Karabakh
separatist leader Gukasyan speaking] A similar statement was made by
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and the head of the separatist
Nagornyy Karabakh regime, Arkadiy Gukasyan. They also said that the UN
resolutions, which were issued 10 years ago, are old now. Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s visit to Moscow this week was worth
mentioning for two interesting points. We could also say for
separatist meetings. For example, Oskanyan addresses a meeting of the
foreign ministers of the member countries of the CIS Collective
Security Treaty and criticizes Baku’s UN initiative and the CIS states
that support it. And this is after he asked for the deadline
postponing a meeting with the Azerbaijani foreign minister to be
extended. And these accusations are made not in the CIS, which
Azerbaijan is a member to, but in front of members of the CIS
Collective Security Treaty, which Azerbaijan is not a party to. In
fact, Armenia addresses its military allies. The Armenian minister’s
meeting with the Minsk Group co-chairman in Moscow, Yuriy Merzlyakov,
could probably be taken as normal. But the minister usually meets the
French co-chairman sitting in Paris there, too. We found out from the
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry that the Minsk Group co-chairmen are not
expected to meet our officials in the same format soon. So, it means
that Oskanyan’s Moscow meetings are separatist.
Minsk Group co-chairmen “bestowed” on Armenia
The Minsk Group co-chairmen have been bestowed on Armenia by God, to
be exact by Holy Jesus. Also because all the co-chairs are Christian
states. The prospect of discussing the Nagornyy Karabakh issue at the
UN General Assembly presents a chance for other Muslim countries to be
involved in the issue. Of course, it is talk, too. It is not action
either. Every day lost in these talks postpones the restoration of
Azerbaijan’s authority over Nagornyy Karabakh. And the most horrible
thing has already happened. It is very hard to admit that a
considerable part of society has already got used to Azerbaijan
without Karabakh. Even people’s diplomats negotiate with
representatives not from Armenia, but from separatist Nagornyy
Karabakh and dare to publicly announce that they are doing so in order
to erase the enemy stereotypes from memory. We, Azerbaijanis, who like
to talk about being a man turn out to have egg on our faces. Armenian
Ruben Abramyan [a participant in an international conference on
cooperation in energy and transportation in Baku] is already in the
capital of a state [part of which] he has occupied and is talking
about some energy. Maybe, it is better. Azerbaijan should have thought
over its energy problem long ago. These people don’t have a gun
capable of shooting a man. It is dark.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Moscow News (Russia)
November 10, 2004
NINOO BURDZHANADZE CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ON PROSPECTS FOR
GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS
By Yury Vasilyev The Moscow News
On an official visit to Moscow, Georgian Parliament Speaker Nino
Burdzhanadze offered Russia friendship – but only on certain terms
Russian-Georgian relations have seen a breakthrough – of sorts. Nino
Burdzhanadze, speaker of the Georgian parliament, finally made it to
Moscow. The on again, off again dialogue between Moscow and Tbilisi
has been dragging on for many months; according to the Georgian side,
this is through no fault of its own. Talks have oficially resumed,
but this does not make either side particularly happy.
“What is going on in Russian-Georgian relations oftentimes does not
fit into the bounds of international law,” says Nino Burdzhanadze,
who holds a degree in international law from the Moscow State
University. “But I believe that sooner or later we will manage to
bring these relations back to normal. It would be preferable if this
happened sooner rather than later, of course.”
Why has the relationship not worked out?
I dare say that I have more complaints to make against Russia than
against Georgia. Although of course I can also see shortfalls on our
side. Over the past 10 years our relations have been steadily
deteriorating to the point where it is very difficult to turn the
situation around even if we try. Yet if there is no will…
Not so long ago our relations were discussed at the PACE. On the
Georgian side there was Speaker Burdzhanadze, while the Russian side
was represented by Konstantin Kosachev, head of the RF State Duma
Foreign Relations Committee. Were you not irked by this disparity in
status?
Not at all. I am quite happy dealing with Mr. Kosachev. He is an
intelligent person who has a good understanding of this set of
problems. My main purpose at the time was not to challenge our
Russian counterparts to a duel, to stir debate, but only to inform
our European colleagues about the outstanding problems in
Russian-Georgian relations.
Did Russia pointedly refuse to participate in a two-way discussion?
Not exactly. It was simply that in response to all of our proposals
for a meeting we received discreet indications to the effect that “it
would be better to put off your visit.” But then after Strasbourg, as
you can see, I got an opportunity to come to Moscow, and I very much
hope that Mr. Gryzlov (speaker of the RF State Duma. – Ed.) will soon
visit Tbilisi. In Moscow we had a productive discussion on all
issues, and not only with him.
Specifically what issues?
The most sensitive ones, at least as far as we are concerned. Very
often, despite all of President Putin’s statements about Russia’s
respect for Georgia’s territorial integrity, this is not what we are
seeing in reality. For example, a railway link has been reopened
between Sukhumi (the capital of Abkhazia. – Ed.) and Moscow, but the
Russian side did not bother to coordinate the move with Tbilisi. They
did not even deign to inform us.
In other words, it would have been enough if Moscow duly notified
you?
It would certainly not have been enough, but at least that would have
been civil. But when you are not even asked whether trains may cross
your state borders – moreover, they tried to pull a fast one on us
(the rail link was purportedly reopened by some commercial
structures) – it is very difficult to talk. I realize that each side
has its own interests to look after. But when I am told here that
“the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are socially
disadvantaged and so we granted them RF citizenship,” I think of the
300,000 Georgian refugees from Abkhazia whose situation is just as
bad, yet they cannot even go to their motherland to visit the graves
of their parents or children.
Do you realize that the citizenship situation is practically
irreversible?
But it was granted unlawfully.
The procedure falls within the jurisdiction of the Russian
authorities. They may grant or refuse citizenship at their
discretion.
That’s just how it was done…
A new generation is growing up in Russia that does not see Georgia as
a friend but, rather, as an enemy. We are witnessing a similar
pattern among the Georgian youth with regard to Russia. After the
horrible tragedy in Beslan – when we empathized with you- Georgia
received yet another slap on the face from Moscow: Foreign Minister
Lavrov all but put the blame for Beslan on Georgia. True, later the
situation was rectified, but it hurts all the same. And that was the
time when the railway line to Sukhumi was reopened. The victims of
Beslan had not as yet been buried, but a brass band was playing in
the Abkhaz capital with people celebrating the departure of the first
train to Moscow. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,500 civilians
have been killed and some 6,000 houses burned in Abkhazia’s
ethnic-Georgian district of Gali. Against this backdrop, I am told in
the course of negotiations in Moscow: “Admit that the Chechens are
terrorists but the Abkhaz are not.” Well, yes, if you think of bomb
attacks on residential buildings and the seizure of a school, you
might agree with this. But then the relatives of those killed in the
Gali district have their own vision of such things.
I feel extremely uncomfortable with the fact that I have to assure
some people in Moscow that we really sympathized with Russia and that
I even have to provide evidence of this sympathy. But look at our
relations with the United States: America always stood by us, coming
through whenever Georgia needed support and even direct assistance,
and it demanded nothing in return for that.
Here is just one example. The return of the Meskhetian Turks to their
native land in Georgia was one precondition for Georgia’s
participation in Coun-cil of Europe (CE) structures. The Americans,
however, made an unprecedented move by relocating thousands of ethnic
Turks living in Krasnodar Krai to the United States and granting them
residence permits. Thus the “CE problem” was taken care of. How is
the Kremlin supposed to react to this?
You oversimplify the situation. But even if everything is the way you
say it is, is this bad? Yes, we have obligations to the Meskhetian
Turks. But, first, the deadline is 2014. Second, we have never
refused to help the repatriation of these people. Yet today ethnic
Armenians live in this area. Returning the Turks there means
provoking a massacre. Third, if Russia wants to be on friendly terms
with us, it should realize that with 300,000 refugees from Abkhazia,
Georgia is not in a position to admit thousands of Meskhetian Turks
in addition to this. So what’s wrong about America’s desire to help
our people?
Nothing’s wrong. The only question is how America’s political
interest in Georgia – which comes through not only in the Meskhetian
problem – is going to turn out for Russia.
