Author: Hovhannisian John

La Croix , France
23 août 2005
Un été dans La Croix.
Les Arméniens de Turquie (2/7).
Dossier. A Diyarbakir, la foi des catacombes. Les Kurdes n’ont pas
oublié leurs anciens voisins. Même s’ils n’en parlent jamais, les
Kurdes savent que beaucoup de leurs ancêtres ont participé aux
massacres des Arméniens. DIYARBAKIR, reportage de notre envoyé
spécial.
par PLOQUIN Jean-Christophe
Le massacre des chrétiens a atteint des proportions terrifiantes à
Diyarbakir en 1915. D’une part, le gouverneur de l’époque, Rechid
pacha, se fit l’instrument implacable de la politique édictée par le
gouvernement d’Istamboul. D’autre part, les notables kurdes de la
ville ont activement soutenu des exactions qui leur permettaient de
faire main basse sur les biens et les commerces des Arméniens.
La mémoire de ces événements reste taboue, mais elle affleure
souvent. Seyhmus Diken, un intellectuel féru d’histoire locale,
évoque ainsi “une grande injustice”. Il attribue les violences au
fanatisme religieux plus qu’à une pulsion d’épuration ethnique. Il
souligne que de nombreuses filles et femmes chrétiennes ont été
sauvées, à tel point que, selon lui, “dans les départements de
Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Bitlis ou Van, une famille sur trois aujourd’hui
compte une grand-mère arménienne”. “Les chefs de clan qui épargnaient
ces enfants faisaient d’une pierre deux coups, explique-t-il. Ils
sauvaient une vie et ils gagnaient une musulmane.” La conversion à
l’islam était en effet la condition sine qua non de la survie.
“Jusqu’à leur mort, elles n’oublient jamais, affirme Seyhmus Diken.
Elles se souviennent de ces jours, mais elles n’en parlent jamais.
Elles ne veulent pas influencer les jeunes générations.”
Nouri Sinir, une figure respectée de la cause kurde à Diyarbakir, se
souvient ainsi d’une de ses grands-mères. “Elle était arménienne mais
elle ne voulait pas en parler. C’était une énorme souffrance pour
elle. Elle préférait fuir dans le silence.” Selon le récit transmis
au sein de la famille, sa grand-mère avait 12 ans en 1915. Lorsque la
colonne des déportés dont elle faisait partie est arrivée à proximité
du village de Sultanseyhmus, fief du clan des Sinir, trois jeunes
filles ont été choisies pour être converties et sauvées. “Ma
grand-mère ne voulait pas, raconte Nouri Sinir d’une voix sourde.
Mais sa mère l’a suppliée d’accepter. Sur les trois, une fille a
refusé d’être convertie. Elle a été lapidée par les fanatiques du
village. Ma grand-mère n’a plus jamais revu sa mère, sa soeur et ses
frères qui étaient dans le convoi. Ils furent tous tués.”
À Diyarbakir, sa grand-mère n’a jamais caché son origine, et elle
parlait arménien avec ceux de ses voisins qui pratiquaient cette
langue. Mais elle restait silencieuse sur les horreurs qu’elle avait
connues enfant. “Elle m’a légué un regard différent sur les autres,
témoigne Nouri Sinir, qui exerce aujourd’hui une grande autorité à
l’intérieur de son clan. À cause d’elle, de son histoire, j’ai vu
avec d’autres yeux les autres religions, les autres peuples. Mes
meilleurs amis étaient des chrétiens, des yezidis (1). Mais mes
copains d’école chrétiens sont tous partis, à Alep ou à Istamboul.”
Il y a encore quarante ans, le folklore local véhiculait l’image
d’une société multiconfessionnelle. “Beaucoup de chansons et
d’épopées brodaient sur le thème d’un amour interconfessionnel
contrarié, raconte un habitant. Et, à l’Épiphanie, il était fréquent
dans les familles musulmanes de faire la galette. Pour chasser les
mauvais esprits, on traçait dessus une croix avec de la suie.”
