Author: Karapetian Hovik

AZERBAIJAN REJECTS NAGORNO-KARABAKH REFERENDUM

Source: Xinhua
People’s Daily Online, China
Dec 12 2006

Azerbaijan refused on Monday to recognize the results of a vote in
its breakaway region of Nagorno- Karabakh on its first constitution,
rejecting Sunday’s referendum as "a farce."

Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in Azerbaijan populated mostly by
ethnic Armenians. Armed conflict broke out in the early 1990s
between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the region’s status after it
declared independence, which was not recognized by the international
community. A Russian-brokered ceasefire deal ended the fighting in
1994 but the dispute remains unsolved.

Preliminary results from the region’s election commission on Monday
showed 98.6 percent of the voters approved the region’s constitution.

The region had 90,000 voters and turnout stood at 87 percent.

"This referendum is a farce and it is not worth wasting time on it,"
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov was quoted by the RIA
Novosti news agency as saying.

The European Union and other international organizations, including
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said they
would not recognize the referendum, Mamedyarov said.

CONQUEST VS. CONCESSION
by Raymond Ibrahim

National Review
December 5, 2006 Tuesday

Previous to Pope Benedict XVI’s November 30 visit to the Hagia Sophia
complex in Constantinople, Muslims and Turks variously expressed
apprehension and rage. Turkey’s independent paper Vatan put it thus:
"The risk is that Benedict will send Turkey’s Muslims and much of the
Islamic world into paroxysms of fury if there is any perception that
the Pope is trying to re-appropriate a Christian center that fell to
Muslims." A sign of the cross, apparently, would be interpreted as
a signal for a crusade.

Built in Constantinople in the sixth century, the Hagia Sophia —
Greek for "Holy Wisdom" — was Christendom’s greatest and most
celebrated church. After parrying centuries of jihadi thrusts from
Arabs, Constantinople was finally sacked by Turks in the jihad of
1453. Its crosses desecrated and icons defaced, this millennium-old
church — as well as thousands of other churches in the then Byzantine
Empire — was immediately converted into a mosque, the tall minarets
of Islam surrounding it in triumph. As part of Ataturk’s reforms
aimed at modernizing Turkey, the Hagia Sophia was secularized and
transformed into a museum in 1935.

In protestation of Benedict’s visit, a gang of Turks stormed and
occupied Hagia Sophia on November 22, exclaiming "Allahu Akbar!" and
warning "Pope! don’t make a mistake; don’t wear out our patience." On
the day of the pope’s visit, another throng of Islamists waved
banners saying "Pope get out of Turkey" while chanting "Aya Sofya
[Hagia Sophia] is Turkish and will remain Turkish." And of course,
al Qaeda in Iraq got in on the action by denouncing Benedict’s visit
in an Internet statement. One of the pope’s expressed purposes for
visiting Turkey was to promote inter-religious dialogue and denounce
violence in the name of God.

To the intolerance of Muslims, the West responds with tolerance.

Consider, for instance, the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The Muslim site,
annexed by Israel after its victory in the 1967 war, was not defaced by
the Jews or converted into a Jewish synagogue or temple — even though
the mosque is deliberately built atop the remains of the Temple Mount,
the most important site in Judaeo-Christian eschatology. Moreover,
since reclaiming the Temple Mount, Israel has granted Muslims control
over the complex (except during times of crises). And under Muslim
control, Christians and Jews are barred from freely worshipping there.

Despite such concessions, jihad has been declared on Israel, while
Muslims worldwide are simultaneously demanding "justice" from the
international community. It is an illustration of the privileged
status many Muslims have come to expect for themselves in the
international arena: When Muslims conquer non-Muslim territories,
such as Constantinople — through fire and steel, with all the
attendant human suffering and misery — those whom they conquer are
not to expect any "apologies," let alone political or territorial
concessions. Indeed, Turkey has yet even to recognize its genocide
against its Armenian population in 1917. Yet Muslims constantly
demand and expect apologies and concessions from the West — and they
receive them.

When Islamists wage jihad — past, present, and future — conquering
and consolidating non-Muslim territories and centers in the name of
Islam, never once considering ceding them back to their rightful
owners, they demonstrate that they live by the age-old adage that
"might makes right." Yet, if we live in a world where the strong
rule and the weak submit, why is it that whenever Muslim regions are
conquered, such as in the case of Palestine, the same Islamists who
would never concede one inch of Islam’s conquests resort to the United
Nations demanding "justice," "restitutions," "rights," and so forth?

What such actions lack in intellectual consistency, they make up
for in practical success. Muslims cannot be blamed for expecting
special treatment for themselves, as well as believing that jihad is
righteous and decreed by the Almighty. The West constantly goes out
of its way to confirm such convictions. By incessantly criticizing
itself, apologizing, and offering concessions — things the Islamic
world has yet to do — the West reaffirms that Islam has a privileged
status in the world.

It is obvious enough that some Muslims wish to wage eternal jihad until
Islam dominates the globe. But why should those who divide the world
into two warring camps — Islam and Infidelity, or, in Islamic terms,
the Abode of Islam and the Abode of War — expect any concessions from
the international community? It is impossible to meet with toleration
the demands of those who reject the principles upon which the Western
value of tolerance is based; attempts at doing so are nothing more
than the appeasement of aggressors.

When the pope visited Hagia Sophia, he refrained from any gesture
that could be misconstrued as Christian worship. And therein is the
final lesson. Muslim zeal for their holy places and lands is not
intrinsically blameworthy. Indeed, there’s something to be said about
being passionate about and protective of one’s faith and heritage.

Here the secular West — Christendom’s prodigal son and true usurper
— can learn something from Islam. For whenever and wherever the West
concedes — ideologically, politically, and especially spiritually
— Islam will be sure to conquer. Where might does not make right,
zeal apparently does.

— Raymond Ibrahim is editor of the upcoming The Al Qaeda Reader.

NKR CENTRAL COMMISSION ON REFERENDUM APPEALED TO VOTERS

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
11 Dec 2006

The NKR Central Commission on Referendum has released a message
and called the voters to go to polling stations on December 10
and make a free and acknowledged vote for the NKR Constitution,
for the adoption of the Constitution of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
is an important stage in the establishment of our independent state
and promotion of democracy, runs the message. "The organizers of the
preparation and conduct of the referendum, including the NKR Central
Commission on Referendum and the divisional committees made maximum
efforts to solve all the technical and organizational problems in
preparing and holding the referendum. The referendum commissions
are ready to conduct the most responsible stage of the referendum,
the voting and the roundup, openly and publicly, in compliance with
the NKR Electoral Code and the NKR Law on Referendum. The voters,
as well as the local and international observers and reporters who
will observe the referendum and cover the conduct and results of the
popular voting will witness this."

PACE POLITICAL COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN BAKU

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 11 2006

Today the meeting of PACE Political Committee has begun in Baku, APA
reports. The chief of the committee, members, some other officials
of the PACE, Azerbaijani representatives in the PACE, the ministers
Ramil Usubov, Fikret Mammadov, Elmar Mammadyarov and other officials
are participating in the meeting.

The chairman of the committee Abdulgadir Atesh said that, interesting
thought exchange will be held in the meeting. The chairman reminded
that it is the first meeting held in Baku and Azerbaijan was the
member of the Council of Europe in 2001.

"The most troublesome issue concerning Azerbaijan is Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. The council has resolution 1416 for settling the problem.

The author of the resolution Russell Johnston who participates in
the meeting will have interesting thoughts about the resolution.

Generally, the stability in South Caucasus is important for us. We
had worked out a document concerning it. The members of the committee
on Karabakh participate here. They will have meetings," he said.

Saying that Azerbaijan is developing, the chairman noted that there
are some problems in the field of freedom of speech and freedom of
media. He said that the closure of ANS TV caused discontent.

"The co-rapporteurs Tony Lloyd and Andreas Herkel will talk to Samad
Seyidov on this issue," he said.

Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan is
developing economically. The minister said that the total volume of
output was 26% last year, but this year this number is 36% and noted
that this is great success. We also should achieve the development
of the non-oil sector. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is already in
use. Azerbaijan exports 1m barrel oil in a day. Soon Kazakhstan also
will join this project. After the total volume of the export will be
25m oil in a year," he said. Touching upon Nagorno Karabakh problem
the minister said that the negotiations are held to settle the problem.

"The negotiations should be sincere. These meetings are constructive.

The main issue is whether Armenian government wants to step forward
in this issue, or the government wants to gain dividend in the eve
of parliament and presidential elections. Out position is to liberate
occupied territories and remove displayed Azerbaijani citizens. After
it, Azerbaijan can cooperate with Armenia," he said.

THE DEBT OF ARMENIA IS BETTER THAN THAT OF OUR NEIGHBORS

A1+
[10:32 pm] 11 December, 2006

The quantity of the debt is not important: what is important is that
in case of having debts the country is in better conditions than
its neighbors. At least this is what our officials think when they
speak about the external debt of Armenia mentioning "We have the best
debt portfolio".

As for the "best" part of the debt, representative of the RA Ministry
of Finance and Economy Arshaluys Margaryan says, "Our ‘tax portfolio’
does not contain strict responsibilities, the interest is 0%, and
the term is 10 years".

At present the external debt of Armenia is 1 billion 168 million
AMD. The majority of the debt, 1 billion 95 million AMD, is that of
the Government: the debt of the Central Bank is 166 million.

The majority of the external debt, about 70%, is that of the World
Bank.

As for the internal debt, it will be 58 billion 160 million 933
thousand AMD till December 31.

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS NOT A POWER FOR GEGHAMYAN

A1+
[07:04 pm] 08 December, 2006

Someone drops leaflets from the roof of a house. When people gather
them, they see that they are empty. A person explains things, but
even without that everything is clear. This was the example brought
by leader of National Unity Artashes Geghamyan when the journalists
were not active during the Parliament briefings. "It is clear for the
journalists that the country is in a grave situation", he concluded.

He was alarmed by the negative articles about Armenia published in
the Russian press. According to him, one of the articles published
in "Politicheski Class" was to be discussed during the summit of the
CIS country heads and a note of complaint was to be sent. The leader
of the National Unity is convinced that a change of authorities is
inevitable as our country can no more live this way.

As for supporting the idea of sending peace-keepers to Iraq,
Mr. Geghamyan does not think that it is a fact proving that his party
does not oppose Serge Sargsyan.

"If you were an analyst, you would analyze the report of the Defense
Minister and my statements and compare them in order to see who was
more persuasive", Artashes Geghamyan told the journalists.

By the way, he announced that they do not have political rivals among
those powers which try to be re-elected during the 2007 elections,
"as all of them are criminal groupings" except the ARF Dashnaktsutyun.

According to Geghamyan, the Republican party ceased to be a political
power when Serge Sargsyan became the head of its council.

SOMETHING TO SCREAM ABOUT: SCREAMERS DIRECTOR AND SYSTEM OF A DOWN JOIN FORCES TO DECRY ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Gabriel San Roman

Orange County Weekly, CA
Dec 8 2006

On April 24, 1915, the Ottoman Turkish government began a systematic
campaign of arrests, deportation, and annihilation against the Armenian
people. By 1923, mass killings had claimed the lives of an estimated
1.5 million Armenians in what became the first genocide of the 20th
century. To this day, the Turkish government continues to deny that
genocide took place, and despite numerous nations recognizing the
Armenian Genocide, the United States, after 91 years, has yet to
officially recognize it.

Activists in the States have tried to reverse the U.S. government’s
shameful stance. All-Armenian and Grammy Award-winning rock group
System of a Down has used its influence to raise awareness about the
genocide, and now documentary filmmaker Carla Garapedian, herself an
Armenian American, chronicles the band’s activism and the history of
the Armenian Genocide in her new film Screamers, which opens Friday
in Orange.

I recently talked with Garapedian and System of a Down drummer John
Dolmayan about the project.

OC Weekly: Carla, a documentary featuring System of a Down titled
Screamers will carry the connotation of what Serj Tankian and Daron
Malakian do on stage, but it has a different meaning, doesn’t it?

Carla Garapedian: It does. I got the term from Samantha Power’s
Pulitzer Prize-winning book, A Problem From Hell: America in the Age
of Genocide. She very cleverly tells the story of genocide in the last
century. Powers argues that in each case of genocide, whether it’s
the Armenian genocide or what’s going on in Darfur, Sudan, now, there
are always individuals who raise the alarm and say this is going on
and we have to do something about it. She calls those people screamers.

Why did you choose to explore the Armenian Genocide through the prism
of System of a Down?

Garapedian: All the members of System of a Down are grandchildren of
genocide survivors, as I am. They have a very strong sense of their
cultural identity and the denial of the genocide. I didn’t think about
making a film on genocide until I heard their music and learned about
them. They’re a worldwide phenomenon and they are affecting how young
people think about politics. It struck me that this band was having an
effect that was really different. It made me think that using their
music, passion and energy might help me tell the story of genocide
in the last century.

John, why did System of a Down decide to be a part of this film?

John Dolmayan: We didn’t do this movie for any other reason than to
do what we felt was a commitment we have to follow through with.

Being Armenian, I feel very strongly about genocide and injustice. I
was compelled to be a part of this. I’m proud of the film. I think
the film came out well. It didn’t come off preachy; just informative.

How personal is the Armenian Genocide recognition cause for you? Did
your activism on this issue begin before System of a Down was formed?

Dolmayan: It’s a very personal issue for all of us in the band. I
don’t know if I would consider myself an activist, even to this day.

As a human being, not just an Armenian, I believe that genocide is
wrong. If that makes me an activist, I guess that’s the definition of
it. It’s very personal for us. We each had a loss of family members,
a loss of our history, and a loss of our ancestry. We can only date
our families back to a certain extent. It deeply motivated us in our
lives to prevent other genocides from taking place.

There’s a scene in Screamers where you and Serj approached Congressman
Dennis Hastert about the Armenian Genocide resolution in a respectful
manner. Did you feel like Hastert blew you off?

Dolmayan: I think that he did what most politicians do. First of all,
he didn’t acknowledge the letter Serj and I handed in him in Chicago.

It was obvious he read it at some point. He’s just doing what
politicians do. Most of their lives are spent distorting truth.

Carla, what audience do you hope to reach with Friday’s opening at
the Block in Orange?

Garapedian: There are many fans of the band in Orange County, and
they were really critical in the early days of System of a Down’s
success. We want to show the film to pay homage and thank those fans
who supported the band in the early days, although this isn’t a System
of a Down movie; it features them. Also, there are many Armenians in
Orange County, and the film is going to get its start by appealing
to those core audiences. By going to the film in its first weekend,
people will be sending a message out to the rest of the country that
there can be a film about genocide and the message will also be sent
that there are people who care about this issue. That’s what I’m
hoping to do in Orange County.

Gabriel San Roman is the assistant producer of Uprising, a popular
prime time radio program on KPFK Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles.

ing-to-scream-about/26345/

REP. JOSEPH KNOLLENBERG ISSUES STATEMENT REGARDING TURKEY’S POTENTIAL EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP

ArmRadio.am
08.12.2006 10:52

Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues Co-Chair Joseph Knollenberg
(R-MI) issued a statement for the House of Representatives record
calling on Turkey to demonstrate a willingness to implement changes
in its policy, specifically improving its relations with Armenia. In
his statement, Knollenberg urged Turkey to honor its commitments,
noting that the European Union (EU) has repeatedly asked Turkey to
remove its blockade of Armenia, as well as pushed for normalization
between the countries. Turkey, however, continues to ignore these
requests by the EU.

Representative Joseph Knollenberg’s (R-MI) said in part: "I rise
today to encourage Turkey to honor their commitments and implement
important economic, regional, and political advancements in order to
gain membership into the European Union (EU).

It is a well-known fact that the regional policies of Turkey
causes strain in the South Caucasus region and unfairly harms the
welfare of their neighbor country, Armenia. The European Union has
repeatedly called for the Turkish Blockade of Armenia to cease as
well as normalization of relations between the countries. These
two pre-conditions to entering the EU have been blatantly ignored by
Turkey. The blockade, now in its thirteenth year, is the only blockade
of a fellow Council of Europe state, and is simply unacceptable. I
implore the EU to stand firm in their recommendations to Turkey in
order to ensure these unfair economic practices are eliminated.

Armenia is a friend of the United States; they are a friend to many
countries throughout the world. Yet, Turkey refuses to see the good
Armenia brings to the South Caucasus region. This refusal has lead
to fierce tension within the region, as well as unjust economic
outcomes that only harm Armenia. Before Turkey can become a member
of the European Union, they must first acknowledge their mistakes,
foster cooperation in the South Caucasus region, and respect their
neighbor, Armenia"

Mr. Knollenberg called on the European Parliament to consider the
ramifications of Turkey’s actions before granting them membership
to the EU. "The purpose of the EU is to create cooperation between
nations with similar interests.

Turkey, with a history of bullying nations does not belong in this
membership until they change their ways," he said.

GEORGIA, UKRAINE AND MOLDOVA MEDDLING INTO ISSUE THAT DOESN’T CONCERN THEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
07.12.2006 19:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are playing into the
hands of Azerbaijan by meddling into an issue which does not concern
them, said RA FM Vartan Oskanian when commenting on GUAM’s statement
about referendum in Nagorno Karabakh. In his words, the statement
does not have anything with reality.

"During this decade and a half, in a situation of no-peace and no-war,
and to their credit, the people and authorities of Nagorno Karabakh
have built a lawful, well-regulated internal governance system.

They have built political institutions; through elections they
have selected their own authorities and developed a legislative
framework. Today, they have recognized the need for a basic law, and
chosen the internationally accepted practice of a referendum as the
only acceptable way to collectively adopt that basic law. Azerbaijan
claims that exercising a vote is an obstruction to the peace
process. Just the opposite. At the core of the negotiations to reach
a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is the right
of the people of Nagorno Karabakh for self-determination. What really
obstructs the process is the Azerbaijani overreaction to Karabakh’s
democratic activities, their refusal to engage Nagorno Karabakh in
peace talks, their repeated militaristic calls and their persistent
efforts to sidetrack the Minsk Group negotiation process, reports
the RA MFA press office.

OSKANYAN MET NATO SECRETARY GENERAL

A1+
[06:32 pm] 07 December, 2006

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met NATO Secretary General Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer today.

During the meeting the sides discussed the Individual Partnership
Action Plan of Armenia which is the core of the cooperation between
Armenia and the NATO. The first two-year phase of the IPAI started
in January.

The sides expressed their content with the results of the first
evaluation of the IPAP procedure discussed during the NATO session
which took place with the format 26+1. The Minister mentioned that
the evaluation was important for us in order to clear up the criteria
of the NATO towards the realization of the Plan.

Minister Oskanyan mentioned that the Armenian IPAP Committee which is
responsible for the realization of the plan has had eight sessions this
year which actively discussed issues about the process of realization.

The Secretary General found the enhancing of democratic procedures
important in Armenia. He especially stressed the NATO support in
carrying out reforms in the defense field. He highly appreciated the
investment of Armenia in the peace-keeping missions of the NATO.

The sides also referred to the November 28-29 NATO summit in Riga,
as well as to the relations between Armenia and Turkey, and the
process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.