Let’s face it: This is not a case of getting something for nothing.
But the United States is helping us build a normal democratic state,
not creating more problems for us. What stops you, for instance, from
facilitating the course of democracy in Georgia? But no, many people
in Russia want to see it as a divided country, easily controlled by
Moscow. So who would you make friends with if you were in our shoes?
Nonetheless, I would like to stress once again: We still want to be
friendly with Russia.
Do you see a way out of the Abkhaz conundrum?
Believe me, the Abkhaz people will realize sooner or later that it is
better to live in peace with Georgia – just as we had lived for
hundreds of years until the Russian empire moved into Abkhazia. What
happened in the presidential election (a pro-Russian candidate,
Khadzhimba, failed to win. – Ed.) is a slap in the face for the
Russian authorities. They were sure that they could control
everything in this land, but the people of Abkhazia showed that this
is not quite so. Thank God for this: At last, they understood what is
good for the Abkhaz people. At times the situation becomes simply
ridiculous: On the one hand, the Abkhaz authorities show us that they
are fighting for independence and international recognition. On the
other, they ask the State Duma to admit Abkhazia to the Russian
Federation. This also holds true for South Ossetia: Separatist
leaders talk about sovereignty, but a point of entry to Tskhinvali
(the capital of South Ossetia. – Ed.) is adorned with a huge picture
of V.V. Putin bearing the inscription “Putin – Our President.” I
greatly respect him, but independence and “Putin Our President” are
things that do not go very well together.
Nevertheless, Georgia declares its readiness to open its
privatization market to Russian business. What are you going to give
and what do you demand in return?
We are not giving anything just like that – this is a matter of
negotiations. We invited Russian businessmen, indicating that we
would be happy to see investment capital. Georgia is ready to open
itself up to economic cooperation, but on a mutually beneficial
basis. We must be sure that Russia’s presence in the Georgian economy
will not work against our national interests.
Are you happy with the RAO UES Unified Energy System’s presence in
the energy sector?
Mr. Chubais keeps his promises, in particular the promise to supply
power to Georgia. If the relations between our two countries are
built on such a pragmatic and constructive foundation, I am confident
that we will be able to avoid many problems.MN
FACT BOX
Burdzhanadze, Nino Anzorovna, was born on July 16, 1964; in 1981,
finished A. Tsereteli Secondary School #2 in the city of Kutaisi with
a gold medal, entering the Tbilisi I. Dzhavakhishvili University
School of Law in the same year; in 1986, she was admitted to the
graduate school at the Moscow State University (MGU) International
Law Department, in 1990 defending a Cand.Sc. dissertation, titled
Problems of International Organizations and International Maritime
Law; from 1991, associate professor at the Tbilisi University
International Law and International Relations Department; author of
approximately 20 academic papers, published in Georgian, Russian, and
English; since 1995, an elected member of the Georgian parliament;
from 1998, chairperson of the parliamentary Committee on
Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Law Enforcement; from 2000, head
of the parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.
In November 2001, Nino Burdzhanadze was elected speaker of the
Georgian parliament. On November 22, 2003, following Eduard
Shevardnadze’s resignation, she was acting president, running the
country until a new head of state was elected (January 26, 2004),
thereupon resuming her functions as speaker of parliament.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ukraine offers mediation between Azerbaijan, Armenia
Interfax-Ukraine news agency
14 Oct 04
Kiev, 14 October: Ukraine is ready to take part in efforts to settle
the conflict in Nagornyy Karabakh [dispute between Azerbaijan and
Armenia], Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko has said.
Ukraine is interested to see conflicts located close to its borders
being settled as soon as possible, he told journalists in Kiev today
after a meeting with Azeri Prime Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
Ukraine would like to see more effort by the international community
and the involvement of all main international players, so that the
talks between the two conflicting sides will find support not only on
the level of experts but also on the level of leaders of the states
and organizations which can influence the process, Hryshchenko said.
“We are ready to join these efforts and we are ready to join the
form of a settlement which will probably require the participation
of Russia or the UN, as it is done in other regions of the world,”
Hryshchenko said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress