Author: Kafian Jirair

FIXING KOSOVO
By Helle Dale

Washington Times, DC
Jan 16 2007

Memory fades quickly. Just shy of 10 years ago, the images of the
Balkans filled the front pages and television screens with the horrors
of ethnic cleansing. Then those images became dimmer in the public
consciousness, until the conflict became frozen in place. No resolution
of unresolved problems has been in sight during the intervening 10
years, and, as a result we may be headed for yet another crisis in
the next weeks and months. Indeed, the conflict may be about to be
unfrozen and back in the news again.

To recap briefly (if this is possible in the context of the tangled
history of the Balkans) in the late 1990s, Serbia attempted to
drive out the ethnic Albanians from the Kosovo province of Serbia
by the hundreds of thousands in the hope of preventing the province
from declaring independence. Albanians, who are Muslims, make up 90
percent of Kosovo’s population of 2 million. This followed a decade
of conflict, during which Serbia, the successor state to the former
Yugoslavia had fought against the independence of former Yugoslav
republics Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia.

A bombing campaign in 1999 by the United States and its NATO allies
finally intervened against the mass expulsions and murders committed by
Serbian forces in Kosovo. The bombing campaign had its hits and misses
– we hit an empty train and the Chinese embassy, among other things –
but it did put a stop to the atrocities on the ground. The Serbian
leader who had presided over the wars against Serbia’s neighbors,
Slobodan Milosevic, was toppled and placed on war crimes trial in
The Hague, where he subsequently died in prison of a heart attack.

On the ground in Kosovo, nothing much has happened for the past
10 years. The hostility between the majority Albanian and minority
Serbian populations remains intense. American and European troops
are in Kosovo to keep the uneasy peace between them so far with no
end in sight for their deployment.

The Albanian threat has been in the air for some time that if the
international community cannot negotiate a final-status agreement
for Kosovo, it will declare independence unilaterally. The province
has a very young population (50 percent are under 18), which is
growing restive. Sky-high unemployment ensures that there is very
little productively to keep their minds off the seething anger over
the past. Chances are that later this month, the Kosovo leadership
will take the fateful step of declaring secession from Serbia. The
trigger will be presidential elections in Serbia on Jan. 20 and Feb. 3,
which may move in a more nationalistic direction.

This will present major headaches for the international community,
understandable and justifiable though it is. And it is equally hard to
see how independence will actually improve the lives of the Kosovars,
who occupy one of the most economically depressed parts of Europe,
beyond offering psychological satisfaction. Will it rebuild Kosovo’s
still bombed-out ruined towns? Will it produce economic engagement
and foreign investment? Will it create jobs or build schools? Will
it root out rampant corruption at official levels? All of these are
desperately needed before Kosovo can be said to have a future as a
functioning state.

The international community remains stumped. Serbia, which adamantly
opposes Kosovo independence, has few supporters, mainly Greece and
Russia, both of which belong to the Orthodox Church like Serbia.

Within the European Union, Greece has been the odd man out against
accepting Kosovo independence.

Russia, meanwhile, has been the holdout in the U.N. Security Council,
where it threatens to oppose recognition of Kosovo, which is favored
by the United States. Russia for its part has seized the opportunity
to muddy the waters by threatening to tie the issue to the ethnic
conflicts in the former Soviet Union, such as Transdnester in
Moldova, South Ossettia and Abkhazia in Georgia and Nagorno Karabakh
in Azerbaijan.

The Russian argument is that if Kosovo deserves self-determination,
so do these other minority areas. Funnily enough, Russia has failed
to mention any impact a Kosovo precedent would have on Chechnya,
which tried to secede from Russia, only to endure a brutal military
Russian campaign (designed by President Putin none other) to beat
any such idea out of the Chechens.

Is there a solution? The most logical is for the entire Balkan area
eventually to become part of NATO and the European Union, which
will offer hope of economic development and integration into its
structures. How we get to there from here, however, is a difficult
road to envision.

Public TV, Armenia
Jan 14 2008

Armenian public broadcaster pledges balanced coverage of February
polls

[Correspondent] Public TV and Radio will ensure balance and
neutrality during the campaign for [19 February] presidential
election.

The campaign of both authorities’ and opposition’s candidates will be
covered equally. Apart from 60 minutes of free airtime and 120
minutes of paid airtime [on TV] stipulated by the law, uniformity
will be ensured in "Haylur" [Armenian Public TV’s news bulletin].

Chairman of the Public Radio and Television Council Aleksan
Harutyunyan met journalists before the start of the presidential
election campaign. The candidates will be on Armenian Public TV after
the 1700 [1300 gmt] "Haylur" news bulletin till the evening 2100
[1700 gmt] "Haylur" news. They will speak on Radio starting from 1330
[0930 gmt]. This broadcast time has not been selected at random. The
public [broadcaster] has the largest audience at that part of the
day. This was identified by the well-known AGB audience rating
company at the request of the public [broadcaster].

Aleksan Harutyunyan did not rule out that like in Georgia, in Armenia
as well influential international companies would be invited both
before and after elections, which would conduct opinion polls on the
spot. [Video shows a news conference]

[Aleksan Harutyunyan, speaking at the news conference] International
observers’ evaluation of the work of Public TV and Public Radio was
positive in general during the latest two elections, and our task is
to ensure that there is a similar positive evaluation this time as
well.

PanARMENIAN.Net

18 years passed since Armenian pogroms in Baku
14.01.2008 12:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 18 years have passed since the
Armenian pogroms in Baku on January 13, 1990, known as
Black January that claimed lives of 48 Armenians.

The pogroms grew into an anti-Soviet revolt ruled by
the radical wing of the Azerbaijani National Front
with Neymat Pakhanov and Ragim Gaziyev at the head.

On that day a 50 thousand crowd divided into groups
and started `cleansing the city of Armenians’. They
threw the Armenians out of the windows and beat them
to death. Those survived were taken to ferries and
sent to Turkmenia.

January 16-19, a special group of 50 thousand military
was formed. January 20, to suppress the disorders the
Tula division under colonel Alexander Lebed’s command
was deployed in the Azerbaijani capital

Over 210 thousand Armenians had lived in Baku until
1988.

PanARMENIAN.Net

George Bush has his `beacons’ of democracy

Turkey is the very country which will never miss the
chance to involve other countries in the resolution of
its own problems, especially countries like the USA or
Russia, at worst.
10.01.2008 GMT+04:00

The visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gul to the
USA was perfectly organized: meetings with George
Bush, Condoleezza Rice, congressmen and the
American-Turkish organizations were held. This is
quite natural, since the Turkish President’s visit to
Washington was his first one as the President of
Turkey. But the most noteworthy announcement was the
one made by George Bush, who said that Turkey is the
perfect example of a democratic country, which
co-exists together with Islamic values.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Europe only benefits if Turkey is
integrated into the EU, since Turkey could become the
bridge between Europe and the Islamic world,’ said the
President of the USA. However, the U.S. President has
rather strange `beacons’ of democracy; speaking about
Turkey or Georgia. `Both countries have to face the
problem of terrorism, and the Kurdistan Workers Party
is a terrorist organization, which threatens Turkey,
Iraq, and everybody else who wants to live in peace,’
said the U.S. President. The President of Turkey stood
next to Bush with a smile and added that `His country
and the USA have common approaches and common urge
towards working for the sake of peace and prosperity,
as well as fighting against PKK.’

It happens so that all the problems regarding with the
human rights and democracy in Turkey are now solved
and that the only problem left is the one with the
Kurds who have been fighting for more than 30 years.
The truth is that after September 11, 2001 Turkey
received a `present’ in the form of PKK, which is a
terrorist organization and against which Turkey needs
to fight with the help of the American tax-payers.
Turkey is the very country which will never miss the
chance to involve other countries in the resolution of
its own problems, especially countries like the USA or
Russia, at worst. However, things are not that smooth
with Russia yet, instead everything is quite fine with
President Bush. It’s very unlikely that the Bush
Administration and the Department of States are not
aware of the existence of Article 301, which is very
far from democracy and the values it practices, or of
the blocked borders with Armenia, or of the
oppressions of the religious minorities in Turkey,
which have become hostage because of Ankara’s stubborn
unwillingness of recognizing several historical facts,
such as the Genocides committed against the Armenians,
Greeks, Assyrians, the pressure upon the Oriental
Orthodox Church, and the ban on own history.

The truth is that not everyone in Turkey is quite
happy with Gul’s visit. The leader of the oppositional
Republican People’s Party Deniz Baykal, in his speech
made during the session of the parliamentary fraction
of his party, criticized the President’s visit to the
USA. The RPP leader said that the international
meetings are very important, but it is not right to
make everyday contacts out of them. `International
visits are very encouraging, however, allowing these
visits to make the relations ordinary and cast doubt
on their main point is wrong,’ emphasized Baykal,
writes the newspaper Hurriyet.

Perhaps after all there is democracy in Turkey; one of
these days, a series of comics about the adventures of
homeless dogs having the names of Muslim-heroes has
been published in one of the most famous newspapers
`Milliyet’. It should be mentioned, that the dog is
considered an `evil’ animal in Islam. True, these were
not caricatures the Prophet Mohammed, but it was
something unacceptable either. Demonstrations are held
in front of the building of the editorial office and
religious organizations, those who are not happy with
the comics are going to have legal proceedings with
the editorial office. By the way, last year in March
the Government of Turkey was in legal proceedings with
the `Penguin’ (satirical newspaper). The newspaper had
published a caricature of the Cabinet, picturing them
as animals, and the Prime-Minister Recep Erdoghan was
pictured as a cat, which is considered a cunning
animal by the Turks. Erdoghan prosecuted the `Penguin’
for it, but lost the case. The respondents managed to
gather a number of examples of using images of animals
in political caricatures in Turkey in different
periods, but some other cases connected with political
caricatures are being investigated in Turkish courts
at present. But the best image of the current
condition of the human rights and freedom of speech is
reflected in Article 301, the amendments of which are
again canceled. It is not a mere coincidence that the
article published in the Turkish Daily News entitled
`The 301? Forget about It!’ According to the author,
everything leads to `redecoration’, to be more exact,
in the new version the term `Turkishness’ is replaced
with `the Turkish Nation’, and the `Republic’ is
replaced with `the Turkish Republic’. The EU is
actually right, since regardless the great pressure
from the USA and NATO, it still rejects Turkey into
Europe. As for George Bush, we can still understand
the reason of the statements that he makes. After the
failures in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle Eastern
regulation, he needs at least one little victory, to
give the Republicans a small chance in the upcoming
elections in November. Yet, he is not very likely to
succeed in this, since Europe has made up its mind not
to give up for anything, as Sarkozy says.

«PanARMENIAN.Net» analytical department

PanARMENIAN.Net

Georgia has no chance unless Ukraine joins NATO
12.01.2008 15:59 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The Abkhazian conflict will not be
resolved and Georgia will not be invited to NATO in
the near future,’ Columbia University Professor Robert
Legvold said. `I think the issue will not be discussed
at the NATO summit in Bucharest. Moreover, it won’t be
discussed unless Ukraine joins the Alliance,’ he
added.

Prof. Legvord doesn’t think Russia will recognize
independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and
Transnistria as retaliation to proclamation of
Kosovo’s independence. `I suppose, Russia used the
issue as a tool of political diplomatic pressure.
Recognition of Abkhazia will cost too much. Russia
will hardly want to shoulder this burden,’ he said,
iamik.ru reports.

ARARATBANK FINISHES PLACEMENT OF FIRST ISSUE OF ITS SHARES

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Araratbank has completed placement of
the first issue of its shares, which started on December 17, 2007
through a direct sale to the public. The placement is scheduled to
finish on January 21, 2008, NT correspondent was informed by Davit
Harutyunian, director of Araratbank’s dealing center.

According to him, the bank’s ordinary nominal shares of the total
amount of 381.5 mln drams (about 1.25 mln USD) were sold to 83
entities. The nominal value of a share is 5,000 drams, the placement
price made 5,900 drams which is less than the accounting price. The
maximum envisaged amount – 76,300 shares have been placed.

To recap, according to Ararabank’s plans, it was envisaged that the
assets of the bank will amount to 21 bln drams in late 2007, and this
index has already been exceeded. It is envisaged that the bank’s assets
will make 45 bln drams in late 2008 and 65 bln drams in late 2009. It
is envisaged that Araratbank’s overall capital will amount to 5 bln 50
mln drams in late 2007, 6.6 bln drams in late 2008 and 8.6 bln drams in
late 2009. The forecast amount of the bank’s profit is 307 mln drams
for 2007, 672 mln drams for 2008 and 922 mlb drams for 2009. The
average price of a share of Araratbank will make 6,571 drams in 2008
and 6,980 drams in late 2009.

D. Harutyunian said that the process of listing the bank’s shares on
the Armenian Stock Exchange is underway. In his words, the second issue
of the bank’s shares will be done after the regular issue of bonds in
March 2008. Two issues of shares of Araratbank are envisaged this year.

Playbill.com, NY
Jan 11 2008

Kalinoski Returns to Subject of Armenian Genocide for New Play, A
Crooked Man

By Kenneth Jones
11 Jan 2008

Richard Kalinoski, whose award-winning drama about survivors of the
1915 Armenian genocide, Beast on the Moon, was an American regional
theatre hit in the last decade, returns to that historical tragedy
with his new drama.

Alianak Theatre Productions (ATP) will present the world premiere of
Kalinoski’s A Crooked Man, directed by and starring Hrant Alianak,
Feb. 20-March 2 at The Theatre Centre in Toronto. Opening is Feb. 22.

American playwright Kalinoski’s earlier play was one of the
most-produced plays in U.S. regional theatres, won the Prix Moliere
for Best Play in Paris in 2001, ran Off-Broadway for 15 weeks in
2005, and made its Canadian premiere (produced by ATP) in 1997.

ATP describes A Crooked Man this way: "Throughout his life, the
88-year-old Hagop, now living in the United States, has been
tormented by nightmares stemming from the horrors he witnessed as a
child during the Armenian genocide, including his family’s murder.
His nightmares extend to his own act of defiance when, as a young man
in Germany, he assassinated the Turkish governor responsible for
perpetrating the massacres in his village. When his reporter grandson
interviews him for what is to be an innocuous magazine article, the
old man finally begins to confront his demons and reveals not only
the awful details of his past, but, for the very first time ever, a
terrible secret that has consumed his whole life."

The current Turkish government still officially denies that Armenians
were killed at the hands of the then-ruling Ottoman Empire; the
government does not use the word "genocide." Hundreds of thousands of
Armenians were killed, according to a low estimate.

Inspired by a true story, A Crooked Man "offers no easy answers to
the issues of guilt and innocence, murderer or hero." Like Beast on
the Moon, the play is said to be infused with surprising humor and
familial warmth.

For the first time in Canada, an all-Armenian professional cast
performs in an Armenian-themed play.

As well as producing and directing A Crooked Man, Alianak (known for
film and TV roles) portrays the octagenarian Hagop. The
Dora-nominated Araxi Arslanian (ATP’s Rogues of Urfa, Buddies in Bad
Times’ upcoming Who’s Your Dada?) plays Hagop’s daughter. Garen
Boyajian (Atom Egoyan’s "Ararat," and the Family Channel’s "Radio
Free Roscoe") portrays his grandson. Carlo Essagian and Michael
Kazarian round out the cast.

The creative team includes set and lighting designer DroegeDesigns,
sound designers Terry Crack and Joe Mancuso, and costume designer
Anne Dixon. Sharon DiGenova is the stage manager.

The Theatre Centre is located at 1087 Queen Street West (entrance on
Dovercourt), Toronto.

For tickets visit or call (416) 504-7529.

*

Alianak Theatre Productions earned three Dora Awards, including
Outstanding Production for The Walls of Africa that Alianak also
wrote and directed. ATP is known for introducing professional
productions of plays about Armenians into the Canadian theatre
vernacular. As well as Beast on the Moon, it has presented Robert
Astle’s The Hats of Mr. Zenobe, Adam Nashman’s Crimes and Araxi
Arslanian’s Rogues of Urfa. ATP productions have received a total of
23 Dora nominations for theatrical excellence in various categories.
All of ATP’s Armenian-themed ventures are co-produced by Hrant
Alianak and Kaloust Babian.

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GERMAN DIPLOMAT TO LEAD OSCE MISSION IN ARMENIAN PRESIDENTIAL POLL

Mediamax
Jan 10 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 10 January: German diplomat and ambassador Geert-Hinrich
Ahrens, 71, will lead the long-term observation mission of the Office
for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE in Armenia.

Ambassador Ahrens told Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan on
9 January that the mission would function with maximum transparency.

A total of 28 long-term and 250 short-term observers from the OSCE will
monitor the Armenian presidential election scheduled for 19 February.

BETWEEN A GOVERNMENT THAT BREACHES AND AN OPPOSITION THAT NAGS
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir
Jan 9 2008
Armenia

In fact, it would be absolutely ingenuous to think that the
presidential election in Armenia will be in full compliance with the
law, even if the top officials of Armenia assure the society with the
most honest eyes and the most frank voice. The situation in Armenia
is such that the political forces which will perhaps hold power for
a long time will have to transgress during the election to have more
or less considerable hope for reelection. If the elections were in
accordance with the law, no doubt after independence the government
would never win any election. Meanwhile, the contrary took place,
and the government won all the elections in independent Armenia which
allows concluding that all the elections have breached the law.

There is no reason to expect that the election 2008 will comply with
the law. Absoluteness is not concerned because law is broken in the
elections of all the countries. First of all, they are not outrageous
and deciding. Besides, the governments address them on time instead
of describing them as a bear’s favor and going on to celebrate
victory. On the other hand, however, Armenia has found itself in a
situation where despite little improvement of the quality of life
and constant violation of political and civil freedoms the government
gradually acquires a chance to be elected with less election fraud.

And the reason is not the growing role of election bribes. People
take bribes because they see no other way of benefiting from the
election. Meanwhile, an election, even if it is said to have a
pan-national or history making importance, it is just an event for a
person during which he tries to have a possibly favorable outcome for
his personal life. The rest – civil consciousness, future of children,
etc. – are mere declarations. In addition, not only in our country
but also in all the other countries. Simply the level of personal
problems is different in our countries. If the voter in Armenia is
interested in improving his quality of life, in the United States
and France, for instance, most of these problems have been solved,
and the level of personal concerns is closer to problems of social
importance. The difference in thinking of voters is this, not more.

Consequently, if someone expects from the voters of Armenia a higher
level of thinking, they are in confusion, and the utmost achievement
will be blaming the society’s passiveness for their own failure, and
also for the illegal activities of the government. The point is that
the voters in Armenia have made a so-called civil vote for several
times – in 1996, 1998 and 2003 – when they voted for the opposition
which does not give bribes, does not use the administrative resource
and thinks about tomorrow and the future of children. But when they
did not arrive anywhere, and saw that after the election the people
who spoke about tomorrow and the future of children finally took
care of their own tomorrow and future and solved the vital problem
of holding on to the political sphere, the voters understood that a
civil vote is wrong and unprofitable.

No doubt, the vote for election bribe is also wrong because the
government is rewarded by improving the methods of election fraud
which will afterwards enable it to get the desirable outcome without
giving out bribes. Now the most important question. Who will prevent
this situation from aggravating and developing? Certainly not the
society because the society is a general thing, a mere scapegoat for
the government, the opposition, the NGOs which solve a problem of
grants at the expense of the society. Definite people with definite
purposes, definite plans of actions, consistency must change the
situation, they must change it every day, not from one election to
another. In this case, they will become more attractive than the
money that the government gives out because money is spent, whereas
the society sees the actions. Armenia needs someone or some people
who will do definite things.

Otherwise, elections in Armenia will be marked by a government that
breaches and an opposition that nags, when one resorts to all the
possible and impossible methods to bypass the law, and the other
blames the indifference of the society, and they altogether wait
to see what the world will say. Meanwhile, the world will not say
anything because the world is busy with definite actions, namely a
government that breaches and an opposition that nags.

AZERBAIJAN CONTINUES PROPAGANDA WAR MISLEADING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

HULIQ, NC
Jan 10 2008

It is true that in today’s world the strength of arms will not conquer
any land or resolve any war. Azerbaijan continues wrongly accusing
Armenia and misleading international community on the issue of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict.

Khazar Ibragim, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan,
in today’s edition of Today.AZ is in offensive mode saying "Armenia
not only held ethnic cleansing in Azerbaijan but also continues to
occupy Azerbaijani lands."

This is outright lie because it is the mass killings of Armenians
in Sumgait in February 1988 and in Baku that escalated the conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan prompting people to take arms.

Many educated people know about how people of Azerbaijan massacred
ethnic Armenians in the azeri city of Sumgait. U.S. congressman Frank
Pallone in 2006 has called for recognition of Sumgait Massacres of
ethnic Armenians. "Mr. Speaker, I stand to recognize the massacres
in Sumgait, Azerbaijan and the continued Turkish and Azeri aggression
against the Armenian people."

Mr. Pallone goes on saying "Mr. Speaker, These crimes were never
adequately prosecuted by the government of Azerbaijan, and most of
its organizers and executors were set free. Despite the attempt by
the government of Azerbaijan to cover up these crimes, enough brave
witnesses came forward to give an accurate account of these offenses."

This is what has result in the present negotiation stage to recognize
the self-determination rights of the Armenian community of Nagorno
Karabakh. If the Kosovo Albanians think that due to the massacres
of Serbs it’s impossible to live with Serbia and Kosovo should be
independent state, the same holds true in case of Nagorno Karabakh
and Azerbaijan.

Armenia will mark the 20th anniversary of the Armenian massacres in the
Azerbaijani town of Sumgait. Vartan Oskanian, the Foreign Minister of
Armenia noted that Sumgait is highly important because it is closely
connected with the Karabakh conflict. The military component of the
Karabakh conflict settlement originated in Sumgait and if Azerbaijan
wants to make peace with Armenia it needs to remember this and condemn
any ethnic cleanising. The first attempt of ethnic cleansings took
place there, and led the people of Karabakh to the irreversibility
of the idea of self-determination and independence of Nagorno Karabakh.