Author: Jilavian Emma

UN GA RESOLUTION ON FIRES IN TERRITORIES ADJACENT TO NKR ON THE WHOLE ACCEPTABLE FOR ARMENIAN SIDE

Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
Sept 08 2006

NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The
A/60/L.60/Rev.2 draft resolution initiated by Azerbaijan on fires in
territories adjacent to Nagorno Karabakh was adopted on September
7, at the 60th session of UN General Assembly. As NT was informed
from RA Foreign Ministry Press Service, Armenia had negotiated on
the draft resolution and had come to agreement in the issue of its
content and formulations. As a result, the document, on the whole,
became acceptable for the Armenian side. RA Foreign Ministry provided
the resolution text, the statement by H.E. Mr. Armen Martirosyan,
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to
the United Nations, as well as the English original variant of the
Co-chairs’ statement. Below is the resolution, Armen Martirosian’s
statement and Co-chairs’ statement: Sixtieth Session of the UN
General Assembly Azerbaijan: resolution The situation in the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan The General Assembly, Seriously concerned by
the fires in the affected territories, which have inflicted widespread
environmental damage, Stresses the necessity to urgently conduct
an environmental operation to suppress the fires in the affected
territories and to overcome their detrimental consequences; Welcomes
the readiness of the parties to cooperate to that end and considers
such an operation to be an important confidence-building measure;
Takes note of the OSCE intention to organize a mission to the region
to assess the short-term and long-term impact of the fires on the
environment as a step for preparation of the environmental operation;
Calls upon, in this regard, the organizations and programs of the
United Nations system, in particular the United Nations Environmental
Programme, in cooperation with the OSCE to provide all necessary
assistance and expertise, including, inter alia, the assessment
of and counteraction to the short-term and long-term impact of
the environmental degradation of the region, as well as in its
rehabilitation; Asks the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group of the OSCE to
provide a report to member States of the General Assembly by April
30, 2007. Statement by Armen Martirosyan, Ambassador, Permanent
Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the United Nations:
"The draft resolution at hand addresses an issue, which we thought
had been brought to a close, two weeks ago, through discussions
with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Minsk Group Co-chairs and
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s Personal Representative. A decision
was taken to send a mission of experts under the OSCE to assess the
fires. The authorities of Nagorno Karabagh had already accepted this
proposal, and Armenia was certainly ready to use its good offices to
facilitate such a mission. It was our understanding that Azerbaijan
had also agreed. Given all this, it was surprising to see a draft
resolution circulating at the UN on this same issue, especially since
it called for a parallel mission under the UN auspices. This approach
was unacceptable. We considered such a step to be an obstacle to
continuing negotiations. And, since it was clearly intended to pursue
other political ends, Armenia opposed this motion. However, as a
result of our consultations with the Minsk Group Co-chairs, we have
come to agreement on a text that simply reiterates support for the
OSCE mission. In this regard we would like to welcome the readiness
of all the parties to negotiate in the spirit of compromise under
the able and very effective mediation of the Minsk Group Co-chairs.

Nevertheless, although we support the content of the agreement, we
continue to remain opposed to the general idea of this agenda item and
a UN resolution under it. That is the reason Armenia dissociates itself
from the consensus on this resolution. Statement of the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chair Countries: "The Russian Federation, France, and the
United States of America, as the Co-Chair countries of the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group, remain committed
to promoting a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. In this capacity, we take with great seriousness concerns
raised by either side to the conflict regarding threats to the
security and stability of the region, as well as any developments
that pose new obstacles to the negotiation process. Accordingly,
we have examined closely the information provided by the Government
of Azerbaijan regarding fires in the eastern part of the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. We also note
the report of the Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office
of the OSCE, who, at the request of the Government of Azerbaijan and
direction of the Chairman-in-Office, has carried out a monitoring
mission to the affected areas. We note, in particular, that fires
of both natural and manmade origin are a regular occurrence in the
region in question. The question of whether more extensive fires
this year are a cause of ecological concern requiring international
attention to their suppression is one that can only be answered
through a technical examination of the situation. Therefore, the
Co-Chairs stand ready, together with the Personal Representative of
the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, to lend their immediate assistance to the
organization of an OSCE mission, with the support and expertise of
the United Nations Environmental Programme, and to report to the UN
General Assembly 011 the results of the mission, as requested in the
present resolution, as well as to the OSCE. We commend the spirit of
goodwill demonstrated by both Armenia and Azerbaijan in agreeing to
cooperate to address the situation raised through this resolution. We
hope the agreement reached today reflects a new readiness by both
sides to engage in further measures to build confidence that will
advance the process of negotiations, and we will redouble our efforts,
through the OSCE’s Minsk Group, to promote such activities. We note
that over the past two years, the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group have
worked intensively with the Foreign Ministers and Presidents of Armenia
and Azerbaijan to identify core principles of an agreement that would
lead to a just and lasting settlement. Our nations, reinforced by
the voices of the Group of Eight leading nations at their summit in
St. Petersburg in July, have called on the Presidents of both Armenia
and Azerbaijan to accept now these core principles as a basis for
resolution of the conflict, and to prepare their publics for peace,
and not war.

We reiterate that call today and restate the readiness of our
governments to lend full support to the achievement and implementation
of a peace agreement."

World Bank issues report on the ease of doing business in 175 countries

Regnum, Russia
Sept 7 2006

The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation have released
a report Doing Business 2007, reports REGNUM correspondent. The report
ranks 175 countries as to the ease of doing business there.

In terms of attractiveness for business, Kyrgyzstan has gone up from
104th to 90th place from 2005 and is now more attractive than Turkey,
China and Russia, but less attractive than Mongolia and Kazakhstan.

Georgia has jump up from 112th to 37th, Kazakhstan from 82nd to
62nd place. Now the leaders of the region are: Armenia (34), Georgia
(37) and Kazakhstan (62). Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have the worst
positions among the CIS countries – 133rd and 147th, respectively.

Russia is 96th – lower than China, but higher than Brazil and India.

Ukraine and Belarus are 128th and 129th, respectively.

The top reformers are Georgia, Romania, Mexico and China. In the CIS
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia
and Ukraine have carried out, at least, one reform. Tajikistan have
carried out no reforms, while Uzbekistan has made business an even
harder job for its companies.

The report gives a review of the reforms carried out in the past
year. For example, Georgia reduced the size of the minimum capital
required for starting a business from 2,000 to 200 lari ($85).

Business registration rose by 20% between 2005 and 2006. Reforms in
customs and the border police simplified border procedures. It took 54
days to meet all the administrative requirements to export in 2004 –
it now takes 13.

Armenia brought together the procedures of new business registration
in tax authorities and social security funds thereby reducing the
time of new business starting by one day. The country softened the
requirements for construction business licensing and simplified the
property rights transfer procedure. Armenia enhanced the rights of
creditors by allowing them to claim guarantees outside courts.

Kyrgyzstan introduced a fixed noratial tariff for land transfer
contract certification. The tariff has replaced an interest
honorarium. This reform has reduced the cost of property right
transfer from 5.25% to 1.99% of the cost of the property. The country
also allowed non-court guarantee and pledge claims, which has made it
easier for creditors to get back their debts. The period of compulsory
employee dismissal notification was reduced from two to one month.

Azerbaijan simplified the documentation requirements and reduced the
time of new business registration – from 115 to 53 days. The country
revised the Civil Code and enlarged the rights of creditors to claim
their unpaid debts. From now on, seized property will be sold through
a public auction. This makes the sale maximally profitable.

Russia reduced the single social tax and the size of pension
allocations and abolished 3 taxes: tax on securities, tax on the use of
"Russia" and "Russian Federation" and tax on forest. Besides, in Moscow
they will no longer demand that new businesses register their seals.

Ukraine formed a single body for new business registration: now
the procedures of registration in the pension, social security and
employment funds, in the fund of insurance against industrial accidents
and in the tax authorities (except for the registration for VAT) will
be carried out by one body. As a result, the number of steps for new
business registration has been reduced from 15 to 10 and the time –
from 34 days to 33 days.

Moldova reduced the number of licenses for business or commercial
activity from 400 to 128 and lowered the corporation income tax from
20% in 2004 to 18% in 2005 and 15% in 2006.

The first credit bureau of Kazakhstan has begun issuing crediting
reports on potential borrowers. Today, the bureau has information
(both negative – non-payment of loans, and positive – timely payment)
on 5.5% of Kazakhstan’s population. It gets the information from 29
commercial banks.

Belarus lowered the turnover tax from 3.9% to 3% and the transport tax
from 4% to 3%, but has much to do yet in tax reforms: if a company
in Belarus pays all the required taxes, it will have to pay 186%
of its profit. Belarus also sped up the process of new business
registration by obliging the committee registering new companies to
meet every week rather than once in two weeks. At the same time, the
country took a step back by prohibiting creditors to register their
pledge claims at notary’s office. Now they have to appeal to court.

Uzbekistan has made things worse for its business. The country imposed
a new tax on business – compulsory allocation to the school education
development fund. As a result, the tax burden on local companies has
grown from 106.3% to 122.3% of their profit. The local creditors have
become less protected in bankruptcy cases.

The report says that the key problems in the region are red-tape
in trade and complicated tax system. For example, in Kazakhstan
the export of a product takes 93 days and requires 14 documents. In
Belarus tax payments make up 186% of local companies’ profits, while
the procedures of their registration take 1,188 working hours.

The key indicators of the report are how much time and money is needed
for a new company to prepare all necessary documents, its activities,
trade operations, taxes and closing procedures.

Black Day For Freedom of Expression

Kurdish Info, Germany
Sept 7 2006

Bianet-Turkish courts are geared up to hear 45 press and freedom of
expression cases until the end of the year. First case starts with
the Kirandi trial on September 8 while eight journalists, writers and
publishers are to face judges on October 5.

With the judiciary recess ending on September 6, bianet has
established that Turkish courts are to hear 45 press and freedom of
expression cases until the end of the year.

While the first press freedom trial will be heard this week on
September 8, eyes are focused on October 5 when eight defendants
including journalist Ipek Calislar and publisher Ragip Zarakolu will
face judges in press and freedom of expression trials.

Calislar and Tatlican Face "Ataturk" case

On October 5 Thursday, journalist Ipek Calislar and "Hurriyet"
newspaper editor Necdet Tatlican will appear before a court on trial
for the book "Latife Hanim", a biography of modern Turkey’s founder
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s partner Latife, published by Dogan Publishing
House.

Calislar, an experienced journalist of 36 years and author of the
best-seller "Latife Hanim", is being charged for quoting a story from
Latife’s sister Vecihe where Ataturk allegedly avoids his opponents
by putting on a scarf and fleeing a house while pretending to be a
woman.

A reference to the anecdote in a June 4, 2006 interview with the
daily Hurriyet and the story she relayed in the book brings her and
Tatlican before a court on charges of insulting Atatuk under a 1951
dated "Law to Protect Ataturk". Each face a prosecutor’s demand for
up to 4.5 years imprisonment.

Journalist Saymaz on trial for "torture" claim

The same day Calislar and Tatlican appear before a judge, "Radikal"
newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz will appear at the Bagcilar 2nd
Court of First Instance for violating the country’s Press Law by
printing claims that a child had been tortured.

The journalist is being charged with "influencing justice" through
his news report titled "Torture allegation concerning 11 year old
child".

Zarakolu faces up to 13.5 years jail

The case against Belge Publshing House owner and journalist Ragip
Zarakolu for publishing two books relating to Ottomon history and
developments related to Armenians is also to be hear on October 5.

Zarakolu is on trial for the Turkish versions of Prof. Dr. Dora
Sakayan’s book "Garabed Hacheryan’s Izmir Journal: An Armenian
Doctor’s Experiences " and George Jerjian’s "The Truth Will Set Us
Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled".

In the trial to be held at the Istanbul 2nd Court of First Instance,
a prosecutor demands up to 13.5 years imprisonment for the publisher.

Tempo’s interview at cort

October 5 will also be the day where "Tempo" magazine reporter Enis
Mazhar Tayman and editor-in-chief Neval Barlas will appear before a
court in relation to an interview conducted with Diyarbakir KURD-DER
spokesman and Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par) former chairman
Ibrahim Guclu.

However, the Bagcilar 2nd Court of First Instance is not interview
Barlas in accordance with the opinion of prosecutor Omer Karacal who
concluded that the author of the interview was identified. Because of
this observers expect the case against Barlas to be dismissed and
that against Tayman to continue.

The two newsmen and Guclu are charged with "insulting Turkism and the
Republic" and "inciting people not to abide by law" through the
interview published in Tempo on December 2, 2005.

Publisher Ozkan’s case may be dismissed

Again the same day Evrensel Basim Yayin publishing house editor
Songul Ozkan and author Ahmet Kahraman will appear before a court for
Kahraman’s book titled "Kurdish Rebellions".

The Beyoglu 2nd Court o First Instance had implied during the
previous hearing on May 25 that as the author of the book was clearly
identifiable he may not be held for the book. A decision may be taken
in this case to dismiss charges against Ozkan and put Kahraman on
trial individually.

New judiciary term starts with Kirandi case

The first freedom of press case to be heard in the new judiciary term
will be held on September 8 with defendants of the so-called "Kirandi
Case" appearing before a court.

On trial are Human Rights Association (IHD) Regional Representative
Mihdi Perincek, IHD Diyarbakir Representative Selahattin Demirtas,
Tunceli Mayoralty Provincial Council Ozgur Soylemez, artist Ferhat
Tunc, journalist-writer Umur Hozatli and Dicle News Agency (DIHA)
reporters Abdulkadir Ozbek and Rustu Demirkaya, Dogan News Agency
(DHA) reporter Ferit Demir ve Anatolian Agency (AA) reporter Haydar
Toprakci".

The group is charged in relation to the August 4, 2005 release of a
kidnapped Turkish soldier by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) and accused of "conducting propaganda of the organization and
its aims" either by being there to receive Kirandi and escort him to
safety or for covering the release. Each defendant on trial in the
case faces up to 5 years imprisonment if found guilty.

06.09.2006 / by Erol Onderoglu

name=News&file=article&sid=3819

MINOR ARMENIAN PARTY CALLS FOR REVOLUTION "TO GET RID OF REGIME"

Regnum, Moscow
6 Sep 06

6 September: The opposition New Times Party [NTP] believes that
the recent events in Armenia – the killings of the head of the
investigation department of the Armenian Tax Service, Shagen Ovasapyan,
and the incumbent head of the village of Dalar, as well as the beating
of the editor-in-chief of Iravunk newspaper, Ovanes Galadzhyan – show
that it is high time for the resignation of heads of law-enforcement
agencies.

The press service of the party said that the security agencies
prosecute political parties instead of fighting criminal elements. The
state agencies’ activities are aimed at keeping power for their own
benefit, the party said.

A domestic policy and socioeconomic atmosphere in the country are
being destroyed because of the lack of radical and structural changes
which undermines all spheres of public life as well. The leadership
of the party believes that now it is more than important to get rid
of the criminal regime through revolution. Given this, the NTP calls
on the public to unite and resolutely fight crime to exclude criminal
elements from public life.

REPUBLICAN PARTY IS SHORTSIGHTED, PRESIDENT SAYS

Lragir.am
07 Sept 06

Robert Kocharyan thinks that the Republican Party is an organization of
shortsighted figures. At least, Robert Kocharyan thought so in February
2000, asserted Hmayak Hovanisyan September 7, 2006. The member of
parliament announced that in 1998 people relied on Karen Demirchyan
and the People’s Party he had set up. To emphasize his importance,
Hmayak Hovanisyan even announced that at that time one needed his
signature to be admitted to this political party. Hmayak Hovanisyan
says if the People’s Party had not been the only positive force in
those years, Vazgen Sargsyan would not have united the Republican
Party with the People’s Party to save his image.

"I was the only person who was against setting up the alliance of
Unity," says Hmayak Hovanisyan, mentioning that not only he but also
President Kocharyan had a bad opinion about the Republican Party.

"You can find it out, on TV, he said this in late February 2000 that
the Republicans are shortsighted, whereas there are bright figures in
the People’s Party, etc," says Hmayak Hovanisyan, emphasizing that
Robert Kocharyan said this before the historical moment of March
3 when Stepan Demirchyan, Andranik Margaryan and Gagik Jhangiryan
offered an ultimatum to the president, demanding the resignation of
Serge Sargsyan, the head of his administration.

Hmayak Hovanisyan tells his history saying that it should also be
a lesson for Serge Sargsyan, who joins the Republican Party and
endangers his reputation instead of thinking about improving his image.

FM VARDAN OSKANIAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE UN SESSION

ArmRadio.am
06.09.2006 11:00

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian will leave for New York to
participate in the UN session. The Minister told the journalists that
his speech at the session is scheduled September 25. He informed
also that he will have a number of bilateral meetings with his
counterparts. Vardan Oskanian underlined that he is not scheduled to
meet with US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minks Group Matthew Bryza, but such
a meeting is not ruled out.

Turning to the Azeri initiative to have the question of fires at the
contact line be included in the agenda of the sitting, Vardan Oskanyan
declared that it is the right of Baku. The Minister noted that the
issue might be discussed in the framework of the OSCE parliamentary
Assembly, especially considering that the UN can do no more than the
OSCE. "I tin that only Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan can discuss
and resolve the question of fires. I do believe that involvement of
the UN is not proper here. The most proper structure for considering
the issue is the OSCE, the Minister declared.

Vardan Oskanian did not rule out the opportunity of including
the questioning the agenda. The minister reported also that he has
received a letter from the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel de Gucht,
in which he suggests sending a mission to the inflammation zones. "We
have already responded that we no problem here. We are satisfied with
assessment of the fires at the contact line by Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

However, Azerbaijan is not happy with the report," Vardan Oskanian
declared.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER CALLS DEMAND OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE NOTHING BUT "DAYDREAM"

Yerevan, September 6. ArmInfo. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has said that it would be nothing but a "daydream" to expect
recognition by Turkey of the genocide of Armenians during the last
years of the Ottoman Empire.

The European Parliament (EP) called on Turkey for recognition of
Armenian genocide claims as a condition for its accession to the
union in a draft report adopted by majority in Strasbourg on Monday.

PM Erdogan and his Albanian counterpart Sali Berisha held a joint press
conference on Tuesday following their meeting at the prime ministry
office in Ankara. Commenting on the draft report on Turkey for 2006
prepared by the European Parliament (EP), Erdogan remarked that the
EP decisions were nor binding. Erdogan added that expecting Turkey’s
recognition of Armenian killings as "genocide" was impossible. Turkish
Foreign Ministry has strongly rejected the EP report, saying that the
report compiled by Dutch legislator Camiel Eurlings was incompatible
with prestige and gravity of the European parliament.

"Turkey was deeply saddened with the stance of the European parliament
regarding the so-called Armenian genocide claims," FM spokesman said

Earlier, talking to ArmInfo, Press Secretary of the EP Committee
Marjory van den Broeke said majority of European parliamentarians voted
for the report which had aroused much discussions and criticism. In
two weeks the reports will be heard at the plenary session of the
European Commission, wherein a final decision will be made on the
report and on the point concerned with Armenian Genocide, she said. The
response of the European Commission to the decision of the Committee
on recognition of Armenian Genocide by Turkey is not known yet. Hence,
the European policy in this direction is not clear either, Marjory
van den Broeke said.

HAYASTAN ALL-ARMENIAN FUND TO IMPLEMENT 14 PROGRAMS IN MARTAKERT THIS YEAR

Noyan Tapan
Sept 04 2006

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 4, NOYAN TAPAN. At present about 5 mln USD has
been collected out of donations amounting to 7.7 mln USD promised
during Telethon-2005.

As NT correspondent was informed by Naira Melkumian, Executive Director
of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, Martakert Regional Development
Program aimed at simultaneous restoration and development of different
spheres will be implemented with these funds in 2006. In total, it
is envisaged to implement 14 programs in Martakert, in particular,
3 schools will be built, the villages of Arachadzor and Chldran will
be supplied with gas. Besides, the regional hospital of Martakert
will be repaired. In Naira Melkumian’s words, ambulance cars have
been bought with the financing of the Fund’s Los Angeles local body,
the hospital will have modern medical equipment. Under another
program it is envisaged to build a 3-km drinking water pipeline
in Martakert. N.Melkumian said that an Agricultural Development
Program is also being implemented in Martakert by means of the NKR
Agricultural Assistance Fund. Within the framework of the latter the
Fund has already bought and sent to NKR different kinds of agricultural
equipment amounting to about 0.5 mln USD.

