Author: Emil Lazarian

JACQUES CHIRAC: CO-CHAIRS’ PROPOSALS ARE QUITE BALANCED AND FAIR
Azeri Press Agency
Sept 28 2006
“The proposals offered by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for
the settlement of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict is quite balanced
and fair,” said France’s President Jacques Chirac while commenting on
current situation in the settlement of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
APA reports President Chirac stated that Azerbaijani and Armenian
Presidents should demonstrate political will for the solution of the
conflict.

EU PARLIAMENT WITHDREW PARAGRAPH RELATING TURKEY`S ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – PRE-CONDITION FOR TURKEY TO JOIN EU
TREND, Azerbaijan
Sept 28 2006
Yesterday, EU Parliament adopted a report on Turkey. Notably a
paragraph of Turkey`s acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide of
1915 had been a pre-condition for Turkey to join EU, Trend reports
referring to REGNUM.
Instead of that, the report being adopted by the EU Parliament includes
a call to Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.
“The Parliament again confirms its call to Turkey to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide like its previous resolutions did”. At the same
time, the resolution adopted in September 2005 said that Turkey`s
acknowledgement of the genocide is a pre-condition for the Country
to join the EU. “The EU Parliament urges Turkey to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide, and considers that as a pre-condition for Turkey’s
membership into the EU”.
At the same time, speaking in the name of the EU Executive Body
yesterday, Luis Michelle, EU Commission Commissar, told members
of the EU Parliament that the Genocide acknowledgement issue as a
pre-condition for Turkey to join the EU will become “changing the
rules during play”.
The report adopted yesterday is not of an obligatory nature.
However, it is very critical, and blames Turkey in its non-compliance
with the promise the Country gave the EU. “The EU Parliament expresses
its shame that the process of reforms has slowed”, the report tells. EU
Parliament stresses that 11 months after the beginning of the process
on Turkey`s membership into the EU, “unsatisfactory progress” on the
freedom of word, religious, and national minorities, women`s right
has been fixed, Radio Free Europe/Liberty reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN MULL THEÅLAND MODEL
By Emil Danielian and Kenan Guluzade in the land Islands
Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
Sept 28 2006
Could the Finnish-Swedish arrangement for the land Islands work for
Nagorny Karabakh?
Finland’s Åland Islands, an archipelago mainly populated by ethnic
Swedes, enjoy extensive self-government that makes them effectively
independent of Helsinki. It is an example that has long been proposed
for the resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh dispute, yet never found
universal acceptance.
A visit to the islands by a group of Armenian and Azerbaijani
IWPR journalists, supported by the Åland Islands Peace Institute,
highlighted the success of the formula of autonomy found for the
islands themselves as well as lessons for the unresolved Karabakh
dispute.
Perhaps the most obvious difference is that Finland and Sweden never
went to war over the cluster of more than 6,000 islands and islets
in the Baltic Sea. The heavily wooded region was for centuries part
of the Swedish Kingdom before being incorporated into the Russian
Empire (along with modern-day Finland) in 1809. Its overwhelmingly
Swedish-speaking population demanded reunification with Sweden as
the empire crumbled and Finland became independent in 1917. The Finns
rejected these demands and turned to the League of Nations for support.
Under a compromise solution forged in 1921, the islands were declared
part of Finland but granted a considerable degree of independence. As
Peter Lindback, the territory’s Helsinki-appointed governor, puts it,
“Åland is not an autonomous region. It’s a partly independent state.”
In line with its internationally-guaranteed status, Åland has
an elected legislative assembly, Lagtinget, that forms the local
government responsible for economic development, education, healthcare,
and policing. Even the region’s governor, whose powers are largely
ceremonial, cannot be named by the president of Finland without the
assembly’s consent. With Swedish being the islands’ sole official
language, few locals speak Finnish or have social or cultural links
with mainland Finland. Three-quarters of young Ålanders choose to get
higher education in nearby Sweden. Ethnic Finns now make up just five
per cent of the 27,000-strong local population.
The picturesque archipelago is also a demilitarised zone, meaning
that Finnish troops cannot be stationed there in peacetime.
Furthermore, international treaties signed by Finland have to
be ratified by Lagtinget if they are to have a legal force on the
islands. Finland, for example, had to negotiate a special membership
“protocol” for Åland when it joined the European Union in 1995.
Ålanders, who are not just at peace but also prosperous, readily share
their success story with visitors, while stressing that their status
is not necessarily a blueprint for conflict resolution. “Åland is
not a model. It’s just an example,” Robert Jansson, director of the
Åland Islands Peace Institute, told visiting IWPR journalists.
Mediators trying to resolve the Karabakh conflict first tried to use
the example of the islands when the war was still raging. In December
1993, with the support of the Finnish government, a symposium was
held in the islands’ capital Marienhamn for parliamentarians from
the region.
Later, a representative of the Peace Institute attended the talks
that led to the May 1994 ceasefire and in 1995, Finland, as then
joint mediators with Russia of the Karabakh dispute, invited the
parties to negotiations in the Åland Islands.
Three years later, the American, French and Russian co-chairs of the
OSCE Minsk Group clearly drew on the example of the islands when they
presented a new peace plan under which Azerbaijan and Karabakh would
form a “common state” made up of two essentially equal entities.
Karabakh would be able to maintain a “national guard” and police force
independent of Baku, establish direct ties with foreign states, block
the entry into force of any Azerbaijani law on its territory, issue
internationally- recognised passports and even have its own currency.
The Armenian authorities in Yerevan and Nagorny Karabakh accepted the
proposed deal with some reservations at the time, while Azerbaijani
leaders rejected it, saying they are only ready to give the Karabakh
Armenians a high degree of conventional autonomy.
However, some are still inspired by the detailed formula for peaceful
co-existence provided by the Åland Islands.
“Even twelve years after the end of fighting in Karabakh, the Åland
model has not lost its meaning as a symbol of resolving disputes
through reason and not through bloodshed and as an intellectual
rebuke to those who call for new bloodshed,” Russian diplomat Vladimir
Kazimirov, who negotiated the 1994 ceasefire, wrote recently.
“We should use accumulated international experience to settle the
Karabakh conflict, taking into account the preservation of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,” said Fuad Mustafiev, deputy
leader of Azerbaijan’s opposition Popular Front party.
Azerbaijani opposition political analyst Zardusht Alizade told IWPR
that the principles of the Åland Island dispute “can create a basis
for both peoples – Armenians and Azerbaijanis – to get themselves
out of the trap we have been driven into”.
Alizade argues that the Åland model would benefit the Armenians
by giving them a guarantee of permanent democracy and would suit
Azerbaijan in so far as everything would be decided within a legal
framework, “Besides Karabakh will not be detached from the territory
of our state. The international community will act as a guarantor of
security. And most importantly, peace will be established.”
However, some Azerbaijanis see the Åland model as a betrayal of
Azerbaijan’s basic interests.
“I am categorically against using the possibility of using any
models of autonomy in relation to Karabakh,” Vafa Guluzade, formerly
Azerbaijani state foreign affairs aide, told IWPR. “It is Azerbaijani
land and there are four UN resolutions on the occupation of our
territory.”
And most Armenian politicians are also sceptical, holding out for an
even higher level of sovereignty for Nagorny Karabakh.
“In the case of Karabakh, anything falling short of full independence
is unacceptable to us,” said Armen Rustamian, a leader of the governing
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (or Dashnak) party who heads the
foreign relations committee of Armenia’s parliament.
Karabakh Armenians, who remain deeply distrustful of Azerbaijan,
argue that the Caucasus is very different from the Baltic.
“May be I would agree to this model if the democratic level in our
countries was the same as in Scandinavia for example,” said Karen
Ohanjanian, head of the Helsinki Initiative-92 group in Karabakh,
calling it a “step backwards”.
“Azerbaijan is no Finland, and Azerbaijan’s demands and actions
have been very different from Finland’s,” said Arman Melikian,
a Yerevan-based senior aide to Arkady Ghukasian, leader of
the unrecognised Nagorny Karabakh Republic (which is still
internationally-recognised Azerbaijani territory.)
In his turn former Azerbaijani foreign minister Tofik Zulfugarov
responded to the statement that “Azerbaijan is not Finland,” by saying,
“And the Armenians are not Swedes.”
Melikian claims that the Åland model would also not work in Karabakh
because of the often conflicting interests of major world powers
tussling for influence in the South Caucasus. “The Åland islands
were not of strategic importance to Finland, Sweden or any external
power,” he said. “The Karabakh problem has much more far-reaching
regional ramifications.”
The most recent proposal to resolve the issue of the disputed status
of Nagorny Karabakh proposes a different path. It is for a referendum
on self-determination in Karabakh that would be held years after the
liberation of most of the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territories
surrounding the disputed enclave.
However, this plan is now in trouble following the breakdown of the
latest peace talks and the final status of Nagorny Karabakh seems as
elusive as ever.
Emil Danielian is a Yerevan-based journalist at Radio Liberty Armenia;
Kenan Guluzade is editor of Zerkalo Newspaper in Baku.
Nagorny Karabakh journalist Karine Ohanian contributed to this report.
–Boundary_(ID_PVyv4rFz2J/O1CtbRwlytA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azad-Hye, Dubai, 2 October 2006: The Embassy is located in a beautiful and
spacious villa endowed with private garden in the Zamalek district, an
affluent area were most embassies are located, relatively close to downtown
Cairo. The site, originally belonged to Janik and Satenig Chaker and was
bestowed in 1976 to the local AGBU by Satenig Chaker. It was eventually
forwarded to the Armenian Foreign Ministry to serve as premises for the
Embassy at a nominal rent. The Embassy of Armenia first was in an apartment
in Dokki.
Artak Hovhannisian, a graduate of oriental studies from Yerevan, the Second
Secretary of the Embassy welcomed us in the Embassy and gave a briefing
about the location. Hovhannisian used to work in the Abu Dhabi Armenian
Embassy (2001-2003).  
Araxy Khatcherian-Deronian, a friend from the Egyptian Armenian community
accompanied us in this visit.  
The Embassy of Armenia in Egypt is the most important Armenian Embassy in
the Arab World due to the weight that Egypt enjoys as a leading Arab
country. The historical presence of the Armenians in Egypt, dating back to
the Middle Ages, gives additional significance to the role of the Armenian
diplomacy in this country.  
Ambassador Dr. Rouben Karapetian welcomed us with a very sincere touch in
his voice.
During our meeting he said that the Embassy is engaged nowadays in an active
campaign to publicize to the Egyptian and general Arab public everything
related to Armenia.
The Ambassador had the initiative to issue a tri-monthly bulletin called
`Akhbar Armenia’ (News of Armenia) since January 2006. The bulletin is now
distributed to hundreds of important addresses all around Egypt and the Arab
World. See the first two issues of the bulletin at the end of this report.
He stressed that the Armenian diplomats should consider the Arab World and
particularly Egypt as a vital sphere for Armenian interests. Do not forget,
he added, that we have historical presence here, which we need to highlight.
This is why we organized the presentation of Sona Zeitlian’s most valuable
book `Armenians in Egypt’ and we are preparing now our own website, which
will be in Arabic and English languages.  
Karapetian underlined the fact that the Egyptians highly appreciate the
Armenian community. `There are few capitals worldwide, outside Armenia,
where the Armenians have thrived and left their marks. One of these is
Cairo. We have always taken on ourselves the role of bridging and
communicating between the East and West. This has been our mission. Why we
should ignore this mission?’, he commented.
We have not recognized our potential yet in the region, the Ambassador
acknowledged. We have to highlight our role in the region as the only
Eastern Christian independent state that has so deep and comprehensive
understanding of the Arabs and Muslims, without being a colonial power in
the past.   
 
On the other hand Ambassador Karapetian recognizes the need to educate our
own citizens on issues such as the Armenian-Arab relations.
On Armenian-Egyptian bilateral level, Karapetian refers to the visit of
Prime Minister Antranik Markarian to Egypt, which marked the beginning of a
new phase in the relations of the two friendly countries. `We are working on
a friendship agreement with Egypt, which will translate the visit into a
long-lasting commitment for both sides. Egypt is trying to achieve progress
and has done remarkable efforts and needs to find partners in economic
development, especially in our region’, he explained.  
About other activities in the horizon, Karapetian mentioned the plan of
erecting a friendship statue in a main square in Cairo (and a similar one in
Yerevan).
With the most sincere manners, Karapetian acknowledged the need to clarify
relations with Diaspora, especially in light of the Armenia-Diaspora
conference. `We need to clarify our mutual concerns. We need to talk
transparently about our issues. We have to point out clearly what we should
do and take lessons from the past. We should not pacify ourselves by saying
everything is brilliant. This is not the way to progress. Nothing comes
easily. The system should develop gradually. After 15 years of independence
we can now talk about Armenian diplomacy. All the previous years were years
of formation. The coming presidential elections in Armenia (2008) should
have great meaning for us as a factor of stability and progress. We need the
input of our politically matured population. We have to develop further
democracy. Overall progress is needed in the economic and educational
spheres, without which nothing could be achieved. Rural areas should be
developed. Armenia cannot be concentrated only around the capital Yerevan’.
These were some of the challenges the Ambassador mentioned at the end of the
conversation.   
Bulletin of the Embassy in Arabic language:
Issue no. 1 of `Akhbar Armenia’ (News of Armenia)
Issue no. 2 of `Akhbar Armenia’ (News of Armenia)
Download bulletins from the following page:
wsId=621sff41
Photos:
1- Ambassador Dr. Rouben Karapetian in front of the Embassy building.
2- Artak Hovhannisian, Second Secretary of the Embassy.
3- The Building of the Embassy (historically Chakrian family’s property).
4- The Egyptian guard in front of the Embassy.
See photos at the following link:
wsId=621sff41
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ex-oil company chief charged in alleged Azerbaijan coup plot; lawyer cries
foul
The Associated Press
Published: September 29, 2006
BAKU, Azerbaijan A former oil executive has been charged in connection
with an alleged coup plot in Azerbaijan last year, his lawyer said
Friday.
Separately, an American lawyer for Rafiq Aliev said authorities had
violated Azerbaijani law and international human rights norms in the
case.
Aliev was charged Thursday with involvement in what Azerbaijani
officials say was a plot to overthrow President Ilham Aliev, said his
lawyer, Rafiq Quliyev.
Rafiq Aliev is former chief of the private oil company Azpetrol and
brother of former Economic Development Minister Farhad Aliev, one of a
dozen people arrested before parliamentary elections last November in
connection with the alleged plot.
The opposition says the arrests were part of an effort by the
government to manipulate the vote, which Western observers criticized
as flawed.
The Aliev brothers, who are not related to the president, were both
arrested last October, but Rafiq Aliev had not been charged with
participation in the plot. He had previously been charged on three
unrelated counts, including smuggling, Quliyev said.
Meanwhile, Farhad Aliev denounced accusations against him as unfounded
in a statement from prison released by his lawyers Friday, and said
that he had been subjected to blackmail and “psychological pressure”
while in custody.
Authorities accuse an opposition leader living in exile, Rasul
Guliyev, of masterminding the alleged coup plot.
The government of Ilham Aliev – like that of his late father, Geidar
Aliev, before him – has persecuted the opposition, breaking up
demonstrations, jailing its activists and directing state-run
television to smear its leaders.
Charles Both, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for Farhad and Rafiq
Aliev, said the authorities have violated both Azerbaijani law and
international human rights norms.
“My clients’ right to have a fair and free and effective remedy
… has been violated. My clients’ right to freedom from
discrimination on political grounds has clearly been violated,” Both
told a news conference.
He said authorities had violated the presumption of innocence by
referring to the accused as criminals even though they have not been
tried.
Both said he arrived in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, on Monday and
appealed to the prosecutor general’s office the same day with a
request tomeet with his clients, but received no response.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Posted on Thu, Sep. 28, 2006
Barbs fly in race for attorney general
ONE HOPEFUL CALLED `FLAKY,’ ANOTHER CALLED `EXTREME’
By Steve Geissinger
MediaNews
SACRAMENTO – Though Democrat Jerry Brown is better known, has more
money and enjoys a double-digit lead in the polls, a state Senate
Republican is making a serious bid to defeat him for the office of
state attorney general.
Sen. Chuck Poochigian of Fresno is warning that Brown is too “flaky”
for the job of the state’s top cop. The senator principally calls
Brown soft on crime and cites his opposition to the death penalty.
“Jerry Brown is the last person who should have the responsibility of
protecting California’s families as attorney general,” said
Poochigian spokesman Kevin Spillane.
