Author: Kanayan Tamar

THE TERMS OF PRESENTING APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTING THE REFUGEES DEPORTED FROM AZERBAIJAN PROPERTY RIGHT FOR THE APARTEMENTS OCCUPIED BY THEM WILL BE PROLONGED
YEREVAN, MAY 17,NOYAN TAPAN. In the special session of May 17 the RA
National Assembly discissed in the first reading the bill presented
by the government, which envisaged making a change in the RA law
“About giving the property right to the refugees deported from the
Azarbaijani Republic from 1988-1992 for the apartments built for the
refugees”. Under the above-mentioned change it is proposed to prolong
the term of presenting the refugees’ applications for giving them the
property right for the occupied apartments. According to the Head of
the migration and refugees’ department attached to the RA government
Gagik Yeganyan, this is conditionded by the fact that in the terms
defined by the law valid from December 18, 2002, part of the refugees
which have got a residence, about 500 families, have not been able to
present an application and get the property right for those apartments
(by different reasons, including the absence from the republic). Only
3653 families of the refugees have enjoyed that right by now. The
government also suggests regulating the legal relations connected
with managing the apartments which failed to be privatized in the
due terms. Such apartments will be considered as part of the state
housing fund and will be managed by the authorized governmental
body responsible for the problems of refugees. The later change is
conditioned by the necessity of providing the vacant apartments to
numerous homless refugees’ families present in the republic, and by
the necessity of realizing proper control over this process.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

YEKATIRENBURG AND ARMENIA TO DEVELOP RELATIONS IN VARIOUS FIELDS
Pan Armenian News
18.05.2005 05:27
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Mayor of Yekatirenburg Arkady Chernetsky
received Armenian Ambassador To Russia Armen Smbatian, Ural media
reported. The Armenian delegation was composed of diplomats,
businessmen and bankers. The purpose of the visit was to establish
ties between the enterprises in Armenia and Yekatirenburg and
create conditions for their efficient interaction. The interlocutors
noted that presently the commodity turnover between the Sverdlovsk
region and Armenia is rather low however there is a possibility to
improve the situation taking into account the presence of several
Armenian enterprises conveyed to Russia due to Property for Debt
agreement. During the meeting the parties also agreed on exchange
cultural and business delegations to be held approximately this
September. The Armenian Ambassador thanked the Yekatirenburg leader for
proving territory for the construction of Armenian Church in the town.

MOSCOW WELCOMES CONTINUATION OF DIALOGUE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
Pan Armenian News
17.05.2005 06:51
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated Moscow
«welcomes the continuation of the dialogue between the Armenian and
Azeri Presidents,» reported the Yerkir newspaper. The Russian FM noted
the Presidents meet periodically and discuss ways of settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. «Getting to know that Ilham Aliyev and
Robert Kocharian take part in the Council of Europe Summit, Russia,
France and the US as Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group proposed that
they hold a bilateral meeting,» Lavrov said. At the same time the
Russian Minister refused to report the details of the content of
the conversation.
–Boundary_(ID_mfqFA7nAwwWKobYMGxCw3w)–

ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENT MET FOR 3 HOURS IN WARSAW
YEREVAN, MAY 16. ARMINFO. Armenian and Azeri presidents Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliev met in Warsaw Sunday late in the evening,
reports Kocharyan’s press secretary Viktor Sogomonyan.
The presidents talked for 3 hours first in presence of Russian and
French FMs Sergey Lavrov and Michel Barnier and then Armenian and
Azeri FMs Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mamedyarov and OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs. The last 1 hour was held tete-a-tete
Sogomonyan says that the presidents were in good mood.
Some sources reports that today Kocharyan is to meet with the Georgian,
Cyprian and Slovakian presidents.
Commenting on the meeting Azeri FM Elmar Mamedyarov says that the
presidents discussed and summed up the Prague process for the Karabakh
conflict settlement.

Pan Armenian News
OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS AND ARMENIAN FM TO MEET IN KRAKOW
12.05.2005 07:37
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will be held in Krakow May 14, the FM
himself told journalists today. In his words, the meeting agenda includes
issues discussed within «the Prague process» within a year. All elements of
the process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, starting with
the status and ending with security issues, will be discussed. The Armenian
FM again noted the mediators will not present any documents to the Armenian
and Azeri Presidents. «The process is at a stage for a document to be
arranged,» he added.

TRIAL OF AZERI MURDERER-OFFICER TO BE CONTINUED IN BUDAPEST TODAY
YEREVAN, MAY 10. ARMINFO. The trail of Ramil Safarov, Azeri officer
axing his Armenian counterpart Gurgen Margaryan in Hungary Feb 19
2004, will be continued in Budapest today.
Safarov is facing from 10-15 years to life in prison.
The judge and the prosecutor are Hungarian. The previous hearings were
held Nov 23 2004 and Feb 8 2005.
Today the court is to hear the results of Safarov’s repeated
psychiatric examination held on the insistance of the Azeri side.
Armenian lawyer Nazeli Vardanyan and Hungarian lawyer Gabiella Kaspar
are defending the interests of Margaryan’s family.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
May 10 2005
Paving a road toward “historical justice”
In an interview with The Messenger, State Minister for Conflict
Resolution Goga Khaindrava says Georgia needs international funding
and thorough studies for repatriation of deported families
By Anna Arzanova
State Minister for Conflict
Resolution Goga Khaindrava
The origin and even the name of Meskhetians is almost as
controversial as the issue of their repatriation: are they Meskhetian
Muslims or Meskhetian Turks? But what is not debated is that on
November 15, 1944, 125,000 Muslim Meskhetians were deported from the
southern Georgian region of Meskheti to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and
Kyrgyzstan, and in 1999, upon joining the Council of Europe, Georgia
committed itself to repatriate the deported Meskhetians before 2012.
Georgia has to adopt a law on the return of Meskhetians according to
the commitment undertaken by the Georgian authorities as possible,
and last week The Messenger met with the man responsible for
overseeing the repatriation of the Meskhetians, State Minister for
Conflict Resolution Goga Khaindrava.
Khaindrava stressed that there is no such nationality as Meskhetian
Turks. “Meskhetians are Meskhetians and Turks are Turks. There are
Muslim Meskhetians, mostly of ethnic Georgian origin, who follow the
Islamic faith. That is why the term which has been established –
‘Meskhetian Turks’ is a term of Soviet propaganda and is incorrect,”
he said, adding that we cannot call people French-Chinese or
Australian-Italian.
According to the minister, this terminology comes from the lack of
knowledge of the population on this issue, because Turks and
Meskhetians are two separate concepts.
In March, President Saakashvili appointed Khaindrava to head a
government commission to deal with the repatriation of the
Meskhetians. As for the short-term and long-term plans of Meskhetian
repatriation, Khaindrava said that first of all the state structure
should be created to work on this issue.
“A secretariat, budget as well as an information bank should be
created. We need an information bank to know everything about these
people [who were deported]. We are going to draw two maps,
figuratively of course,” the minister said, adding that one map is
necessary for data about where these people now live, how many of
these people there are and what attitude the people of the country in
which they live have towards them.
According to him, the second map should concern Georgia and its own
demographics. Khaindrava said the view of the government is that
Muslim Meskhetians are a large group of Georgians who were forced to
leave their homeland and seek shelter abroad. The state minister
added that the current day direction of the country is that Georgia
is going to repatriate all Georgians back to their native land and at
least create all the conditions necessary to bring these people back.
“That is why we are interested in what possibilities are in Georgia,
where it is possible to settle all these people who wish to return to
Georgia. It does not matter these people are Muhammadan Meskhetians
or Muhammadan Fereidans,” Khaindrava stressed in a reference to the
Georgian community in Iran.
Khaindrava underlined that lots of work must be done with
international donors and that they should clarify the list of the
countries that wish to take part in this issue. The minister noted
that according to their data at the present time, the total number of
Meskhetians amounts 250,000-300,000 people.
“However, we do not know who is ready to move, for whom this is an
immediate matter and for whom it is just good idea. A lot of
information needs to be gathered and lots of work should be done on
this issue,” he said, adding that now they are dealing with
organizational issues.
When asked what is the government’s timeline for this process given
that the Council of Europe’s statement calls for the process of
repatriating the Meskhetians to start immediately and finish by 2011,
Khaindrava does not think that timelines are the most important
matter in this instance.
The minister thinks that the most important thing is the approach to
this issue and the decision of Georgian society as well as the
government. “I think that historic justice should be restored and
those people, for whom Georgia is their native land and who were
forced to leave Georgia should be allowed back home,” he said.
Khaindrava believes that the decision should be made first of all by
the entire Georgian society, “so that this process to be settled
calmly and in a civilized way, as it befits our country.”
Though it is impossible, he says, to say in what timeline this will
take place, because there is a specific agreement between the Council
of Europe and Georgia, the Georgian government took responsibility
for this issue upon itself.
“The talk in this agreement is about 2011, but I think first of all
we are responsible before our predecessors, our conscience and God
and then before the Council of Europe and international
organizations,” said Khaindrava.
Asked how the current government will finance the repatriation of the
Meskhetians, when the previous government said at the time that it
had neither money nor the ability to launch this process, Khaindrava
stated that the previous government lacked all the necessities
“because it pocketed all foreign aid for its own interests.”
“So, I do not think that the matter of what the previous government
did and said is of any relevance today,” he noted.
Commenting on the financing of the repatriation, the minister noted
that 300,000 people is eight percent of the Georgian population.
According to him, everybody should understand that this process is
rather laborious and “it is natural that this process needs finances,
because this is not only a matter of returning these people to
Georgia.”
Khaindrava stressed that in order for these people to return, the
country needs to improve infrastructure and create other
opportunities necessary for good living conditions.
“These people need houses, schools as well as working places. This is
a very difficult process. The attitude to this process has been
superficial until now, it was more in the sphere of propaganda than
in the sphere of real activity,” Khaindrava stressed.
He thinks that serious work should be done to present a real picture
of what kind of problems exist, what its effects are, what the
government can do on this issue in reality and how long the process
will last.
Finding means to fund a solution
When asked what Georgia needs from international organizations,
Khaindrava unambiguously said: “Money, of course. What will Georgia
need from international donors? Of course, assistance for all
possible conditions and minimum infrastructure to be created for
these people to be able to live in their new home.”
The minister said that there are rather serious problems in Georgia,
including internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, who became refugees in their own country.
“We cannot solve any problem at the expense of each other’s
interests,” he said, “The attitude toward the IDPs, who were forced
to abandon their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, should be
balanced with the other IDPs, but simultaneously, the repatriation of
externally displaced persons should be implemented as well.”
Khaindrava expressed his hope that Georgia will find the full support
of its European as well as American partners if it expresses its wish
to participate in this process. “I can tell you that foreign donors
are eager to help. This must be implemented,” he added.
As for the possibility of ethnic conflict in the case of Meskhetians’
repatriation to Georgia, Khaindrava said that he couldn’t understand
why this issue should cause ethnic conflict.
“I think that the issue of the ethnic conflict is absolutely
groundless,” he said, though he admitted that there would be certain
dissatisfaction with this process along with others, but more often
“political speculation as well as provocation from the side of
Georgia’s enemies will also take place in this issue.”
Khaindrava said that there also is concern on the part of the
Armenian population that lives in Samtskhe-Javakheti region. This
concern has existed for ages, but there is no reason for any
Turkish-Armenian conflict on Georgian territory, he argues.
“Maybe there is some concern, but concern does not mean that this
issue should not be solved and the process will not be implemented.
We foresee that there are such kinds of opinions and proceeding from
this, our policy will be very tactful and delicate so that no one
feels in danger,” the minister said.
Khaindrava explained that nobody intends to repatriate these people
at the expense of other people and that nobody will demand the
families to abandon their old houses. Khaindrava assured the
government will be able to manage this process to the benefit of all
the people.
He promised that they would make decisions that will satisfy and calm
down the local population, as well as the repatriated Meskhetians,
“because first of all, fairness should be the ground for the
settlement of this problem.”
“I think that the people in the regions should not be concerned on
this issue. It will not be difficult for me to explain everything to
them,” he noted.
Georgia’s other conflicts
As State Minister for Conflict Resolution, Khaindrava also spoke
about the achievements over the last year in the efforts to settle
the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts. According to him, these were
frozen issues which have already melted as a result of very intensive
negotiations.
“We are holding very serious and important meetings concerning these
conflicts. The issue of the Tskhinvali region was also discussed at
the meeting of former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and president of
the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoiti,” said
the minister.
As for Abkhazia, Khaindrava said that the peace process and
negotiations between Georgia and Abkhazia stopped during the reign of
Raul Khadjimba as prime minister of de facto Abkhazia and “now we
returned to the table of negotiations.”
Khaindrava highlighted recent meetings in Geneva, Italy as well as
Great Britain, saying that the negotiations have a rather “intense
character.”
“We think that from this standpoint much progress has already been
achieved, though the real result will be reflected in people’s lives.
This is the most fundamental task and it has not been achieved yet,”
he said.
He expressed his hope that in the near future the concrete results
and realization of those agreements that exist between the sides will
take place and that they will have the possibility to speak about
certain progress in a concrete sphere that was achieved this year as
a result of the work implemented.
He said that the negotiation process is a very difficult one and that
there are lots of conflicts all over the world. “World experience
shows us that such issues cannot be solved quickly, within days and
weeks. The most important is that the process is underway and that
number of the countries and organizations involved has increased.
This issue practically became of an international importance and
those issues which have not been even mentioned, are now on the
agenda,” he said.
“It is very hard to return a country which used to live without any
law into the sphere of laws, especially when there are enclaves on
that territory, where there exists a special and different attitude
toward the law,” Khaindrava said.
Khaindrava also expressed his optimism that the conflicts will be
resolved in near future.
“The fact that this difficult process is intensively underway means
that the groundwork has been laid for us to achieve good and positive
results. However, I have no doubt that we will achieve results in the
future, because intense work and dialogue is taking place in this
direction in our government as well as in our society,” he said,
concluding that this gives the Georgian government the hope “that we
will overcome these difficulties.”

PM engages in VE Day diplomacy in Moscow
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
DIPLOMACY

Erdogan discusses Cyprus peace efforts and his planned visit to the US
in talks on the sidelines of VE Day ceremonies. He and Kocharian shake
hands, don’t talk
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended Victory in EuropeÂ
Day ceremonies in Moscow, a high-profile event that drew more than 50
world leaders to the Russian capital, marking the 60th anniversary of
the Allied victory over Nazi Germany that brought the World War II to
an end.
  The prime minister held informal talks with world leaders,
including U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir
Putin, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, U.N. Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan and Greek Cypriot leader
Tassos Papadopoulos, on the sidelines of the ceremonies.
 Â
No talk with Kocharian:
  The prime minister shook hands with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian. The two leaders did not hold a conversation.
  Erdogan, speaking upon his return from Moscow, described talks
with the world leaders as `very constructive’ despite their limited
duration.
  Turkish officials had not ruled out talks between Erdogan and
Kocharian before the prime minister headed to Moscow but made it clear
there was no plan being drawn up for that. The two leaders are
scheduled to attend a summit of the Council of Europe countries in
Poland’s capital of Warsaw on May 16-17.
  Erdogan sent a letter to Kocharian last month proposing a joint
commission to study the events in eastern Anatolia between 1915 and
1918, which Armenians claim are tantamount to a genocide
campaign. Kocharian responded by suggesting establishment of an
inter-governmental commission to look into ways for normalization of
bilateral relations.
  The genocide allegations are one of the major factors preventing
normalization in Turkish-Armenian ties. The border gate between the
two countries is closed and diplomatic relations were broken off in
the last decade.
  In Moscow, Erdogan expressed displeasure to Putin and Polish
President Aleksander Kwasniewski over recent parliamentary moves in
their countries in support of the Armenian allegations.
  The Russian State Duma passed a resolution last month to condemn
what it called `genocide of Armenians’ during the Ottoman Empire, and
the Polish Parliament recently adopted a similar resolution as well.
 Â
Bush waiting for Erdogan visit:
  Erdogan tackled his planned visit to the United States when he
briefly met with U.S. President George W. Bush.
  Referring to Erdogan’s planned visit, Bush told Erdogan that hewas
waiting for him, reported the Anatolia news agency. Erdogan replied,
saying, `I will come soon.’
  In Ankara, Erdogan told reporters after his return that the visit
would take place in the first half of June, but added that the date
would be finalized in ongoing correspondence between Ankara and
Washington.
 Â
New Cyprus process:
  Erdogan held a trilateral meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos to discuss solution
efforts in Cyprus.
  The prime minister said Greek Cyprus, which rejected a
reunification plan drafted by Annan last year, was not as cool as
they were in the past towards the idea of a new round of talks for
peace on the island.
  `Compared with the past, Greek Cyprus is more positive,’ Erdogan
told reporters in Ankara, explaining that Annan was of the view that a
new process could start on the island.
 Â
Norwegian apology:
  In talks with Erdogan, Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik extended an apology to the Turkish prime minister for a
protest against himlast month in Norway during which some
demonstrators threw eggs at him, Anatolia said.

FEI Announces World’s Most Advanced Electron Microscope
New Titan(TM) (S)TEM, With Resolution Below 0.7 Angstrom, Surpasses
Previous World Record Performance for Commercial Systems
Metrology World
4/18/2005
HILLSBORO, OR – FEI today announced its new scanning/transmission
electron microscope (S/TEM), the Titan 80-300, dedicated to corrected
microscopy. The new (S)TEM system is the world’s most advanced
commercially-available microscope, yielding atomic-scale imaging with
resolution below 0.7 Angstrom. The Titan announcement comes just one
year after FEI became the first developer and manufacturer of
commercial electron microscopes to achieve sub-Angstrom resolution on
FEI’s market-leading Tecnai(TM) microscope using a monochromator and
an aberration corrector.
Until now, aberration correction technologies in electron microscopes
have been treated as accessory components for (S)TEM systems that were
not truly optimized for this type of advanced technology. Thus, the
integration of these types of correctors for breaking the next
resolution barrier and for high usability has been met with limited
success.
The all-new Titan 80-300 is designed as a dedicated and
highly-upgradeable aberration-corrected system that will enable
corrector and monochromator technology to enter into mainstream
nanotechnology research and industrial markets. The Titan (S)TEM
system features unparalleled overall stability to break the 1-Angstrom
barrier. Results from FEI’s Nanoport in The Netherlands deliver Titan
TEM information limits below 0.7 Angstrom and STEM resolution just
below 1.0 Angstrom, without the addition of aberration corrector
upgrades — an achievement that has never before been demonstrated on
a commercial tool. Corrector upgrades can be added for higher
resolution, extending the point resolution down to the information
limit for accurate interpretation of atomic structures.
The Titan 80-300 has been rigorously evaluated by several leading
researchers and customers under Non-Disclosure Agreements. The system
will be fully available for demonstrations after Titan’s official
launch at the 2005 Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting, August 1-4,
in Honolulu.
The upgradeable design of the Titan enables not only larger
nanotechnology and national research centers to afford dedicated
aberration corrected TEM technology, it opens the door to universities
and companies with staged funds to position themselves for the future.
FEI has received several advance orders for the new Titan (S)TEM
ranging from the base Titan 80-300 to the Titan 80-300 with two
aberration correctors and a monochromator. FEI’s award-winning and
record breaking Tecnai G2 TEM will continue to be marketed and
supported for customers who do not need aberration-corrected
resolution. New developments and products for this proven platform
will also be introduced at the 2005 Microscopy and Microanalysis
meeting.
“The Titan 80-300 is a significant platform for the nanotechnology
era. It provides our customers a solid foundation for continued
innovation and commercialization. FEI’s continuing advances in
ultra-high TEM resolution, coupled with our market-leading focused ion
beam (FIB) technologies, deliver powerful and vital tools for
researchers, developers and manufacturers who are increasingly focused
on nanoscale discovery and product commercialization,” commented Vahe
Sarkissian, FEI’s chairman and chief executive officer. “As the
world’s
leader in providing Tools for Nanotech(TM), FEI will continue to
invest in the development of these key technologies and market
platforms.”
“The initial market response for this advanced technology has been
very strong,” said George Scholes, general manager of FEI’s (S)TEM
business line. “For wide commercialization of this technology we
designed the base system with a superior level of upgradeability so
customers can add an aberration corrector, on site at a later
date. This will enable customers to obtain resolution and capability
they need today, knowing that they can expand the system’s resolution
limits as their requirements change.”
Advance orders for the new Titan(TM) (S)TEM have been in markets
ranging from advanced materials, energy, and semiconductors, to
advanced nanotechnology research centers in Europe and North
America. FEI believes that the Titan will also be a powerful addition
to FEI’s UltraView(TM) suite of sample management tools that takes
NanoElectronics customers rapidly from wafers to atoms with
sub-Angstrom resolution.
The introduction of the Titan is just one illustration of FEI’s
leadership in electron microscopy and its ability to accelerate the
resolution revolution. In a November 2004 news release, FEI announced
that it was selected as the R&D partner for a program aiming to build
the highest resolution scanning/transmission electron microscope
(S/TEM) in the world by several regional U.S. laboratories that
combined to form the TEAM project. It is a multi-million dollar
microscopy project that calls for a new microscope that should enable
extraordinary new scientific opportunities for direct observation
aimed at enabling analysis of individual nanostructures at an
unprecedented resolution of 0.5 Angstrom — approximately one-third
the size of a carbon atom.
About FEI
FEI’s Tools for Nanotech(TM), featuring focused ion- and electron-beam
technologies, deliver 3D characterization, analysis and modification
capabilities with resolution down to the sub-Angstrom level. With R&D
centers in North America and Europe and sales and service operations
in more than 40 countries around the world, FEI is bringing the
nanoscale within the grasp of leading researchers and manufacturers
and helping to turn some of the biggest ideas of this century into
reality.
More information can be found on the FEI website at:
Source: FEI Company
;VNETCOOKIE=NO
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CIS summit was “excellent”, says Putin
RTR Russia TV, Moscow
8 May 05
[Presenter] A summit of the CIS countries’ leaders opened the
programme of international events dedicated to the 60th anniversary
of the victory in World War II. The presidents gathered to honour the
memory of those who died protecting the country [USSR] from fascism
and give recognition to the soldiers who fought for their motherland.
Vladimir Putin recalled the decisive contribution of the CIS peoples
to the victory. It was not only the past they discussed, but also
the future of the commonwealth. The meeting resulted in the signing
of a declaration for humanitarian cooperation. Igor Kozhevin gives
the details.
[Correspondent] In May 1945 they were together – allied republics of
a single state, the territory which is called the post-soviet space
now. After 60 years, each of the leaders of the currently independent
states found his own way to Moscow. And those who found the strength
to make the trip have discovered through this that deep down there
is still much to unify us.
Mercedes with Russian federal number plates and foreign state symbols
were driving up to the President Hotel over the space of half of an
hour. The leader of Turkmenistan was the first to come, and, unlikely
the rest of his colleagues, he did not walk upstairs, but used an
escalator. Nyyazow actually does not often attend CIS summits, choosing
where to go and where not to go. But today’s meeting, dedicated to
the 60th anniversary of the victory, is a special one. Nyyazow’s
father died during the Great Patriotic War. For many of the leaders
the war is also a personal matter. Vladimir Putin’s father fought and
was wounded; 11376 is the camp number of [Ukrainian President Viktor]
Yushchenko’s father, who was a prisoner in Auschwitz.
[Putin] Respected friends, the war with Nazism became a great patriotic
war for all the peoples of the Soviet Union. Without exaggeration,
it was a just struggle for the very right to live on earth, have
one’s own statehood, language and culture, a struggle for the free
development of our peoples and against the ideology of barbarism,
violence, aggression and national and racial superiority.
[Correspondent] In the round hall of the President Hotel the
presidents were sitting against a background of 10 flags of states.
Ideally there were to be 12 flags, but the Georgian president
uncompromisingly named the withdrawal of Russian military on his
terms as a condition of his attending the summit. Moscow did not
understand the language of ultimatum and Saakashvili did not come.
The Azeri leader did not want to sit next to the Armenian president
and said that he would come later. Events which took place 12 years
ago are being recalled in Baku today. Azeri people believe that
at that time Armenian servicemen invaded their land. All the other
leaders gathered together, and that is why they discussed not only
the past, but also the future of the CIS. The leaders had recognized
the necessity to reform the commonwealth at the last summit. Today
Vladimir Putin suggested an original philosophy, a reference point
for the changes: a common history.
[Putin] Decades are passing, but the memory of battlefield brotherhood
in the name of liberty, independence, humanism still connects our
peoples. And it is our duty to pass on this priceless experience of
unity and solidarity to new generations of our citizens. [Passage
omitted]
The leaders were happy to be photographed together, and when asked
about whether the summit went well, they gave an answer.
[Unidentified voice] Vladimir Vladimirovich, how did you like the
summit?
[Putin, speaking from a distance in line with other leaders, and
giving a thumbs-up sign] It was excellent.