Author: Jalatian Sonya

BESLAN CHILDREN TO TAKE VACATION IN ARMENIA
Pan Armenian News
02.06.2005 06:41
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ June 1 a monument cross, brought to North Ossetia
by representatives of the Children Protection Foundation of Armenia,
is established at the Beslan Memorial Cemetery. The monument is
consecrated at the Armenian Church of Vladikavkaz, reported Regnum
news agency. As Foundation head Alexander Gevoyev stated, people
in Armenia remember well the Ossetian volunteers, who took part in
eliminating the consequences of the earthquake in Spitak. Armenian
people mourns along with residents of the multi-ethnic Ossetia for
victims of the Beslan act of terrorism, Gevoyev said. On behalf of
Armenian President Robert Kocharian he invited a group of Beslan
schoolchildren to take vacation in Sevan recreation camp.

Iran gives priority to expansion of ties
IRNA, Iran
June 1, 2005 Wednesday 1:43 PM EST
with neighboring states Tabriz, East Azarbaijan prov, May 31, IRNA
Iran-Ties-Armenia Iran’s Ambassador to Yerevan Ali-Reza Haqiqian on
Tuesday referred to expansion of multifaceted relations with the
neighboring countries in line with the policy of promoting regional
peace, stability, balance, security and welfare in the region as one
of the basic principles of Iran.
Speaking at inaugural ceremony of a conference held by Iranian and
Armenian tradesmen, he added that given the historical commonalties
and peaceful communication between the two nations, the two countries
should further bolster cooperation.
“The economic potentials of the two states and the interests
associated with the privilege of being neighbors justify making
optimum use of the favorable conditions.
He hoped to witness the achievements of Iranian and Armenian
tradesmen after the necessary grounds are prepared by the officials
of both countries for such cooperation.
Stressing that bolstering mutual ties is one of the objectives of the
high-ranking officials of the two states, the Iranian diplomat said,
“Establishment of Aras Free Trade and Industrial Zone, joint
construction of Nowzar bridge and Armenia’s access to the remarkable
facilities of East Azarbaijan province will serve as a proper
infrastructure to strengthen collaboration between the two states.
He reiterated the need to hold similar conferences in Iran and
Armenia and noted that looking for new fields of cooperation and
struggling to use the available potentials requires close assistance
of the officials in charge.
The two-day conference is held at the premises of Tabriz Chamber of
Commerce, Industries and Mines.
During the seminar, the attending tradesmen and industrialist will
discuss trade cooperation between the two countries.

DIRECTORS OF 6 YEREVAN HIGH SCHOOLS FIRED IN 2005
YEREVAN, MAY 30. ARMINFO. The directors of 6 Yerevan high schools
have been fired this year for abuse of office and misappropriating
200,000-500,000 AMD this year, says Vice Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan.
14 pupils have been expelled for over 240 hours of absence. School
leaving exams are to scheduled for June 1-20: compulsory written
tests in mathematics and Armenian language, written test in physics,
chemistry or biology (optional), oral exams in Armenian literature,
Armenian history and foreign language (optional).
Aspiring for gold medal this year are only 23 school leavers against
52 ones last year with no privileges given.

Kommersant, Russia
May 31 2005
Everything Goes
Russia agrees to eliminate its bases in Georgia
Diplomacy
Russia and Georgia finally reached an agreement yesterday on the
deadlines for the removal of Russian military bases from Batumi and
Ajalkalaki. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Georgian
counterpart, Salome Zurabishvili, announced that the bases would be
removed in 2008. Russia made major concessions, but the trouble
associated with the removal of the bases hasn’t ended there: the
relocation of the Ajalkalaki base to Gyumri [Armenia] is fraught with
a serious worsening of relations between Moscow and Baku.
The Georgian Decision
A settlement of the issue of Russian bases in Georgia has been
expected for a long time. The foreign ministers of the two countries
should have reached an agreement on the deadlines for removal of the
bases at the beginning of May, but no breakthrough occurred at that
time. The parties were unable to agree, and Georgian President
Mikhail Saakashvili did not attend the Victory Day celebrations in
Moscow. The diplomats also failed to meet the new deadline of May 15.
A few months ago, the Georgian parliament sent Russia an ultimatum
demanding that it sign an agreement on removal of the bases by that
date; otherwise, the bases would be declared illegal.
In order to finally reach an agreement, Moscow had to make major
concessions. Back in 2000, the Russian side tried to convince Georgia
that it would take 15 years after the signing of an agreement to
complete the troop withdrawal. Two years later, the requirement
decreased to 11-12 years. Last year, Moscow demanded 7-8 years for
the withdrawal. During all this time Tbilisi, kept insisting that
Russian troops had to pull out within three years. This year,
Russia’s position changed even more drastically. At the end of April,
Boris Mironov, the Speaker of the Federation Council, acknowledged
during talks with Nino Burdzhanadze, the Speaker of the Georgian
Parliament, that Moscow could remove the base from Ajalkalaki by
January 2008, and from Batumi, by January 2009. Tbilisi named
December 2007 and March 2008. In the end, the parties reached a
compromise of sorts yesterday; they delivered a joint statement
confirming that the base in Ajalkalaki would be removed first,
followed by the base in Batumi. “The withdrawal will be completed in
2008,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said evasively.
Gela Charkviani, President Saakashvili’s press secretary, said
yesterday that the Russian bases in Batumi and Ajalkalaki would cease
operations as military bases and from now on would function only in
withdrawal mode. The removal of heavy equipment will begin this year;
at least 40 armored units, including at least 20 tanks, must be
removed by the end of the year. In the course of the current year,
Russian will turn over to Georgia all military facilities on Georgian
territory not being used by Russian troops. Removal of the military
equipment from the base in Ajalkalaki is expected to be complete
before the end of 2006, and the base will be closed completely before
October 1, 2007. As for the Batumi base, like the Russian army
headquarters, it must be closed by the end of 2008. Fixed assets will
be removed from Batumi by ship, while those from Ajalkalaki will be
taken in trailers to the Russian base in Gyumri, Armenia. During this
period, the Russian side will not replace or replenish armaments or
equipment, although rotation of servicemen who have completed their
tour of duty will be permitted. President Saakashvili is already
preparing a statement regarding this.
Finally, as Moscow has been demanding, the document states that “an
approved unit of personnel, material and technical resources, and
infrastructure of the Russian military base in Batumi will be used in
the interests of a Georgian-Russian antiterrorist center being set
up.” However, the establishment of this center “will be formalized in
a separate document”.
The Azerbaijan Problem
Having nearly eliminated the problem in relations with Tbilisi, the
Kremlin simultaneously acquired another, no less serious problem in
relations with Baku. As Kommersant already reported on May 24,
information that the base in Ajalkalaki would be relocated to Gyumri
caused an extremely negative reaction in official Baku. Baku was
particularly incensed that the Russian authorities had not informed
Azerbaijan of the planned transfer of troops to Armenia. The matter
reached the level of official protests. For example, on May 23, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan sent the Russian Embassy in
Baku a very sharply worded official note. The note stated that the
relocation of the base from Ajalkalaki to Gyumri “has seriously
inflamed public opinion in Azerbaijan, will do nothing to meet the
interests of peace and security in the region, and will aggravate
tensions in the already difficult situation surrounding the process
of settling the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.” In what
nearly amounted to an ultimatum, Baku demanded that Moscow renounce
its plans to move assets and armaments from Georgia to Armenia,
thereby affirming its “interest in security and stability in the
region.”
>>From the standpoint of the norms and regulations of diplomatic
protocol, the text was extremely harsh and unequivocal. This
diplomatic move was clearly sanctioned by Azerbaijan’s top
leadership. As Kommersant has learned, Russia’s Ministry of Defense
is examining possible ways to smooth over the problem and appease
Baku. For example, Moscow might make Azerbaijan a number of
advantageous offers, such as compensation in the form of preferential
deliveries of Russian military equipment to Azerbaijan’s armed
forces.
by Vladimir Novikov, Tbilisi; Mikhail Zygar
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA MUST HARMONIZE ITS LEGISLATION WITH EUROPEAN VALUES: VARDAN OSKANYAN
YEREVAN, May 30. /ARKA/. Armenia must harmonize its legislation with
European values, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told reporters,
commenting on the Venetian Commission’s statement on the draft
amendments to the RA Constitution. He pointed out that Armenia has
set itself the task of integration and harmonizing its legislation
with European values. “Much has bee done in this direction, but we
all are not at the level where both we and European want us to be,”
Oskanyan said. The Minister reported that during Venetian Commission
representatives’ visit to Armenia on June 2 negotiations will be held,
the country’s peculiarities and prospects for evolutionary development
will be considered. Oskanyan pointed out that he is for the potential
to be used to the maximum.
The Venetian Commission expressed its dissatisfaction with the
draft amendments to the RA Constitution adopted in the first reading
on May 11, 2005. The draft amendments to the Constitution must be
radically revised before being adopted in the second reading, the
Venetian Commission member, representative of Finland Kaarlo Tuori
said. The task group members also stated that if the document does
not fully reflect the Commission’s opinion the constitutional reforms
in Armenia will not bring the country’s closer to European standards
and fail to contribute to further European integration. P.T. -0–

Russian mediator pleased with Karabakh peace talks in Baku – agency
Trend news agency
30 May 05
Baku, 30 May: Russian diplomat Yuriy Merzlyakov is pleased with the
results of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ visit to Baku and the
meetings they held here within the Nagornyy Karabakh peace process,
Merzlyakov has said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“My impressions are very good and the talks with Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister [Elmar Mammadyarov] were, in my opinion, very constructive.
At least, we set tentatively the dates of the next meetings between the
[Azerbaijani and Armenian] foreign ministers with the participation of
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Now, the prospects are clear,” he said.
Merzlyakov said the co-chairs’ meeting with Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev, which was held at the initiative of the Azerbaijani side,
was very important.
“Our current visit is not a traditional, customary visit the co-chairs
make to the region. We have come here to meet the foreign ministers. We
are very grateful to Mr President for this. Aliyev found time to
meet the co-chairs following quite a difficult period of preparation
and celebration of the launch of the Azerbaijani section of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. I think we had a very interesting and
important meeting with him which allows us to hope that the process
will further develop in a constructive direction,” Merzlyakov said.
He said a date would be set within the next two days for the Minsk
Group co-chairs’ meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan. This meeting is to be held during the first half of June.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers will then meet in
mid-June with the participation of the Minsk Group co-chairs. The
exact dates and venues of these meetings have not yet been decided.
The co-chairs will most probably pay another visit to the region
of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict during the first half of July,
Merzlyakov said.

Armenian minister rules out public discussions on Karabakh
Mediamax news agency
30 May 05
Yerevan, 30 May: The status of Nagornyy Karabakh and return of the
territories around it “are closely interrelated”, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan said in Yerevan today.
The Armenian foreign minister said that public discussions of
components of a peaceful settlement to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
may lead to misunderstanding and block the positive progress in the
talks that was achieved after the recent meeting of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani presidents [Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev] in Warsaw
[on 15 May].

Le Figaro Économie
27 mai 2005
Kirk Kerkorian, l’homme qui repart à l’assaut de General Motors;
AUTOMOBILE Le milliardaire américain est sur le point de devenir le
premier actionnaire du géant de Detroit
Charles Gautier
Kerkorian revient ! Bon pied bon oeil, l’actif et svelte octogénaire,
à l’origine du mythe de Las Vegas, n’entend pas se ranger des
voitures. A Detroit, berceau de l’industrie automobile américaine où
les bonnes nouvelles sont plutôt rares ces derniers temps, l’intérêt
porté par le roi de Las Vegas, propriétaire de la MGM-Mirage, premier
groupe mondial de jeu possédant la moitié de la capacité hôtelière de
la capitale des bandits manchots, réjouit : si l’ancien actionnaire
de référence de Chrysler, l’un des hommes les plus riches des
Etats-Unis, s’intéresse encore à l’automobile, c’est assurément que
la capitale mondiale du secteur a encore de beaux jours devant elle.
Le retour dans l’automobile du « Lion tranquille » étonne. Le procès
houleux intenté à Daimler lors du rapprochement avec Chrysler (1)
laissait penser aux milieux financiers que Kirk Kerkorian prendrait,
à défaut de sa retraite, au moins ses distances avec cette industrie.
