Author: Jilavian Emma

THE QUIET RUSSIAN
By Eric Walberg

08.html
October 15, 2008

Kosovo’s Independence Vote Goes to the ICJ

Last week Serbia ‘s neighbours Montenegro and Macedonia recognised
Kosovo, the world’s newest country — leaving aside South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, bringing the number of its official friends to 48. However,
after expelling Macedonia’s ambassador in a huff, Serbia was soon all
smiles as the United Nations General Assembly supported its request
that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rule on the legality
of Kosovo’s independence — by an impressive vote of 77-6.

The court’s opinion on Kosovo, which experts say could take one to
three years, is not binding, but it will put a break on further
efforts to integrating Kosovo into the world community as an
independent country.

The move was a much-needed victory for Serbia, which lobbied heavily
during the build-up to the vote. Despite the fact that 90 per cent
of Kosovars are nominally Muslim and despite the popular image of
Serbia as anti-Muslim, Egypt, Algeria, Indonesia and Iran supported
Serbia, showing that this is not a Muslim issue. Seventy-four
nations abstained, including most European and Muslim nations,
strange bedfellows, but understandably so.

The Europeans don’t want to oppose a legitimate recourse to
international law. Some European and most Muslim nations have
separatist movements like Indonesia , which has to deal with ethnic
conflicts in Aceh and Irian Jaya, and Azerbaijan , with its Armenian
breakaway enclave Nagorno-Karabakh. Separatist concerns also lie
behind the reluctance of some European Union countries to recognise
Kosovo. Only 20 of the union’s 27 members have done so, with those
opposed to the move including Spain , Cyprus and Romania .

It was also a victory for Russia, which has been explaining to the
Muslim world ever since Kosovo declared independence in February what a
dangerous precedent it is. In mid-March, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said before beginning a Middle East visit that Moscow was urging Muslim
states to withstand pressure to recognise Kosovo, a state he said had
been "illegally formed. I would like to warn against the temptation
to give in to calls from non-Arab and non-Islamic states addressed to
Islamic countries to show Islamic solidarity and recognise Kosovo,"
he told Rossiiskaya Gazeta. Lavrov also pointed to unrest taking
place in Tibet at the time, suggesting that Kosovo’s breakaway had
helped to trigger the "disorder" there.

In contrast to Kosovo, which was an integral part of Serbia until
NATO bombed Serbia and invaded Kosovo in 1999, Georgia’s secessionist
provinces had been functioning as independent countries from 1991-2
and South Ossetia was invaded by the Georgian army and its capital
flattened by Georgian20bombs, which the Serbs never did to Kosovo. So
despite the contrary view of the two tragic incidents in the Western
media, Serbia and Russia ‘s arguments against Kosovo have found a
sympathetic ear.

Only six members of the 57-state Organisation of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) have recognised its independence. The day after the independence
declaration, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu issued a
statement declaring "our solidarity with and support to our brothers
and sisters there. There is no doubt that the independence of Kosovo
will be an asset to the Muslim world and will further enhance joint
Islamic action." But at an OIC summit in Dakar , Senegal , a month
later, OIC heads of state resisted a Turkish initiative and merely
voiced "solidarity", leaving recognition up to individual member
states. The only six to have taken the step so far are Turkey ,
Albania , Afghanistan , Burkino Faso , Sierra Leone and Senegal .

"We strongly believe that the support we got from the international
community to gain our freedom is the largest miracle of Allah and the
largest sign of his mercy towards his people in Kosovo," Blerim Gashi,
public information officer of the Kosovar-Arab friendship and economic
cooperation chamber, wrote on the Al-Arabiya television channel’s
website. "We do hope that our brothers in faith will take their
rightful place on our side." It is the poorest country in Europe ,
notorious for drug, arms and human smuggling, and with an unemployment
rate of 40 per cent. Kosovo authorities have no control over about
15 per cent of its territory where about 200,000 Serbs live. Local
Serbs in those areas recognise only the Serbian government, despite
opposition from Kosovo’s UN and European Union administrators.

On his way to New York for last minute lobbying, Kosovo Foreign
Minister Skender Hyseni visited OIC headquarters in Jeddah , Saudi
Arabia , where he met with Ihsanoglu and "expressed the hope that more
OIC member states would recognise the independence of Kosovo." While
the Kosovar was in Jeddah at the OIC, his Serbian counterpart, Vuk
Jeremic, was in Cairo at the Arab League — all 22 of whose members
are also in the OIC.

As if to emphasise where Kosovo’s interests really lie, US Defense
Secretary Robert Gates was in Pristina at about the same time,
the first US Cabinet member to Kosovo since the country declared
independence, where he met with the president and prime minister
of Kosovo and lunched with the 1,600 US troops at Camp Bondsteel
. He just happened to be on his way to nearby Hungary for a meeting
of NATO defence chiefs. The US pledged $400 million at a donors’
conference earlier this year.

Gates dismisses Russia ‘s vehement opposition as sour grapes, an
attempt to "exorcis e past humiliations", but a less tendentious look
reveals a sophisticated diplomatic offensive by Russia with regards,
not so much Kosovo, as the Muslim world in general. Russia sees Kosovo
as a US-EU invention with dangerous implications for the world. It
views the war in Iraq in a similar light, is increasingly critical
of the war in Afghanistan , and as such is being actively courted by
Arab countries, not to mention Iran .

Moscow’s new friends include Syria, eager for Russian arms and more
than willing to restore the old Soviet naval base at Tartus, and Hamas,
which went so far as to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia, putting
it in league with Russia’s close friend Nicaragua. Moscow is seen as
less beholden to Israel , and has shown it is eager to be considered
an even-handed broker in the Palestinian issue, having hosted a peace
conference last June for the first time.

As president, Vladimir Putin visited Iran last October, Saudi
Arabia in January, and Libya in April, his last official visit as
president. Recently Russia , with its large Muslim population, has
expressed interest in joining the OIC. This thaw in relations has been
a two-way street. Russia signed a deal to build a railway in Saudi
Arabia and another on gas production in Libya , forgave Iraq $12
billion in Soviet-era debt, and has forgiven past Saudi and Iranian
support to Chechen rebels.

Arab nations see in Russia not only an important ally and counterweight
to the US , but a role model of sorts. Political analyst Abdel-Fattah
Mady at Alexandria University writes at IslamOnline.net, "Arab
countries fail to define a framework for their common national
security. Unfortunately, Arab regimes cannot distinguish between their
peoples’ interests and those of the United States . Russia teaches
Arabs a very important lesson: Arabs must settle their internal
divisions if they want to join the club of nations that defend their
interests without fearing the US . Unfortunately, Arabs lack strong
leadership with a clear vision of national security. Neither do they
have the political determination to change facts on the ground."

Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly. You can reach him at

1922: THE HOLOCAUST OF SMYRNA
By Dean Kalimniou, [email protected]

American Chronicle
s/77865
October 15, 2008
CA

Australian Macedonian Advisory Council

"We didn´t know how and we didn´t know why. All we knew was that
they were coming. People were streaming in from the interior, their
clothes in tatters, telling gruesome stories of the horrors that
befell them. When we left, they were close behind us, every step of
the way and all we knew was that we had to flee, that if they caught
up with us, it would mean death. When we got to Smyrna, we thought
we were safe. No one ever thought that they would enter Smyrna."

In 1922, an eleven year old boy fled his home city of Aydin in western
Asia Minor and embarked on what was for him, an epic 100km journey
westwards with his brother, to Smyrna and safety, escaping a pursuing
Turkish army. Along the way, he witnessed the rape of the country
side occasioned by the Graeco-Turkish War, the panic and hysteria of
a Greek population just beginning to comprehend that the 3000 year
sojourn in these lands was coming to a close and that their lives were
in mortal peril. He also witnessed what was to be the most terrible
closing chapter in the history of Greek habitation of Asia Minor –
the holocaust of Smyrna. That boy was my grandfather, Kostas Kalymnios.

