Author: Hambardsumian Paul

PanArmenian News
Sept 23 2004

OSCE LEADERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS SOONEST SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT

23.09.2004 18:26

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian met with
OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s special representative for Nagorno
Karabakh, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Phillip Dimitrov on
September 22. As reported by the RA MFA press service, Ph. Dimitrov
noted that the OSCE leadership attaches great importance to the
soonest resolving of the Karabakh conflict. In his turn, V. Oskanian
acquainted Ph. Dimitrov with the details and logic of the settlement
process in the light of the recent meetings of the Presidents and FMs
of Armenia and Azerbaijan. To note, during the 2-day visit to Yerevan
the special representative is also scheduled to meet with the
Armenian President, NA Speaker and Defense Minister.

Armenian presidential aide accuses European rapporteur of pro-Azeri stance

Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
21 Sep 04

An interview with the Armenian president’s advisor Garnik Isagulyan.

[Hayots Ashkarh correspondent] Mr Isagulyan, [rapporteur of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] Terry Davis’s draft
report on Karabakh has been submitted to the Council of
Europe. According to some officials, it contains statements which
worry both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Do you also think so?

[Garnik Isagulyan] I think there is nothing surprising in the draft
report. The principle according to which the rapporteur on Karabakh
was chosen should be taken into account in the first place. Terry
Davis is an MP from Great Britain, a country which in 1991 recognized
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan including Karabakh. For this
reason, Great Britain, albeit an influential country, did not become a
member of the OSCE Minsk Group [for the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict] because from the very beginning it adopted a pro-Azerbaijani
position.

A new rapporteur has been appointed recently and again an MP from
Great Britain. I do not think that his approaches will differ greatly
from the approaches of Davis. We should be ready for this. On the
whole, it will be better if our delegation in the Council of Europe
does its best to have a representative of a country that has a neutral
position appointed a rapporteur on the Karabakh issue.

[Passage omitted: Baku might want to change format of Karabakh talks]

[Correspondent] Do you think that within the framework of the Minsk
Group a pro-Armenian settlement is becoming more realistic?

[Isagulyan] I would say not pro-Armenian, but a settlement which stems
from the real situation, in case if Azerbaijan stops insisting on
starting the process from scratch. But Baku understands very well that
the minimum to which the Armenian party will agree is Karabakh’s
independence or even reunification with Armenia. Our society,
political forces, on the whole, should get into the habit of not
paying much attention to different discussions and reports regarding
the Karabakh issue in those international structures which have no
significant role in the settlement process. The Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic is in fact an independent state. As for the discussions that
start from time to time as to whether territories should be returned
or not, what compromises can be made, the Megri problem, and so on, in
reality they are raised in Armenia. There are similar hopes in
Azerbaijan and Turkey that if certain forces come to power in Armenia,
the problem could be resolved in their favour.

[Correspondent] What forces do you mean?

[Isagulyan] It is no secret that the whole ideology and approaches of
the Armenian Pan-National Movement worked in this direction. Their
agreement to the settlement option suggested at the end of 1997 and
[Armenian ex-President] Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s known article are the
links of the same chain. Today in Armenia against the background of
the anti-Karabakh propaganda, one can hear from radical opposition
circles expressions like: let Karabakh itself resolve its
problem. This is inadmissible. Although Karabakh is a fully-fledged
country, it still needs Armenia’s support and it will never be within
Azerbaijan. No country or international structure can make such an
illogical claim to Armenia and Karabakh if our domestic moth does not
destroy us.

THE KOREA HERALD
September 22, 2004, Wednesday

‘Aida’ gets minimalist treatment

By Warren Lee

An upcoming production of “Aida” promises a fresh, new look for the
familiar operatic tale of love and war set in ancient Egypt.

The National Opera of Korea will present the Verdi classic at the
Seoul Arts Center next month in a production led by Dieter Kaegi,
with set and costume design by Bruno Schwengl.

Though Kaegi’s production is admittedly far from cutting-edge, it
does provide Korean audiences a glimpse of what a tried-and-true
classic would look like if it were to adopt a more progressive
approach to opera staging.