Une fois de plus, il a pris tout son monde à contre-pied en voulant
faire monter sa participation dans le capital du premier constructeur
mondial de 3,89 % à près de 10 %.
« C’est une bonne nouvelle car Kerkorian est un btisseur, pas un
destructeur ou un dépeceur d’entreprises, réagit un analyste de JP
Morgan, Philippe Houchois. Cette opération prouve que l’on peut
encore gagner de l’argent dans cette industrie. »
Une vraie dose de Prozac en quelque sorte, pour combattre la grosse
déprime qui s’est abattue sur Detroit où les principaux constructeurs
américains se lamentent avec des profits en berne, des ventes en
chute libre, et une dégradation de la dette de Ford et de GM.
C’est pourtant le moment qu’a choisi Kirk Kerkorian, pour se lancer
dans un massif ramassage de titres General Motors via son holding
Tracinda (voir encadré). L’homme a pour objectif de récupérer 28
millions d’actions pour 878 millions de dollars. Une paille. L’offre
de Tracinda, rendue publique le 4 mai dernier, doit expirer le 7
juin.
La veille, cet homme d’affaires hors norme fêtera son 88 e
anniversaire. La pugnacité de cet ancien boxeur professionnel
surnommé « Rifle right kerkorian » et cette longévité ne surprend pas
Line Renaud. La chanteuse est sans doute l’une des personnes qui le
connaît le mieux en France. La première rencontre organisée par son
agent, un Arménien comme Kirk Kerkorian, remonte au début des années
60.
« Kirk a toujours été un grand sportif, il a toujours aimé le tennis
et la marche, explique-t-elle. Il faisait de grandes séances de
jogging autour du terrain de golf du Desert Inn à Las Vegas. C’est
peut-être l’un des secrets de cette longévité. Il ne fume pas, il ne
boit parfois qu’un peu de vin rouge », explique encore la comédienne
qui a eu maintes fois l’occasion de le recevoir quand elle vivait en
Californie. Parfois même à l’occasion de réceptions privées en
l’honneur de Jacques Chirac.
Avant de faire parler de lui dans le jeu et l’hôtellerie, l’homme
d’affaires a engagé sa carrière au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre
mondiale en lançant sa compagnie aérienne. Voler a toujours été sa
passion. « Kirk » s’est du reste distingué comme pilote de bombardier
au sein de la Royal Air Force. « J’aimais quand il me racontait
comment il retapait de vieux avions avec des pièces d’occasion, pour
les revendre ensuite. Il disait qu’à cette époque il avait à peine de
quoi ressemeler ses chaussures », se souvient Line Renaud.
Ces temps difficiles lui ont permis de jeter progressivement les
fondations de son empire. Il en gardera une forme de modestie et de
simplicité. De fait, il n’est ni un homme extravagant ni un ermite…
Rien à voir donc avec Howard Hugues dont il a eu pourtant un peu la
même trajectoire.
Son immense fortune, évaluée à 8 milliards de dollars, a réellement
prospéré sur la terre ferme, à coup de rachats de terrains à Las
Vegas. C’est sur ce sol hostile qu’il érige les hôtels aujourd’hui
les plus célèbres de la ville tels que le Flamingo, le MGM…
Discret, il n’aime pas accorder d’entretiens, recevoir de récompenses
ou prononcer des discours. Il est avant tout un homme de terrain qui
s’est toujours efforcé de s’entourer de la même équipe de
collaborateurs. Son sens des affaires est incontestable. Mais ce
n’est pas le seul ingrédient à l’origine de sa fortune…
« Bien entendu il a une énorme puissance de travail, mais cela ne
suffit pas, explique Line Renaud, c’est un M. 100 000 volts mais rien
ne transparaît sur son visage, cela ne se voit pas, il est calme,
presque timide. »
Certains habitués de Las Vegas estiment que cette impassibilité a
favorisé sa réputation de joueur de poker, capable de btir ou de
perdre des fortunes en une nuit. « En exagérant on pourrait dire que
pour lui faire des affaires c’est une forme d’art, explique Line
Renaud et qui assure, si les hommes d’affaires étaient à l’affiche
comme les artistes, il serait tout en haut… »
A Detroit on attend avec impatience le comportement du roi de Las
Vegas. Se contentera-t-il de surveiller son investissement où
voudra-t-il être plus actif dans la gestion de General Motors ?
