Author: Hagop Kamalian

IN TERRITORY OF THE AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC IS NOT PRESENT ARMENIAN WAR PRISONER
AzerTag
[April 09, 2005, 20:56:25]
An ungrounded reports were disseminated by mass-media about the
meeting which is held on March 18 in Tbilisi of representatives of
the Azerbaijani and Armenian State Committes for missing, captured and
hostages citizens. In this connection the Azerbaijan State Committee
told the AzerTAj agency that during the said meeting were held a
negotiations for elaboration a possible constructive cooperation
mechanism on the base of the international and humanitarian law
principle. The both sides are agreed to facilitate prisoner return
after the nessesary verification, considers the exchange of persons as
discordant to morality and promised that in the future will appeals
only for release of war prisoners. The sides has noted also its
willingness to create all conditions for international organizations
and prisoner’s families meet with the later.
According to the Committee there were an agreement on the organizing
of the mutual monitoring for determination of the maintenance place
of a war prisoners.
The Committee statement said that at the meeting has not been agreed
any other question between the sides and there were stated that in
the Azerbaijan Republic territory are not persent an Armenian war
prisoners.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Keralanext, India
March 19 2005
Australasia ; Australian charged over bomb threat on Russian plane:
[Australasia News] Russian police have charged an Australian with
making a hoax bomb threat, after he threatened to blow up a flight
from Tokyo to Moscow.
The man was charged with knowingly making false claims about a
terrorist act.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail.
The 29-year-old man, who police sources say is of Armenian
extraction, had told crew on board the Aeroflot flight he would carry
out his threat unless he was flown to the breakaway Russian region of
Chechnya.
He tried to break into the cockpit of the Boeing 777 as it approached
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport but was stopped.
The plane landed safely.
News agencies reported that the unidentified man was drunk at the
time of the incident.
He was on a flight from Sydney to the Armenian capital of Yerevan via
Tokyo and Moscow.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CNSNews.com
US, Allies Not Disturbed by Italy’s Proposed Pullout from Iraq
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
March 16, 2005
(CNSNews.com) – The U.S. and key allies are downplaying news that Italy
could begin a phased withdrawal of its troops from Iraq next fall. They note
that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has linked the move to the Iraqi
government having adequate security.
Italy’s 3,000 troops make up the fourth-largest foreign force in Iraq, and
some media reports characterized the announcement as another blow to
Washington’s “crumbling” coalition.
Berlusconi said in an Italian state television talk show that a phased
pullout would take place “in agreement with our allies.”
“Starting with the month of September, we would like to proceed with a
gradual reduction of our soldiers,” he said, adding that the wrap-up date
would “depend on the ability of the Iraqi government in equipping itself
with adequate security and public order forces.”
Berlusconi made the announcement shortly after Italy’s lower house of
parliament voted to extend the Italian mission in Iraq for another six
months. The Senate earlier approved the extension.
In reacting to Berlusconi’s announcement, the U.S., British and Australian
governments all pointed to the conditional nature of the proposed
withdrawal.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the prime minister’s statement
made clear that “this will be based on the ability and capability of Iraqi
forces and the Iraqi government to be able to assume more responsibility.”
McClellan said the U.S. appreciated the contributions of the Italian
soldiers, who had “served and sacrificed alongside Iraqis and alongside
other coalition forces.”
In London, the Daily Telegraph quoted a foreign office spokesman as saying
that Berlusconi was saying “very much the same thing” as the British
government – “that we will be in Iraq for as long as we are needed.”
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer highlighted the fact that
Italian lawmakers had voted to extend the troops’ mission, and said the
proposed withdrawal may not necessarily even begin in September
“I’m pleased that Italy has extended the troops by six months in Iraq and
obviously at the end of that period we’ll have to wait and see what the
situation will be,” he told journalists Wednesday.
“The Italians will make a decision then, in light of the circumstances in
six months’ time.”
Downer said it was clear Italy had no plan to “leave Iraq in the lurch.”
Australia has been a strong supporter of the U.S. in Iraq, having
participated along with a larger British contingent in the March 2003 war to
overthrow Saddam Hussein.
In a bid to shore up the coalition, Canberra last month agreed to increase
the number of Australian troops in Iraq by some 50 percent, a move that drew
strong reactions from opposition parties.
The new personnel will provide security for Japanese non-combat troops who
are undertaking reconstruction tasks in southern Iraq – a symbolic, historic
mission for a country whose soldiers have not been in a foreign combat zone
for half a century.
