Author: Emil Lazarian

Putin Supports Embattled Armenian President
BY Clarence Hall The Moscow News
Moscow News (Russia)
May 19, 2004
On Saturday, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan wrapped up his
three-day official visit that gave the beleaguered Caucasus president
the first good news he had had in months
The meeting began as all such meetings do, with the two presidents
praising cooperation between the two countries. Robert Kocharyan
was especially pleased with last year’s 34% of trade growth seen
between Armenia and Russia, as well as Russian businessmen’s continued
investment in his country.
According to experts in Russian-Armenian affairs, the pleasantries
ceased as soon as the presidents moved behind closed doors, where
the real discussion, the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, began.
On May 13 the final signatures were placed by Iran and Armenia on a
project to build an oil pipeline from Iran to Armenia with possible
plans to extend the shipping network to Georgia, Ukraine, and even
Europe. The United States was the first country to criticize the plan
and went as far as to threaten economic sanctions against Armenia
should it finalize the deal with the Islamic republic.
Russia, too, disapproved of the plan, but for different reasons:
If a second gas supplier appeared from the East, Russia would lose
its gas-supply monopoly to Europe. In early March such fears seemed
to be validated, as Armenia’s Energy Minister, Armen Movsisyan, said,
“After the ‘Blue Stream’ project is realized, building long-distance
sea gas pipelines will no longer be a fantasy.”
Experts say that the Armenian administration was able to convince
President Putin before the trip. “The negotiations for building the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline took place over 12 years, and that the treaty
was even signed is a huge accomplishment – not just economically,
but politically as well,” says Alexander Iskandaryan, provost at the
CIS Caucasus Institute. He says that the very fact that the treaty was
signed between Armenia and Iran shows that Moscow had given consent
to the deal.
Putin’s support for the pipeline can also be viewed as political
support for Kocharyan. The Armenian opposition has for the past few
months been pressing for significant political changes in the country,
including the resignation of the current government. PACE and OSCE
have both criticized Kocharyan’s heavy-handed approach, while Russia
has remained altogether silent on the issue.
“We have many opportunities to work together better, more effectively,”
President Putin said about Russian-Armenian relations. It is clear
what Russia has done for Armenia – but as for now only the Russian
government knows what Armenia will do for it. Sell it more Armenian
cognac perhaps? MN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU offers help to seek solution to Nagorno-Karabakh problem
Associated Press Worldstream
May 18, 2004 Tuesday
BRUSSELS, Belgium — European Commission President Romano Prodi on
Tuesday offered to mediate between Azerbaijan and Armenia to find a
solution to the decade-long feud over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
After meeting with Prodi, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said he
welcomed EU involvement to boost the efforts of the “Minsk Group”
of negotiators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe.
“The European Union must take a more active stance,” said Aliev.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan and
has been under control of an internationally unrecognized ethnic
Armenian government backed by forces who also occupy parts of
Azerbaijan adjoining the enclave.
Because of the dispute over the enclave’s final status, the
Armenia-Azerbaijan border is closed. Failure to resolve the issue is
seen as having discouraged investment in both countries because of
concern that another war over the enclave could erupt.
Prodi said a breakthrough is needed as quickly as possible.
“I expressed my will to be at the disposal of the two nations,” said
Prodi, insisting his offer was not targeted against the Minsk Group.
“We don’t want to disturb their work, but simply push them because it
has been so many years that there are no results,” he told reporters.
rac-pa< From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan should counter strong Armenian lobby in US – Azeri paper
Ekho, Baku
19 May 04
Text of N. Aliyev and R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on
19 May headlined “Armenian lobby calls on US Congress to cut military
aid to Azerbaijan
US Armenians have been startled by Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev’s statement made in Naxcivan that the Azerbaijani army is
ready to restore its territorial integrity at any time.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and “key
representatives of the Armenian lobby in the United States capable
of influencing the US policy” have issued a special statement in
connection with the threat “of resumption of aggression against
Nagornyy Karabakh”.
To all appearances, the Armenian lobby in the USA is launching a
new campaign of pressure on the American administration. The ANCA
wants Washington to toughen its position towards Baku. With the
forthcoming elections, the timing of the campaign seems to be perfect,
and considering the proportion of the Armenian population in the USA
it will be difficult to ignore its voice. It is already clear that
the Armenians are going to vote for democratic candidate John Kerry,
who in fact has already promised a lot to the Armenians.
“Unfortunately, it appears that previous signals from the US
administration concerning an increase in the volume of military
assistance to Azerbaijan cheered up the Azerbaijani president so much
that he has precipitously renewed threats against Nagornyy Karabakh,”
the executive director of the ANCA, Aram Khamparyan, has said.
The head of the ANCA appealed to the US Congress expressing the hope
that US congressmen would give the right assessment to the threat
posed by further US military assistance to Azerbaijan. Khamparyan
called on the US Congress to respect the agreement on “parity” (equal
military assistance to Azerbaijan and Armenia), which was reached by
the White House and the Congress in 2001 and served American interests
for several years”.
It is curious what the suspension of all US military assistance to
Azerbaijan could lead to. According to independent military expert
Lt-Col Uzeyir Cafarov, the US military assistance to Azerbaijan
“certainly plays a role in the way certain activities are conducted
in the Azerbaijani armed forces. However, it would be wrong to say
that this assistance is invaluable for our army, because our state
budget allocates sufficient funds to maintain the combat-readiness
of the army.
According to Cafarov, the disruption of the “parity”, as the ANCA
describes the situation, has to do with the fact that Azerbaijan,
unlike Armenia, was and still is actively involved in the international
anti-terror coalition together with the Americans.
“It is not surprising at all in this context that US ambassador
to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish stated recently that his country’s
administration would appreciate the expansion of the Azerbaijani
peacekeeping contingent in Iraq,” Cafarov added.
The military expert believes that the president’s statement was
quite justifiable.
“Our position is quite fair. We think that the negotiations cannot
last forever. They either have to bring about a tangible result or
Azerbaijan has got to reserve the right to liberate its lands by
force,” he said.
According to Cafarov, in this situation diplomats both in and outside
Azerbaijan have to step up their work.
“They have to try to elaborate such statements by the head of state
and other officials. It has to be stressed that Azerbaijan has both
moral and legal right to solve the problem by force.”
The head of the Euro-Atlantic Centre, MP Asim Mollazada, says it is
worth recalling that the previous head of the ANCA, Murad Topolyan,
was arrested and convicted by a California court for maintaining
contact and selling arms to different Arab terrorist groups.
“This situation seems paradoxical. On the one hand, the statement has
been made by a notorious organization and, on the other, it has been
made in support of Armenia, a country of the South Caucasus pursuing
a policy which totally contradicts US national interests. Armenia is
the main military and political partner of Iran and Russia, while
Azerbaijan and Georgia are both parts of the US-led anti-terror
coalition,” he said.
According to Mollazada, not only the US administration but also
a number of influential US officials are starting to have second
thoughts about the role of Armenia.
At the same time, Mollazada acknowledges that the Azeri or Turkish
lobby is not as active in the USA. He thinks it could play an important
role in advocating Azerbaijan’s interests at the political level. “Here
the balance of forces is not in our favour,” he said.
As for countering the efforts of the US Armenians, Mollazada believes
that it is necessary “to start active work not just by launching
short-term campaigns but by organizing serious work informing US
legislators of the real situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The
US-based Azerbaijani diplomats and ordinary Azerbaijanis can provide
information about this to local newspapers and write letters about
how the policy of our country meets national security interests of
the United States”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Turkish, Armenian Speakers discuss mutual expectations
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
19 May 04
Strasbourg, 19 May: Turkish Grand National Assembly parliament Speaker
Bulent Arinc met Armenia’s parliament Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan for
bilateral talks during the Council of Europe parliament Speaker’s
conference.
During the meeting, which lasted around 45 minutes, Armenia’s
parliament Speaker reportedly raised the issue once more of Yerevan’s
wish to establish diplomatic relations with Ankara.
According to information gathered by the AA [Anatolia] correspondent
from diplomatic sources Arinc voiced what expectations Turkey had of
Armenia before diplomatic relations could be formed.
Voicing the ill will felt at the genocide claims and the land claims
in the Armenian Constitution, Arinc recalled that not just Ankara
but international institutions starting with the UN were expecting
positive steps to be made in connection with the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem. Arinc gave the message that should Turkey’s sensitivities
be taken into account and Armenia took positive steps to settle the
Karabakh problem then Ankara would meet them with pleasure and would
give Yerevan the necessary response.
Recalling that Turkey was the first country to recognize Armenia
and also the first country to extend aid to the people of Armenia,
Arinc said that in response to any positive steps Yerevan might take,
Ankara would give the request for opening diplomatic relations the
consideration it deserved.
Arinc is also going to meet with Turkish judges working at the European
Court of Human Rights today as part of his itinerary in Strasbourg.
The conference of Council of Europe member countries parliament
speakers lasted two days, and ended this morning with a session called:
“Cooperation for More Democracy: National Parliaments and European
Assemblies”.
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc will return to Turkey tomorrow.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri leader, Turkish foreign minister discuss Karabakh, Cyprus
ANS Radio, Baku
19 May 04
[Presenter] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit
to Belgium continues. President Aliyev will meet today NATO
Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. At the end of the second day
of his visit to Brussels, President Aliyev met the Turkish deputy
prime minister and foreign minister, Abdullah Gul. ANS’s special
correspondent, Qanira Pasayeva, has a report on this.
[Correspondent, on the phone] Abdullah Gul advanced a proposal over
the Nagornyy Karabakh problem. That was about the trilateral meeting
of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Turkish foreign ministers. Asked if
such a meeting was expected within the framework of NATO’s Istanbul
summit in late June, Gul did not rule out this. Armenia also positively
reacted to the issue.
As far as the Cyprus problem is concerned, Gul expressed his
satisfaction with the fact that Azerbaijan had supported Turkey in
the Cyprus affair within the framework of the Islamic Conference
Organization in Jidda [as heard]. Some displeasure was observed,
which mainly stemmed from the Turkish media reports on the absence of
the Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation in [the Council of Europe]
debates over Cyprus in Strasbourg. However, Gul said that such events
might not affect the Azerbaijani-Turkish relations.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had a working breakfast organized
by the European Politics Centre [EPC]. Officials from the EPC also
attended the breakfast party.
[Passage omitted: details of president’s working schedule]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

10 most famous Russians in the USA
Pravda Ru
US scholars, reporters and professors composed long list of Russians
popular in the USA.
The criteria for naming famous Russians were as follows:
1) Authority in professional sphere, such as science, art, literature
and so on
2) Popularity among Americans. Sportsmen, people of show business,
preachers fit this category.
3) Authority in politics (political scientists, lobbyists).
4) Authority in economics (businessmen and managers).
The top ten Russains are:
1. Mikhail Baryshnikov – ballet dancer, producer, actor.
2. Anna Kurnikova – tennis player and model.
3. Dmitry Sims – President of Nixon Research Center.
4. Leon Aron – Director of Russian Research of Institute of American
Entrepreneurship
5. Nikolai Zlobin – Director of Russian and Asian programs of the
Center of Defense Information.
6. Elena Bonner – human rights activist, the widow of Academician
Andrei Sakharov.
7. Yury Temirkhanov – conductor of Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
8. Semen Kukes – businessman, Head of YUKOS company.
9. Ariel Koen – Research Director of Nasledie (Heritage) Foundation.
10. Eduafrd Lozansky – publisher and lobbyist, President of American
University in Moscow, founder of Russian Annual Economic Forum.
Then the list follows with physics Alexei Abrikosov and Roald Sgdeev,
historian Sergei Khrushchev, hockey player Pavel Bure, sculptor Ernst
Neizvestny and Sergei Brin who developed Google search system.
All these people came to the USA from Russia, Russian is their native
language.
The citizens of the former USSR contribute to the US culture, science,
education, politics, technology and sports. Russian Americans Joseph
Brodsky and Alexei Abrikosov became Nobel laureates.
Yul Brinner is one of the best Hollywood actors.
Remarkably, Russians did not achieve much in the sphere of business and
economics. Previous generations of Russians in the USA were better in
business. Emigrant Vladimir Zvorykin invented first TV set in 1933.
He founded first TV station with another Russian David Sarnov,
President of Radio Corporation of America, later the plants of the
corporation started producing TV sets. Another Russian emigrant, Igor
Sikorsky, constructed first helicopter in the USA in 1939. Sikorsky
Aviation Corporation is still among the global leaders in constructing
helicopters, the US President uses Sikorsky’s helicopter.
Russians failed to create united community in the USA and elect their
politicians, as Armenians, Jews and Ukrainians did.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan calls on EU to solve Karabakh dispute
By Sebastian Alison
Reuters AlertNet, UK
May 18 2004
BRUSSELS, May 18 (Reuters) – Azerbaijan called on the European Union
to help solve a long-running row with Armenia over the disputed region
of Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, apparently catching the EU’s executive
Commission off its guard.
The Commission this month added Azerbaijan, with Caucasus neighbours
Armenia and Georgia, to its New Neighbourhood programme, which seeks
closer ties with countries around the bloc following its expansion
eastwards on May 1.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev lost no time in challenging Commission
President Romano Prodi to translate this into action by asking the
EU to take a leading role in the conflict.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a territory wholly inside Azerbaijan, populated
by Christian ethnic Armenians, which broke away from Baku’s rule as
the Soviet Union collapsed. The Azeris, their country controlling
large oil resources, want it back.
Prodi told journalists after meeting Aliyev that the EU had expressed
“our disposal to help if requested”. He insisted he could not give
details as no request had been made.
Not so, shot back Aliyev. “We already asked, and during today’s
meeting once again,” he said.
A ceasefire, ending a six-year conflict that killed about 35,000
people, has held for a decade. However, the Minsk Group of 11
countries, led by France, the United States and Russia under the
mandate of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
has so far failed to settle the problem.
Aliyev, who succeeded his father as president last year, backed the
Minsk Group but said he wanted more.
“Azerbaijan is very strongly interested that other important European
organisations, first of all the European Union, take a more active
stand,” he said.
“If Azerbaijan and Armenia are now in the New Neighbourhood policy, the
occupation by one country of the territory of another must be stopped,”
he added, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops.
His remarks suggest the EU may face problems by rolling out the new
policy, which could mean “importing” several conflicts — notably
in Moldova, another New Neighbour, where a stalled war pitting
Romanian-speaking Moldovans against ethnic Russians has also rumbled
on for a decade.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azerbaijan calls on EU to help settle Karabakh conflict
ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 18 2004
BRUSSELS, May 18 (Itar-Tass) – Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev
has called on the European Union to take part in the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.
“The Minsk group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OCSE) makes an important contribution to the problem’s
solution. We consider it useful to attract the European Union, the
Council of Europe and other European organizations for the conflict’s
settlement efforts to achieve tangible results,” Aliyev said at a news
briefing after the talks with the President of the European Commission,
Romano Prodi.
Prodi expressed the readiness to join the work for a settlement of the
Karabakh conflict. He pointed out that the EU was greatly concerned
about the absence of peace in the region.
The EC leader said the union was ready to invigorate the settlement
process and put forward concrete proposals. The EU is also prepared
to step up economic cooperation with Azerbaijan under what has been
termed the “ring of friends and neighbors” strategy, expanded recently
to encompass Azerbaijan.
Alyiev described the recent meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers as “very important for pursuing a peaceful dialogue”.
“We do not want talks for the sake of talks, we do not a simulation
of talks,” he said. “We seek a meaningful discussion with Armenia of
new themes and problems that can yield concrete results in settling
the conflict in line with international law and territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri leader, EU officials meet in Brussels, discuss Karabakh
ANS TV, Baku
18 May 04
[Presenter] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who is on a visit to
Brussels, has started his official meetings. To recap, the visit by
the Azerbaijani leader to this country mainly aims to discuss the
enlargement of bilateral cooperation with the EU leadership. ANS’s
special correspondent in Brussels, Qanira Pasayeva, is on the
line. Hello Qanira. Good afternoon. Here you are.
[Correspondent, on the phone] Good afternoon, Leyla. First,
President Ilham Aliyev met EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter
Verheugen. Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe and the policy
of Europe’s neighbours, that is Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus
countries are among them, and the Nagornyy Karabakh problem were
discussed during the meeting.
The most interesting meeting was held later with European Commission
President Romano Prodi. The sides gave a joint briefing for the
press after a 45-minute tete-a-tete meeting. Prodi said they focused
on Europe’s neighbourhood policy. He went on to say that they
accepted Azerbaijan as following this policy, that is the policy
of Europe’s neighbours. The South Caucasus countries were invited
[word indistinct]. According to him, that was his first meeting with
Aliyev and they will establish continuous and full cooperation with
Azerbaijan. He said that they supported Azerbaijan’s admission to the
World Trade Organization and other reforms launched in the country. He
said that they had discussed these issues widely with President Aliyev.
Prodi said that the European Union was concerned about the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem, because the conflict has not been resolved for
10 years. Unfortunately, there is no peace and we want the OSCE
Minsk Group to reach some results in the solution to this problem,
Prodi said. According to him, a solution should be found in order to
reach peace between the states and neighbours. Friendship should be
cultivated among the states neighbouring us. However, the international
public should be involved in this issue and resolve the problem. That’s
all Leyla.
[Presenter] Thanks, Qanira.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Arabs should also turn their fury at their own
International Herald Tribune
Massoud A. Derhally IHT Monday, May 17, 2004
AMMAN, Jordan To the majority of Arabs, the United States is a country
of double standards, and its leadership expounds the arrogance
and belligerence of an imperialist power. Thus the abuses at Abu
Ghraib prison will be etched forever in Arabs’ minds: If only the
American people knew what their country did abroad, many Arabs think,
if only Americans understood the anguish brought on by Washington’s
self-serving foreign policies, then they would understand why so much
Arab hate is directed toward them.
Unfortunately, most Arabs end the argument here. Yes, the repulsive
prison pictures vindicate some Arab grievances. But if there is a
lesson to be learned, it is that Arabs should be equally enraged by
the deficiency of human rights in their own countries.
Countless acts of violence have taken place in the Arab world that
dwarf the abuse of Abu Ghraib. There are wretched human rights
violations every day in the Middle East, yet they somehow aren’t met
with the same indignation and high standards of accountability Arabs
hold America to.
Why is that? The United States is a beacon of democracy, freedom
and transparency. It is the very absence of these fundamental values
that underscore the impotence of the Arab people. Arabs need to ask
themselves why it is that so many places have experienced their own
form of renaissance – be it Latin America, South Africa or Asia –
and why they haven’t.
That is the lesson to be learned from this fiasco in Iraq. If
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld can exhibit some humility,
so can our leaders in admitting their mistakes – and so can we,
in our struggle to define ourselves in this century.
It is true that America’s unrelenting support of Israel, now anchored
more than ever after President George W. Bush’s unconditional
endorsement of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unilateral disengagement
plan, provides ammunition to hate. But invoking the Israel card for
most Arab governments has, by and large, meant giving the stamp of
approval to crackdowns, the denial of civil liberties and the creation
of systems that instill fear and paranoia.
In this sense, Arab anger at America is a culmination of the
frustrations in their own lives: the inability of people to vent their
anger openly at their own governments, the failure to rise up against
injustices committed in their own backyards, and the absence of checks
and balances that in democracies ensure that those in authority are
held accountable.
Democracy, some say, is not viable or applicable for Arabs. Arabs need
to be ruled by an iron fist, the argument goes, and the culture of
the Arab world doesn’t allow for the expression of different opinions
or the coexistence of different ideologies. Such statements expound
the very stupidity that lead to the massacre of Muslims in Bosnia and
Kosovo, of Jews in World War II, and of Armenians by Turks after World
War I. It is this line of reasoning that has fostered an environment
that nurtures zealotry – a defeatist mentality that perpetuates the
subservient role Arabs have become accustomed to.
If there were a single transparent and democratic system in place today
in the Arab world, those calling for reforms would be hailed and not
arrested. Women would be empowered. Were pictures of torture, abuse
and humiliation of prisoners to come out, then perhaps the region would
escape this twilight zone and experience its own renaissance. So when
Arabs look at those pictures of Iraqis being humiliated, they should
also take a look in the mirror – they may not like what they see.
Massoud A. Derhally is a freelance journalist and a former
correspondent for Agence France-Presse.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress