Author: Hambardsumian Paul

TURKEY IS IN TROUBLE

Panorama.am
15:59 25/08/2008

Sen. Joe Biden, Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama’s
choice for vice presidency, during his 35 years in the U.S. Senate
has almost constantly voted for or joined initiatives against Turkey’s
interests. It is reported by "Turkish Daily News".

Like Obama, Biden is a staunch supporter of the Armenian cause. The
two men both back last year’s draft resolution in the Senate calling
for the United States’ official recognition of World War I-era killings
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as "genocide".

Biden, 65, was close to and influenced by former Democratic
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, who is of ethnic Greek origin, and has adopted
an anti-Turkish position on several disputes with Greece and Greek
Cypriots.

Over the past 15 years, Biden has also worked against a number of
planned U.S. arms transfers to Turkey.

Note, Barak Obama has announced that after the election he will adopt
the article, on World War I-era killings of Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire as "genocide".

MERKEL CALLS FOR CAUCASUS SUMMIT AHEAD OF BALTIC TOUR

Deutsche Welle
,2144,358 8880,00.html
Aug 25 2008
Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a summit of Georgia’s
neighbors following the country’s recent conflict with Russia. On
Monday, she heads to the Baltics to lobby for a more nuanced approach
towards Moscow.

Russia itself was not on the list of countries envisaged by Merkel —
which included Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan — but no country
should be excluded from participation, the spokesman said.

"It’s up to the French presidency of the EU to decide if this
conference will take place, as well as when and who will be invited,"
spokesman Thomas Steg said.

According to the latest edition of German weekly Der Spiegel, which
will be published on Monday, Merkel proposed the summit idea to French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country holds the European Union’s
rotating presidency. Berlin reckons the theme of the summit should be
"reconstruction and stability in Georgia and the region," the German
government spokesman said.

The German leader has been firm in demanding Russia withdraw its
troops from Georgia proper and made it clear that she takes a dim
view of Moscow’s recent actions.

Merkel visited Tbilisi where she made it clear after talks with
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that Georgia "will become a
member of NATO" — a bone of contention with Moscow which is deeply
uneasy about the military alliance’s expansion.

But Merkel also made a point of visiting Russia for talks with
President Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi on the Black Sea and saying that
the lines of communication must remain open.

Her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also warned against
any "knee-jerk" reaction in the West’s relations with Moscow, such
as suspending talks on a partnership and cooperation agreement with
the EU.

Reinforcing Germany’s stance, Berlin urged Russia to withdraw its
troops completely from Georgia on Saturday, saying that while the
withdrawal had begun the information available indicated it was
not complete.

Steg said the German government’s assessment concurred with that of
Saakashvili. He added that Chancellor Angela Merkel had spoken by
telephone to Saakashvili on Saturday.

"The German government expects that Russia complete the withdrawal
without delay in line with the Six Point Plan signed by Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev and pulls back its troops to the lines
before the outbreak of hostilities," Steg said.

In particular, road and rail transport routes between western and
eastern Georgia had to be cleared and full freedom of movement re-
established, he added, saying Russian troops should leave the zone
to the south of South Ossetia.

Merkel heading to Baltics

In another whirlwind diplomatic tour Merkel heads to the Baltic states
on Monday, hoping to mend damaging differences in Europe’s response
to the Georgia crisis and over future relations with Moscow.

The Baltics, under Soviet control in the Cold War and now European
Union and NATO members, have joined fellow ex-communist states
Poland and Ukraine — and the United States and Britain — in sharply
criticizing Russia during the recent conflict with Georgia.

Days after Russian talks rolled into Georgia on Aug. 8, the leaders
of the three Baltic states plus Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski
and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko all traveled to Tbilisi to
express their solidarity with President Saakashvili.

The five leaders appeared together on stage at an anti-Moscow rally
in Tbilisi on Aug. 12, joining hands and holding them aloft to cheers
from a crowd of tens of thousands of people.

They even slammed a ceasefire agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi
brokered by President Sarkozy, saying it failed to protect their
ally Georgia.

Germany walking a diplomatic tightrope

Berlin by contrast, which over recent years has enjoyed perhaps
the warmest relations with Moscow of any of the EU’s 27 members,
has fully supported Sarkozy’s efforts and has tried to have a more
nuanced approach.

Berlin wants cooperation with Moscow to "based on common concepts of
values and goals … The application of military force and marching
into a sovereign country of course are not part of these common
values," Steg said last week.

The differences in approach have led to talk of a split between the
countries of "old Europe" like Germany and France and those of "new
Europe" like Poland and the Baltics over how to deal with Moscow.

"Merkel must try to calm down some the rhetoric because to my
understanding the current policy of some new (EU) members like Poland
and the Baltics is counter-productive, not only in respect to Georgia
but also in respect to Russia," said Otfried Nassauer from the Berlin
Center for Transatlantic Security.

