Author: Nadirian Emma

Georgiandaily, NY
Nov 15 2008

Toward a Dangerous New Era of Partially Recognized States in the
Post-Soviet Space?

November 14, 2008
WINDOW ON EURASIA
Paul Goble

London, November 14 ` Moscow’s decision to extend diplomatic
recognition to the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
a step only one other country has followed so far, raises the
possibility that other countries may recognize an entity that no other
state is likely to, a development that could usher in a dangerous era
of partially recognized states.

One place where this could happen, according to Yuri Sigov, a
Washington correspondent for `Delovaya nedelya,’ is Nagorno-Karabakh,
a breakaway region that he suggests could `follow the example of
Tskhinvali and Sukhumi, but besides Armenia, no one would like’.

Moscow’s claim that what it has done with Abkhazia and South Ossetia
is nothing more than what the West has done with Kosovo is
disingenuous. While many countries have refrained from recognizing the
latter, vastly more have done so than have followed Moscow’s example
in the southern Caucasus.

In fact, the relevant case is Turkey’s lone recognition of Northern
Cyprus, an action no one else has followed but one that has frozen
that conflict for several decades, thus providing a possible model for
other countries especially now that Moscow has acted and making
Sigov’s analysis both timely and disturbing.

In Sigov’s view, all the so-called frozen conflict on the territory of
the former Soviet Union have the potential to break out at any time
and thus `radically change the entire system of security which now
exists along the perimeter of the former Soviet borders,’ all the more
so because various powers have an interest in destabilizing the
situation.

The most immediately obvious and hence most dangerous of these
conflicts, he suggests, is over Nagorno-Karabakh, which most of the
parties are interested in avoiding entering a new hot phase but which
is one that could nonetheless do so if anyone of the parties acts in a
way different than the others expect.

That explains why, Sigov says, Moscow got involved as a supplement to
the Minsk Group. But `the diametrically opposed positions’ of the
sides mean that neither Azerbaijan nor Yerevan can back down, the
first from a position based on the territorial integrity of states and
the latter on the right of nations to self-determination.

And that is something that nationalist activists in Karabakh itself,
as well as in Armenia, understand fully and are prepared to act upon,
the Moscow correspondent in Washington suggests.

What then could happen next? One possible answer is the holding of a
referendum in Karabakh, where the residents, almost all of them are
Armenians will vote for unity with Armenia or independence, either of
which could set off a conflict in the south Caucasus that neither
Russia, nor the United States and the West, nor Armenia or Azerbaijan
want.

Because of these dangers, all the sides `fear the holding of
referendum in Karabakh.’ If one were held and it called for
independence, `no one, `except perhaps Armenia’ would recognize it, a
situation that would resemble the one that Abkhazia and South Ossetia
now find themselves in,’ with like those an outside power having taken
a position.

Such Armenian recognition, as incomplete as it might appear, would
likely delay American and even Western involvement in this issue
beyond the summer of next year, the first time that Washington is
likely to get involved in any case, given the change in
administrations there, Sigov says.

Thus, `it remains unclear what to do if Nagorno-Karabakh declares its
independence,’ Sigov says. For neither South Ossetia nor Abkhazia is
the world community prepared to recognize and not a little amount of
time must pass until the positions of these countries will somehow
change.’

The American don’t want a violent conflict in the region, especially
after the war in Georgia, but the dangers that arise from the partial
recognition of a so-called self-proclaimed republic are sufficiently
dangerous that everyone involved should think about what they might
mean for the future of this and other conflicts.

As a result, Sigov suggests, Moscow’s moves in Georgia will have an
even larger set of consequences on the region than people are now
thinking, possibly freezing some conflicts for a long time to come as
happened in Cyprus or igniting a new conflict in a region where any
action has the chance of setting off a new conflagration.

And because there are other places in the former Soviet space, which
are left over from Stalin’s ethnic engineering, it is entirely
possible that the recognition of one or more of them by one state but
not more could complicate the resolution of that conflict or even all
of them well into the future.

‘UNIRECO’ IC INTENDS TO BECOME THE FIRST RETAIL INSURANCE COMPANY IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2008-11-12 15:37:00

ArmInfo. ‘UNIRECO’ Insurance Company entered the insurance market of
Armenia with a capital of 570 mln drams. This is the second Russian
insurance company having entered the insurance market of Armenia in
2008. As ‘UNIRECO’ IC said, the Company has been founded by Sergey
Sarkisov, owner of the Russian insurance company ‘RECO-Guarantee’,
Gagik Zakaryan, co-owner of "Unibank" (Armenia) and "Uniastrum Bank"
(Russia). ‘UNIRECO’ intends to become the first retail insurance
company in Armenia with focus on the service of natural persons.

According to the source, by a license, received from the Central Bank
of Armenia on November 10, ‘UNIRECO’ IC will be engaged not in life
insurance, in particular, accident insurance, but fire and natural
disasters insurance, property and other damages, land transport and
freight traffic.

The Company also said that started 2009, "UNIRECO" schedules to extend
the list of service it renders, offering its clients assistance
insurance (of those leaving abroad), insurance of responsibility
from using land motor vehicles and general responsibility, as well as
insurance of the professional responsibility of valuators and realtors,
transport and shipping companies. High rates of construction in the
republic open wide opportunities for implementation of programmes of
complex insurance of building and mounting risks. Medical insurance
will also become an important direction of activity for ‘UNIRECO’
in future.

‘UNIRECO’ will actively develop the partner programmes, attracting
financial-banking organizations, industrial, building and transport
enterprises to cooperation, as well as medical establishments and
tourist companies. To maximum enhance availability of its services
over the whole territory of Armenia, the Company intends to assure
its presence in he regions of the country. The further regional
expansion of UNIRECO proposes building of a wide branch network in
all big cities of Yerevan.

Reliability and stability of the activity of ‘UNIRECO’ will be
assured by high-quality reinsurance programmes and cooperation with
foreign insurance companies. The main target markets for ‘UNIRECO’
are representative of the European, including the English and Russian
reinsurance markets. To note, ‘RECO-Guarantee’ enters the ‘RECO’ group
and its assets include control packages of the following companies:
‘RECO-Guarantee’ Ltd, Ltd SPC "Unity Re", CJSC "AMC Finance".

To note, with appearance of a new participant, the number of insurance
companies of Armenia reached 12, 5 of which are affiliated with the
local banks. By October 1, 2008, the total authorized capital of
Armenia’s insurance companies made up 6.6 bln drams (according to RA
CB standard, the minimum size of the authorized capital for IC has
been fixed at 500 mln drams). Over 9 months, the authorized capital
of insurance companies grew by 41,6%. As of this date, the insurance
companies gathered premiums to almost 6 bln drams (24% growth over
9 months), 3 bln drams of which has been transferred to reinsurance
(almost 46% growth over 9 months). Compensations to almost 940 mln
drams have been paid as of this date (45,5% growth over 9 months). Upon
the results of 9 months, 2008, the total profit of insurance companies
made up about 550 bln drams having increased by 11,2% over 9 months.

NKR PRESIDENT SIGNED LAW

DE FACTO
Nov 13, 2008

STEPANAKERT, 13.11.08. DE FACTO. On November 12 the Nagorno-Karabagh
Republic President Bako Sahakian signed a law on making changes to the
NKR Law "On Fixed Allocations", the Central Informational Department
of the Office of NKR President reports.

INACCURATE EXPLOITATION OF MINING DISTURBS ECOSYSTEM

Panorama.am
19:26 11/11/2008

Major ecological problem for our country is the exploitation of mining
and the activities of metallurgical enterprises, says Inga Zarafyan,
the head of "Eco-lur" information NGO, during a round table discussion.

According to her if the responsible bodies believe that the development
of economy should be organized in this way, then they should implement
it through modern technologies. "For the accurate exploitation
of mining modern technologies are needed, but we don’t have such
technologies," she says. Currently the NGO implements "S.O.S. Sevan"
project against gold mining in Sotk, near Sevan.

SENSELESS DISCUSSIONS IN THE POLITICAL DOMAIN
Armen Tsaturyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
11 Nov 08
Armenia

Though Karabakh topic has temporarily captured the attention of the
entire Armenian political domain, neither the opposition that has
taken a decision to discontinue the tactics of demonstrations, nor
the ruling political coalition have represented any new or perceptible
idea regarding the prospect of the settlement.

In such circumstances it becomes more evident that the actualization
of Karabakh issue was a means for Ter-Petrosyan to leave in a gorgeous
manner.

Even if this version is not confirmed and the opposition restarts
demonstration-based policy, the only thing they can do is to find
justification for their illogical actions.

The situation is far not consoling also in the pro-government camp,
the representatives of which split between the supporters of "mild"
and "tough" stances towards Karabakh issue.

The first ones expressed trust towards the ruling power’s
infallibility, which anyhow didn’t contribute to the consolidation
of the latter’s positions, as for the second ones, these people want
to veil the absence of their own course of action by certain arrogant
but empty warnings addressed to the ruling power.

A question arises here – to what extent does the before mentioned
contribute to the consolidation of Armenia’s positions in the
international arena, when the entire political domain in Azerbaijan
had firmly determined to refuse any type of mutual concession and
intensify pressure on Armenia.

It turns out that the firmness in Azerbaijani political domain
regarding Karabakh issue has collided with the unclearness towards
the same issue existing in Armenian political domain, creating the
false impression that Karabakh is more important for Azerbaijan than
for Armenia.

Of course there were certain fresh ideas, exclusions by this common
tendency. For example, Davit Babayan from the presidential staff of
the NKR President, in his book "The Water Problem in the Context of
the Settlement of Karabakh Conflict" substantiates the vital importance
for Armenia to maintain Kelbajar region. But these things don’ t have
anything to do with Armenia’s political domain, devoid of principles
and ideas.

This demonstrates that in future as well we will deal with "attitudes"
rather than stances, because the palette of the political forces
functioning in the political domain has already exhausted itself,
because of playing "infallible ruling power" and "unyielding"
opposition.

On the first plane, at the moment they lack any desire to show positive
impact on their policy, neither do they have intellectual potential
to represent a sensible project.

On the second plane the negative inertia of the sharp confrontation
appeared due to the last presidential elections, which evidently
displays tendencies of regress rather than progress.

Thus the pro-oppositional and pro-government forces waste their time,
which they have between the previous, and the coming presidential
elections.

In this "transitional period" the fact of the lack of moderate and
constructive opposition is quite regular and logical. But there are
lots of questions in this issue as well, because the posture of the
Armenian National Congress is not yet clear.

The existence of Karabakh topic gives opportunity to the opposition
to remain as allegedly the only "alternative force" for the
ruling power. But the expected new freezing of Karabakh issue makes
unavoidable the attempt of the Armenian National Congress to smoothly
turn into a liberal party with oppositional trend, which will get
prepared for the coming parliamentary elections. It will lead to the
split of the pro-oppositional forces, because its radical sector,
in essence will have nothing to do.

In our view the "borderline" of the political processes taking
place in Armenia, will be clear only in spring, when both the
pro-oppositional and pro-government forces which have, in essence,
exhausted themselves and haven’t said anything regarding Karabakh,
face the issue of clarifying their fate. In the context of similar
clarifications the formation of new political forces is also possible,
which separately or together can meet the demand for positive and
project-based policy that Armenia lacks.

RUSSIA AND OBAMA: UNTYING THE GORDIAN KNOT
By Eric Walberg

Online Journal
Nov 11, 2008, 11:28

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev gave his state-of-the-union address
last Wednesday, just a few hours after Barack Obama’s historic
electoral triumph, and pointedly refrained from mentioning it, though
he is on record as hoping for an Obama presidency.

"It would be easier to work with people with a modern outlook,
rather than those whose eyes are turned back to the past," he said in
February, before he was elected president himself. In a simple note
sent to Obama and posted on the Kremlin’s web site later Wednesday
afternoon, he said, "I hope for a constructive dialogue with you,
based on trust and consideration of each other’s interests."

It is unlikely there will be a love-in a la US President George W
Bush and President Vladimir Putin, when the former famously said,
"I looked the man in the eye. I was able to get a sense of his
soul," considering the disastrous plunge in relations following this
sound-bite moment. Or, more to the point, because of the foreign
policy hawks Obama relies on, including Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose
anti-Russian credentials I dissected in "Zbigniew Brzezinski to be
the real power behind an Obama throne."

Or, in light of the virtually identical public avowals by both
Obama and John McCain concerning relations with Russia (apart from
McCain’s inane vow to exclude Russia from the G8), i.e., Georgia ,
missile defence, and Iran. The Russians know perfectly well that not
much changes in US foreign policy from one regime to the next. The
US empire follows a certain ruthless logic and must be accommodated
by the political functionaries presiding over it.

In fact, analyst Kiril Rogov says most politicians actually wanted
McCain to win. "Russian officials were ready for the kind of old-style
confrontation a McCain presidency appeared to offer," he said.

"Obama has promised a new model of foreign relations, and that worries
Russian politicians." And there’s Obama’s loose cannon VP Joseph
Biden, who presented the Democratic Convention with his plan for the
new administration’s "real war," the war against Russia and China.

Still, there is room for hope. We all know just how "powerful"
US vice presidents are (with the exception of the current office
holder). Obama will not let himself be seen as an Uncle Tom. Both
presidents are 40-something lawyers by training, cultured and reserved,
starting their day online, not just relying on briefings prepared by
aides. By all accounts, they are both reasonably uncorrupted by their
meteoric rise to power, have cool heads and have the best interests
of their countries at heart.

It is unlikely that Obama will run such a wild, unpremeditated foreign
policy as his predecessor. There are factions within the imperial
establishment — liberals vs hawks. As presumably one of the former,
Obama will be more likely to rely on soft power (undermining other
governments in the name of democracy) vs outright war. The Russians
no doubt will count on Obama to wind down the current wars rather
than starting new ones, all the time keeping their eye on campaigns
to "promote democracy" in their backyard. Remember it was Republican
McCain’s adviser Randy Scheunemann and Vice-President Richard Cheney
who abetted the brash Georgian president to go to war with Russia
last August. Vyacheslav Nikonov, of the Politika think tank, says,
"Obama is an open book, a story to be written."

So there is a bit of a fresh slate, despite the exigencies of the
empire.

Any anti-Russia manoeuvring under the tutelage of Brzezinski will be
much cleverer than under those who pulled the strings for Bush. The
sorest point with Russia, of course, is the ever-looming plan for US
missile bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama has been cagey
about this so far. After the Polish government website announced Obama
would proceed with the missile sites, his senior foreign policy adviser
Denis McDonough said, "President Kaczynski raised missile defense,
but President-elect Obama made no commitment on it. His position is as
it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile
defense system when the technology is proved to be workable." The
Czech public is solidly against it and just proved it by drubbing the
ruling Civic Democrats in Senate and regional elections. The Senate
will discuss the plan at the end of November. The Social Democrats,
who benefited from the drubbing, promise to halt it. The Poles are
already resigned to the possibility it will not happen after the above
embarrassing exchange, with analysts suggesting the many problems
the US now faces could mean an indefinite delay in the coveted base.

Alexander Khramchikhin, a defense analyst with the Institute of
Political and Military Analysis, said that with Democrats in control
of the presidency and Congress, the US could well cut defense spending
and put the anti-missile system on the backburner. Obama could easily
remove himself from that hook, providing a wonderful olive branch to
the Russians.

Medvedev’s threat to station Iskander missiles next door to Poland
in Kaliningrad would evaporate. Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s hardnosed
envoy to NATO predicted that Obama would stop pressuring European
NATO members from cooperating with Russia.

The other, equally sore point in relations — NATO’s triumphal march
to Russia ‘s borders — could also be resolved by diplomacy. The
rose is off Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s bloom after
his botched war, and Ukraine is due for a new president, with both
opposition contenders dismissing NATO membership as a priority. Again,
by giving the right signals and avoiding Bush bluster about freedom
and democracy, Obama could pacify the Russians without any loss of
US prestige.

The main economic issue, which swamps both these political issues,
is the September financial meltdown, which slashed the value of
Russian stocks by two-thirds and, with the collapse in the price of
oil, promises to leave Medvedev helpless to carry out his ambitious
reform programme.

Medvedev’s top economic adviser, Arkady Dvorkovich, thinks that under
Obama, the United States will engage in a closer dialogue with Europe,
Asia and Russia to find a way out of the financial crisis. "This
dialogue will begin in the near future in Washington. We will look
for solutions together."

Medvedev will travel to Washington on 15 November to attend a G20
summit on the financial crisis, where he could meet Obama. Konstantin
Kosachyov, head of the State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, called
on Obama to "find courage" to abandon the United States’ unilateral
approach in its foreign policy and embrace the idea of collective
action. The Bush administration has managed to worsen ties with Russia
more than with any other major country, and Obama’s election "instills
hope that a dramatic page in the relations of the two countries will
be turned," Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said.

There is one conflict where the US can move quickly to find common
ground with Russia — in Nagorno-Karabak. The US, Russia and
France are co-chairs of the Minsk Group, which acts as intermediary
there. Medvedev met last week with the leaders of Azerbaijan and
Armenia for talks on the conflict, getting them to agree to continue
working on "a political resolution of the conflict." None of the
co-chairs has any particular hidden agenda, and if they could get the
opponents to agree on a compromise, flooding them with development
aid to sweeten the pill, this would be a strong signal that there is a
way out of the nasty Cold War which Bush-Cheney have bequeathed Obama.

But there are many ways to sour relations, if that’s what the real
actors want. Already, it was announced that Obama’s election team’s
computers were hacked by a "foreign entity" during the election.

Obama "technical experts" later speculated the hackers were Russian
or Chinese. How easy it is to execute any number of pre-packaged
false flag operations if necessary.

The common refrain these days is, "Who could possibly want to be US
president after the mess Bush created?" On the contrary, cleaning up
after the devastation of a hurricane is very rewarding; the results of
one’s labours are clear and laudable. Obama could well have a truly
historic sound-bite moment in a few years, meeting with his equally
handsome, dynamic Russian counterpart to jointly solve some crisis
which is bound to happen. The Bush years could be just a horrible —
but receding — nightmare as we celebrate Obama’s re-election in
four years.

Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly. You can reach him at

DIVAN OF THE ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE OF JERUSALEM
PO Box 14235, Jerusalem 91141
Contact person: Rev. Fr. Pakrad Berjekian
Tel: (9722) 628-2331, Ext. 206
FAX: (9722) 626-4861
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE
10 November 2008

Violation of Armenian Status Quo Rights in the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre on Armenian Orthodox Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross

ARMENIAN QUARTER, OLD CITY, JERUSALEM — Despite several written
protests by the Armenian Patriarchate, and despite the many attempts to
peacefully conclude this conflict at the Status Quo Committee meetings
and despite the most recent negotiations about the conflict with the
Director of the Christian Affairs Department at the Interior Ministry
Mr. Cezar Marjieh and also with the Commander of the Police of the Old
City division Cmndr. Doron Yedid, once again the Armenian Solemn
Procession at the Holy Sepulchre Church was disrupted. Once again and
contrary to Status Quo provisions, the Greeks attempted to place a Greek
monk inside the Edicule, a vestibule that lies just outside the entryway
to the Tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, during the Armenian solemn
procession. Armenian monks forbade the Greek monk from entering the
Edicule. Dozens of Greek monks who were gathered prior to the Solemn
Procession of the Armenians, by force attempted to enter inside the
Edicule. The police intervened and made a barrier between the Greeks
and Armenians in front of the Edicule. The Greek monks attacked the
Armenian Priests and seminarians. Scuffles took place between the
Armenian and Greek monks and the Armenian Procession was disrupted. The
police intervened, detained an Armenian monk, and released him today.

The presence of the Greek monk inside the Edicule is a serious violation
of the Status Quo terms governing the Holy Places, of which the
Armenians, Latins and Greek Orthodox share equal rights of
custodianship. The Armenian Patriarchate has made its position clear
that on the Feast of the Holy Cross, the 1st Sunday of Great Lent, Palm
Sunday and Holy Fire Saturday, when they are in possession of the Holy
Tomb, the Greeks should refrain from placing their monk inside the
Edicule.

The rights of the Armenian Orthodox in the Holy Places have been granted
in a Firman, Al Hijrah 1245 (1829). It stipulates that "no interference
or intervention should ever be allowed to occur in respect of the
celebration of mass and other processions of the [Armenian] community".

The Armenian Patriarchate strongly protests against the violation of its
centuries old rights in the Church of Holy Sepulcher by the Greek
Orthodox Church and against the aggression of the Greek monks during the
Armenian Orthodox Feast of the Discovery of the Holy Cross.

Owner of Armavia forecasts a slight drop in air ticket prices

2008-11-08 13:17:00

ArmInfo. Within the next two months air tickets in Armenia will
slightly drop in price, Mikhail Bagdasarov, the owner of "Armavia"
national air carrier of Armenia, told journalists, Friday. According to
him, the fall in oil and oil product prices must sooner or later cause
a drop in air ticket prices even in Armenia.

"If the price fall in Europe has already started, in Russia the price
doesn’t drop for unknown reasons. In France or Germany we can buy jet
fuel for 800 USD per ton, in Russia the price reaches 1200", Bagdasarov
said. Speaking of prices offered in Armenia, Bagdasarov noted that in
case of external risks Zvatnots Airport has to keep big volumes of fuel
which is later sold to air companies for old purchase prices. "Oil
prices started dropping in August-September. But the kerosene prices
have not changed since June. The supplier says that it is still selling
the old fuel reserve even though it is already selling fuel at reduced
prices. For the moment, the supplier, International Airports Armenia,
has 2,000 tons of $1,400/ton fuel left. This reserve may come to an end
in 15-20 days after which the price may drop to $1,000.

For the time being, Armavia is not refuelling its planes at Zvartnots
Airport; its planes are being reloaded at airports of other countries.

HOW THE TRADING HUB WAS DESTROYED
By Martin Rubin

The Washington Times
November 2, 2008 Sunday

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, 1922, the ancient city of Smyrna (now Izmir)
on the Aegean Sea, which had long been a prosperous cosmopolitan
trading hub, was a charnel house. Caught up in a 10-year cycle of war
which had seen Greece and Turkey fighting for control of the region,
the largely Greek city (its Hellenic population of more than 300,000
much larger then than Athens’) had been sacked by the Turkish forces
under Mustafa Kemal, later known as Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
modern post-Ottoman Turkey.

Scenes of almost unimaginable brutality and horror ensued: Untold
rapes and cruel assaults – limbs, noses and ears hacked off -and
murders by scimitar, bayonet and club. Not content with mayhem on this
scale, the invaders scattered gasoline throughout the city and set it
alight. Desperate to escape the inferno, much of the city’s populace
streamed down to the harbor, a scene that must have merited the term
indescribable if ever one did. But Giles Milton, a British writer,
has managed the difficult task of harrowing the hell that Smyrna must
have been 86 years ago and is capable of painting such scenes thus:

"The Smyrna quayside had indeed become a scene of abject human
misery. Almost two miles long – and wider than a football pitch –
it was large enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of homeless
people. … By the time dusk fell on that terrible Wednesday, the
quayside was crowded with almost half a million refugees[Smyrna had a
large Armenian as well as Jewish and European populations.] They stood
in real danger of being burned alive for the fire had by now reached
the waterfront – a scalding, pulsating heat that was transmitted from
building to building by the liberal use of benzine. … The heat was
soon so intense that the mooring lines of the ships closest to the
waterfront began to burn All the vessels moved 250 yards out from the
quayside, yet the heat was still overwhelming. … The flames leaped
higher and higher The screams of the frantic mob on the quay could
easily be heard a mile distant. There was a choice of three kinds
of death: The fire behind, the Turks waiting at the side streets and
the ocean in front … in modern chronicles, there has probably been
nothing to compare with the night of September 13 in Smyrna"

If there was one thing that could make this hellish scene worse,
it was the fact that Smyrna harbor was packed with warships from
Britain, France, Italy and the United States, their crews witness to
what was taking place but under strict orders not to intervene. (It is
interesting to note that it has been reported that this book was on
John McCain’s reading list and that he has singled it out as having
resonated strongly with him.) The descriptions of these scenes of
desperation as people struggled to reach the ships and were beaten
back physically by the crews shamefully under strict orders to do so
are literally sickening to read: What must it have been like to be
the participants beggars even the most vivid imagination.

Milton tells his story unflinchingly and does not disguise his
outrage. He is very good at providing the historical context for
this dreadful episode: A complicated tale involving World War I and
its aftermath, great power politics and adventurism, and a wildly
expansionist Greece dedicated to restoring the lost grandeur of
the Byzantine Empire. But although his goal is understanding the
underlying causes for this incident, never does he fall into the
trap of allowing any of this knowledge in any way to mitigate the
unpardonable atrocities of those September days in Smyrna. He tries
to find heroes and sometimes succeeds: Asa Jennings, a Methodist
minister from New York newly arrived in Smyrna, managed eventually
to overcome callous policy and bureaucratic hurdles to rescue many
of those who managed to survive the fire but still faced deportation
and certain death.

The book justifies its title by summoning up the lost world of Smyrna,
with its worldwide trade in dried apricots and the figs that bore its
name. A bustling town where Jews, Christians and Muslims had lived in
peaceful harmony for many centuries, Smyrna was also home to a group
known as the Levantines: merchant families from Europe who had lived
there for generations and made great fortunes from trading. Smyrna’s
lost world of opera houses, luxurious hotels and splendid villas does
seem paradisal in Mr. Milton’s account, although he may perhaps have
been overly credulous in accepting the understandably rose-tinted
accounts of those few eyewitnesses still living whom he assiduously
tracked down. Still, he is not wrong in pointing out how so much can so
quickly be destroyed in an orgy of destruction like this, no matter its
origins: A cautionary tale indeed for John McCain – and for all of us.

* Martin Rubin is a writer and critic in Pasadena, Calif.

ARMENIAN AMERICAN VOTERS HELP DELIVER OBAMA/BIDEN VICTORY

De Facto
Nov 7, 2008

YEREVAN, 07.11.08. DE FACTO. The Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA) welcomed President-elect Barack Obama and
Vice-President-elect Joe Biden’s historic win yesterday as a new and
powerful opportunity for American recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
stronger U.S.-Armenia relations, and U.S. support for a settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict that respects its citizens’ right
to self-determination.

The ANCA also welcomed the election of 94% of the Congressional
candidates it had endorsed in House and Senate races.

"The victory of Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden stands as a
testament to the strength of grassroots activism across the United
States committed to change," stated ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian.

"Starting with the ANCA’s endorsement of Senator Obama in January of
this year, Armenian Americans in battleground states – organized by
an extremely effective and far-reaching Armenians for Obama operation
– played a critical role in bringing Armenian American Democrats,
Independents and a surprisingly large percentage of Republicans
to the Obama-Biden ticket on Election Day. Our pre-election polls
showed between 80 and 85% support for Obama-Biden in our community,
a very strong showing, particularly in a community well represented
across the American political spectrum, and a testament to the fact
that Armenian Americans are willing to cross party lines to support
pro-Armenian candidates."

"In many ways, this election marked the emergence of the Armenian
American community as a powerful and broadly respected Presidential
election constituency, one that is able – through grassroots
efforts, campaign professionals, fundraising, media outreach, and
get-out-the-vote – to help tip the balance in a close national contest
toward the candidate best positioned to reflect our views and values,"
concluded Hachikian.

President-elect Obama was consistently strong in his outreach to
Armenian American voters, issuing a powerful statement in January,
2008, voicing his vigorous support for passage of the Armenian Genocide
Resolution and pledging that, as President, he would recognize the
Armenian Genocide. The Presidential hopeful also reaffirmed his support
for a strong "U.S.-Armenian relationship that advances our common
security and strengthens Armenian democracy." Unlike other candidates,
he also pledged to "promote Armenian security by seeking an end to the
Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades, and by working for a lasting and
durable settlement of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict that is agreeable
to all parties, and based upon America’s founding commitment to the
principles of democracy and self determination." President-Elect Obama
restated his pledge on two subsequent occasions, the last one in the
form of a fact sheet issued just four days before the Presidential
election, which stated in no uncertain terms "Barack Obama strongly
supports passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution (H.Res.106 and
S.Res.106) and will recognize the Armenian Genocide."

Senator Obama and Biden’s records on Armenian American concerns can
be read at: d.pdf