Author: Nahapetian Boris

UN SATELLITE PHOTOS UNDERCUT RUSSIAN CLAIMS ABOUT SOUTH OSSETIA
Paul Goble

Georgiandaily
x.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7523 &Itemid=130
Sept 10 2008
NY

Satellite photographs analyzed by United Nations experts show that
only five percent of Tskhinvali was destroyed during the fighting
there but that 50 percent of ethnic Georgian villages were destroyed
in that region by Ossetian marauders behind Russian lines, a pattern
that undercuts Moscow’s claims about what took place.

The UN satellite research program UNOSAT has released photographs
showing the destruction in South Ossetia. Some of these were published
in "Novaya gazeta" on Monday, but a more comprehensive sample is now
available on the UNOSAT portal.

These pictures and the analysis conducted by the independent experts
at UNOSAT show, Human Rights Watch told "Novaya gazeta," that Ossetian
units "burned and robbed Georgian villages," as HRW people on the
ground had reported in the face of Ossetian and Russian claims to
the contrary.

But these photographs taken over the course of August also call into
question repeated Russian claims that the Georgian army had destroyed
much of the South Ossetian capital – the satellite photographs show
only five percent of its buildings having been damaged — and that
Georgian forces had carried out a systematic genocide there.

The photographs are extremely disturbing because, in the words of
HRW experts, they demonstrate that "Georgian villages have in fact
ceased to exist on the territory of South Ossetia." But the human
rights group’s own observers point out that now there is evidence that
similar "marauder activities are continuing in Georgian villages in
the buffer zone."

"It is possible," "Novaya gazeta" concludes, "that the materials
collected by Human Rights Watch [and the UNOSAT photographs]
will become part of the case about military crimes at the time of
the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, which will be considered by the
International Criminal Court in The Hague."

Such use of satellite photography to document the actions of various
participants in conflicts is spreading: A year ago, for example,
Azerbaijan used satellite photography to show the destruction of
certain cultural monuments that has taken place in portions of that
country now under Armenian occupation.

One reason for this is the dramatic improvement in satellite
photography technology in recent years, but another and more important
factor is that such photographs not only provide the kind of objective
proof that observer reports sometimes lack but also have a far greater
impact on those who see them.

And because this technology will make it more difficult for officials
to lie about what is happening or to cover up their own crimes, one
can hope that the very possibility that satellite photographs will
be taken and shared will over time act to restrain those who might
otherwise engage in crimes of war and crimes against humanity.

Unfortunately, as these UNOSAT photographs show, neither Russian
forces nor the irregular Ossetian units behind their lines included
that possibility in their calculations. And as a result, an enormous
humanitarian disaster ensued, one that is not only not over but not
yet being blamed on its real authors.

EUROPE’S EFFORTS TO BUY IRAN’S GAS: MANY HIGH RANKING FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL DELEGATIONS ARE ON THEIR WAY TO TEHRAN FOR TALKS

Jam-e Jam Newspaper
Sept 8 2008
Iran

It appears that the confrontation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia between
the West and Russia is providing a timely economic opportunity for
Iran’s economic, energy and gas exports. According to our reporter,
following the relatively widespread political disagreements which have
occurred between the West and Russia over Georgia, and the ensuing
consequences, the West is now worried that Russia will take retributive
measures in the field of energy and gas exports, an area which is
the Achilles’ heel of a large number of western European states.

This is particularly pertinent as winter comes close. The end of
September is the time of review of the costs and conditions for gas
sales to needy customers. Europe’s important countries such as France,
Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Germany and Poland, have, over the past
two and a half years, become all too familiar with the short history
of Russia’s behaviour and this country’s inclination to play the
powerful oil and gas card. They have tasted its bitter reality and so
take the issue of diversifying oil and gas sources much more seriously.

Europe has a number of options to choose from in its quest to diversify
its energy sources. Considering the relatively rich supplies of oil
and gas they have, Turkmenistan, the countries surrounding the Caspian
Sea and the countries in the North African continent are suitable
options. However, it can be said that the most important country
for Europe when it comes to diversifying its oil and gas sources,
one which is its first choice and dependable in all aspects, is
Iran. After Russia, Iran has the second-largest natural gas reserves
in the world, and in this respect it stands head and shoulders above
its rivals. Consequently, over the last few days, the European Union
has begun noticeable political efforts to establish political and
diplomatic contacts with Tehran. It hopes that through two methods of
negotiating over new projects for the construction of a pipeline and
activating the potentials of previous agreements, it can confront the
challenge of a possible shortage of gas supplies caused by Russia,
even though this is a long-term prospect. According to diplomatic
sources in Tehran, the European Union’s main priority is to use the
potentials of the previous agreements which, due to political reasons,
were put on the back burner such that the agreements were signed but
they never reached the implementation stage.

Europe’s cold memories of Russia

Over the past year, and until the final weeks of 2007, the inhabitants
of Western Europe were concerned about their supply of gas from
Russia. They have cold memories in this regard. The most famous of
these memories is the speech given by Vladimir Putin, the former
Russian president, on 31st December 2005 in which he gave [asked]
Ukraine, which is seen as one of the closest allies of the West in
the territory of the former Soviet Union, until the 1st January 2006
to either accept the new price announced by this country for gas or
face its gas supply being cut off.

In his orders to Medvedev, the current president of Russia, who at
that time was the chairman of Gazprom, the price of gas for Ukraine
rose from 50 dollars per thousand cubic metres to 230 dollars. Under
such conditions, the pro-western president of Ukraine refused to agree
to the proposal, so the Russians cut off the supply of gas to this
country. As a natural consequence of this, gas supplies for Europe
which transited Ukrainian soil were also reduced by 50 per cent, and
a large part of Europe in extremely cold temperatures faced either
reduced gas supplies or none at all. And this is not the only bad
memory the Europeans have of Russian gas [supplies]. In 2006 too,
only a few hours after Medvedev’s victory, Gazprom called on Ukraine
to pay the 1.5 bn dollars it owed it for gas supplies. This created
another challenge to the supply of gas to Europe, though it was not
as serious as the previous one.

In addition to Ukraine, Russia has also exerted pressure on other
countries which transit gas and oil to Western Europe, amongst these
are Georgia and Armenia. For example, in the month of Aban 1385
[November 2006], it increased the price of gas exported to Armenia
from 110 dollars per 1000 cubic metres to 230 dollars, more than
doubling the cost.

The culmination of these events has brought Europe to the conclusion
that over-dependence on the supply of energy from Russia will create
a serious challenge for this continent, one which has to be resolved,
and energy must be obtained from a variety of sources not through
reliance on one source alone. The recent military conflict in the
separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the worry about
a delayed reaction from Russia as winter approaches have once again
proved the correctness of this view. Therefore the situation is that
the diplomats are packing their suitcases and heading off for Tehran.

Delegations on way to Tehran

Our reporter has obtained information that a number of high-ranking
political and economic delegations are on their way to Tehran to hold
talks on activating previous projects for the export of Iran’s gas to
Europe. The first and largest of these teams, headed by the European
Union energy commissioner, will arrive in Tehran within next two
weeks. This trip has two aims, the first is to revive the agreement
signed between Iran and Turkey in Tir 86 [July 2007] for the export
of Iranian gas to Europe across this country’s land, and the second
is to hold talks over the planning and inauguration of new pipeline
projects with Iran.

Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, Iran’s former oil minister, and Hilmi Guller,
Turkey’s energy minister, signed an agreement on 23 Tir 86 [13 July
2007] according to which Turkey would allow the construction of a
pipeline and the transit of Iran’s gas to Europe across its land,
in exchange for its participation in the development of the South
Pars gas field. Up to now, however, this matter has remained at the
stage of agreement [as received].

MYANMAR’S COLONIAL-ERA STRAND HOTEL WELL PRESERVED

San Jose Mercury News
Sept 8 2008
CA

Grass grows around the rundown mausoleum of Myanmar’s best known
citizen, former… ((AP Photo))Â"12345Â"

YANGON, Myanmar–In the colonial heyday of this elegant Victorian
hotel, gentlemen in white dinner jackets and ladies in flowing gowns
sipped cocktails on the shaded verandah as the sun went down, enjoying
a welcome respite from the tropical heat.

The legendary Strand Hotel was one of the great watering holes of
the British Empire. Just like Raffles Hotel in Singapore or the
Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok, the 107-year old Strand remains a
national landmark.

Yangon has the largest number of colonial buildings in Southeast
Asia, including colonnaded government offices and sumptuous official
residences, but most are dilapidated, neglected for decades.

Large black water streaks mark most of the facades, and bushes
sprout from the roofs of some, including the stately High Court
building–adjacent to a rooftop statue of a British lion still gazing
over his domain.

Surprisingly, however, most of the old buildings appear to have
survived relatively unscathed the fury of Cyclone Nargis which
devastated the capital when it roared through on May 3. Although
many modern structures were badly hit with their roofs torn off,
the city’s historic downtown district appears relatively undamaged .

Except for the glittering golden stupas such as the famed Shwedagon
Pagoda that are the symbol of Yangon, almost everything else in the
city is suffering from more than 40 years of neglect. This includes
the potholed roads and even the rundown mausoleum where

Myanmar’s best-known citizen, former United Nations Secretary General
U Thant, lies buried.

The Strand was built in 1901 by the Sarkies brothers, Armenian refugees
from Turkey who founded a chain of luxury hotels in the region,
including Raffles, the Oriental, the Majapahit in the Indonesian port
of Surabaya, and the Eastern & Oriental in Penang, Malaysia.

In the 1920s and ’30s, it became a favorite hangout of famous writers,
British officers, celebrities and even royalty. Luminaries such as
Rudyard Kipling, W. Somerset Maugham, Graham Greene, Noel Coward,
George Orwell and Lord Mountbatten were all regular customers. More
recently, it has accommodated the likes of Mick Jagger and Oliver
Stone.

Completely renovated in 1990, its teak floors are polished and
gleaming, the antique chandeliers sparkle in the spacious and luxurious
reception rooms and the quintessential colonial icon–the ceiling
fans–gently rotate above tables surrounded by rattan chairs in the
cozy cafe.

But today, the Strand is mostly empty, just like in other hotels in
this city of five million once called Rangoon. Since the cyclone swept
through the nearby Irrawaddy Delta killing more than 130,000 people,
the number of guests has plummeted.

"It’s understandable that a tragedy of this scale has badly affected
Myanmar’s entire tourist industry," said the hotel’s manager Budiman
Widjaja. "But we hope that with the passage of time things will
improve."

Before World War II, the Strand was reserved for "whites only," but
during the Japanese occupation of Burma–as Myanmar was formerly
known–it became an army barracks. It received its first Burmese
guests only after the war.

The socialist military regime that ruled the nation from 1962 to
1988 nationalized the hotel and it became a rundown shadow of its
former self.

But since the early 1990s, the military junta has tried to encourage
foreign tourism, and the property was acquired by Adrian Zecha, the
founder of Singapore’s exclusive Aman Resorts chain, and renovation
began.

The Strand reopened in 1995 as an all-suite, top-of-the range boutique
hotel. Its teak and marble floors, mahogany furniture, and canopied
beds compliment original pieces, like period bathroom fixtures.

But unlike the other grand old hotels in the region, the Strand’s
restoration remained true to its architectural past, and it has no
new wing, and no swimming pool or tennis courts.

"We came to the Strand because of its old-world romantic charm,"
said Tomas Llobet, from Brussels, Belgium, who was celebrating a
marriage anniversary with his wife Victoria. "We wanted to be in a
place with a lot of historic character, properly renovated without
huge concessions to modernity."

The ghosts of the British colonels would approve their choice.

–Boundary_(ID_9+9Dz2IzKrkjy77XnD+sdA)–

ARMENIAN AND TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTERS EXPRESS READINESS TOWARDS REGULATION OF BILATERAL RELATIONS

ARMENPRESS
Sep 8, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenian and Turkish foreign
ministers Edward Nalbandian and Ali Babajan met September 6 late at
night. The meeting lasted for an hour and a half.

Foreign Ministry press service told Armenpress that greeting the guest,
Edward Nalbandian noted that the Armenian side underscores the visit
of the high-level Turkish delegation to Armenia which creates wide
opportunities for establishing dialogue between the leadership of
the two countries. Armenian foreign minister said that it is a good
beginning and will have a positive continuation.

The Armenian minister reiterated Armenia’s position over establishing
relations with Turkey without pre-conditions and noted that Armenia’s
president views Gul’s visit as a serious impetus in that direction.

Armenian and Turkish foreign ministers expressed their readiness
towards regulation of bilateral relations between the two countries
and noted that steps will be carried out in that direction.

Ministers Nalbandian and Babajan also agreed to meet within the
frameworks of UN General Assembly scheduled for late September in
New York.

Edward Nalbandian and Ali Babajan discussed in details Turkey’s
initiative on creation of platform of stability and security in
Caucasus. Nalbandian said that the Armenian side greets the idea of
the creation of the platform which is directed towards establishment
of trust, stability, security and cooperation in the region.

During the meeting the interlocutors also referred to the recent
developments over Nagorno Karabakh conflict regulation.

GUL INVITES SARGSYAN TO ATTEND TURKEY-ARMENIA MATCH

armradio.am
08.09.2008 13:17

The Armenia-Turkey qualifier within the framework of the FIFA 2010
World Cup took place at Yerevan’s Hrazdan stadium Saturday. Tuncay
Sanli and Semih Senturk scored second-half goals Saturday to give
Turkey a 2-0 win. Tuncay gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute,
scoring from close range.

Senturk made it 2-0 in the 79th, capitalizing on a defender’s mistake
in the box.

The Turkish national team won. The real winner, however, was
friendship.

This match was of special importance for both Armenian and Turkish
football.

The Presidents of Armenia and Turkey Serzh Sargsyan and Abdullah Gul
attended the match. The Turkish President accepted the invitation of
his Armenian counterpart, thus becoming the first Turkish leader to
visit independent Armenia.

"I believe that my visit was fruitful and that it promises hope for
the future," Gul said after returning to Ankara, adding that he had a
"constructive and sincere" meeting with Sargsyan.

He said he had won Yerevan’s support for a new regional grouping in the
Caucasus following last month’s conflict between Georgia and Russia.

"We were pleased with Armenia’s announcement that it supports Turkey’s
proposal of a ‘Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform’," Gul said
adding that there was a ball in their court and this ball should not
have remained in their court.

=0 A "The most important issue in the Caucasus is the Karabakh
issue. My visit to Yerevan may contribute to the solution of this
problem," Gul added.

But Gul said that neither the dispute nor the closed border between
the two neighbors figured in his meeting with Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan, Turkish Hurriyet reported.

President Gul also invited his Armenian counterpart Sargsyan to
attend a return football match between two national teams in Turkey
on Oct. 14.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Sept 8 2008

Protests in Yerevan fail to overshadow historic visit

Armenians hold placards and flags in a protest against Abdullah
Gül’s visit to Yerevan on Saturday.

Thousands of Armenians lined the streets of Armenia’s capital of
Yerevan on Saturday to protest the first-ever visit by a Turkish
president to watch a game between the national teams of the two
countries, but the protests failed to sour the atmosphere of the
historic trip.

Demonstrators also urged Turkey to acknowledge the World War I
killings of Armenians in eastern Anatolia as genocide, a charge Ankara
vehemently denies. Gül’s motorcade from the Yerevan airport
traveled along streets lined with thousands of people holding placards
reading in English and Armenian "We want justice," "Turkey admit your
guilt" and "1915 never again." Others held up the names of places in
eastern Turkey from where they said their ancestors had been forced to
leave under an Ottoman policy of uprooting Armenian communities. "I am
from Van," said one placard, printed in white letters on black like a
funeral notice, referring to a province in eastern Turkey.

Armenians claim 1.5 million Armenians were killed in eastern Anatolia
during a systematic genocide campaign but Ankara denies the charges,
saying both that the death toll has been inflated and that Armenians
and Muslim Turks were victims of civil war and unrest.

Security for President Abdullah Gül’s trip was tight. Attack
helicopters escorted his jet on arrival and Turkish security personnel
were also sent to Yerevan ahead of the visit to assist security
measures. Gül and Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan watched the
World Cup qualifying game behind bulletproof glass at the stadium,
which is only 500 meters from a memorial dedicated to the Armenians
killed in World War I.

Armenian fans whistled when the Turkish national anthem was played at
the start of the game. Com-menting on the protests, Gül said,
"Those who were opposed to my visit made their position clear without
getting carried away."

08 September 2008, Monday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL

The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 5, 2008 Friday

Academics in Georgia and U.S. Affected by War

by ANNA NEMTSOVA and KARIN FISCHER

Fighting between Georgia and Russia has affected higher education in
both Georgia and the United States.

Gori University, which sits just outside the disputed territory of
South Ossetia, was among the targets of Russian forces in August.

The university suffered two bombings in three days. One of its six
buildings was hit, windows were broken, and shrapnel ruined some
storage sheds. The campus was soon abandoned by its 110 professors and
2,000 students.

Ironically, the now partly ruined university had been seen as a rare
success story in the separatist dispute that sparked the war.

The institution represented the integration of Gori State University
and Tskhinvali University. The latter had been in the center of South
Ossetia, a breakaway province, but moved to Gori after a previous war
there in 1992.

Meanwhile at least a dozen American academics and students were
evacuated from the former Soviet republic.

One professor and three students from Case Western Reserve University,
who were planning to spend a month analyzing and mapping
archaeological sites near Tbilisi, were instead forced to leave the
country. They rented a van and drove to Turkey along with a colleague
from the University of Toronto.

Most of the other academics left Georgia as part of convoys to
neighboring Armenia organized by the U.S. government, which
recommended that all American citizens depart Georgia. Students from
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor, and the American Councils for International
Education, a nonprofit group that runs overseas programs and
exchanges, were on the convoys.

The unrest has also stranded some Georgian students who were studying
or planning to study at American universities, preventing them from
traveling for the fall term or for new-student orientation, several
college officials said.

The University of Washington canceled a monthlong program on Georgian
culture and history that had been scheduled to begin in August.

PanARMENIAN.Net

OSCE PA: Karabakh conflict should never be resolved by use of force
06.09.2008 15:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian
met Friday with OSCE PA special representative for Nagorno Karabakh,
Mr Goran Lennmarker to exchange views on the Georgian-South Ossetian
conflict and the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the RA NA press office
reported.

Emphasizing that war is not the way the resolve conflicts, Mr
Lennmarker said it’s time for all South Caucasus countries to work
jointly. `The recent developments in the region proved that conflict
should never be resolved by use of force,’ he said.

He also slammed implementation of regional programs bypassing Armenia.

For his part, Mr Torosian remarked that neglecting the most important
side in the conflict ` Nagorno Karabakh ` is the biggest mistake made
during discussion of the problem.

ARMENIA SHOULD HAVE EXTENDED A RECONCILING HAND TO RUSSIA AND GEORGIA
TRYING TO WEAKEN SHARPNESS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN THEM, ARAM MANUKIAN
CONSIDERS

news=117073

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenia should adopt a very cautious
position in the issue of Russian-Georgian conflict. Aram Manukian, a
member of the Board of the Armenian National Movement party, gave
assurance in his interview to the Noyan Tapan correspondent.

Today the extent of tension between Russia and Georgia is very high and
according to A. Manukian, in this circumstance any uncautious
expression by Armenian officials or diplomats can result in one of the
sides forming an impression of demarch. While the Armenian authorities,
as he evaluated it, did not show a balanced approach to their Russian
and Georgian colleagues, "at first they condoled with one side, then
they saw that doing so is wrong and also condoled with the second one."
A. Manukian considers that Armenians should have extended a reconciling
hand to both conflict sides, should have expressed assistance and
support to weaken sharpness of conflict between them. And the RA
authorities, according to him, today "are suppressed by Russian dictate
and fail to have a free position."

TURKEY’S ERDOGAN: ARMENIA SHOULD COMPLY WITH UN RESOLUTION

Sept 4 2008
Turkey

Turkish PM Erdogan said he thinks favorably about President Abdullah
Gul’s decision to travel to Armenia.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday he thinks
favorably about President Abdullah Gul’s decision to travel to Armenia
on the occasion of a soccer game between the national teams of the
two countries.

Armenia and Turkey will play against each other in the Armenian
capital Yerevan on September 6th in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
qualifiers. Armenian President Serzh Sargsian declared that he would
take steps to revive relations with Turkey and invited President Gul
to Yerevan to watch together the soccer game.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic relations since
Armenia declared its independence in 1991 and Turkey closed its border
with Armenia after this country invaded the Upper-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan in 1992.

"You can not get anything as long as you leave the table. You should
sit down at the table and let others leave," Erdogan told reporters
in Syria where he met leaders of Syria, France and Qatar at a quartet
summit on the Middle East.

"They (the two presidents) would of course discuss something after
the game," Erdogan said. "The whole thing here is the Upper-Karabakh
issue. We think that the Minsk process should be concluded in a
fair way. Moreover, Armenia should comply with UN Security Council
resolution on the matter."

Minsk Process and Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) aim to find a political solution to
the conflict over Upper-Karabakh region over which Armenia fought
Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s.

On July 24th, Turkish FM Ali Babacan expressed Turkey’s willingness to
normalize relations with Armenia at a press conference in New York,
saying that Turkey also wanted to create an atmosphere of dialogue
with Armenia.

Erdogan also said that Babacan would travel to Armenia together with
President Gul, adding that second round of these talks would continue
between foreign ministers of the two countries.

"Everything can not be finalized in a minute. It will take time,"
Erdogan said.