Les Kurdes et les Arméniens comptent, de fait, parmi les peuples les
plus anciens d’Anatolie et ont vécu côte à côte, les uns musulmans,
les autres chrétiens, pendant plus de deux mille ans, en fonction des
fortunes de l’Histoire. Depuis quelques années, souvent à
l’instigation de leur propre diaspora, certains milieux kurdes
s’ouvrent à ce passé et font preuve d’une compréhension nouvelle à
l’égard des Arméniens. “S’ils veulent parler de génocide, ils sont
dans leur droit, affirme ainsi Nouri Sinir. Sur la question de la
reconnaissance, je suis du côté des Arméniens.”
J.-C. P.
(1) Adeptes d’une religion syncrétique d’Anatolie.

EurasiaNet Organization
Aug 23 2005
ECONOMIC QUESTIONS SURROUND RUSSIAN BASE WITHDRAWAL IN GEORGIA
Theresa Freese 8/22/05
As Russia completes the first stage of its base withdrawal from
Georgia, residents of Ajara are concerned about the economic
implications of the departure of Russian troops.
The parameters for Russia’s withdrawal from its last two remaining
military bases in Georgia were set by a joint declaration singed in
late May. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. While
eager to see the Russian military leave, Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili has acknowledged that the withdrawal could exacerbate
“social issues.”
Government officials recognize that Russia’s withdrawal will have a
broad economic impact on the two regions – Ajara and the southern,
primarily ethnic Armenian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti — where the
bases are located. New roads, social welfare support and military
food procurement contracts for local farmers have been promised for
Akhalkalaki, site of the Russian 62nd base in Samtskhe-Javakheti,
which is slated to close in 2007. Detailed plans for Batumi, however,
have not been announced. The Russian withdrawal from its 12th base
there is scheduled for completion in 2008.
Kakha Shavadze, minister of finance and economy for the autonomous
republic of Ajara, said there are “no concrete plans” for replacing
the 12th Russian base in Batumi, aside from turning the nearby Gonio
military training ground – one of three main military facilities in the
region – into a resort after the Russians leave. Asked to comment on
re-employment plans for civilian personnel at the Batumi base, Ajaran
First Deputy Minister for Health, Labor and Social Welfare Nugzar
Surmanidze indicated that planning was still in the early stages.
“Let [Russia] withdraw the bases and we’ll solve the problems with
help from our friends,” Surmanidze said, adding that he did not know
the number of Georgians employed at the base. Surmanidze’s response
suggested that assistance provided by the United States and the
European Union would comprise a vital part of any social-welfare
strategy.
Unanswered questions surround the work prospects for Georgians
employed as military personnel at the Batumi base. As part of their
service, these individuals also hold Russian citizenship. (The
Georgian constitution does not recognize dual citizenship). In a May
31 speech, Saakashvili announced that Georgian citizens employed as
military personnel at Russian bases would be eligible to transfer
into the Georgian armed services.
Saakashvili’s broad offer applies to only those `who are residents of
Georgia and who are citizens of Georgia’ otherwise, he offers
`guarantees of other employment or social benefits.’
Meanwhile, Russia is actively promoting a job replacement policy for
ethnic Georgian servicemen at the bases, and a visa assistance scheme
for their families. “In principle, they have all been offered to
continue [their] service in the Russian military outside of Georgia,”
Col. Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of Russian troops in the
South Caucasus, said. “We have had discussions with soldiers and
sergeants on contract service, and the vast majority has agreed to
go.”
Kuparadze said it was “difficult to say” just how many servicemen
might permanently transfer into the Russian army, but added that a
large number of people want to take [Russian] citizenship. By his
estimates, some 850 ethnic Georgian “civilians and military
personnel” are located at the 12th base in Batumi. Figures are
similar for Akhalkalaki, he stated.
To facilitate that transfer, Kuparadze stated, the Russian embassy in
Tbilisi is considering simplifying procedures for family members of
Georgian service personnel who hold Russian citizenship to obtain
Russian passports. Yevgeni Ivanov, spokesperson for the embassy, said
that Russian law only allows the consulate to issue visas and
residency permits to these individuals.
Discussing a severance package for civilian personnel, Col. Kuparadze
said `Russian citizens’ will all receive a two-month salary,
approximately 400 lari ($222), as compensation as well as an
apartment in Russia and a pension upon reaching retirement age.
Representatives of the Georgian Defense Ministry, which is
responsible for the implementation of re-training and employment
programs, declined to comment for this article. A spokesperson for
Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that statements about re-employment
schemes could be made only after the government finalized plans
covering the future of the vacated Russian facilities.
Some officials appear reluctant to try to accommodate the base
workers. Giorgi Charkviani – an Ajaran representative of the office
of the Georgian ombudsman and public defender, who led rallies in
fall 2004 calling for Russia’s withdrawal from the Batumi base –
suggested that no formal re-employment program for Georgians working
at the 12th base exists because they have a “pro-Russia psychology,”
and because Russia already “offers them positions, pensions,
accommodation, and high salaries.”
Civilian base employees are readying themselves for a stiff drop in
pay. Monthly salaries for civilians at the 12th base average about
200 laris ($110.60), according to one construction worker at a
facility in Khelvachauri, about 10 kilometers from Batumi. By
comparison, salaries in Ajara average about 130 laris, or $65, per
month, according to the State Department for Statistics of Georgia.
“People from all over Ajara work at the [facilities],” said the
worker. “Our main concern is that we are able to take care of our
families.”
Fifteen percent of Ajara’s population of 400,000 is unemployed, said
Shavadze, the Ajaran finance official, who adds that 59 percent of
the region’s residents live under the poverty line. Those figures,
however, are several percentage points lower than 2004 numbers, a
fact attributed by Shavadze to new construction jobs and an improving
regional economy. Local leaders seem to be aware that the base
withdrawal could add to the existing unemployment problem. “We are
facing serious social problems,” Shavadze said.
Shavadze and other regional officials hope a strategy to develop
tourism in Ajara could alleviate the economic damage done by the
Russian troops’ departure. “Our main economic direction is
privatization, and our concentration is on tourism – to sell hotels and
tourist centers,” said Shavadze.
The Gonio training ground, which includes a firing range and
approximately 40 hectares of seaside property, will be turned into a
“resort town like Las Vegas,” according to Ajaran Minister of Tourism
Temur Zoidze. President Saakashvili himself has traveled frequently
to Ajara this summer to promote the region as a tourist destination.
Some 35,000 tourists, mostly Georgian, are estimated to have visited
Ajara so far in 2005. Roughly 11,000 visited in 2004, Zoidze said.
The numbers for May and June 2005 alone mark a three-fold increase
over the same period in 2004, he claimed.
Some base workers are skeptical that tourism will enable them to make
up for lost revenue following the withdrawal. “You can’t find jobs,
everyone employs their own relatives,” complained one kiosk-owner in
Khelvachauri.
“Tourists won’t reach us,” added the construction worker from
Khelvachauri.
Editor’s Note: Theresa Freese, a graduate of The Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International Studies, is a freelance
journalist and political analyst who has been conducting research on
unresolved conflicts in the South Caucasus since 2003. Timothy
Blauvelt provided translation assistance for this article.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Aug 22 2005
Azeri Soldier Kept in Jail in Yerevan
Ramil Ilyas oglu Hudaverdiyev, an Azerbaijani soldier, detained in
the beginning of August, is kept in a Yerevan jail, the State
Commission on work with the Prisoners of War (POWs), hostages and
lost people in Azerbaijan told Trend.
His health and the maintenance conditions are satisfactory. The
Yerevan office of the International Red Cross Committee (IRCC), as
well as the Armenian authorities, informed about captivation of
Hudaverdiyev. He was given a right to visit and register in the IRCC.
The State Commission appreciates this step of the Armenian side, said
the same source.
On 16-17 August the Commission informed Hudaverdiyev’s relatives
about his son health condition.
The State Commission continues taking measures to release
Hudaverdiyev from the prison, according to the Commission.