“In order for opera to have a future and bring in a new generation of
audiences, you can’t repeat the same thing over and over again,” said
Kaegi, who is artistic director of Opera Ireland in Dublin. “You need
a fresh visual concept, not just reproductions. Reproductions are
boring and they don’t work.”

Korean opera companies usually present only about two dozen or so of
the best known operas in the repertory, mostly by Verdi, Puccini,
Donizetti and other big-name Italian composers. And in staging these
operas, the elements that make up a production – such as set design,
direction, and costumes – usually come together to produce the most
realistic, and perhaps too literal, a depiction of the time and
setting in which the stories take place.

Productions of “Aida,” for example, tend toward recreating ancient
Egypt with sets that feature life-sized pyramids and a veritable army
of jewel-clad extras. But such lavish settings often detract from the
music and the story at hand, which paints the tragic struggle of a
slave woman torn between her love for a man and her native country.

“I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what this opera is
about,” Kaegi says. “‘Aida’ is not about outdoor amphitheaters and
the Triumphal March scene,” he said, alluding to an “Aida” staged
last year at Jamsil Olympic Stadium which featured a 100-meter stage
and a procession of live elephants and camels that circled the
audience on the running track. “The plot gets lost in large
productions. If it’s too sumptuous, the story gets lost.”

He added: “Of course, ‘Aida’ has to be very visually strong, with
lots of striking images.”

Schwengl’s set design leaves much more to the imagination. Aside from
a lone centerpiece that changes with each scene, the stage remains
mostly empty and spacious, flanked by a large pyramid split in half.

In the third act, which takes place along the moonlit banks of the
Nile River, an islet is represented by the half-exposed face of a
large, Sphinx-like statue emerging above the water line, while a
large, white disc hovers only several meters off the ground in the
background.

The uncluttered set design, Kaegi explained, allows the audience to
focus more attention to the intimate, complex dynamics that color the
love between Aida and Radames. “We try to make the conflicts between
the characters more evident.”

While this version of “Aida” is not a radical departure from others,
it will nonetheless serve as a way for local audiences to dip their
toes into more unorthodox stagings of popular works. Delivering
something new and fresh is vital for the future artistic and
financial well-being of opera, said the National Opera’s artistic
director, Jung Eun-suk.

“I think we are past the point where we have to present ‘La
Traviata,’ ‘La Boheme,’ or ‘Aida’ in historical settings. The
audience can tell what the whole production is going to be like with
just one glimpse at the set, and I find that troublesome,” she said.
“Europe has always experimented with their operas, even if they are
classics. I think this is a way to make something familiar more
modern to Korean opera goers.”

“Aida’s” cast will include Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, American
Adina Aaron, and Korean Lee Hwa-young who will alternate in the title
role with tenors Gegam Grigorian, Kim Nam-doo, and Ha Suk-bae singing
the part of Radames.

Italian conductor Riccardo Frizza will lead the Korean Symphony
Orchestra, the National Opera Chorus of Korea, and Euijeongbu City
Choir.

“Aida” will run Oct. 7-11 at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House,
located near the Nambu Bus Terminal Station, Subway Line No. 3, Exit
5. Weekday performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend performances start
at 4 p.m. Tickets start at 30,000 won and can be purchased at
1588-7890. For more information, call (02) 586-5282 or visit

Le Figaro, France
21 septembre 2004

Concours de chant de Toulouse

Les hommes n’ont pas remporté de premier prix au 45e Concours de
chant de Toulouse. Pour les femmes, la mezzo géorgienne de 20 ans
Ketevan Kemoklidze s’est imposée en tête. Le 2e prix ex aequo est
allé à la basse canadienne de 23 ans Robert MPomakov et à la soprano
chinoise de 30 ans Na Shen ; le 3e prix ex aequo au baryton argentin
de 27 ans Armando Noguera et à la soprano arménienne de 24 ans Liana
Alexanyan.

Exotisme alimentaire
par Jacques CAPELOVICI

Le Figaro, France
17 septembre 2004

Il n’est pas sans intérêt de noter que le nom de la pêche (fruit)
remonte au latin malum persicum signifiant littéralement « pomme de
Perse », le terme « pomme » étant pris dans le sens générique de
fruit. Le « r » de Perse est absent du français pêche, de l’anglais
peach et de l’italien pesca ; mais on le retrouve dans l’allemand
Pfirsich, le néerlandais perzik et le russe persik, d’origine latine,
ce qui donne à penser que, malgré la proximité de la Perse, ce fruit
a été probablement introduit en Russie par une autre voie.

Non moins exotique est le nom de notre abricot, qui remonte à
l’adjectif latin praecoquum qualifiant un fruit précoce, en
l’occurrence originaire de Chine, que les Grecs nommaient armeniaka,
fruit d’Arménie. Les Arabes le réintroduisirent dans l’Occident sous
le nom d’al-barqoûq, enrichi de l’article défini, qui a donné
naissance à l’espagnol albaricoque, au portugais albricoque, à
l’italien albicocco et, bien entendu, au français abricot, d’où
viennent l’anglais apricot, l’allemand Aprikose et le néerlandais
abrikoos. Rencontre inattendue : le russe abrikos est homophone du
mot néerlandais. Dans toutes ces langues, le « a » initial remonte à
l’article arabe al amputé de sa consonne.

Enfin, il faut se rendre en Israël pour y trouver l’origine de notre
échalote, qui vient du port d’Ascalon. Les exemples de ce genre sont
assez nombreux pour nous éclairer sur les voyages qu’accomplirent
certains produits alimentaires avant d’aboutir dans nos assiettes.

Addis Tribune, Ethiopia
Sept 17 2004

Cosmetic Change

OPINION

The spectre of a permanence of impermanence has been haunting our
land for generations on end. It is thus only true to say that
cosmetic – and not meaningful – change in the economic destiny of the
Ethiopian people has been an ineluctable fact of life in this country
since the death of Menelik in 1913. Even today – in the third
millennium – we continue to witness change in its most chimerical
form.

Only last week, for instance, the government was telling the
Ethiopian people through its mass media that a new passport was
coming into existence as of September 11. Passports – like other
documents – have been, of course, changing form much like the amoeba
in Ethiopia since 1974. Even during the 13-year-long life of the
incumbent government, we must have had no less than two versions of
passports.

Since 1889 – when Menelik was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia – four
flags have been flying in this country, one of them Italian between
1936 and 1941, not counting, of course, the Union Jack during the
brief war of liberation. The Ethiopian tricolour was superseded in
1974 by a flag with a de-crowned Ethiopian lion – and in 1991 by a
tricolour with an emblem on it very much reminiscent of the Star of
David.

A plethora of notes and coins had come and gone since the days of
Menelik. Many of us are still alive who are fortunate enough to
remember Menelik’s Maria Theresa silver thaler and copper and nickel
coins like the beza and temun, Haile-Selassie’s pre-1936 alad( a
fifty-cent nickel coin) and the notes and coins that were replaced by
ones that had carried images of peasants and workers by the beginning
of 1977.

This is to say nothing of the three national anthems that were being
sung in this country since the time of the regency of Emperor
Haile-Selassie – the first of them composed as a rousing military
march by Ethiopians of Armenian origin. It is, indeed, a pity that
impermanence has been becoming an inevitable feature of the national
life of the Ethiopian people for over one hundred years now. n

Cost of Living

There were days in the not-too-distant past when the pressure of the
cost of living was not being felt to be an insufferable burden even
on a poor people like Ethiopians. Before the fuel crisis of 1973, all
commodities were very cheap here. One kilogram of meat was worth one
birr; one chicken could be bought for less than two birr; a big
ceremonial ram had cost no more than sixty birr; and a litre of
petrol had sold for only 45 cents.

Those were, of course, in the good old days when Ethiopians of
middle-income were collecting between 300 and 700 birr a month. No
useful purpose could be, certainly, served by crying over spilt milk,
as the old English saying goes. However, to adapt a Shakespearean
saying, the fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars but in the
interminable wars that were being conducted by Bush père and Bush
fils in Iraq since 1991.

Ethiopian governments are absolutely blameless for periodically
raising the prices of petrol. In fact, these governments have been
subsidizing the prices of petroleum products in order to make life
more tolerable for the generality of the Ethiopian people. Ethiopians
are now finding the cost of living – or even dying – to be very high.

Let us only hope and pray that a congenital warmonger in the US would
lose the November election for alleviating our seemingly perpetual
misery.

GEOPOLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF BESLAN

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
15 Sept 04

The terrorist attack on the school in Beslan shocked not only the
Russians but also everyone abroad. Hundreds of innocent people died,
among them children. Among the casualties there were Armenians as
well. Against the humanitarian aspect of the tragedy the geopolitical
consequences have been driven to the background but in the future the
events in Beslan may cause fundamental changes of the situation in the
Caucasus, and not only in the north but in the entire region. In the
given context it is appropriate to consider the possible developments
both in the Caucasus and outside it. Possible developments in the
region may be classified into several groups: aggravation of the
home situation in North Osetia, aggravation of the Oset-Ingush and
Oset-Chechen relationships, aggravation of the relationships between
North Osetia and the central power which is the same as aggravation
of the Oset-Russian relationships, as well as of the situation in
South Osetia. Currently the people of North Osetia protest against
the government of the republic demanding their resignation. We may
suppose that the settlement of this range of problems is not of
major difficulty. However, in this case it is not excluded that
radical forces may come to power in North Osetia. And this may
essentially complicate the situation also in neighbouring countries
of the North Caucasus. The possible complications in the Oset- Ingush
and Oset-Chechen relationships are especially dangerous. After the
events in Beslan about a thousand Osetians attempted to massacre the
Ingush people but were prevented by the law. If similar cases become
more dangerous and cause victims, the situation in the North Caucasus
will aggravate. One of the most dangerous developments for Moscow will
be tensions between North Osetia and the central government of the
Russian Federation. This will be a serious challenge for Russia. Many
people in Russia blame Kremlin for the tragedy in Beslan. Member of
State Duma Vladimir Rizhkov stated directly, â^À^Üif speaking about
the political responsibility, there cannot be two opinions. It is
the government and first of all the president, the leaders of the
Federal Service of Security, the Ministry of Home Affairs, that is to
say those federal agencies of the executive power which, according
to the Constitution and the laws, are to provide our security.â^À^Ý
According to Rizhkov, the president assumed the responsibility to
establish order in the country and provide the security of the people
but this responsibility was not carried out. In addition to this,
the Russian mass media write that in Beslan gunfire was started by
the people involved in the siege and not the terrorists. It is not
excluded that those might have been the local militiamen deployed
around the school since the first day. It is quite possible that one
of them broke down and shot. The terrorist groups are also interested
in accusing Kremlin of organizing the events in Beslan. In such a
situation there may appear feelings of hatred and distrust of the
central government among the population. Distrust may arise in other
regions of the Russian Federation as well. From the geopolitical aspect
one of the most dangerous developments is that distrust of the central
government may grow into distrust of the Russians in general, whereas
the Osetian factor is of exceptional importance for the position of
Moscow in the North Caucasus. Osetians are the only Christians of the
North Caucasian natives, by the way Orthodox Christians. Practically
they were the first to join Russia voluntarily, and in the 19th century
they did not take part in the struggle of the highlanders against the
Russian Empire. Now the Osetians are perhaps the most reliable defence
wall for Russia. The thing is that the Osetian-Russian relationships
have been supported by spiritual and cultural cooperation, which
reduces and sometimes even eliminates the influence of such a strong
factor as the geopolitical situation. But the spiritual and cultural
closeness can be broken up and in such cases the relationships between
peoples become derivatives of the geopolitical situation. The result
of this will be the change of political orientation of the people or
the country. Thus, the political future of the North Caucasus will
be directly related to the developments in North Osetia. Without the
support of the Osetians Moscowâ^À^Ùs position in the North Caucasus
may be shattered. Taking into account the fact that South Caucasus
is gradually getting integrated in the Euroatlantic structures, the
nations of North Caucasus may also change their political orientation
under the influence of the geopolitical situation finding themselves
devoid of any spiritual and cultural closeness. The events of Beslan
may also affect the situation in South Osetia. In an interview
president Putin declared that the borders of North Osetia will be
closed, including the North Osetian section of the state border. But
in this situation the border between South and North Osetia will
appear under lock. This may motivate Georgia to use force against
South Osetia. In this case Kremlin will become very vulnerable. On
the one hand, after such a statement if volunteers from North Osetia
appear in the Georgian-South Osetian conflict area, Moscow may be
accused of sending terrorists to Georgia. On the other hand, if the
situation in South Osetia becomes tense, and North Osetia is not able
to help their brothers, they will again blame Moscow. In this context
it is worthwhile to pay attention to the September 4, 2004 address
of Vladimir Putin. He made it clear that the terrorist actions are
directly related to foreign forces which are interested in weakening
Russia. By the way, he mentioned that the Russian Federation is not
protected either from the East or from the West. Here the Russian
president exactly meant the political and not the geographic notions
of â^À^ÜEastâ^À^Ý and â^À^ÜWestâ^À^Ý . The main suspicion falls
on either Europe or the USA but taking into account the fact that
the United States is currently the only superpower in the world,
and according to the American top officials, they have interests in
any region of the Earth, therefore the USA is meant. Is that Moscow
is challenging Washington? But in this case Moscow should have won
over the protection of some player on the arena. Europe, especially
Germany and France would hardly enter confrontation with the USA for
the sake of Russia. Maybe China will help him? Strange though it may
seem, Putin himself excluded this possibility in his address when he
mentioned the fact of Russiaâ^À^Ùs not being protected from the East as
well. If it is merely the Near East, the threat from there is usually
connected with terrorism and Islamic extremism. If it is the Far East,
the situation here is quite different. The insecurity of Russia in
this direction is caused by the fears of ethnic and economic intrusion
of the Chinese into the vast areas of the Far East and Siberia. Now
already China is the chief trade companion of most regions of the Far
East and Siberia, and it seems that China is not against having its
share either. Thus, it turns out that Kremlin transforms the struggle
against international terrorism into a geopolitical competition with
the leading centers of global politics thereby practically remaining
without a strong ally. Of course, a country such as Russia may be
able to solve many questions alone but only having order inside the
country. As Putin stated in his address, the most important task is
the mobilization of the nation against the common threat. However,
the national mobilization cannot be confined to showing patriotic
films and mass actions of unity, which may have a short-lasting
effect merely, especially among todayâ^À^Ùs Russian youth. First of
all it is necessary to restore the social unity as presently there
is an enormous gap between the rich and the poor. This first of all
requires an overall struggle against corruption. Putin mentioned
nothing on this in his address. However, not everything said becomes
a reality and not everything done is spoken about. Therefore, if
soon a war is declared against corruption in the Russian Federation,
it will mean that Beslan was a breakpoint in the Russian policy.

DAVIT BABAYAN.
15-09-2004

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say. Part A (Russia)
September 15, 2004, Wednesday

THE OPPONENT IS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE

SOURCE: Kommersant, September 14, 2004, p. 9

by Vladimir Novikov, Sergei Kisin, Gennady Sysoev

Moscow and Tbilisi are on the brink of open conflict again.
Yesterday, Georgian authorities accused Russia of planning a
transport blockade of Georgia. Tbilisi alleges that this is how
Moscow plans to keep Georgia within Russia’s sphere of influence.

Actual blockade

Yesterday, the Transport and Communication Ministry of Georgia
reported that it received an unexpected notification from Russia
about an upcoming halt to practically all transport relations with
Georgia. From September 15, Russia is banning the entry of automotive
vehicles from Georgia and from October 1 Russian airspace will be
closed to Georgian airlines. Yesterday, Georgian transport companies
have already started offering the passengers to return the previously
purchased tickets and get refunds.

The formal pretext for introduction of an air blockade of Georgia is
the fact that some Georgian airlines owe large sums to Russia.
However, Russian airspace is also closed for the airlines having no
debts and even for the airlines that have transit flights to European
countries. Naturally, Georgia will be able to use alternative air
corridors but the costs of air transportation will grow
significantly.

Tbilisi authorities remark that stopping of the bus communication
(and maritime communication from Batumi and Poti) is not motivated at
all. There is no railway communication between Russia and Georgia and
the latest decisions of Moscow mean complete stopping of transport
communications with Georgia. Along with this, transport
communications between Russia and Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which
have declared independence from Russia, is dramatically increased.

Political commuter train

The first commuter train since the suspension of railway links with
the breakaway republic of Abkhazia in 1992 departed from Sochi to
Sukhumi yesterday at 4.52 p.m.

According to a source in Russian Railways (RZHD), the rapid opening
of railway links between Russia and Abkhazia is due primarily to
political reasons, namely cooling down of the Russian-Georgian
relations due to the conflict in South Ossetia. Hence, restoration of
the 146-kilometer railway to Sukhumi was accelerated. RZHD invested
approximately 200 million rubles in this project and sent the
commuter train last week. Along with this, the source said that there
was such haste that finishing of Sukhumi railway station was not
completed. On the side of the railway the building in painted in
white and on the side of the near-the-station square the building
retained traces of the fire that happened ten years ago.

According to the PR service of the North Caucasian Railway, due to
restoration of the railway a commuter train will cover the distance
from Sukhumi to Sochi just in 4 hours and 43 minutes. Depending on
the season, the train will have from six to ten carriages. It is
expected that the carriages will be filled by approximately 50-60%
and the price of a ticket will be 45 rubles or a few times cheaper
than the price of a bus ticket for the same route. Representatives of
the North Caucasian Railway do not hide that they do not doubt that
the railway would be unprofitable but say that “political benefit
from the commuter train overweighs any money.”

“Of all mortal sins”

Decisions of Moscow caused serious concern of Tbilisi. Tbilisi
authorities are afraid that harsh measures may also be applied to the
energy sector. Georgian authorities have more than enough reasons to
worry.

Tbilisi noticed that the visit of Deputy CEO of RAO EES Rossii Andrei
Rappoport to Tbilisi was recently postponed indefinitely without any
sensible explanation. The visit of a delegation of representatives of
Georgian energy companies to Moscow was also postponed. In Moscow the
delegation hoped to meet with the management of Gazprom and to come
to agreement on gas supplies in the autumn-winter period. Supplies of
electric energy to Georgia from the Inguri hydro power station
located in Abkhazia was interrupted yesterday unexpectedly and
resulted in a complete collapse of the electric energy system of
Georgia. For a few hours the whole country drowned in darkness.

Yesterday, State Minister Georgy Khaindrava flew to Moscow according
to the order of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvaniya to meet with
officials of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Security Council.
Before departure to the Russian capital Khaindrava said bitterly,
“Someone in Russia accuses us of all mortal sins, nearly of planning
of the terrorist act in Beslan and September 11 in New York. That is
why there is a need to meet with Russian colleagues. We will also
discuss the illegal restarting of railway communication between
Abkhazia and Russia.”

After arrival to Moscow Khaindrava said that announcement of a
transport blockade to Georgia by Russia is an attempt to direct
unregulated Russian-Georgian political relations to the economic
area. The Georgian minister adds, “We do not understand what is
happening and what has caused all this. We are under political press
and will most likely be exposed to economic pressure too.”

Tbilisi authorities presume that the latest decisions of Russia that
hit on Georgian economy painfully pursue several goals. First, Russia
wants to force Tbilisi to agree with opening of the through railway
communication between Russia and Armenia, its strategic partner in
the region (to date, Georgian has rigidly connected with issue with
return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia rejected by Sukhumi
authorities). Second, Russia wants to correct the situation that has
appeared after Georgian authorities have closed the administrative
border with South Ossetia. As a result, the uncontrollable glow of
goods from Russia to Georgia practically stopped in the South
Ossetian territory, which incurred big losses on the South Ossetian
budget and Moscow (especially after the tragedy in Beslan) should
react to requests of the Ossetian party about the “response
measures.”

In general, Tbilisi authorities say that the unprecedented steps of
Moscow show that Russian authorities have finally adopted a course at
preserving of Georgia in the orbit of Russia’s influence by all
means. Taking into account strategic partnership with Armenia,
preserving of Georgia in Russia’s orbit of influence would enable
Russia to control Transcaucasia in general.

Hence, negotiations on the deadlines for withdrawal of Russian armed
forces from Georgia are postponed indefinitely. Due to the same
reason President Vladimir Putin demonstratively meets in Dagomys with
Abkhazian Prime Minister Raul Khadzhimba, the most realistic
candidate for the post of the president of the breakaway republic.
Finally that is why Moscow is persistently hinting on the need for
Georgia to return to the system of the collective security treaty
organization (Tbilisi quit the organization in 1999) and at solving
of Georgia’s economic problems not through alienation from Russia and
closing of the economic border in its South Ossetian part but, on the
contrary, through integration into the pro-Russian economic and
political structures like Eurasian Economic Community and Customs
Union.

Translated by Pavel Pushkin

STATEMENT BY NATO SPOKESMAN

A1 Plus | 19:14:42 | 13-09-2004 | Politics |

NATO Spokesman Mr. James Appathurai has today announced about
cancellation of the exercise Co-operative Best Effort 2004, which
was scheduled to begin today in Azerbaijan.

All PfP exercises are agreed and conducted on the principle
of inclusiveness for all Allies and Partners which wish to
participate. Nations participating in Cooperative Best Effort 2004
agreed and have supported the exercise based on this principle.

We regret that the principle of inclusiveness could not be upheld in
this case, leading to the cancellation of the exercise.

Cooperative Best Effort exercises are an important series of live
exercises on the Partnership for Peace calendar. They are designed to
provide basic knowledge on Peace Support Operations (PSO) at small
unit level. In the Caucasus, Cooperative Best Effort has already
taken place in Georgia and in Armenia.

TV questions Azerbaijan’s need for NATO membership

ANS TV, Baku
10 Sep 04

[Presenter] Our next report is about people’s expectations from NATO
and NATO’s failure to meet them.

[Correspondent] The fact that NATO is interested in sending
Armenians to Baku has made us reassess our view of this body. Back
in 1991, Azerbaijan needed support from NATO in order to maintain its
territorial integrity and put up resistance to pressure from the north,
that is from Russia, and from the south, that is from Iran. For the
fear of finding itself in Russia’s zone of influence, Azerbaijan
decided not to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization,
which was set up in Russia, and turned to NATO. In order to strengthen
integration with the West, Azerbaijan sent its servicemen to Kosovo
and Afghanistan within international peacekeeping groups.

Saying that ensuring stability and independence in the
newly-independent states of Europe is one of its main tasks, NATO,
however, has never taken any steps towards respect for Azerbaijan’s
interests over the Karabakh issue. On the contrary, it is trying to
talk officers of the country subjected to aggression into having
a joint exercise with officers of the aggressor country. Ordinary
people, however, are against this.

[An unidentified man speaking into ANS microphone] I have never seen
any help from international organizations over the Karabakh issue. I
do not think it is right to rely on them.

[Another unidentified man] Instead of helping us, they are bringing
the enemies to our country. It is not right.

[Another unidentified man] The blood of our people has not dried yet,
why are they doing that?

[Another man] This is pressure on our country and the government.

[Passage omitted: more criticism from people.]

[Correspondent] Being in need of NATO’s support over the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem, Azerbaijan has had to make every compromise to this
body and turned itself into this organization’s hostage for the sake
of its territorial integrity. NATO, however, sees Azerbaijan only as
a testing ground and is now bringing Armenian servicemen to Baku.

Azerbaijan became independent from Moscow. Did it do so in order to
become dependent from NATO today? It is worth thinking about this.

Zamina Aliyeva, Azad Ibrahimov and Ramin Yaqubov, ANS.