A priori Kirk Kerkorian se défend de vouloir s’immiscer dans la
gestion. Mais Rick Wagoner, le président du constructeur, sait qu’il
aura au premier rang de ses actionnaires un homme qui connaît
parfaitement l’industrie automobile pour avoir, à l’époque de
Chrysler négocié avec le puissant syndicat de branche UAW. Un atout
de taille lorsque de nouvelles négociations se profileront. Après
tout, GM a perdu 1,1 milliard de dollars au premier trimestre
essentiellement en Amérique du Nord. Il est donc urgent d’agir. A 88
ans, Kirk Kerkorian n’a pas de temps à perdre.
(1) Kirk Kerkorian a été débouté début avril d’une plainte contre
DaimlerChrysler. L’homme d’affaires accuse le groupe automobile
d’avoir menti sur la nature de la fusion de Daimler-Benz avec
Chrysler en 1998. Il fait appel du premier jugement. Kerkorian
détenait à l’époque de la fusion 14 % du capital de Chrysler. Le
rapprochement entre les deux groupes aurait lésé les anciens
actionnaires du constructeur américain. Il réclame au total 1,2
milliard de dollars de dédommagements.

AZG Armenian Daily #096, 27/05/2005
Diaspora
HUNGARIAN ARMENIANS FIRST TIME IN ARMENIA
The first ever group of Hungarian-speaking Armenians arrived in Armenia with
a ten-day visit escorted by president of “Armenian Roots of Transylvania”
organization, Charlotte Ishiketzu. They brought with them huge literature on
the history of Armenian community in Transylvania and Hungary to present to
the Academy of Sciences, Matenadaran and National Library. “We brought the
warmth of our hearts, we are united with our motherland in our souls and we
wish to even more cement our relations with it”, president of the
organization said.
Ancestors of Hungarian-speaking Armenians set out from ancient Armenian
capital of Ani in 1239 and having wandered in different countries gained
permission to settle in Transylvania in 1672. They founded there 2 towns.
They lost their Armenian dialect with time, changed last names and did not
differ from the Hungarians till 1993, when Hungary adopted law on national
minorities. Armenians together with other minorities registered their
national self-governance. Thanks to the state subsidies, today the Armenian
community of Hungary has schools and publishing houses. They publish a
magazine, books and organize exhibitions and diverse arrangements.
An exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
opened yesterday at the Union of Cultural Ties with Foreign Countries.
“Armenian Symphony” drawings by one of founders of “Armenian Roots of
Transylvania”, Tibor Vakar, which he created in 1960s having visited Armenia
for the first time, are staged at the exhibition.
Hungarian Armenians have applied to the parliament of the state with a
petition to put the issue of the Armenian Genocide on the agenda of Hungary
but with no avail so far. But their are still hopeful that the issue will
top the agenda in near future.
“On Forbidden Star”, book by Janush Pilinski, which Vahram Martirosian has
been translating for 20 years finally reached the Armenian readers.
“Pilinski was very close to me as poet and I translated him with love. His
language is laconic, he uses no epithets, is very sparing in drawing
parallels and reaches bottomless depths due to his colloquial speech”,
Vahram Martirosian said.
By Ruzan Poghosian

National Public Radio (NPR)
SHOW: All Things Considered 9:00 AM EST NPR
May 25, 2005 Wednesday
Thomas Goltz discusses the new underground oil pipeline running from
the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey
ANCHORS: MICHELE NORRIS, MELISSA BLOCK
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
>From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I’m Michele Norris.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I’m Melissa Block.
They’re calling it the Silk Road of the 21st century. The first
section of an 1,100-mile oil pipeline was officially opened today in
Azerbaijan. The underground pipeline will carry oil from the Caspian
Sea through Georgia and on to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The
idea is to reduce dependence both on oil from the Middle East and on
existing Russian pipelines. Thomas Goltz writes about the
Transcaucasus region and has traveled the route of the pipeline.
Let’s explain first, Mr. Goltz, how Caspian oil travels now.
Mr. THOMAS GOLTZ (Author, “Azerbaijan Diary”): Well, there are
several export routes out of the Caspian right now. Most go up to the
Black Sea via pipelines, and that becomes problematic because all
that oil has to get on tankers that have to negotiate the Bosphorus
through the very middle of Istanbul, which is an environmental
disaster, a catastrophe just waiting to happen. There’s also train
traffic, which is much more expensive and dirty as well that brings
crude product to the shores of the Black Sea. And then there are
truck and train traffic going through Iran down to the Persian Gulf.
BLOCK: Well, here’s where geopolitics comes in, ’cause if you look at
the route that they have designed for this pipeline, it is not the
most direct route. They could have easily gone through Iran and
gotten to Turkey quite a bit faster.
Mr. GOLTZ: Yes, or cross Armenia into Turkey. Azerbaijan and Armenia
have been locked in a sort of miniature cold war for the last 12
years or so. So that meant that Georgia got dealt into the thing, and
that has become the primary source of future revenue for the state of
Georgia.
BLOCK: Put this into context for us, if you would. This pipeline will
eventually be carrying a million barrels of oil a day, by 2009
they’re saying. How significant is that?
Mr. GOLTZ: The figure is varied, but generally it’s assumed that this
is about 2 percent of world crude output. It is believed that this
will just be the beginning of a larger stream of Caspian crude and
Central Asian crude to come through this particular line.
BLOCK: One of the arguments in favor of the pipeline has been that it
will increase or enhance regional stability. How would it do that?
Mr. GOLTZ: Well, that’s the song that Washington wants to sing about
this. I’m not sure if that’s accurate or not. In history and across
the world, find me a so-called peace pipeline. What it does do,
however, is bring a certain amount of stability to every one of the
countries along the route. In addition to the sort of trickle-down of
jobs associated with either digging trenches or monitoring the
pipeline, obviously there are things like the Oil Fund that has been
set up in Azerbaijan to ensure that some of this revenue that accrues
from Azeri crude will actually be seen by future generations.
BLOCK: Is it clear–I mean, there are a number of oil companies who
will be profiting from this. But is it clear that those revenues will
be distributed, at least some of them, to the local population?
Mr. GOLTZ: BP has got a pretty good record–they’re the leading
company in this pipeline consortium. They’ve got a pretty good record
of local community input, building schools, hiring teachers, this
sort of thing. But oil, as my old professor, Charles Issawi, always
used to say, is a dirty business, and where it is flowing, you will
find corruption.
BLOCK: Mr. Goltz, what about security for the pipeline?
Mr. GOLTZ: Well, the pipeline is underground for its entire length,
so that the idea of somebody just casually coming up and sabotaging
the thing is very, very remote. With the other pipelines in the
region, the companies have hired on basically cowboys on horsebacks
who ride up and down the lines to ensure that no bombs are being set
at pumping stations and such. Like–and we can be pretty sure that
with the level of investment–this is a $3.2 billion construction
projection–that BP and the various other partners involved in the
thing are going to try and keep it running as smoothly as possible.
BLOCK: You spent quite a while traveling by motorcycle along the
route of this pipeline. What do you see as you go along? Do you see a
landscape that’s been completely transformed by what’s coming
through?
Mr. GOLTZ: Well, once you get the heavy equipment out of there, it’s
basically–there’s a trench that you lay the pipe in, then you fill
on top of that. But the promise is to leave a completely undisturbed
environment behind. In terms of the terrain itself, it ranges from
the deserts of Azerbaijan, mountains in south-central Georgia and
mountains and vast vistas throughout Turkey. The highest point is
about 8,000 feet, a place right on the Georgia-Turkish frontier, a
glorious, beautiful mountain called Ilgaz Pass. And then you get down
to the hot citrus-growing areas of the Turkish Mediterranean. So it’s
a wide variety of climates as well as geography, and it was an
extraordinary engineering task.
BLOCK: Well, Thomas Goltz, thanks very much.
Mr. GOLTZ: You betcha. Thanks.
BLOCK: Thomas Goltz is author of “Azerbaijan Diary.” He spoke with us
from Livingston, Montana.
You can see photos of his trip along the route of the pipeline at our
Web site, npr.org.