Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
Oct 15 2004
FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH POLISH DELEGATION
[October 14, 2004, 17:32:51]
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov met with
delegation of Poland led by deputy Foreign Minister of the country
Anzei Zalutski. Minister Mammadyarov noted that historical ties
between the two countries are now also being developed in political,
economic, military spheres, as well as in science and education. He
expressed hope as well that as a member of European Union and NATO,
Poland would support Azerbaijan’s position at these organizations.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the country Anzei Zalutski highly valued
the opening of Azerbaijan Embassy in Warsaw noting it would give an
impetus to development of the Azerbaijan-Poland bilateral cooperation.
Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov informed the guests on the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resulted in occupation by Armenian of 20%
of the Azerbaijani territories and over one million refugees and IDPs
from their native lands. He stressed the importance of the problem’s
resolution in the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,
and appreciated the fair stance of Poland with this respect.
The sides also discussed a number of other issues of mutual interest.

Russia calls for opening railway traffic in Transcaucasia
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
October 13, 2004 Wednesday
YEREVAN, October 13 — Russia calls for opening railway traffic on
the whole territory of Transcaucasia, Russian Transport Minister Igor
Levitin said.
Levitin, who is Russian co-chairman of the intergovernmental commission
on economic cooperation, said he will discuss Russia’s initiative with
Armenia’s leadership on Wednesday and Thursday. Then he will leave
for Baku and Tbilisi for a meeting with the presidents of Azerbaijan
and Georgia to focus on this issue.
“We realise that this is a difficult task, but we should solve it
jointly,” the Russian minister said. In his view, “on the contrary,
our countries may lose to competition in other fields.”
Levitin said Armenia’s transport isolation thwarts trade with Russia.
This problem is in the focus of sessions of the inter-governmental
commission, he said.
Among major problems, the Russian minister named the unsatisfied
development of the transport infrastructure, which requires additional
finances, and Georgia’s unconstructive position on opening through
railway traffic between Russia and Armenia.
Levitin said, “There are obstacles to carry out the project on
organising direct ferry traffic via Poti. The solution of the transport
problem in the Caucasus should be subject of the whole region.”
Armenia ranks third among CIS countries in investments in Russia’s
economy, he said.
Speaking at an international economic forum, the minister said,
“At present, the improvement of trade structure and the expansion
of investment cooperation is one of priority tasks.” The forum was
organised by the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians
of Russia.
He recalled, “Russia invested in different fields of Armenia’s economy,
primarily in the productive and banking sectors of the economy.”
Last year Russia’s investment in Armenia’s economy reached 68 million
U.S. dollars. From 1988 to 2003 Russia’s direct investment in Armenia
exceeded 230 million U.S. dollars.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said Russia is ready to take an active
part in investment programmes and the implementation of economic
projects in Armenia.
The prime minister’s message was read by Russian Transport Minister
Igor Levitin.
Fradkov said he is hopeful that this forum would become a catalyst
for the development of trade and economic ties between Armenia and
Russia and other countries.
He noted that the Armenian community in Russia played a significant
role in launching mutually advantageous ties in various spheres
between the two countries.
Levitin said the development of inter-regional relations between the
two countries was an important reserve of bilateral relations.
Commenting on Armenia’s state debt to Russia, the minister said the two
countries had found a solution to this problem last year. The handover
of companies as payment of the state debt creates preconditions for
boosting trade and economic interaction between the two states.
Russian-Armenian trade and economic cooperation is developed in
accordance with the principle of equality, while meeting each party’s
national interests and to their mutual advantage, the minister said.
Levitin noted positive examples of cooperation, including such joint
ventures as Armenal, in which the Russian Aluminium Company invested
more than 40 million dollars, the Armavia airline, in which Russia’s
Sibir holds a 70-percent sake and the Orbita plant, which is wholly
owned by Rosaviaspetskomplex.
“We have cooperation plans in the fields of power generation,
including nuclear power generation, and information technologies
where resources and experience of Russian communication operators
on Armenia’s market will be used, as well as in the sphere of space
exploration and science,” the minister said.
He said Russia’s commercial banks begin to display interest in
servicing Russian companies, which operate in Armenia, and setting
up new joint ventures.

Armenian campaign is worth a shot
Nonprofit Children’s Vaccine Fund aiming to raise $1.5
million for various inoculations for Armenian children
for next 15 years.
Glendale News-Press
October 13, 2004
By Josh Kleinbaum
GLENDALE – While many Americans worry about the flu vaccine shortages,
children in Armenia and other countries around the world are trying
to get vaccines for more serious treatable diseases. In Glendale,
one group is trying to help.
The Millennium Armenian Children’s Vaccine Fund is attempting to
raise $1.5 million to provide the standard set of vaccinations for
children in Armenia for the next 15 years. The vaccinations, given
to children in America as standard practice, cover serious diseases
such as diphtheria, hepatitis B, polio and tuberculosis.
“The need is enormous,” said Eliza Karagezian, the fund’s project
manager. “Without vaccines, children get sick with preventable diseases
and suffer needlessly. The financial infrastructure in Armenia does
not allow [the government] to provide children with these vaccines.”
In the past, Armenia has relied on foreign aid from other nations to
provide the necessary vaccines, Karagezian said. This money raised
by the Millennium Fund will allow Armenia to be self-sufficient.
“Children in developing countries are under so much stress from
malnutrition and the environment that vaccines are a wonderful way
to make them less susceptible to other things, like diarrhea or
pneumonia,” said Celia Woodfill, epidemiologist in the immunization
branch of California’s Dept. of Health Services. “It’s very good
that they’re trying to go for 15 years, because then it could have
a sustained effect. If you could stop the disease in kids, you can
stop the disease in the community. Maybe by then, Armenia will have
found its feet.”
The fund is working with UNICEF and Armenia’s Ministry of Health to
get the vaccines to children. Karagezian said the fund, administered
by the Ani & Narod Memorial Foundation, has raised $1.3 million,
and she hopes to raise the additional $200,000 by the end of the year.
When the fund reaches its goal of $1.5 million, it will have enough
money to vaccinate 560,000 children in Armenia.
“Having a healthy economy and a healthy democracy starts with having
healthy individuals,” said Ardashes Kassakhian, executive director
of the Armenian National Committee’s Western Region. “We see how
important health care issues are here in this election in this country,
and other countries have the same concerns.
“Children are our future. We have to teach them well and let them
lead the way.”
,1,2967802.story?coll=la-tcn-glendale-news
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MEMBERS OF ARARAT ORGANIZATION IN IRAN CLIMB MOUNT ARARAT
ArmenPress
Oct 12 2004
TEHRAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS: A group of mountain climbers from
Iranian Armenian organization Ararat climbed the top of Mount Ararat
and placed there the 60 year-long coat of arms of the organization..
According to Armenian Alik newspaper, published in Tehran, the group
was composed of Armenians and Iranians.

Turkish Consulate in Paris faces charges
Turks.us
Oct 11 2004
Turkish Chief Consulate diplomats are to appear before a court in
France today due to an appeal from the Campaign for the Recognition
of the Armenian Genocide of France (CDCA-France).
CDCA-France appealed to the Paris Court in July because the Chief
Consulate denied the so-called Armenian genocide on its official
internet site, Anatolia news agency said.
The CDCA said in its appeal to the court then, Turkey’s broadcasting
on the internet site was a denial propaganda targeting French people.
The CDCA wanted the court to charge the Turkish Consulate due to this
reason and close its internet site down.
Turkish State’s lawyers are expected to ask the court to dismiss the
case at the first hearing today, by saying that the Consulate had
diplomatic immunity according to the Vienna Convention. The lawyers
will also mention the matter of the freedom of expression as a part
of their defense and argue it to have the case dismissed by the court,
the agency said.
The French Parliament passed a law in early 2001 which stated; “France
recognizes the Armenian genocide of 1915.” Turkey sent a protest note
to the French government concerning the issue after the draft law was
first passed in 1998. The Turkish Parliament decided to invalidate the
draft and the military projects undertaken by France were suspended.
Turkey’s reactions postponed the final adoption of the draft by
the French Senate for about two and a half years. However, with the
coming municipal elections in March 2001, the Senate passed it on
November 2001.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry rejected and condemned the Senate
resolution. The Turkish Parliament adopted a similar resolution on
January, 2001. Despite this, the draft was once again passed at the
French parliament on January 18. Following its ratification by French
President Jacques Chirac, it became law on January 30.
A parliamentarian from the main opposition Socialist Party has
introduced a bill to the French parliament in recent months and asked
for accepting the denial of so-called Armenian genocide as a crime
in the French Criminal Code.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 4, 2004, Monday
YEREVAN COMES OUT OF THE SHADOW
SOURCE: Krasnaya Zvezda, October 1, 2004, p. 4
by Roman Streshnev
In his interview last Wednesday Armenia’s Defense Minister Serzhik
Sarkisyan shed light on some aspects of military policy.
Considerable attention was paid to Armenia’s relations with Russia.
In opinion of Sarkisyan, Russia has always been and is Armenia’s
major strategic ally. At the same time Serzhik Sarkisyan stressed
that all rumors saying Armenia is breaking with Russia and wants to
join NATO don’t comply with reality and labeled them as “political
agitation.” “I’ve never, nor do I now want Armenia to join NATO,” he
noted. It would only be possible to say that Yerevan’s priorities
have altered in case Armenia announced its intention to pull out from
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and enter NATO.
“Thanks to our involvement in the CSTO, many questions which must
remain undisclosed are being discussed and solved positively,” he
stressed.
Nevertheless, Armenia has been more active at joining various
NATO-led projects. In opinion of Sarkisyan, “activation of
Armenia-NATO relations now is only a wider use of the opportunities
available.” In his words, Armenia’s intention to become a
full-fledged member of the European family is the main goal of
spurring up cooperation with NATO. “We continue deepening our
cooperation with NATO and regard this cooperation as a component of
Armenia’s national security,” Sarkisyan noted.
Serzhik Sarkisyan’s statement that Armenia is obliged to send its
servicemen to Iraq matched the spirit of developing cooperation with
Armenia’s Western partners. “By its minor involvement Armenia must
contribute to the cause of establishing stability in Iraq,” he noted.
The republican parliament must solve this issue. As is planned,
Armenia will send to Iraq more than 30 military drivers, 10 field
engineers, 6 technicians and 3 doctors.
Similar approaches of the Armenian military leaders comply with the
principle of complementariness in foreign policy. Its goal is
extremely simple: enlist the support of Russia, the US and Europe in
all directions significant for Yerevan, the Karabakh problem as well.
The sides involved in the conflict are often announcing their
belligerent statements of late. At the same time Sarkisyan said that
Armenia does not want to resume military actions against Azerbaijan.
In his words, neither is Yerevan interested in ceasing Azerbaijan’s
involvement in NATO-led Partnership for Peace program, which places
some restricting commitments on Baku.

La Croix
5 octobre 2004
Dossier. La Turquie aux portes de l’Union Européenne. PAROLES
d’islamologues. Interviews. Le problème n’est pas l’islam , Olivier
Roy. Directeur de recherche au
SAUTO Martine de,SCHMIDT Pierre
Le problème n’est pas l’islam
Olivier Roy
Directeur de recherche au CNRS (1)
Le problème, ce n’est pas l’islam. Il est compatible avec les
traditions du sécuralisme européen. Une identité européenne en partie
musulmane ne me gêne pas. Il y a de plus en plus de musulmans dans
les pays de l’Union européenne… Et sur un plan stratégique, la
Turquie a rompu avec le Moyen-Orient qui est une source de menaces
pour elle.
Le problème qui se pose est plutôt celui d’une société qui est en
transition : on va vers une occidentalisation mais on n’y est pas
encore, notamment dans le sud-est du pays. Une autre question
fondamentale concerne l’appareil d’Etat : l’obstacle principal
aujourd’hui, c’est la tradition kémaliste et militaire de la Turquie
(de Kemal Atatürk 1881-1936, le père des Turcs, NDLR).
La question du référendum sur l’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union
européenne est absurde. Je crois qu’il faut penser en termes de
processus et non en termes de oui ou de non . Ou on dit oui et cela
veut dire que la Turquie est prête, or elle ne l’est pas encore… Ou
bien, on dit non et on ferme la porte ! Il est important de ne pas la
fermer car cette perspective entraîne la Turquie vers la transition.
(1) Auteur de La Turquie aujourd’hui : un pays européen ? (direction
d’ouvrage, Universalis, 2004) et L’islam mondialisé (Seuil, septembre
2002)
L’islam turc est récent
Bruno Etienne
Directeur de l’Observatoire du religieux à l’Institut d’études
politiques d’Aix-en-Provence.
Des politiques de droite et de gauche – y compris ceux qui étaient
opposés à ce qu’elles soient mentionnées dans le préambule de la
Constitution – invoquent les valeurs chrétiennes pour justifier leur
refus de voir la Turquie rejoindre, dans quinze ans, l’Union
européenne. Ils oublient – ou font mine d’oublier – que l’islam turc
est un islam récent. Si le pacte a été rompu lors du génocide
arménien, ce n’est pas par les musulmans, mais par les laïques
nationalistes ! Ils refusent aussi d’honorer le pays musulman qui a
conduit les plus grandes avancées vers la laïcité. Ils négligent le
fait qu’aux marges du monde libre , la Turquie sert de porte-avions à
l’Otan, et qu’elle est aussi le seul Etat musulman à entretenir des
relations sérieuses – y compris militaires – avec Israël. Par
ailleurs, comment oublier que les monuments grecs sont plus nombreux
en Turquie que partout ailleurs (Ephèse, Pergame…) et sont visités
comme hauts lieux de la pensée et de l’art européens. L’adhésion de
la Turquie serait une bonne réponse à ceux qui ne regardent le monde
qu’en termes religieux.
RECUEILLI PAR MARTINE DE SAUTO ET PIERRE SCHMIDT
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri, Bulgarian clerics discuss religious freedom
ANS TV, Baku
7 Oct 04
[Presenter] The chairman of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus,
Sheikh ul-Islam Haci Allahsukur Pasazada, and Bulgaria’s Metropolitan
Dometian of Vidin have focused on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
during their meeting. Allahsukur Pasazada especially underlined US
efforts to reach a speedy solution to the conflict. It was noted at
the meeting that Azerbaijan is one of very few countries where
religious freedom is ensured. About 20,000 Armenians live in the
country.
Metropolitan Dometian of Vidin talked about the cultural and
historical ties between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria. The guest expressed
satisfaction with the level of religious freedom.
[Video shows the meeting]

Azerbaijan demands Armenia’s exclusion from Council of Europe
Oct 5 2004
BAKU. Oct 5 (Interfax) – Azerbaijan has sent a letter to the Council
of Europe demanding that Armenia be expelled from this organization.
“The document that contains the demand to exclude Armenia from the
Council of Europe has already received the status of an official PACE
document. It will be distributed among PACE countries’ representatives
on Tuesday and will be discussed at a session of the Council of Europe
ministers’ cabinet in the near future,” a representatives of
Azerbaijan’s delegation at the Strasbourg PACE session, Rafael
Guseinov, told Interfax.
“This demand is motivated by the fact that Armenia has repeatedly
violated the basic principles of the Council of Europe. Namely,
Armenia continues the occupation of 20% of Azerbaijan’s territory,
Azerbaijan being another Council of Europe country,” Guseinov said.
Baku lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh in the course of a bloody
conflict with Armenia in the 1990s.
The UN Security Council has repeatedly condemned the occupation of
Azerbaijani territory and demanded that Armenian military units be
withdrawn from it. The OSCE Minsk Group, which includes
representatives of Russia, France, and the United States, is mediating
the conflict.

Mironov’s visit to Armenia is a new step in bilateral relations
03.10.2004, 23.41
YEREVAN, October 3 (Itar-Tass) — An official visit of Federation
Council Chairman Sergei Mironov to Armenia, which ended on Sunday, was
a new phase in Russian-Armenian relations, sources in the Russian
delegation and Armenia told Itar-Tass.
Russia and Armenia are political partners and allies, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and Mironov said. The interlocutors
discussed the entire range of bilateral relations during the visit.
The sides think that economic cooperation is lagging behind political
dialog. They discussed negative consequences of the closure of the
Russian-Georgian border on the Armenian economy.
Cargo transit via Georgia is a concern of Armenia, which does not
border on Russia. The Verkhny Lars checkpoint is the only motorway
between Armenia and Russia. `We discussed possible solutions to the
problem, bearing inmind our partnership with Armenia,’ Mironov said.
A joint declaration signed by Mironov and Armenian Parliament Speaker
Artur Bagdasaryan provides for legislative steps in the anti-terrorist
fight.
`Not only Russia but also all countries of this unique land of plenty
need stability in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia,’ Mironov told
servicemen of a Russian regiment stationed in Yerevan. `You are one of
the outpostsof security on Russian southern boundaries,’ he said.