The final place of refuge for Christians in the Middle East is under threat

As Iraq and Lebanon are torn apart by sectarian mayhem and war, only
Syria’s religious tolerance offers refugees shelter

William Dalrymple in Damascus
Saturday September 2, 2006
_The Guardian_ ()

Wander through the streets of Damascus this week, and you will see
signs everywhere of the conflict in Lebanon. The bearded,
black-turbaned Hassan Nasrallah stares out from every shop window,
even in the Christian quarter.Here electric-blue neon crosses wink
from the domes of the churches, and processions of crucifix-carrying
boy scouts squeeze past gaggles of Christian girls heading out on the
town, all low-cut jeans and tight-fitting T-shirts. Thevideo shops are
full of DVDs showing "highlights" from the war – exploding Israeli
tanks and jubilant Hizbullah fighters – which sell even better than
the ubiquitous pirated versions of the latest Hollywood releases, The
Devil Wears Prada and The Da Vinci Code: evidence that in the
contemporary Middle East you don’t have to hate western culture, or
even be a Muslim, to relish the bloody nose given to ill-judged
Israeli and American attempts at imposing their hegemony in the region
by force of invasion and cluster bombs.

Evidence of the conflict in Iraq, Syria’s neighbour to the north-east,
is at first harder to spot than the ubiquitous images from Lebanon,
but on closer examination it is no less pervasive. Lounging in every
park and teahouse are unshaven, tired-looking Iraqi refugees, driven
from their homes by sectarian mayhem. This summer, as Baghdad
spiralled out of control, with more violent deaths in one fortnight
than in Israel and Lebanon together in nearly a month of warfare,
Syria responded by providing asylum (though not work permits) to all
Iraqis who were forced to flee, as well as free education for their
children.

Talk to the refugees in Damascus, however, and you soon find that one
group predominates: the Iraqi Christians. Although they made up only
about 3% of the population of prewar Iraq – 700,000 people – under
Saddam they were a prosperous minority, symbolised by the high profile
of Tariq Aziz, Saddam’s Christian foreign minister. Highly educated
and overwhelmingly middle class, the Christians were heavily
concentrated in Mosul, Basra and especially Baghdad, which before the
war had the largest Christian population of any Middle Eastern town or
city.

Now at least half of these Christians – around 350,000 people – have
fled Bush’s new Iraq and its violence, mass abductions and economic
meltdown.

Wherever I went in Syria I kept running into them – bank managers and
engineers, pharmacists and scientists, garage owners and businessmen –
all living with their extended families in one-room flats on what
remained of their savings, and assisted by the charity of the
different churches.

"Before the war there was no separation between Christian and Muslim,"
I was told by Shamun Daawd, a former liquor-store owner who fled after
he received Islamist death threats. "Under Saddam no one asked you
your religion, and we used to attend each other’s religious services
and weddings. After the invasion we hoped democracy would come; but
instead all that came was bombs, kidnapping and killing. Now at least
75% of my Christian friends have fled. There is no future for us in
Iraq."

His friend Sabah Mansur Nesco told a similar tale when I met him at
the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate, where he had come to collect the
rent money it provides for its more impoverished laity. He had lived
in a wealthy mixed area of Baghdad, al-Doura, he said, until two of
his nephews were kidnapped: for the first they had to arrange a
$30,000 ransom; for the second $10,000. The boys were returned, having
been tortured and beaten. Then some Christian neighbours were killed
by jihadis. Five Baghdad churches were bombed, and stories began to
circulate that Christian girls were getting raped at the
university. The family decided enough was enough, and drove to
Damascus.

The Christian community in Iraq is one of the oldest in the world, and
has existed since the first century; according to tradition it was St
Thomas and his cousin Addai who first brought Christianity to the
Parthian capital of Seleucia-Ctesiphon soon after the resurrection. At
the Council of Nicaea, where the words of the Christian creed were
thrashed out in 325 AD, there were more bishops from Mesopotamia and
India than there were from western Europe.

