Author: Karakhanian Suren

INFORMAL MEETING OF RA AND AZERI DEFENSE MINISTERS MAY BE HELD IN BREST

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.11.2006 13:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of the Armenian and Azeri Defense
Ministers may be held within the framework of the sitting of the
Council of CIS Defense Ministers. As reported by the Agency of
National News with a reference to the CIS Executive Committee, two
months ago a meeting of the Defense Ministers was held at the border
of the two for the first time after a long break. The possibility
of the dialogue was discussed for three days during the meeting of
CIS Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushaylo and Secretary of the RA
Security Council Serge Sargsyan. The meeting to all appearance will
be informal and will be held after the sitting of the Council of CIS
Defense Ministers scheduled for Thursday in Brest.

BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR: BULGARIA MIGHT BACK AZERBAIJANS INTEGRATION TO EU
Author: S. Aghayeva

TREND Informationa, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2006

Trend’s exclusive interview with Ivan Palchev, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Azerbaijan on the threshold of
the visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan

– Georgiy Pirinsky, Bulgaria Speaker is expected to pay an official
visit to Azerbaijan this week. Which issues will be the priority in
the agenda of the forthcoming negotiations with the Azerbaijani party
within the above-mentioned visit?

– Chairman of the Bulgarian People Assembly will arrive in Baku on
November 22 to take part in the sitting of the General Assembly of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation. During the forthcoming meeting, the chair of
the Organization will be passed to Bulgaria. As soon as the sitting
of the Organization is completed, on November 24-25, the official
visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan will be commenced.

The Bulgarian Speaker will be accompanied by representative delegation
consisting of members of all fractions of the Bulgarian Parliament
and the Government of the Country. The agenda of the visit includes
meetings with the Azerbaijani Speaker Ogtay Assadov, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov, Premier-Minister Artur Rasizadeh, and certainly
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The Bulgarian Speaker will
also visit the Baku Slavic University, where he will get acquainted
with the activity of the Bulgarian Culture Centre, as well as meet
students and pedagogical staff of the University.

Bulgaria is a parliamentary state. The supreme authority of the
Country is the Parliament. All the other bodies of authority submit
to the Parliament. Being the Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Mr.

Pirinsky has wide authorities, and he is about to discuss the wide
spectrum of different issues on both the bilateral and regional
cooperation, as well as cooperation of an international nature with
the Azerbaijani party.

– Bulgaria joins EU starting January 1, 2007. Which role that could
play in Bulgaria bilateral relations with Azerbaijan?

– It is true that Bulgaria will join EU starting from Janury, 2007.

According to EU requirements, all the member-states of the
Organization should unify their legislation in accordance with the
EU requirements. The contract and legal base between Azerbaijan and
Bulgaria today consists of 28 documents which will be reviewed once
more and unified to meet the EU requirements and standards. At the
same time, a new package of agreements of a bilateral nature is being
worked out. It is expected to cover different spheres of cooperation..

Being the Ambassador, I am quite satisfied with the development of
political contacts. For three years of the activity of the Bulgarian
Embassy to Azerbaijan, all possible visits at a level of Ministers
and Chiefs of Bodies, Speakers, and Presidents have been paid.

However, economic relations between our countries do not completely
meet the existing potential of the two countries. The commodity
turnover between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan reached just $6-8 mln. last
year.

I have had a lot contacts with businessmen of the both countries,
invited them, gave them advises, but their interest to business was
of curious tourists. However, that will have its reasons. First of
all, the lack of direct air flights between Baku and Sofia impedes
developing the mutual relations. There are intentions to establish a
new charter air flight – Baku-Varna in the next year, and to attempt
to develop tourism. I hope that the mutual skepticism that is now
connected with Bulgaria joining EU will act in the reverse direction
and make businessmen of the two countries to mutually cooperate.

– How could you estimate perspectives of cooperation between Bulgaria
and Azerbaijan in energy field? Which perspective directions of this
cooperation could you mark?

– For about 12 years, Bulgaria, Russia, and Greece have held
negotiations on constructing oil pipeline "Burgas-Aleksandrupolis".

Finally, a month ago, the three Presidents met and signed the
corresponding document. Not only Russia oil but also Azerbaijani
one, which is carried via the Russian territory through oil
pipeline "Baku-Novorossiysk" will connect to the pipeline. At
present, a project on transporting gas from Erzurum via route
Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria is being worked out. The
construction of a pipeline is expected to be launched in the next
year. And I think that by 2011, the gas will reach Bulgaria.

– What is Bulgaria’s position toward the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

– Bulgaria position toward the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remains
unchanged. The most important in this position is that Bulgaria adheres
the thesis that Nagorno-Karabakh will always be a part of Azerbaijan,
and , as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have repeatedly stated
this territory may obtain the highest autonomy, but only within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And I think the conflicting
parties themselves are gradually trending to this position.

RETORSION DE L’ARMEE TURQUE CONTRE LA FRANCE
Semo Marc

Liberation , France
17 novembre 2006

Un general a decrete la suspension des relations dans le domaine
militaire.

La declaration sonne comme un avertissement. "Les relations dans
le domaine militaire avec la France ont ete suspendues", a declare
mercredi soir le general Ilker Basbug, chef d’etat-major de l’armee
de terre, lors d’une reception marquant le 23e anniversaire de la
Republique turque autoproclamee de Chypre Nord. La reunion annuelle
qui passe en revue la cooperation militaire turco-francaise, prevue
en decembre, a deja ete annulee. Il s’agit de la première mesure de
retorsion directe contre la France, après le vote, mi-octobre, par
106 deputes, d’un projet de loi sanctionnant la negation du genocide
armenien entre 1915 et 1917. Le texte doit encore passer au Senat,
revenir a la Chambre, puis etre signe par le President.

Echanges.

Le chef de la diplomatie turque, Abdullah Gul, a affirme que, si cette
loi prenait effet, "les liens bilateraux seraient irreparablement
endommages dans les domaines economique, politique et de securite". Les
echanges entre la Turquie et la France se chiffraient en 2005 a 8,2
milliards d’euros. L’annonce du chef de l’armee de terre turque
a surpris. "Elle a ete faite dans un cadre informel, lors d’une
reception, pas sous la forme d’une communication officielle", a releve
un haut diplomate francais. Hier soir, le chef d’etat-major general,
le general Buyukanit, repute etre un faucon, n’avait pas confirme
cette annonce. La suspension ne concernerait que les relations
bilaterales, mais pas la cooperation au sein de l’Otan ou dans le
cadre d’operations multilaterales, comme en Afghanistan ou au Liban. A
Paris, on rappelle aussi que nombre de fournisseurs francais sont en
fait largement europeens, comme la societe franco-germano-espagnole
Eurocopter, filiale d’EADS, en lice pour un marche de 52 appareils
civils et militaires.

Obstacle.

L’armee, qui se veut la gardienne des valeurs republicaines, semble
vouloir obliger le Premier ministre, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a durcir
sa position. Au-dela des effets de manche, les reactions d’Ankara
sont restees contenues, car un appel officiel au boycottage des
firmes francaises aurait cree un nouvel obstacle dans les difficiles
negociations d’adhesion de la Turquie a l’UE.

–Boundary_(ID_tAW+ELMwOMLrVEDJWmO7bA)–

THERE IS NO NATION WHICH VOLUNTARILY REFUSES ITS INDEPENDENCE OF 15 YEARS: KARABAKH IS NOT EXCEPTION, RA PRESIDENT AFFIRMS

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Nov 17 2006

BERLIN, NOVEMBER 17, NOYAN TAPAN. "We are supporters of peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen attempt to bring our positions closer. Unfortunately,
in spite of proceeding active negotiations, there is little ground
for optimism." RA President Robert Kocharian said about it during
his November 15 speech at the Bertelsmann Foundation, within the
framework of the working visit paid to the FDR.

In his words, the principal position of Armenia is that the Karabakh
people carried out its right of self-determination, and it was
implemented fully corresponding to the international norms. "Many
independent states of present were founded after fall of former
empires. The Nagorno Karabakh independence was got at the time of
fall of the Soviet Union. Even more, that is the end of ideological
huge split. Nagorno Karabakh has never been a part of independent
Azerbaijan," the RA President mentioned.

R.Kocharian emphasized that owing to successful building of its
statehood, the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh proved its right of
existence. "It periodically holds democratic parliamentary and
president’s elections. We are witnesses of development of the civil
society," he said, adding that a generation has already grown which
considers itself personification and keeper of that statehood.

"We do not remember an example of a nation which itself voluntarily
refused its independence of 15 years. Nobody intends to do it in
the case of Karabakh. We speak about irreversible changes which took
place in people’s consciousness," the RA President stated.

JAZZ ETC.: A GIFT OF MODERN MUSIC FROM THE "CELLO GODDESS"
By Paul de Barros

Seattle Times, WA
Nov 17 2006

Maya Beiser discovered Belgian surrealist poet Henri Michaux when
she was a teenager, playing cello in an Israeli army string quartet
during the Lebanon war.

For years, she wanted to do something with Michaux’s strange and
compelling "I Am Writing To You From A Far-Off Country," which
describes with deadpan naivete the conditions in a strange place –
another country? another planet? an imaginary world?

Last year, Beiser invited composer Eve Beglarian and video artist
Shirin Neshat to collaborate with her on Michaux’s poem.

The glorious result is on offer at 8 p.m. today and Saturday at On
the Boards, part of Beiser’s "Almost Human" program ($24; 206-217-9888
or ).

Though neither Michaux nor Beglarian was inspired directly by war or
by terrorism, the work’s solitary, post-apocalyptic atmosphere feels
terribly right for this moment.

"It feels more relevant than ever," agreed Beiser from her home in
New York, where she premiered the piece earlier this year, at Zankel
Hall. "One way I understand it is as this woman desperately trying to
describe her world to this person that she loves. But there’s another
layer, too – as a solo performer, this ability to open yourself up
and say, ‘Look, see, this is where my world is.’ It’s very powerful
for me, performing that piece."

Beglarian’s music, inspired by Armenian melodies, ranges through rich,
forlorn landscapes with achingly slow vibrato; strident electric
guitar samples; icy high notes; voluptuous, pastoral overlays;
industrial repetitions; and a bit of thrumming and plucking, too.

Neshat’s video is screened on nine monitors. It features desert
landscapes from the Sinai, rippling images of Beiser performing and
"lots of images of water and the sea." (One beguiling line in the poem:
"Does water flow in your country, too?")

As you may have surmised, Beiser is not your garden-variety cellist.

Nicknamed "the cello goddess" by the New Yorker magazine, she is a
sort of one-woman Kronos String Quartet, having commissioned and/or
performed pieces by Philip Glass, Osvaldo Golijov, Arvo Part and a
host of other contemporary composers.

Beiser also has been compared to Laurie Anderson, which makes a
certain amount of sense in the context of the Michaux piece.

entertainment/2003435696_jazz17.html

RICHARD KIRAKOSSIAN: MAJOR OBSTACLE IN ARMENIA’S EURO-INTEGRATION IS EXCESSIVE DEPENDENCE ON RUSSIA

Regnum, Russia
Nov 18 2006

If the elections in Armenia are not conducted in correspondence with
international standards, it will be a reason to strengthen EU relations
with Georgia and Azerbaijan, leaving Armenia behind, US political
analyst Richard Kirakossian said at a news conference on November 18.

As a REGNUM correspondent quotes the analyst as saying, election fraud
can result in breaking the Millennium Challenge program and general
disappointment in Armenia. Such approach, according to Kirakossian,
is stipulated by stricter requirements presented by the international
community to Armenia than to other developing countries. In this
connection, they are more intolerable to fraud in Armenia than in
other countries. If the elections do not meet international norms,
it will be another opportunity lost for the country.

Answering a question whether Armenia, under condition it of further
democratization, can count for entering the EU independently from its
neighboring countries in the region, Kirakossian noted that in this
issue the major obstacle is excessive Armenia’s dependence on Russia.

"I do not insist that Armenia should turn towards the EU by 100%. But
Armenia should become all-sufficient instead of imitating Russia or
EU," the American analyst concludes.

TO D.C. ON FOOT

Georgetown University The Georgetown Voice, DC
Nov 16 2006

Georgetown’s STAND and Armenian Student organization joined George
Washington University students Nov. 5 to welcome six Armenian-American
students who walked from Los Angeles to D.C. to call attention to
the genocide in Darfur.

The students’ march began on June 27 and ended Nov. 1. After their
arrival at GW, the University hosted a discussion forum on genocide
with Journey for Humanity, the genocide-awareness organization that
sponsored the students.

"Walking is symbolic of genocide," Edward Majian, one of the marchers,
told the GW Hatchet. "We are walking in an attempt to be in solidarity
with those people," he said, referring to Darfur victims as well as
those of past genocides.

On its web site, Journey for Humanity kept an online report and
diary of the six students, in which they reflected not only on Darfur
genocide but on the more obscure Armenian genocide of 1915-1923.

-16/news/news-hits

ARMENIA PLANS TO OCCUPY ABKHAZIA? GEORGIAN INTELLIGENTSIA ACCUSES ARMENIANS OF GENOCIDE OF GEORGIANS

Regnum, Russia
Nov 16 2006

APA news agency (Baku) reports that 60 representatives of the
Georgian intelligentsia have demanded that Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili recognize the genocide committed by Armenians in Georgia.

They say that in 1993, the "Bagramyan" military unit, together with
Abkhazians, fought against the Georgian army and killed Georgians
living in Abkhazia: "Before the Czar, Russia populated Georgian
Javakheti with Armenians, there had been no single Armenian in that
region. However, today Javakheti is mentioned as part of Armenia.

Having ‘crippled’ the Georgian monuments in the territory of Javakheti,
the Armenians are not trying to convince everybody that they are
Armenian. All this is being done systematically, and so, must be
recognized as a genocide against the Georgian nation."

Member of the Supreme Council of Abkhazia in exile Akaky Gasviani
supports this initiative and points out that the Armenians have a big
role in the "occupation" of Georgian lands and the establishment of
the separatist regime in Abkhazia.

The Golos Armenii daily publishes the abridged version of the article
"What Is Armenia Plotting Against Georgia," published in the Aisi
daily (Georgia) (#36, Oct 3-9 2006). Golos Armenii says that the
article tells how Armenians populated Abkhazia and Ajaria and what
the atrocities the "Bagramyan" battalion committed during the war
against the Georgians. "Journalist Gogneli quotes "some expert on
Armenian problems" as saying: "If anybody thinks that the Russians
will appropriate Abkhazia, he is mistaken. Should they – God forbid –
recognize Abkhazia as an independent, the Armenians will occupy this
region in just one year. Today, they are silent and are just waiting
for a good opportunity. But as soon as it happens, they will rise and
appropriate this Georgian region. Today, they are trying to occupy
Abkhazia’s sea coast – they are actively working in this direction.

Then, they will ‘take care of’ Javakheti" and, finally, they will
get access to the sea. This is a part of their "Great Armenia"
plan. So, we, the Georgians, must be vigilant and wise. I wonder if
our leadership is thinking about it?"

The Azg daily says that, neither in the Georgian mass media nor via
its own sources in Georgia, has it managed to find anything that could
prove the information of the Georgian daily. Asked by Azg to comment
on the statement, Ambassador of Georgia to Armenia Revaz Gachechiladze
said that he knows nothing about such a statement and, even if it was
made, he, first of all, wants to know the names of its authors. "In
any case, this is not the position of the Georgian Government."

TURKISH BUSINESS OFFICIAL SLAMS FRENCH BILL ON "GENOCIDE"

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 16 2006

Paris, 16 November: "The bill approved by the French National
Assembly over the so-called Armenian genocide, is contrary to freedom
of expression," said Pekin Baran, deputy chairman of the Turkish
Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD), on Thursday
[16 November].

The conference hosted by Paris-based Montaigne Institute on "Europe:
Which values, which borders?" became stage of an ardent argument
between Baran and Patrik Deveciyan, French MP of Armenian origin.

During the conference, Deveciyan claimed that Turkey could not be a
member of the EU since the EU did not approve nationalist feelings.

He said that the bill was submitted to the French national assembly
to prevent demonstrations like the one against Armenian monument in
Lyon in the past.

In response, Baran stressed that the freedom of expression was one of
the most important values of the Union, but France seriously violated
that value by approving such a bill.

Pointing out to political and economic contributions of Turkey to the
EU in future, Baran stressed: "Turkey’s EU membership is essential
for a powerful Europe in the globalizing world."

ANKARA RENOUVELLE A EREVAN SON OFFRE POUR LA CREATION D’UN COMITE D’HISTORIENS

Agence France Presse
16 novembre 2006 jeudi 6:23 PM GMT

La Turquie a renouvele jeudi a l’Armenie son offre pour la mise en
place d’un comite mixte d’historiens des deux pays charges de faire
la lumière sur les massacres d’Armeniens sous l’Empire ottoman qui
empechent les deux pays d’avoir des relations normales.

"Nous pensons que ce comite sera un mecanisme très benefique pour la
normalisation des relations entre les deux pays", precise un communique
du ministère des Affaires etrangères.

La Turquie a propose l’an dernier la mise en place de ce comite mais
elle a ete refusee par Erevan.

Cependant, souligne le document, malgre le refus des autorites
armeniennes de donner suite a la proposition d’Ankara, "des
responsables des deux pays se sont rencontres trois fois depuis avril
2005 pour discuter de cette affaire".

"S’il est cree, ce comite permettra d’applanir les differences
d’interpretations concernant les evenements de 1915 et contribuera
a la normalisation des relations", ajoute le texte.

La Turquie n’entretient pas des relations diplomatiques avec l’Armenie
voisine en raison du profond differend sur les evenements qui se sont
deroules dans les dernières annees de l’Empire ottoman en declin,
de 1915 a 1917.

La frontière entre les deux pays est fermee.

Les massacres et deportations d’Armeniens dans l’Empire ottoman ont
fait plus de 1,5 million de morts, selon les Armeniens, 250.000 a
500.000 selon la Turquie, qui recuse categoriquement la notion de
genocide reconnue notamment par la France, le Canada et le Parlement
europeen.

–Boundary_(ID_xmwErOmecRi8y+ 1oVf/HBg)–