For over two thousand years before 1922, the Greek people thrived in
Smyrna, a beautiful port on the coast of Asia Minor, founded by the
Ionians. It is one of the cities which lays claim to the honour of
being the birthplace of Homer. Enlarged and rebuilt successively by
Antigonus I and Lysimachus, it soon became one of the largest and most
prosperous cities in Asia Minor. Its wealth and splendour increased
under Roman rule, and Smyrna was one of the cities referred to in the
Revelation of John as comprising one of the seven churches of Asia
Minor. Throughout its tortuous history, captured by Seljuk Turks,
Mongols and finally the Ottoman Turks in 1424, it remained essentially
a Greek city throughout the ages, a cultural as well as commercial
entrepot of trade and commerce, under Adamantios Korais fostered
the Greek enlightenment and with the rise of nationalism became one
of the key foci of the Greek Â"Î~εγΠ¬Î"η Î~Yδέα " or ´Great
Idea´ to reunify all the historical lands inhabited by Greeks.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Empire, known
as the ´sick man of Europe´ was in constant turmoil, with each
subject nationality aspiring towards self-rule and many Turkic groups
embracing nationalism, liberalism and questioning the values of the
Empire. Smyrna especially proved a hotbed of radical idealists, given
its international character and its concentration of intellectuals
from France, England, Russia and America. The Young Turk revolution
of 1908 brought Turkish nationalism to the fore and it became the
ideology of the regime that non-Turks could not play a role in what
should be a Turkish-only state. Beginning around 1913, the Ottoman
Turks, sensing the imminent collapse of the Empire, began a campaign
to "Turkify" the population of Asia Minor by expelling or eliminating
its minority populations. The Greeks, Assyrians and Armenians were of
the many ethnic groups whose legitimacy of habitation in Asia Minor
was questioned.

Smyrna proved somewhat of an anomaly for the Ottomans and Young Turks
alike: its predominantly Greek population along with substantial,
Armenian, Jewish and other European populations as well did not
lend itself easily to be included within the ethnically based
policies of Young Turks. It was in essence a European city, adorned
in neo-classical architecture, with Parisian inspired theatres,
auditoriums, colleges and clubs, possessed a tram line and a fin
de siecle self confidence in western civilisation. No wonder then
that Smyrna´s appellation in the popular parlance of the Turks was
"gâvurizmir," Smyrna of the Infidels. In 1922, in the culmination of
a campaign to rid the newly created Republic of Turkey of its ethnic
minorities, the ancient city of Smyrna was destroyed.

With the signing of the Treaty of Sevres in 1919, Greece was given a
mandate to occupy the province of Smyrna for five years, after which
time, a plebiscite would determine whether the province would remain
in Turkey or be ceded to Greece. The liberation of Smyrna on 2 May
1915 was greeted with jubilation by the Christian population of the
city. However, as Venizelos managed to extend the Entente mandate
to occupy the province of Aydin, Turkish patriotism, dormant after
the Empire´s humiliating defeat, began to come to the fore. It
was considered that Greece was invading and occupying the Turkish
heartland, and Turks rallied around Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to remove the
Greeks from Asia Minor and began to attack Greek troops. Venizelos
ordered a general advance of troops into Asia Minor. The troops
eventually advanced to the outskirts on Ankara, drawn further and
further from their supply lines, demoralised by a war that was a
running sore on the Greek economy and psyche and having to combat the
competing interests of the Italians who had occupied southern Turkey
and were actively assisting the Turks against the Greeks. The removal
of Venizelos and restitution of the throne to Constantine awarded the
Entente a pretext to extricate themselves from an issue that had now
become uncontrollable- they withdrew their support from Greece.

In a major offensive on August 26, 1922, against the Greek positions
on the Sakarya River, Ataturk smashed the Greek army, forcing them to
retreat in a panic from Asia Minor, committing widespread brutalities
against Turkish populations as they fled and leaving Greek populations
undefended.

As the Turkish troops began their inexorable advance towards
the Aegean, Smyrna was seized in panic. The arrival of crowds of
refugees from the interior and of the ragged remnants of the Greek
army, coupled with the abandonment of the town on the part of civil
and military authority, reduced the inhabitants to waiting in agony
for the end. On 27 August, the first Turkish irregulars entered the
town through the Pounta bridge and began to loot and pillage. Rudolph
J. Rummel states that the Turkish army indulged in "systematic firing"
in the Armenian and Greek quarters of the city. He argues that after
the Turks recaptured the city, Turkish soldiers and Moslem mobs shot
and hacked to death Armenians, Greeks, and other Christians in the
streets of the city; he estimates the victims of these massacres, by
giving reference to the previous claims of Marjorie Housepian Dobkin,
at about 100,000.

As Christians were rounded up for execution, thousands flocked to
the docks in the hope of fleeing the catastrophe. Turkish soldiers
would stand on the quayside and fire at refugees attempting to swim to
safety. Despite the fact that there were numerous ships from various
Allied powers in the harbor of Smyrna, the vast majority of ships,
citing "neutrality," did not pick up Greek and Armenian civilians
who were forced to flee the fire and Turkish troops. Military bands
played loud music to drown out the screams of those who were drowning
in the harbor. Other scholars give a different account of the events;
they argue that the Turks first forbade foreign ships in the harbor
to pick up the survivors, but, then, under pressure especially from
Britain, France, and the United States, they allowed the rescuing of
all the Christians except males 17 to 45 years old, whom they aimed to
deport into the interior, which was regarded as a short life sentence
to slavery under brutal masters, ended by mysterious death.

On 31 August 1922, as a direct result of the pillaging of the Greek
and Armenian quarters and the burning of their homes, four fires
broke out in the city. Mark Lambert Bristol, US High Commissioner,
was an eyewitness to the cause: "Many of us personally saw– and are
ready to affirm the statement– Turkish soldiers often directed by
officers throwing petroleum in the street and houses. Vice-Consul
Barnes watched a Turkish officer leisurely fire the Custom House
and the Passport Bureau while at least fifty Turkish soldiers stood
by. Major Davis saw Turkish soldiers throwing oil in many houses. The
Navy patrol reported seeing a complete horseshoe of fires started by
the Turks around the American school."

US Diplomat George Horton, is also unequivocal, despite revisionist
Turkish claims that the Greeks and Armenians were the cause of the
blaze: "The fire was lighted at the edge of the Armenian quarter at
a time when a strong wind was blowing toward the Christian section
and away from the Turkish. The Turkish quarter was not in any way
involved in the catastrophe and during all the abominable scenes
that followed and all the indescribable sufferings of the Christians,
the Mohammedan quarter was lighted up and gay with dancing, singing
and joyous celebration."

Internationally renown Turkish author, Falih Rifki Atay, admitted:
"Gavur Ä°zmir burned and came to an end with its flames in the darkness
and its smoke in daylight. Were those responsible for the fire really
the Armenian arsonists as we were told in those days? … As I have
decided to write the truth as far as I know I want to quote a page
from the notes I took in those days. ´The plunderers helped spread
the fire … Why were we burning down Ä°zmir? Were we afraid that
if waterfront konaks, hotels and taverns stayed in place, we would
never be able to get rid of the minorities? When the Armenians were
being deported in the First World War, we had burned down all the
habitable districts and neighbourhoods in Anatolian towns and cities
with this very same fear. This does not solely derive from an urge for
destruction. There is also some feeling of inferiority in it. It was
as if anywhere that resembled Europe was destined to remain Christian
and foreign and to be denied to us."

Fortunately, recently, many Turks have begun to question the state
narrative of the denial. Biray Kolluoglu Kirli, a Professor of
Sociology at Bogazici University, published a paper in 2005 in which
she pursues an argument based on the claim that the city was burned by
the Turks in an attempt to cleanse the predominantly Christian city
in order to make way for a new Muslim and Turkish city, and focuses
on an examination of the extensions of this viewpoint on the Turkish
nationalist narrative since.

The apogee of Turkish utter repudiation of the Greeks of Smyrna
was the death of Bishop Chrysostomos, who had actively campaigned
for the liberation of Asia Minor. He was delivered by Nureddin Bey
to the ravaging mob with the instructions: "If he benefited you,
do the same to him and if he hurt you, hurt him." The ethnomartyr
Chrysostomos was literally torn apart.

The enormity of the catastrophe still invokes horror today, Governor
Pataki of New York has reflected: "…Smyrna, the largest city in
Asia Minor called ‘the jewel of the Mediterranean’, a cosmopolitan
hub populated by a highly educated Greek community and flourishing
commercial and middle-classes, was sacked and burned and its
inhabitants massacred by the Turkish forces; the pier of Smyrna became
a scene of final desperation as the approaching flames forced many
thousands to jump to their death, rather than be consumed by flame."

On September 9, 1922, Ataturk entered Smyrna triumphantly. The utter
destruction of this once vibrant city also signalled the death knell
for Greek irredentism. A population exchange was organised in which
almost two million Greeks were caused to leave Asia Minor and were
settled in Greece. The exchange put a tremendous strain on the Greek
economy as it tried to cope with the influx of over a million new
people in Greece. The hardships endured by the individuals concerned
were also very trying as many Greeks abandoned a privileged life in
Asia Minor for one of poverty in shantytowns in Greece. Nevertheless,
the exchange helped to stabilise the region and though heart wrenching,
served to bring about peace.

There remains no vestige of a 3,000 year old Greek presence in the
modern city of Izmir today. The Jewish curse "may their name and
memory be erased" has partly come true with respect to the Greeks of
Smyrna. While their names may be gone, their memory lives eternal,
through the economic advancement of Greece, regenesis of radical
political thought and rembetika music. The holocaust of Smyrna is a
tragedy not only for the Greek and Armenian victims, but also for
the Turkish nation. It is the tragedy of the insignificant caught
underneath the millstone of the conflicting and cynical permutations
of the designs of the powerful. Viewed through this prism, all are
victims, the dead and those who were, through no fault of their own,
forced to commit awful brutalities.

–Boundary_(ID_LGupjLiRaBGxoRiYil8z2 A)–

DEVELOPMENT OF POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, SCIENTIFIC-CULTURAL RELATIONS WITH GERMANY DISCUSSED

ARMENPRESS
Oct 14, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 14, ARMENPRESS: Armenian National Assembly Speaker
Hovik Abrahamian received today German ambassador to Armenia Andrea
Wiktorini.

Public relations department of the Armenian National Assembly told
Armenpress that during the meeting Hovik Abrahamian underscored
boosting Armenian-German inter-parliamentary ties and noted that in
November the delegation headed by the deputy speaker of the NA is
going to leave for Germany. The parliament speaker said that the
visit will promote the development of relations between the two
parliaments. The speaker underscored the development of political,
economic, scientific-cultural ties between the two countries.

On her part German ambassador congratulated the NA speaker, pointing
out that she had many meetings with him in his previous positions
as well and is sure that in this work as well success will guide
him. She also underscored the visit of the NA delegation to Germany
where members of the Armenian parliament will have an opportunity to
get acquainted not only with the work of Bundestag but will also get
acquainted with the federal governance system of the country with
the model of Brandenburg.

Registering the increasing interest of Germany and EU over
the countries of the region and taking into consideration that
Euro-integration is one of the main priorities of Armenia’s foreign
policy, Hovik Abrahamian said that Armenia expects support of Germany
in the process of its integration to the European establishments.

The NA speaker also referred to the activity which must be carried
out by the NA, noting that the parliament must play a big role in
the political life of the country, becoming a healthy, constructive
platform of criticism for all the political forces.

Ambassador of Germany Andrea Wiktorini wished success to the NA speaker
in the implementation of his important mission and said that Germany
displays great interest towards Armenia and wants to see it stably
developing, democratic and is ready to support in it.

IRAQ POLICE DEPLOYED IN MOSUL CHRISTIAN AREAS

Middle East Online
2008-10-13
UK

Reinforcements in place

Nearly 1,000 police to patrol Christian areas of northern city of
Mosul to protect them from violence.

MOSUL – Iraq ordered nearly 1,000 police to patrol Christian areas
of the northern city of Mosul on Sunday as thousands of members of
the minority group fled the worst violence against them in five years.

The action came as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered an immediate
investigation into the murders of Christians in Mosul and pledged to
take all steps necessary to protect the threatened community.

"We will take immediate action to resolve the problems and difficulties
faced by Christians in Mosul," Maliki said in a statement released
by his office after a crisis meeting with two Christian lawmakers.

Two brigades of national police were deployed in the city, considered
by US and Iraqi commanders as the last urban stronghold of Al-Qaeda
in Iraq, interior ministry spokesman Abdul-Karim Khalaf said.

Despite the reinforcements, at least eight people including a
Christian were killed in four separate attacks on Sunday, security
officials said.

Two investigation teams, one security and the other criminal, have
also been sent to probe a spate of attacks on Christians in Mosul
since September 28, in which at least 12 members of the community
have now been killed, Khalaf added.

Police were seen setting up checkpoints at churches in the city’s
four largely Christian areas and were patrolling the streets on foot.

At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday condemned the violence
against Christians in both Iraq and India.

"I invite you to pray for peace and reconciliation as situations
cause concern and great suffering…. I think of violence against
Christians in Iraq and India," he said.

Nearly 1,000 Christian families have fled their homes in the city
since Friday, taking shelter on the northern and eastern fringes of
Nineveh province, according to provincial governor Duraid Kashmula.

Kashmula said the violence was the worst against Christians in
five years.

"(It) is the fiercest campaign against Christians since 2003,"
Kashmula said on Saturday. "Among those killed over the past 11 days
were a doctor, an engineer and a handicapped person."

At least three homes of Christians were blown up by unidentified
attackers on Saturday, security officials said.

In the latest incidents in the city, at least eight Iraqis were killed
and several dozen wounded in four attacks, including a shooting and
two suicide car bombs aimed at American and Iraqi soldiers, the US
military and police said.

One Christian was killed and his nephew wounded late Sunday when
unidentified gunmen opened fire in the eastern neighbourhood of Hay
al-Ekhaa, an officer with the local police said.

Earlier a suicide car bomb targeting coalition forces killed five and
wounded 10 Iraqis, US army spokesman Staff Sergeant Sam Smith said,
adding that no American soldiers were among the casualties.

Among the dead were three young boys, he said.

"The second car bomb was targeting Iraqi police and wounded 25
Iraqis. We don’t know how many were police or civilians," Smith said.

In another incident, two Iraqis died and three were hurt as a homemade
device exploded outside a prison, a Mosul policeman said.

Since the US-led invasion of 2003 more than 200 Christians had
been killed and a string of churches attacked, with the violence
intensifying in recent weeks, particularly in the north.

There were around 800,000 Christians in Iraq at the time of the
invasion, a number that has since shrunk by around a third as the
faithful have fled the country, according to Chaldean Archbishop
Louis Sako.

In March, the body of the Chaldean archbishop of Mosul, Paul Faraj
Rahho, 65, was found in a shallow grave in the city two weeks after
he was kidnapped as he returned home from celebrating mass.

Iraq’s Christian community includes various denominations, including
Syrian Orthodox and Catholic, Armenian Orthodox and Roman Catholic
congregations.

THERE IS NOT A HINT OF ELECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2008-10-13 10:12
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

NKR NA Standing Committee Chairman on state and legal issues Garik
Grigoryan’s commentary on the pre-election situation in Azerbaijan
"The characteristic feature of democratic election is, first of all,
healthy competition between the authorities and the opposition.

Pre-election process in Azerbaijan passes quite the contrary. There
are enough presidential aspirants; however, all of them, except for
the incumbent president, play the role of passive observers. And it is
no accidental that interest towards the elections both in political
and in wide public circles is insignificant, and it is obvious that
the elections will be uninteresting and predictable. Everything is so
predetermined that, in fact, it is useless to vote. It is no wonder
that the majority of the respondents in the capital of Azerbaijan
cannot call the names of all the presidential candidates.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
on observation of presidential election in Azerbaijan reports about
limited public interest towards the elections. The ODIHR observers
connect it with a perceived lack of genuine competition. The document,
in particular, reads that the president has been touring the country
extensively in his official capacity and it is difficult to distinguish
between his regular act ivities and his campaign. At that, it is
particularly emphasized that the Baku municipal authorities interpreted
provisions of the "Law on Freedom of Assembly" in a restrictive manner
when they refused the request of opposition parties boycotting the
election to be allocated a venue for an outdoor meeting in central
Baku. EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby
also stated the fact that there was not a hint of elections in
Azerbaijan.

At the same time, many international organizations prefer to observe
how constitutional rights are being violated and democratic freedoms
are suppressed in Azerbaijan. Implementing a policy of "double
standards" the West considering itself a defender of human rights and
freedoms, voluntarily or not, furthers this country’s moving far away
from the pan-European standards. It produces an impression that the
West is ready to waive "the democratic principles" in favour of their
mercenary interests in Azerbaijan, and the election processes became
for them only an instrument of influence and fractional currency in
political game".

SESSION OF NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DISCUSSES PACE OF JUDICIAL REFORMS

ARMENPRESS
Oct 13, 2008

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Session of the National Security
Council took place October 11 chaired by the head of the council,
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that Secretary General of
the council Arthur Baghdasarian and Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian
presented reports and summed up the results of "Rubezh 2008" military
exercises held within CSTO, discussed issue of military-political
cooperation within the framework of the CSTO.

During the session the participants also discussed pace of reforms
in judicial sphere. In this respect the president said that there is
serious complaint of the courts in Armenia and the reforms carried
out in the legislative sphere are not enough for the increase of the
role of the courts. The president highly underscored the necessity of
fighting against bribery and corruption in courts, adding that hence
for the assessment of the pace of reforms in the judicial sphere he
will not be guided by the length of the list of the carried out steps
but by the trust of the public towards the system.

He stated that hence the staff of the president will order relevant
specialized sociological polls to understand not only the level
of trust of people towards the judicial system but also its change
and dynamics.

Summing up the session the president said that the issue will be
under the limelight of the National Security Council. Serzh Sargsyan
also assigned to conduct wide public and specialized discussions over
judicial reforms.

NAMIK TAN: KNESSET’S RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TO DAMAGE TURKEY-ISRAEL RELATIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.10.2008 16:55 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Knesset
will badly damage the Turkish-Israeli partnership, said Namik Tan,
Turkey’s ambassador to Israel.

He reminded that Ankara recalled its envoys from U.S. and France when
parliaments of these states voted for recognition of the Armenian
Genocide.

Ambassador Tan criticized the Israeli parliamentary initiative to
discuss the Armenian Genocide issue. "I support President Shimon
Peres who said that the "Armenian tragedy is an issue for historians
bit not politicians." Just fancy a Turkish political figure accusing
Israel of genocide of Palestinians," he said, adding that he hopes
Israel will never spoil relations with Turkey.

Earlier, Kadima’s Zeev Elkin said that discussion of the Armenian
Genocide will not "cause trouble" with Turkey and Azerbaijan. "These
countries should understand that Israel can’t neglect discussion of
an issue that has already been considered by all western parliaments,"
he told IzRus portal.

Meanwhile, Tan remarked that "the parliamentarians fell under the
influence of the Armenian minority."

He stressed the importance of developing Ankara-Baku-Jerusalem
strategic alliance to neutralize "the Armenian threat."

"We want the Azeri oil and gas go to Israel and then to China and
Japan through Ashkelon-Eilat pipeline," he said.

OIL DETERMINES "STRATEGIC ALLIES"
Karine Ter-Sahakyan

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2008 GMT+04:00

For the second time throughout its history Nagorno Karabakh found
itself a hostage in the clutches of the Caspian oil, and it is quite
natural that present Russian Government shouldn’t act against its
interests.

The latest interview of RF Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov seems to have
sobered up part of the Armenian society, who still cherished hopes
for a fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with the help
of Russia. Moreover, the RF Foreign Minister made it blunt-clear that
regulation is practically impossible without Turkey’s assistance. In
the light of the latest regional events Lavrov’s statements are quite
explicable: cunning as the high-ranking diplomat may be, Russia did
not aim to protect residents of South Ossetia, but restored its power
in the Caucasus.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "In reality there are few geographical and
political ways out. As soon as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is
settled, Turkey will be willing to help Armenia to set up normal
ties with the external world, naturally through establishment of
official, diplomatic relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Still
before the Caucasus crisis there appeared a good chance to advance
in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation through direct meetings
between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan with assistance of
mediators, the so-called Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group: Russia,
France and the United States. There has been developed a substantial
document including almost all settlement principles and mechanisms,"
Lavrov stated.

Most interesting in the above citation is the phrase Â"the so-called
Co-chairsÂ". Indeed, the OSCE Minsk Group has long ceased to be a
regulating mechanism, and it is quite sorrowful that Armenia was the
last to realize it. When Baku first spoke of changing the format
of negotiations Armenian diplomats and politicians persistently
convinced their people or even themselves that such an approach was
erroneous. However, time showed that Yerevan was rather mistaken
setting hopes on her Â"strategic allyÂ". Thereupon, it would be
appropriate to repeat Lavrov’s statement claiming that stability
of Azerbaijan is the guarantee of stability of the whole region. No
wonder! For the second time throughout its history Nagorno Karabakh
found itself a hostage in the clutches of the Caspian oil, and it is
quite natural that present Russian Government shouldn’t act against
its interests. Back in 1918 the Bolsheviks needed oil for fighting
against the whole world, and now, 90 years later, we face the same
situation. What we’ll be faced with next is not a difficult guess: a
second Moscow Treaty and move on through history! Meanwhile Azerbaijan
is successfully flaunting its energy resources, achieving prosperity
and political power in the world, as well as obtaining instruments for
exerting pressure on the basic participants of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict regulation process.

"Armenia is, in fact, blocked due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; it
has great difficulties in communicating with the external world. Thus,
it should be in the vital interests of Armenian people to find a
soonest solution to the problem. Turkish stirring up in the region is
obviously connected with the abrupt intensification of geopolitical
consequences of the Caucasus crisis," assures Lavrov.

Even without the Georgian-Ossetian-Russian conflict, the USA and
Russia would enter into a war in the Caucasus territory, the Caspian
energy resources being the cause of it. By the way the Karabakh
variant would be quite probable too. Just in this case the war
would have an unpredictable result and would evidently end to the
detriment of the world powers. In the light of the world financial
crisis and collapse of oil price, the region is gaining special
geopolitical significance. There is absolutely no doubt that the
Azerbaijani Presidential Elections will be recognized democratic,
even if they end up with a mass scuffle in the center of Baku, and
Ilham Aliyev will be the security guarantor of the present and future
oil-pipelines for another 5 years. Domination in the region would
actually mean control over oil and gas, which, under the scenario of
Baku, are the main trump cards of Azerbaijan in the process of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

However, this proves to be the scenario of the OSCE Minsk Group too,
as there can be given no other interpretation to Mathew Bryza’s
statement to the BBC Russian Service. "The principle of territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan is a basis in the resolution of the Karabakh
conflict," he said. Quite probably France will soon make a statement
too. According to Baku experts the outcome of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict depends on the ways of exporting the Azerbaijani oil and
gas. All the countries, especially the potential mediators in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which, by the way, grew more in number
than ever, are diverging from their own interests, initially from
economic ones. "Our oil is a delicious tidbit, that irresistibly
attracts nations making them forget even about Â"strategic alliesÂ"",
considers Baku and she is right…

–Boundary_(ID_n+Ex4XiUETVTpV3X8EoWhw)–

OBAMA’S PRINCIPLED STANCE ON GENOCIDE PREVENTION ECHOES IN DEBATE II

armradio.am
09.10.2008 12:05

Sen. Barack Obama, who emerged the clear victor in Tuesday’s second
Presidential Debate, reiterated his principled stance on Genocide
prevention around the world in response to a question from moderator
Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw asked the candidates what their "doctrine" would be "in
situations where there’s a humanitarian crisis, but it does not affect
our national security," such as "the Congo, where 4.5 million people
have died since 1998," or Rwanda or Somalia.

Obama responded by saying that in such cases, "we have moral issues at
stake," adding that of course the US must act to stop genocide. "When
genocide is happening, when ethnic cleansing is happening and we stand
idly by, that diminishes us," said Obama adding that US intervention
must be coordinated with allies around regions.

With Sen. Obama expanding his lead in national and battleground state
polls, as well as electoral map projections, the conventional wisdom
has been that Senator McCain needed a game-changing performance in
the second Presidential Debate of 2008 to save his campaign.

According to snap polls released immediately after the debate,
Senator McCain did almost nothing to improve his standing in the eyes
of voters.

The second Presidential debate was conducted in a town-hall format
which is generally seen as Senator McCain’s strength. Once again,
Senator Obama was able to overcome an inherent disadvantage and
demonstrate to the American people his ability to lead this nation.

"Armenian-American voters, along with voters across the country,
witnessed a stunning performance by Senator Obama tonight," stated
Jeff Marootian, Political Director of Armenians for Obama. "For the
past 3 days, Senator McCain’s campaign has engaged in some of the
most vile and underhanded character attacks in American political
history. In the face of that storm, Senator Obama maintained his
composure and refused to engage in smear tactics, instead focusing
on the issues and explaining to America what his plans are for the
economy and healthcare," continued Marootian.

Questions during the debate ranged from the economy, healthcare,
foreign policy, energy policy, and taxes. The debate also offered
voters the opportunity to ask the questions themselves, rather than
the moderator, Tom Brokaw of NBC News.

Areen Ibranossian, Chairman of Armenians for Obama, commented on the
debate as well. "What’s interesting to me about these debates is the
style, temperament, and worldviews of the candidates. Senator John
McCain continues to demonstrate he is more comfortable attacking and
demeaning Senator Obama then he is in explaining what his plans for
America are," commented Ibranossian.

KARABAKH TALKS SHOULD BE SPEEDED UP, U.S. SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.10.2008 14:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. stands for peaceful resolution of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte
said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

The Nagorno Karabakh talks should be speeded up, according to him.

For his part, Mr Mammadyarov said that the conflict can be resolved
in the framework of Azerbaijan’s "territorial integrity."

The two also referred to bilateral cooperation and its prospects,
Trend Azeri news agency reports.