Japan’s war-renouncing constitution prohibits its troops from taking part in
combat, making it essential that other contingents in Iraq provide force
protection for the Japanese.
Dutch troops have fulfilled that function, but a decision by the Netherlands
to end their mission after two years meant the 600 Japanese troops needed
new protectors – or would have had to leave.
Downer would not be drawn on whether Australia had any envisaged timeline
for pulling out its troops, whose tasks in Iraq include training the new
national army.
“Let’s just see how the training is going of the Iraqi security forces and
how effective the Iraqi security forces are.”
Downer said it would be “utterly foolish” for the international community to
abandon the Iraqi people following their elections and as democracy develops
there.
“I think what we are all planning is pretty sensible … we build up the
capacity of the Iraqis to take control of their own security and the more
they can do that the less we will be needed there.”
In the federal parliament Wednesday, Prime Minister John Howard would not
rule out the possibility that Australia could further increase the number of
its troops in Iraq, to make up for the gap the Italians may leave.
“We don’t have any current plans to increase that number, but I cannot rule
out some changes in the future and I don’t intend to do so,” he told
lawmakers.
According to Global Security, coalition forces in Iraq at present include
those from 25 countries apart from the U.S. – Britain, South Korea, Italy,
Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Romania, Japan, Denmark, Bulgaria, Australia,
Armenia, Albania, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway
and Slovakia.
The Netherlands is wrapping up its contribution, while the Ukraine has also
begun a phased pullout of its troops.
The deputy chief of coalition operations for the Florida-based U.S. Central
Command, Marine Corps Col. Kerry Burkholder, said this week the coalition
went well beyond the 25 nations with troops on the ground.
Others were involved in areas including security and maritime-interdiction
operations, intelligence, surveillance, humanitarian missions, political and
financial backing, and the provision of out-of-country training, he told the
American Forces Press Service.
Burkholder put the overall number of nations contributing at 72.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lawyer maintains Peterson’s innocence
By Kristin Moritz, Desk Editor
Stanford Daily
Feb 28 2005
Mark Geragos, the prominent criminal defense lawyer who recently
represented Scott Peterson, who was recently convicted of killing his
wife, Laci and their unborn son, spoke Friday about his career and
defending clients in highly-publicized trials.
According to sophomore Seepan Parseghian, president of the Armenian
Students Association, which sponsored the event, the group asked
Geragos to speak in order further its goal of “contributing the
Armenian perspective to the Stanford community in an academic and
social context.”
“I am well aware of [Geragos’s] charisma and vibrant personality when
in the spotlight,” Parseghian said. “But I give more emphasis to his
dedication to the Armenian-American community. He has taken on
numerous cases involving a wide range of Armenian issues.”
Geragos, an Armenian American who attended Haverford College and
Loyola Law School, founded a private law firm with his father in 1983
and has specialized in criminal defense work ever since. Geragos said
it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend accused criminals due
to wide-spread media coverage.
“What’s happened with cable TV is that you have a ‘Foxification’ of
criminal law,” Geragos said. “You get these high-profile criminal
cases and the mainstream media covers them in the most sensational
way possible. With the internet, any rumor is quickly picked up and
once it is on cable TV mainstream media feels compelled to run with
the story.”
This “Foxification,” said Geragos, was especially prevalent during
Peterson’s murder trial.
“So many times during the case people were bringing up rumors about
evidence that was not even presented,” he said.
Although jurors convicted Peterson of murdering his wife Lacy and
their unborn son, Geragos maintains Peterson’s innocence. He said he
took the case originally because he felt moved by the scene that he
observed when Peterson was initially brought into custody.
“I became so incensed when he was arrested,” Geragos said. “There was
a throng of people outside holding up signs that he should die. I
never thought that in this day and age that I would see anything like
that. It was a very troubling thing for me to see — someone being
railroaded and confronted by a virtual lynch mob.”
Geragos did not speak specifically about the trial because he is
under a gag-order until Peterson’s sentencing in March. He did,
however, say that much of the press coverage did not accurately
represent the evidence or facts of the case. He attributed much of
this misinformation to the fact that the judge did not sequester
jurors.
“During the course of the case we were able to expose three separate
stealth jurors who lied in order to try to get on the jury,” Geragos
said. “There was so much community fervor against Scott that many of
the jurors wanted to be on the jury because they had their own
private agenda.”
Geragos called what happened on the day of the verdict — thousands of
people lined up outside of the courthouse and cheering the outcome —
“one of the sickest things [he had] ever seen.”
“There is truly nothing worse than to see a guy you believe is
innocent get sentenced to death,” Geragos said.
Although Peterson has not yet been sentenced, upon his conviction,
jurors recommended that he receive the death penalty. Geragos called
capital punishment “abhorrent.”
Junior Louise Nutt is taking a class on the death penalty and came to
the talk specifically to ask Geragos about his opinion on the
subject.
“He brought up a lot of points about the death penalty that I think
are very important, but that people outside of the law don’t usually
hear about,” Nutt said.
In addition to defending Peterson, Geragos has also been involved in
numerous other high-profile cases. In the late 1990s, he represented
Susan McDougal, a close friend of former President Bill Clinton, when
she was tried and convicted on fraud charges related to the
Whitewater scandal.
Despite his role in criminal cases, Geragos called a class-action
lawsuit that he filed for survivors of the Armenian genocide one of
his biggest successes. The suit, which was filed against New York
Life Insurance on behalf of 2,300 Armenian Americans who purchased
insurance policies when they immigrated to the United States during
the genocide, resulted in a $20 million settlement for the thousands
of people who were originally denied the right to collect on their
policies. Part of the settlement was also earmarked for Armenian
charities.
Mazi Pielsticker, a first-year law student, said he enjoyed Geragos’s
speech and appreciated the opportunity to hear such a prominent
lawyer speak.
“I thought he was awesome, very charismatic,” Pielsticker said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian migration chief notes growing number of Iraqi asylum-seekers
Hayots Ashkharh, Yerevan
23 Feb 05

Text of Shushan Matevosyan’s report by Armenian newspaper Hayots
Ashkharh on 23 February headlined “The number of Iraqi asylum-seekers
has increased and no-one has been refused”
Lately, the number of those seeking asylum in the Republic of Armenia
has sharply increased in connection with the Iraq war. What are
statistical figures of asylum-seekers? What countries are they from?
The following is an interview with the chief of the Migration and
Refugees Department, Gagik Yeganyan.
[Gagik Yeganyan] Since 2000, our department has received applications
for asylum and refugee status from citizens of different
states. Before 2003, the number of applications was not so great. We
received 15-20 applications per year mainly from Afghanistan, Iraq and
African countries like Sudan and Somalia, as well as from Iran and
even from Ukraine and China.
As a rule, a great number of them were refused, as after the
examination it became clear that their reasons for leaving the country
were not true. Most of them left their home country due to difficult
social and economic conditions or in order to avoid military
service. They applied for asylum in Armenia as a transit state as
their real purpose was to settle in the West. And in order to settle
legally in any transit country, they applied for refugee status.
Incidentally, this is common among our compatriots as well.
In 2002, we initiated the adoption of a new law regarding temporarily
protected people. This law says that Armenia is expanding the circle
of people it protects. That’s to say, it receives not only potential
refugees, but also people who are in danger of being persecuted
because of wars or armed conflicts.
[Hayots Ashkharh correspondent] In fact, the adoption of the law was
well-timed, as it was followed by an influx of Iraqis who are seeking
asylum.
[Yeganyan] In this case, people were really forced to leave their
country and seek asylum because of the war.
Since 2003, the influx of applications from Iraq has increased
sharply. That year, we had 61 applications and they were all given the
status of temporarily protected people. Last year [2004], we had 142
applications. I think the influx of applications will be permanent.
[Correspondent] What does this status give people apart from
protection, accommodation, a job and financial aid?
[Yeganyan] It gives security and a chance to avoid persecution. They
have the right of legal settlement in Armenia at least for a year, and
one year later, their applications may be considered again. If the
situation remains the same in the countries of which they are
citizens, in that case, these persons’ status may be extended for one
more year. Those who want to become permanent residents of Armenia may
get different status up to citizenship during that year.
Incidentally, those who are Armenians by nationality are granted
Armenian citizenship in a simpler way. But we cannot promise anything
to those who are trying to settle their social problems by extending
their status.
[Correspondent] What is the number of those who sought asylum this
year?
[Yeganyan] I cannot mention figures, but undoubtedly the potential has
not been exhausted. It is presumed that their numbers will grow.
[Correspondent] Mr Yeganyan, recently there was an interesting report
in the press saying that the chairman of the Civil Service Council,
Manvel Badalyan, had informed the state juridical commission of the
National Assembly that an official had been granted the status of an
Armenian refugee in order to leave the country illegally. In fact,
this concerns your department.
[Yeganyan] We also registered such a case recently, but I do not think
that this is the case that was covered by the press. One of our
department employees illegally issued a reference to a citizen and
made him a refugee. In this case, the citizen tried to use the refugee
status to avoid military service. Thanks to the measures taken by our
department, the violation of the law was prevented.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri defence minister tells Belgian envoy chances of Karabakh war high
Space TV, Baku
22 Feb 05
[Presenter in studio] As long as the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
remains unresolved, the chances of war are high, Azerbaijani Defence
Minister Safar Abiyev has told the Belgian ambassador to Azerbaijan
and Turkey, Marc Van Rysselberghe.
[Correspondent] The minister said that representatives of the
Azerbaijani Defence Ministry often meet their Belgian counterparts as
part of the antiterror coalition and within the framework of NATO’s
Partnership for Peace programme.
Ambassador Marc Van Rysselberghe thanked the Azerbaijani leadership
for the country’s active involvement in the antiterror
fight. Recalling with regret that a fifth of Azerbaijani territory is
under Armenian occupation, the diplomat pointed to the saying that if
you want peace, prepare for war. From this standpoint, the Azerbaijani
armed forces have become significantly stronger since the outbreak of
the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. However, I hope military force will
not be used in resolving the conflict, end quote.
Saying that the Azerbaijani town of Xocali and its population was
wiped off the face of the earth in just one night, Safar Abiyev
pointed to the efforts of the Azerbaijani leadership to resolve the
conflict. However, the people of Azerbaijan are worried that the world
community has not recognized Armenia as an aggressor yet.
He said although the recently-adopted resolution of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe [PACE] does describe Armenia as an
aggressor and the Nagornyy Karabakh regime as a separatist one, all
international organizations have to follow suit.
Armenia is deliberately and systematically settling the Azerbaijani
territories it has occupied. This is irresponsible. We state that
Azerbaijan will not cede an inch of its land to Armenia. As long as
this conflict remains unresolved, the chances of war are high. If this
happens, responsibility will rest with Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri opposition official blames government for Karabakh policy failures
Azadliq, Baku
30 Dec 04

Text of Xayal Sahinoglu report by Azerbaijani newspaper Azadliq on 30
December headlined “Another defeat of Ilham Aliyev’s diplomacy” and
subheaded “The authorities give up the idea of discussing the Karabakh
issue at the UN at the demand of the Minsk Group” and “Fuad
Qahramanli: ‘Under the Aliyevs, Azerbaijan’s foreign policy has been
in such a situation that not only Armenia and its allies, but also the
international community are speaking in the language of pressure to
Azerbaijan'”
Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani lands will not be discussed at the
UN. The reason is the Azerbaijani authorities’ commitment to the
OSCE. The Russian co-chairman of the OSCE [Minsk Group], Yuriy
Merzlyakov, recently publicized an agreement Azerbaijan and Armenia
reached three months ago. Armenia will allow the co-chairmen to
monitor the occupied Azerbaijani territories if the Karabakh conflict
is not discussed at the UN, Merzlyakov said.
The co-chairman’s statement shows that Azerbaijani diplomacy has not
gained even a minimum advantage, let alone serious success, in the
resolution of the conflict, a member of the presidium of the People’s
Front of Azerbaijan Party [PFAP], Fuad Qahramanli, said. Saying that
the co-chairmen are clearly speaking from Armenia’s position,
Qahramanli noted that as a victim of the aggression, Azerbaijan is in
a more difficult diplomatic position than Armenia.
“It is clearly seen that the co-chairmen are speaking from Armenia’s
position, which is something that challenges the impartiality of the
negotiations within the framework of the OSCE and the resolution of
the problem in accordance with the principles of international law. If
the OSCE Minsk Group is dealing with the resolution of the conflict,
it should be monitoring the occupied territories despite any
problem. The co-chairmen should investigate the accuracy of the
information about Armenians settling in the occupied territories. It
turns out that if Azerbaijan had not given up the idea of discussing
the Karabakh conflict at the UN, the OSCE Minsk Group would have
remained indifferent towards the settlement of Armenians in the
occupied lands. This is a serious problem of Azerbaijani diplomacy and
the reason why it has emerged is the foreign policy which was once
conducted by [the late Azerbaijani President] Heydar Aliyev and is now
being conducted by his son [Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev].”