Georgian president to visit Armenia
Kavkasia-Press news agency
20 Aug 05
Tbilisi, 20 August: Mikheil Saakashvili will pay an unofficial
visit to Armenia on 21 August on an invitation from his counterpart
Robert Kocharyan, Kavkasia-Press has learnt at the presidential
administration. [Passage omitted]
Saakashvili will return to Tbilisi on 22 August.

Armenian opposition splits over constitutional reform – agency
Regnum, Moscow
18 Aug 05
[No dateline as received] The opposition Justice bloc does not see
any reason to take a positive position on the forthcoming referendum
on constitutional changes in Armenia. However, members of the bloc
decided at a meeting on 18 August to attend an extraordinary sitting
of parliament on 29 August. The sitting is due to discuss the package
of constitutional changes.
Among the members of the bloc, only the Republic Party did not back
this decision. Three MPs representing the party do not intend to stop
boycotting sittings of parliament, which they announced immediately
after the 2003 election. The party leader, Aram Sarkisyan, told
reporters that the party will keep to its position announced earlier
and is still saying “no” to the constitutional reform.
He said the position of other members of the bloc is close to that
of his party. “The Justice bloc today does not see any reason to say
‘yes’ in the referendum on the constitution,” he said.
The secretary of the Justice bloc, Viktor Dallakyan, has confirmed
that the opposition has no reason to back the referendum as almost
all their proposals have been rejected.
The opposition Justice bloc is comprised of nine parties and has 14
seats in parliament.

LA City Beat, CA
Aug 18 2005
Eric Garcetti
The L.A. City Councilmember on fighting graffiti, listening to
bloggers, and his upcoming road trip with Howard Dean
Illustration by Scott Gandell
A. City Councilmember Eric Garcetti is a fourth-generation Angeleno..
He grew up in the San Fernando Valley, is a professor at USC, and
recently ran unopposed for reelection for the City Council’s 13th
District (which includes Silver Lake, Echo Park, Hollywood, and
Atwater Village). But that didn’t stop Garcetti from pounding the
pavement on the campaign trail, inspired by the words of the French
writer Renan: “Democracy is a daily plebiscite.”
He was recently fined $5,000 by the city’s Ethics Commission for
failing to file some 2001 campaign mailers – a fine he says was
caused by a bureaucratic snafu that will soon ensnare other local
politicians in much bigger ways. Garcetti was merely one of the first
to settle. Meanwhile, he continues pushing an agenda of neighborhood
revitalization, traffic reduction, citizen equality, and
environmental protection. A central focus for him seems to be
bridging the gap between government and its constituents so that the
two work together. He holds neighborhood coffees and walks, blogs
regularly, and offers residents a chance to schedule sit-down
meetings through his website. And, most progressive of all, he’s
getting stuff done.
-Perry Crowe
*****
CityBeat: Your district’s Uniting Neighborhoods to Abolish Graffiti
(UNTAG) program, which appoints “block captains” to spot graffiti in
their neighborhoods, set a goal of 50 percent graffiti reduction
within two years. After just one year, there has already been a 62
percent reduction. Does that come from the program’s community
involvement angle rather than simply being a government operation?
Eric Garcetti: The success of [UNTAG] is that it’s a community
program. We’re the facilitator, but the heart and soul of this
program are the people who actually see their block long before we
could, call [the graffiti] in, and take care of it. I’ve got 20
people in my own office. We’ve got 260,000 people we represent. So,
our goal is ultimately to have one person on every single block in
this district, and there are literally hundreds of blocks.
When UNTAG becomes a citywide program, will you be involved?
I’d like to be the UNTAG cheerleader and help really champion it in
the City Council and continue to get the funding. If we have this in
all 15 districts, it’ll cost us half-a-million dollars more.
Outside of the gang tagging, do you see graffiti as an expression of
social, political, and economic frustration?
A lot of young people in Los Angeles often feel that they’re not
noticed, feel that they’re lost. But just as we would take
shoplifting as a crime that’s less serious than murder, it still
should be addressed. I don’t want to throw kids who aren’t affiliated
with gangs in jail over this, but I do want them to do community
service. For instance, painting out graffiti and realizing how much
time and money is spent on that. And then we’ll get them hooked up
with other programs where they can express themselves, but in a
better place.
