Author: Madatian Greg

NEW HEADS OF NKR MARTUNI AND MARTAKERT REGIONS APPOINTED

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2007

Today Nagorno-Karabagh Republic PM Araik Harutyunian signed decrees, in
line with which heads of Martuni and Martakert regions’ administrations
Rudik Azarian and Karlen Petrossian were relived of their posts.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR government’s
Press Office, Valery Khachatrian and Sergey Ohanian had been appointed
new heads of NKR Martuni and Martakert regions correspondingly.

ARF DENIES "BREAK APART" IDEOLOGY
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkharh Daily, Armenia
Sept 26 2007

Yesterday, in "Pastark" club member of ARF bureau, Deputy -Chair
of the National Assembly Vahan Hovhannisyan touched upon the
pre-election autumn "breeze" and over again spoke about the "yarn"
of Dashnakstutyun’s decision to run for the forthcoming presidential
elections with their own candidate.

The speaker formulated two pivotal statements regarding the forthcoming
electoral "battles". "First – do our people accept the reports
saying that the election returns are pre-determined? And do they
agree to participate in the political processes with pre-determined
results. As showed by experience – they don’t. We often speak about the
disappointed attitude of our people and their passive participation in
the elections. This passiveness, this disappointment and unwillingness
is due to the fact that no one wants to accept a pre-determined
path. Everyone wants to see real elections." Though, to be true,
people have always participated actively in the state elections.

Anyway "Dashnaktsutyun will never accept any announcements regarding
pre-determined results or a path. We don’t need a pre-arranged format,
path or a trap," NA Deputy-Chair states.

The second main issue, important for Dashnaktsutyun at this stage is,
"Whether the quality of the pre-election processes will be the same
as it used to be, or we will manage to arrange civilized, political
debates, instead of following "break apart" ideology.

We do not accept "either, or", "black or white", "break apart"
ideologies. We do not accept the agenda issue of the opposition to
stage a coup d’etat. It is the authorities that prompt the opposition
to make similar announcements, later they get an opportunity to
oppress them and put restrictions."

Vahan Hovhannisyan states," Armenia and Armenians have become mature
enough to have a civilized opposition and a civilized authority. Very
often representatives of Mass Media and politicians or those who
consider themselves politicians are surprised at the idea of having
a positive or a constructive opposition.

Whereas in the whole civilized world, as a rule, opposition is
positive and constructive, and those who appear from the position of
"break apart" (or, as the ex-President used to say "decomposing",
"decaying"&quot ; policy, "all the brown, red or black extremists are
representatives of marginal position and out of political processes."

This model is, alas, not actual in our reality. This is the reason
of the syndrome of "two surprises" connected with Dashnaktsutyun’s
pre-election tactics.

"The first unexpected thing is, why Dashnaktsutyun made a decision
to nominate their candidate for Presidency. Only those who didn’t
perceive Dashnaktsutyun’s political programs in a serious way and were
not serious about the fact that after the elections Dashnaktsutyun
preferred not to form part of the political coalition but to sign
an agreement on mutual understanding and mutual assistance with
coalition," the guest of "Pastark" club recorded.

The second unexpected thing is that Dashnaktsutyun has nominated two
candidates, at this stage. "Actually we must be surprised at the fact
that some parties don’t even discuss, because it is obvious who will
be the candidate. Or some people nominate themselves, not interested
in whether society needs them or not. No one considers it strange."

In response to the announcement made by the member of "Bargavach
Hayastan" party, saying that decency requires "calling back" their
Ministers, and only after that to appear from the position of a
"positive, constructive" opposition, V. Hovhannisyan said," those
must speak about decency whose political viewpoints and publications
usually contradict in a very short period of time. To be decent means
not to cheat and be honest with others. If someone from "Bargavach
Hayastan" or RPA points out that Dashnaktsutyun has breached at
least one point of the agreement on cooperation they can annul it,
with all the consequences deriving there of. But they can’t, because
we didn’t breach any point."

If by miracle Serge Sargsyan has to campaign against Levon
Ter-Petrosyan, at the second phase of the elections, whom will ARF
support? In response to this rather strange question V. Hovhannisyan
gave a rather diplomatic answer. " We haven’t even discussed such an
issue. It is a matter of discussion, but it is not urgent."

Second," I don’t think Levon Ter-Petrosyan will nominate his
candidacy. But this step can even be welcome, because it will shift
the political debate from tactical to strategic issues and will make
the debate more ideological. It is their decision we don’t see any
problem here."

As for slogan of "recovering democratic freedom" with which Levon
Ter-Petrosyan signified his second revelation, "you can say anything,
especially if you have loose tongue."

RUSSIA-ARMENIA TRADE DOUBLES TO EXCEED $0.5 BLN BY YEAREND – LEVITIN

ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 14, 2007 Friday
Russia

The Russian-Armenian trade can exceed 0.5 billion U.S. dollars by
the end of this year, Russia’s Acting Minister of Transport Igor
Levitin said on Friday, addressing a meeting of the Russian-Armenian
Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.

The Russian minister and Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
co-chair the commission.

While addressing the meeting, Levitin stressed that bilateral trade
doubled from January through June as compared to the same months
of 2006.

"Trade and economic relations between our countries are really in
progress as business communities in Russia and in Armenia trust their
authorities," Levitin said.

Russian investments in Armenian economy went up to 74 million U.S.

dollars in the first half of the year, the Russian minister said. He
thanked the Armenian government for the encouragement and support
of investments.

The two sides do their best to improve transport communication,
although Russia and Armenia have no common borders, Levitin said.

Sarkisyan, in turn, gave an example of a real progress in the
transport area: a regular ferry Port Kavkaz – Poti – Port Kavkaz,
which gradually increases the cargo and passenger traffic.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Patriarch Mutafyan’s speech cancelled over Armenian pressure?
22.09.2007 14:49 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A planned speech at a Washington university
yesterday by Patriarch Mesrob II Mutafyan, religious leader of Turkish
Armenians has been canceled.

Mesrob II, who arrived in the U.S. capital earlier in the week, was
scheduled to deliver a speech called "The Impasse between Turks and
Armenians Must Be Broken" at Georgetown’s University’s Woodstock
Theological Center. But an announcement on the center’s Web site said
Wednesday the speech was "postponed due to logistical conflict."

Turkish Daily News reports that `the event has been cancelled
following pressure on the university by U.S. Armenian groups over
Partiarch’s opposition to the Armenian Genocide Resolution.’

Asked by reporters if his speech was canceled because of U.S. Armenian
pressure, the patriarch said, "it may have been."

The Armenian National Committee of America recently sent a letter to
all 535 Congressional offices regarding the upcoming visit of
Patriarch Mutafyan of Constantinople.

As ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter, the letter stresses that: "the Patriarch – like the leaders
of all religious minorities in Turkey – lives in constant fear of acts
of discrimination and retribution by a Turkish government that
actively persecutes those who speak freely on human rights and other
`sensitive’ issues. As a virtual hostage, the Patriarch – whose life
has been threatened on many occasions – will, as has in the past, be
forced to follow the Turkish government’s line. It is truly shameful
that Turkey has resorted to using coercion – cynically taking
advantage of the concern of Patriach Mesrob for the safety of his
flock – in a last ditch bid to block the adoption of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution."

A1+

NEW LINES WITH SERGE SARGSYAN
[08:11 pm] 21 September, 2007

RA Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan congratulated the Armenian people on
the Independence Day,

On September 21, 1991, we opened a new page in the history of
Armenia. Triumphant victory, suppressed crisis, high economic growth,
institutes characteristic of modern countries, developing
social-political field and a great potential for great achievements –
here is the contents of the page. I am confident we shall add new
lines to the page.

We have encountered and still encounter difficulties on our way –
misery, corruption, and violated rights. We have always combated
against such phenomena with sober and determined mind. That very
sobriety makes us promote the country’s further prosperity with
assiduousness, compassion and devotion.

US Department of State, DC

Interview With Murat Akgun of NTV

R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political
Affairs
Ankara, Turkey
September 20, 2007

QUESTION: Mr. Burns, good morning and welcome to the NTV studio.

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Thank you very much.

QUESTION: It’s not a secret that the Turkish public is expecting a
step or steps from the United States of America against the PKK as
soon as possible, especially in northern Iraq. Do you think that we
can see such steps in northern Iraq in the short term?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We are Turkey’s greatest supporter on the
PKK. We are against the PKK; we classify it as a terrorist
organization; we do not give it any support; and we entirely
sympathize with the Turkish people, the Turkish government. There was
just an attack two days ago. A soldier was killed here in Turkey and I
believe over 150 people have been killed this year by the PKK
alone. And so we’ve got to work with Turkey and we want to work with
Turkey to try to end this threat. Part of the answer will be working
with the Iraqi leadership, specifically the Kurdish leadership in
northern Iraq, to try to get them to give political support to the
effort to stop the PKK. But we support Turkey entirely on this issue.

QUESTION: Last week there was a question to you from a journalist in
Washington, if I’m not wrong. The question was can we see a step or
steps from the US against the PKK in the next six months and then you
said I believe so. If this is the correct answer as I remember it,
what are you waiting for for some steps, especially in the military
field in northern Iraq?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, I think that the imperative here is two
steps. First is to isolate the PKK diplomatically, convince the
European countries not to allow the PKK to establish political front
organizations in European capitals and is to brand the PKK and
castigate it internationally as a terrorist organization. We the
United States have contributed to that goal with Turkey, working with
the Turkish government, and will continue that. The second is — are
there concrete measures that can be taken to protect the Turkish
people and to protect the Turkish military from cross-border attacks?
We are working with the Turkish government and the Iraqi government to
try to create that environment where the PKK will no longer be able to
attack. So we want to be helpful and we’re working with the Turkish
government towards that end.

QUESTION: Are we still in the first step, Mr. Burns?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: No, I think we’ve…we’ve been in the first
step for ten years. We are in both the first and second phases. And
both of them are important.

QUESTION: You were talking about cooperation between Iraqi authorities
and Turkey and especially Kurdish leadership and Turkey, but now there
are two important questions. First, Iraqi authorities have no power
everywhere in the country and second, the Kurdish leadership do not
even qualify PKK as a terrorist organization. In this case, what kind
of cooperation do you expect between Turks and Kurds?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, I think there has to be political
dialogue, frankly, with the Iraqi leadership and the Turkish
government and the two have to talk. Hopefully the Turkish government
and the United States government can convince the Iraqi leadership
that this particular organization is a violent organization, it
doesn’t deserve to have any political support whatsoever, and it has
to be kept away from the border areas with Turkey so that it cannot
launch its strikes across the border. That is primarily a political
question. So discussions are important. The United States can help to
facilitate these discussions. We have our own discussions with the
Iraqi government. I know that Prime Minister Maliki was here in Ankara
just a couple of months ago. I know that he said some very critical
things about the PKK when he was here and it was good to see that.

QUESTION: But on the other hand, during the visit of Mr. Maliki we
couldn’t even succeed to sign an agreement concerning the fight
against terrorism.

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, there’s no question that Turkey deserves
help from the United States. We are your ally. We are your friend. As
a victim of terrorism, and we are a victim of terrorism, we sympathize
entirely with the Turkish people and Turkish government so you should
consider us your closest collaborator in this fight against the PKK.

QUESTION: When you say that the United States of America is also the
victim of terrorism, I just remembered the statement of the Prime
Minister of Turkey the day before yesterday. He said that even the
Pentagon could not handle the terrorism. How do you evaluate this
remark?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, I think that first of all I had a very
good meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan yesterday and I think that
we, all of us, realize that the fight against terrorism is not going
to be easy, that there are times when we’ll have successes and there
will be times when we’ll have setbacks, but we’ve got to have a
consistent effort. And it had to be universal. It has to be all
democratic countries working together so in that respect I think
there’s a great connection between Turkey and the United States
because we both need to struggle against terrorism, which is affecting
both of our peoples.

QUESTION: Well, there’s a discussion among the public in Turkey
whether Turkish armed forces should make an operation into northern
Iraq or not, if there is not enough cooperation between the Iraqi
Kurdish leadership and Iraqi central authorities and Turkey. Do you
think that it’s going to be a legitimate right of Turkey to make an
operation against PKK targets?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We hope there will be adequate consultations
and cooperation with the Iraqi government that will make it
unnecessary for Turkey to take such an action. Obviously Iraq is a
country that has experienced incredible trauma over the last four and
a half years. We don’t want to see anything develop that would further
destabilize Iraq and so our vast preference would be to see the kind
of trilateral cooperation among Iraq, Turkey and the United States
that will make such an operation not necessary. And that’s the goal of
our policy.

QUESTION: I will have one more question concerning Iraq. There are
press reports that the United States of America will withdraw forces
from Iraq next year more and more and according to the same reports
the Washington administration would like to use some harbors and bases
in Turkey. During your visit to Ankara did you have any specific
request concerning this issue to the Turkish authorities?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: I didn’t have…I did not have any specific
request to the Turkish authorities and I can just tell you that
President Bush spoke last week, a week ago, about our policy in
Iraq. He was very clear that the United States will maintain our
military forces in Iraq and that we intend to be successful there.

QUESTION: Iraq is not the only issue in the Middle East or among our
neighbors. I would like to ask a question about Iran. How would you
evaluate the cooperation between Iran and Turkey due to the fact that
they are two neighboring countries?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, first of all, we believe that Iran is a
serious threat to peace. Iran is funding most of the Middle East
terrorist groups and arming many of them. Iran is also trying to
achieve a nuclear weapons capability. So Iran is a dangerous
country. We want to work diplomatically, hopefully peacefully, with
surrounding countries to try to isolate the Iranians. And, frankly,
the United Nations has decided on sanctioning Iran so we are very
pleased that Turkey is implementing the sanctions passed by the United
Nations. We don’t believe there should be a business-as-usual attitude
between any country and Iran because we need to pressure Iran
economically so it will be more inclined to negotiate on this nuclear
question.

QUESTION: There was very strong, hard statements from the French
President and the French Foreign Minister concerning the nuclear
capacity of Iran. Mr. Kouchner even mentioned the possibility of a war
against Iran. Is it an option – a war between Iran and western
countries or an operation of the United States of America if they do
have nuclear weapons?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, there’s no question in our minds that the
achievement by the Iranian government in the future of a nuclear
weapons capability would change the balance of power in the Middle
East in a very negative way – for Turkey, for the United States, for
all of the European countries – so all of us want to stop the Iranians
from doing so. We have said, we Americans, that we wish to pursue
diplomacy, that we wish to work with other countries to try to
convince the Iranians that they need to stop. Now, one way to do that
is through negotiations. We’ve offered negotiations with Iran. Iran
had turned us down twice in the last year. We’ve said that we’ll sit
with Russia and China and the European countries, we the United
States, together, talk to the Iranians and try to figure out a
diplomatic way forward, but the Iranians have said no to the
negotiations and they continue their nuclear research programs. That’s
why we’ve turned to sanctions, economic sanctions, at the Security
Council. And we would like all countries to support those sanctions.

QUESTION: Do you still believe that there is risk of war in the area
because of the nuclear capacity of Iran in the short term or mid-term?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, we hope very much to prevent a war. We
hope very much that through a tough-minded policy of leverage of
sanctions against Iran the Iranians will understand they are isolated
in the world. Name the countries that support Iran in this quest for
nuclear weapons – maybe Syria, maybe North Korea, maybe Belarus, maybe
Cuba. There are very few countries supporting Iran in its quest for
nuclear weapons in terms of its political aspirations. But most of the
countries of the world are arrayed against Iran and advocating that
Iran stop its nuclear weapons development and so it’s important that
Iran listen to the voice of the international community and understand
how isolated it is.

QUESTION: A question about Syria – there was serious tension between
Israel and Syria in recent days. There was a protest from the Turkish
government to Israel. What kind of role may Turkey have concerning
the tension between Israel and Syria and in general concerning the
Middle East process, including the peace conference at the end of next
month in Istanbul?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well I think in general Turkey is a unique
country in the Middle East and has influence in the Middle East
because Turkey can talk to nearly everyone and we appreciate the fact
that Turkey has a good relationship with Israel. We appreciate the
fact that Turkey is so close to some of the moderate Arab states. In
the case of Syria and Iran, both of those countries are supporting
terrorism and both of them are supporting Hezbollah which is a
negative influence in the region and so we appreciate the fact that
Turkey is a country that can send strong messages and communicate with
countries to try to convince them to turn away in the case of Iran
from a nuclear weapons program, in the case of Syria, from its support
for terrorism.

QUESTION: About Cyrus, there were elections in Turkey and Greece and
now we’re going to have elections in the Greek part of Cyprus by the
beginning of next year. What’s going to happen? Do you see the chance
of the development of a permanent solution at the end of 2008 in
Cyprus?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We hope there can be progress in Cyprus. It’s
been far too long. It’s been so many decades where there has been no
peace in Cyprus…

QUESTION: I’m asking about a solution…

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Well, we believe that the United Nations should
restart its effort to find a peaceful solution and a just solution to
the problem of Cyprus. The United States of course will be involved in
this, as will Turkey, as will Greece and many other countries. We
think it’s very, very important that there be progress this year if
that’s possible. Now we know that Mr. Papadopoulos and Mr. Talat met
recently. I don’t know if that meeting produced many positive
results. I had very good discussions here in Ankara with the Turkish
authorities. We are working with Turkey; we are working with Greece;
and I look forward to meeting the Cypriot leader, President
Papadopoulos, as well as Mr. Talat to see if we can push this process
forward.

QUESTION: Last question concerning Turkish-Armenia relations. We know
that the Washington administration wants Turkey to take some steps to
normalization relations between the two countries but how about the
Armenian responsibility? Don’t you think that Armenia should also do
something? For example withdraw its forces from Azerbaijan’s occupied
territory?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: We have been concerned to see that since 1991
there has been no normalization of relations between Turkey and
Armenia. Turkey is an ally; Armenia is a friend. So we wish to see
progress there. Obviously this is up to the two countries to work out
and it’s going to be a two-way street as any relationship is in
international diplomacy but our hope would be that there could be a
normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, that the border
could be opened, there could be normal commerce and trade and a
peaceful relationship. That may take some time, it may be difficult,
but it’s a necessary step in our view. And we hope to see the same
kind of changes here within Turkey that will make this a place where
minorities such as the Armenian population can live here in a peaceful
way and contribute to Turkish society.

QUESTION: Mr. Burns, thank you very much for answering my questions.

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: It’s a pleasure. Thank you very much.

AZERBAIJAN DISSATISFIED WITH CE ATTITUDE TOWARDS NAGORNO-KARABAKH: AZERBAIJANI MP

Trend News Agency
20.09.2007 13:49:52

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Alizade / Azerbaijan is dissatisfied
with the attitude of the Council of Europe (CE) towards the
Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, MP Samed Seyidov,
the Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Commission on International
Relations and Interparliamentary Relations, as well as the head of the
Azerbaijani parliamentary delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly
of the CE, said in a meeting led by Chetin Kazak, Chairman of the
Sub-committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO on democratic
governance.

"The Council of Europe (CE) has not yet condemned Armenia’s aggression
towards Azerbaijan and has not stated its position. The same can be
said about other international organizations along with the NATO PA,
Seyidov said.

The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988
due to territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and its seven surrounding Districts. Since 1992, these
territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time
the active hostilities ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group
(Russia, France and USA) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Seyidov said that in January 2005, PACE took a resolution on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Furthermore, an Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
operates within PACE. "The resolution reflects the occupation of the
Azerbaijani territory and the danger related with the unsettlement
of the conflict," the chairman of the commission said.

In his turn Kazak said that NATO is aware of problems in the South
Caucasus region. "Over the past few years the alliance has attached
great importance to the resolution of the conflict and problems in
the South Caucasus. At the same time NATO’s interest in the region
has increased," he added

A visit of the delegation of the Sub-Committee of the NATO
Parliamentary Committee to Azerbaijan began on 19 September. During
the visit the delegation will hold meetings at the Interior Ministry,
the Security Ministry, and Milli Majis. NATO delegation plans to
study the political, economic, military and human rights situation
and to become familiar with reforms in these spheres. The results of
the visit will be included a report.

Eurasia Daily Monitor

September 19, 2007 — Volume 4, Issue 173

NABUCCO GAS PIPELINE PROJECT IS BACK ON TRACK

by Vladimir Socor

All players involved in the Nabucco gas pipeline project got their act
together at a conference on September 14-15 in Budapest. The European Union
demonstrated for the first time a hands-on commitment to the project. The
Hungarian government announced its re-commitment after a year’s wavering.
Azerbaijan’s Energy and Industry Minister, Natig Aliyev, confirmed his
country’s willingness to help kick-start Nabucco’s first phase from the
Shah-Deniz gas field’s first and second production phases, pending solutions
to Central Asian gas supplies for Nabucco’s second phase. The United States
had worked quietly with all these parties.

The European Union’s Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, termed
Nabucco `an embodiment of the existence of a common European energy policy’
in his speech at the conference. He announced the appointment of Jozias van
Aartsen, former minister of foreign affairs of the Netherlands, as EU
coordinator of the Nabucco project, with a four-year mandate. The EU had
included Nabucco among the four top-priority energy projects already last
year, but the Commission took a long time before filling the coordinators’
posts.

The proposed pipeline would originate in eastern Turkey and run for
3,300 kilometers via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to Austria, with a
projected capacity of 30-35 billion cubic meters of gas annually. The
consortium includes Turkey’s pipeline company Botas, Bulgaria’s pipeline
operator Bulgargaz, Romania’s Romgaz, Hungary’s MOL, and Austria’s OMV as
project leader. The initial feasibility study, funded by the EU and
completed in 2004, awaits updating. The cost of building the pipeline is
currently estimated at 5 billion.

The consortium seeks a sixth participant company in Western Europe. At
the Budapest conference, top executives of Germany’s RWE and of Gaz de
France announced the respective companies’ willingness to seriously consider
joining the consortium. RWE, a major energy conglomerate in northwestern
Germany, also announced its availability to invest up to 1 billion in
Caspian upstream operations. Gaz de France — which is now merging with the
other French champion, Suez, into GDF-Suez, to be 35% state-owned — had
earlier begun negotiations to join Nabucco and confirmed its interest at
this conference.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a visit to Hungary that coincided
with the Nabucco conference, encouraged GDF to support the Nabucco project.
Sarkozy, who is the son of a Hungarian post-war refugee to France, addressed
the Hungarian parliament to underscore his support for a common EU policy on
energy and, specifically, for the Nabucco project to reduce dependence on
Russian gas.

Hungarian government leaders did their best to dispel the year-old
perception that they would go for Gazprom’s Blue Stream-Two pipeline
project, which is Nabucco’s rival. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and
Economics Minister Janos Koka (Socialist and Free Democrat, respectively)
delivered keynote addresses re-committing the government to Nabucco. The
prime minister pledged `Hungary’s total support,’ as `it would be dumb for a
country or a region to feel content with a single supplier.’ In an
accompanying statement, Koka admitted, `We were mistaken in repeating too
often that the [Nabucco] project was just a dream, and so we actually
contributed to the project’s remaining a dream.’

Left almost unsaid was the opposition Fidesz party’s consistent
political support for Nabucco, leading ultimately to the formation of a
cross-party Hungarian consensus in favor of the project.

The project’s financial picture looks encouraging, on the whole. The
consortium expects to cover 70% of the construction costs through bank
loans, primarily from the European Investment Bank, which clearly shows
interest in the project. The consortium is also in discussions with the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other institutions.
Some of the consortium’s companies or governments are, however, reluctant to
contribute to the remaining 30% portion of the construction costs.

The consortium, Nabucco Gas Pipeline International, hopes to reach
decisions in the coming months with regard to choosing the sixth participant
company, preparing the inter-governmental agreements, front-end engineering
for the pipeline’s construction, and its first-phase financing. The
consortium’s managing director, Reinhard Mitschek, presented a rather
ambitious calendar for these steps, expecting construction work to begin in
2009. In that case, the first gas should flow through the pipeline in 2012.

Azerbaijan is waiting to be approached with specific, binding
contracts on a take-or-pay basis for gas supplies to the Nabucco pipeline’s
first phase. But this can only be a stopgap solution, if the pipeline is to
be used at the projected capacity — that is, if the project looks
commercially viable in order to line up the investment funds. That issue in
turn hinges on opening direct access to Central Asian gas or Iranian gas,
assuming a major U.S. and EU engagement to resolve the political issues
involved.

–Vladimir Socor

DEPUTY SPEAKER COVERS UP CRIME
Hakob Badalyan

Lragir.am
19-09-2007 13:05:52

Vahan Hovanisyan, five minutes to presidential candidate when
the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s General Meeting decided that he and Armen
Rustamyan must compete for being the party’s "own candidate", stated
that the society should know which president will owe his election
to an organized force and which president will owe his election to
criminals. In fact, here is a frank pronouncement. Generally, it is
difficult to accuse any member of Dashnaktsutyun of dishonesty. They
all use the dishonesty that the Republicans commit. And the Republicans
do not trust dishonesty to Dashnaktsutyun perhaps because they fear
that they will spoil everything, and the "state of things will change"
not only for Dashnaktsutyun but also for them.

Apparently, however, the situation has changed, and Dashnaktsutyun
nominated two presidential candidates at once, and one of the
candidates hinted that a president may be elected who will owe his
election to criminals.

Perhaps Vahan Hovanisyan should already learn since he is a mature and
experienced politician, that people know whom each president owes for
election. People know which president is elected, or which president
is simply appointed to that position. Meanwhile, people may doubt that
Vahan Hovanisyan does not know who is backed by a political force, and
who is backed by criminals. If he knows, he is expected to announce the
names. Why does the representative of the ARF Bureau, the ARF candidate
or the minicandidate fail to specify which presidential candidate,
which of his likely opponents he suspects of intention to become
president with the help of criminals? Or did Vahan Hovanisyan mean
the competition between him and Armen Rustamyan? The society may have
different thoughts if the Dashnaktsutyun comrade does not give the name
but makes customary statements. Which one could be backed by criminals?

Perhaps the deputy speaker of the National Assembly should have
already been invited to the office of prosecutor general, although
the procuracy is perhaps still celebrating the reappointment of Aghvan
Hovsepyan, and the criminals use the opportunity and attack reporters
and shoot at each other in the yard in the middle of the day. But as
soon as the celebrations end, perhaps besides catching the criminals
the procuracy should invite Vahan Hovanisyan for a talk, and if he
hides the name of the candidate which may be elected president with the
support of criminals not only from the society but also from the law
enforcement agencies, it means the member of the ARF Bureau covers up a
crime that will be committed. Maybe everyone, including the government,
is used that Dashnaktsutyun may say anything, all they want is that
Dashnaktsutyun do nothing. This is another problem though. But the
law-enforcement agencies must make sufficient efforts to protect the
security of the country. Meanwhile, the country has no security if the
presidential candidate, let alone the president, relies on criminals.

IN THE ‘VENICE OF THE EAST,’ A HISTORY OF DIVERSITY
Sam Dagher, correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Christian Science Monitor, MA
September 18, 2007 edition

Basra’s waterfront: Married couples sat on benches recently in an
area that once buzzed with nightlife.

Basra was once known as a teeming port city that boasted a mix of
culture and religion.

For Iraqis, Basra is "Thagher el-Iraq," meaning Iraq’s mouth. For
Basrawis, as the province’s natives are known, it’s the "Venice of the
East," with its meandering canals and gondola-shaped boats decorated
with flowers that once carried newlyweds and lovers.

To Basrawis, with their distinctive and strong sense of southern
identity, known as janoubiyah, their city is the equivalent of New
York City and, they will tell you, has been unjustly playing second
fiddle to Baghdad.

Basra Province has the bulk of Iraq’s gigantic oil reserves, estimated
at more than 200 billion barrels.

It’s a major trade and commerce hub on the Persian Gulf. The legendary
globe-trotting Sinbad the Sailor character from the "One Thousand
and One Nights" fables called Basra home. The city’s cosmopolitan
flair is evident in its people, cuisine, dance, and the music that
once echoed on its streets.

The city was once full of different religious groups: Shiites, Sunnis,
Christians of all sects, ancient communities like the Sabean Mandaeans,
Armenians, and Jews. But most, other than the Shiites, have left.

Basra was also home to some of Iraq’s most beloved writers and poets,
such as Badr Shakir al-Sayab.

The native cuisine is fish cooked with Indian spices, influenced by
Gulf Arab neighbors. A favorite winter dish is chopped spinach stew,
known as sabzi, from neighboring Iran.

Traditional Basrawi musical performances, known as the Basra Khashaba,
which have roots in the parties that dhow (a traditional Arab ships)
makers used to have at the end of their arduous workdays, feature
male dancers who do break-dance-like moves clearly influenced by
traditional African dance.

One Basrawi reminisced recently about the vibrant nightlife before
conservative Islam started to change the landscape in the aftermath of
the 1990 Gulf War, which along with the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s left
tremendous physical and psychological scars on the city. Gulf Arabs,
before the discovery of oil, used to flock to Basra for all-night
revelries.

"You had Ninevah and Sinbad discotheques in town, the cafes along
the corneesh [waterfront] and Sinbad Island for dancing until dawn,"
he said. "And for a bit of adventure you had the Khashaba parties in
Abu al-Khaseeb at which buckets of liquor were passed around."

Basra, founded in AD 635, is the seat of Basra Province, which covers
an area of about 7,300 square miles bordered by Iran to the east. The
province’s population is 1.8 million, according to the 1997 census,
but provincial authorities say it’s now at least 3 million, based on
food ration cards and ID forms, with roughly half of that living in
Basra city.

Major towns include Abu al-Khaseeb, Al-Fao, Qurnah, Umm Qasr, and
Zubair. The north has marshlands.

The Euphrates and Tigris rivers meet at Qurnah, north of Basra, where
they form the Shatt Al-Arab waterway flowing into the Gulf. The
province is home to four major ports: Umm Qasr, Khor el-Zubair,
Abu Flous, and Maaqal.