Author: Khondkarian Raffi

GUL MEETS WITH AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTER

Turkish Press, Turkey
Feb 11 2005

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his visiting Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mammedyarov in Ankara. The Azerbaijan-Armenian
dispute over the latter’s occupation of upper Karabakh dominated the
two top diplomats’ talks. Gul pledged that the Turkish-Armenian border
gate would remain closed until Armenia ends its occupation, adding,
“Our bilateral ties with Armenia can be normalized when the occupation
ends.” Bilateral economic relations, including energy ventures, were
also taken up. In addition, Gul sought Baku’s backing for ending the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) international isolation. He
urged Mammedyarov to become a model for other countries to take steps
towards that end. /Star/

INFORMATION SPREAD BY AZERBAIJANI MASS MEDIA ON VIOLATION OF CEASE-FIRE
REGIME BY ARMENIA DOES NOT CORRESPOND TO REALITY

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11. ARMINFO. Information by the Azerbaijani party
on alleged fires by NKR and Armenian armed forces at the Azerbaijani
positions is spread to present Karabakh as a violator of cease-fire
regime. Such were the comments of the press service of the NKR Defense
Ministry to ARMINFO on a regular publication by Day.az on alleged
violation of cease-fire regime by Armenia.

The Karabakh party adheres to the cease-fire agreements and is
interested in stability and durable peace in the conflict zone,
the press service reports.

To note the above publication by Day.az was as follows: “Armenians
fired at the Azerbaijani positions in directions of the village
of Shikhlar, Aghdam region. As a result, a private Bekirov Shamil
Mashallah oghlu was wounded.” Head of the press service of Azerbaijani
Defense Ministry Ramiz Melikov says that soldier is in hospital and
his life is endangered.

TIGRAN MANSURIAN NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY

ArmenPress
Feb 11 2005

LOS ANGELES, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS: Prominent Armenian composer,
Tigran Mansurian, was nominated by a German company that produced
a laser disc with his works for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards that
will take place on February 13 in Los Angeles Classical Contemporary
Composition category.

Tigran Mansurian was born in Beirut in 1939. In 1947 his family
moved to Armenia, finally settling in the capital Yerevan in 1956.
Mansurian studied at the Yerevan Music Academy and completed
his PhD at the Komitas State Conservatory where he later taught
contemporary music analysis. In a short time he became one of Armenia’s
leading composers, establishing strong creative relationships with
international performers and composers such as Valentin Silvestrov,
Arvo Part, Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Andre Volkonsky and
Edison Denisov as well as Kim Kashkashian, Jan Garbarek, and the
Hilliard Ensemble.

Mansurian was the director of the Komitas Conservatory in the 1990s. He
has recently retired as an administrator and teacher, and concentrates
exclusively on composition. Mansurian’s musical style is characterized
mainly by the organic synthesis of ancient Armenian musical traditions
and contemporary European composition methods. His oeuvre comprises
orchestral works, seven concerti for strings and orchestra, sonatas
for cello and piano, three string quartets, madrigals, chamber music
and works for solo instruments.

SAAKASHVILI: GEORGIA NOW A “MODEL” COUNTRY

Eurasianet
February 11, 2005

Declaring Georgia “a proper state,” President Mikheil Saakashvili
delivered his annual state of the nation speech to parliament on
February 10. The upbeat speech was the Georgian leader’s first
detailed public statement on government policy since the death of
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, a leading architect of the country’s
reform program.

Saakashvili asserted that the 2003 Rose Revolution that brought his
administration to power had begun to accomplish its goals. “Georgia
was a failed state, disintegrated, demoralized and humiliated. It was
a country that had lost all attributes of statehood,” Saakashvili
said in condemning the administration of his predecessor, Eduard
Shevardnadze. In contrast, Saakashvili continued, Georgia in 2005 “is
a model country where every program is working in a model way.”

The president cited improved tax revenue collection and a new tax
code, an enlarged state budget, regular payment of government
salaries and pensions, and a crackdown on corruption as among his
administration’s successes in 2004. Increased tax flow and the timely
payment of state salaries and pensions – “the one area in which we
can claim success” — prompted the president to nominate Finance
Minister Zurab Noghaideli for prime minister, he said. “When a person
works so well, he should be promoted,” commented Saakashvili. The
president officially presented Noghaideli as his candidate for prime
minister on February 11. A special session of parliament is expected
to convene on either February 17 or February 18 to vote on Noghaideli
and other proposed cabinet changes, according to Speaker Nino
Burjanadze. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The February 1 explosion in Gori and the February 3 death of Zhvania
have shown “that we can deal with any unexpected changes, tragedies
and terrorist acts and remain strong, so that we still stand firm on
our own two feet,” Saakashvili said. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. “We are a country that has to reclaim the most
attractive part of its territory and which faces the strongest and
most aggressive – perhaps not the strongest but certainly the most
aggressive – forces in the world.”

Those “forces” were not named, but political observers believe
Saakashvili was referring to Russia, which has had a prickly
relationship with Georgia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet
Union. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In contrast
to Russia, Saakashvili characterized Georgia’s relations with
neighbors Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey as “idyllic.”

Saakashvili stated that he is ready to pay an official visit to
Moscow to “once again extend the hand of friendship to [Russian
President] Vladimir Putin, which . . . has been left hanging in the
air,” but added that Russia must be prepared to compromise on issues
that divide the two states.

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze announced on February
10 that talks in Tbilisi on a framework agreement with Russia have
not been successful, with Russian insistence that Georgia promise to
ban foreign military bases from its territory proving a key stumbling
block. Separate talks are continuing in Tbilisi about the removal of
two Russian military bases from outside the Georgian towns of
Akhalkalaki and Batumi. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

On the domestic front, electoral changes could soon be in the offing.
Georgia’s next parliament, due for election in 2008, could be a
smaller, two-chamber body with 150 members. Deputies would still be
elected according to a combination of single-mandate constituencies
and party lists, but “first past the post” seats would be decreased
from 75 to 50. Failing to make this change, the president said, would
“be humiliating” for voters who voted for the legislative overhaul in
a 2003 referendum. At the same time, Georgia’s cities could also see
their mayors elected, rather than appointed by the president.
Candidate cities for such a changeover were not named, but the
president stated that he expects the reform to happen within the
year. No timeline was set for Parliament’s makeover.

Saakashvili also announced his intention to overhaul the country’s
corruption-ridden, poorly financed education system, but provided no
details. The president emphasized that the judicial system, another
area where change has come slowly, should acquire “independent
courts,” but cautioned that “a dry place cannot exist in the middle
of a swamp.” Saakashvili placed heavy emphasis on the need for
political unity. He named the country’s European orientation, its
willingness to cooperate with international organizations and its
refusal to allow foreign bases on Georgian soil or tolerate foreign
interference in its internal affairs as among the tenets that all
political parties should accept. “No political party or person should
overstep this mark,” the president said, adding that those parties
that fail to support these principles should “automatically be
declared outside the law.”

David Gamkrelidze, leader of the opposition New Rights-Industrialists
coalition, termed the president’s remarks “a well-performed show.”
Gamkrelidze charged that Saakashvili had overlooked such problems as
price increases, unemployment, human rights violations, illegal
arrests and the August 2004 “military campaign fiasco” in South
Ossetia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The comments by Gamkrelidze, who also called on parliament to create
an independent commission to investigate Zhvania’s death, drew a
swift response from the president. “The only purpose of this
statement was to make people remember that it was Gamkrelidze who
made the most noise today,” Saakashvili said.

–Boundary_(ID_Cu10hdLhNRNAbW7b5Ny/ZQ)–

Pan Armenian Network

MONUMENT TO HOLOCAUST VICTIMS FELL BY ITSELF

11.02.2005 18:37

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Police refuted the information on
the act of vandalism regarding the monument to the Holocaust victims
in Yerevan. The examination of the monument showed that the granite
obelisk with 110 cm height and 17 cm width was strengthened with two
iron props at the height of 2.5 meters above the ground. No damages
were discovered on the monument.

“QARVATCHAR CAN BY NO MEANS BE HANDED OVER TO AZERBAIJAN”

Azg/arm
11 Feb 05

Davit Babayan, 32, is a political analyst from Stepanakert with a
masterâ~@~Ys degree in international relations of Central European
University in Budapest and American University of Armenia. He
was participant of a number of conferences on Caucasian issues in
Moscow, Sofia, Warsaw, Hungary and Austria. He is author of around
50 scientific publications.

– Davit, you were accompanying the OSCE monitoring group during its
mission in territories under Nagorno Karabakh forcesâ~@~Y control. You
said in Qarvatchar that that region should by no means be handed
over to Azerbaijan because of its geopolitical location and its
water resources.

– Qarvatchar can be considered one of the vital territories securing
Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia. Mountainous landscape makes it ideal
for defense. Besides, the most important rivers of Armenia, Tartar,
Khachen, Arpa and Vorotan originate here. Arpa and Vorotan are the
only guarantee for Sevana Lakeâ~@~Ys viability. Passing this territory
over to Azerbaijan will mean giving it a powerful weapon for putting
pressure on Artsakh and Armenia. Baku has already practiced such a
policy in 1970s and 1980s that resulted in upsurge of new diseases.
Nagorno Karabakh was leading in the number of people affected with
those infections in the South Caucasus. Besides, Baku constantly
proclaimed that Armenians bury nuclear waste in Qarvatchar. If they
take hold of the territory they may poison our water resources blaming
the alleged nuclear waste that Armenians buried.

– Davit, the monitoring group accomplished its technical mission. What
do you think may the possible developments in Karabakh issueâ~@~Ys
resolution be after the report on situation?

– Things may develop in various directions as neither the conflicting
sides nor the international institutions will show identical
approach to it. I would divide the possible developments into
outer and inner. Itâ~@~Ys not excluded that there will be outside
forces trying to put certain points of the report against us. They
will use the tactics of dragging humanitarian issues to political
sphere. For instance, after being convinced that there is no state
policy of inhabiting the territories supervised by Karabakh and
that thousands of people living there are refugees from Getashen,
Shahumian, Martakert, Baku and elsewhere, these forces will manipulate
the fact that hundreds of thousands Azeris live in tents and demand
that those people return. Such demands certainly will not help
conflictâ~@~Ys regulation. But I think that this approach will not
dominate international community. The work of the monitoring group
and the conditions Nagorno Karabakh creates will have a positive
impact on the republic, proving once again that Nagorno Karabakh is a
democratic and free state. This is an immensely important moment that
will surely play into our hands. As to inner developments, societies
in both Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh may make their demands to
the authorities. Our society may demand that a state program of
inhabiting the liberated territories elaborated and realized. And
the Azerbaijani society may demand that Baku puts more pressure on
international circles in the issue of refugees.

– Do you think it possible that the international community will
force Armenia and Karabakh to return part of the territories at least
since there are no Armenian settlers and no inhabitation is in process
while thousands of Azeris suffer hardship?

– I donâ~@~Yt think that the international community will force
Nagorno Karabakh to hand over any territory. The issue of territories
is political and is linked with Karabakhâ~@~Ys status.

– Azeri press was arguing lately that the US might use the territory
of Karabakh in case it attacks Iran. Do you think it possible?

– I think that such talks are political manipulations targeting at
aggravating Armenian-US and Armenian-Iranian relations. Even if there
is a military action between America and Iran, the US will use its
air force. In this view, the territory of Karabakh cannot be used as
there is no runway there. Any overland operation also seems unlikely
as the width of Arax River in Karabakh is 65-110 meters, depth â~@~S
1.1-1.8 and the current reaches 1-2.5 meters per second. Besides,
the Iranian border at this location is mountainous and there are many
strategic hills. From this perspective, Azerbaijanâ~@~Ys territory
is better for the US.

By Tatoul Hakobian

–Boundary_(ID_n+Sv/Eeg5JEXVYBGzhpGCA)–

Wayne hosts delegation of Azerbaijani women
By Sam Strike 02/10/2005

Wayne Suburban Newspapers, PA
Feb 10 2005

Eleven women, all specialists in women’s issues in the former Soviet
republic of Azerbaijan, visited the Women’s Resource Center in Wayne
last week as part of a two-and-a-half week program in the
Philadelphia area.
The group members are technically guests of the U.S. Department of
State through a program called Community Connections at the
International Visitors Council (IVC).
Participants apply and are selected by being emerging leaders in
various fields to meet their respective counterparts in the States
and to live in area homes and be exposed to a diversity of American
experiences.
They spoke through their accompanying translators at the center.
Volunteer coordinator for the center Trish Larsen said that the staff
“thought it was informative and interesting in that some of the
pressing issues in our countries are similar, but cultural issues
make them different too.”
Among the topics discussed were emotional and physical abuse, divorce
and the traditional roles of women in their country. The visitors
said that in Azerbaijan many girls are marrying young, and once in
marriages are very limited in their personal freedoms.
“It seems that they still have quite a fight… I thought they were
about 20 years behind us in some women’s rights,” Larsen said. “I did
feel unfortunately they have a lot of work to do.”
Most questions asked by the visitors were directed at Counseling and
Legal Services Coordinator Sherrie Myers and how she would handle
certain situations that have been brought to her by area women.
“I thought they were trying hard to figure out how we make this work
here,” Larsen said of the women. They were curious how the Women’s
Resource Center is funded.
“They seem to get a lot of volunteers through the universities but we
have more women who are in different stages of life,” she said.
Wayne residents Art and Marge Miller have been hosting people from
Azerbaijan and Russia through the IVC for 10 years.
“We learn a lot, about as much as the people who are visiting,” Art
said. “It gives us a perspective on their lives, and it’s interesting
to see the things we have that they don’t.”
The two women staying with them now, newspaper correspondent Zulfiyya
Aliyeva and program officer for the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees Naila Valikhanova, had never seen a garbage disposal
function before. It was fascinating to them, he said.
What fascinated the Millers was the women’s tales of the country’s
long-standing tension with neighboring Armenia.
“We feel free to pretty much talk about anything and they are too…
and they’re free to express their opinions and they do,” Art said.
The Millers, who have lived in the area since 1974, currently write
books together.
“When we first began hosting these visits we assumed they didn’t know
much about computers because that was a new thing to us, but we found
out both are very up to date with computers, and they e-mail back and
forth to their families,” Art said.
“Americans tend to think we know everything and others need to catch
up – it was a humbling experience,” he said.
Azerbaijan – a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population –
regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, it has yet to resolve its conflict
with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (largely
Armenian-populated), according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s
World Factbook. Azerbaijan has lost 16 percent of its territory and
must support some 800,000 refugees and internally displaced persons
as a result of the conflict. It borders the Caspian Sea in Southwest
Asia.
The women were not allowed to be interviewed by The Suburban as per
rules handed down from the U.S. Department of State.

Armenians claim capture of spy

Arminfo
9 Feb 05

Yerevan, 9 February: The Armenian law-enforcement bodies have arrested
an Azerbaijani spy.

The Armenian National Security Service arrested an Armenian citizen and
agent for the Azerbaijani special services as a result of operational
and intelligence measures, the press service of the National Security
Service told Arminfo news agency.

The source said the citizen, whose name has not been divulged so as
not to prejudice the investigation, was arrested this month.

An investigation has been launched under Article 229 of the Armenian
Criminal Code (high treason, espionage). The investigation department
of the Armenian National Security Service is carrying out the
investigation.

NATO Secretary General to receive report on Garabagh conflict

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 9 2005

Baku, February 8, AssA-Irada — NATO Secretary General’s special envoy
on South Caucasus and Central Asia, Robert Simons, says he is pleased
with the status of NATO-Azerbaijan relations. “I am very satisfied
with the current level of ties between the alliance and Azerbaijan”,
he told a news briefing at the Foreign Ministry on the results of
his visit to Baku.

Simons said that NATO and Azerbaijan are co-operating extensively
in numerous fields. He added that work on the Individual Partnership
Plan has been completed, and its implementation will begin following
its approval by NATO.

Simons continued that he had met with Azeri officials dealing with
the document and discussed with them all matters relating to its
efficient realization. He commented that he was satisfied with all
the work underway in this area. A NATO working group is due to visit
Baku in mid-February to clarify certain details.

Simons added that while in Azerbaijan, he also met with his colleagues
to discuss the Upper Garabagh conflict. He said that he had collected
enough data on the matter and would submit a relevant report to the
NATO Secretary General.*

Harvard Crimson, MA
Feb 9 2005

Students Keep Peace Vigil for Iraq

By JENNIFER XIN-JIA ZHANG
Contributing Writer

Every Wednesday at noon, in sun, rain or heavy snow, about 30 people
congregate at the John Harvard statue for a few minutes, but they are
not tourists. They have gathered to discuss the war in Iraq.
Their meetings, commonly known as the Harvard-Cambridge Walk for
Peace, generally begin with five to 15 minutes of discussion about
the most recent events in the war: attacks in Fallujah, uproar over
the first elections, handing over authority to a provisional Iraqi
government, or the latest bit of American reporting on the subject.
Afterwards, the group walks silently around Harvard Yard, single
file, each person holding up a sign with the name of someone who has
been killed in Iraq.

And since last May, the Walk for Peace has attracted high-profile
liberal speakers like Howard Zinn, James Carroll, and Noam Chomsky.
Most recently, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey
Minister in Memorial Church Peter J. Gomes offered a pacifistic plea
despite the January snow.

Steven B. Bloomfield ’77, associate director of the Weatherhead
Center for International Affairs, decided to organize the weekly walk
nine months ago as a response to the Abu Ghraib scandals.

“I had a moment of conscience in which I was reacting to the Abu
Ghraib prison torture and abuse that Americans were perpetrating,”
Bloomfield says. “I came to think it was a behavior that needed to be
recognized, there needed to be a public coming together of people,
and the awareness that the people of Arab nations were not being
served by these acts.”

Bloomfield contacted his colleagues and friends. News of the group
has since spread by word of mouth and e-mails over house lists. Soon,
participants as diverse as Harvard undergraduates, members of
Veterans for Peace, and Harvard faculty and staff began to show up.

The meetings are not loud, but rather a moment for students and other
members of the Harvard community to contemplate the events overseas,
and share their thoughts with like-minded people.

“Each little step might not make much of a difference, but its the
cumulative effect that does. If nothing’s done, then the war will
never stop,” says Eva S. Moseley, a Cantabrigian who has been a
regular participant in the walk for peace since last summer.

“It reminds anyone who sees us and gets the message that not all
Americans are behind whats happening in Iraq. I hope that it helps to
give people the courage to speak out,” she adds.

Daphne Abeel, a reporter for the Armenian Mirror-Spectator and a
parishioner of Reverend Gomes, attended her first Walk for Peace on
Jan. 26 to hear him speak.

“I opposed the war from the very beginning and I took part in much
larger protests prior to what I call ‘the invasion,'” she says.

While Abeel says that she has noticed fewer students than she would
have expected, and has been surprised by the lack of involvement by
many undergraduates, Bloomfield commented that certain speakers drew
a larger turnout.

When Zinn spoke last June, Bloomfield estimated that at least 90
people came to listen and walk. Zinn was delivering an address about
the transference of power to Iraqi authorities, as well as the
historical significance of student movements, according to
Bloomfield.

On the whole, however, Bloomfield feels that undergraduate
participation is an area where we need to grow.

Participation by Harvard students has been low, says Henry G. Walters
06, adding that only about two or three Harvard undergraduates come
regularly, despite weekly e-mail announcements.

“I know a lot of students were critical of the war in Iraq, or
willing to be critical during a dinner conversation, but I wish that
more of them would carry their opinions outside the safety of their
houses,” he says. “We can deplore suffering and we can deplore the
loss of a life, but I think that we have to keep this as a part of
our everyday consciousness.”

Walters says that the weekly walk is ultimately more contemplative
than political for him. He does not consider himself a pacifist in
general, but says that these vigils allow him a moment of
contemplation about the suffering occurring overseas.

“I think its very easy to get caught up in the bubble of school and
not ever have time to think seriously, and I think this offers a
chance to do that,” Walters says.

Bloomfield says that he hopes that his walk for peace will spread
more widely throughout the Boston-Cambridge area. He has no plan to
stop the gatherings in the foreseeable future.

He says that the seeds are already planted for similar gatherings at
Boston University, Boston College, and Suffolk University, where
vigils are also held likewise every Wednesday at noon.

Feb 9 2005