"The new members have pushed NATO to take a relatively strong position,
but this is not really backed up very well by real policy options,"
Nassauer told the AFP news agency. "To threaten Russia with an
interruption of NATO-Russia Council discussions is not a real threat."

But Merkel must be careful as she is walking a tightrope, said
Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign
Relations (DGAP) in Berlin.

"I think she is trying to please everyone," Rahr told AFP. "But this
could of course backfire, this kind of policy, because it is not
quite clear where Germany really stands."

After first visiting Stockholm for talks with Swedish Prime Minister
Fredrik Reinfeldt on Monday, Merkel will travel to Tallinn the next
day where she will meet with Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
and President Toomas Hendrik Ives.

Later on Tuesday Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany where
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin worked for the KGB, travels to
the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for talks with Prime Minister Gediminas
Kirkilas and with President Valdas Adamkus.

VIRTUAL CSTO: COLLECTIVE DEFENSE OF THE COMMONWEALTH HAS FIASCO

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 25, 2008 Monday
Russia

CSTO exercises are organized regularly but neither the troops of
the CSTO nor the organization itself play a significant role in
the post-Soviet space. A riot happened in Kyrgyzstan in 2005. CSTO
exercises were going on at that time but the troops did not help the
overthrown regime of Askar Akaev. CSTO member sates also manifested a
similar indifference towards the South Ossetian conflict and towards
Russia as the country that parried the aggression.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote that the majority of the CSTO member states
considered the nearest allies of Russia take its harsh actions for
parrying Georgian aggression in South Ossetia in a very cautious and
reserved manner. This conclusion became obvious after the summit of
defense ministers in Yerevan on August 21. All participants of the
summit except for the President of Armenia abstained from open support
of the military operations of Moscow against Georgia. Participants of
the summit discussed a lot of issues (20 issues on the official agenda)
including the plans of a coalition military buildup for the period
until 2010 and improvement of operational and combat training of the
coalition forces of the OSCE. However, bearing in mind the reaction
of the CSTO to the situation in South Ossetia, it is possible to say
that these issues are deprived of practical meaning. Quite recently,
leaders of the CSTO announced plans of formation of peacekeeping units
and their possible participation in operations in the "hot spots"
on the territory of the CIS. Now this is forgotten and the peace
enforcement operation carried out by Russian peacekeepers in South
Ossetia is simply hushed down or posed in the light not beneficial
for Russia among the allies of Russia in the CSTO.

The CSTO includes former Soviet republics (Russia, Armenia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) that already have
different geopolitical interests due to their geographic, economic and
other position in the post-Soviet space. Probably that was why many
CSTO member states did not express their attitude to actions of Moscow
in South Ossetia. Uzbekistan keeps silent. Moscow supported it during
the mutiny in Andizhan in 2005. Tajikistan keeps silent. Russia and
its CSTO allies defended its independence and territorial integrity
at the beginning of the 1990s after breakup of the USSR.

On behalf of the permanent council of the CSTO, General Secretary of
the CSTO, Nicolai Bordyuzha, characterized the actions of Georgia
in a harsh way. However, this organization did not work out any
documents. Along with this, Bordyuzha refers to the fact that the
"evaluation of the entire situation not only in Georgia and South
Ossetia but in foreign policy in genera will be voiced in September at
summits of foreign ministers and chiefs of states of the CSTO." This
is too late, is it not?

This issue might be already inappropriate because the closest allies
of Russia in the CSTO – Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – did not support
Russia. At a recent meeting with the President of Kazakhstan,
President of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiev, announced, "conflicts
similar to the conflict between Russia and Georgia should be resolved
purely on the basis of international law and only in a politically
diplomatic way." In turn, President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev,
emphasized that "Russian mass media characterized the situation as a
humanitarian catastrophe and the genocide of Ossetian people. The truth
will probably be found out later." Thus, Kyrgyzstan that is the chair
in the CSTO now and Kazakhstan, the best friend of Russia, actually
considered the use of military force against Georgia unjustified saying
that it was necessary to solve the problem at a table of negotiations.

Armenia should be interested in military support of Russia but the
stance of Yerevan was ambiguous too. During the days of fighting
in South Ossetia, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia expressed a hope
that the warring parties would take effort for quickly settling
disputes through dialogue. Yerevan did not condemn the aggression of
Saakashvili against South Ossetia. Only on August 22, President of
Armenia, Serzh Sarkisyan, said at a meeting with defense ministers
of the CSTO member states that tragic events in South Ossetia showed
that such confects should be resolved on the basis of free will of
the population. Otherwise we will inevitably witness ethnic separatism
and neglect of the international humanitarian law norms.

Incidentally, on the eve of the aggression of Georgia against South
Ossetia, servicemen from Armenia participated in NATO exercises
Immediate Response-2008 organized in Georgia scenario of which reminded
dynamic of the hostilities in South Ossetia. Having accomplished
the military exercises in the framework of the CSTO, Armenia starts
joint exercises with NATO countries Cooperative archer/Cooperative
lancer-2008 on its territory at the end of 2008. The scenario
of the exercises will be based on the "actions for reaction to
crises" outlined by NATO. Thus, it may happen someday that NATO will
become the main guarantor of stability in the Caucasus, says Ruben
Tovmasyan, chair of the central committee of the communist party of
Armenia. According to Tovmasyan, "strengthening NATO in Armenia is
strengthening of Turkey in reality." Tovmasyan believes that security
of the country may be guaranteed only in the framework of the CSTO.

Source: . The meeting of the council of defense ministers of the member
states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) took
place in Yerevan on August 21. The Russian delegation was headed by
Senior Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel General Alexander Kolmakov. The
event had to be meaningful because the fourth stage of joint command
staff exercises of the CSTO Rubezh-2008 took place on August 22 at
the training range named after Marshal Bagramyan 40 kilometers to
the west of Yerevan. The fourth stage, the so-called active phase of
the exercises, allowed checking the possibility of joint defensive
operation. The "indicating troops" included armored vehicles, tube
and rocket artillery, army, attack and fighter aviation, air defense
systems, combat engineers and signal units of the armed forces and
border guards of Armenia, the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri
and an airborne landing unit from Tajikistan. Other CSTO member states
were represented by operational groups of their defense ministries.

United Press International
Aug 21 2008

Analysis: Energy crisis in the Caucasus

by STEFAN NICOLA

BERLIN, Aug. 21

The war in Georgia was not mainly about energy, as some have said, but
it highlights the vulnerability of energy deliveries through the
Caucasus and threatens future projects in the region.

Pipeline security can be quite a fascinating topic, even to the
standards of a James Bond movie. The 1999 blockbuster "The World Is
Not Enough" deals with the construction of an oil pipeline through the
Caucasus, from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey;
it is called "King pipeline" in the film, but it is obvious what
pipeline is really meant: the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, which transports
oil from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field in the Caspian Sea via
Azerbaijan and Georgia to Ceyhan, a port on Turkey’s Mediterranean
coast.

Shortly before the war between Georgia and Russia captured headlines,
an explosion and fire in eastern Turkey (the Kurdish rebel group
Kurdistan Workers’ Party claimed responsibility, but Turkish officials
denied the fire was man-made) shut down parts of the BTC pipeline. The
world’s second-largest oil pipeline, the BTC is a key element of the
West’s strategy to diversify its energy exports and become less
dependent on Russian deliveries.

Moscow wanted to have part of the BTC pipeline run through its
territories, but when that was denied, it refused to join the
project. British Petroleum leads the project companies, and Washington
became one of its greatest supporters. The BTC pipeline pumps oil to
customers in Turkey and Western Europe, and Russia can’t do much about
it — or can it?

Russia’s offensive into Georgia included attacks on military
facilities, but there are also reports that the Russian military,
while pulling out, is destroying vital energy infrastructure.

While Russia denies this, its military presence in the country forced
shut a pipeline transporting some 100,000 barrels of oil a day from
Azerbaijan to the Georgian port of Supsa, after shippers declared
force majeure, a legal option contractors can fall back on if
circumstances beyond their control make work at a pipeline
impossible. A natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to Georgia and
Turkey was also shut down for several days because of the
fighting. All over the country, Russia with vessels and ground troops
has been blocking ports, streets and railroads, severely impeding
deliveries and transit of oil-related products in or out of the
country. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has stated repeatedly
that the country, because of its transit role that undermines Russia’s
energy influence, was a recipient of aggression. That some Central
Asian countries, the Caucasus and the Caspian region — formerly parts
of the Soviet Union — have become a key transit region for Western
energy deliveries is more than a thorn in the eye of the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, experts say the Georgian-Russian conflict was not an
energy war.

"Energy resources certainly were not the main reason for Russia’s
military campaign; that would be simplifying the conflict. It wasn’t a
war about oil," Uwe Halbach, Caucasus expert at the German Institute
for International and Security Affairs, told United Press
International in an interview. "But of course it plays into the whole
thing. New pipeline projects are now in question. At least they have
to be re-evaluated for security reasons."

Observers are concerned that some planned projects, including the
Nabucco pipeline and the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk-Polotsk oil pipeline, are
on hold because of the difficult security situation in the region. At
best, the crisis demonstrates that the West needs to provide better
security for the pipelines designed to bring oil and gas into Europe.

And there is even greater potential for problems flaring up in the
region, according to an expert.

"Any troubles between Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in Georgia
could potentially re-ignite a dormant conflict between Azerbaijan and
Armenia over who controls the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region,"
Sergei Blagov wrote in a commentary for ISN Security Watch. "Such an
eventuality may put an end to any plans of sustainable oil and gas
supplies from Azerbaijan and Central Asia circumventing Russia."

There is some good news, however: The BTC pipeline will resume work
next week, officials said.

"Wir müssen Widersprüche mildern"
Armeniens Präsident Serge Sarkisian im STANDARD-Interview: Enorme
Bedrohung durch das Wettrüsten im Kaukasus

Armeniens Präsident Serge Sarkisian kritisiert im Gespräch mit Markus
Bernath indirekt den Westkurs Georgiens. Den Krieg im Nachbarland
versteht er als Folge der "Widersprüche" zwischen den USAund Russland.

DER STANDARD/AUSTRIA
22. August 2008

STANDARD: "Seid freundlich zu Russland, schaut nicht zu sehr auf den
Westen" ` Ist das die Lektion, die Russland mit dem Krieg den Ländern
im Kaukasus erteilt hat?

Sarkisian: Ein Blick zurück in die Geschichte Armeniens zeigt, dass die
Freundschaft mit Russland nie erzwungen worden ist. Dass man
Freundschaft nicht unter Zwang schlieÃ?en, geschweige denn
aufrechterhalten kann, versteht sich von selbst. Ich möchte nicht für
andere Länder sprechen, aber zumindest Armenien ist sehr offen,
freimütig und beständig in seinen Beziehungen zu Russland.

Lassen Sie mich auch betonen, dass unsere strategische Partnerschaft
mit Russland nie ein Hindernis gewesen ist, unsere gute Zusammenarbeit
auf andere Staaten in und auÃ?erhalb der Region und auf internationale
Organisationen zu erstrecken. Das breite Spektrum laufender,
gemeinsamer Programme mit der EU und der Nato, die sich zunehmend
entwickelnden Beziehungen zu europäischen Staaten, den USA und dem Iran
beweisen das.

STANDARD: Die Armenier sind nicht zum ersten Mal direkt von den
Auswirkungen einer Krise zwischen Georgien und Russland betroffen.
Welchen Rat für den Umgang mit Russland können Sie Ihren Partnern in
Georgien geben?

Sarkisian: Einen Ratschlag zu geben wäre unangemessen. Die Politik, die
wir in den vergangenen Jahren entwickelt haben, beruht auf dem Prinzip,
dass kleine Mächte in unserer au�erordentlich sensiblen Region wirklich
jede Anstrengung unternehmen müssen, mögliche Widersprüche zwischen den
Supermächten zu mildern und nicht zu verschlimmern. Es ist recht
einfach, in irgendeiner Region kurzfristig Gewinne zu machen, indem man
sich auf Widersprüche zwischen den gro�en Mächten stützt. Es ist
andererseits die Mühe wert, wenn auch schwieriger, im Bereich
gemeinsamer Interessen eine offene Zusammenarbeit anzustreben. Auch
wenn man alle Herausforderungen berücksichtigt, die sich heute stellen
und die man annehmen muss: Es ergibt keinen Sinn, neue Trennlinien und
künstliche ideologische Lager zu errichten.

STANDARD: In Armenien liegt eine bedeutende russische Militärbasis. Ist
eine russische Vormachtstellung im Südkaukasus gut für Armenien?

Sarkisian: Souveränität, die Bedeutung hat, ist für Armenien so
gewinnbringend wie für jeden anderen Staat. In unseren Zeiten setzt
eine solche Souveränität die Teilnahme an wirksamen internationalen und
regionalen Sicherheitsübereinkommen voraus. Armenien hat in dieser
Hinsicht20die Entscheidung getroffen, sich der Organisation des Vertrags
über kollektive Sicherheit (CSTO, die militärische Organisation der
Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten, GUS, Anm.) anzuschlie�en. Das
Basisinstrument der Organisation ist, dass ein bewaffneter Angriff auf
einen Mitgliedstaat ein Angriff auf alle ist. Ich glaube, Militärbasen
sind in unseren Zeiten eher das Symbol einer wirksamen Zusammenarbeit
als einer Vormacht.

STANDARD: Welche Schlüsse ziehen Sie aus der militärischen Intervention
in Georgien für Berg-Karabach, einen anderen dieser so genannten
"eingefrorenen Konflikte" ?

Sarkisian: Die tragischen Ereignisse in Südossetien bestätigen, dass
jeder Versuch im Südkaukasus, eine militärische Antwort zu suchen, um
nach dem Recht auf Selbstbestimmung zu streben, schwerwiegende
militärische und geopolitische Folgen mit sich bringt. Die jüngsten
Ereignisse haben die reale Bedrohung klar gemacht, die im Wettrüsten,
in ungerechtfertigten Steigerungen des Militärbudgets und kriegerischer
Rhetorik im Südkaukasus liegen. Die Ereignisse haben auch bewiesen,
dass die Lösung ähnlicher Konflikte auf dem Prinzip der freien
Willensäu�erung des Volks liegen sollte, das für Selbstbestimmung
kämpft, und dass Lösungen diesem Willen entspringen müssen. Andere
Herangehensweisen werden unvermeidlich zu "ethnischen Säuberungen" und
der Verletzung internationaler humanitärer Gesetze führen.

STANDARD: Die Türkei hat nie wirklich auf Armeniens Angebot zur
Aufnahme diplomatischer Beziehungen ohne Bedingungen geantwortet. Sie
haben nun sogar den türkischen Präsidenten nach Eriwan eingeladen. Was
lässt Sie glauben, dass die türkische Führung offener für einen Dialog
wird?

Sarkisian: Wir sind bereit, ohne Vorbedingungen Beziehungen mit der
Türkei aufzunehmen. Armenien hat sich immer dieser politischen Linie
verpflichtet gefühlt. Heute stehen wir einer politischen Situation
gegenüber, von der niemand profitiert, sondern im Gegenteil, bei der
viele verlieren. Ich bin überzeugt, dass die dauernde Rivalität keinen
Sinn ergibt und unnötig ist. Vor einigen Tagen hat mein türkischer
Amtskollege erklärt, dass die Türkei keine Feinde in der Region hat. Um
Worte in Taten umzusetzen, sollten konkrete Schritte zur Normalisierung
getan werden. (DER STANDARD, Printausgabe, 23./24.8.2008)

Chicago Tribune, IL
Aug 23 2008

Russian incursion sounds regional alarm

West-allied former Moscow dominions fear they’re next

By Alex Rodriguez | Chicago Tribune correspondent
5:24 PM CDT, August 23, 2008

TBILISI, Georgia ‘ The bombs dropped by Russian planes fell in
Georgia, but the shudder also coursed through nearby nations that once
existed under Moscow’s thumb during the Soviet era.

For countries like Ukraine, Azerbaijan and the Baltic nations of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Russia’s invasion and occupation of
West-allied Georgia is rekindling haunting memories of a Soviet-era
Kremlin that used its military might to keep its Eastern European
populations in lock step with Moscow.

Today, former Soviet republics and East bloc nations that long ago
switched alliances westward have been watching the events in Georgia
with alarm, wondering whether they might be next in line.

"This conflict in Georgia is a kind of 9/11 for Russia’s neighbors, an
event that changed all the security-related thinking in our
countries," said Kadri Liik, director of the International Center for
Defense Studies in Tallinn, Estonia’s capital.

>From 1999 to 2004, the Kremlin watched helplessly as 10 nations once
ruled by Moscow joined NATO, the Western military alliance that
shields its members with "attack one, attack all" armor. Since then
the Kremlin has rebounded on the shoulders of record oil prices and
has solidified Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and natural gas.

Russia has been ready to flex its newfound geopolitical might for some
time, experts say, and the conflict with tiny Georgia, a nation led by
a U.S.-allied president the Kremlin despises, gave Moscow the perfect
arena.

Now Russia’s neighbors worry that the Kremlin may expand that
arena. Countries that have adopted pro-West policies, such as Ukraine
and Azerbaijan, lie within what used to be the Soviet sphere of
influence that Moscow yearns to regain.

Ukraine under threat

Ukrainians have especially watched with trepidation as events unfolded
in Georgia. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has been pursuing
NATO membership for his country in the face of Moscow opposition,
including a threat last year from former President Vladimir Putin that
Russia would re-aim nuclear missiles toward Ukraine if it ever joined
NATO.

If an underlying aim in Russia’s incursion into Georgia was to warn
Ukraine and other former Soviet states about the perils of aligning
with NATO, the strategy may have backfired, experts say.

"Russia’s disproportionate actions in the Caucasus have raised a lot
of concerns here, and the concerns are growing," said Alexei Haran, a
political science professor at Kiev-Mohila Academy in Kiev. "The
number of supporters of the idea of joining NATO is likely to
increase."

Former Soviet states that already have joined NATO, such as Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania, did so partly because they feared a day when
Russia would try to re-exert its influence on its former
satellites. As in Georgia, which is pursuing NATO membership, those
countries’ populations were united in their desire to join the
alliance.

Ukrainians, however, are deeply divided by the question of joining
NATO. The country’s eastern and southern provinces are staunchly
pro-Russian.

Russia has tried to exploit that rift by actively supporting Ukrainian
opposition leaders, and experts believe the Kremlin will continue to
do so. Russia’s best leverage in Ukraine, says Haran, may be its Black
Sea naval fleet, which under a lease agreement is allowed to be based
in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in Crimea until 2017.

When Yushchenko recently suggested Ukraine should restrict movements
of those ships in the wake of the Georgian conflict, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev issued his own warning. "They must not tell us how to
behave," Medvedev said. "Interference in these issues will not lead to
anything good."

Residents anxious

On the streets of Kiev, Ukraine’s capital, anxiety runs high over the
Kremlin’s actions in Georgia.

"If Russia ever attacks Ukraine, the world will know the truth’that
Russia is a real armed monster," said Elena Titova, 32, an
accountant. "That’s why we should hurry up and stay close to NATO."

In Azerbaijan, citizens who embrace President Ilham Aliev’s decision
to align his country more closely with Washington and Western Europe
now worry that the Kremlin will search for ways to force him to
reverse course.

One tack Russia could pursue against Azerbaijan is to derail its
burgeoning energy relationship with the U.S. and European
countries. Azerbaijan ships Caspian Sea oil to Western markets through
a pipeline operated by British energy giant BP.

That pipeline runs through Georgia, and Georgian officials have
accused Russia of targeting the pipeline during its bombing raids on
Georgian territory. Georgia also accused Russia of bombing a key
railroad bridge outside the town of Kaspi that was used to ship
Azerbaijani oil to Western markets.

"It’s clear that the events in Georgia infringe on Azerbaijan’s
interests directly and make Azerbaijan very wary," said Rasim
Musabayev, a foreign affairs analyst based in Baku, Azerbaijan’s
capital.

Like Georgia, Azerbaijan wrestles with separatists in a frozen
conflict that has endured for years and makes Azerbaijan vulnerable to
Kremlin interference. Azerbaijani officials have accused Russia of
arming Armenian separatists who control the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh in western Azerbaijan.

Though Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are all members of NATO and the
European Union, their populations have watched with alarm as Russia
pushed its troops deeper into Georgia. A report in The Times newspaper
in London quoting unnamed Russian sources as saying the Kremlin is
considering arming its Baltic naval fleet with nuclear weapons has
only heightened anxiety in the Baltics. Russian officials called the
report baseless.

An Aug. 15 poll by a Tallinn-based survey group found that 83 percent
of Estonians believed the Kremlin’s actions in Georgia endangered
Russia’s neighbors.

"People are indeed worried," Liik said.

Researchers Olga Manmar in Kiev and Talekh Guliev in Moscow
contributed to this report.

world/chi-russia_neighbors_bdaug24,0,4269541.story

Xinhua, China
Aug 23 2008

Medal-dropping Abrahamian was right, said CAS

2008-08-24 00:20:16

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler Ara
Abrahamian who was stripped of Olympic bronze medal for dropping it in
disgust on the mat during the victory ceremony had the right to be
angry, according to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Abrahamian complained to CAS that his penalty in the semifinal of
men’s Greco-Roman 84kg bout on Aug. 14 against Andrea Minguzzi of
Italy, who finally won the gold, wasn’t assessed until after the bout
was over.

The International Federation of Wrestling (FILA), the governing
body of world wrestling, then denied Abrahamian’s coach’s request for
a video review and refused to consider a protest.

Silver medallist in Athens 2004 Games Abrahamian, 28, was stopped
from going after referees following his loss. He stormed away from the
mixed-zone and punched a door to the dressing room.

He went to the repechage matches after some friends’ persuading
and won a bronze. But Abrahamian walked off the podium and dropped his
medal on the mat and walked away. He declared that he retired.

The International Olympic Committee stripped Abrahamian’s bronze
for violating the spirit of fair play on Aug. 15.

The Armenian-born Abrahamian initially wanted referees in the bout
punished and his medal back.

"We limit ourselves to ruling that FILA must, consistently with
the (Olympic) Charter and general principles of fairness, establish
for the future a jury of appeal to determine the validity or otherwise
of complains of that kind ventilated by Abrahamian," wrote the judges.

Judges of CAS said Abrahamian was right, who also noted several
times that FILA did not appear at the hearing.

Editor: Xinhuanet

U.S. ENTREPRENEUR MAKES ALIYAH SEEKING ‘NEXT BIG INVENTION’
By Haim Handwerker

Ha’aretz
Aug 23 2008
Israel

NEW YORK – Scott Tobin, a successful venture capitalist, rented his
house in the Boston suburbs, took his wife and four kids, boarded a
plane and moved to Israel last week. "We believe that the next big
invention will come from Israel," he explained before he left. "There
are not many places in the world where there is that kind of actual
innovation."

Tobin, 38, is a senior partner at Battery Ventures, which manages
investments totaling $3 billion. In 2006 Forbes Magazine ranked
him No. 47 on the Midas List of top technology deal-makers in the
world. In 2007 he had to settle for No. 50.

Venture capital funds and financial companies are not in the habit of
sending such high-ranking executives to live in Israel, much less with
their families. Israel is too far away, too dangerous. The companies
thus send personnel on work visits to Israel, or else employ former
Israelis who know their old homeland, or local workers.

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"I’m the only Jewish member of the general partners," Tobin
explains. "Battery’s top partners visited Israel last October and were
very impressed. It was four days packed with meetings and tours. We
were in the middle of debating where we should open offices, and
finally we settled on India and Israel, because of the research and the
high level of innovation there. People used to say that if you want to
make $1 million in Israel, you have to invest $5 million. Those days
are over. Israel has the best minds and the kind of innovation you
can’t find even in the foremost technology centers, such as Silicon
Valley. It’s a matter of business logic. We mean to make real money
in Israel. The fact that I am a Zionist is just icing on the cake."

Tobin knows that some people think he is crazy to be moving to Israel,
because of the security situation. "I’m not afraid," he declares. "I
already lived through a difficult time in Israel during the first Gulf
War, when I was studying at Hebrew University. It was not pleasant,
and I was afraid. But we survived. It’s part of life in Israel. I
have four boys, ages three, five, eight and 10. If I thought it were
dangerous, I would not do it.

"We bought a house in Ra’anana and got a pre-immigration visa, so
it’s not a move for a year or two. If I have to choose between Paris,
London and Israel, I go with Israel. I see it as a cosmopolitan
place, vibrant, lots of fun. Israelis appreciate good food and
a good time. But believe me, I’m not exactly planning on a wild
nightlife. Israel is a different country. People no longer ask me to
bring them Nikes."

In late 2005 Battery opened a two-man office in Herzliya, to develop
a better understanding of the local investment scene. "We found many
venture capitalists in Israel," Tobin says, "more than rabbis. We
studied the potential."

How much money are you planning to spend in Israel?

Tobin: "I’ll be happy if we invest $50-$100 million a year. Battery
reviews 7,000 potential deals a year, and we invest in only 12-20
of them."

Central player

Tobin himself has spearheaded around 20 deals so far, including the
purchase of the London International Financial Futures and Options
Exchange. Battery bought the Exchange in 2000 for $300 million, and
sold it 13 months later for some $1 billion: "In those days the theory
was that technology would wipe out the stock exchanges, and they would
disappear. Their prices dropped dramatically. But the exact opposite
happened: The stock exchanges in the world continued to thrive."

Tobin missed out on at least one good deal, however: When Mark
Zuckerberg began tossing around the idea of Facebook, he met with
Tobin in an effort to raise money. Tobin decided to pass.

Why didn’t you invest?

"I didn’t have a good feeling about it, and we didn’t make a good
connection. In my business sometimes you win, and sometimes you
lose. For every deal you make there are dozens and hundreds that
don’t happen."

You must regret your decision.

"Some people like to remind me of it, but I don’t see it as a
mistake. We’re in this business for the long term. Sometimes it works,
sometimes the fish gets away from you."

Tobin, who speaks basic Hebrew with an American accent, grew up
in Great Neck, New York – a middle-class town with a large Jewish
population, about an hour’s drive from Manhattan. His father is in
insurance, his mother is a homemaker and is also, her son says, a
"professional volunteer." He studied Islam and Middle Eastern history
at Brandeis University. As part of his program, he spent a year in
Israel, studying Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University. One of
his brothers is a lawyer living in Beit Shemesh.

Tobin’s first big success, it might be argued, came through his Israeli
connection. During his time at Hebrew University, a friend introduced
him to Danny Lewin. When Lewin went on to study at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, they met again. Eventually Lewin founded
Akamai with one of his professors. He pitched the idea to Tobin, who
had then begun to work at Battery. Battery was Akamai’s first investor,
giving the company some $10 million. Akamai then became one of the
meteors of the Internet world, surviving even the collapse of the
high-tech bubble. Battery made a big profit from its investment – $200
million, according to Tobin, for whom the deal was a career-booster.

Danny Lewin died in the September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers,
aboard the American Airlines flight to Los Angeles. In late 2000
Tobin began to work with Michael Lewin, Danny’s brother, who lives in
Israel. Lewin pitched some ideas for high-tech projects, and Tobin
came in at an early stage. He arranged meetings for Lewin and his
partners in the United States, and was involved in formulating the
concept for a data-storage security company named Kashya.

"Battery invested over $10 million in Kashya," explains Tobin. "The
company was sold two years ago to the EMC data storage corporation
for $153 million. Battery made some $65 million off the investment."

Lewin is now working with Tobin on another project, about which he
refuses to elaborate. "Scott’s move to Israel upgrades the local
venture capital field," he says. "He is very experienced and plugged
into the American venture capital world. He understands well how
a company penetrates the American and international market, and he
has a profound understanding of the Israeli side. There is no other
American venture capitalist of his stature in Israel today. When one
venture capital firm sends such a central player here, others might
do the same.

"I think Scott’s move could help us cope with one of the biggest
challenges of Israeli high-tech. We develop companies and sell them,
and the challenge is to establish mega-corporations like Teva and
Comverse."

Battery has investments in five Israeli companies: Anobit Technologies,
cVidya, Freshpoint, Neocleus, and a fifth company whose name has not
yet been revealed. The overall investment is $50 million. In the near
future the company will be hiring seven Israeli staff members. Tobin
says that Battery intends to invest in different areas, not only
in high-tech.

"You have to remember that in Israel there are large companies
with excellent international reputations, such as Ormat, Keter and
Netafim," he says. "Venture capital funds usually don’t go in these
directions. I intend to invest even in areas that are unusual for
venture capitalists. We may well invest in public companies as well,
and maybe make them private. I promise to spend many hours out of
the office doing field work."

The vision

Scott Tobin has a vision: "If you look at Israel’s human capital in
mathematics and computer science, combined with government reforms,
it seems likely that Israel will someday play a central role in the
international world of finance. The world is changing, and financial
centers will expand beyond New York, London and Hong Kong. There is
no reason why Israel will not become a center of financial trade.

"It’s been a long time since Israel produced a revolutionary
invention like ICQ. In general, there are no revolutions in technology
today. Changes are more evolutionary, but Israel shows more impressive
innovation than other high-tech areas in the world, including the
United States. Many high-tech companies copy others or miniaturize
existing inventions, but there are no huge new inventions. Companies
like Microsoft, IBM or Cisco invest funds in Israel because they
realize that they have to be active here."

Where will you be looking for ideas in Israel?

"The biggest incubator for ideas in Israel is the army, and there is
nothing like it anywhere else in the world. In Israeli academia there
are some brilliant minds, but for some reason it has not done as well
as MIT or the California Institute of Technology, even though it is
the universities’ job to promote the commercialization of ideas. We
have to find a way to increase the motivation to make their ideas
commercial. Therefore I plan to spend some time on Israeli campuses."

Some would claim that Israelis have good brains, but that it’s hard
to do business here.

"And doing business in China or India is easy? I met an Armenian
businessman who told me that it’s very hard to do business with
Armenians, because they are so tough. But everyone is tough in
business. So it’s hard to do business with Israelis, too. I think
these are stereotypes.

"When we built Kashya, everyone told us we were wrong to use a local
CEO and team. But the fact is that a giant like [software developer]
EMC was willing to pay a lot of money for the company. EMC made
a good deal, because they are now selling many products based on
Israeli knowledge. Believe me, I’m coming to Israel with my eyes open."

Aren’t you afraid that your position will be compromised if you live
far from Battery’s head offices?

"Absolutely not. Our world is becoming smaller. In the past I lived
in Boston and flew to Israel, and now I’ll be living in Israel and
coming to Boston to visit."

When we met Tobin he told us that before leaving for Israel,
he intended to take his kids to Niagra Falls and the Statue of
Liberty. "Israeli friends who come to visit the States always go there,
so I thought it was a good idea for our children to visit those places
before they go to Israel."

HERITAGE OPPOSITION PARTY PARLIAMENTARY FACTION TO VOTE AGAINST AMENDMENTS TO LAWS ON TAX SERVICE AND ON LAKE SEVAN

arminfo
2008-08-21 09:53:00

ArmInfo. Heritage opposition party parliamentary faction will vote
against the amendments to Laws on Tax Service and on Program of
Restoration, Preservation and Reproduction of Lake Sevan.

Secretary of the faction Stepan Safaryan told ArmInfo it is already
the second attempt by the government to amend the Law on Lake Sevan
to increase the release of water to 360 mln cubic meters for the
current year. ‘It testifies that lake is just a source of water for
the government. At first the government motivated the amendment with
drought. After the factor of drought was not proved, the government
brought another motive – extension of the territory. Moreover, the
water of the lake is not good for irrigation.

Later it turned out that hotels on the shore may be flooded’, the
parliamentarian said. ‘The show in the Parliament aimed to reduce
the indicator to 280 million cubic metes that was proposed yet in
June 2008.

However, even 240 mln cubic meters are inadmissible’, Safaryan said.

CURRENT HEAD OF EREBUNI DISTRICT GIVES UP FURTHER ELECTORAL STRUGGLE

Noyan Tapan

Au g 19, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The current head of Yerevan’s
Erebuni district, member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA)
Mher Sedrakian on August 19 officially withdrew his candidacy, thus
refusing to run in the elections of the district head to be held on
September 7, NT correspondent was informed by spokesperson for the RA
Central Electoral Commission Tatev Ohanian. Thus, the current deputy
head of Erebuni district, RPA member Armen Harutyunian remains the
only candidate for the post of the district head.

Three candidates: the current head of the district, RPA member Arayik
Kotanjian, the son of the founding chairman of "Democratic Way"
party Manuk Gasparian, member of the same party Manuel Gasparian and
non-party man Varuzhan Mkrtchian have been registerted to run in the
elections of the head of Yerevan’s Kanaker-Zeytun community on the
same day.

Two candidates: the current head of the district, member of "Prosperous
Armenia" party Mher Hovhannisian and RPA member Ggaik Hovsepian have
been registered to run in the elections of the head of the city’s
Nubarashen district.

Four candidates: the current district head, RPA member Hovhannes
Shahinian, owner of Yeritsian & Sons company, non-pary man Albert
Yeritsian, member of "Heritage" party, former member of the RA
Central Electoral Commission Zoya Tedevosian and representative of the
Progressive Party of Armenia Ashot Mnatsakanian have been registered
to run in elections of the head of Yerevan’s Arabkir community.