Author: Kalashian Nyrie

Erdogan might meet with Kocharyan: FM
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
May 5 2005
There is a possibility that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan might hold a meeting with Armenian head of state Robert
Kocharyan in Warsaw, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said.
May 5- Referring to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
describing the Greek Orthodox Patriarch as ecumenical, Gul said that
Ankara’s clearly does not recognise this status.
While saying that no direct plans had been made to hold informal
discussions between the two, there was a chance such talks could take
place, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said
“There is nothing planned but it could happen,” Gul said.
Although Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with
Armenia, Ankara recognises the country and holds meeting at various
levels, he said.
Ankara was taking measures to prevent the making of statements
saying there was no Armenian genocide a criminal offence in some
countries, Gul said, adding that he had held talks with his Belgian
counterpart stressing the mistakes made by his country over the issue
of the alleged Armenian genocide.
Gul also told Belgium that preventing the expression of
thought of an individual was in contradiction to the fundamental
principles of Europe.

Christianity Today
May 5 2005
Waging Peace on Islam
A missionary veteran of Asia proposes one way to defuse Muslim anger
about the Crusades.
Interview by Stan Guthrie | posted 05/05/2005 09:00 a.m.
Months before the movie Kingdom of Heaven was to be released, critics
lined up to lament how this big-budget film about the Crusades would
set back Muslim-Christian relations, leading to a Muslim or Christian
backlash, depending on whom you read. But it’s not as if this movie
is raising an issue long since dead. The question is not if the
Crusades are a live memory for Muslims, but why? And how do
Christians who minister to Muslims deal with this sad historical
fact?
Warren Larson is director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies at
Columbia International University, Columbia, South Carolina. An
associate professor of Islam with expertise in Muslim fundamentalism,
the Canadian-born Larson was a church-planting missionary in the
Punjab, Pakistan’s largest province, from 1969 to 1991. (The small
church he and his wife worked in remains active in the 99.9 percent
Muslim city of Dera Ghazi Khan.)
Today Larson travels widely in the Muslim world. Stan Guthrie, ct’s
senior associate news editor and author of Missions in the Third
Millennium, interviewed him.
The First Crusade began nearly a millennium ago, and yet we often
hear that Muslims think about those terrible events as if they
happened yesterday. Why?
It’s a perception of ongoing Western imperialism. There’s a long
history of unsuccessful encounters. The Crusades are in there, but
also the fact that the Muslims were booted out of Spain in 1492.
That’s also very bitter for them. And then there was colonialism.
Nine-tenths of the Muslim world was under colonialism. They connect
all this~Wincluding Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and other things going on
in the Middle East.
Why do so many Muslims continue to see the West as a Christian empire
when, in fact, it’s become highly secularized and pluralistic in
recent decades?
One reason is that there are a lot of Christians here in the West.
Muslims are convinced that evangelical Christians won the vote for
George W. Bush and that America is quite Christian. Those
perceptions, of course, are only partly true. One would hope
[Muslims] would understand that the West is post-Christian, but in
many ways, it hasn’t quite hit them yet.
When we were living in Pakistan, they felt the things that went on in
America~Wthe immorality, the immodesty, the drinking~Wwere sanctioned
by Christianity.
Sometimes evangelicals in North America, particularly in the United
States, say things that are not wise. They’re not helping
Muslim-Christian relations. In some cases, they have demonized Islam
and denigrated the prophet [Muhammad]. They’ve done it publicly. This
news travels far and wide, and Muslims print it in their newspapers.
That keeps some of the feeling alive.
Can’t we just explain to Muslims the concept of free speech and the
open exchange of ideas?
Yes, but saying that Muhammad was a demonized pedophile doesn’t seem
accurate or fair. Nor is it wise. We have a free press, but we have
to use it with discretion.
How do negative Muslim perceptions affect Christian missionaries and
local Christians at street level?
In some areas of Pakistan, Islam has been radicalized, and
anti-Americanism is higher today than when I was there. Partly as a
result, the 500 missionaries who were there have now been reduced to
about 100.
Christians have suffered. There have been quite a few attacks in
places such as Pakistan. Churches have been burned. Schools have been
attacked. Muslim converts [to Christianity], in particular, have
suffered and feel quite vulnerable. When I was in Ethiopia recently,
the fellow who did my translating was a Somali. He was part of a
group of believers, formerly Muslims, who came out of Somalia in 1994
when the U.S. military failed in Mogadishu. Islamists hunted down and
killed 14 members of his group. He got out of there by the skin of
his teeth.
How should local Christians and missionaries respond to these
historically negative associations with the Crusades in the minds of
Muslims?
I think an apology is in order. But having said that, I think we have
to hold Muslims accountable, too. They might forget or not be aware
that, starting in 1915, Turks killed more than a million and a half
Armenian Christians. There have been unsuccessful encounters between
Muslims and Christians for nearly the last 1,500 years, but [this
history is] not all the fault of the West and Christians. Muslims
have also done wrong.
Wouldn’t you say that Christians have apologized because they
recognized that they did not live up to the ideals of their faith,
such as turning the other cheek? A lot of Muslims might think,
however, that the Islamic doctrine of jihad justifies certain violent
actions. Thus, they may not be so willing to apologize.
That’s true. Islam doesn’t teach you to forgive your enemies. But,
for the sake of truth, we need to confront them. We can do it
lovingly, but we need to do it.
When you forgive Muslims, they recognize the difference. They say,
“We don’t forgive anybody, but now we see that you’re different.” On
November 20, 1979, when the holy Kaaba in Mecca was taken over by
unnamed insurgents, we were living in Dera Ghazi Khan. The rumor went
out, thanks to Ayatollah Khomeini, that it was the work of Americans
and Jews. When the false rumor reached our city, a mob formed and
attacked us at our house and burned our jeeps, burned our literature,
smashed furniture, and could have killed us, but for the grace of
God.
During this time, the American embassy was burned to the ground in
Islamabad. A few days later, the news came out that [the perpetrators
at the Kaaba were] not Americans and Jews, but Saudis. The police and
the military in our city rescued us and grabbed a few of the rioters
and put them in prison.
We went to them and said, “We forgive you. We’re not going to lodge a
case against you.” Then, neighbors, some of the people who knew me
well, embraced me.
They said, “Mr. Larson, we now know the difference between you and
us. We do not forgive our enemies. When there’s trouble between us,
Sunnis and Shiites, we fight and burn one another’s shops. But you
have forgiven us.”
That was a great help, because it furthered our cause.
I said, “We’re just doing what Jesus taught us to do.”
Do you see that as a model for future interactions?
I sure do. I think it’s very much waging peace on Islam rather than
taking a militant stance as Christians. It’s a kind of spirit. It’s
doing mission in the light of the Cross, or in the shadow of the
Cross. It’s a spirit of reconciliation, and it certainly does help.
And Muslims respond. They do.
Seeing Christ on the Cross forgive his enemies in The Passion of the
Christ was really quite powerful for Muslims. They may have gone to
see the movie with wrong motives, but the fact that he forgave his
enemies from the Cross seemed to touch them. Many, many Muslims went
to see this movie. It was very powerful.
Do you expect Kingdom of Heaven to have an effect on Christian-Muslim
relations?
I don’t know. I hope it doesn’t hinder them, because there’s enough
already out there to worsen conditions.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V. Rev. Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA PARTICIPATES IN THE CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO ISLAM
The American Catholic University of Washington and the Cultural
and Islamic Affairs Center of Iran organized a conference entitled
“Islam and political order” in Washington on April 25-26.
Archbishop Sebouh Sarkisian, Primate of the Diocese of Tehran,
participated in the conference on behalf of the Catholicosate of
Cilicia.
Archbishop Sarkisian stressed the importance of dialogue during his
lecture and spoke about the contribution of the Catholicosate of
Cilcia in this field. He also touched upon the issue of the Armenian
Genocide and called the participants to support the Armenian people
in the name of justice.
Archbishop Sarkisian held meetings with senior American officials and
underlined the importance of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
by the US Government.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates
of the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the
Ecumenical activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer
to the web page of the Catholicosate, The
Cilician Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is
located in Antelias, Lebanon.

Los esfuerzos de Turquia
El Pais, España
Miércoles 4 Mayo 2005
Viene de la pagina anterior dias de merecido descanso, disfrutar de
unos dias de puente. Hasta el proximo.- Sebastian Fernandez
Izquierdo. Petrer, Alicante.
He leido con asombro y tristeza el articulo de Carmen Lopez Alonso,
publicado en su prestigioso diario EL PAIS de 20 de abril de 2005, en
el que acepta el “genocidio armenio” como un hecho historico de
veracidad absoluta. Estos acontecimientos, altamente complejos y
multidimensionales, necesitan sin duda ser desentranados con toda
claridad. Solamente de esta forma se puede iluminar el futuro.
Presentar el “genocidio” como un dato firme sin hacer una
investigacion exhaustiva y objetiva no solamente genera una
tergiversacion de los hechos historicos, sino que tambien dificulta
que las naciones turca y armenia, que han convivido estrechamente
durante toda su historia, puedan crear un futuro comun.
Turquia esta en paz con su historia y, como pais de derecho,
respetuoso con los derechos humanos, esta poniendo todo su empeno
para que resplandezca toda la verdad. Animado por este afan, el
Parlamento de la Republica de Turquia emitio una declaracion, con
fecha 13 de abril de 2005, que busca la reconciliacion entre las
naciones turca y armenia que han estado conviviendo durante siglos en
paz y armonia en las mismas tierras, y liberarlos de los profundos
prejuicios que los atenazan como resultado de los anos de guerra,
proponiendo la creacion de una comision conjunta compuesta por
historiadores de Turquia y Armenia. Asimismo, el primer ministro de
la Republica de Turquia ha remitido una carta al presidente de
Armenia formalizando esta propuesta de crear una comision conjunta
para el estudio de estos acontecimientos tan dolorosos para todos y
expresando la disposicion de Turquia a presentar a dicha comision
todos los documentos e informacion que obran en su poder. Esta es una
demostracion de nuestra voluntad sincera de hacer frente al problema
armenio.
La autora del articulo me ha desilusionado como persona que desea que
las verdades se sepan con toda claridad al repetir en su articulo,
una vez mas, una alegacion cada vez mas politizada como si fuera un
hecho historico, sin referirse para nada a estos esfuerzos sinceros
de Turquia.- Volkan Vural. Embajador de Turquia.
–Boundary_(ID_z3wv2czkV2HEABEmry74Kw)–

Reuters AlertNet, UK
May 4 2005
Revocation procedures alarm Iraqi refugees in Germany
04 May 2005 15:07:15 GMT
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
BERLIN, May 4 (UNHCR) – The official letter came as complete shock:
Haraj Y. could not believe what he was seeing. The Armenian Christian
from Basra in southern Iraq had been living as a recognized refugee
in Germany for more than three years. During that time he had made
intensive efforts to get permission for his wife and children to
rejoin him in Germany. His dependants are at present staying in Amman,
where they were given mandate refugee status by the local UNHCR office.
However, instead of receiving the eagerly awaited approval for his
family’s reunion from the German authorities, the letter told him that
his own refugee status was about to be revoked. The reason: since the
fall of Saddam Hussein, the original grounds for his flight from Iraq
did not apply anymore. Under this logic, it isn’t just Haraj who is
affected: most Iraqi citizens apparently no longer need protection.
More than 18,000 refugees in Germany, most of them Iraqis, are now
subject to so-called revocation procedures. The basis for these
proceedings is a regulation in the German Asylum Procedure Law which
says that positive decisions have to be revoked without delay if
the preconditions for granting asylum have ceased to exist. This
regulation plays an even more important role under the new German
immigration law, which came into force at the beginning of this year.
As a result, the German authorities must now reconsider whether or
not an individual is still in need of protection three years after
he or she has been granted refugee status through the asylum process.
The mass issue of revocation notices is causing considerable alarm
among Iraqi exiles in Germany, who number about 84,000 in total,
including over 35,000 formally recognized refugees – more than in
any other European country.
“The thought of having to return fills me with terrible fear. I was
just four years old when my family left Iraq. My Arabic is very poor,
and so is my Kurdish,” says Jastin A., a Feili Kurd whose family
spent a long time in Iran before fleeing to Germany.
Jastin turned to the UNHCR office in Berlin for help, as has Hikmat
K., an Iraqi who was granted asylum, together with his family, eight
years ago. “I have learnt here to speak my mind openly, even about
religion. In Iraq, I fear that would cost me my life.”
For the affected people and families, there is a lot at stake,
even if – as the German authorities frequently emphasize – they do
not have to fear automatic deportation to their country of origin if
they lose their refugee status. At present no deportations are being
carried out from Germany to Iraq.
Even so, a revocation has far-reaching consequences: the affected
refugee will only be tolerated in Germany on a short-term basis and
will be obliged, in principle, to leave the country. It can mean the
loss of a job or training/education placement. Furthermore, his or
her freedom of movement will suddenly be highly restricted.
“We are very concerned about this development,” says Stefan Berglund,
UNHCR’s Representative in Germany, pointing out that because of the
prevailing situation in Iraq, UNHCR’s position remains that no pressure
of any form should be put on Iraqis to return to their native country.
Iraq is still very unstable. The security situation is extremely
poor and unpredictable in parts of the country, and economic and
humanitarian conditions remain very difficult. Since the end of the
war two years ago, several hundred thousand Iraqis, according to
unofficial estimates, have left the country for Syria and Jordan.
Because of the security situation, UNHCR and other agencies are not
in a position either to monitor the safety of returnees, or even to
say with any certainty who is at risk in the new Iraq.
“It is for these reasons that we say people should only go back
voluntarily, and not be pressurized to make that decision. It is simply
too early to deprive Iraqis of their refugee status. After all, this
also means they lose basic human and social rights,” says Berglund.
The actual situation in Iraq, as well as some fundamental reservations
concerning the revocation practice in Germany, has stimulated UNHCR
to place this issue at the heart of its frequent discussions with the
German authorities. The crucial point is how to interpret the 1951 UN
Refugee Convention, which stipulates that refugee status should cease
when the conditions in the country of origin have changed fundamentally
for the long term and the returnees can expect effective protection
by the authorities of the country of origin. The return itself must
proceed in safety and dignity.
“The revocation proceedings in Germany do not adequately take account
of these conditions. However, they must be met, according to the 1951
Convention, before the refugee status of an individual can be revoked,”
explains Berglund.
So far, about 9,000 Iraqis have had their refugee status revoked.
Many of them have turned to the courts for protection. Consequently,
UNHCR has sent letters to all Higher Administrative Courts, explaining
in detail the discrepancies between the German revocation practice
and the procedure laid down in the 1951 Convention.
The complex legal arguments in these letters pursue a quite simple
objective: to do justice to those refugees whose need for protection
has not expired in tandem with Saddam’s regime. As Hikmat K. puts it,
he just wants to ensure that the “human dimension” of his and his
family’s case is recognized.
By Stefan Teloeken UNHCR Germany
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GENOCIDE DENIAL ON THE WEB
AZG Armenian Daily #080, 04/05/2005
Armenian Genocide
More than a month ago was hacked by the Turkish
deniers of the Armenian Genocide; the language was garbled into
Turkish and the section of the Armenian Genocide was renamed “So-called
Armenian Genocide.”
Recently the Web site has been liberated from the hackers and is
functioning now. Please participate in the discussion by registering
at

NOTHING EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENS IN ARMENIA REGARDING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS
Pan Armenian News
03.05.2005 07:38
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The referendum on constitutional changes in Armenia
will be held in August 2005 the earliest. In the words of Armenian
Parliament Vice-Speaker, head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE
Tigran Torosian, it is technically impossible to hold the referendum
before that time. The head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE also
commented on some details of the PACE spring session, specifically,
referring to the PACE Bureau decision not to include the situation
on the constitutional reform in Armenia as a pressing issue in the
session agenda. In Tigran Torosian’s words, the PACE presidency has
turned down the proposal, as is well-informed on the processes in
the republic. “Nothing extraordinary happens in Armenia regarding
constitutional reforms, all our moves are known and coordinated

Süddeutsche Zeitung
3. Mai 2005
Armenien stabilisieren statt isolieren;
Von Jörg Himmelreich;
Außenansicht
Armenier in aller Welt gedachten jüngst des Völkermordes an ihren
Landsleuten vor 90 Jahren. Die Bundesregierung sollte dieses Gedenken
zum Anlass nehmen, ihre Außenpolitik und die der Europäischen Union
gegenüber Armenien zu überprüfen. Die Stabilisierung Armeniens und
seiner südkaukasischen Nachbarn Georgien und Aserbaidschan ist für
die EU, die USA und Russland im Hinblick auf die Brückenfunktion des
Südkaukasus in den Mittleren Osten und nach Zentralasien von
strategischer, geopolitischer Bedeutung. In diesem europäischen
Hinterhof droht sich ein nationalistisches und islamistisches
Konfliktpotenzial zusammenzubrauen, dessen Explosivkraft sträflichst
unterschätzt wird.
Im Sommer 2005 wird die neue Ölpipeline von Baku über Tiflis zu dem
türkischen Mittelmeerterminal Ceyhan fertiggestellt. Öl und, vom
nächstem Jahr an, Gas aus den Energiereservoirs Aserbaidschans im
Kaspischen Meer werden so auf die europäischen Energiemärkte
geliefert werden. Diese so genannte BTC-Pipeline dient auch als ein
Bindeglied zu einer möglichen Energietransportverbindung durch das
Kaspische Meer zu den Gasvorkommen Zentralasiens, insbesondere
Turkmenistans. Bisher haben Öl und Gas aus dieser Region vornehmlich
über Russland den europäischen Markt mit bis zu 300-prozentigem
Preisaufschlag durch den russischen, staatlichen Zwischenlieferanten
erreicht. Die hohe Abhängigkeit Europas von Gasimporten aus Russland
würde durch einen solchen, das russische Territorium umgehenden
Energietransport beträchtlich verringert werden.
Die staatliche Fragilität der südkaukasischen Staaten stellt einen
Nährboden für die organisierte Kriminalität, für Menschen-, Waffen-
und Drogenhandel sowie ein Rückzugs- und Aufbaugebiet islamistischer
Terrorgruppen dar. Sie gefährdet die Stabilität und den Frieden
Europas unmittelbar und wirkt sich destabilisierend auf den
russischen Nordkaukasus und auf den Norden der Türkei aus. Die
Instabilität Armeniens trägt maßgeblich zu diesem
Gefährdungspotenzial für Europa bei.
Das große außenpolitische Problem Armeniens ist die Lösung des
Nagorny-Karabach-Konflikts, einer von armenischen Streitkräften seit
dem Krieg mit Aserbaidschan 1994 besetzten Provinz auf dem
Territorium Aserbaidschans. Die so genannte Minsk-Gruppe der
OSZE unter gemeinsamer Leitung Frankreichs, Russlands und der USA
bemüht sich seit 1993 vergebens um eine greifbare Lösung, sofern die
Einhaltung des Waffenstillstands nicht schon als solche ausreichen
soll. Die Außenminister und Präsidenten Armeniens und Aserbaidschans
vermitteln nicht den Eindruck, an Kompromissen tatsächlich
interessiert zu sein. Auch scheinen sie innenpolitisch nicht in der
Lage zu sein, diese durchzusetzen. Jede Seite geht fälschlicherweise
davon aus, die Zeit spiele zu ihren Gunsten; gleichzeitig profitiert
jede Seite wirtschaftlich vom Status quo.
Die zweite, nicht weniger komplexe außenpolitische Frage ist die des
Umgangs von Armenien, der Türkei und der internationalen Gemeinschaft
mit den Ereignissen, deren die Armenier in aller Welt am 24. April
gedachten. Das Deutsche Reich hat 1915 fest zu seinem türkischen
Bündnispartner im Ersten Weltkrieg gestanden. Bezeichnend ist der
Aktenvermerk des damaligen Reichskanzlers Theobald von
Bethmann-Hollweg: “Unser einziges Ziel ist, die Türkei bis zum Ende
des Krieges an unserer Seite zu halten, ob darüber Armenier zugrunde
gehen oder nicht.” Die türkische Regierung bestreitet bis heute den
Tatbestand des Völkermords nach den Kriterien der Genfer Konvention.
Ihre Grenzen nach Armenien sind geschlossen.
Aus diesem historischen Erbe und aus ihren traditionell guten
Beziehungen zur Türkei kommt der Bundesrepublik heute eine besondere
Verantwortung zu, sich in der EU für eine Vermittlung zwischen
Armenien und der Türkei einzusetzen. Vorrangiges Ziel muss es sein,
die Frage der Anerkennung des Tatbestandes des Völkermordes durch die
Türkei von der der Öffnung der Grenze zu trennen. In der türkischen
Regierung nimmt die Bereitschaft zu einer solchen pragmatischen
Verständigung mit Armenien zu. Gewisse Rücksichtnahmen auf das
historisch eng verbundene muslimische Aserbaidschan (“Eine Nation,
zwei Länder”) scheinen dem noch entgegen zu stehen. Der zügigen
Öffnung der türkisch-armenischen Grenze käme in den Verhandlungen der
EU mit der Türkei über ihren Beitritt und mit Armenien und
Aserbaidschan im Rahmen des Europäischen Nachbarschaftsprogramms
höchste Priorität zu.
Verglichen mit Georgien und Aserbaidschan befindet sich Armenien
politisch im Schatten der westlichen Aufmerksamkeit und droht
wirtschaftlich isoliert zu werden. Zwangsläufig sieht es sich
genötigt, seine ohnehin schon bestehenden engen politischen und
wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen mit Russland, aber auch mit dem Iran
weiter auszubauen.
Innenpolitisch hat Präsident Kotscharjan am 25. Mai 2003 seine
Präsidentschaft durch Wahlen verlängert, die keineswegs
internationalen Standards für demokratische Wahlen entsprachen. Aus
Protest boykottieren die Oppositionsparteien seitdem das Parlament.
Demonstrationen werden mit Gewalt unterdrückt. Neue Demonstrationen
der Oppositionsparteien werden vorbereitet. Die Entwicklungen in
Georgien, in der Ukraine und in Kirgisien strahlen aus, während
Präsident Kotscharjan eine Verfassungsänderung zu seiner weiteren
Wiederwahl nach zentralasiatischem Vorbild vorbereitet.
Die Lösung des Nagorny-Karabach-Konflikts ist die entscheidende
Voraussetzung für eine Stabilisierung Armeniens und der gesamten
südkaukasischen Region. Daher ist ein Neuanstoß auf höchster
Regierungsebene der USA und Russlands dringend notwendig, diesen
Verhandlungen der beiden Konfliktparteien nachhaltig zu einem
Durchbruch zu verhelfen. Eine solche Initiative von Russland und den
USA anzuregen, ist die Bundesregierung mit ihren guten Beziehungen zu
beiden prädestiniert. Beide Konfliktparteien müssen angehalten
werden, die Klärung des langfristigen Status von Nagorny-Karabach auf
einen späteren Zeitpunkt zu vertagen, die außerhalb dieser Provinz
von armenischen Truppen besetzten Gebieten zu räumen, eine
Landverbindung Armeniens mit Nagorny-Karabach zu gestatten und
diplomatische Beziehungen wieder aufzunehmen. Das wäre seitens der
Bundesregierung eine konstruktive Russlandpolitik und zugleich ein
Baustein im Wiederaufbau der transatlantischen Beziehungen.
Die Stabilisierung Armeniens liegt im ureigensten Interesse der EU,
USA und Russlands. Dieses Anliegen sollte in den Nebengesprächen am
9. Mai in Moskau aufgegriffen werden, wenn dort des Endes des Zweiten
Weltkriegs und des Nationalsozialismus gedacht wird. Dies wäre dann
ein hervorragendes Beispiel dafür, sich nicht nur einer gemeinsamen
Verantwortung in der Vergangenheit bewusst zu sein, sondern diese
auch in die Zukunft fortzutragen.
GRAFIK: Jörg Himmelreich ist derzeit TransatlanticFellow des German
Marshall Fund in Washington. Foto: privat
–Boundary_(ID_YzPSoEPqcLthZppKaEqNAA)–

Gamsakhurdia supporters stage protest at US embassy in Georgia
By Eka Mekhuzla
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 3, 2005 Tuesday 2:04 PM Eastern Time
TBILISI, May 3 — The widow of ex-Georgian president Zviad
Gamsakhurdia, Manana Archvadze-Gamsakhurdia, 55, and about one hundred
of her supporters held a rally outside the United States embassy
in Tbilisi on Tuesday, proclaiming: “Mr Bush, you don’t know what
happens in Georgia.”
Gamsakhurdia’s supporters stressed that George Bush who arrives on
a visit in Tbilisi “must learn the truth” about what happens and
happened in Georgia, specifically, that “the lawful president was
overthrown in the country in the early 1992.”
In the protesters’ opinion, George Bush, during his visit in Georgia
on May 9-10, should meet not only the present leaders of the republic
but also members of the opposition, among them Gamsakhurdia’s widow.
Gamsakhurdia left Georgia on January 6, 1992 after a fortnight of
armed clashes between his opponents and supporters. He was for ten
days in Armenia and then flew to Chechnya where he was staying till
September 1993 under the patronage of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Gamsakhurdia
returned to Georgia on September 24, 1993 and tried to regain power
in October-November 1993 with the assistance of armed units loyal to
him. Aster suffering a defeat, Gamsakhurdia was hiding in highland
villages in West Georgia and died on December 31, 1993.

Armenian government named “enemy of press”
Mediamax news agency
3 May 05
Yerevan, 3 May: The National Press Club [NPC] today conferred the
title of enemy of the press to the Armenian government.
NPC members said that throughout last year “the Armenian authorities
continued to carry out a systematic fight against freedom of speech”.
Members of the NPC board also said that “the Armenian government, on
the one hand, declares to the whole world its commitment to democracy,
on the other hand, it hinders the development and establishment of
free press”.
“Since there is undeclared war against the media, the National Press
Club considers it senseless to confer the title of enemy of the press
to an individual,” the NPC members said.
The National Press Club decided to confer the title of friend of the
press to no-one.
[Armenian President Robert Kocharyan was named the enemy of the press
for three years running.]