But Brown, a former California governor and now Oakland’s mayor, is
saying Poochigian is “too extreme” for the state, considering his
opposition togun control and abortion rights.
Brown campaign strategist Ace Smith said Poochigian is “trying to
pass himself off as a moderate when in fact he’s an extremist.”
The campaign, so far, is being carried out primarily through
occasional appearances and an exchange of costly television ads.
The attorney general, a statewide elected officer, runs the Justice
Department and represents the people of California in civil and
criminal matters in the courts. The office also serves as legal
counsel to state officers, agencies, boards and commissions.
The attorney general further coordinates local and regional narcotics
enforcement efforts, participates in criminal investigations and
provides forensic services.
Also, the attorney general operates programs aimed at protecting
Californians from fraudulent, unfair and illegal activities that
victimize consumers or threaten public safety, and enforces laws that
safeguard the environment and natural resources.
The current attorney general, Democrat Bill Lockyer of Hayward, is
termed out and is running for treasurer against Republican Board of
Equalization member Claude Parrish.
Poochigian calls Brown “flaky,” pointing out that Brown’s own city,
Oakland, is suffering a high homicide rate and noting that Brown
vetoed a bill reinstating the death penalty in the late 1970s — only
to have the Legislature override his veto.
Brown responds that he formed a special police unit earlier this year,
among other things, in response to a public outcry over the soaring
homicide rate in Oakland.
The former governor said Poochigian supports high-powered sniper
rifles and opposes a woman’s right to abortion.
Poochigian responds that, at the time of the 2004 gun vote, the rifles
were legal in 49 other states and that he would not work to outlaw
abortion. Here are their positions on the environment, crime,
abortion and gun control:
ENVIRONMENT
Brown supports assertions that Poochigian opposed the 25 most
important environmental bills from 2003-05. Poochigian dismisses the
allegations as Sierra Club propaganda for Brown.
CRIME
Poochigian criticizes Brown for Oakland’s homicide rate and for
vetoing a bill reinstating the death penalty in the late 1970s. Brown
says Oakland’s overall serious crime rate has fallen and vows to
uphold the death penalty. Poochigian says the former governor has
personally protested against an execution, that he supports the
Prisoner’s Bill of Rights and that he opposed the Crime Victim’s Bill
of Rights.
ABORTION
Brown asserts Poochigian is opposed to abortion and would work to
outlaw it. Poochigian says Brown’s statement that he would work to
outlaw abortion is “categorically false.” However, Poochigian
acknowledges that he opposes abortion rights, except in cases of rape,
incest or when necessary to savethe life of the woman.
GUN CONTROL
Brown attacks Poochigian for his opposition as a state lawmaker to
banning 50-caliber sniper rifles. Poochigian responds that his 2004
vote came whenthe rifles were legal in 49 other states and counters
that, in 1976, Brown vetoed legislation providing front-line officers
with bulletproof vests.
Three other candidates also are running for the office: Jack Harrison
of the Peace and Freedom Party; Kenneth A. Weissman of the Libertarian
Party; and Michael S. Wyman of the Green Party.
© 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

NEWS Press
27 septembre 2006
Amnesty International – Turquie : Un journaliste pris une nouvelle
fois pour cible
Amnesty International est consternée par l’annonce, le mardi 26
septembre, du nouveau procès intenté au journaliste Hrant Dink,
accusé du « délit d’insulte à l’identité turque » au titre de
l’article 301 du Code
pénal turc.
L’organisation considère que ces poursuites s’inscrivent dans le
cadre d’une politique de harcèlement visant un journaliste ayant
exercé son droit à la liberté d’expression – un droit que la Turquie,
en tant qu’État partie à la Convention européenne de sauvegarde des
droits de l’homme et des libertés fondamentales et au Pacte
international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, a l’obligation
légale de respecter.
L’annonce de ce nouveau procès intervient après la publication de
propos tenus par Hrant Dink à l’agence de presse Reuters. Le
journaliste aurait déclaré, parlant des massacres d’Arméniens sous
l’empire ottoman, «
Bien sûr, je dis que c’est un génocide, parce que le résultat
identifie ce que c’est et lui donne un nom. Vous pouvez voir qu’un
peuple qui a vécu sur ces terres pendant quatre mille ans a disparu.
» Amnesty International s’inquiète particulièrement de ce nouveau
procès, le troisième intenté à Hrant Dink au titre de l’article 301,
parce qu’il semble s’inscrire dans le cadre d’une politique de
harcèlement d’un auteur ayant exprimé de façon pacifique une opinion
discordante. De surcroît, Hrant Dink avait déjà été condamné à une
peine de six mois d’emprisonnement avec sursis en octobre 2005 pour «
délit d’insulte à l’identité turque » (condamnation confirmée en
appel en juillet 2006) et s’il était déclaré coupable du même délit
il serait emprisonné. Si tel était le cas, Amnesty International le
considérerait comme un prisonnier d’opinion.
Amnesty International considère ces poursuites particulièrement
décevantes après l’acquittement, accueilli avec soulagement il y a
quatre jours, d’un autre écrivain, la romancière Elif Safak, inculpée
au titre de l’article 301 pour des propos tenus par les personnages
fictifs de son roman, Le Btard d’Istanbul. L’organisation avait vu
dans cet acquittement un pas positif pour la liberté d’expression en
Turquie ; elle craint cependant qu’il n’ait constitué une exception
plutôt que la règle en la matière et qu’ait été démontrée une
nouvelle fois l’incapacité de certains magistrats turcs à appliquer
en droit national les règles du droit international, comme le prévoit
l’article 90 de la Constitution turque. L’organisation renouvelle son
appel en faveur de l’abrogation de l’article 301 dans son
intégralité, pour mettre fin à l’application arbitraire de cette loi
mal définie.
Enfin, Amnesty International note qu’à l’origine de ce procès il y
aurait eu une plainte déposée par des éléments de la société civile
opposés à l’abolition de l’article 301 ; des plaintes similaires,
visant à ce que des poursuites soient engagées, auraient été déposées
par le passé à plusieurs reprises, accompagnées de provocations et
manifestations parfois violentes lors des procès, créant une
atmosphère de menace dans la salle d’audience. L’organisation appelle
les autorités turques à s’assurer que toutes les mesures nécessaires
soient prises pour assurer la protection des accusés, de leurs
avocats et de leurs sympathisants dans de telles affaires et, bien
sûr, le bon déroulement de la justice. Pour plus d’informations
concernant les préoccupations d’Amnesty International à propos de
l’article 301, voir Turkey : Article 301 : How the law on «
denigrating Turkishness » is an insult to free expression.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICANEWS RELEASE
1 AMERICAN AVENUE
YEREVAN, ARMENIA
TELEPHONE (+374 10) 464700
FAX (+374 10) 464742
E-MAIL: [email protected]
September 29, 2006
ARMENIA AND U.S. FORMALLY INAUGURATE $235 MILLION RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
On September 29, 2006, the five year Millennium Challenge anti-poverty
development program agreed to earlier this year by the United States and
Armenia was officially inaugurated with an exchange of letters. In a
ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Finance Minister
Vardan Khachatryan and Alex Russin of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
exchanged letters which formally inaugurate the $235 million anti-poverty
program.
The Armenian Compact is designed to reduce rural poverty through a
sustainable increase in the economic performance of the agricultural sector.
Armenia plans to achieve this goal through a five-year program of strategic
investments in rural roads, irrigation infrastructure and technical and
financial assistance to improve the supply of water and to support farmers
and agribusinesses. The Program will directly impact approximately 750,000
people, or an estimated 75 percent of the rural population, and is expected
to reduce the rural poverty rate and boost annual incomes.
The Compact includes a $67 million project to rehabilitate up to 943
kilometers of rural roads, more than a third of Armenia’s proposed Lifeline
road network. When complete, the Lifeline road network will ensure that
every rural community has road access to markets, services, and the main
road network. Under the Compact, the Government of Armenia will be required
to commit additional resources for maintenance of the road network. The
Compact also includes a $146 million project to increase the productivity of
approximately 250,000 farm households (34% of which are headed by women)
through improved water supply, higher yields, higher-value crops, and a more
competitive agricultural sector.
Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. government corporation
designed to work with some of the poorest countries in the world, is based
on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good
governance, economic freedom, and investments in people that promote
economic growth and elimination of extreme poverty.

Agence France Presse — English
September 29, 2006 Friday
In Nakhchivan, ancient water technology meets modern need
Simon Ostrovsky
SHAHTAHTY, Azerbaijan, Sept 29 2006
With the Araxes river winding below, workers on a hilltop in
Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave scrape debris from a clogged
waterway, reviving an ancient irrigation system invented by the
Persians 2,400 years ago.
Dressed in blue cover-alls, the men have been trained to maintain the
age-old Chehriz irrigation system to replace electric pumps to supply
the threadbare Azerbaijani town lower down the hillside.
Dozens of locals are now studying the technique after the last two
remaining experts came close to bringing its secrets to the grave.
International agencies are supporting the revival in the hope that
the water will breath life into the local economy and plug the stream
of locals fleeing this poverty-stricken corner of the Caucasus
Mountains.
“Nobody attended to the Chehriz in Soviet times,” said Sarat Das,
head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in
Azerbaijan, who is pushing the technique. “Mechanization replaced the
traditional systems,” he said.
But the mechanized system of electric pumps was left high and dry
when a war with neighbour Armenia in the early 1990s cut off access
to the cheap electricity from that country’s nuclear power plant.
A tiny mountainous strip of land sandwiched between Armenia and Iran,
Nakhchivan is cut off completely from the rest of Azerbaijan, and
following the war, lost access to the Armenian capital Yerevan, a
mere 50 kilometers (30 miles) from its borders.
Unable to pay the higher prices for electricity imported from other
countries, the locals looked to the region’s 400 or so crumbling
Chehriz to turn their dusty fields green.
A long hand-made tunnel dug using a series of man-holes along a
sloping water table, the Chehriz requires no outside power source to
function.
Groundwater drains into a brick tunnel before being channeled into
the open in a village or a field where it can further be distributed
using a series of shallow canals.
Vilayat Ibrahimov, a community leader in the village of Yurdchu said
farmers used a rotation to share the Chehriz, blocking off one canal
to divert water to another in accordance to a schedule.
“Those fields down there, they were unusable a few years ago,” said
Ibrahimov of a 400-year-old Chehriz that was recently re-opened to
the delight of locals.
Before the communists came to power there were 16 functioning Chehriz
in Yurdchu. Now there is one, but “there’s enough water for
everyone,” he said.
The water is not pressurized, so it can’t be used to fill pipes and
pour out of faucets, but for Nakhchivan, where most villagers have
never had running water inside their homes, it is a significant
improvement.
Some 14 Chehriz have so far been rehabilitated under a scheme in
which communities are required to foot part of the bill for
reconstruction, according to the IOM, which is backing the project.
The rest is paid by the IOM and the Swiss Development and Cooperation
Agency.
Devoid of any significant vegetation, the region saw its population
stream across the borders to Turkey and Iran when the Iron Curtain
was lifted.
Nobody is certain how many people have left, the figures are a
closely guarded secret in the local administration, but the streets
of the regional capital Nakhchivan are all but empty.
The IMO identified a lack of water in the region’s villages as one of
the hardships compelling farmers to abandon their fields.
“The major problem was water and that the Chehriz was dry,” prompting
people to leave the villages, Das said of the town where IOM fixed
its first Chehriz.
In championing the Chehriz, the IOM has saved the age-old technology
from the brink of extinction by tapping the knowledge of two Chan
Chans or Chehriz technicians, a 65-year-old and a 72-year-old, who
remembered the skills from their youth.
They have since trained 100 more young men and the project has spread
to other parts of Azerbaijan, with some of the IOM-employed Chan
Chans rebuilding Chehriz in their spare time.
“This skill which could have died with these two people can be
retained,” he said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #186, 30/09/2006
World
DAY OF GERMANY’S UNIFICATION TO BE HELD
“Unification, Right, Freedom.” This is the main ideology that the
German people follow since 19th century, even after the World War II,
when the country was split in two parts. Only in the October of 1990,
the German issue was finally settled, the Western and the Eastern
Germanies united. For already 16 years, the Federal Republic of
Germany celebrates the Day of Germany’s Unification on October
2-3. This year the center of the festive celebration will be Kill. In
this connection, Angela Merkel, chancellor of FRG, stated that she is
happy that the festive celebration on the unification day will be held
in Kill for the first time. The representative of Germany’s 16 states,
many political figures and foreign guests will participate in the
celebration arrangements.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress