Author: Kanayan Tamar

SYSTEM OF A DOWN TO TAKE PART IN MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS

AZG Armenian Daily
03/11/2006

Yesterday night the 13th MTV Europe Music Awards took place in
Copenhagen, Denmark, RFE/RL reports. One of the key performers in
two successive years have been the System of a Down rock band which
is struggling to get the best alternative band title this year two.

Last year the band not only won in this nomination but also became
one of the revelations of the Lisbon contest and was granted the right
to close the ceremony. All 4 members of this American rock band have
Armenian origin – Serge Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odajian and
John Dolmayan.

ARMENIANS BREACH CEASEFIRE IN FRONTLINE
Author: S.Jaliloglu

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 3 2006

On 2 November the Armenian Armed Forces dislocated in Horadiz
Village of the occupied Azerbaijani region, Fizuli, fired guns and
machines guns at the Azerbaijan National Army from 18:00 to 18:30,
the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry informed Trend.

The Azerbaijan National Army was also fired at from 20:10 to 21:10
from the villages Meftili and Daratepe of Jebrayil District by the
Armenian forces located there.

The Azerbaijan National Army retaliated and no causalities were
reported

GEORGIAN FM SAYS HE HAD NO PLANS TO MEET PUTIN

Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi,
1 Nov 2006

[Presenter] A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation organization member countries has begun
in Moscow. After the meeting, [Georgian Foreign Minister] Gela
Bezhuashvili will meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at 1800
hours Tbilisi time [1400 gmt]. At 1900 hours [1500 gmt] he will meet
Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov in the Kremlin.

This morning Bezhuashvili met Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan. The main issue under discussion was the demarcation
of the Georgian-Armenian border. After the meeting, Bezhuashvili
denied reports that he was to supposed to meet [Russian President]
Vladimir Putin.

[Bezhuashvili] It would be a great honour for me to meet President
Putin but this was not planned. This is because I am not here on a
[official] visit but rather I am taking part in a meeting of ministers
held within the framework of an international organization.

No such meeting was planned. I do not know why Russian agencies are
circulating this information.

I’ve met the Armenian foreign minister. We are neighbours. We have
the type of relations that neighbours should have. I was in Baku
yesterday, while today I met the Armenian foreign minister. I will
meet the Russian foreign minister later today. We are trying to
build relations in our neighbourhood of the kind that are appropriate
between neighbours.

[Oskanyan, in English, with Georgian translation superimposed] We are
very troubled by the situation that has taken shape in Georgian-Russian
relations because we are neighbours. I am glad Gela Bezhuashvili is
in Moscow to resolve this problem. In the near future we will travel
to Brussels for a meeting on the EU Neighbourhood Policy. This will
allow us to further strengthen our ties with the EU.

US AND UNDP READY TO ASSIST ARMENIA IN FIGHTING TRAFFICKING

ArmRadio.am
01.11.2006 17:22

October 1 Chairman of NA Standing Committee on Science, Education,
Culture and Youth Issues Hranush Hakobyan met with US Deputy Ambassador
to Armenia Anthony Godfrey and expert on political-economic issues
Masha Hurbst.

Mr. Godfrey noted that fighting corruption has become one of the
primary tasks of different international organizations and many
countries. Although RA Government intends to elaborate a new national
program of fighting corruption, no practical steps have been taken
up to now, no means have been provided from state budget.

US Deputy Ambassador assured that in case a certain sum is allocated
from RA state budget, the US and UNDP are willing to provide active
assistance.

It was decided to make cooperation continuous and undertake practical
measures for program implementation.

ZOYA SHAKARIAN AWARDED TITLE OF ARTSAKH CULTURE HONORED AMBASSADOR

Noyan Tapan
Oct 30 2006

STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Under NKR President Arkady
Ghoukassian’s October 30 decree, active public figure Zoya Shakarian
was awarded the title of Artsakh Culture Honored Ambassador for great
services in the issue of Artsakh cultural propaganda. NT was informed
about it from NKR President’s Press Office.

MARK ZORYAN: THE WEST IS BEGINNING TO REALIZE THAT THE "GEORGIAN SITUATION" IS ABSURD

Regnum, Russia
Oct 28 2006

The attempts of the US administration and the European structures to
pretend that nothing worth mentioning is going on in Javakhq no longer
make sense. As far as we know, the embassies of almost all European
states and the US embassy in Georgia have informed their governments
of the processes that took place during the local elections in Georgia
and pointed out the peculiarity of the situation in Samtskhe-Javakheti
and Kvemo-Kartli.

Presently the diplomatic circles in Tbilisi are actively discussing
the "bad marks" Georgia has received for its local elections. These
discussions got especially active after the Tbilisi visit of the
US assistant secretary of state Daniel Fried, who was obviously
trying to save the face of the ruling regime. At the same time, we
have received enough reports saying that the US administration are
extremely displeased with the style and outcome of the elections. Now
that the Georgian-Russian conflict has gone beyond any sensible limits
of inter-state confrontation, the Americans and Europeans have faced
a problem similar to the ones they faced in the Balkans and solved
by political and military interference.

The recent – deliberately representative – Washington seminar on
Russian-Georgian relations has come to a conclusion that the propaganda
task has lost any sense as it has become very hard to find arguments
to explain to the world community the point and the political causes
of this conflict, which is already spreading outside the region.

During the seminar, one of the leading US experts on Eastern Europe,
representative of the OSCE office in the US congress Michael Ox said
that the present situation in Georgian-Russian relations does not
serve the interests of the US and is a barren scheme.

On the whole, the American experts on Eastern Europe, who are known
for their colorful language, describe this situation as "an absolute
deadlock," while the attempts of the West to "separate the fighting
sides" are qualified as "rotten politicking." If there is anything
that unites the American and European experts, it is their unanimity
that the "Georgian situation" is absurd.

Exactly now that there is a real want of effective political
expertise, the International Crisis Group – who we know well for its
activities in Karabakh – has been assigned the task of facilitating
the development of proposals – in fact, a plan of how to settle the
situation in Samtskhe-Javakheti. This work will certainly cover
a complex of problems concerning the ethnic rights of the local
Armenian population. Certain Georgian and Armenian experts are
involved in this project. According to the preliminary information,
the group will recommend to enlarge self-government in Javakheti and
Kvemo-Kartli. Well aware of the ICG’s position on the Karabakh problem,
we can hardly expect that they will make any realistic proposals and
that the Georgian authorities will accept them. At the same time, this
initiative is hardly the result of the activities of the Armenian
lobby or of the talks of US administration representatives with
Armenian politicians. The US has just waited for a tenser scenario
in Javakhq to interfere and is now ready to show an open interest in
this region of Georgia.

Today, the problem is that the US has realized that Georgia is
a peculiar country and one can’t just apply general operational
approaches to it. That’s why they have decided to "divide" Georgia into
political or regional-political blocs and to deal with each of them
individually. Obviously, they hope that this will help them achieve
certain goals in the sphere of system security. Still, it seems that
they have not yet fully grasped Georgia’s problems. We don’t mean
the current policy but some more fundamental problems. So, we can
assume that, having learned about new circumstances in the policy of
Russia, Turkey and the South Caucasian states, the US has decided to
work out new scenarios of its political and economic expansion in the
region. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why they have suddenly
taken so keen interest in the processes they formerly ignored.

Mark Zoryan – expert of Caucasus analytical center

ROMANIAN-ARMENIAN EU COMMISSION NOMINEE WITHDRAWS

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 29 2006

Armenian-origin Romanian Senator Varujan Vosganya, who was nominated
to represent Romania at the EU Commission, requested a withdrawal of
his candidacy for that post.

Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu accepted his request. At a
press conference Saturday Vosganyan said, "Although they are unjust
and ungrounded, the allegations about me may prolong the inquiries
into my candidacy, which may also be disruptive to Romania’s image."

It was expected that President of the EU Commission Jose Manuel
Barroso, who has made his opposition to Vosganyan known, would have
rejected his candidacy because of Vosganyan’s extreme right-wing past
and lack of command in EU-related issues.

"TRACING BACK OUR CULTURE" PERFORMANCE GIVES CENTER STAGE TO CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

Reuters, UK
Oct 30 2006

Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)

Over 30 children with special needs, living in especially difficult
circumstances presented a stunning two hour historical review of
Armenia through a theatre performance under the title ‘Tracing back
our Culture’ in Gyumri, Armenia recently.

‘I know the story of many of these children, and it is unbelievable
that they play in such a delightful performance’, said Hasmik
Dzvakeryan, a teacher of the Gyumri Children House- one of the numerous
guests of the event.

‘Such programs are of multifaceted importance, we not only try
to integrate these children into our society, but also prepare
the society, acquaint it with the existence of these children and
their capabilities to assist integration,’ says Zara Aslanyan, Child
Protection Programme (CPP) Senior Social Worker, World Vision Armenia.

The children explored the complete history, culture, traditions and
the legends of Armenia including Shirak marz, west-north region of
Armenia, and the 10th century Marmashen monastery which provided the
setting and inspiration for the event.

‘Unless you learn the history and the culture of your own nation,
you’ll be unable to recognize the whole world’, was the slogan of
the organizers.

‘We want to teach these children the history and the culture of their
homeland and thus help them become fully integrated members of this
society’, said Karine Kurghinyan CPP Coordinator of the Gyumri Area
Development Programme (ADP).

‘I am surprised how well these children know the history of their
church. Now I am sure that future generation is able to build a truly
Christian community’ said, Archbishop Michael Ajapahyan, the head of
Shirak diocese of Armenian Apostolic Church, the honorable guest of
the event.

The Armenian Apostolic Church can be traced back to the time of the
Apostles and is one of the oldest denominations in Christianity.

‘It’s so amazing when the children themselves were asking to rehearse
the performance whenever they have spare time. I was so happy to see
‘my’ children reciting and playing their parts as well as real actors
would do’, said children’s tutor Ervandanush Asatryan – ‘Aunt Anik’,
as the children lovingly call her.

Currently, 72 children and their parents attend Gyumri ADP Community
Centre. They are assisted by psychologists, speech therapists, social
workers and a special educator. They also take part in a number of
art classes organized by the World Vision Armenia CPP department.

The ‘Tracing back our culture’ program will continue in the following
months with further performances being dedicated to other monasteries
and historical monuments of Armenia.

NKR PRESIDENT: ‘NK PARTY’S STAND HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED, AND IT IS NOT GOING TO"

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 30 2006

"I believe our servicemen fulfill their duties very well, and the
trainings testify to the fact once again", the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic President, NKR Armed Forces’ Supreme Commander in Chief
Arkady Ghoukasyan stated on the completion of the planned common to
all arms trainings held in the Nagorno-Karabakh, REGNUM Information
Agency reports.

While commenting on the Baku’s response to the trainings, in part,
the allegations on "the Armenian forces’ concentration in the Aghdam
sector", Arkady Ghoukasyan stated, "One shouldn’t take the Azeri
mass media’s information seriously, as they are constantly engaged in
propaganda. Our army must always be strong, ready for any development
of the situation. That is the trainings’ goal".

Answering a question on the RA and AR FMs’ meeting in Paris and the
perspectives of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, Arkady
Ghoukasyan noted, "We must be optimistic, as if we lose faith in the
negotiation process, a war will become an alternative to the talks,
which is unfavorable either for us or Azerbaijan. Naturally, we are
all interested in the talks’ continuation. As for the outcomes, it is
no use speaking about them today, as an agreement may be adopted only
when all the items are coordinated. Now the situation is different.

The more often Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers meet, the better,
as every meeting is a new chance to coordinate the items, on which
there is no consensus". The NKR President expressed hope that the
Nagorno Karabakh’s participation in the talks would become a reality
in the near future. "We have repeatedly stated that the issue cannot
be settled without the NKR’s participation, as there are a lot of
issues referring to Nagorno-Karabakh directly". Arkady Ghoukasyan
underscored the Karabakh party’s stand "has not been changed, and
it is not going to". "We precisely know what we want. We will not
deny our independence, and any obstacle is unacceptable for us",
the NKR President said.

ONE MORE REASON TO WIN – LET SIBEL EDMONDS SPEAK
by W. David Jenkins III

OpEdNews, PA
Oct 29 2006

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing."

– Edmund Burke

Sibel Edmonds once told me to "put aside 9/11" and instead concentrate
on the workings of the Defense Department, amongst other government
establishments, because what she had been trying to warn people about
was considered by those involved as nothing more than "business as
usual." That was the real danger. What she had discovered during
her short time with the FBI was so threatening to those doing such
"business" that former Attorney General, John Ashcroft, couldn’t
slap a gag order on her (and Congress) fast enough. But a lot of us
already know that.

Truth be known, Dennis Hastert has a hell of a lot more to worry about
than the Mark Foley scandal. In fact, he may be seeing the writing
on the wall regarding his soon departure from Congress as a welcome
relief. However, that result is not only contingent upon a Democratic
win in November, but a Democratic majority willing to dig through
the tangled mess that is Turkish and American "business relations."

Now, one must understand why Turkey is a big player, albeit a
clandestine one, on the world stage; that would be the desperate
need for security and acceptance. Turkey shares with Israel common
enemies such as Syria, Iran and Iraq and maintains relations in the
U.S. in order to secure financial aid and military technology. These
relations are enhanced by corporations, lobbyists and conservative
think tanks who share a mutual interest in geo-political advantage
in the Middle East as well as making some big money.

These relations are connected between former and present Defense
Dept. members, The Project for a New American Century members, AIPAC,
MIC Inc., Jack Abramoff, The Livingston Group and others. In other
words, the more you dig the bigger the headache you may succumb to,
yet you’ll get an idea of how intertwined all the players are. Would
you like to go for a little ride? Let’s start with Hastert.

The House Speaker has received contributions from Turkish sources
to the tune of at least $500,000 and Edmonds knows that there are
tapes from wiretaps that will back up this claim. One of the groups
who bragged on those tapes about these illegal contributions was the
American Turkish Council (ATC) but Hastert denies any ties to this or
other Turkish groups. Yet between 1996 and 2002, Hastert made multiple
trips to Turkey and would return home with so many "gifts" that his
support staff was surprised that the "plane even got off the ground."

In turn, Hastert has been very helpful to Turkey by using his authority
to pull Congressional backing for a resolution recognizing the Armenian
genocide. Hastert, of course has denied this.

On June 3, 2003, Hastert’s political action committee held a $1500
a plate fundraiser at Jack Abramoff’s restaurant where he received
large donations from, among others, one Duane R. Gibson. Gibson is a
consultant with the Livingston Group who has been lobbying on behalf of
Turkey for about six years at the cost of $1.2 million a year. The only
problem is that the money is not coming from the Turkish government
and of course the FBI wants to know exactly who is shelling out all
the dough. This is what Edmonds refers to as "business as usual" and
what is behind the facade in all of this is obviously so threatening,
that the government felt it necessary to implement an extraordinary
gag order on Sibel and threaten members of her family.

Admittedly, the American – Turkish "connection" doesn’t make for
glamorous news when put up against Iraq, Iran or North Korea but many
of the players in those headlines are also involved with Turkey. And if
there was an active, inquisitive and motivated Congress in DeeCeeVille
right now then people might recognize the threat that so far remains
under the radar.

Sibel stated many times that when certain intelligence regarding
illegal activities (drug or illegal arms trafficking etc.) which
benefited alleged terrorist sponsors and that same intelligence
also implicated "certain allies or business interests" then that
intelligence was not passed on to counter-terrorism agents in the
field. Turkish front groups under surveillance by the FBI (ATC
and ATAA) were making large payments to officials high up in the
government as well as lobbyists with connections to some of these same
officials. These same groups were also nuzzling up to groups like
AIPAC who had a mutual desire to embrace certain business interests
that could enhance their pursuit of intelligence, influence and aid
against common enemies.

With the rise to power of the neo-conservatives years ago and their
drive to secure dominance in the Middle East, these front groups found
new opportunities now that the American government was infiltrated
with many of their "business partners." Douglass Feith and Richard
Perle (PNAC), infamous for their push into Iraq, were also recipients
of hundreds of thousands of dollars from Turkish interests prior to
joining the Bush Gang.

Other groups with long ties to Turkey as well as upper offices in the
government consist of the aforementioned Livingston Group, Solarz &
Associates, and The Cohen Group. All three are top members of the
American Turkish Council with Vice Chairman of The Cohen Group,
Joseph Ralston, sitting on their board of advisors. Getting pretty
tangled up, huh?

One other firm I want to point out is the neo-con group, M.I.C.
Industries Inc. who boast of some "Ultimate Building Machine" on their
web site (it was worth a $60 million contract with Russia back in
’97). Their board consists of amongst others, William Cohen (Cohen
Group/ATC) and Richard Armitage (PNAC/Valerie Plame outing) and is
headed up by one Michael Ansari who once teamed up with Alexander Haig
in a corporation called US-CIS Venture Inc. which was established to
assist in "developments" in Central Asia as well as establishing oil
and gas pipeline projects through the region. M.I.C.

Inc. is also one of the Livingston Group’s top clients.

These are some of the "business interests" I believe Edmonds’ was
speaking of and here’s why.

Enormous amounts of money are being funneled to top government
officials and certain businesses whose members consist of former
Defense Dept. officials, State Dept. officials and conservative think
tanks that have a common interest in Turkey and Israel (in this case)
and other countries that play a strategic part in a geo-political
"business" plan. However, this money is not coming from those
particular governments in question.

Currently, according to former CIA agent Philip Giraldi, there is an
investigation into Israel’s illegal sale of U.S. military technology
to countries like China and India. The companies mentioned in this
article also have ties to the defense industry through their members’
history in government service – who also share close ties with Turkish
front groups (as well as an alliance with AIPAC and JINSA) currently
under investigation by the FBI. That these Turkish groups would be
involved in the same illegal sales with the aid of the aforementioned
businesses is not that difficult of a dot to connect as it definitely
reflects the "can of worms" that Edmonds’ superiors at the FBI did
not want opened. It’s also worth mentioning that Turkey is a large
hub in the drugs coming out of Afghanistan and Edmonds has alluded
to the drug trade in her past statements.

Yet, fellow FBI translator Malek Can Dickerson, who had encouraged
Sibel to join the ATC, was suppressing intelligence Edmonds was
uncovering regarding these front groups and their relationship to
"certain allies and American business interests" in deference to the
very organizations that the FBI had under investigation.

One can look back at the names mentioned in this criminal activity and
notice that many of the players were involved in the more glamorous
stories in the news over the past years. Armitage (MIC Inc./PNAC)
leaking the name of a CIA operative who was investigating arms
trafficking to Iran and Feith and Perle (IA Inc./PNAC) who were
instrumental in the invasion of Iraq and who are pushing for an attack
on Iran are just three of the most notorious examples.

One other thing I want to point out is the sorry state of affairs
when it comes to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit
database which is maintained by the Dept. of Justice. This database
contains the "who and how much" when it comes to "foreign investment"
in exchange for representation in DeeCeeVille.

Luke Ryland (wotisitgood4.blogspot.com), who has done some remarkable
and detailed work on the Edmonds story, pointed out on his blog
that the "huge database that serves as the public’s lone window on
lobbying activities by foreign governments has been allowed to decay
to a point they cannot even make a copy of its contents" according
to a report by the Center for Public Integrity in June of ’04. Even
worse, as far as we know, that system is still operating on Windows
95. So much for investing in technology to fight the "war on terror."

Sibel stated in an interview back in late ’05 that "You can start
from the AIPAC angle. You can start from the Plame case. You can
start from my case. They all end up going to the same place, and they
revolve around the same nucleus of people. There may be a lot of them,
but it is one group. And they are very dangerous for all of us."

I can’t think of a better reason to take back the Congress.

W.David Jenkins III is a writer/activist living in upstate N.Y. His
work has appeared in "Big Bush Lies" (Riverwood Books) and "The Girl
with Yellow Flowers in Her Hair" (Pitchfork Publishers). He also has
a regular column at oldamericancentury.org.

rticles/opedne_w__david_061028_one_more_reason_to_ w.htm