What are some of those programs?
LACER [Literacy, Arts, Culture, Education, & Recreation] is a great
program. It’s in all the middle schools of Council District 13, where
we bring in some of the best jazz musicians, muralists, and most
creative professionals in Los Angeles for after-school programs that
these kids can get involved with. Similarly, we just last year
finally got an after-school program in every school in the district,
which was a goal of mine.
You recently updated your district’s blog to feed directly to
subscribers. How important a tool is your website in communicating
with constituents?
It’s amazing. We have conversations back and forth with some other
blogs. Blogging.la, for instance, had a constituent concern, and I
was able to answer it online and it got national attention because
people said, “Wow. A councilmember is reading blogs.” It’s the same
work we do on the phone. It’s the same work we do with letters every
day. But a lot of people know [blogging] is a quicker and a louder
way to communicate. We’ve just tried to do [our website] in a way
that will keep things fresh every couple of days. New news. Lots of
times, government sites change themselves once every month. We want
to be squarely in the cyber age and have as dynamic a website and
government as you can find.
Blogging.la even defended you after your recent $5,000 fine for the
city’s Ethics Commission regarding some unapproved campaign mailers
from 2001.
Yeah, that’s funny. That fake little thing they made [blogging.la
posted a mailer marked “EVIDENCE” that read: Vote for Eric Garcetti
for City Council because his opponent so sucks! And he doesn’t know
how to dance … and other shit like that”].
Oh, that was fake?
It was totally fake. It was a joke. A couple of people have asked me
about that. They didn’t realize that it was just a joke. Our
literature was better than that.
So what was the deal with the Ethics Commission fine?
The fine was for 10 mailers out of about 40 that we did that [the
Ethics Commission] says we never turned in to them. I am certain that
we did. We actually took down a record of it. Then [the Commission]
moved from City Hall East to City Hall and their file says we’re
missing 10. There’s 18 different candidates who are having the same
thing. I’m one of the first to settle it. But some campaigns didn’t
turn any of [their mailers] in, and they know they didn’t turn in
any, but they’re getting fined $500 per mailer. So if you did 40
mailers, it’s a $20,000 fine instead of you screwed up once. But for
me it was a very small [fine]. We cooperated from the beginning. [But
the] rule bears some reinvestigation. For some of my colleagues who
might face a $10,000 or $20,000 fine, or the candidates who didn’t
get elected who face the same fine, that really discourages people
from running.
Are you excited for the upcoming Sunset Junction festival, right
there in your district?
Absolutely. We want to make sure that it’s well-managed, that the
impact on the community isn’t too great, but it’s one of the most
eclectic and energizing collections of Angelenos I think you can find
in a given year. And we want to make sure, too, that people know that
we really enforce it as a voluntary donation. The donations help
support the organization, and that’s great. But families who might
come there with four or five kids, working class from the community,
don’t have to be paying 30 bucks to get in. They can go in for free.
What’s the trip you’ve got coming up?
I represent Little Armenia. So, for four years, the Armenian
community has been saying, “We’d really like you to take a trip to
Armenia and perhaps develop a sister-city relationship with Yerevan,
the capital.” And so we’re going to Armenia. We’re going to sign a
sister-city agreement between the two cities because we’re the
second-biggest Armenian city in the world. And Governor [Howard]
Dean, coincidentally, who is a friend, is going to come along for a
few days as the chair of the DNC [Democratic National Committee], so
he’ll be there for a little bit. We’re going to check out their
struggle to establish a democracy in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CELL PHONE NETWORK FAILURE HIGHLIGHTS ARMENIA’S TELECOM WOES
By Emil Danielyan
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
The Jamestown Foundation
Aug 17 2005
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
A small group of protestors outside the ArmenTel headquarters The
long-awaited liberalization of Armenia’s underdeveloped mobile phone
sector could not have had a more unexpected and illogical outcome:
the near-collapse of the country’s main wireless network. ArmenTel,
the unpopular national telecommunications monopoly that operates the
system, has still not clearly explained the causes of the serious
breakdown despite facing heavy government fines. The situation is
indicative of the murky nature of the telecom business in Armenia
due to a lack of government transparency and corruption.
ArmenTel has developed a controversial reputation ever since it
was purchased by the Greek telecom giant OTE in 1998. In return
for $142 million, OTE also gained 15-year exclusive rights on all
forms of telecommunication in Armenia. The Soviet-era fixed-line
phone network was in shambles at the time, and the Greeks have
since made considerable investments to modernize it. However,
they have grossly (and inexplicably) failed to develop wireless
communication. ArmenTel has capitalized on its legal monopoly only by
setting disproportionately high fees, rather than expanding network
capacity and rapidly increasing the number of its subscribers.
Consequently, public demand in mobile phones has by far exceeded
supply, leading ArmenTel to resort to Soviet-style rationing of
prepaid phone cards. Such was the shortage of those cards that they
were at one point worth a staggering $200 each on the black market.
Armenians wishing to buy them at their “legal” price of about $25
had to register with ArmenTel and wait for months, if not years. No
wonder that Armenia had less than 300,000 mobile phone users as of the
beginning of 2005, lagging behind neighboring Azerbaijan and Georgia,
which each boast more than a million users.
That is one of the reasons why relations between ArmenTel and the
Armenian government have been tense over the past seven years. The
government has also accused the Greeks of inflating the volume of
their investments in the Armenian telecom sector and abusing their
monopoly on the country’s Internet connection with the outside world.
Local Internet service providers have long complained about the high
cost and poor quality of connections offered by ArmenTel. The latter
has always denied any wrongdoing.
The two sides were on the verge of litigation at the London-based
International Court of Economic Arbitration before announcing a
compromise settlement last November. Under that deal, ArmenTel
abandoned its grip on the mobile telephone market but retained
its other exclusive rights. The government in Yerevan was quick to
choose a little-known Lebanese-owned firm as Armenia’s second cell
phone operator.
The provider, VivaCell, launched its network on July 1, quickly
attracting tens of thousands of subscribers. The move coincided with
a drastic deterioration of wireless connections provided by ArmenTel.
Making or receiving phone calls through its network has since been
extremely difficult and at times impossible. ArmenTel’s Greek managers
have repeatedly apologized to the furious public for the flop, but they
have not yet clearly explained its reasons, pledging only to fully
fix the network by the end of August. The company’s chief executive,
Vasilios Fetsis, admitted on August 11 that failure to do so could
lead to a mass flight of ArmenTel customers to VivaCell. The latter
hopes to have 300,000 subscribers by November.
This, however, did not keep the State Commission on the Protection
of Economic Competition from fining ArmenTel $400,000 on August 12
on the grounds that the company abused its “dominant position” in
the sector. “This is not a phone, I can only use it as a hammer,”
the chairman of the regulatory body, Ashot Shahnazarian, said,
angrily brandishing his handset.
ArmenTel strongly disagreed with the penalty and is now considering
challenging it in court. Yet it is not only criticism that the OTE
subsidiary has heard from Armenian officials. Meeting with Armenian
students in Moscow on June 23, President Robert Kocharian praised
ArmenTel for its investments in the fixed-line phone network that he
said is now the most advanced in the South Caucasus. Kocharian also
downplayed the problems with mobile telephone technology, saying
that competition will sort them out in a matter of months. Indeed,
that competition has already forced ArmenTel to cut its cell phone
tariffs by half.
But nagging questions about the motives for Yerevan’s telecom-related
decisions will remain. ArmenTel was set up in the early 1990s as
a small joint venture of the Armenian government and a U.S.-owned
offshore firm. It handled only external phone calls until August 1997,
when it was mysteriously granted ownership of Armenia’s entire phone
network free of charge. Armenian officials never clarified why they
showed such generosity toward the obscure U.S. investor that received
almost half of the $142 million paid by OTE in an international
tender for ArmenTel a few months later. According to a lawyer privy
to the tender’s details, the Greeks did not submit the highest bid
for ArmenTel at the time but somehow got hold of the company anyway.
The Armenian authorities did not hold any tenders at all for the second
mobile license that was granted to VivaCell for just $7 million. A
competitive tender for that license could have clearly fetched
tens of millions of dollars, a huge sum by Armenian standards. The
cash-strapped government has similarly failed to officially explain
why it has foregone the potential extra revenue to the state budget.
(Aravot, August 16; RFE/RL Armenia Report, August 11-12, June 23;
Armenian Public Television, June 23)

IMAM OF KARS DOES NOT ALLOW ARMENIAN TOURISTS TO LIGHT CANDLES IN CHURCH TURNED INTO MOSQUE
KARS, AUGUST 15, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. A number of Turkish
newspapers (“Hurriet”, “Milliet” and some others) reported on August
15 that the imam of the city of Kars did not allow a group of tourists
from Armenia to light candles and hold a religious ceremony at the
Church of Twelve Apostles turned into a mosque. The Armenian Apostolic
Church was turned into a mosque in 1998 and called Qumpet Chamii. Imam
Mehmed Altun prohibited the Armenian tourists from lighting candles or
singing in the former church. According to the imam, such ceremonies
are not allowed in a mosque, the newapaper “Marmara” wrote. Later the
tourists intended to light candles in the garden of the former church,
but this time some locals intervened, preventing them from doing
so. The Armenian tourists had to interrupt their ceremony and leave.

Flowers versus power in violent Azerbaijan demonstration
Agence France Presse — English
August 9, 2005 Tuesday 3:47 PM GMT
BAKU Aug 9
Flowers became weapons in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku Tuesday when a
bid by opposition activists to charm pro-government supporters with
fresh bouquets degenerated into a pitched fight.
The confrontation between about 100 pro- and anti-government
demonstrators started as an attempt to make peace, following clashes
on Monday in which the two sides showered each other with bottles
and stones.
Elderly female supporters of the National Front opposition party
brought carnations to a group of pro-government female demonstrators
in conservative Islamic dress. But the gesture was refused and soon
both sides were using the flowers against each other, before resorting
to egg throwing.
The incident was one of the more bizarre signs of growing tension
ahead of a November parliamentary poll in the oil-rich, mainly Muslim
republic.
The latest confrontations followed the arrest last week of Ruslan
Bashirli, leader of the Yeni Fikir (New Thought) youth opposition
group, for his alleged contacts with secret agents from Azerbaijan’s
enemy neighbour Armenia.
Anti-government parties have dismissed those allegations as part of
a state-sponsored smear campaign.
The last national vote, the 2003 presidential elections in which
Ilham Aliyev took over from his father Heydar Aliyev, ended in two
days of rioting and hundreds of arrests.
Azerbaijan lost a war against Armenia in the early 1990s in which
about 25,000 people on the two sides died. No peace deal has been
signed and an armed standoff continues.

VARTAN OSKANIAN: ARMENIA IS COMMITTED TO MAKING PRACTICAL CONTRIBUTION
TO GLOBAL PROCESSES
YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia is committed to making
practical contribution to the global processes – democracy, human
rights defence and the establishment of a lawful state. Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated this at the August 12 meeting
with the newly appointed UN Resident Representative to Armenia
Consuelo Vidal Bruce. He noted that Armenia takes an active part in
the activities carried out within the framework of the UN and
cooperates with many bodies and links of this organization. According
to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, Consuelo Vidal Bruce
in his turn appreciated the efficiency of the UN-sponsored programs
implemented in Armenia. Consuelo Vidal Bruce was born in 1959, he is a
citizen of Peru, a graduate of the University of Sussex (England).
Fluent in Spanish and English. He has been working in the UN system
since 1992. In 1992-1994, he was UNDP program executive in Namibia. In
1994-1996, he worked as Assistant to UNDP Resident Representative to
Bolivia. In 1996-2002, C. Vidal Bruce held the position of UNDP Deputy
Resident Representative in Costa Rica, later in Salvador and
Belize. In 2002-2005, he was UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to
Macedonia.