Author: Ekmekjian Janet

Azeri daily reflects on reasons behind US general’s “unexpected” visit
Ekspress, Baku
11 Jun 04
The deputy commander of the US European Command, Gen Charles Wald,
paid an unexpected visit to Baku yesterday morning [10 June]. The
US embassy in Azerbaijan told Ekspress newspaper that the delegation
accompanying the Pentagon official had included 70 American civilian
representatives and business leaders who are members of the Joint
Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC).
[Passage omitted: about the JCOC programme and reported details]
Why did Wald come to Azerbaijan? According to official reports,
one might answer the question as follows. The visit by the Pentagon
official aimed at ”inspecting” the implementation of joint programmes
between the European Command and Azerbaijan and looking into the
preparations for NATO’s Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises. In
any case, one should admit that the visit to our country by such
a high-ranking Pentagon general as the deputy commander of the US
European Command in Stuttgart is not limited to the ”inspection of
cooperation programmes” only. Moreover, the importance of the visit
for Washington is obvious, bearing in mind that it was Wald’s second
visit to Azerbaijan in the past two months.
So it was clear from the brief statement which Wald made in Azerbaijan
that the USA is concerned about the state of security programmes in
the region (concretely, security issues and the protection of oil
pipelines). However, this might be understood as a gesture by the
Pentagon to show its presence in the region, since the concern was
expressed at the same time as the five-sided working group on Caspian
status was holding its summit in Astana. Moreover, by declaring the
creation of a special group to carry out US programmes on the South
Caucasus, Wald showed that the White House did not intend to hold
back from projects on the Caspian.
To recap, at the working group’s Astana meeting Russia and Kazakhstan
suggested the creation of “a military balance” in the sea and a ban
on the entry of “foreign forces” to the Caspian.
Finally, let us recall that Wald, who visited Yerevan some time ago,
regarded as necessary the participation of Armenian officers in the
NATO exercises due in Azerbaijan this autumn and said that he had
received official Baku’s guarantee on the issue. It is no coincidence
that the US general’s sudden visit coincided with Yerevan officially
expressing its intention to attend the NATO conference in June and
saying that it would approach the Azerbaijani embassy in Georgia
over this issue on 12 June. It seems that the Pentagon general had
to visit Azerbaijan again in order to ”resolve the issue on the spot”.
[Passage omitted: Azerbaijan ex-foreign policy adviser positive
on visit]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

A1 Plus | 21:46:36 | 10-06-2004 | Politics |
COURT PUNISHES ATTACKERS BY FINING THEM
Criminal case on the April 5 skinheads’ assault on journalists during
National Unity party rally was heard today at the first instance
court of Center, Nork-Marash.{BR}
The accused refused to speak at the court session. That’s why their
testimonies given at preliminary inquiry were read up now.
It has become clear that the skinheads, who has severely beat
journalists and broken their cameras, appeared on the scene that very
day “by chance”.
The court took the stories invented by the accused to justify their
appearance on site for granted and fine both accused 100,000 drams
each.
Journalist Anna Israelyan though being aware of faulty justice system
in Armenia was deeply disappointed with the court decision.
State-owned Public Television correspondent Vahe Kostandyan, who
was also attacked by skinheads that day, testified that he had seen
nothing, heard nothing and only found his camera broken. It also became
known that Public Television refused from 290,000-dram compensation.

Armenian National Committee of America
888 17th St., NW, Suite 904
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2004
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
ANCA MOURNS PASSING OF RONALD REAGAN
— President Reagan was the Last U.S. President
to Properly Commemorate the Armenian Genocide
WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA)
mourns the passing of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and extends
its deepest condolences to the Reagan family as the nation prepares
to lay the respected statesman to rest this Friday.
“We join with all Americans in mourning the loss of President Reagan
and in sending our condolences to his wife and family,” said ANCA
Chairman Ken Hachikian. “We will remember President Reagan as the
last U.S. President to properly commemorate the Armenian Genocide, the
U.S. leader who initiated humanitarian aid to the survivors of the 1988
earthquake in Armenia, and a leader who believed deeply, throughout
the dark years of the Cold War, in the independence of Armenia.”
Ronald Reagan began his years in politics a close friend and supporter
of Armenian American interests. As California Governor from 1966
through 1974, Reagan reached out to the Armenian American community
and joined in their annual commemorations of the Armenian Genocide.
Most notably, in 1969, Reagan joined His Holiness Khoren I, Catholicos
of the Great House of Cilicia, a host of state and local dignitaries
and over 10,000 Armenian Americans at the Armenian Genocide Memorial
in Montebello, where he gave a rousing 15-minute speech honoring the
victims of that crime against humanity. “I am proud and appreciate
this opportunity to participate in this event,” said Gov. Reagan.
“Today, I humbly bow in memory of the Armenian martyrs, who died in
the name of freedom at the hands of Turkish perpetrators of Genocide.”
Following his election to the presidency in 1980, Reagan distinguished
himself as the last U.S. President to properly acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide as “genocide.” In Proclamation 4838, issued on April 22,
1981 to proclaim April 26-May 3 as “Days of Remembrance of Victims of
Holocaust,” Reagan stated, “Like the genocide of the Armenians before
it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it and like too
many other such persecutions of too many other peoples­the lessons
of the Holocaust must never be forgotten.” Later in his first term,
the Reagan Administration, at the urging of Secretary of State George
Schultz and Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, retreated from this
stand and opposed successive Armenian Genocide Resolutions in 1985
and 1987.
Armenian Americans will also remember President Reagan as a primary
force in encouraging the U.S. Senate to ratify and implement the United
Nations Genocide Convention. Adopted by the United Nations in 1948,
the Convention languished on the Senate docket for some 40 years,
despite the heroic efforts of Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire
(D) and later Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell (D) to obtain
passage of the measure. In 1986, President Reagan urged the Senate
leadership to take up the bill and, after a number of modifications,
the Convention was signed into law by Reagan in 1988.
Congress is currently considering legislation (H.Res.193 and
S.Res.164) marking the 15th anniversary of the implementation of
the Genocide Convention. Introduced in the Senate in June, 2003
by Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Jon Corzine (D-NJ), S.Res. 164
currently has 39 cosponsors. Its companion House measure, H.Res.193,
led by Representatives George Radanovich (R-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA),
and Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and
Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), was adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary
Committee in May, 2003, and has 111 cosponsors. The resolution cites
the importance of remembering past crimes against humanity, including
the Armenian Genocide, Holocaust, Cambodian and Rwandan genocides, in
an effort to stop future atrocities. Support for the measure has been
widespread, with a diverse coalition of over 100 ethnic, religious,
civil and human rights organizations calling for its passage, including
American Values, National Organization of Women, Sons of Italy, NAACP,
Union of Orthodox Rabbis, and the National Council of La Raza.
In the last days of his second term, President Reagan led a U.S.
effort to help the victims of the devastating December 7th,
1988 earthquake in Armenia. Reversing a 40-year standing policy
that lasted throughout the Cold War, President Reagan airlifted
several planeloads of humanitarian assistance to Soviet Armenia
within weeks of the tragedy. In his December 25th radio address to
the American people, Reagan stated that, in the time of tragedy,
“the real differences that divide us and will continue to divide us
fall away.” He went on to note the tremendous outpouring of U.S.
assistance in light of the Armenian earthquake. “From the United
States the response has been staggering,” he said. “Relief workers,
tens of millions of dollars in private contributions, food, clothing,
a cascade of good will and fellow feeling.”
President Reagan will be given a state funeral on Friday, June 11th.
#####

Turkish, Armenian Women Weave New Borders
By Yigal Schliefer – WeNews correspondent
INTERNATIONAL
Women’s eNews
June 7, 2004
ISTANBUL, Turkey (WOMENSENEWS)–Stepping into the gap that their
governments have so far been unable to bridge, a group of Turkish
and Armenian women are expanding a dialogue project that was begun
two years ago, in the hope that their work might eventually have an
impact on official policy.
The project, called the Turkish-Armenian Women Communication Group, got
its start on March 8, 2001. Two Armenian women–a member of Armenia’s
parliament and a representative of an Armenian non-governmental
organization–came to Istanbul, Turkey’s capital city, to be part of
a panel discussion celebrating international women’s day.
After a series of reciprocal meetings, the group–made up mostly of
businesswomen, journalists, academics, non-governmental organization
representatives and parliamentarians–has been growing both in size
and scope. In the latest encounter, held in early July in the Armenian
capital of Yerevan, a dozen Turkish and some 20 Armenian women met,
organizing several smaller subcommittees responsible for coming up
with projects for further cooperation.
In the beginning, the two groups asked each other one question: “Are
we satisfied with the politics of our governments toward each other
up until now?” says Mujgan Suver, a Turkish psychologist who works
on human rights issues at the Istanbul-based Marmara Group, a Turkish
public policy foundation that initiated the dialogue project. “We said
if we are satisfied, then fine, let’s leave it. But if we are not,
let’s do something about it and maybe we will someday be able to get
our governments together and talk about it.”
Despite sharing a 166-mile border, Turkey and Armenia currently have
no diplomatic relations. Turkey sealed its frontier with Armenia in
1993 to protest the Armenian takeover of the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan, a close Turkish ally.
An even greater source of tension, though, dates back to the early
part of the 20th century. Starting in 1915, during the violence of
World War I, large numbers of Armenians were deported from their
homes in Turkey’s Anatolian heartland. Estimates of the number of
Armenians killed during the deportations range from 300,000 to nearly
1.5 million. For Armenians, the events of that time are considered
genocide and they would like them officially recognized as such. Turkey
has steadfastly refused to accept the term “genocide,” pointing out
that atrocities were committed by both sides during what was a time
of great upheaval.
“For both countries, the relationship is still a very thorny issue,
and there doesn’t seem to be any opening on the horizon, to be honest,”
says Ali Carkoglu, research director at the Istanbul-based Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation. “It’s very difficult these
days to deal with this issue in a cooperative manner.”
The Marmara Group’s Suver says it is because of this impasse in
Turkish-Armenian relations that she wanted to start the dialogue group.
Suver was previously involved in a similar group with women from
Greece–a country that, up until recently, also had strained relations
with Turkey–and says that project proved fruitful in bringing Turkish
and Greek women together.
Hranush Kharatyan, president of the Armenian branch of a human rights
group called Transcaucasus Women’s Dialogue, which has other branches
in Georgia and Azerbaijan, says the idea of a dialogue group also
appealed to her as a way of breaking through the rancor that exists
between Turks and Armenians.
“Our common goal is to arrive at the establishment of peaceful
relations,” Kharatyan writes from Yerevan in an e-mail message. “Though
Turkish and Armenian women vary in their perspectives regarding this
issue so far, there exist also common views.”
Project Introduces Women to Politics
Suver says she also hopes the project will help bring those involved,
who come from a region where women are often shut out of political
life, closer to the political process and the conflict resolution
process.
“Unfortunately, women never take part in peace negotiations, in peace
deals,” she says.
Working as women in an area where they aren’t the usual leading players
on political issues could actually be advantageous, says one of the
group’s participants.
“People don’t take it as a potential source of danger when women are
working on a something. They don’t take it seriously. That could be
helpful,” says Lale Aytanc Nalbant, an Istanbul chemical engineer
who has been part of the dialogue group since June of last year. “We
are not taken seriously by the politicians, but in the end we can
accomplish much more than expected.”
Both the Turkish and Armenian participants, meanwhile, say that their
meetings have already led to positive, if small, changes.
“If we compare our first and last meetings, I can say that our
relations have become more friendly and tolerant. We try to understand
each other and even some conflict issues have been solved through
dialogues,” writes Susanna Vardanyan, president of the Women’s Rights
Center, a Yerevan-based non-governmental organization, in an e-mail
interview.
Istanbul’s Aytanc Nalbant says she has seen the bitter tone that at
first dominated the meetings slowly melting away. “Once you get to
know people more and more, you feel more like family towards them and
grow more confident towards them,” she says. “There are less doubts
that they have secondary intentions when they say something.”
Focusing on the Future
In order to move forward, the group has for now decided to lay aside
discussions of the past, particularly the genocide issue, and to focus
on creating joint projects through four subcommittees that were formed
at the recent meeting in Yerevan. Among some of the ideas the group
is considering are creating a summer exchange program for Turkish and
Armenian students, publishing cookbooks that would illustrate daily
life in both countries and creating a committee that would screen
the media in each country for negative depictions of each other.
The time may be ripe for projects like these to have an impact. Both
the United States and the European Union–which Turkey hopes to
join in the near future – –have been applying pressure on the two
countries to resolve their disputes.
Noyan Soyak, the Turkish vice chairman of the Turkish-Armenian Business
Development Council, an independent group promoting better trade
relations between the two countries, says the increasing number of
Turks and Armenians meeting outside of conventional political channels
has led to a positive change in public opinion in both countries.
“Public diplomacy is the infrastructure. We are softening the ground
for the politicians to play on,” Soyak says.
For now, though, the participants of the dialogue say they are focusing
on building trust within their own circle before trying to influence
their countries’ leaders.
“When the time comes, we will work on applying political pressure,”
says Suver. “This won’t just be a group of women meeting. But we have
to let time pass before this can happen.”
Yigal Schliefer is a freelance writer based in Istanbul.
For more information: National Peace
Foundation – Transcaucasus Women’s Dialogue:
Women’s eNews is a nonprofit independent news service covering issues
of concern to women and their allies. An incubator program of the Fund
for the City of New York, Women’s eNews is supported by our readers;
reprints and licensing fees; and the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation, the Rockefeller Family
Fund, The Helena Rubinstein Foundation and the Starry Night Fund.

UNION OF ARMENIANS IN ISRAEL ESTABLISHED
ArmenPress
June 2 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 2, ARMENPRESS: Armenians who moved to Israel over the
last decade met on May 31 in an Armenian restaurant in the town of
Baytiem to found the Union of Armenians in Israel. The constituent
meeting of the Union was followed by dinner, attended by Armenian
honorary consul in Israel Tsolak Momjian, Armenian ambassador to
Russia, Armen Smbatian and representatives of the Armenian Patriarchate
in Jerusalem.
Abraham Chopikian, a native of the Armenian town of Artik, was elected
the president of the Union. He said the main goal of the Union is
to help Armenian families in Israel to seek jobs and protect their
rights, also to try to boost Israeli-Armenian trade.

ARMENIA FRUSTRATED AS TIES WITH TURKEY REMAIN STRAINED
Emil Danielyan: 5/28/04
Eurasianet Organization
May 28 2004
Hopes for a rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey are fading,
underscored by Armenian President Robert Kocharian’s recent decision
not to attend the late June NATO summit in Istanbul. Despite a flurry
of diplomatic activity, Armenian officials say “no considerable
progress” towards normalization has been made over the past year.
For the last decade, Turkey has effectively linked the normalization
of Ankara-Yerevan ties with resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. In mid 2003, Turkish officials first hinted that they were
willing to consider decoupling the two issues, while raising the
possibility that the Armenian-Turkish border could be reopened. Turkey
sealed the frontier in 1993 – at the height of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Karabakh – as an act of solidarity with Baku. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Turkey’s effort to open the border prompted an immediate and prolonged
outcry from Azerbaijani officials, prompting Ankara to retreat. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Baku argued that if
Turkey opened its frontier with Armenia to trade, it would remove
a vital incentive for Yerevan to make concessions in the Karabakh
peace process, which at present is stalemated. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive].
Economic experts say an open Armenian-Turkish frontier would
substantially reduce the transportation costs in Armenia’s
export/import operations, and make the country more attractive for
potential foreign investors. According to a 2003 World Bank study,
the border opening alone could boost Armenia’s GDP by 30 percent.
Now, Armenian officials aren’t expecting to see the border reopened
soon. “Unfortunately, the Turks have lacked the will to separate
relations with Armenia from their alliance with Azerbaijan,” one
well-informed source told EurasiaNet. “As long as they stick to
that policy serious progress in Turkish-Armenian relations will
be impossible.”
Armenia expressed its displeasure via the announcement that Kocharian
would skip the NATO summit. The decision was widely applauded in
Yerevan.
Just last June, there existed mounting optimism concerning
Armenian-Turkish relations. Turkey itself raised hopes for
normalization when the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan began sending signals about the reopening the border. In a
policy speech, Erdogan made no mention of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict over Karabakh as he spoke about obstacles to normalizing
ties with Armenia. He instead complained about Yerevan’s continuing
campaign for international recognition of the 1915-1922 slaughter of
some 1.5 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Turkey vehemently
denies that the mass killings and deportations constituted genocide.
The change of rhetoric was welcomed by Yerevan and was followed by
three meetings between the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers in
June, September and December 2003. Armenia’s Vartan Oskanian emerged
from the talks with cautiously optimistic statements. Other Armenian
sources involved in the dialogue claimed that Ankara has decided
in principle to lift the blockade before establishing diplomatic
relations with Yerevan. Ironically, some of them suggested that the
Turkish government might announce the ground-breaking development
during the NATO summit in Istanbul.
In mid-2003, regional and Western observers said Turkey’s shift
on the Armenian border issue could reflect positively on Turkey’s
long-standing bid to join the European Union. Of late, however,
Ankara’s efforts to obtain a date for the start of EU accession talks
have been damaged by strong French opposition.
For the time being, it seems that the status quo in Armenian-Turkish
relations will hold. Indeed, the speaker of the Turkish parliament,
Bulent Arinc, was quoted by the official Anatolia news agency as
telling his Armenian counterpart Artur Baghdasarian in Strasbourg on
May 19 that his country still wants Armenia to take “positive steps
to settle the Karabakh problem” before making any overtures.
But some observers believe that not much should be read into such
statements. According to Van Krikorian, a prominent Armenian-American
activist and a member of the US-sponsored Turkish-Armenian
Reconciliation Commission (TARC), the reopening of the border this
year remains “more than possible.” [For additional information see
the Eurasia Insight archive].
“The technical evaluations are done, the international community
supports it, and both the Turkish and Armenian people, including
opponents, are ready for it,” Krikorian said. “The real question is
on what terms it should occur.”
“Azerbaijan is clearly, and can be, an obstacle to the border opening,
but not an insurmountable obstacle if Turkey continues on its current
path,” he added.
Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

UN Millennium Development Goals to be implemented in Armenia
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
26 May 04
[Presenter] According to the UN experts’ assessments, the successes
achieved in Armenia by the implementation of the UN Millennium
Development Goals are impressive. The regional representative of the
UN Millennium Development Goals, Yeji Osiatynski noted that apart from
the successes which have been achieved, there are a lot of works to
be done in education, health care and other spheres. Osiatynski said
that if we are speaking about the reduction of poverty it is necessary
to increase the level of higher education. When people are educated it
is easier for them to find a job, and more jobs means less poor people.
[Correspondent] Armenia has joined the UN new programme four years
ago, which is called the Millennium Development Goals, with 190 other
countries. The programme encompasses the following eight areas of
human challenge.
These are: To reduce poverty and starvation, to achieve primary
education, gender equality, to reduce child mortality, maternal
health, to struggle against HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,
to ensure environmental protection and to create a global partnership
for development.
Among these eight goals, the first, poverty reduction is the most
important for Armenia. The regional representative of the UN Millennium
Development Goals, Yeji Osiatynski noted that the time has come when
the economic growth registered in Armenia will be directed to the
reduction of poverty.
[Yeji Osiatynski, captioned in his office, in English with Armenian
voice over] It is not important that poverty will be reduced in 2005,
2010 or 2015. It is a necessary political and social aim and we
are moving forward in this direction. The democratic system, a free
economy and creative and talented people will help you in this work.
[Correspondent] The Polish official who visited Armenia for the first
time, who was finance minister in his home country, considers that
the time is right to clear the county of corruption and to reduce the
number of poor people in the country. Osiatynski thinks that the young
hold great potential for the newly developing countries and also for
Armenia. The future of the country is in their hands. Armenian Prime
Minister Andranik Markaryan also agreed with Osiatynski’s opinion.
[Yeji Osiatynski] Today during the meeting with the prime minister I
understood that there is a readiness and intention to implement the
Millennium Development Goals for the sake of the country and their
people. With all your efforts you must build a democratic state,
have a free economy and you will succeed.
[Correspondent] The representatives of the government and political
organizations discussed the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Artak Aleksanyan, “Aylur”.