He said that the good-for-nothing foreign policy Heydar Aliyev and his
son have been conducting for many years has dealt a serious blow to
Azerbaijan’s international standing. Therefore, the international
community challenges Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
“Under the Aliyevs, Azerbaijan’s foreign policy has been in such a
situation that not only Armenia and its allies, but also the
international community are speaking in the language of pressure to
Azerbaijan. Only Islamic countries supported Azerbaijan when the
Karabakh issue was put on the UN agenda. It is a logical result of the
setbacks in our foreign policy that the world community actually
questions Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.”
Saying that it would be illogical to await any outcome in Azerbaijan’s
favour from the negotiations in the present circumstances, Qahramanli
believes that responsibility for this situation lies with the
authorities.
“The government has been promulgating for a long time the idea that
our country will increase its international allies as a result of its
oil policy. It becomes clear today that no progress has been made at
all. On the contrary, the number of Azerbaijan’s international allies
has begun to decrease.”
Qahramanli chided the government for the fact that the occupied lands
are being used as a means of pressure on Azerbaijan.
“The Foreign Ministry has not expressed its attitude to what has
happened so far. It proves once again that as a state entity, the
authorities do not have the will, political power and diplomatic
capabilities to resolve the Karabakh conflict, which is considered to
be the country’s main problem.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Times
Jan 2 2004
Mother Fights Schools on Cable TV
The woman speaks in Armenian about the Glendale district’s
English-learner policy. Officials say she spreads fear and mistrust.
By Erika Hayasaki, Times Staff Writer
The Glendale mother appeared on local cable TV station Channel 26,
much like a veteran news anchorwoman. In Armenian, she laid into the
Glendale Unified School District: Teachers don’t teach. Board members
don’t listen. School officials don’t translate.
“We are here because we care about our children and what is going on
in our schools,” she said, looking distinguished in her sparkly green
earrings and matching scarf. A phone number flashed across the
screen. “We are live. You can call.”

Using cable access time paid for out of her own pocket, Naira
Khachatrian, 44, has become an influential voice among Armenian
parents whose children make up about half the 29,400-student Glendale
district.
A mother with two children enrolled, she believes the district is
shortchanging Armenian students by placing many of them in
English-learner programs or special education courses and failing to
reach out to immigrant parents.
The district dismisses Khachatrian as a gadfly who has spread fear
and mistrust among parents. School officials say she does not explain
the extensive programs it offers to Armenian-immigrant students,
including translation services for parents and special academic
tutoring.
Schools Supt. Michael F. Escalante said that over the last year
Khachatrian has spread “rumors about outlandish information. I don’t
speak Armenian and it’s done all in Armenian.”
Khachatrian has singled out teachers and questioned their
credentials.
She once compared school district officials to those who committed
atrocities during the Armenian genocide, the killing of 1.5 million
people by the Turks between 1915 and 1922. School officials said they
have given up on countering her numerous statements.
One official says Khachatrian has made positive contributions.
School board President Greg Krikorian said the show has bridged a
communication gap with Armenian-immigrant parents who are struggling
to navigate district bureaucracy.
“There are things we do have to improve,” Krikorian said, although
he, too, is frustrated by the comments on her show. “Maybe they’re
not understanding the information we give to them.”
Khachatrian, who immigrated to the United States in 1991, has seized
on the lack of communication between Armenian immigrant parents and
the district.
A former engineer who is married to a contractor, her involvement in
school district politics began when her oldest son was placed in
English-learner classes more than a decade ago. She said she did not
understand what the classes entailed or that she had a choice in her
son’s enrollment.
About one-third of Armenian students in the Glendale district are
enrolled in English-learner classes, a separate track in which math,
science and history are taught while integrating English skills into
the required curriculum. Teachers use more pictures, gestures and
simple English to better communicate lessons
Without such a program, district officials say, students struggle
through regular coursework because they have not mastered English.
Parents must give their permission before children are enrolled in
the voluntary program.
Once enrolled, a student typically stays on the English-learner track
until he or she passes a proficiency test.
Khachatrian says the district is shortchanging some students who she
believes are being placed in the program unnecessarily.
Khachatrian said she can relate to Armenian parents who do not
understand the rules.
“The one way we can change these people is we have to educate the
parents,” she said. “That’s why we came up with that idea” of going
on television.
Every few days or weeks, Khachatrian pays $500 to $800 for an
hour-long slot on the Armenian Media Group of America Inc. cable
channel, which serves more than 27,000 viewers in the Los Angeles
area. Khachatrian co-anchors with another Glendale parent and friend,
Hasmig Aslanian.
During a recent broadcast, more than a dozen parents phoned in asking
about translators, college admissions rules and the federal No Child
Left Behind law – issues that the district does not believe she is
qualified to answer.
She said she has become a self-made local celebrity. “Now when I go
to the store,” Khachatrian said, “everybody is stopping me.” The
show’s popularity also prompts about 50 parents a day to call her at
home with more questions, she said.
“People call Jerry Springer” too, Escalante said. “This is America,
so people have those rights. It requires us to do additional work to
properly inform to those people.”
Krikorian says the district is making progress in its outreach
efforts.
He has organized Armenian community forums for parents and groups to
talk about the schools. The district also aired television programs
on an Armenian station, but Khachatrian would call in live and
criticize district officials, he said.
Though he supports the English-learner program, Krikorian said the
district should evaluate its progress and the length of time students
are enrolled in it.
“What concerns me is she’s getting people [who] belong in this
program out,” Krikorian said.
District officials are “scared of her. They’re scared,” said Vazken
Movsesian, a Glendale priest who runs an after-school program and
supports Khachatrian. He said he noticed many students “hitting their
heads against the wall because they were frustrated, because they
couldn’t move ahead.”
He met Khachatrian at a school board meeting. “For the first time I
saw a woman, Naira, who was really advocating for the students,” he
said. “She had no other motive.”
Some parents said the TV broadcast is their main link to
understanding district policies.
Eskouhi Irzakhanian, the mother of a fifth-grader in Glendale
Unified, called Khachatrian after watching the program earlier this
year.
She believes the district unfairly placed her son in special
education classes and did not explain why. “He’s just lazy,” she
said, “but laziness is not disability.”
She signed consent forms without knowing what they meant. It was
Khachatrian who explained her rights.
“In my country, Armenia, we know what’s going on. We know the laws.
We grew up there,” Irzakhanian said. “But here, we are new. We need
someone to explain.” Without the TV show, she added, “how would we
know?”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

La Nouvelle République du Centre Ouest
11 décembre 2004
Mchonneurs
Mchonneurs de tous les pays
Deux Arméniens, nés en Azerbaidjan et s’exprimant en russe,
comparaissaient, mardi, accompagnés d’un interprète russophone,
devant le tribunal correctionnel pour une banale affaire de
filouterie de carburant. Leurs avocates demandaient l’une et l’autre
l’annulation de la procédure, les deux prévenus n’ayant pas bénéficié
de l’assistance d’un interprète lors de leur garde à vue. Le
procureur de la République, M. Alain Durand, est persuadé que les
deux hommes, qui vivent en France depuis trente mois, feignent de
méconnaître le français. Il leur tend donc un piège diabolique : «
Crachez donc ce chewing-gum », lance-t-il en se frappant les lèvres
du doigt à l’un des deux prévenus qui mchonne effectivement depuis
qu’il est arrivé à la barre. L’homme s’exécute immédiatement. « Ah,
ah, vous voyez, ils comprennent parfaitement le français ! »,
triomphe le magistrat. « C’est que, s’interpose timidement
l’interprète, chewing-gum en russe, ça se dit aussi chewing-gum ! »
Caramba, encore raté !
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERIS IN GEORGIA CAN UNDERTAKE MOST RADICAL MEASURES
PanArmenian News
Dec 7 2004
07.12.2004 18:13
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Azeris residing in Georgia can undertake most
radical measures – up to announcing an autonomy in the areas of
their compact residence, if the Georgian authorities do not stop
their discrimination policy towards the Azeris,” stated Zumrud
Gurbanov, the Chairman of Heyrat non-governmental organization, which
represents Azeris residing in Georgia. Day.az reported referring to
Trend news agency. Gurbanov is former MP of the Georgian Parliament,
representing E. Shevardnadze’s party. It should be reminded that the
other day a 65-year-old Azeri woman died at hospital from firearm
wounds. Four Azeris were gravely wounded due to an armed incident
next to Kula village. In Gurbanov’s words, “the incident in Kula
village took place before the eyes of the police, which did not
undertake anything.” Azeris compactly live in the South-Eastern part
of Georgia, known as Kvemo Kartli. These are the descendants Borchalu
Turkic-language tribes, which were brought to the region by Abbas
Iranian shah – after he had undertook mass expulsion of Georgians and
Armenians from the region. Azeris, whom the Georgians traditionally
call “Tatar”, today are the second on the size national minority of
Georgia. Most of them do not speak Georgian and are slightly integrated
into the Georgian society. Increase of Islamist sentiments among them
is not ruled out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress