Author: Harutyunian Christine

Christian minority in Azerbaijan gets rid of Armenian eye sore

Agence France Presse — English
February 17, 2005 Thursday 4:23 AM GMT

NIJ, Azerbaijan Feb 17 — When a Christian people in this predominantly
Muslim republic ground away the Armenian inscriptions from the walls
of a church and tombs last month to erase evidence linking them to
Azerbaijan’s foe, they thought they had the interests of their small
community in mind.

But now the tiny Christian church in the former Soviet republic of
Azerbaijan has become the focus of a big scandal as the Udi minority
struggles to find its identity in an ideological minefield.

The church, which has not been used since Azerbaijan became part
of the Soviet Union, has become the center of a dispute between the
Norwegian backers of the reconstruction, who consider the alterations
to be vandalism, and the Udi community.

“We have no God, our people lost their religion under communism and
this church is our only hope of reviving it,” said Georgi Kechaari,
one of the village elders who doubles as the ethnic group’s historian.

“But we live in Azerbaijan, and when people came into the church and
saw Armenian letters, they automatically associated us with Armenians,”
he said.

The Udi, who once used the Armenian alphabet, have struggled to
separate their legacy from that of their fellow Christians, the
Armenians, who fought a war with Azerbaijan and have been vilified
here.

Erupting just before the break-up of the Soviet Union, the war
cost both countries tens of thousands of lives but Azerbaijan lost
Nagorno-Karabakh – an ethnic Armenian enclave – and seven other
surrounding regions which have been under Armenian control since the
two countries signed an uneasy ceasefire agreement in 1994.

Since then nearly everything associated with Armenia in Azerbaijan
has been wiped away, although hundreds of thousands of Armenians
lived here before the war.

Armenian-sounding city names have been changed, streets named after
Armenians have been replaced with politically correct Azeri surnames,
while Soviet history glorifying Armenian communist activists has been
rewritten in school textbooks.

But the white-stone church in Nij, some two centuries old, had not
been tampered with until the Udi undertook to reconstruct it with
help from the state financed Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise (NHE).

“It was a beautiful inscription, 200 years old, it even survived the
war,” Norway’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Steinar Gil told AFP. “This
is an act of vandalism and Norway in no way wants to be associated
with it.”

But the Udis insist they erased the inscriptions to right a historic
wrong.

Kechaari alleged that the Armenian inscriptions, which stated that
the Church was built in 1823, were fakes put there by Armenians in
the 1920s so that they could make historical claims to it.

The Udis are the last surviving tribe of the Caucasus Albanians,
a group unrelated to the Mediterranean Albanians, whose Christian
kingdom ruled this region in medieval times before Turkic hordes
swept in from Central Asia in the 13th and 15th centuries.

They number under 10,000 people and Nij is the only predominantly Udi
village to survive to this day, and although they call themselves
Christian, there is little that Christians from other parts of the
world would find in common with them.

The Udis have not had a pastor for nearly a century and celebrate
Islamic holidays together with their Muslim neighbors.

But while the Udis soul search for an identity, Azerbaijan has used
their legacy to strengthen its claims to Karabakh.

Armenians argue that the multitude of churches in the occupied region
proves that they as a Christian people can lay a historic claim to
it. But Azeris, who consider themselves to be the descendants of
Albanians who were assimilated into a Turkic group, say the area is
rightfully theirs because the churches were actually built by their
ancestors the Albanians.

To the Udi, who used Armenian script when their church was built,
toeing the official Azeri line has become more of a priority than
historical accuracy.

The perception that they are one with the Armenians has meant that
there has been little trust from the authorites; Udi men for example
were only allowed to start serving in the Azeri Army two years ago.

But their use of power tools to fit the status quo took their Norwegian
sponsors by surprise.

“They think they have erased a reminder of being Armenian … instead
they have taken away the chance to have a good image when the church
is inaugurated,” the director of the NHE in Azerbaijan, Alf Henry
Rasmussen said, adding that a visit to the church by Norway’s prime
minister will probably now be cancelled.

“Everyone will stare at the missing stones, I’m not quite sure if we
can continue our work there,” Rasmussen said.

Armenia Diamond Sector Declined in 2004

IDEX Online, Israel
Feb 15 2005

(February 15, ’05, 10:14 IDEX Online Staff Reporter)

Armenian government plans to advance the country’s diamond cutting
industry, which suffered a major setback last year with an almost 20
percent slump in production when measured in the Armenian currency,
the dram.

The fall in production is largely due to the decline of the U.S.
dollar on international money markets according to government
officials, the eurasianet.org website reported.

Armenian officials remain optimistic, however, saying the industry,
which employs around 4,000 workers, will bounce back this year.
Diamonds are Armenia’s top export item, accounting for close to 40
percent of exports.

There are more than 50 diamond cutting firms in Armenia, although the
sector brings little benefit to the government since most companies
are owned by foreign investors meaning it is exempt from excise and
value-added taxes.

At the end of 2003, Armenia approved a multi-year plan with a target
of almost doubling annual cut-diamond production to $500 million and
creating about 10,000 new jobs. Government estimates suggest diamond
production last year fell back from the 2003 level in dollar terms
to about $280 million last year.

Deliveries of rough diamonds from Russia that fell short of
expectations have also compounded Armenia’s problems. Most rough
supplies came from Israel and Belgium.

Kyrgyzstan won’t allow AWACS flights

Associated Press
Feb 14 2005

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyzstan’s foreign minister said on Monday
that the government has turned down a U.S. request to deploy AWACS
radar planes in the country after consultations with regional allies,
including Russia and China.
Kyrgyzstan has hosted a U.S.-led coalition air base at the country’s
main airport just outside the capital, Bishkek, since December 2001.
The base supports combat operations in nearby Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Askar Aitmatov said on Monday that Kyrgyzstan’s
government had been approached by the United States and NATO about
the possibility of deploying AWACS planes in this country, a former
Soviet republic and a neighbor of China. Aitmatov didn’t say when the
request was made.

“The issue has been thoroughly looked into by the Kyrgyz government,
which has held consultations with its allies in the Collective
Security Treaty and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Aitmatov
told reporters in Bishkek.

“They (the consultations) led to understanding that such planes do
not really correspond to the base’s mission, which is designed for
operations in Afghanistan,” Aitmatov said.

Aitmatov said he hoped Kyrgyzstan’s Western allies would understand
the country’s position.

The Russia-dominated Collective Security Treaty unites several
ex-Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and
Armenia.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is led by China and Russia and
also includes Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, who aim to
jointly combat regional security threats.

The U.S.-led base in Kyrgyzstan currently hosts around 800 troops,
who maintain and fly military cargo and refueling planes.

Kyrgyzstan also hosts a Russian air base which was established in
2003 — a measure seen as Russia’s response to the bolstered U.S.
military presence in the region.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in neighboring Uzbekistan.

–Boundary_(ID_m0FD4oScbROKvdNDfkWx0A)–

Frankfurter Rundschau
11. Februar 2005

Kreuz und Halbmond ;
Ausstellung zum Genozid an Armeniern

Dietzenbach · 10. Februar · swo · Der Künstler Deniz Alt hat den
Völkermord an den Armeniern zu einem seiner künstlerischen
Schwerpunkte gemacht. Nun präsentiert er seine zum Teil lebensgroßen
Bilder im Dietzenbacher Bürgerhaus, Offenbacher Straße 11.

Vom 18. Februar bis zum 11. März wird die Ausstellung unter dem Namen
“Kreuz und Halbmond” zu sehen sein. Die Bilder von Deniz Alt waren in
den vergangenen Jahren unter anderem in Frankfurt, in Wiesbaden und
zuletzt im neuen Museum der KZ-Gedenkstätte Sachsenhausen zu sehen.
Die Bilder beschäftigen sich insbesondere mit der Deportation der
Armenier im Jahr 1915. Horst Schäfer, diesjähriger Preisträger für
Völkerverständigung in Dietzenbach, will bei der Vernissage am
Freitag, 18. Februar, 19 Uhr, im Bürgerhaus den Künstler und sein
Werk vorstellen.

Täter nicht dargestellt

Dem Völkermord an den Armeniern durch das Osmanische Reich 1915
fielen bis zu 1,5 Millionen Menschen zum Opfer. Bis heute wird der
Genozid von der Türkei geleugnet. Auch die aktuelle türkische
Regierung bestreitet den Völkermord und versucht auf diplomatischen
Wegen, andere Staaten davon abzuhalten, den Völkermord offiziell zu
verurteilen. In den vergangenen Jahren erkannten jedoch noch weitere
Staaten und Organisationen den Völkermord an, beispielsweise
Frankreich, Italien und Russland. Nach Angaben des Künstlers Deniz
Alt sind seine Bilder nicht als Anklage oder Beschuldigung zu
verstehen. Bewusst hat er auf die Darstellung der Täter verzichtet.
Doch trotz des traurigen Themas, so Alt, sollen die Bilder die
Hoffnung des “Nicht-Vergessen-Werdens” ausdrücken.

–Boundary_(ID_JUKoUuNRcxxDeA9oEBJFXA)–

New York Times
Feb 6 2005

One Singer Offers Another’s Writing
ANNE MIDGETTE

Viardot-Garcia: Songs
Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano; Serouj Kradjian, pianist. Analekta AN 2
9903; CD.

THIS recording links two singers who are increasingly in the
spotlight. One is Isabel Bayrakdarian, a striking Canadian-Armenian
soprano. The other is Pauline Viardot-Garcia, who was recently the
focus of an evening at the New York Festival of Song and an opera
performance at Caramoor.

The main difference is that Viardot-Garcia has been dead for almost
95 years. She was also, however, a composer; her songs are
delightful, and Ms. Bayrakdarian does them vivacious justice.

Viardot-Garcia kept her compositional aspirations relatively modest,
but she performed her songs herself, often, both on tour and after
her retirement at 42. She continued to write music for her salons
until she was into her 80’s.

Her songs form a bright bouquet in an array of languages (French,
German and Italian) and styles. This CD includes four of her
arrangements of mazurkas by Chopin – “Seize Ans,” for instance, is
based on the Mazurka in A flat (Op. 50, No. 2) – approved by Chopin
himself. He was one of a circle of close friends that included pretty
much all the major musical figures of Europe in Viardot-Garcia’s very
long day, from Liszt (who taught her piano) to Massenet.

Ms. Bayrakdarian is a fine interpreter of this music. Her voice has a
brilliance and a lightness that don’t prevent it from descending to
darker nether regions (in “Die Sterne”) or swelling to near-operatic
fortes (in “Grands Oiseaux Blancs”). She genuinely engages with what
she is singing, and there is a hint of a laugh in her voice that
lifts the music with an infectious lilt.

“Chanson de la Pluie,” with its pitter-pattering raindrop
accompaniment, is a nice measure of her brightness, of Serouj
Kradjian’s agility at the piano and of the generally appealing nature
of the disc.
ANNE MIDGETTE

Alessandro Scarlatti: ‘Griselda’
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, conducted by René Jacobs. Harmonia
Mundi France HMC 901805.07; three CD’s.
THE conductor René Jacobs has played a notable role in the Handel
opera boom. But the fixation on Handel, he is out to show, has
obscured other worthy Baroque opera composers, notably Alessandro
Scarlatti.

Mr. Jacobs’s latest recording from Harmonia Mundi France is an
account of Scarlatti’s impressive final opera, “Griselda,” first
performed in Rome in 1721. Scarlatti wrote a staggering number of
operas: more than 100.

Most are unknown, and many are no doubt standard fare. But “Griselda”
was a special case, a semiprivate commission for a major theater in
Rome. Scarlatti thought of it as a summation, Mr. Jacobs suggests in
booklet notes, a chance to fulfill his highest aims.

The story concerns King Gualtiero of Sicily, who has married a
shepherdess, Griselda. His subjects, affronted that he has made a
commoner their queen, demand that he renounce her.

The complicated plot turns on the king’s effort to prove Griselda’s
noble character by subjecting her to a series of feigned rejections
and insults. She proves steadfast and wins the admiration of the
Sicilian people, and all ends happily.

The opera runs some three hours, and almost every moment offers rich
pleasures: lyrically enchanting arias in which virtuosic flights
never seem extraneous displays; elaborate and surely paced
recitatives; elegant ensembles; savvy instrumental writing.

The top-notch cast is headed by the rich-voiced soprano Dorothea
Röschmann, in the title role, and the fine young countertenor
Lawrence Zazzo, as Gualtiero. The excellent tenor Kobie van Rensburg,
who made an impressive Metropolitan Opera debut this season in
Handel’s “Rodelinda,” sings Prince Corrado, the king’s friend.
Conducting the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Mr. Jacobs elicits a
performance at once stylistically informed and wonderfully
spontaneous.
ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Mahler: Orchestral Song Cycles
Violeta Urmana, soprano; Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano; Thomas
Quasthoff, bass-baritone; Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Pierre
Boulez. Deutsche Grammophon B0003894-02; CD.

IS one excellent album more treasurable than half a great one?

This is an excellent album. In comparison with their performances on
a Mahler recording of 1999 – “Des Knaben Wunderhorn,” also on
Deutsche Grammophon – Thomas Quasthoff is expectedly strong in
“Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen” (“Songs of a Wayfarer”) and Anne
Sofie von Otter gratifyingly so in “Kindertotenlieder” (“Songs on the
Death of Children”).

Ms. von Otter, a superb mezzo-soprano, sounded disappointingly wan in
that earlier recording, perhaps because of vocal problems she was
having around the time. But Mr. Quasthoff, at his rough-hewn best in
some of Mahler’s earthiest music, was a force of nature. And the
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado, drove the
earthiness home.

Mr. Quasthoff’s approach is slightly more refined here, in keeping
with the nature of the music, but he lacks nothing in expressiveness
and sheer beauty of tone. Ms. von Otter brings the needed poignancy,
anguish and consolation to the role of a bereft mother.

Violetta Urmana shows the power needed to stand up to Mahler’s
orchestra in the Rückert Songs. And though she undercuts some of the
more restful and luminous moments with an intense vibrato, she can
spin a sweet and lovely pianissimo.

The disc is only enhanced by the vibrant playing of the Vienna
Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. Deutsche Grammophon’s recording
gives full and accurate voice to those colorful and piquant, if not
gamy, Viennese woodwinds.

There is every reason to buy this record. All it lacks is the bolt of
revelation that comes with the sense that a work has found its ideal
interpreter. For that you should return to Mr. Quasthoff in “Des
Knaben Wunderhorn.”
JAMES R. OESTREICH

Zaman, Turkey
Feb 3 2005

Debre: Armenian Issue is not Our Problem
By Zaman
Published: Thursday 03, 2005
zaman.com

Speaker of the French National Parliament Jean-Louis Debre discussed
Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership bid just before his Turkey
visit begins today. Debre responded to a question about whether the
Armenian issue was a problem in the development of Turkey-France
relations: “Let’s be honest. First of all, the Armenian problem is
not an issue concerning Turkey-France relations. It is rather about
Turkey-Armenia relations and Turkey’s own history in particular.”

The EU that Turkey wants to join was the built by confronting public
and state history, Debre said, and they believe that Turkey would
understand this and its part of the European project. The French
Speaker also added that it is about “overcoming the conflicts to
build a peaceful unity, respecting human rights, paying attention to
the responsibility to remember, and making peace with one’s own
history.” Meanwhile, the French Parliament approved the so-called
genocide bill in 2001, which led to a long break in Turkey-France
relations.

The French delegation will hold meetings in Istanbul and Ankara
during their visit which was realized with the support of French
President Jacques Chirac. The delegation will meet with Turkish
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
Speaker of the Turkish Parliament Bulent Arinc and Chief of the
General Stuff Hilmi Ozkok. The parliamentary delegation will also
meet with representatives of the Turkey Industrialists and
Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) and visit Galatasaray University in
Istanbul on Saturday (February 5).

ASU CONTINUES COOPERATION

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
31 Jan 05

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Moscow University after
Lomonosov the rector of Moscow University Sadovich invited the rector
of Artsakh State University Hamlet Grigorian to take part in the
jubilee of the university which set out on January 24. .We shall be
glad to see you among the honorary guests,. said V. Sadovich in the
invitation. In the framework of the celebration on January 25 a
jubilee meeting took place in the Kremlin Palace. On the previous day
several festivities took place. In the Uspensky temple of the Kremlin
the day of Saint Tatyana was celebrated after which the ceremony of
opening of the new library building was held. During the international
conference dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the university the
rectors of the universities of Beijing, New York, Saint Petersburg and
others addressed the participants. The rector of Artsakh State
University Hamlet Grigorian reported on the topic .From History of
Russian-Armenian Educational Relations. devoted to the 1600 years of
the Armenian alphabet and the first school in Artsakh. All this proves
once again that Artsakh State University continues cooperating with
different universities of the Russian Federation. .Education and
science must not be mixed with politics as they are universal values;
this was stated by the UN General Assembly and UNESCO pursues its
fulfillment. All the universities of the world have the right to
establish horizontal relationships with one another, and Artsakh State
University fulfills its right,. said Hamlet Grigorian.

LAURA GRIGORIAN.
31-01-2005

Caucaz
europenews
02/01/2005 06:45 Tbilisi

«When planning the recent EU enlargement, we were aware of building tensions
between those countries – the countries joining EU and the new neighbors » –
Torben Holtze [EU]

By Célia CHAUFFOUR, François GREMY in Tbilisi
On 31/01/2005

At the head of the European Commission delegation to Georgia and Armenia
since fall 2001, Torben Holtze comes back on the absence of any of the three
South-Caucasus countries in the first Action Plans implemented by the
European Union (EU), in the framework of the New Neighborhood Policy.

Moldova, Ukraine, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian
Authority will soon benefit from the first Action Plans under EU’s New
Neighborhood Policy. The South Caucasus is strikingly absent from those.
Would this mean that Europe does not really know what to do with the three
South-Caucasian countries?

The Action Plans are coming. Everything takes time. It is only two and a
half years ago that EU began to think about the role and the function of
future Member States. And at this time, there was not yet any political
desire nor any decision to invite other neighboring countries.

When planning the recent EU enlargement, we were aware of building tensions
between those countries – the countries joining EU and the new neighbors. So
we had to offer those countries also a form of integration. Indeed they are
also to become EU members.

Let’s consider the example of Norway. Obviously the situation is totally
different. But Norway is economically fully integrated in the EU. It has
also adopted most of the European legislation and integrated numerous
European committees. It even payed money into EU.

However this requires that the country has reached a development similar to
the one of other European countries. And for some countries this process
will be achieved only over time.

On the other hand, this form of integration is clearly not EU membership.
That’s why, in the framework of this integration process, the EU adopted a
specific system, the so-called New Neighborhood Policy.

Even if the New Neighborhood Policy offers to some countries a special form
of integration to the EU, it is not about future membership.

Regarding the first steps for this New Neighborhood Policy, one of the
concerned countries, Belarus, will have to wait for a transition toward a
more democratic regime. As for Russia, although it was not considered as an
ordinary neighbor, but rather as an equal to the EU, it did not want to take
part in the New Neighborhood Policy and is more enclined to become a
strategic partner for the EU.

It’s true that, in some way, the South-Caucasus countries got left out. This
happened because of a combination of several factors, but definitely it was
not we not considering them as neighboring countries. Most of EU Member
States were not satisfied with the situation within those countries.

For they were being temporarily set aside, what was the reaction of the
South-Caucasus countries?

Naturally, they protested – especially Georgia: `Aren’t we a European
neighbor country? Aren’t we going to become one after the possible
membership of Romania and Bulgaria via Black Sea, and also after Turkey’s
membership?’

We have to recall that at the beginning, Brussels didn’t wish to include the
South Caucasus countries in the New Neighborhood Policy. These three
countries exerted an important pressure, via the European Parliament which
was in favor of their request, and via some Member States. Some countries,
notably Belgium and Netherlands, regularly broached this subject during
European summits.

EU’s change of position toward them was triggered by the Roses Revolution,
but also in some way, by the elections of 2003 in Azerbaijan. In spite of
some persistent problems, these elections were considered to be fairer than
the previous ones. And under the pressure of some Member States of the
European Parliament, the EU agreed to include these three countries in the
New Neighborhood Policy.

Is the EU able to develop efficient Partnership and Cooperation agreements,
especially with Tbilisi, when most of its Member States have diverging
interest in this zone?

The Member States’ policy in South Caucasus is not that different from each
other. If you take a look at most of the European countries, you will see
that their do not have vital interests in Georgia and Armenia, with the
exception of Germany and its presence in Georgia. But despite strong
German-Georgian relations, you won’t find here massive German investments.

In this region, the large States are more especially interested in the BTC.
That’s why there are large foreign companies, such as BP. The EU also got
interested in South Caucasus for it is a transport corridor : for oil and
gas, but also for humans and goods coming from Central Asia. And this is
clearly a common position of EU and its Member States.

The EU in Georgia, reality or theory? Are the actions programs of the EU
delegation in Tbilisi implemented as you would like those to be?

In 2002, the Commission proposed to the Member States to elaborate a country
strategy paper for each one of the South-Caucasus countries. That’s when we
evaluated the situation within those countries so as to define what should
be the approach of the European Commission.
The projects that we identified together with the Georgians as the ones that
should be supported through the TACIS (Technical Assistance to the CIS
countries) program and other programs, can be divided into three fields of
action.

The first one is based upon the Partnership and Cooperation agreements. In
the framawork of those agreements, the Georgian authorities committed to
establish a democracy and a market economy. As for the European authorities,
we committed to help them to change their economic, social and
administrative structures so as to get the closest possible to the European
system.

The second field of action is the economic development, since there is still
a part of the population suffering from poverty. Thus there are social
programs in each one of those three countries, via the EU Food Security
Program, which come up to 10-15 million euros a year.

The last field of action is rule of law, human rights and elections. There
are still problems, but by signing an agreement the local authorities
committed to work toward democracy, the respect of human rights and the rule
of law.

What do you think about the Georgia of Mikhail Saakashvili?

In the middle of the 1990s, the Georgian population was starving. The
country was largely depending on humanitarian aid, alike the other
South-Caucasus countries. Then Georgia had to go through a long process.
Tbilisi notably adopted a legislation that was drafted with the help of our
consultants. But in order to change a system, you also have to change
mentalities. And this cannot be done overnight.

The EU tries to help these countries as much as possible and to establish a
legislative system near the closest possible to West-European standards.
Through training and information, mentalities are changing, and getting
gradually closer to ours. But this is not yet the case today. If the
government was to adopt the right clauses, the process could go very fast.

Do you assume that the government did not comply with EU directives?

Not all of them. One just has to look at the way privatizations are done.
And yet, I’m deeply optimistic about Georgia’s future and evolution,
otherwise I would not be here.

Translated by Marie Anderson.

New party set up in Karabakh

Arminfo, Yerevan
31 Jan 05

STEPANAKERT

The new, Free Motherland Party, has been established in the Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic [NKR].

This is a centre-right party, whose main aims include the deepening of
democratic processes and establishment of a civil society in the NKR,
an Arminfo correspondent reported from Stepanakert.

The party’s programme, according to members of the party’s initiative
group, “reflects the Karabakh people’s fundamental interests and
ensures its freedom, security and right to self-determination”.

The newly-established party has expressed readiness to cooperate with
all the political forces of the republic. It has four cochairmen, who
are representatives of the intelligentsia and business circles.

Agence France Presse
28 janvier 2005 vendredi 11:56 AM GMT

Le pape souhaite une paix stable au Nagorny-Karabakh

CITE DU VATICAN

Le pape Jean Paul II a souhaité une “paix stable” au
Nagorny-Karabakh, en recevant vendredi au Vatican le président
arménien Robert Kotcharian.

“Je souhaite une paix véritable et stable dans la région du
Nagorny-Karabakh”, a-t-il déclaré, en soulignant que celle-ci “ne
pourra venir que d’un refus ferme de la violence et d’un dialogue
patient entre les parties, grce à une médiation internationale
active”.

“Le Saint-Siège qui, au cours des siècles n’a pas manqué de dénoncer
la violence et de défendre le droit des faibles, continuera à
soutenir tout effort destiné à btir une paix solide et durable”, a
ajouté le pape polonais.

Il a ensuite rappelé que des rapports d’estime et d’amitié lient
l’Eglise catholique à l’Eglise apostolique arménienne, une entente
“qui aura certainement des retombées positives pour la coexistence
pacifique du peuple arménien tout entier confronté à de nombreux
défis sociaux et économiques”, a-t-il dit.

Le pape a souhaité, sans autres précisions, que le statut de l’Eglise
catholique dans le pays soit éventuellement “perfectionné”, là où la
situation le demande.

Le président arménien avait rencontré jeudi le président italien
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi qui lui a promis l’appui de l’Italie dans son
rapprochement avec l’Union européenne.

Enclave à population majoritairement arménienne en Azerbaïdjan, le
Nagorny-Karabakh a été le thétre d’un conflit meurtrier au début des
années 1990 au moment de la désintégration de l’Union soviétique. Il
reste, depuis un cessez-le-feu en 1994, sous le contrôle des
Arméniens, qui l’avaient emporté sur le terrain.

Bakou considère toujours que l’enclave fait partie de l’Azerbaïdjan
et a menacé de recourir à la force pour reprendre le contrôle du
territoire.

Des négociations de paix se déroulent par intermittence depuis dix
ans avec la médiation du groupe de Minsk (Etats-Unis, Russie,
France), qui opère sous le mandat de l’Organisation pour la sécurité
et la coopération en Europe (OSCE).