U.S., NATO aim to calm Caucasus turbulence
BY Brian Whitmore, Boston Globe
Star Tribune
Last update: May 20, 2004 at 4:55 PM
May 21, 2004CAUCASUS0521
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, GERMANY — U.S. Army Col. Michael Anderson has
Georgia on his mind. He spends a lot of time thinking about Armenia
and Azerbaijan, as well.
Plagued by ethnic conflicts, political instability, organized crime,
and porous borders, the volatile South Caucasus region has long been
viewed by Western officials as a hotbed of chaos and of instability
in Europe’s backyard.
The U.S. military and key NATO allies are now laying the groundwork for
an unprecedented engagement in the region that will include coordinated
military and humanitarian assistance, education, and training aimed
at eventually bringing these troubled nations and their armed forces
into Europe’s mainstream.
“We want these nations to ultimately be able to stand on their own and
to be secure and stable states,” said Anderson, the U.S. military’s
European Command point man for policy in the Caucasus.
The emerging initiative in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan is part of a
focus on what military commanders call “an arc of instability” ranging
from the Caucasus through the Middle East to the Gulf of Guinea in
West Africa. Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. armed forces
worldwide have been taking steps to redirect their resources to fight
the war on terrorism more effectively.
Officials at the U.S. European Command say that because they do not
anticipate a major war in their area of responsibility in the near
future, they are focusing on preventing conflicts on and beyond the
continent’s hinterlands before they become full-blown security crises.
In the South Caucasus, and in North Africa, U.S. military officials
say they are seeking to use “the prudent application of soft power”
— gaining access and influence in these regions by exposing nations
there to Western thinking and values — to advance the interests of
the United States and its allies.
“We are applying a regional, cooperative approach … helping nations
help themselves,” Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, deputy commander of
U.S. forces in Europe, said in a statement.
At a two-day conference this month at the George C. Marshall European
Center for Security Studies in this southern German Alpine town,
U.S. defense officials met with their counterparts from key NATO
allies to coordinate their efforts to assist a defense overhaul in the
region. Officials from Georgia and Armenia also attended. Officials
from Azerbaijan were invited but did not attend amid the continuing
animosity with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabach.
By helping stabilize the South Caucasus and assisting in improvements
in the region’s armed forces, officials say, the initiative contributes
to the war against terrorism.
“Terrorists are looking for areas of instability where they can play
the East-West cultural card, and the Caucasus is a region that is ripe
for that,” a senior British defense official said on the condition
of anonymity. “If we don’t turn our attention to it, they will.”
The new emphasis on the Caucasus seeks to build on recent
U.S. initiatives in the region. From May 2002 until last month,
U.S. soldiers trained four Georgian light-infantry battalions and a
tank company under a $64 million program called the Georgia Train and
Equip Program. The program aimed to professionalize Georgia’s armed
forces and to equip them to root out suspected terrorists linked
to Al-Qaida in the country, most notably the Pankisi Gorge region
near Chechnya.
U.S. military officials have since identified illicit weapons,
narcotics, and human-trafficking across the region’s porous frontiers
as other key security concerns. Easy access to smuggling routes
empowers organized crime groups, compromises the authority of central
governments and destabilizes the region, the officials say.
Protecting the flow of oil out of the region is also a top security
concern for the United States and its allies. A major pipeline running
from Baku, Azerbaijan, through Tblisi, Georgia, to Ceyhan, Turkey,
is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Analysts say
the pipeline will reduce the West’s energy dependence on the Middle
East and the Persian Gulf but could also become a potential target
for terrorists.
Longtime NATO allies like Britain, Germany, and Turkey — as well as
new alliance members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania — are contributing
with assistance programs in the region.
The former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which
have reformed their militaries sufficiently to join NATO this year, say
they are now prepared to help Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan do the
same. The Baltic nations are also offering to help train border guards.
Nikoloz Laliashvili, head of defense policy and NATO integration for
Georgia’s Defense Ministry, said it is his country’s “aspiration”
to follow in the footsteps of the three Baltic countries.
U.S. and other Western officials concede privately that Georgia,
Armenia, and Azerbaijan have made uneven progress. Georgia, which
tossed out its Soviet-era leaders in favor of the pro-Western
government of Mikhail Saakashvili in a peaceful revolution in
November, has shown the most serious commitment to an overhaul,
the officials say.
Earlier this month, Georgia peacefully seized control of the rebel
province of Ajaria, in the country’s southwest corner, although
Saakashvili is still struggling to bring other breakaway regions like
Abkhazia and South Ossetia under Tblisi’s control.

Gulfood 2005 set to capitalise on burgeoning market
zawya
15 May 2004
Gulfood 2005, the largest, most comprehensive and representative
show for the food, hotel & hospitality industry in the Middle East
and North Africa region, has set its sights firmly on accelerated
growth by building on its acknowledged track record as the premier
regional platform for the industry. The show, which takes place from
February 20 to 23, 2005, capitalises on the advantage of being at the
hub of a high-spending and rapidly growing target market, announced
organisers Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
The tenth edition of the biennial event, which will be held at the DWTC
Complex, will offer an opportunity to food and hospitality industries
to display the latest developments and technologies as well as network
with fellow professionals located in a region which has recorded
a spectacular growth in tourism and hospitality infrastructure and
which as a result has become one of the key growth areas for both
these sectors. Some 1,304 particiapants from 44 countries including
25 country pavilions took part in the show last year.
The Middle East’s high disposable income, appetite and vision makes it
an increasingly important food and drinks consumer. The region is
also heavily dependant on large scale imports of food and food-related
products, with more than 90% of its needs being met from overseas. This
makes food and food related products in the Gulf a massively important
sector for any international manufacturer, importer or trader.
Gulfood facilitates the development of trade, tastes and trends by
attracting key industry buyers from over 75 countries and its position
is consolidated by Dubai’s key role as the region’s business and
re-exporting hub, being located on the crossroads of three continents
and the centre of a potential market of more than 2 billion people.
Going by early responses, all indications point to a considerably
larger show in 2005. Projected figures indicate a 30 per cent surge
in participation over 2003, which reinforces the fact that Gulfood is
the only exhibition of its kind that provides access to fast-growing
markets in the Middle East, North and East Africa, the GCC, the former
CIS and the booming Indian subcontinent.
The event will welcome new country pavilions from Argentina, Armenia,
Belgium’s Walloon region, India, Iran, Malaysia and South Africa who
have already signed up, with several others also planning to enter
the market for the first time.
Gulfood will once again be supported by Emirates Culinary Guild,
who will host the Emirates International Salon Culinaire 2005,
a four-day extravaganza of seminars, competitions and demonstrations.
Another significant development is the move of the Third Middle East
Food Marketing Forum from its usual January slot to run alongside
Gulfood 2005, which will offer senior managers a specially developed
programme to provide guidance, advice and debate on the latest issues
shaping food product development.
The exhibitor profile for Gulfood 2005 has been developed to include
the food processing, packaging and ingredients segments as well as the
firmly established food, drinks, bakery, foodservice and hospitality
equipment areas. The food processing and packing business in the
Middle East is significant and growing, with much of the technology
being imported. It is a natural and obvious progression, which will
bring synergy to Gulfood.
Gulfood 2003 received 12,000 high quality trade visitors from
71 countries. Exhibitor and visitor information can be found at

Turkmenistan hosts NATO-sponsored Internet meeting
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
14 May 04
Asgabat, 14 May: A meeting of the consultants of NATO’s Virtual Silk
Road project was opened in the Turkmen capital today.
Participants, researchers and experts from five Central Asian countries
– Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan,
and also from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, together with NATO
representatives – are discussing swift access to the world-wide
Internet network.
According to the Turkmen Communications Ministry, within the framework
of the Virtual Silk Road project, three of Turkmenistan’s largest
higher educational establishments, Magtymguly State University, the
Polytechnic Institute and the Transport and Communication Institute,
have been connected simultaneously to the Internet this year. Thus
they have obtained access to the news on discoveries and inventions
as well as on trends in world scientific developments.
Last year, Turkmentelekom state company installed a satellite dish and
also assembled a ground station. This receives information from the
Internet and transfers it to the country’s research and educational
centres via local network systems.