Author: Kanayan Tamar

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
June 3, 2005, Friday
WHAT WILL BE WITHDRAWN FROM GEORGIA?[]
SOURCE: Kommersant, May 31, 2005, p. 10
RUSSIAN MILITARY BASES IN GEORGIA: FIGURES AND FACTS
Two Russian military bases are stationed in Georgia: the 12th base in
Batumi and the 62nd base in Akhalkalaki. There are several auxiliary
military units. Every base presents a motorized infantry division.
The bases are subordinated to the command of the group of Russian
forces in the Trans-Caucasian region headquartered in Tbilisi. In
addition, Russia has the 364th detached battalion in the Georgian
capital (in all there are around 600 Russian servicemen in Tbilisi).
Major-General Alexander Bespalov, commander of the Group of Russian
forces in the Trans-Caucasian region, commands the units from the
Gyumri base (Armenia) because Georgia has not given him a visa.
In all there are around 3,000 servicemen in Georgia (the contingent
decreases because Georgia refuses to issue visas to Russian
servicemen); in addition, there are 115 tanks, 220 infantry fighting
vehicles and 170 artillery complexes (in addition to peacekeeping
units stationed in Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia).
The 12th military base (commanded by Major-General Anatoly Danilov)
was created on the basis of the 145th motorized infantry division of
the Trans-Caucasian military district. The base consists of the 35th
and 90th motorized infantry regiments, the 1089th regiment of
self-propelled artillery complexes, the 1007th anti-aircraft regiment
and the 115th detached tank battalion. The total strength of the 12th
base is around 1,500 servicemen; 40% of them are local residents. The
base is armed with 74 tanks, 80 armored combat vehicles and 120
artillery complexes. The bases this military hardware is on and the
Gonio firing range are only 30 kilometers from the Turkish border.
The base has its own repair plant.
He 62nd base (commanded by Colonel Yevgeny Achalov) was created on
the basis of the 147th motorized infantry division. It consists of
the 409th and 412th motorized infantry regiments, the 817th regiment
of self-propelled artillery complexes, the 899th detached
communication battalion, the 65th detached anti-tank battalion and
the 176th detached repair battalion. There were around 1,000
servicemen on the base in 2004 (around 50% of them were local
Armenians, who became Russian citizens). The base has 40 tanks, 137
armored combat vehicles and around 50 artillery complexes. The
training center of the base is located near the village of Abul.
In addition, the Russian military has an engineering storehouse in
Sagaredzho and a reserve command post in Mtskheta.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Transitions on Line, Czech Republic
June 3 2005
Where’s the Catch?
by Molly Corso
3 June 2005
Some in Georgia worry that the Russian base withdrawal deal comes
with a catch. From EurasiaNet.
TBILISI, Georgia | Georgian leaders have hailed a deal on the
withdrawal of Russian troops from two military bases in Georgia as an
“historic event” that clears the way for the normalization of bilateral
relations. Some political analysts and opposition politicians in
Tbilisi are concerned, however, that President Mikheil Saakashvili’s
administration paid too high a price to secure Moscow’s commitment
to take its troops out of Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili and her Russian
counterpart Sergei Lavrov signed the base accord on 31 May, committing
Russia to complete the withdrawal process by the end of 2008. According
to the text of the agreement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s
website, Moscow will begin closing its base at Akhalkalaki immediately,
with at least 40 armored vehicles and 20 tanks to be withdrawn by 1
September. Russia is also expected to transfer a tank repair facility
to Georgia by 1 September. The withdrawal from the Akhalkalaki base is
to be completed by the end of 2007. Russia’s other base, in Batumi,
will close at an unspecified point in 2008. Russia’s command and
control personnel in Georgia will also cease operations in 2008. Both
bases are to be delivered to Georgia in “as is” condition.
In addition, the document calls for both Georgia and Russia to seek
“additional external sources of financing for the transportation costs”
connected with the Russian withdrawal. The accord also contains vague
language concerning the creation of a Georgian-Russian Anti-Terrorist
Center, to be “formalized by a separate document,” as well as a
bilateral commitment to conclude a pact regulating joint border issues
“as soon as possible.”
Tbilisi and Moscow had haggled over the Russian troop withdrawal since
a summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) in Istanbul in 1999. At a 30 May news conference, Saakashvili
said the bilateral accord will end “the 200-year presence of Russian
troops in Georgia.” He went on to say that one of the most “painful”
issues hampering Tbilisi’s ties with Moscow – Russia’s two remaining
bases in Georgia – had now been cleared away, raising hopes for “close,
friendly relations.” Saakashvili also sought to reassure the ethnic
Armenian community concentrated near the Akhalkalaki base, which
has been the main source of employment for area residents. “We have
already launched the rehabilitation of roads, schools and launched
social programs,” Saakashvili said. “We are also ready to recruit
[local] personnel … for the Georgian army.”
It was what Saakashvili did not mention about the pact – specifically
the creation of the joint anti-terrorism center – that had some
observers and politicians in Georgia feeling uneasy. Before the text of
the accord had been made public, Tina Gogueliani, a political analyst
with the International Center for Conflict and Negotiations, said that
some people worried that the accord contained loopholes potentially
enabling Russia to maintain a military presence in Georgia. “[You
can’t] exclude the possibility that there is something the public
will not like in this document,” Gogueliani said.
The English language daily, The Georgian Messenger, published an
article on 1 June in which seven of the nine people interviewed
said they were suspicious about the center’s intentions. “There is
no difference whether the bases will be withdrawn from the country
or not if there will be an anti-terrorist center,” said Tea Todua,
a lawyer quoted in the Messenger story.
The text of the agreement states that an “agreed upon portion of
[Russian] military personnel and material-technical facilities and
infrastructure from [the Batumi base] would be used in the interest”
of the joint anti-terrorism center. Tiko Mzhavanadze, a press secretary
for the New Right opposition group, voiced concern that the status
quo could end up being preserved. “If the [anti-terrorism] center
will be Russian, we have traded the old bases for new [military]
equipment,” she said in a phone interview with EurasiaNet.
“And that will be even worse.”
Irakli Menagarishvili, a former foreign minister who now is the
director of the Strategic Research Center, cautioned that it is too
soon to jump to any conclusions. “It is hard to say anything concrete
at this time,” he said in a phone interview. “There is nothing
decided, or we don’t know anything yet, about the center except for
the title.” He added that the center could assume a variety of forms,
ranging from an analytical-research think tank to an armed unit.
“Those are two different things-and actually any number of variations
could exist between them,” he said. “If it is the first version,
it could be acceptable for Georgia. But the second is completely
unacceptable. That is like exchanging the bases for the same thing
with a different name.”
Zourabichvili, speaking at a 31 May news conference, sought to dispel
fears that the deal would allow Russia to retain a significant military
presence in Georgia. “The anti-terrorist center will not represent a
new base. It will be a joint center, which will accept all decisions
jointly, with the participation of the Georgian side,” Zourabichvili
said, adding that “the existence of this anti-terrorism center is in
Georgia’s interests as well.”
The opposition party spokeswoman, Mzhavanadze, said that to ensure
Russia does not wield undue influence in the planned anti-terrorism
center, participation should be expanded. “If there is going to
be an anti-terrorism center in Georgia, [it] should be three-,
or four-sided; not just Georgian and Russian [members], but also
American and possibly European.”
Zourabichvili said on 31 May that substantive negotiations concerning
the anti-terrorism center have not started. “As far as I know, Russia
adopted one document that we have not received yet,” she said. “We have
enough time for negotiations and there is no reason to hurry. We should
think together about what we want and how we want [to receive it].”
Georgia’s National Security Council will be the lead agency
responsible for guiding Georgian negotiators on the creation of the
anti-terrorism center. Davit Gunashvili, the press officer for the
NSC, said very little has been decided to date. “I can only tell you
that the Georgian side will only support an analytical-information
gathering [center],” he said. “As we know no weapons or large armies
can defeat terrorism.” He added that while there is no date set for
the negotiations, both the NSC and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
will be involved.
Molly Corso is a freelance journalist and photographer based in
Tbilisi. This is a partner-post from EurasiaNet.

Turkey would welcome “positive gesture” by Armenia – spokesman
Anatolia news agency
1 Jun 05
Ankara, 1 June: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Namik
Tan has said assessment of Armenian head of state Robert Kocharyan’s
reply letter had been continuing and Armenia’s “positive statements
and gestures would affect” this assessment.
Tan told weekly press conference that result of the assessment would
be publicly announced, adding: “However, it is clear that future
positive statements and gestures would affect this assessment.”
Tan recalled that a newspaper had claimed that relations between
Turkey and Armenia would be suspended, stressing: “However, it is
out of question because there are not any relations between the
two countries.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed establishment
of a joint delegation of Turkish and Armenian historians to deal with
the events of 1915.
President Kocharyan responded the proposal saying that the commission
should have an intergovernmental status.

PUTIN ENCOURAGES CONSTRUCTIVE DECISIONS
A1plus
| 17:37:53 | 31-05-2005 | Official |
Today Secretary of the national Security Council under the RA
President, Defense Minister, Co-Chair of the Armenian-Russian
Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation Serge Sarsgyan
received the delegation led by head of the Russian presidential
administration Dmitry Medvedev.
The parties noted that the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin
has become an additional stimulus for more constructive settlement of
a number of problems. As for the present level of the Armenian-Russian
economic cooperation, the Minister noted that presently about 160
intergovernmental and interdepartmental treaties and agreements are
being implemented.
The meeting participants have outlined principal directions for
further cooperation and pointed out to the necessity of activating
the Armenian-Russian traditional cultural and humanitarian ties.

OSCE MG co-chairs to hold joint meeting with Azeri, Armenian FMs
Baku, May 27, AssA-Irada
The mediating OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs currently in Azerbaijan are
to visit Armenia early in June, French co-chair Bernard Fassier told
a news conference on Friday.
Fassier said that following his Friday meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, he will meet with Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskianian in the same format. “We are holding these meetings
to outline our work in the coming months and weeks”, the co-chair said.
Fassier said that a joint meeting of the MG co-chairs with the Azeri
and Armenian ministers will be held in mid-June and the two have
already provided their consent for this.
“We decided now that we will visit Baku, Yerevan and Upper Garabagh
again in July”, the co-chair added.*

Turkish Press
May 29 2005
Baku – Ceyhan Turning Point

BY ERHAN BASYURT
ZAMAN- The first oil was pumped through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
pipeline in Azerbaijan two days ago. The huge project is a turning
point not only for Turkish-Azerbaijani relations, but also for the
region’s future. For the first time, one of the ex-Soviet republics
has succeeded in opening to the world through an energy
transportation line with Russia excluded. The new pipeline will spur
steady growth in the Azerbaijani economy. Azerbaijan expects a growth
of 20% over the next few years. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, one
of the longest pipelines in the world at 1,774 kilometers, will
contribute to the cooperation and stability of the three countries
through which it passes. A natural gas pipeline has started
construction in parallel with the BTC, and its completion is planned
for 2006. This way the friendship will be strengthened even more.
British Petroleum (BP), the largest partner in the project, claims
that the benefits to the three countries will amount to $150 billion
from the oil and gas transportation. The Turkish, Georgian and
Azerbaijani leaders at the BTC opening ceremony also signed a pact
for the Kars-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki-Baku Railway project, which is an
indication of the emerging stability of the Caucasus. This project,
which will connect Turkey and Eurasia, has been delayed for years due
to the Armenian minority’s threat in the Akhalkalaki region.
Kazakhstan will also connect to BTC through Aktau. This way they will
have an alternative route to Russia. This way tanker traffic and the
threats to the environment and lives posed by tankers in the Turkish
Straits will fall. The BTC has a great strategic importance for
Turkey. Our port of Ceyhan’s importance has risen as an energy
transfer point. Turkey has become an energy route for Iranian and
Azerbaijani gas and Iraqi and Caspian oil, and Turkey’s strategic
importance rose for the EU. Now transferring natural gas to Europe
through Greece isn’t a dream anymore. In addition, the Turkish
Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) is a partner of the projects with a
share of 6.5% and for the first time, Turkey is signing a partnership
with international companies with oil and natural gas fields of this
scale. Of course this experience will have a contribution and
financial benefits for the TPAO’s future roles. In sum, pumping the
first oil in the BTC pipeline is a turning point in many ways and
strengthens the search for multidimensional cooperation among
countries of the region.

MARKETPLACE MORNING REPORT
SHOW: Marketplace Morning Report 7:50 AM EST SYND
May 27, 2005 Friday
Protest over Turkey becoming a member of the European Union
ANCHORS: KAI RYSSDAL
REPORTERS: STEPHEN BEARD
KAI RYSSDAL, anchor:
This is MARKETPLACE. I’m Kai Ryssdal.
There’s a big election in France this weekend. It has nothing at all
to do with who runs that country, but everything to do with how
Europe runs itself. Voters will be asked to ratify or reject a new
European Union constitution, but many seem ready to turn that
referendum into a protest vote on a wide range of unrelated economic
and political issues, among them whether Turkey should be allowed
into the European Union. Stephen Beard has the story.
Unidentified Man #1: (French spoken)
Unidentified Man #2: (French spoken)
Unidentified Man #1: (French spoken)
STEPHEN BEARD reporting:
`Yes’ campaigners on the streets of Paris are meeting many people who
plan to vote no to the constitution; some because they can’t stomach
the thought of Turkey joining the European Union.
Mr. JACQUES MYARD (Conservative Lawmaker): It’s not possible to have
80 million of Turks because we are different. It’s very simple. So
the French say: Culturally, politically, we cannot accept them.
BEARD: Conservative lawmaker Jacques Myard says if a large, needy
Muslim country like Turkey is admitted, EU funds will be bankrupted
fast and the community will collapse amid rancor and perhaps even
religious conflict.
Mr. MYARD: This will not work. They are playing with fire, and they
will burn their fingers because it will explode.
BEARD: The issue has already sparked some angry protests, for a
different reason, among France’s 450,000 citizens of Armenian
descent. They don’t want Turkey in the EU because the Turks refuse to
acknowledge their genocide against Armenians during the First World
War. Some, like Rej Asbakian, are demanding reparations.
Mr. REJ ASBAKIAN (Protester): My family had property in Turkey which
was stolen at the time of genocide. So me and many Armenians like me
want their properties given back.
BEARD: And others, like Pasquelle Savak, say that before being
allowed to join the EU, Turkey must admit its crime the way Germany
has done.
Mr. PASQUELLE SAVAK (Protester): I don’t think Germany can be a
member of Europe if she didn’t recognize the Holocaust. We just want
Turkey to do the same, to recognize the Armenian Holocaust.
BEARD: The Armenian vote could sink the constitution. Meanwhile, the
US has been pressuring the EU to admit Turkey. This, the White House
believes, would help in the war on terror. It would send a positive
signal to the Arab world. The policy is wrong, says campaigner Frank
Beeyancherry.
Mr. FRANK BEEYANCHERRY (Campaigner): The Turkish, the Turks, are the
former colonial power of the Arabs. So if you want to have a good
relationship with the Arabs, you cannot choose the Turks to be the
go-between because they hate each other.
BEARD: Beeyancherry says if Turkey joins the EU, it’ll still look to
the Arab world like a club of former colonizers.
Mr. BEEYANCHERRY: So it’s a complete nonsense to think that the Turks
could be the bridge with the Arabs.
BEARD: Even if the French reject the constitution this weekend, that
won’t automatically prevent Turkish membership. But many `no’ voters
are hoping that if they block the constitution, a smaller European
Union will emerge with Turkey still outside. In Paris, this is
Stephen Beard for MARKETPLACE.
RYSSDAL: And I’m Kai Ryssdal. We will see you on Monday.

The Economist
May 28, 2005
U.S. Edition
Oil over troubled waters;
The Black Sea
The opening of a new energy conduit does not signal peace and harmony
in the Black Sea
A great game unfolds between America and Russia
IN CLASSICAL times, the Black Sea was perversely known as the
Euxeinos Pontos, a sea friendly to strangers, even though its
notoriously turbulent waters were nothing of the kind. The hope was
that if you gave the place a nice name, the invisible powers who
governed its towering waves might feel placated and behave more
calmly. To this day, it remains a temperamental stretch of water that
can generate sudden squalls and treat outsiders in unpredictable
ways, even when efforts are being made to appease its restless
spirits.
In 1992, the late Turkish president, Turgut Ozal, thought he could
assuage those spirits for ever and turn the sea into a zone of peace
and co-operation, where ancient trade routes would thrive anew. The
fruit of that post-cold war vision is the Istanbul-based organisation
for Black Sea Economic Co-operation. For over a decade, its members
(all the littoral states, plus near neighbours Greece, Moldova,
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and, as of recently, Serbia) have
trundled along to meetings without ever realising Mr Ozal’s vision.
The fact that Armenians and Azeris were locked in armed
confrontation, backed respectively by Russia and Turkey, has hardly
helped.
About a month ago, and entirely unnoticed by the world, BSEC suddenly
did something rather unfriendly to a stranger. It flatly turned down
a request from the United States for observer status. While the
brush-off was explained in arcane procedural terms, it was an open
secret that Russia had blocked the application – to the embarrassment
of the group’s other ex-communist members. In fact, eight of them
issued a separate statement saying Uncle Sam’s presence would have
been a welcome boost, and they regretted his exclusion. (If NATO
members Greece and Turkey had any feelings on the matter, they did
not air them.)
What America would have done if it had attained its lofty ambition
may never be known. But to judge by the word on the think-tank
circuit, there is a strong feeling in Washington that the Black Sea
region is ripe for transformation into a new sort of security club,
whose members co-operate to keep ports and pipelines safe from
terrorists and other undesirables.
As steadily increasing amounts of energy flow into, and out of, the
Black Sea, the stakes are certainly high. This week saw the formal
opening, in Azerbaijan, of one of the world’s most important energy
conduits, a 1,770-km (1,010-mile) oil pipeline linking Baku in
Azerbaijan with the Turkish port of Ceyhan via the mountains of
Georgia. Gas from Azerbaijan, Iran and possibly east of the Caspian
will soon be flowing along a similar route into Turkey, and thence to
south-eastern Europe. The pipeline promises to bring a bonanza for
Azerbaijan, and a modest boost to the hard-pressed finances of
Georgia.
While America has taken the lead in lobbying for the construction of
pipelines which bypass Russia, and therefore deny the Russians any
chance to use energy as a political weapon, it is the European
consumer who will be most affected by these emerging routes. On
present trends, Europe’s reliance on Russian energy will increase
sharply, whatever happens; the new pipelines will ease that
dependence.
But a complex pattern of interests is already emerging. A recently
constructed gas pipeline has started bringing energy across the Black
Sea from Russia to Turkey. That has reinforced a burgeoning economic
relationship between those two historic competitors and made it
harder for the Turks to side unequivocally with the Americans if the
contest for influence in the Black Sea ever becomes a straight fight
between America and Russia. Indeed one school of thought in
Washington regards the “old NATO” partners, Turkey and Greece, as
less reliable than the eagerly pro-American countries that have only
recently emerged from the grip of communism, and are poor and
vulnerable enough to be grateful for anything they get.
One reason for heightened American attention to the region is the
sense that the future of many countries is still a wide-open
question: they could follow Central Europe into the warm embrace of
western institutions or they could slide back into authoritarianism
or stagnation. Bruce Jackson, an influential American lobbyist for
NATO’s expansion, put the point dramatically in some congressional
testimony in March: “The democracies of the Black Sea lie on the
knife-edge of history which separates the politics of 19th-century
imperialism from European modernity.”
The very fact that some parts of the region are quite advanced on the
road to “European modernity” could be a divisive factor. One of the
BSEC’s more effective bits is its financial arm, the Black Sea Trade
and Development Bank, which issues credits for export finance and
cross-border projects. Its strategy director, Panayotis Gavras, says
much the biggest factor driving investment in the region is proximity
to the European Union; investors look eagerly at Bulgaria and
Romania, which stand on the Union’s threshold, and view other places
far more warily.
As Britain prepares to take over the EU’s rotating presidency, many
people are expecting a fresh Black Sea initiative: something that
would give heart to countries doing “well” in western eyes without
dashing the hopes of the laggards and, if possible, without
alienating Russia.
As Foreign Office mandarins ponder their options, they can take heart
from some of the region’s pleasant surprises. On June 6th, BSEC
members will gather in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, for a meeting
of their affiliate bank. According to Turkish data, trade between
Armenia and Turkey is precisely zero; the border is sealed, out of
solidarity with Azerbaijan. As the delegates will observe, every shop
in Yerevan brims with Turkish goods.

Pan Armenian News
FORUM ON PREVENTION OF USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN
27.05.2005 03:50
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Artur Baghdasarian met with
representative of the organization of prohibition of use of chemical weapons
Dieter Kaiser in Hague, reported the Press Service of the Armenian National
Assembly. Kaiser presented the tasks and the activities of the organization
in detail. As noted by the parties, Armenia is a country that has ratified
the convention banning the use of chemical weapons. At the moment 26
countries have not become member of the organization. In his turn
organization leader Rogelio Pfirter noted the important role of the
parliaments not only in passing laws preventing the use of chemical weapons,
but also observing their implementation. The Armenian Speaker presented the
research done by Armenian scholars in the field. An agreement was reached at
the end of the meeting on holding a forum in the Armenian capital over
issues of prevention of use of chemical weapons and establishment of
business ties with Armenian scholars.

AGAIN ABOUT HORSE BREEDING, FIRST TIME ABOUT HIPPOTHERAPY
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
26 May 05
It is astonishing why Armenia, together with a number of other
countries, almost gave up breeding this wonderful animal. Whereas, it
would be desirable if horse breeding developed in Artsakh too. It is a
fact that machines and cars cannot always replace man and draft
animals, and not always is this replacement beneficial for man. Cars
produce toxic substances, cause stress. And horses are not merely
cheap labour. The term `hippotherapy’ was coined of the words `
hippos’ horse and therapy. The beneficial effect of horse riding
onsick people was known to ancient people. The ancient Greeks used
this method to treat various traumas. It was especially popular among
soldiers, for they were often wounded or injured during wars. The
advantages of the method were pointed out by Hippocrates. However, in
the course of the centuries that followed the method of healing by
riding a horse was forgotten. And only in 1952 the American doctor Liz
Hartal brought back the method after conducting a long-lasting
research. At present there are hundreds of organizations in the USA,
Canadaand other developed countries in the world which practise the
method of hippotherapy. Modern alternative medicine says hippotherapy
can cure serious diseases, such as the diseases of the digestive,
vestibular and cardiovascular systems in only a year. The institutions
which use the method of hippotherapy are actually hippodromes or stud
farms where the patients ride bareback. The specialists help the
patients to sit on the horse firmly and hold the bridle leading the
horse round the place. The results prove that this simple action helps
to treat not only arthritis and dislocation but also cerebral stroke
and poliomyelitis. The effect of hippotherapy is explained by a
number of factors. First of all, coming in touch with this noble
animal arouses positive feelings, improves the physical state,
inspires optimism. Second, the temperature of the body of the horse is
higher by 1 degree than the temperature of man, and the warmth is
quickly transmitted to the person riding it. This favours the proper
physical evolution of adolescents. Third, the pace and the rhythmic
movements of thehorse develop the muscular system of man. And finally,
the person gains a new friend and waits for their next meeting with
positive emotions. At present,in our country it is almost impossible
to develop horse breeding on private farms. Therefore, it is
necessary to create collective stud farms on privileged loans. The
majority of farmers in Karabakh do not know how to feed a horse, take
care of it. Therefore, specialists need to be invited from Armenia. It
is desirable to breed the Karabakh Golden horse.
E. DANIELIAN.
26-05-2005
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress