Author: Emil Lazarian

EURASIANET.ORG
Thursday, March 30, 2006

EURASIA INSIGHT
AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT LASHES OUT AT “ARMENIAN NATIONALISTS”
Mina Muradova and Rufat Abbasov 3/29/06

Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, has lashed out at Armenia,
claiming that “Armenian ideologists-nationalists” have pursued a
policy of aggression against Azeris for “about 200 years.” Aliyev’s
vitriolic rhetoric indicates that the window for a negotiated solution
to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is slamming shut.

In his March 28 address, Aliyev said Armenians aimed “to oust
Azerbaijanis from their lands, and create a state of ‘Greater
Armenia.'” He went on to assert that Yerevan was solely responsible
for starting hostilities between the two countries “aiming to forcibly
unify Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.”

He complained that “the history of our nation has been roughly
distorted” by a comprehensive Armenian propaganda campaign that
“mobilized the Armenia diaspora and lobby for those purposes,”
according to the text of the address distributed by the official
AzerTag news agency.

Aliyev’s speech occurred roughly six weeks after he and his Armenian
counterpart, Robert Kocharian, failed to achieve a breakthrough in
Karabakh peace negotiations during a summit meeting in France. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In the weeks leading up
to that meeting, hopes ran high that the two leaders would agree on a
peace framework. Though few details of the discussions have emerged,
observers believe that disagreement over the timing and the scope
of a Karabakh referendum concerning the territory’s political future
emerged as an insurmountable obstacle to a settlement.

Since the summit, international mediators had expressed hope that
a settlement could still be found in 2006. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive]. Aliyev’s comments indicate, however,
that Baku doesn’t believe a peaceful settlement is achievable in the
near term.

Claiming that Armenia has “become a hostage to the idea of a ‘great
state,'” Aliyev alleged that peace talks stalled yet again “because of
the destructive and aggressive policy of the Armenian leadership.” He
reiterated that Azerbaijan is committed to a negotiated Karabakh
settlement that provides for “the restoration of our territorial
integrity.” But in comments sure to enrage Yerevan, Aliyev added that
Armenian leaders were conducting an “informational-propagandistic
fight concerning the invented ‘Armenian genocide’ … to prove their
territorial claims and obtain political dividends.”

Armenian officials had no immediate official reaction to the
Azerbaijani president’s comments. A central pillar of Yerevan’s foreign
policy has been securing international recognition of Ottoman Turkey’s
mass killings of Armenians, beginning in 1915, as genocide. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. President Kocharian
previously cautioned that if Baku did not alter its negotiating
position, the Armenian government would consider recognizing Karabakh’s
independence.

In recent weeks, Aliyev and other officials have repeatedly threatened
that Azerbaijan might resort to military action if Baku determined that
Karabakh peace negotiations stood no chance of success. In comments
made March 27 during a ceremony at the National Security Ministry,
and broadcast by ANS television, Aliyev stressed that Azerbaijan’s
rapid economic growth, driven by the development of the country’s
abundant energy reserves, was enabling the government to embark on
a far-reaching military build-up. He added that the potential for
Karabakh negotiations “has not yet been exhausted.”

“The other side [Armenia] must know that Azerbaijan is capable of
securing its territorial integrity through war,” Aliyev said.

Ceasefire violations in recent weeks have resulted in the deaths of
several Azerbaijani soldiers, Lider television reported. The ArmInfo
news agency on March 28 quoted Armenian Deputy Defense Minister
Artur Agabekyan as saying Azerbaijani forces were responsible for
starting the firefights. “Our servicemen … are in a state of combat
readiness,” Agabekyan said. “They will be prepared to repulse any
attack, be it a local attack or a large-scale one.”

In addition to the build-up, Azerbaijan appears intent on mobilizing
the Azeri diaspora to join in an information offensive to promote
Baku’s interests around the globe, including a Karabakh settlement that
is favorable to Baku. Azerbaijani officials used the second Congress
of World Azerbaijanis, held in mid March, to issue a call for rapid
consolidation of diaspora groups in order to present a unified view
of Azerbaijan and its policy aims to the outside world.

“In today’s world, a successful information policy is one of the
major factors of the overall development and perfect strengthening of
statehood,” Nazim Ibrahimov, the head of Azerbaijan’s State Committee
on Relations with Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, said in a March 16
speech to the congress’ 600 delegates.

According to state committee figures, approximately 50 million Azeris
live in over 70 countries. The largest diaspora communities are
found in Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Germany and the United
States. Approximately 30 million Azerbaijanis also live in modern
Iran. Roughly 8 million Azeris live in Azerbaijan.

In his March 28 speech, Aliyev indicated that Baku would seek to use
the Azeri diaspora to counter the “Armenian lobby abroad.”

Some delegates to the congress acknowledged that Azeri diaspora groups
had not done a good job in promoting Baku’s policies. “The Azerbaijani
diaspora is badly organized because it is young,” Azad Seidov, head of
the Azeri national cultural center in the Russian city Surgut, told
EurasiaNet. “We do not have a common plan of action and Azerbaijani
communities in foreign countries are working on their own. We have
to unite in order to recover our lands, cultural heritage and customs.”

Other representatives of diaspora groups confirmed that the
consolidation effort was intended to influence the Karabakh peace
process. Fahri Kerimli, chairman of board of the Romanian-Azerbaijani
Cultural Assembly, said unification would assist in the “neutralization
of efforts of Armenian diaspora around the world against Azerbaijan,
Azerbaijanis and Turkey.” A major aim of the intended information
offensive, Kerimli added, was to recast Azerbaijan as the victim in
the Karabakh conflict, dispelling the widely held view at present
that Baku was the aggressor.

Seidov and other delegates expressed interest in coordinating actions
with representatives of Turkish diaspora groups. “State interests
… made it necessary for the Azerbaijani and Turkish diasporas to
cooperate – to jointly operate to solve vital problems,” Ibrahimov,
the state committee chief, said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ZOMBYING OF THE AZERBAIJANI PUBLIC AT THE TOP LEVEL PURSUES QUITE
SPECIFIC GOALS: POLITICAL ANALYST

STEPANAKERT, MARCH 30. ARMINFO. “Ilham Aliyev’s speech is nothing but
a vaccine ruining the immune system of the Azerbaijani people. The
zombying of the Azerbaijani public at the top level pursues quite
specific goals,” David Babayan, Karabakh political expert says
commenting on the so-called “Genocide of Azerbaijanis” marked on
March 31 in Azerbaijan.

The analyst says that the Azerbaijani president presents Armenians
as the only enemy of Azerbaijan in the world. Such a policy
affects the Karabakh conflict’s settlement, which is moved from the
Karabakh-Azerbaijan to Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, hereby having
a negative influence on the stability in the South Caucasus, on the
whole. No constructive steps or compromises can be expected from a
country whose leader propagandizes anti-Armenism. Moreover, in his
speech, Ilham Aliyev openly claims also Zangezour, D. Babayan says.

The expert believes that creating the image of an enemy, makes the
Azerbaijani public manageable and radical. In fact, this radicalism
will easily turn into terrorism. The barbarian destruction of the
khachkars in Julfa is nothing but a cultural terrorism, D. Babayan
believes. If the president says that Armenian occurred in Nakhijevan in
the 19th century, they cannot be Armenian Christian cultural monuments
of the 9th century, D. Babayan says.

He says by such policy, the Azerbaijani authorities give their
national minorities to understand that any demand for observation
of their rights will be considered a solidarity with Armenians and
enmity to the Azerbaijani people. The given approach is nothing but
a forced mechanism to form the Azerbaijani people. The Azerbaijani
(Turkic) elite tries to forcefully assimilate Lezgins, Talishes, Tats
and other peoples into a single Turkic ethnos. It should be noted
that the ethnonym “Azerbaijanis” originate only in 1936 and then the
Soviet authorities took the course of forming the united Azerbaijani
people of all the Islamic peoples of Azerbaijan, D. Babayan said. The
analyst says the unhealthy craving for historical falsifications is
the state policy of Azerbaijan now.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA AND RUSSIA TO EXCHANGE STUDENTS

YEREVAN, MARCH 30.ARMINFO. “We suggested the Armenian side to create
conditions for the education of the Armenian students in Moscow. The
number of the Armenian students will depend on the number of the
Russian students that will study in Yerevan,” professor Mikhail Meyer,
head of the Institute for the Asian and the African States at the
Moscow State University, said this today.

He said that the Russian side is especially interested in studying
the Old Armenian(Grabar), as this language is a key to a number of
valuable historical archives in Matenadaran. Besides, Moscow finds it
necessary to prepare specialists of the Armenian studies. Mr. Meyer
added that the Armenian language is already taught at his institute.

“President Putin emphasized that the Armenian-Russian relations do
not keep in line with the level of strategic partnership and the
Russians don’t know Armenia well,” he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russia not to join Romanian Black Sea Euro-region project – Romanian report

Rompres news agency
31 Mar 06

Bucharest, 31 March: The representative of the Russian Federation at
the Conference for the launch of the Black Sea Euro-region project,
director with the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry Vladimir Lebedenko,
expressed Russia’s stand in this issue, which distances itself from
the adoption of the Political Statement regarding the establishment
of this body.

Government representatives from the other riparian countries of the
extended Black Sea area – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia,
Greece, Turkey, the Republic of Moldova and Bulgaria – expressed
their support for the project proposed by Romania and the Congress
of the Local and Regional Authorities (CLRA) of the Council of Europe.

Vladimir Lebedenko specified that Russia did not take part in the
preparation of this document and does not consider itself bound to
express support.

The Russian diplomat also voiced reserves regarding this initiative,
pointing out that such ideas are fine and interesting, but for the
time being, his country cannot commit to supporting them because it
is yet unclear if the new body would not overlap with the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO).

President of the Congress of the Local and Regional Authorities
Giovanni di Stasi voiced confidence that, in the end, Russia will
join the Black Sea Euro-region project, the more so as the Russian
authorities have proven openness to the cross-border cooperation
methods initiated by CLRA, as they offered support for CLRA’s opening,
in the coming months, in St Petersburg, of a centre that will offer
assistance with the establishment of a similar project in the Baltic
Sea region.

“We will continue the dialogue with our partners from Russia and I
believe we will succeed in persuading them to join us,” said Giovanni
di Stasi.

In his turn, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis,
underscored that this initiative is not “binding” for all the Black
Sea riparian countries, but that their own will was at the basis of
the project. However, he insisted on the utility of the Euro-region
project, pointing out that a climate of cooperation needs to be
established between the local authorities in the area, aimed at
eradicating pollution, corruption and the trafficking of humans
and weapons.

Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu expressed his opinion
that the initiative of the Black Sea Euro-region does not overlap
with BSECO’s activity object, underscoring that cooperation is very
frail in the Pontic area, so that this body’s coming into being would
be beneficial.

In the end of the Conference on regional cooperation, the
representatives of the Novorossiysk region joined the final common
statement assumed by the participants that represented the local
authorities from Black Sea riparian countries and CLRA.

The statement sets 2007 as the deadline for the establishment of the
Euro-region, as a concrete dialogue body between the local elects
from the mentioned countries, and also provides the establishment of
a standing technical secretariat that will facilitate the dialogue
until 2007. According to Giovanni di Stasi, the technical secretariat
will be probably based in the Romanian city of Constanta and will be
staffed with Romanian experts.

The next Black Sea inter-regional cooperation meting will take place
in the Turkish city of Samsun.

The Black Sea Euro-region is the first form of regional partnership
accomplished with the support and contribution of European institutions
– the Council of Europe and the European Union – that will represent
the main funding sources for the concrete projects that will be drawn
up by the local authorities from the coast areas of the Pontic basin.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

French Parliament Socialist Faction to Introduce Bill against Denial of Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.03.2006 21:46 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Socialist faction of the French Parliament took
a decision on March 29 to introduce a bill in the Parliament against
the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Revolutionary
Federation’s Western Europe Central Committee has issued a statement
welcoming the decision that is the result of many petitions sent by
the ARF to the Socialist Party leader Francois Holland. “This is the
second time that the Socialist faction is using the Parliament for
the benefit of Armenians,” the statement says. “After May 29, 1998,
which was dedicated to the Armenian Genocide law, the Socialist Party
could use May 18, 2006 to pass a law that would outlaw the denial of
the Armenian Genocide.” If passed, the law will make it a crime to deny
the Armenian Genocide and the deniers would be automatically convicted.

KOCHARIAN NOMINATED FOR UNITY OF ORTHODOX PEOPLES PRIZE IN 2006

Yerkir
30.03.2006 17:15

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenian President Robert Kocharian is nominated
for the prize of the International Fund of Unity of Orthodox Peoples
in 2006. “The Armenian Church is concerned with Orthodox Russians be
spiritually fed.

In this respect the support by the Armenian President and city
administration is available,” Moscow and All Russia Patriarch Alexy
II stated at the annual meeting of founders of the Fund in Moscow.

He also remarked that today Russia has the largest Armenian community,
which numbers over 2.5 million. Gazprom Public Corporation is also
nominated for “restoration of many ruinous sacred objects,” the
religious leader said.

Archbishop Sawa, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, will also
be awarded the prize. “The Orthodox Church of Poland is not large,
however it is active. The political leadership was changed. I believe
the life conditions of Orthodox people in Poland will not be very
easy,” Alexy II remarked.

A special international commission of the Fund headed by the Patriarch
annually considers the candidacies. Specifically, in 2005 the prize
was awarded to Archbishop of Tirana and All Albania Anastasios in
the nomination of Head of Local Orthodox Church, Cyprus President
Tassos Papadopoulos in the nomination of State Leader. Moscow Mayor
Yuri Luzhkov was also awarded the prize for Outstanding Activities
to Strengthen Unity of Orthodox Peoples, Interfax reports.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW ORGANIZATION OF PEOPLE WHO CANNOT HEAR

Lragir.am
30 March 06

The split within the Society of People with Hearing Problems in Armenia
is going on. Moreover, new interesting processes are outlining, which
may also have a home political context. On March 30 Parthev Muradyan,
member of the civic action group of the Society of People with Hearing
Problems, the leader of the so-called opposition of the Society, told
news reporters about this processes at the Pastark Club. He is not a
member of the society any more, he was dismissed several months ago,
but leads the movement of the society members against the present
leadership of the Society of People with Hearing Problems, namely,
President Jora Varagyan and his supporters.

Parthev Muradyan and the oppositionists of the Society complain that
Jora Varagyan has dissipated the property and money of the Society,
and is still doing. “Instead of operating the enterprises belonging to
people with hearing problems Jora Varagyan sold them, thus depriving
them of the possibility to work,” says Parthev Muradyan. His supporters
say soon they will have to beg. It is not only a social problem but
also a criminal one. Parthev Muradyan says there is enough evidence
on illegal sale of the property of the society and appropriation of
the money by Jora Varagyan.

A criminal action was suited, however, Parthev Muradyan and his
supporters are dissatisfied with the investigation. Parthev Muradyan
says Gharakhanyan, who investigates the case, concludes that there is
no criminal element in the activity of the president of the Society
Varagyan. On March 30 he and his supporters sent a letter to the
Head Public Prosecutor of Armenia, expressing concern about the
investigation, the possibility that Varagyan will not be punished,
and calling for the Head Public Prosecutor’s personal assistance in
the investigation and punishment of the guilty. A similar letter will
be addressed to the president of Armenia.

Parthev Muradyan does not dare say if the standpoint of the Office
of Public Prosecutor is biased. But Muradyan hints that one of the
reasons of the dissatisfaction of the oppositionist people with hearing
problems can be suspicions about partiality. The oppositionist movement
led by Parthev Muradyan assures that they will not give up even under
threat. By the way, in fact, there are threats. Parthev Muradyan
announced that the present president of the Society of People with
Hearing Problems threatens the oppositionist members of the society
with assault, even murder.

“We are well aware of these threats. But I announce that if anyone of
us suffered, they would get a due counterblow from where they would
have never expected,” Parthev Muradyan defends himself, announcing,
however, that they rely on themselves only.

Parthev Muradyan does not mention either who Jora Varagyan and his
supporters rely on, but he directly points to the direction where the
answer to the question could be found. “I did not tell anything before,
now I say that in the parliamentary election in 2003 Jora Varagyan
supported the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Think on the rest
yourselves,” says Parthev Muradyan. He said he had a video of Jora
Avagyan, asking one of the leaders of ARF in Los Angeles to donate 200
thousand dollars to the Society. “Then he was told that if he wanted
the money for the Society he should ask for 1 million 200 thousand
instead of 200 thousand. And he was refused,” said Parthev Muradyan.

Parthev Muradyan decided that the way out is to open a new organization
of people with hearing problems. They are going to establish a new
society of people with hearing problems, temporarily referred to as
“the Armenian Alliance of People with Hearing Problems.” The logo of
the alliance is the well-known gesture, meaning OK. Parthev Muradyan
says the Americans have derived this gestures from people who cannot
hear.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WB BOARD CONFIRMED PROGRAM OF DEVELOPMENT OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN ARMENIA

Lragir.am
30 March 06

The board of directors of the World Bank confirmed in Washington the
program of development of renewable energy in Armenia, which costs 8
million dollars. According to the news agency ARKA, this was stated by
Roger Robinson, the director of the WB office in Yerevan, during the
news conference on March 30. Roger Robinson said the program will be
funded by a 3 million dollar grant of the Global Energy Foundation
and an IDA loan of 5 million dollars for 40 years, on 0.75 per
cent interest and a grace period of 10 years. Roger Robinson said
the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide
7 million dollars, and the Gafeschyan Foundation will allocate 3
million dollars for the program of renewable energy in Armenia. The
WB representative in Armenia said the program must be confirmed by
the government and ratified by the National Assembly of Armenia.

It is estimated to create an additional 80 megawatt capacity of
renewable energy in Armenia within the upcoming 5 years.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“GOLDEN GUITAR-2006” REPUBLICAN FESTIVAL OF AUTHOR SONG TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Mar 30 2006

YEREVAN, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The “Ovation” producer center in
association with the Charity Fund of Cultural Development and RA
Ministry of Culture and Youth Affairs is organizing a “Golden Guitar”
(“Voske Kitar”) republican festival of author song. Those creating
and performing in the author genre to the accompaniment of guitar
can take part in the festival. Samvel Mesropian, Director of the
“Ovation” producer center, informed about it at the March 30 press
conference. According to him, the goal of the festival of author
song is to summarize the developments of this genre of recent
years, to reveal new authors performing their own songs giving
them an opportunity to perform from on the stage for the first
time. S.Mesropian said that such a festival was last organized
in Armenia in 1999. And before it the “Yeghegnadzor” festival
of author song was traditionally organized. According to Edvard
Zorikian, a member of the festival’s steering committee, a well-known
author-singer, this festival is just an opportunity to touch upon this
genre of art of singing. “This is the kind of art which is very subtle
but is very stable and of principle with its criteria. The lyrics is
dominating here and the guitar is the accompaniment of this lyrics,”
E.Zorikian is convinced. Well-known guitarist Martin Aharonian
emphasized that this genre is very individual and author-singers’
songs mainly contain also autobiographical elements. He mentioned
that at present this is an unknown genre for a wide circle of young
people. The bids for participation in the festival will be accepted
till April 20, after which the pre-selection tour will be held. The
best performers will take part in the contest of the first tour to be
held on May 10-15, then the winners together with well-known authors
performing their own songs will take part in the second tour’s concerts
to be held on June 6-10.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GAVAR THEATER WILL NOT BE REPAIRED THIS YEAR, EITHER

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Mar 30 2006

GAVAR, MARCH 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On the occasion
of the International Day of Theater, Gegharkunik Governor Stepan
Barseghian congratulated the actors of Gavar Levon Kalantar State
Dramatic theater two days later, meeting with the theater’s creative
collective on March 29. The Governor gave diplomas to 8 actors for
their contribution to the theater development and 7 actors were given
letters of thanks. As the actors mentioned, they are pleased to be
remembered even if once a year but they would like the theater not to
be left without attention. The hope that the theater will be repaired
with the funds of 2006 state budget won’t be fulfilled: the projecting
works implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development that lasted
for about 3 months remained on paper. Whereas, the theater badly needs
repairs. There are more than 0.5 meters of water only under the stage,
the building walls are cracked. In fact, the non-attractive looks of
the theater building won’t change in 2006, either.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress