Author: Emil Lazarian

ArmenPress
March 23 2005
ARMENTEL VOWS TO INVEST 50 MILLION EUROS TO UPGRADE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: ArmenTel telephone operator pledged
Tuesday to invest around 50 million euros in upgrading Armenia’s
telecommunications. ArmenTel’ chief executive manager Vasilis Fetsis
told a news conference that some 20 million euros will be invested in
modernizing mobile phone communication, 25 million in improvement of
linear phone services and another 5 million in the development of
information and telecommunications technologies.
Fetsis said the company will try to satisfy the demand for mobile
phones. He charged the company’s previous management for failing to
meet this demand especially that it enjoyed exclusive rights in this
service.
He said ArmenTel will continue digitizing liner phone
communication in Yerevan and Gyumri.

Released Azeri opposition leaders vow to continue struggle for democracy
ANS TV, Baku
21 Mar 05
[Presenter] The decree on pardon signed by [Azerbaijani] President
[Ilham] Aliyev on 20 March was fully executed today. Among the
released are those who were on the Council of Europe’s list of
political prisoners.
[Correspondent, over video of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev,
prisoners] The president has relieved 114 inmates from the rest of
their prison terms after considering requests for pardon, the health
condition of convicts, their family status, the duration of their
prison terms and their behaviour in prison.
[Passage omitted: reported details]
A total of 53 people released on pardon are those whom the Council
of Europe regarded as political prisoners.
[Rahim Qaziyev, pardoned former defence minister, captioned] As you
see, I am not bad, thanks to God. I am all right.
[Correspondent] [Editor-in-chief of Yeni Musavat newspaper] Rauf
Arifoglu, [chairman of the Hope Party and MP] Iqbal Agazada,
[chairman of the Karabakh War Disabled Society] Etimad Asadov,
[deputy chairman of the Musavat Party] Arif Hacili, [chairman of the
People’s Party of Azerbaijan and former prime minister] Panah Huseynov,
[deputy chairman of the Musavat Party] Ibrahim Ibrahimli and [general
secretary of the Democratic Party of Azerbaijan] Sardar Calaloglu
[who were convicted over post-elections riots on 15-16 October 2003]
have also been pardoned.
Sardar Calaloglu and Iqbal Agazada believe that their release was
possible following the pressure from international organizations.
Rauf Arifoglu said that the head of state should have taken this step
a year before. As for the future plans of the pardoned:
[Sardar Calaloglu, captioned] I think that we have to continue the
work from the point we started on 16 October [2003]. Azerbaijan is
on the eve of the parliamentary elections [in November]. We will do
our utmost to have those elections democratic.
[Iqbal Agazada, captioned] I will continue heading the party. We will
closely deal with both party building and the problems of Azerbaijan.
We will pronounce our unspoken words by taking a serious part in
Azerbaijan’s social and political life.
[Rauf Arifoglu, captioned] I will continue my activity as the editor
of the newspaper. [sentence indistinct]
[Correspondent] The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
[PACE] has called on the Azerbaijani government to resolve the
problem of political prisoners till its spring session in April. It
was largely said that if otherwise, Azerbaijan might face troubles
at the PACE. The head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE,
Samad Seyidov, believes that Azerbaijan has already resolved the
problem of political prisoners.
[Samad Seyidov, captioned] The relations between Azerbaijan and
the Council of Europe will develop normally and constructively. Any
issue regarding Azerbaijan at the April session of the PACE can be
considered to be out of the agenda.
[Correspondent] The special rapporteur of the PACE on political
prisoners, Malcolm Bruce, has told ANS that he commends the decree on
pardon by President Aliyev. He said that this fact will be especially
noted in his report.
Ceyhun Asgarov, Hikmat Asgarov for ANS.

Baku Today
Eurasia
Seminar on Perspectives of Liberalism on South Caucasus
Turan 23/03/2005 08:03
The one-day international seminar “Perspectives of Liberalism on South
Caucasus” was held on Sunday in Tbilisi. The seminar has been organized by
Friedrich Naumann Fund with assistance of Liberal International and
International Centre for Conflicts and Negotiations.
Representatives of Georgian governmental and non-governmental organizations
and leaders of Armenian national movement took part at the forum. Azerbaijan
was represented by Isa Gambar, Musavat party’s leader, Anagi Hajibeyli,
President of Azerbaijan Lawyers Association, and Mehman Aliyev, Director of
TURAN news agency.
Anemii Neiz-Yutebrock, President of Liberal-International, Belgian State
Minister and member of European parliament, said development of liberal
ideas in the transition countries, particularly, South Caucasus is very
important. She added that development of countries of the region adhering to
liberal and democratic values is possible on condition of existence of free
and transparent market, respect for citizens’ rights and freedoms.
Neiz-Yutebrock said that frozen conflicts endanger stable development of
South Caucasian countries.
She added that goal of the South Caucasian republics is to build their own
models of democratic existence based on their historical and cultural
heritage.
Representatives of three South Caucasian republics said that way solution to
conflicts in the region and stability lies through free elections and
formation of government of national confidence. ~SOnly after that it is
possible to create a single Caucasian political and economic space with its
further integration into European society.~T
After the seminar Isa Gambar had a separate talk with Anemia Neiz-Yutebrock,
during which the sides exchanged opinions on various issues.
Liberal-International was established in 1947. It consists of 82 parties
from 54 countries. Liberals have influential factions in European parliament
and Council of Europe. Their ideal is an open society with the system of
values and rules, where interests of an individual is a priority.

SLOVAKIA IS GOING TO SUPPORT ARMENIA IN ISSUE OF JOINING EUROPEAN UNION
BRATISLAVA, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. Pavol Grushovsky, the Chairman of
the National Assembly of Slovakia, discussed issues connected with
a visit to Armenia scheduled for the first decade of April during
the March 18 meeting with Chairman of the Armenian Community of
Slovakia Ashot Grigorian and the film crew of the Public Television
of Armenia. The recognition of the fact of the Armenian Genocide is
necessary, and the recognition of of this fact by the National Assembly
of Slovakia is no populism but a serious demand connected with the
compulsory recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey in case of
its joining the European Union, said Pavol Grushovsky. In connection
with the current level of the Armenian-Slovak relations the Chairman
of the National Assemly of Slovakia expressed an opinion that wider
possibilities for their development exist. The Chairman of the National
Assembly of Slovakia mentioned that meetings with the leadership
of Armenia are expected within the framework of the upcoming visit,
in which about twenty members of the Deputy Friendship Group of the
Slovak parliament will participate. The prospects of the development of
the relations of Slovakia with Armenia will be discussed. Slovakia is
going to support armenia in the issue of joining the European Union,
sharing experience in the sphere of democratization and resolution of
the economic isseus of the country. Armenia, as the first Christian
country, contributed to the development of the friendly relations
with Slovakia, said Paolo Grushovsky, especially turning with an
appeal on a meeting with the Catholicos of All Armenians.

NETHERLANDS TO ALLOCATE 390 THOUSAND DOLLARS TO ARMENIA FOR
INCREASING CAPACITIES OF RA MATIONAL STATISTICAL SERVICE
YEREVAN, MARCH 22, NOYAN TAPAN. With the aim of increasing the
capacities of the RA National Statistical Service, the International
Development Association, as manager of the grants provided by the
Dutch government, will provide a 390 thosand-dollar grant to Armenia.
The RA Minister of Finance and Economy Vardan Khachatrian and the World
Bank’s Representative in Armenia Roger Robinson signed an Agreement
on Statistical Capacities Development on March 22. The grant will
be aimed at developing the territorial statistics and working out
analytical mechnisms. Systems of strategical and financial management,
business registration and financial accounting will be developed
as well. R. Robinson noted that despite its limited resources, the
Armenian statistical service is carrying out considerable work. The
annual surveys of households conducted by the service are of special
importance since they provide data on poverty level. According to
V. Khachatrian, the Dutch government also co-finances the Poverty
Reduction Strategical Program. It has already provided a 4.7 mln-euro
grant for 2005.

Turkish Daily News
Today is Tuesday, March 22 2005 12:39 pm GMT+2 updated at 12:00 P.M.
Mehmet Ali Birand: Go to Damascus, but also decide on Ýncirlik
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
I will be in the United States this week. I was invited by the famous Emory
University. I will make a few speeches, while listening to Americans. In
other words, I will be sharing with you my impressions of America. However,
I need to say that all does not seem well
Mehmet Ali BIRAND
I left Istanbul last weekend. I visited New York and then went to Atlanta.
I was invited by one of the most respected universities in America, the
Emory University. I will attend conferences for four days. Turkey will be
the dominating topic in meetings held with academics and students. I will of
course also meet with a friend from CNN in Atlanta.
I will not be the only one who will talk, but I also intend to get a sense
of what Americans are thinking.
As you know U.S.-Turkish relations are experiencing some trouble again.
The state of affairs is not that good. The time of “misunderstandings” is
over. As Milliyet daily’s Sami Kohen, who recently returned from Washington,
wrote, Turkey is no longer the “trusted and loyal ally.” Kohen has the best
sense in these matters. He does not exaggerate and always tries to put a
positive spin on the issues.
The tension in bilateral relations is not one sided. Both Ankara and
Washington are to blame. Let’s first look at Turkey.
Disagreeing with Washington and not doing what we are told may gain one
some domestic credibility, or even sympathy. But if this is kept up for too
long and the necessary precautions are not taken, we will be forced to pay a
price.
If it continues unchecked, all of a sudden we come to realize that our
relations with the IMF are not like it used to be. One sees that they are
not as forgiving as they were and international banks charge higher interest
rates for loans.
The time comes and one notices that the White House is not as enthusiastic
in defending Turkey when the Armenian bill is submitted to the U.S.
Congress. If the Armenian genocide allegations are passed by the Congress,
Turkey’s power to resist these claims decreases significantly.
You may also see that you are pushed out from all the developments going
on in the Middle East. You realize that everywhere you go you are the
outsider and the unwanted guest, whose advice is not wanted.
Turkey does not need to do acquiescence to every U.S. wish. This is not a
debate about “submissiveness or revolt.”
The problem we are faced with is Ankara’s failure to display the necessary
sensitivity on matters important to Washington. This failure may be
intentional. Unfortunate statements, unnecessary comments and strange
stances are angering the George W. Bush administration and the State
Department.
The U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman coming out and making a
statement that implies, “It would be good for President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
to cancel his trip to Syria,” is no coincidence. The ambassador making it
clear that he is uncomfortable with the anti-American statements made by
high officials, especially politicians, does not happen every day. We
shouldn’t be surprised to see American journalists, who were briefed by the
U.S. Embassy in Ankara, writing harsh articles.
What all this means is that the relations are deteriorating rapidly and if
the necessary precautions are not taken, the situation can become very
serious.
It’s easy to resolve this problem:
If we are willing to put a stop to this vicious circle, it is very easy to
repair relations between the two countries. A little more sympathy and
caution may be enough.
Americans are saying that it’s about time Turkey chose one side.
When the Turkish government accuses Israel of conducting state terrorism,
delays issuing friendly warnings to Damascus to withdraw from Lebanon and
even then tries to use covert means to do that, supports Iran and alleges
that American troops in Iraq are guilty of genocide, Washington naturally is
up in arms.
They don’t want Turkey to be too friendly with such countries. They want
good relations with Turkey to continue and for it to become a force for good
in the region. However, Ankara fails to do either.
Make up your mind on Ýncirlik:
The state of the Ýncirlik military base is often cited as an example.
For the past few months, Turkey has been asked to broaden the use of
Ýncirlik for humanitarian reasons. Ankara has failed to make up its mind.
The government says the military is in charge, while the military says it is
the government’s responsibility. No one seems to be able to do something due
to doubts felt against the United States.
The tension mounts while nothing is being done.
However, we need to do something soon.
If the president is to go to Damascus, let him. However, his stance there
needs to reflect a policy. The Ýncirlik issue should not be pushed to the
sidelines. It is also important for the members of the ruling Justice and
Development Party (AKP), from the very top to the very bottom, to learn to
keep their tongues in check.
We don’t have any other option but to choose a side and initiate our
policies. In other words, some fine tuning is called for.
However, as I said earlier in the article, Ankara is not the only side to
blame. The Bush administration is also to blame for the current state of
affairs. I will write about that tomorrow.
Let’s not forget that the clock is ticking.
–Boundary_(ID_ShWGx7XHcyZoUWzISvKJTw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Sunday Territorian (Australia)
March 20, 2005 Sunday
Moscow hijack puzzle
By GEMMA JONES
A SYDNEY man has been arrested in Russia after allegedly threatening
to blow up a plane flying from Tokyo to Moscow.
Simon Papikian, 28, from Bossley Park, was charged last night by
Russian authorities with making a hoax bomb threat and making false
claims about a terrorist act.
He is alleged to have attempted to get into the cockpit of an
Aeroflot Boeing 777 as it landed at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport but
the crew were able to restrain him.
Police were waiting at the airport and arrested him before
questioning him at a nearby police station.
Initial reports suggested Mr Papikian may have demanded the crew fly
the plane to the breakaway Russian region of Chechnya.
His family were puzzled by reports he may have wanted the plane
directed to the Muslim region because they say he is a committed
Christian.
His mother Armen said last night that the electrical engineer, who
graduated from the University of Technology six months ago, was en
route to Yerevan in Armenia to visit a sick cousin.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Economist
March 19, 2005
U.S. Edition
A man of all seasons

British theatre
PAUL SCOFIELD, who was superbly directed by Peter Brook in “King
Lear” in 1962, was first struck by the director’s ice-blue eyes.
Adrian Mitchell, a poet who was involved in an anti-Vietnam
propaganda play directed by Mr Brook, felt he was looking into eyes
of astonishing power. Michael Kustow, the staunch, loyal author of
this authorised biography, published just as Mr Brook turns 80,
refers to “ancient, glittering” eyes – like one of W.B. Yeats’s scholar
mystics.
Mr Brook’s right eye stares out of the British edition of this book.
As a defining image, it reflects other qualities: stubbornness,
wilfulness and mischief. After all, this is the stage director who,
in the 1960s, declared: “The theatre has to face the death of the
word.” Mr Brook has always courted controversy, though he does not
always like its consequences. Sir David Hare, an English playwright,
caused great offence when he described some of Mr Brook’s recent work
at his Centre International de Recherches Thétrales in Paris as an
exile’s “universal hippie babbling which represents nothing but a
fright of commitment.”
The great man, who is impatient with criticism and critics, will have
no quarrel with Mr Kustow’s sympathetic and comprehensive celebration
of a remarkable life in the theatre. It provides what the critics
will require – an accurate picture of what Mr Brook has done and said.
For example, Mr Kustow identifies an unlikely coupleof influential
figures: Georgi Ivanovich Gurdjieff, an eccentric Armenian-Russian
occultist, who, to express his philosophy generously, believed that
people sleepwalk through life and need waking up, and Jerzy
Grotowski, a Polish director, who, according to Mr Kustow, is a
“teacher in the tradition of the seer and the shaman.”
Mr Brook was born in west London on March 21st 1925, the son of
enterprising Russian-Jewish refugees. (His father’s pharmaceutical
company made a well-known laxative called Brooklax.) A precocious
child, he staged a puppet performance of “Hamlet” when he was ten,
describing it as being “by William Shakespeare and Peter Brook”. When
he directed “Hamlet” again 65 years later at the Bouffes du Nord – the
theatre in Paris to which he transferred his affections from London
when he was 45 – it was renamed “The Tragedy of Hamlet, adapted and
directed by Peter Brook”. This version was heavily cut and much
transposed. As Mr Brookexplained: “I don’t think Shakespeare’sgenius
shone through every detail.”
Mr Brook has always believed that he knows best, and there is strong
evidence that sometimes he is right – in his “King Lear” and “A
Midsummer Night’s Dream”, both for the Royal Shakespeare Company,
when he had no quarrel with Shakespeare’s genius. He also made a
memorable film adaptation of William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”,
his revenge for an unhappy time at English public schools, and a
celebrated production of a Hindu epic, “Mahabharata”, which drew a
large multi-racial and multi-lingual audience.
Mr Brook provides a compellingaccount of his eclectic working methods
in a short book of lectures called “The Open Door”. Both his account,
and Mr Kustow’s, suggest that he is happiest with texts that he has
prepared himself. He has become his own stage designer and usually
chooses his own musical accompaniment. What he likes best is to roll
out a carpetunder a tree and perform for audiences, like children,
who have no knowledge of the conventions of the western theatre. Mr
Brook does not like theatres, or box offices, or the pragmatic London
theatre producers. He does admit that sponsors are necessary, but
“they must be enlightened”.
Perhaps this suggests that Mr Brook is in thrall to an idealistic,
other-worldly vision of the theatre. Mr Kustow reckons that his
singular achievement is to have breathed life into it. Only a churl
would disagree.

Noblesville Daily Times
Saturday
March 19, 2005
Librarian shares Ukrainian egg decorating experience with children
By Beth Shively | Staff writer
Posted: 03/19/05 – 01:53:18 pm EST
The sticky-fingered girls gathered around a library table working on an
Easter craft had one caution for others who might like to try the modified
Ukrainian egg decorating project.
Dipping egg-shaped Styrofoam in sweetened condensed milk and then rolling it
in green, gold and multi-colored glitter is a fun project, they said, but
just a little bit messy.
“It’s pretty neat,” said Lauren Smith. “But it’s sticky.”
The project was inspired by Gwen Tetrick, a school media specialist who also
works in the Hamilton East Public Library youth rooms in Fishers in
Noblesville. Tetrick got the idea for the project while visiting in Ukraine
last summer, where her daughter was stationed as a Peace Corps volunteer.
“They’re just everywhere in Ukraine, just everywhere,” Tetrick said about
the elaborately decorated Pysanky eggs.
The country even has an egg-shaped museum to house the decorations, which
are made each year to celebrate spring, and are especially prevalent at
Easter. In addition to the Pysanky eggs made by Ukranians with hollowed
shells, hot wax and dyes, the museum houses jeweled Faberge eggs.
Tetrick was so inspired by the ornate objects and the warm and welcoming
people she met in Ukraine that she wanted to create a craft to do with
children who visit the Hamilton East Public Library. In addition to the
glittered eggs, the kids also colored wooden eggs using traditional Pysanky
colors and symbols to represent different emotions and objects.
Roses, for example, symbolize love and caring, ladders mean prosperity or
prayer, and a fish represents Christianity. But while the decoration of eggs
is closely associated with Easter, the craft was not invented for the
holiday.
According to the Easter Traditions Web site, painting eggs with bright
colors to celebrate spring is a practice that predates the advent of
Christianity. But because eggs symbolize new life, they are a logical symbol
for the celebration of Easter.
In addition to Ukrainian customs, cultures around the world have taken the
symbol and each added their own touches, the Web site said. Greeks dye their
Easter eggs red to symbolize and honor the blood of Christ, while Germans
and Austrians traditionally give green eggs on Maundy (or Holy) Thursday –
the day commemorating Christ’s Last Supper.
In Slavic countries, decorating eggs in special patterns of gold and silver
adds luster to the shell and to the sharing. The Armenian tradition is to
decorate hollowed-out eggshells with religious images significant to the
holiday.
But no matter the color or pattern used, Tetrick said in Ukraine there is
one element consistent with all egg decorating.
“It’s a very family-oriented project,” she said.
Know More
When decorating Pysanky eggs, Ukrainians use these colors to represent the
following:
White n purity or wisdom
Yellow n harvest, spirituality, spring, rebirth
Green n wealth, youth, growth, happiness
Blue n good health, clear skies
Orange n power, endurance, ambition
Red n happiness, hope, passion, nobility, bravery, enthusiasm, love
Brown n enrichment, good harvest, happiness
Purple n faith, trust, power
Pink n success
Black n remembrance
To learn more about Pysanky egg decorating, visit For
more information about Easter Traditions, visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
March 18, 2005
American University of Armenia Corporation
300 Lakeside Drive, 4th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Telephone: (510) 987-9452
Fax: (510) 208-3576
Contact: Gohar Momjian
E-mail: [email protected]
AUA Poli Sci Lecture Discusses Phenomenon of Terrorism
Yerevan – AUA’s School of Political Science and International Affairs hosted
a public lecture entitled `Is Terrorism a New Phenomenon,’ by Dr. Shireen
Hunter, who is visiting Armenia at the invitation of the United States
Embassy.
`One man is a terrorist, the other man is a freedom fighter. Terrorism has
political motivation and a political goal, a political goal includes
ideological and religious factors,’ stated Dr. Hunter, who is currently the
Director of the Islam Program at the Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington, D.C. and Consultant to the RAND Corporation.
During the lecture, Hunter discussed the differences between terrorism and
criminal acts, separating them into two groups. Criminal acts include
killings by people who are involved, for example, in drug trafficking and
other self-motivated organized murders. Terrorism has political motive. Dr.
Hunter also pointed out that the use of terrorism in political purposes is
not a new phenomenon and that we are now facing a transnational kind of
terrorism. `This is a new stage that consequently requires sustained,
long-term multidimensional efforts and international cooperation.’
Dr. Hunter holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Institut
Universitaire des Hautes Études Internationales in Paris and an M.A. from
the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was Academic
Fellow at Carnegie Corporation (2000-2002), Visiting Senior Fellow at the
Centre for European Policy Studies (1993-1997). From 1966-1978, she was a
member of the Iranian Foreign Service, serving abroad in London and Geneva.
She attained the rank of Counselor and served as Charge d’Affaires of the
Iranian Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.
AUA’s Graduate School of Political Science and International Affairs offers
students a variety of courses dealing with the political environment of the
21st Century. The School’s primary focus is to provide analytical, reasoning
and problem solving skills through the study of international, comparative,
and domestic governmental institutions and processes. The Master of
Political Science and International Affairs aims to provide students with
the knowledge and perspectives needed to function effectively in public
service, the private sector and as responsible citizens.
*******************
The American University of Armenia is registered as a non-profit educational
organization in both Armenia and the United States and is affiliated with
the Regents of the University of California. Receiving major support from
the AGBU, AUA offers instruction leading to the Masters Degree in eight
graduate programs. For more information about AUA, visit
Photo: Dr. Shireen Hunter, Director of the Islam Program at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. speaks at AUA
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress