Author: Maghakian Mike

Azeri official urges Armenia to gradually vacate territories outside Karabakh
Turan news agency
7 Apr 05
Baku, 7 April: There are key aspects in the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict, the solution to which is an integral part of the negotiating
process, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has told
journalists.
These “key aspects” are always on the agenda, Azimov said. They
(“key aspects”) have to do with eliminating the consequences of the
conflict. In other words, they involve the liberation of occupied
territories, restoration of the infrastructure, return of refugees
to their homes, re-establishment of normal relations and solution to
political problems.
He said that work on these aspects was part of the “Prague process
[talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers]”. Azimov
rejected the “speculations on a stage-by-stage or package solution
alternatives”.
“As long as agreement on all issues has not been reached, there can
be no talk of a settlement,” Azimov said.
At the same time, Azimov said that Azerbaijan’s position on the
liberation of seven occupied districts outside Nagornyy Karabakh
remains unchanged. However, he added that considering the difficulties
arising from the simultaneous liberation of the said districts,
a stage-by-stage approach to this issue was not ruled out.
If Armenia is genuinely interested in maintaining durable links with
Karabakh’s Armenian community, which would envisage the presence of
a transport infrastructure, it has to give an appropriate response
to Baku’s suggestions which cover the “issues of using roads and
ensuring security”, Azimov said.

FRENCH EXPERTS ARRIVE IN ARMENIA TO SELECT ARTIFACTS FOR ARMENIAN EXHIBITION IN PARIS
   YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS: Armenian culture minister Hovik
Areyan met today in Yerevan with Nelly Tardivier, an advisor to
French president on cultural affairs and Gianny Douran, a curator of
the world famous Louvre Museum in Paris, to discuss some details of a
display of Armenian art at the Museum as part of an extensive range
of events in France in 2006-2007, declared as Armenia’s Year in
France.
   Areyan said the display will show pre-Christian, medieval and
modern Armenian art.
   Nelly Tardivier spoke about the centuries-old French-Armenian
friendship, the Armenian community of France, about the interest of
French students towards Armenian people and their history, saying
this will b definitely reflected in 2006 and 2007.
   Nelly Tardivier and Gianny Douron will spend five days in Armenia
to visit local museums and select artifacts which they would like to
be exhibited in France.
–Boundary_(ID_BKIzBiq+kaeYFm2lNdmR3g)–

Azeri Defence Ministry reports more truce violations on Karabakh front
Space TV, Baku
6 Apr 05
The cease-fire has been violated in some parts of the front line
again. The Defence Ministry press service reports that Armenians used
assault rifles and machine guns last night to fire at the positions
of the Azerbaijani national army from the eastern part of the occupied
village of Namirli in Agdam District from 0010 to 0135 [1910-2035 gmt
on 5 April] and from their positions located in the southern part of
the village of Ahmadagali from 0400 to 0410 [2300-2310 gmt on 5 April].
Another truce violation was registered on 5 April. This time Armenian
armed forces used large-calibre machine guns to fire at the positions
of the Azerbaijani national army from their positions in the eastern
part of the occupied village of Tap Qaraqoyunlu in Goranboy District
from 2030 to 2125 [1530-1625 gmt].
In all three cases, the enemy was silenced with retaliatory fire. The
Azerbaijani side sustained no casualties.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 1) 517 163
Fax: (374 1) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
April 5, 2005
Catholicos of All Armenians to Depart for Vatican
On Thursday, April 7, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of All Armenians, will depart for the Vatican to
participate in the funeral and burial services of Pope of the Roman
Catholic Church, His Holiness John Paul II of blessed memory.
Accompanying the Pontiff of All Armenians in the official
representation of the Armenian Church will be His Beatitude Archbishop
Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople; His Eminence
Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Church of America (Eastern); and Rev. Fr. Geghard Vahuni, Staff-Bearer
to His Holiness.
##