Later, the region became a refuge for groups considered heretical by
the Orthodox Byzantine emperors – such as the Mandeans, the world’s
last surviving Gnostic sect, who follow what they believe to be the
teachings of John the Baptist; and the Church of the East, or
Nestorians, who played a key part in bringing Greek philosophy,
science and medicine to the Islamic world. It was from the Nestorian
school of Nisibis, via Córdoba, that many of Aristotle’s and Plato’s
works reached the universities of medieval Europe. Yet in three years
most members of this ancient church, and almost all the Mandeans, have
been forced to flee the anarchy their western coreligionists have
helped unleash.

This is part of a much wider problem across the Middle East. Almost
everywhere the Christians are leaving, as ill-judged Anglo-American
adventures, intended to suppress terrorism, actually have the reverse
effect and steadily radicalise the entire region. Today in the Middle
East the Arab Christians are a small minority of 12 million; in the
last decade at least two million have left to make new lives for
themselves in Europe, Australia and America. Only in Syria has this
pattern been resisted.

Now there are worries that Syria, one of the last countries in the
region without an Islamist movement, is also in Washington’s cross
hairs: Donald Rumsfeld, among others, has accused Syria of sponsoring
the Islamic resistance in Iraq and in Lebanon.

Few would deny that Syria has much to reform. It is a one-party
Ba’athist state, where political activists are suppressed and an
extensive network of secret police fills the prisons with political
prisoners. Violent opposition to the regime is met with overwhelming
force, most dramatically in the case of the armed rising of the Muslim
Brotherhood in Hama in 1982. The city was sealed off and at least
10,000 people were killed – a similar operation to that undertaken by
the US in Falluja, except that Syria did not use banned chemical
weapons.

Yet if Syria is a one-party police state, it is one that tends to
leave its citizens alone as long as they keep out of politics. And if
political freedoms have always been severely, and often brutally,
restricted – as is also the case in most of the US’s ally states in
the region – Assad’s regime does allow wide-ranging cultural and
religious freedoms, which give Syria’s minorities a security and
stability far greater than their counterparts anywhere elsein the
region. This is particularly true of Syria’s ancient Christian
communities.

The Assads are Alawite, a Shia Muslim minority seen by orthodox Sunni
Muslims as heretical, and disparagingly referred to as Nusayris, or
Little Christians: indeed their liturgy seems to be partly Christian
in origin. The Assads have stayed in power by forming in effect a
coalition of religious minorities, through which they were able to
counterbalance the weight of the Sunni majority. In Syria the major
Christian feasts are national holidays; Christians are exempt from
turning up to work on Sunday mornings; and churches and monasteries,
like mosques, are given free electricity. This is unknown anywhere
else in the Middle East.

It would be tragic if the British now assisted the US in destabilising
not just Iraq and Lebanon, but also Syria. As Sabah Mansur Nesco put
it: "Bush brought nothing but killing, violence and mass emigration –
not just to Iraq but to Afghanistan and Palestine also. Now we just
pray he leaves Syria alone.

For us it is the last place of refuge."

· William Dalrymple is the author of From the Holy Mountain: A Journey
in the Shadow of Byzantium. His new book, The Last Mughal, will be
published by Bloomsbury next month

_Williamdalrymple.com_ ()

SPEAKER OF RA PARLIAMENT AND AMBASSADOR OF CHINA DISCUSS ISSUE OF CHINA’S PARTICIPATION IN CONSTRUCTION OF KARS-AKHALKALAKI-TBILISI-BAKU RAILROAD

Yerevan, August 30. ArmInfo. Togran Torosian, Speaker of RA National
Assembly and Chinese Ambassador Zuo Xueliang, Ambassador of China,
discussed the issue of China’s participation in the construction of
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railroad.

The Press Service of RA Parliament informed that Mr. Torosian approved
the participation of China in development of cooperation with the
countries of the region. Besides, the Speaker expressed hope that
Beijing has chosen the most optimal variant that connects Europe
with the Eastern Asia by railway. The sides also discussed issues of
activating the inter-parliamentary relations. Mr. Zuo Xueliang passed
the invitation of the speaker of Chinese Parliament to visit China.

He emphasized the importance of the coming visit from the viewpoint
of developing the bilateral relations. In his turn, Torosian
added that soon the Chinese inter-parliamentary delegation will
visit Yerevan. The sides emphasized also the developing inter-party
relations, particularly, that between the republican Party of Armenia
and the Communist Party of China.