Author: Emil Lazarian

BOLSHOI THEATER BALLET FINISHES ITS U.S. AND MEXICO TOUR
RIA Novosti, Russia
Nov 14 2004
MOSCOW, November 14 (RIA Novosti’s writer Natalia Kurova) The Bolshoi
Theater ballet is finishing its six-week U.S. (Boston and Chicago)
and Mexico tour, the first one in over 30 years. Raymonda ballet is
closing the tour in Chicago on Sunday.
The Bolshoi performed its modern version of Romeo and Juliet as well
as classical Raymonda, Giselle, and Don Quixote ballets.
“Through all the six weeks and over 40 performances, the house was
overcrowded,” director general of the Bolshoi Theater Anatoly Iksanov
told RIA Novosti exclusively, “In Mexico, newspapers wrote it must
have been the Lord himself who had sent the Bolshoi ballet to the
Mexican audience. Of course we are pleased with the result of the
tour, but most of all I am happy about landslide success of the Romeo
and Juliet, a ballet that produced controversial remarks among the
Russian public. On returning back to Russia, we will make a tour of
Russian regions and post-Soviet countries.”
According to Iksanov, on November 21-23 there would be three gala
concerts in Tajik capital Dushanbe; in May the Bolshoi’s ballet
company will perform in Armenian capital Yerevan, while in January
2006, the ballet will move to Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.
In Moscow, he added, the ballet will begin rehearsing A Midsummer
Night’s Dream with renowned American choreographer John Neumeier.

Glimpses of Ottoman Palestine
Bahrain Tribune, Bahrain
Nov 14 2004
‘The exhibition at Beit Al Quran was a one-to-one conversation with
the elite and the ordinary
– an exchange of thought and not an eloquent exhibition of wit or
oratory.’
It may appear naive, a little preposterous, to expect 104 photographs
and photocopies of 18 hand-written documents to do full justice to
the mighty Ottoman empire that ruled Palestine for over 400 years –
almost uninterrupted.
It will also be naive to expect such a small exhibition – crammed into
a small gallery with only breathing space – (had there been a crowd,
there would have been more jostling than actual viewing), to expose
you to the complexities and the psyche of the ruler and the ruled in
all bitter-sweet aspects.
Realising that any pre-conceived notions would be only a bias and
dangerous, I stepped into Beit Al Quran – not to see what I wanted
to see, but to see what was all there to see: glimpses into freedom,
harmony, camaraderie and community spirit in Palestine between 1850
and 1919.
Water-carriers, women from Siloam selling vegetables or melons, Shaikh
Noury offering food to passers-by, gypsies, boating in Engaddi/Arnon
(Dead Sea), fishermen using their dishes as cymbals, pilgrims at the
Lion’s and the Damascus gates, celebration of the renewal of Jerusalem
water pipeline… well, it was a gallery of people of individual honour
and personal character, of independence, of the faces of humanity
without mask. There were no masters, no dictators, no champions.
It was also a hall for a one-to-one conversation with the elite and
the ordinary – an exchange of thought and not an eloquent exhibition
of wit or oratory.
The still moments carried in them infinite space, and this infinite
space was infinitely exhibited – as the everlasting joy.
Kudos to the Turkish embassy in Bahrain and Beit Al Quran for the
judicious selection of the photographs from the collection of Turkish
Consulate General in Jerusalem.
“Of an estimated 15,000 photographs in existence – until the end of
the Ottoman period in Palestine – the Consulate General has acquired
copies of 1,500 after years of painstaking search of the archives of
Orient House, the Arab Studies Society and other local institutions as
well as private family albums,” the Director of Museum at the centre,
Ashraf Al Ansari, tells me.
The photographs – faces, landscapes, town scenes, holy places – all
captured the fabric of the communities, their unity in diversity, the
social, economic and cultural life, the Ottoman Turkish architectural
imprint on monuments and structures. The documents, provided by the
Ottoman Archives Department of the Directorate General of the State
Archives of the Prime Ministry of the Republic of Turkey, depicted the
social and administrative aspects of Ottoman governance in Palestine
– a place which had remained one of the most important districts of
the empire from 1517 until the end of World War I.
The most important document was the ferman (ordinance) of Fatih
Sultan Mehmet guaranteeing religious freedom to all the clergymen
from different religions in Al Quds in 1457 – and affirming that the
empire was one of the most tolerant in the world.
“Unlike the preceding rulers, the Ottomans allowed the majority of
Muslims and Christian Arabs as well as minorities such as Jews,
Circassians, Druses, Serbs, Assyrians, Armenians and Turks to
peacefully coexist – as a natural right – regardless of their religious
or ethnic backgrounds,” Al Ansari says. The population also included
large groups of foreign missionaries, teachers and fringe groups of
Christians and Jewish refugees.
To further affirm his argument, Al Ansari points to another ordinance
(issued on August 31, 1565) on keeping of the holy places in Al
Quds such as Mariam’s Tomb and Qadem-Isa clean and the prevention of
improper acts on such sites.
“Most of the inhabitants, Arabic speaking Christians and Muslims,
lived in a few hundred villages with self-sufficiency. The elite lived
in the towns and were different from the subjects in the villages. The
high priests were often Greek though the congregation was Arabian. The
landowners were often Turks,” Al Ansari says.
The state never prevented any of the Christian communities from
exercising their historically acknowledged rights of free passage into
Jerusalem nor interfered in any way with their religious conduct, he
says. Further evidence that the empire kept to its contract with the
People of the Book is provided in church documents. They reveal the
systematic building, renovation and upkeep of churches and monasteries
in Jerusalem and beyond.
For instant, the permission to the Armenian Catholic community
in Jerusalem in 1887 to build a church on property close to a
Muslim mystic fellowship, even though the Armenian Catholics in
Jerusalem numbered just four households of 22 men and women. What is
extraordinary about the incident is that the permission was given
at about the same time as state elements were massacring Armenians
in Anatolia.
No visitor to the exhibition would miss the eclectic social milieu
and its various moods – a man selling ice-cream in Jerusalem (1917), a
local Arab pasha in full Ottoman Army insignia (1900) children watching
through the magic box (1919), an American cavasse (1905) the cattle
market in the Sultan’s pool (1900), a Samaritan with a scroll (1901).
More, a 1918 photograph of a women’s union making handicrafts
in Ramallah is perhaps the best evidence of women’s emancipation
during the Ottomans when they were allowed to earn a living with a
condition of not getting involved with men. The sorts of employment
were embroidery and weaving.
Education was another priority of the empire which encouraged the
teaching of both Arabic and English languages by opening the Arab
Primary School and the Friends School in Ramallah.
Other achievements include a railway line between Jerusalem and Jaffa
opened in 1892, the first major highway joining the two cities that was
completed in 1867l the town hospital was rebuilt in 1891 in the west
side of Jerusalem, the first windmill was built in 1839, the Citadel,
near Jaffa Gate, was repaired, adding a few adjoining structures,
the Clock Tower, a magnificent square tower with four huge towers
at the top of each side, was built in 1909 on top of Jaffa Gate as
a memorial to the British conquest during World War I.
In 1863, the local authority ordered the removal of all market
platforms to create space for pedestrians in 1885, old street tiles
were replaced in all of the City’s alleys and main streets, with the
provision of side channels for drainage.
The empire has gone, but the holy territories have retained to
date some remarkable features of the bygone era empire in the daily
socio-cultural life in Palestine. The Ottoman concept is still in the
memories of the Palestinian people. And the exhibition succeeded in
its aim – if it was to depict the remarkable cultural ebb and flow,
which characterised the Ottoman period, if it was to try and find
out hints from the Ottoman rule in this territory so that they could
be feasible examples for the present day, if it was to remember the
longest stable period of the Palestinian history with respect.
A walk through the gallery was like a visit to the Holy Land. At the
same time, it was a reminder of her spirit as a land of peace and
the possibility and hope for a better future.

Ve3d.com
IGN Insider
Nov 13 2004
The Pirates of Pirates!
Part two focuses on William Kidd and Jean Lafitte.
November 12, 2004 – If you checked in with us yesterday, you saw the
kickoff of our Pirates! feature. In it we detailed Stede Bonnet and
Blackbeard, two of the pirates you’ll be sharing the seas with when
Firaxis and Atari ship Pirates! later this month.
We continue the feature today by taking a look at pirate/pirate
hunter William Kidd and Jean Lafitte.
William Kidd
Captain Kidd’s story serves as a cautionary tale, warning of the
dangers of privateeringand of the blurry line between that occupation
and outright piracy.
In December, 1695, a privateering vessel named the Adventure Galley
was launched at Deptford, England, on the Thames River. The ship was
to sail around Africa and destroy pirates operating in the Red Sea
and to harass French shipping there. She was commanded by William
Kidd, an experienced captain and privateer.
The Galley’s maiden voyage was beset by ill luck and delay. Upon
departure Kidd promptly lost almost half of his crew to the English
navy’s press gangs and was forced to make up the missing men by
recruiting the dregs and scum of New York harbor. It took five long
months for Kidd to make the voyage around Africa, and on arrival he
immediately lost another fifty men to a tropical disease.
By the time he reached the Red Sea the surviving crewmen were almost
in open mutiny and Kidd was ready to resort to almost any means to
keep them in line. Unfortunately, most of the French shipping had
been driven out of the area, and all Kidd encountered were neutral
vessels. But Kidd was desperate, probably fearing for his life, and
he attacked and captured a number of neutrals, believing (or hoping)
that ambiguities in their ownership and papers made them legitimate
prizes.
On January 30th of 1698, Kidd encountered the Quedah Merchant. Owned
by Armenians and flying under false French colors, the Merchant was
one of the richest prizes ever taken at sea. Kidd was enormously
pleased with his good fortune – until he discovered that the Merchant
had an English captain, which made his attack an act of outright
piracy. In horror, Kidd ordered that the ship be freed, but his crew
angrily refused. Instead, they sailed the ships to the African island
of Madagascar and divided the plunder (surprisingly, they gave Kidd a
full privateer captain’s portion of 40 shares). Then all but a
handful of men deserted Kidd for another pirate in the area.
Convinced that he was an innocent victim of the actions of his
mutinous crew, Kidd took the remainder of his men back to New
England, where he hid some of his treasure before reporting to the
local authorities. The authorities made Kidd reveal where he had
hidden the treasure, then shipped him back to England in irons.
After rotting in prison for a year, Kidd was put on trial. He was
quickly found guilty of piracy and sentenced to be hanged.
Even then his bad luck didn’t desert him: the rope broke and it took
his executioners two tries to kill him.
(Incidentally, this is the only known instance of a pirate burying
any substantial amount of treasure. Most everybody else spent their
loot as quickly as they got it.)
Jean Lafitte
Jean Lafitte was born sometime around 1778. He and his older brother,
Pierre, went to sea at an early age; somewhere off the west coast of
Africa the two quarreled with their captain, and began new careers as
privateers. An extremely brave, skilled, dashingly-handsome and
personable young man, Jean Lafitte quickly earned himself a
captaincy. After a good run in the Indian Ocean, the Lafittes moved
on to the Caribbean, where they established a base of operations on
Grand Terre, an island in the mouth of the Mississippi. Lafitte ran a
tidy little criminal empire in the Louisiana bayous. His men ranged
far and wide over the Caribbean while he and his brother fenced much
of the loot in New Orleans, where they became something akin to folk
heroes.
When the US took possession of New Orleans, the new Governor tried to
have the rogues arrested, but without success. With intimate
knowledge of the swamps and bayous of Louisiana – as well as the
enthusiastic support of the locals of New Orleans – the Lafittes were
virtually untouchable.
In 1812 the US declared war on England. An admirer of the United
States, Jean Lafitte offered his services to the US Governor in
return for full amnesty for him and his men, but the Governor
declined the offer. When the British invasion was imminent, the
Governor launched a surprise attack against Grand Terre, driving
Lafitte and his men into the dismal swamps.
Lafitte’s men wanted to join the British to exact revenge against the
Americans, but Lafitte stood firm. Staking his freedom and his life
on one last throw of the dice, Lafitte decided to meet in person with
General Andrew Jackson, the newly-arrived commander of New Orleans’
defense.
A former Tennessee lawyer and politician, “Old Hickory” was known as
a brilliant soldier and an honest, straightforward man. Much to
everyone’s surprise the general and the pirate got along famously,
and Jackson quickly accepted Lafitte’s offer.
The events of the Battle of New Orleans are well-known. Lafitte and
his men acted as guides for the US forces, allowing them to launch
surprise attacks against the approaching British, delaying their
advance until the American defenses were in place below the city. In
the final battle Lafitte led an independent force of sharpshooters
against a regiment attempting to outflank the American position,
while his other men worked the American artillery, earning Jackson’s
admiration for their coolness under fire. The American position was
unassailable, and the British Army was driven back with heavy losses,
securing New Orleans for the United States. General Jackson was true
to his word, and Lafitte and his men received full pardons.
— Firaxis

ARKA News Agency
Nov 12 2004
ISC-Star Company does not plan to stop its activity at
telecommunication market of Armenia
Today Armenian IP telephony companies hold protest action near
armenian Parliament building
Estonian President to arrive in Armenia with official visit on
November 13-16
The exhibition of Armenian goods and services to be held in Tbilisi
on March 16-18, 2005
Armenian Government allocates AMD 40 mln for providing accommodation
to 66 families in village of Lernadzor of Syunik marz
*********************************************************************
ISC-STAR COMPANY DOES NOT PLAN TO STOP ITS ACTIVITY AT
TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET OF ARMENIA
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. ISC-Star Company does not plan to stop
its activity at telecommunication market of Armenia, press service of
the company told ARKA. According to the statement of the company,
ISC-Star plans to realize its projects using high professional
potential of personnel and acting in the frames of RA Constitution
and international law. “We don’t participate in political games and
do not have any geopolitical or party orientation. We were dealing,
are dealing and will be dealing only with business”, press release
states.
Note ISC Star planned to submit application for participation in the
tender for provision of mobile communication services.
On Nov 4, 2004 RA Government recognized K-Telecom the winner in the
contest for provision of mobile communication.
Armenian-Russian JV ISC Star was registered in Armenia on September
24, 2001. The founders of the JV are both juridical entities and
individuals from some foreign countries, including Russia (Komin LLC
and LanRusinvest OJSC), as well as the residents of RA. The unified
system of Star (ISC Star) includes over 100 nets of IP communication
and paging all over the world. L.D. –0–
*********************************************************************
TODAY ARMENIAN IP TELEPHONY COMPANIES HOLD PROTEST ACTION NEAR
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT BUILDING
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Today Armenian IP telephony companies
held action protest near the building of RA Parliament.
Representatives of about 200 IP telephony companies demanded audience
by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Arthur Baghdasaryan for
delivering him an open letter signed by circa 10 thou Armenian
citizens. As Armenak Khachatryan, Representative of organizational
committee of IP telephony companies, Director of Deltacom told ARKA,
the protesters demand that the Parliament reviewed license of
ArmenTel, which was granted IP telephony monopoly. The
representatives of the organizational committee were received by
Tigran Torosyan, the RA NA Vice-Speaker, who promised to pass the
letter over to the Speaker and to intercede for their meeting with RA
Prime-Minister. The IP telephony companies plan to hold a rally on
Liberty Square, if approved by the Municipality.
To remind, the Armenian IP telephony companies started a one-day
strike in protest against granting ArmenTel with IP telephony
monopoly. 95% of companies on IP market take part in the strike.
On November 3, RA Government made a decision on making amendments to
the licence of ArmenTel Telecommunications Company. According to the
amendments, ArmenTel is deprived of its monopoly right to provide
GSM-services and portable satellite communications services. Also,
the company is deprived of its monopoly right to Internet traffic in
Armenia. At the same time, the company is given monopoly right to
IP-telephony, which will bring to closing down 250 companies
operating in that sphere. L.V. –0–
*********************************************************************
ESTONIAN PRESIDENT TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA WITH OFFICIAL VISIT ON
NOVEMBER 13-16
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. On November 13-16 Estonian President
Arnold Ruutel and his spouse will arrive in Armenia with official
visit. As Armenian President Press Service told ARKA, the main
purpose of the visit is fostering of development of inter-state
relations, deepening of bilateral cooperation, defining of further
economic interrelations as well as discussion of a number of issues
of mutual interest. On November 15 the presidents will have
tete-a-tete conversation after which the bilateral negotiations will
be continued in enlarged format.
During his visit Arnold Ruutel will meet the Armenian Speaker Arthur
Baghdasaryan, and PM Andranik Magarian. As it is mentioned in the
press release, the Estonian President will meet Catholicos of All
Armenians His Holiness Garegin II in Holy See of Echmiadzin as well
as will lay a wreath to the Memorial of the Armenian Genocide of
1915. During Ruutel’s official visit there will be held
Armenian-Estonian business forum. The Estonian President also will
meet lecturers and students of the Yerevan State University. He also
will visit historical sites of Armenia. On November 16, the
delegation headed by Estonian president will leave Armenia. T.M. –0–
*********************************************************************
THE EXHIBITION OF ARMENIAN GOODS AND SERVICES TO BE HELD IN TBILISI
ON MARCH 16-18, 2005
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. On March 16-18, 2005, the first
exhibition of Armenian goods and services “Armenia today EXPO 2005”
will be held in Tbilisi. According to LOGOS EXPO Center, products of
food, machine-tool, stone-working, chemical industries and products
of electrical technice and electronics industry, building materials,
paints and varnishes of Armenian production, services in the sphere
of cargo and passengers transportation will be exhibited. The main
goal of the exhibition is to advance export of Armenian products,
establish mutually advantageous business cooperation with Georgian
business circles and promoting the established relations.
According to the press-release, the area under the exposition will
make 450 square meters, and 38 companies already are willing to
participate in it as of November 10, 2004.
LOGOS EXPO Center is acknowledged for organizing the exhibition with
the general support of RA Ministry of Trade and Economic Development
and the official support of RA MFA and the Union of Manufacturers and
Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia. A.H.—0–
*********************************************************************
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT ALLOCATES AMD 40 MLN FOR PROVIDING ACCOMMODATION
TO 66 FAMILIES IN VILLAGE OF LERNADZOR OF SYUNIK MARZ
YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. Armenian Government allocates AMD 40
mln for providing accommodation to 66 families in village of
Lernadzor of Syunik marz. As Armenian Government Public and Press
Relations Department told ARKA, the Armenian Finance and Economy
Ministry is instructed to allocate the envisaged by the budget lump
sums to deposit accounts of the agent banks of the mentioned
families. As the press release mentions that non-refundable financial
assistance will be directed at implementation of construction or
purchase of accommodation. (1 AMD – 503.47). T.M. –0–
*********************************************************************
–Boundary_(ID_F30XQCSxhZ6w+527tuRS6w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Global Population Implosion
The New American
Nov 12 2004
“For decades, much has been written about the world’s exploding
population,” noted an October 7 Christian Science Monitor report.
“But 60 countries, about a third of all nations, have fertility rates
today below 2.1 children per woman, the number necessary to maintain
a stable population. Half of those nations have levels of 1.5 or
less. In Armenia, Italy, South Korea, and Japan, average fertility
levels are now close to one child per woman. Barring unforeseen change,
at least 43 of those nations will have smaller populations in 2050
than they do today.”
“This baby dearth has potentially weighty economic consequences for
governments worried about everything from economic vitality to funding
future pension programs and healthcare,” continues the Monitor. “That’s
why many of them have been taking measures designed to encourage their
citizens to multiply.” France is offering mothers a birth subsidy of
800 euros per baby; Italy offers mothers of second children a bonus
of 1,000 euros.
South Korea has been offering tax incentives for families with young
children. Japanese prefectures (roughly the equivalent of state
governments) have been organizing hiking trips, cruises, and other
singles events with an avidity that would make the stereotypical
Yenta proud. In Japan, notes the paper, singles “are often called
‘parasites’ because, when they retire, they have no children paying
into the national pension system or helping out otherwise.”
Such efforts to address the birth dearth, like previous efforts to
combat the “population explosion,” illustrate that most governments
continue to regard children as a social resource to be managed by
the state.

Losing Mosul?
AINA – Assyrian Int’l News Agency, CA
Nov 11 2004
Mosul, Iraq — The northern Iraqi city once hailed as a post-war
model is on a perilous backslide
Khalid Moustafa’s family has no idea who killed him, or why.
Moustafa, a Kurd, was a yogurt seller and taxi driver, the husband
of an Arab woman and the father of five children, with a sixth on
the way. He was found in pieces, his head near his home, his body
left by a highway. “Mosul is a butchery,” says the victim’s father,
asking that his name be withheld to protect the rest of his family.
Moustafa’s murder is part of a recent wave of killings that threatens
to turn this multiethnic, Arab-dominated northern gateway city into
the next Fallujah, as areas of the city are slipping out of the
control of U.S. forces and the Iraqi government.
Life still appears normal in many parts of Mosul, especially in the
Kurdish neighborhoods on the eastern side of the Tigris River. Stores
are open, traffic is thick and the Iraqi National Guard patrols
the streets. But much of Mosul has become an incubator for regional
terrorist groups like Ansar al-Islam, the Kurdish fundamentalists,
and for foreign fighters crossing the still unsecured border from
Syria, according to U.S. and Iraqi security officials. “Many kinds
of criminals and terrorists come into Mosul from Syria. It’s like the
Super Bowl for them,” says Salim Kako, a top official of the Assyrian
Democratic Movement, which represents many Christians in Mosul. The
outsiders have mixed with Mosul’s homegrown fundamentalist Islamic
opposition and a potent Baathist resistance fueled by the city’s
large number of unemployed soldiers. This stew of local and outside
insurgents is stepping up attacks on American and Iraqi security forces
— and anyone suspected of collaborating with them. Week after week,
car bombings, improvised explosives and shootings take a steady toll
of Iraqi National Guard and U.S. personnel
The insurgents hope to pull Mosul apart by targeting those people
best-placed to help unify it. Threats and assassinations often target
the city’s professional classes, workers in its economically vital oil
industry and known political moderates. “Anyone who advocates freedom
and democracy is considered to be publicly for America and a target,”
says Rooa al-Zrary, a Mosul journalist whose father, the editor of
a moderate newspaper, was murdered last year. Doctors are fleeing,
finding work in Erbil. “The situation is bad and getting worse,” says
a surgeon at Salaam Hospital, the city’s largest. Adds a colleague:
“We feel like there are eyes watching everyone, and that the resistance
is growing stronger every day.” At Mosul University, teaching is now
a dangerous occupation. The dean of the college of law was found dead
outside her home, along with her husband. And three professors have
been murdered, including the head of the political science and the
translation departments.
Mosul’s cosmopolitan character is also under attack. “The mosaic
of Mosul is a miniature Iraq: Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans, Assyrian
Christians, Nestorian Christians, Muslim Sunnis, Muslim Shi?ites,
Yezidis and Armenians,” says Sadi Ahmed Pire, the Mosul chief of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of Kurdish Iraq’s two governing
parties. By attacking this mosaic, he says, “the Syrians and the
resistance are trying to create anarchy.” Minority groups viewed as
sympathetic to the Americans are particularly vulnerable. A Christian
church was bombed in early August, and Christians have been among those
murdered. Pire says he has survived several assassination attempts.
Tal Afar, a city 30 miles west of Mosul populated almost entirely
by Iraqi Turkoman, was overrun by terrorist groups this summer. In
early September, the U.S. Army laid siege to the town and the ensuing
two-week battle was so fierce that the Turkish government complained
that Americans were killing innocent Turkoman civilians. Many Mosul
residents worry that Tal Afar was a dry run for their city.
The sad irony is that Mosul had once been a postwar model for U.S.
involvement in Iraq. From April 2003 until last February, the city
was under the command of the 101st Airborne Division, led by Lieut.
General David Petraeus, who tried to be sensitive to local concerns.
Several residents fondly recall particular soldiers by name. “Tell
Mr. Anderson of the 101st Airborne that a Moslawi girl salutes him,”
says a schoolteacher. The 101st devoted itself to economic-development
projects, including restarting a cement factory that had been one
of the city’s biggest employers. These days the local economy has
stalled as foreign companies have fled. According to Pire, about
600,000 breadwinners are unemployed in a city of somewhere between
2.6 million and 3 million people.
The 20,000-strong 101st is gone, replaced last February by the 8,700
soldiers of Task Force Olympia, a multinational brigade of coalition
troops. Although they include a large number of U.S. National Guard
reservists, American soldiers have largely taken a backseat to the
Iraqi National Guard. So far, as in the rest of Iraq, the performance
of these new units has been mixed. “The current invisibility of
American soldiers has made people happier. People feel more comfortable
with Iraqi soldiers,” says Dindar Doskar, head of the Mosul office
of the Kurdish Islamic Union (KIU). “But there are not enough Iraqi
soldiers and police, and the terrorists have better weapons.” Because
of that threat, politicians in Mosul say the nationwide elections
scheduled for January are likely to be turbulent there. “Who is going
to vote under these conditions?” asks the KIU’s Doskar. The offices
of the major political parties have already been attacked. Predicts
Doskar: “There will be car bombs at voting stations just like there
are car bombs at police-recruiting stations.” And perhaps heads left
on the sidewalks to give awful testimony to Mosul’s deepening crisis.
By Andrew Lee Butters
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOREIGN AMBASSADORS PRAISE TURKMEN AMNESTY
Turkmenistan.ru, Turkmenistan
Nov 10 2004
Foreign ambassadors accredited to Turkmenistan have highly rated
the republic’s amnesty act that granted freedom to 9,000 inmates,
including 150 foreign nationals, the Ashgabat correspondent of
Turkmenistan.ru reports.
It should be recalled that in 1999 Turkmenistan adopted the law,
“On the annual amnesty and pardon on the occasion of the holy “Gadyr
Gijesi” (the Night of Omnipotence), according to which inmates
convicted for minor crimes are released from jails every year under
the amnesty and pardon.
In an interview to the State news service (TDH) published in today’s
newspapers Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Turkmenistan
Golamreza Ansari said in particular that a tradition set by Saparmurat
Niyazov to release inmates right on the night of “Gadyr Gijei” “is
one more evidence of the friendly Turkmen people’s true spirituality
and commitment to the Islamic values, affirmation of high principles
of humanism and justice in the modern Turkmen society.”
The Iranian Ambassador expressed appreciation of the policy pursued
by the Turkmen leader as well as hope that the amnesty act, thanks
to which there were also released citizens of Iran, would further
strengthen ties of friendship and understanding between the two
friendly peoples.
Ambassador of Turkey to Turkmenistan Bahaddin Gursoz said in an
interview to the TDH that there were four Turkish citizens among
inmates pardoned by Saparmurat Niiyazov. “All of them are impressed
by humanity and mercy demonstrated to them, and they keep thanking
President Saparmurat Niyazov for allowing them to return to their
families,” Bahaddin Gursoz said.
Armenian Ambassador to Turkmenistan Aram Grigoryan said in an interview
to the TDH that there also were four citizens of this Caucasian
country. Expressing hearty gratitude to President Saparmurat Niyazov,
the head of diplomatic mission noted that preparation work by the
Armenian Embassy together with the Turkmen Foreign Ministry to send
pardoned Armenian citizens back home is currently under way. The
diplomat also said that the President of Turkmenistan “is equally
merciful toward its own people and citizens of foreign countries.”
Another representative of the diplomatic corps accredited to Ashgabat,
Ambassador of Kazakhstan Vyacheslav Gizzatov, said in an interview to
the TDH that the amnesty is “the expression of high generosity and
humanism.” According to him, several citizens of Kazakhstan will
“return to their families” as a result of this action and “will
be able to take on the path of repent and get down to creative
work.” The Ambassador also stressed that “clemency granted by the
head of Turkmenistan will be never forgotten by relatives and close
friends of the pardoned” and the act of humanism by Saparmyrat Niyazov
“will further strengthen traditional bonds of friendship and good
neighborhood that connect our two friendly peoples from the ancient
times.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri minister says Karabakh mediators should be active in peace talks
Ekspress, Baku
10 Nov 04
Text of Xazar Altay’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 10
November headlined “Elmar Mammadyarov: ‘We are expecting a final say
from the Minsk Group co-chairs ‘”
“Baku is expecting a final say from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in
the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement. If the mediating countries [Russian,
France and the USA] do not want to miss an opportunity of maintaining
peace in the region, they should liven up their participation in
this process,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told
Ekspress yesterday [9 November].
Commenting on the current situation in the [settlement] process,
the minister said that the co-chairs should correctly access the
situation and be more active in the talks.
Mammadyarov touched on Azerbaijan’s position and said that the issue
of territorial integrity should be respected in any case. He, however,
thinks that “the issues like the right to self-determination” may be
discussed in the future.
“The main thing is that there is a subject for the dialogue. The
settlement of the conflict is possible, if the sides want this. The
co-chairs should achieve that Armenia wishes this.”

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Nov 10 2004
NATO PA May Recognize Armenia As Aggressor
Armenia may be recognized as an aggressor at the 50th session of
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) to be held in Venice, Italy on
November 12-16, the Milli Majlis (parliament) Vice Speaker Ziyafat
Asgarov said.
German parliamentarian, member of a NATO committee will deliver a
special report on Azerbaijan at the session. The report says that
Armenia has occupied Azerbaijan’s Nagorno Karabakh region and seven
adjacent districts, Asgarov underlined.
According to the Vice Speaker, the NATO PA may adopt, for the first
time in its history, a decision recognizing Armenia as aggressor.
The session participants will discuss issues related to the restoration
and development of Afghanistan and Iraq, fighting terrorism, new
partnership, the threat of weapons of mass destruction and cooperation
between NATO and the European Union.
Twenty-six NATO member states and thirteen PA associate member
countries will attend the session.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

L’Express , France
8 novembre 2004
”14-18 est l’invention de la guerre totale”;
Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau
par Makarian Christian
Peut-on encore apprendre quelque chose sur la guerre de 14-18?
Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau prouve que oui. Spécialiste de la Première
Guerre mondiale, ce jeune historien a consacré toute son oeuvre à la
redécouverte d’un conflit en passe de devenir mythique. Il s’est
penché sur la fibre humaine, les ressorts psychologiques, les effets
à long terme. Il a ainsi été le premier à s’intéresser aux enfants
nés de l’ennemi, au mécanisme du deuil, à l’usage de l’enfance par la
propagande… Il a contribué à fonder l’Historial de la Grande Guerre
de Péronne, dont il dirige, avec sa collègue Annette Becker, le
centre de recherche. Professeur à l’université de Picardie
Jules-Verne, à Amiens, médaillé de bronze du CNRS, il est un des
coordonnateurs, avec Jean-Jacques Becker, de la remarquable
Encyclopédie de la Grande Guerre, publiée par Bayard (voir l’article
de Jacques Duquesne, page 104). Il donne ici, pour L’Express, une
vision éclairante de ce conflit.
Presque un siècle après le déclenchement du premier conflit mondial,
si l’on essaie de se détacher du fil des événements et de s’abstraire
de la charge émotionnelle de la Grande Guerre, quel bilan peut-on
tirer au titre de l’histoire universelle? Je crois que ce qui
subsiste de 1914-1918 peut se résumer à une expérience de violence
sans aucun précédent historique. En tout cas à l’échelle de
l’Occident et plus particulièrement de l’Europe. La Première Guerre
mondiale à la fois représente la mort de masse et induit les autres
formes de violence qui l’accompagnent. A l’impact du conflit lui-même
s’ajoutent les effets sur les survivants, puis sur les générations
suivantes.
Comment se manifeste ce deuxième impact, qui est parvenu jusqu’à
nous? D’abord, on ne peut qu’être frappé par la manière dont
l’expérience de violence s’est déplacée ailleurs, notamment dans le
champ politique et idéologique. La cristallisation des totalitarismes
au XXe siècle est un élément crucial, qui vaut tant pour le fascisme
ou le nazisme que pour le communisme. Cristallisation qui s’étend, de
surcroît, sur le court, le moyen et le long terme: dès 1917 pour la
Russie, le début des années 1920 pour l’Italie, les années 1930 pour
l’Allemagne et jusqu’à la fin des années 1980 pour le bloc
soviétique, la chute du mur de Berlin représentant, au fond, la
dernière séquelle géopolitique, et par contrecoup idéologique, de la
Grande Guerre. Ensuite, reste le problème du deuil de masse. Je suis
persuadé que les historiens n’ont pas vraiment mesuré son poids
persistant sur les sociétés européennes. Ils n’ont pas davantage
estimé les effets de récurrence de ce deuil, de génération en
génération. L’activité commémorative qui a commencé immédiatement
après la Grande Guerre, dans tous les pays et avec une intensité
inouïe, a sans doute empêché le deuil de se clore alors que c’était
le but initialement recherché. La présence si forte, de nos jours, de
ce passé guerrier dans notre présent révèle, dans une large mesure,
une parenthèse non refermée. C’est ce que les psychiatres
spécialistes des catastrophes de masse appellent un “phénomène de
troisième génération”. Ce sont les petits-enfants et
arrière-petits-enfants de 14-18 qui ramènent désormais la guerre au
premier plan.
N’y a-t-il pas, également, un “effet 14” qui perdure sur le fait
national, par exemple au centre et à l’est de l’Europe? Il y a
certainement un lien entre 14-18 et certaines résurgences actuelles
des affects nationaux. Indiscutablement, le premier conflit mondial
est avant tout une grande guerre des nations et, derrière les
nations, une guerre de civilisation, dont chaque grand pays se
croyait porteur. Les Français combattaient les Allemands avec la
conviction d’incarner la “civilisation” contre la “barbarie”. Les
Allemands, quant à eux, pensaient défendre l’avenir de la “Kultur”.
Les Britanniques et les Américains n’étaient pas en reste. Au-delà
des nations, ce sont des visions de l’humanité qui se sont
affrontées. Sans cet arrière-plan idéologique, qui peut aussi receler
des connotations ethniques de type raciste, on ne comprend rien à
l’ampleur du processus guerrier, à sa durée, à l’acharnement mis à le
poursuivre. L’Alsace-Lorraine, par exemple, n’est qu’un aspect mineur
s’inscrivant dans le cadre d’une défense de la nation qui elle-même
incarne la civilisation, et se veut donc l’expression de l’humanité
tout entière. Dans les enjeux de la Grande Guerre, on trouve une
composante eschatologique, très perceptible lorsqu’on relit les
discours tenus le 11 novembre 1918: la victoire devait permettre aux
sociétés humaines dans leur ensemble de connaître un âge d’or que,
sans la guerre, on n’aurait pu atteindre. Cela paraît aujourd’hui
monstrueux, mais c’est bien ainsi que la victoire des Alliés a été
perçue.
Il a fallu déchanter et retourner au réel. Comment s’est produite ce
que les historiens appellent la “démobilisation culturelle”? Cela
dépend des pays. En France et en Grande-Bretagne, l’écart se creuse
assez rapidement entre la perception des sacrifices consentis et les
résultats réels. Chez les vaincus – l’Allemagne ou l’Italie – il
n’existe pas de vraie démobilisation, mais une seconde étape
mobilisatrice, qui provoque la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le grand
moment d’un pacifisme susceptible de dévaloriser globalement, à
l’échelle de toute l’Europe occidentale, les affects guerriers et
nationaux date d’après 1945 et surtout des années 1960 et 1970. C’est
là seulement que tous les pays européens intériorisent définitivement
les effets du double choc de la Première et de la Seconde Guerre
mondiale. C’est là la justification profonde de la construction
européenne, qu’on ne peut comprendre autrement.
Où en sommes-nous aujourd’hui? Peut-être à un retour de balancier.
Les affects nationaux, si démonétisés, sont revenus, ici ou là, sur
le devant de la scène, dans une sorte de nostalgie du national. Ce
retour n’a, bien sûr, rien à voir avec ce que fut la surrection du
sentiment de nation en 1914, mais je crois qu’il ne faut pas négliger
le vague regret, qui ne peut évidemment s’avouer, que cette époque-là
engendre. En d’autres mots, le fait que 1914 puisse apparaître comme
une horreur, mais aussi comme une sorte d’apogée de la “France
parfaite” me semble peu discutable. Beaucoup de contemporains
entretiennent une relation ambiguë, à la fois horrifiée et fascinée,
avec l’investissement national qui s’est manifesté au cours des ces
quatre années, avec cet examen de passage sanglant et si tragiquement
réussi.
D’autant plus que, de façon confuse, les Français ont la perception
d’un déclin continu depuis… Question difficile pour l’historien. La
sensation d’un déclin français, qui existe effectivement avec force,
découlerait-elle de ce moment où la France aurait été une dernière
fois elle-même? C’est en tout cas vraisemblable. On le voit très
bien, par exemple, dans la manière dont les soldats français ont
perçu Dien Bien Phu, en 1954, cette dernière bataille de l’armée
française au XXe siècle. Quelle est alors leur référence constante,
comme le prouvent leurs lettres et leurs témoignages? Verdun. Or,
sans Dien Bien Phu, comprend-on l’intense investissement militaire
français en Algérie? Il est clair que 14-18 pèse sur tout le siècle
et, au-delà, sur toutes les représentations de nous-mêmes en tant que
nation. De nos jours, la nostalgie de la France en tant que grande
puissance fait peu de doute. Mais comment l’avouer sans admettre,
voire excuser, le massacre de masse de 1914-1918?
En va-t-il de même dans les autres pays européens? Les situations
sont très différentes, ce qui explique pourquoi il ne peut y avoir de
cérémonie du 11 Novembre au niveau européen. Le fait que la société
britannique n’ait pas subi, sur son sol, un choc aussi violent que la
France en 14-18, puis en 1940, contribue à une moindre érosion de
l’esprit “militaire” de 1914. On le constate lors des pèlerinages
britanniques sur les lieux: le continuum patriotique n’a pas connu de
rupture majeure. Il s’exprime jusqu’en 1982, lors de la guerre des
Malouines, cette dernière guerre de l’honneur menée par une société
occidentale au XXe siècle. Du côté allemand, c’est évidemment tout à
fait différent. Lors des cérémonies solennelles du 11 Novembre 1998,
à Paris, Jacques Chirac et Lionel Jospin n’ont pas réussi à
s’associer le chancelier Schröder pour la bonne raison que l’on
commémorait en Allemagne le 9 novembre 1938, date de la Nuit de
cristal. C’est très significatif. L’ombre portée du nazisme, de la
Seconde Guerre mondiale et de l’extermination des juifs bloque tout
processus empathique à l’égard de 14-18. La culpabilité globalise le
passé et suscite la coupure mémorielle. Le cas russe est également
différent. La mémoire est absolument occultée: la Grande Guerre n’y
est que l’épiphénomène d’un autre événement matriciel, la révolution
bolchevique de 1917.
Qu’en est-il des pays du centre et de l’est de l’Europe? Beaucoup de
ces pays n’existent qu’à l’issue de la guerre. Le conflit est donc
pour eux fortement identitaire, ce qui n’est pas simple pour autant.
En Pologne, au musée de l’Armée de Varsovie, il est impossible
d’avoir une vue globale. Une vitrine présente les soldats enrôlés
sous le drapeau russe, une autre ceux qui ont combattu dans l’armée
allemande, une autre encore ceux qui portaient l’uniforme
austro-hongrois. L’Autriche, démembrée en 1918, complètement
enclavée, devient une tête sans corps. Dans les Balkans, la Première
Guerre n’est qu’un moment dans une longue séquence de violence liée
au choc ininterrompu des nationalismes d’existence. Des luttes du
XIXe siècle contre l’Empire ottoman aux atroces guerres balkaniques
de 1912-1913 – qui donnent lieu au premier rapport humanitaire de
l’Histoire, établi par la Fondation Carnegie – jusqu’à la guerre de
Yougoslavie des années 1940, puis celle de la décennie 1990, la
violence extrême s’établit comme une constante, dans une chronologie
souvent vécue comme dépourvue de solution de continuité. Il n’y a eu
ni démobilisation culturelle ni pause de la conflictualité.
Pourquoi ne s’interroge-t-on jamais sur la perception de nos voisins
européens? Nous francisons en effet sans cesse la commémoration de
14-18, comme s’il ne s’était rien passé ailleurs, ce qui empêche de
comprendre la portée réelle de cette guerre. Prenez l’exemple du film
Capitaine Conan (Bertrand Tavernier), qui se passe en Roumanie mais
met en scène des soldats français. Le fait que l’action a lieu sur le
front d’Orient et que les Français ne soient pas en uniforme bleu
horizon, dans leur guerre à eux, sur leur territoire à eux, explique
largement l’échec public du film. Le film de Jean-Pierre Jeunet Un
long dimanche de fiançailles va en revanche dans le sens de la
victimisation à la française, le réalisateur franchissant même un
seuil inédit lorsqu’il déclare: “J’ai l’impression d’être mort
là-bas, dans une autre vie.” On passe de “mon arrière-grand-père est
mort en 14” à “je suis mort en 14”. Là, de mon point de vue, on
sombre dans une indécence totale.
Ne croyez-vous pas que, pour certains, il y a un moyen de se créer un
drame intime en se repeignant en victime? Nous sommes en effet dans
la “concurrence des victimes”. En novembre 1998, le maire de Craonne
accueille Lionel Jospin pour la célébration du 80e anniversaire de
1918 et déclare: “Il s’est produit sur le Chemin des Dames le premier
crime contre l’humanité resté impuni.” Faisant bon marché de
l’Histoire, il ignore que le génocide des Arméniens s’est produit
auparavant, en 1915. Sans parler du massacre des Herero, en Namibie
actuelle, perpétré sur un ordre explicite d’extermination donné par
le commandement allemand, et qui aboutit à l’élimination de 80% de
cette population entre 1904 et 1906. Peu importe, et Le Monde
reproduit sans aucune distance ses propos, faisant sien cet amalgame
insupportable: l’opération de translation des grandes exterminations
du XXe siècle vers les soldats de la Grande Guerre, victimes d’un
“crime contre l’humanité”. En quelque sorte, les tranchées se
transforment subitement en camps d’extermination. On trouve même des
“historiens” pour dénoncer un Etat français prétotalitaire… On
oublie que les poilus étaient des acteurs et pas seulement des
victimes. Et a-t-on jamais vu les victimes d’un génocide rentrer chez
elles pour une permission et revenir au front ensuite?
Tout le monde veut sa part d’horreur! Sans doute parce qu’elle fut
totale… 14-18 marque l’invention de la guerre totale. Et l’un des
critères de la guerre totale, c’est la rupture de la barrière
d’étanchéité entre population en armes et population civile. Il faut
distinguer quatre phases. D’abord, les grandes invasions de l’été
1914, qui se traduisent par des massacres de masse immédiats, en
Belgique et dans le nord de la France, en Prusse-Orientale, en
Serbie. Puis la phase des tranchées, véritables murailles en creux,
qui contribue à “essentialiser” l’ennemi: derrière la tranchée
adverse, il n’y a plus seulement des soldats, mais l’ennemi tout
entier. D’où le recours aux bombardements stratégiques: on considère
comme légitime de frapper, sans bénéfice militaire, des populations
civiles. La totalité de la population adverse est devenue l’ennemi,
et c’est un phénomène absolument nouveau dans l’histoire militaire
occidentale moderne. La Seconde Guerre mondiale ne fera que prolonger
cette vision en radicalisant encore la violence. Ensuite, le lien
entre le fait guerrier et l’extermination totale d’une population
perçue comme une cinquième colonne, devant être éliminée, qui culmine
avec le génocide des Arméniens. C’est un fait indiscutable et un legs
dont la dimension “performative” est très importante. Hitler avait
parfaitement souvenance non seulement de l’extermination des
Arméniens, mais aussi du silence qui l’avait entourée, lui qui
déclarera: “Qui, après tout, parle de l’anéantissement des
Arméniens?” Enfin, il y a des formes de violence complètement
anomiques, particulièrement celles des soldats démobilisés. On les
connaît moins, mais le cas de l’autodémobilisation de l’armée russe à
l’automne 1917, qui voit 1 million de soldats rentrer chez eux, ne
doit pas être oublié. En quelques semaines, les “capotes grises”
massacrent leurs officiers, puis ravagent tout sur leur passage en
s’en prenant, dans les villes, tout spécialement aux juifs. Cette
autodémobilisation ne se fait donc pas dans le refus de la violence;
elle en constitue au contraire une surrection radicalisée.
Et l’antisémitisme allemand? Il puise beaucoup dans la Grande Guerre.
Dans une Allemagne considérée souvent comme moins antisémite que la
France en 1914, une enquête est lancée à la fin de 1916 pour établir
le degré de présence au front des juifs allemands. Bien qu’elle ait
prouvé que le patriotisme des juifs était sans faille, elle ne fut
pas publiée, accréditant la conclusion inverse. Puis, après novembre
1918, l’antisémitisme apparaît comme le produit de la défaite
refusée, défaite prétendument provoquée par le “coup de poignard dans
le dos” des communistes et des socialistes, eux-mêmes assimilés aux
juifs. C’est là que s’établit le lien avec la Shoah. Car,
fondamentalement, le nazisme est une liturgie de la Grande Guerre
recommencée, la référence constante de Hitler. Le legs
éliminationniste à l’égard des juifs appartient au bilan de la
Première Guerre mondiale.
On parle toujours de l’Europe, mais la Grande Guerre a aussi
contribué à redessiner la carte du reste du monde. Songez aux
dominions de l’Empire britannique: Australie, Nouvelle-Zélande,
Afrique du Sud, Canada. 14-18 constitue véritablement l’acte de
naissance de ces pays, qui gagnent leur identité nationale à
l’occasion de la terrible saignée à laquelle ils consentent.
Et c’est la montée en force des Etats-Unis… A dire vrai, les
Etats-Unis sont déjà la première puissance économique du monde avant
1914. Mais, militairement, ils ne représentent encore rien. Les 2
millions de soldats américains qui sont en France à la fin de 1918
sont équipés et formés par les Français et les Britanniques – la
différence est énorme avec le débarquement de 1944. Mais, en se
battant aussi vaillamment que les Français et les Britanniques aux
premiers jours du conflit, tandis que ces derniers ont quatre ans de
tranchées derrière eux, ils marquent leur différence. Opposés à des
Allemands fourbus, épuisés eux aussi par des années de combat, ils
obtiennent des résultats étonnants. La relative facilité des succès
américains, dans la phase finale de la guerre, a joué un rôle
considérable dans l’American self-esteem. Lorsque le président Wilson
arrive à Paris en décembre 1918, il bénéficie d’un triomphe public.
L’exemplarité, la conception morale, la dimension de croisade, qui
caractérisent l’idéologie américaine jusqu’à nos jours, trouvent
largement leur source dans la Première Guerre mondiale. C’est, pour
l’Amérique, le modèle même de la guerre juste (les Etats-Unis
n’étaient d’ailleurs pas alliés, mais “associés” à la France et à la
Grande-Bretagne). Ils prétendaient ne vouloir tirer aucun bénéfice de
cette opération prétendument désintéressée, menée pour le bien de
l’humanité.
Diriez-vous que les choses ont bien changé? L’Occident est porteur
d’un modèle de guerre d’une très grande violence. Or, après 1945, il
ne s’est plus appliqué cette violence à lui-même; ils l’a
externalisée, en Corée, en Algérie, au Vietnam, en Irak… D’où notre
fallacieux sentiment de déprise de la guerre. Il nous semble qu’un
conflit ne peut plus survenir au sein même de l’aire occidentale. Du
coup, nous déréalisons l’expérience de guerre et nous ne comprenons
pas son retour sous d’autres formes, comme celle du terrorisme, par
exemple, qui nous paraît d’une totale illégitimité. Nous ne voulons
pas admettre qu’il s’agit là d’une autre forme de confrontation que
celle dont notre modèle guerrier est porteur. C’est là, à mon avis,
que nous sommes désormais loin, très loin, de la Grande Guerre.
–Boundary_(ID_FKG/XJq00HEH2qM+BdnzmQ)–