DEPUTY YEREVAN MAYOR CONFIRMS THAT KIRKOROV’S YEREVAN CONCERTS WON’T
BE HELD
YEREVAN, MARCH 31, NOYAN TAPAN. The student councils of almost all
Yerevan higher schools applied to Yerevan Mayor’s Office with a
request not to permit the holding of Russian singer Philip Kirkorov’s
concerts in Yerevan. Meeting the students’ requests and considering
that everything done in this sphere is done for youth, Yerevan Mayor’s
Office applied to the Manukian LTD, the organizer of the concert, and
received a positive answer at the same time calling on to organize
return of tickets. Arman Sahakian, Deputy Yerevan Mayor, declared this
at the March 31 press conference. He also said that according to
information received from the singer’s producer center, Kirkorov
doesn’t want to perform on tour in Yerevan, either. Arman Sahakian
refuted the rumours spread by the Manukian LTD, according to which
Mayor’s Office allocated 3 mln drams (6.5 thousand dollars) for the
holding of the concerts. “The assistance of the Mayor’s Office was
that it was to provide the security. Henceforth the Mayor’s Office
will carry on a policy, according to which such events may be only
organized by Mayor’s Office by concluding inter-state agreements,”
Deputy Mayor declared.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN SINGER PHILIP KIRKOROV TO VISIT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL IN
REMORSE FOR HIS FORMER MISTAKES
YEREVAN, MARCH 29. ARMINFO. Russian pop star Philip Kirkorov is going
to visit the Armenian Genocide Memorail and Museum during their
forthcoming tour in Yerevan, says Temine Ayrumyan, spokesperson of the
Manukyan company who invited Kirkorov to Armenia.
Ayrumyan says that Kyrkorov is feeling remorse and is going to
apologize for his earlier mistakes against Armeians, a nation he also
belongs to.
Meanwhile many Armenian pop singers and some 30 youth organizations
are protesting against the tour of Kirkorov mostly because of his
pro-Turkish repertory (remakes of Turkish pop star Tarkan) and public
insult of Armenian journalist Irina Aroyan, an action that generated
wide public disapproval in Russia leading to his oust from the Russian
show business.
Ayrumyan claims that she daily receives 350 calls in Kirkorov’s
support. “We expected such attitude but could not help inviting g him
as he is the best,” she says. Meanwhile only 30% of the tickets have
been sold to date. The tickets for his Dzoraberd restaurant concert
range from $80 to $150 and for the Concert Complex one from 3,000 AMD
to 15,000 AMD ($6-30).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Political Affairs Magazine, NY
March 29 2005
Iraqi Students Protest Attacks by Religious Extremists
By Joel Wendland

Students at Basrah and Shatt Al-Arab Universities struck in mid-March
in protest of religious extremist violence aimed at women students
and others who support equal gender relations and secular lifestyles.
Thousands of students protested after the violence shouting slogans
such as “No to political Islam,” “No to the new tyranny,” and “No to
Sadr.” The police reportedly attacked the students during the strikes
and protests in order to disperse the demonstrations.
Picket lines on campuses and large demonstrations of thousands of
students and members of civil society organizations held outside the
Basrah government offices lasted for three days to protest the
violence.
A Kuwaiti newspaper reported that students affiliated with the
Engineering College at Basrah University were assaulted during a
picnic at a local park. Hooded men attacked male and female students
with rubber cables, guns, and clubs. One Armenian woman student lost
an eye due to a beating with a club. She was beaten and stripped.
Another male student, attempting to come to her aid, was shot and
killed.
Witnesses say the hooded attackers were members of the Mahdi militia,
an organization associated with Moktada al-Sadr, a religious leader
whose militia clashed with US forces in Najaf in April 2004. Sadr’s
“uprising” was reigned in by other Muslim clerics led notably by the
Ayatollah al-Sistani whose political coalition won a majority of
seats in Iraq’s National Assembly elections.
Witnesses also say that the students’ belongings, such as jewelry,
mobile phones, cameras, stereo players and loudspeakers, were stolen
or smashed to pieces by the militiamen. Female students not wearing
headscarves (some of whom are not Muslim) were severely beaten, and
at least 20 students were kidnapped, taken to Sadr’s office in
Al-Tuwaisa for “interrogation” and were only released late at night.
Student witnesses and participants in the three-day long
demonstrations said that the protestors demanded that the persons
responsible be brought to justice, that the Mahdi Army have its
offices removed from the university, and that al-Sistani (and other
national leaders) intervene to order an end to religious-based
violence.
Witnesses of the attack also say the police and some British soldiers
were nearby but refused to intervene. One report stated that as many
as 12 police cars were in the vicinity while the attack took place,
but offered no assistance.
In response to the students’ outcry, a spokesperson for al-Sadr
justified the actions of the militiamen in a television interview. He
stated that the Mahdi Army “believers” did what they did in an act of
“divine intervention” in order to punish the students for their
“immoral and outrageous behavior” during the “holy month of Muharram,
while the blood of Imam Hussein is yet to dry.”
Do you subscribe to Political Affairs?
click image to find out how
He added that he had sent the “group of believers” to observe and
photograph the students only. But when the militiamen saw them
playing loud music, “the kind they play in bars and discos,” and
openly talking to female students, the “believers had to straighten
things out.”
Thousands of students protested after the violence shouting slogans
such as “No to political Islam,” “No to the new tyranny,” and “No to
Sadr.” The police reportedly attacked the students during the strikes
and protests in order to disperse the demonstrations.
In an attempt to appease the students, local officials publicly
announced that they had met with Sadr and had resolved the matter
peacefully. Sadr’s representatives said they punish the attackers in
a special, private religious court.
Students condemned this action saying that local elected officials
had handed jurisdiction of a civil case to a private individual,
completely bypassing the rule of law. They pointed out the Basrah
governor’s close affiliation with the political coalition to which
al-Sadr and his following belong as a possible motive for this course
of action.
One student wrote on a blog, “The Governor literally appointed Sadr’s
office as judge, witness and law-enforcer. We might even say that the
Sadrists were in fact rewarded for their vile act.”
This student compared the situation to a fascist-style tactic often
used by the “university security” authorities empowered under the
Saddam Hussein dictatorship to seek out and destroy political
opposition on university campuses.
Student organization in different parts of the country, including
Baghdad, Arbil, and Suleimaniya condemned the attacks and sent
statements of solidarity with the Basrah students.
Students in Suleimaniya have been subjected to violence as well. Four
students were injured in Suleimaniya during the second week of
demonstrations against privatization of educational institutions in
the Kurdish region.
The Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation (IDYF) released a statement
condemning the attacks on the Basrah students. “While strongly
condemning these blatant violations of human rights, we consider this
attack a form of laying seeds threatening Iraq’ future democratic
schemes. We declare our full solidarity with the victims of the
attack … with all Iraqi youth and students, as they relentlessly
strive for a better future of a new Iraq.”
The IDYF called on all students and youth to declare solidarity with
the victims of the attack and to demand an end to “any oppression and
to attempts to use religion as cover for usurping the rights achieved
by Iraqi people through their own sacrifices and struggle.”
The Basrah University branch of the General Union of Students in the
Iraqi Republic protested the attacks and urged support for the
student demonstrations, saying: “We all aspire to a democratic Iraq
that would have nothing to do with Saddam’s regime and in no way
resemble the movement of Taliban.”
–Joel Wendland is managing editor of Political Affairs and may be
reached at [email protected].

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 28 2005
“CIVILIZED DIVORCE” CALLS FOR POST-SOVIET INTEGRATION: LAVROV
MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti) – Integration ought to come as a final
touch on the post-Soviet countries’ “civilized divorce”, points out
Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“What we know as ‘civilized divorce’ not merely does not rule out
integration-on the contrary, it presupposes integration,” he said in
Moscow today.
“Integration will be a success if each of the partners determines the
main thing-whether we need such integration or not. When they do, all
problems left after the divorce will come to a positive solution. Of
than I am convinced.
“Such developments will promote all involved countries’ interests, if
those countries are to take a worthy place in the emergent new world
order,” the minister emphatically remarked.
“All CIS countries have made errors,” he acknowledged.
The Foreign Minister strongly called “to be aware of our nations’
essential interests”.
The Commonwealth of Independent States was established to secure a
civilized divorce, that is, to bring the Soviet Union’s collapse into
the most civilized channels possible, Russia’s President Vladimir
Putin said to a news conference in Yerevan, Armenian capital, March
25-Friday last.
The CIS coped with the task, though it had never posed whatever big
goals in the economic field or for integration, said Mr. Putin. He
described the Commonwealth as “a very useful club” for information
exchanges, and a rostrum to speak up on shared problems, and on
economic and humanitarian developments.

Turkish press 28 Mar 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
Mar 28, 2005

The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and
commentaries published in 28 March editions of Turkish newspapers
available to BBC Monitoring
EU
Hurriyet [centre-right, largest circulation] “The policies of those
who have working to pressure Turkey into signing the [Customs Union]
protocol [effectively recognizing the Republic of Cyprus] now seem to
have gone wrong… Brussels, which wants the Customs Union Agreement
extended to cover the new members of the EU, including the Greek
Cypriot administration, is facing a signing crisis… In order for the
protocol to come into law, Turkey and the EU will have to sign it at
the same time. This signing procedure, which European officials want
to happen as soon as possible, is very difficult and complex in terms
of their [the EU’s] own procedure.” (Commentary Ferai Tinc)
Radikal [centre-left] “In every country that has moved towards the EU,
supporters of the status quo try to activate such nationalist
sensitivity [as seen recently in Turkey over the flag-trampling
incident]. However this must not stop the caravan reaching its
destination. In this respect, Turkey has come to a critical
stage. What I have often tried to say in this column is that the
government too has allowed itself to be dragged into this rising
nationalism only a couple of days after 17 December [when the EU gave
Turkey a date for starting entry talks]. (Commentary by H. Bulent
Kahraman)
Cumhuriyet [secular, Kemalist] “Behind people’s embracing the Turkish
flag after the Mersin events [where a couple of young Kurds tried to
trample on the Turkish flag], there is an uprising against being
oppressed, against what have happened in northern Iraq, Cyprus. My man
does not want to be economically and politically oppressed; this is
the message he sends by embracing the flag. He shows his flag against
the insistence of the USA and the EU. He says that he opposes
imperialism to the last drop of his blood. Everybody must read this
well.” (Commentary by Erol Manisali)
Yeni Safak [liberal, pro-Islamic] “First of all, one must certainly
say that the government cannot abandon the EU goal. There is not and
cannot be any such option. The EU does not mean everything to Turkey
but we are well aware how this goal’s being weakened even a little bit
would cause Turkey to become introverted and encourage the oppressive
tendencies. The tension we have seen recently must be a lesson. The
nationalist wave, which is rising through rehearsed events and
preparing for further events, makes it necessary to embrace this goal
much more strongly.” (Commentary by Yasin Dogan)
Armenian genocide issue
Hurriyet “The reason we have not been able to refute the Armenian
slanders [about alleged genocide against Armenians in the Ottoman
Empire] is obvious. It is because we do not know what happened in
1915-16. Since we do not know, we cannot tell the world the
realities. More sadly, we do not have a strong belief that we are in
the right, that we did not carry out the genocide that the Armenians
claim. As with almost every subject, we prefer the ease and laziness
of staying uninterested in engaging in a struggle.” (Commentary by
Tufan Turenc)
Kyrgyzstan
Milliyet [centrist] “Change in Central Asia is both inevitable and
very risky! Chaos bearing the signs of a nomadic past, radical
[social] explosions and ethnic conflict are possible. Change must
succeed by being very well directed.” (Commentary by Taha Akyol)
“It has not yet become clear how the power struggle in Kyrgyzstan will
turn out but already the question ‘Whose turn is it next?’ has come
onto the agenda. However, the real big question is what kind of a
future is waiting for [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, who has
been watching these events in Russia’s backyard with a horror mixed
with helplessness.” (Commentary by Osman Ulagay)
Zaman [moderate, pro-Islamic] “Even if his intention is not sincere,
the words of [former Kyrgyz leader Askar] Akayev are true: Kyrgyzstan
was not ready for this. With a people who have not adopted the basic
theories of democracy, the institutions of democracy cannot be
invigorated. The reality that the peoples have shown the will to
topple current oppressive and degenerate regimes does not mean that
they want democracy and they will claim democracy. The common feature
of Iraq, Lebanon and Kyrgyzstan is the handicaps in participatory
democracy in these countries. Because of their demographic divisions,
these countries have to be ruled by either dictatorships or
coalitions.” (Commentary by Kerim Balci)

After Kyrgyzstan, who’s up next for revolution in former Soviet republics?
AP Worldstream
Mar 25, 2005
HENRY MEYER – Who’s next? That’s the question strongmen in former
Soviet lands are asking themselves nervously after Kyrgyzstan became
the third country in the region to be swept by revolution.
In neighboring countries in Central Asia, opposition politicians
sense it’s their turn to re-enact the drama of 1989, when democracy
swept much of Eastern Europe as the Soviet empire started to crumble.
Kazakhstan, a vast, energy-rich nation where Western oil firms have
invested billions of dollars, is seen by many analysts as the next
target for a popular uprising.
Possible ramifications abound: in addition to oil _ also a factor
in Azerbaijan _ the region has Islamic fundamentalist movements
suspected of links to terrorism, an active drug trade, U.S. and
Russian military bases, strategic positioning on China’s doorstep,
and no firm guarantees that any new leaders would be more democratic
than the current crop.
Russia has looked on with anxiety at the upheaval in its former
Soviet backyard, as allies in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan have
been toppled in succession and without regard to its wishes. It sees
the trend as a deep strategic threat to its role as the dominant
regional power.
But the wind of freedom blowing across the former Soviet Union looks
like it could finally bring countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus
into the democratic fold, more than 15 years after the collapse of
the Berlin Wall.
Yevgeny Volk, Moscow director of the conservative Washington-based
Heritage Foundation think-tank, says a momentous process is
unfolding. “These countries are facing a radical change of power,
which did not happen in the early 1990s,” he said.
“Unlike the Baltic States, which quickly adopted a market economy,
democratic society and rule of law, and Russia to a much lesser extent,
in Central Asia and the Caucasus, the Communist-era leaders stayed
in power, which bred corruption and authoritarianism. … But now
the time is ripe for revolutions.”
The United States encouraged the Georgian and Ukrainian pro-Western
reformers now in charge. In Central Asia, seen as a vital source of
energy and a bulwark against Islamic radicalism, it favors stability
but is tentatively distancing itself from corrupt regimes that are
fanning religious extremism.
In Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former Communist boss
who has been in power since 1989, will be seeking another seven-year
term next year.
He contemptuously blamed Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev on Friday for
his “weakness” in allowing “rioters and thugs” to oust him.
But despite a crackdown on independent media and the opposition,
the 64-year-old Nazarbayev is in trouble because of alleged nepotism
amid widespread poverty and his opponents’ growing popularity.
On Sunday, the long fractured opposition chose as its single candidate
for the 2006 presidential vote Zharmakhan Tuyakbai_ a former top
Nazarbayev ally who resigned last year as parliament speaker and head
of the presidential party.
“In Kazakhstan, if the government tries to falsify the election
results, the same scenario as in Kyrgyzstan cannot be ruled out,”
said Moscow-based analyst Andrei Piontkovsky.
In Uzbekistan, where thousands of political prisoners languish in
jails, hardline President Islam Karimov’s repressive rule with an
omnipresent secret police is seen as sufficient _ for now _ to keep
the lid on any unrest.
But observers worry that after Kyrgyzstan, which saw mass looting
by mobs of poor people in a revolution far less peaceful than in
either Ukraine or Georgia, Islamic radicals could launch an attempt
to unseat Karimov.
The United States maintains military bases in both Uzbekistan and
Kyrgyzstan, while Russia has an air base in Kyrgyzstan.
Outside Central Asia, the likeliest candidate for revolution is seen
as Armenia, a key Russian ally on Russia’s southern flank in the
unstable Caucasus region.
President Robert Kocharian, whose contested re-election to a second
term in 2003 sparked opposition protests, faces fresh elections for
parliament and the presidency in 2007.
Critics say he has violently cracked down on dissent, allowed
corruption to flourish and done little to improve the lot of
impoverished Armenia’s 3.3 million people.
In neighboring Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev in 2003 succeeded his late
father, Geidar Aliev, the longtime ruler in the oil-rich Caspian state,
marking the first political dynasty in a former Soviet republic.
The country will hold parliamentary elections in November this year,
which the opposition sees as its best opportunity for change, but
it may have a harder time because poverty is not as widespread as
in Armenia.
“Who’s next?” Russia’s liberal Noviye Izvestia daily asked on its
front page Friday. “The Kyrgyz precedent cannot fail to worry the
leaders of other countries, especially those countries where in the
near future parliamentary and presidential elections will be held.”
The popular Moscow daily Moskovskiye Komsomolets called on Russia to
take action to stop revolution from spreading any further _ or risk
losing all clout in the former Soviet Union.
“If Russia doesn’t at last break its silence it will be too late to
do anything. This will not end with Kyrgyzstan,” it said.
In a sign Moscow has learned some lessons from its humiliating failure
to impose its candidate in last year’s disputed presidential elections
in Ukraine, it recently has had contacts with the Kyrgyz opposition.
Kremlin-connected analyst Sergei Markov said there were “very serious
fears” that Moscow could lose all influence in the former Soviet
empire and that a discussion was currently taking place on whether
to abandon all attempts at regional leadership.