Author: Nanijanian Alex

EurasiaNet, NY
Sept 20 2005

YOUTH ACTIVISTS IN AZERBAIJAN SAY THEY ARE BEING TARGETED BY
GOVERNMENT
Khadija Ismayilova 9/20/05

As Azerbaijan’s November 6 parliamentary elections draw closer,
opposition and youth organization representatives say they are
feeling increased pressure from the government. Their concerns have
been stoked by the recent arrests of youth activists, one of them a
Ukrainian citizen.

On September 12, Yeni Fikir Deputy chairperson Said Nuri was detained
for 48 hours on suspicion of conspiring to stage a coup against the
Azerbaijani government. While attending a training session in Poland
that was sponsored by the National Democratic Institute, Nuri
allegedly received instruction on organizing anti-government protests
with the aim of overthrowing the established order, Azerbaijani
officials contend. Nuri had assumed responsibility for running Yeni
Fikir, a youth group loosely aligned with the opposition Popular
Front Party of Azerbaijan, shortly after the August arrest of Ruslan
Bashirli, the group’s leader. Bashirli was charged with conspiring
with Armenian special services to foment unrest in Azerbaijan. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The same day as Nuri’s
detention, Ramin Tagiyev, another Yeni Fikir deputy chairperson, was
sentenced to a three-month prison term for his role in a supposed
coup plot.

The US State Department has sharply criticized Nuri’s arrest. In a
September 15 interview broadcast by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s
Azeri Service, Terry Davidson, a US State Department official,
expressed concern that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s
administration was trying to squelch legitimate domestic political
opposition. “The US government is concerned [by] the arrest of youth
leaders in Azerbaijan as well as the campaign against the Popular
Front Party,” Davidson said. `We urge the Azeri government to provide
basic civil liberties in preparation for the parliamentary elections,
including freedom of assembly, equal access to the media and not
being a subject of pressure.”

In an interview with EurasiaNet, Popular Front Party Chairman Ali
Kerimli stated that the arrests were motivated by the authorities’
fear of Yeni Fikir’s increasing popularity and the related need to
reduce youth activism in Azerbaijan. “They [authorities] think that
the only way to make these young people stop the struggle is to
isolate them,” Kerimli said “However, the opposition’s rallies
demonstrate that, more and more, orange-clad youth have joined the
nationwide struggle against dictatorship.” [For additional
information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Popular Front Party has responded to Nuri’s arrest with a blood
donation campaign for individuals suffering from thalassemia, a
series of genetic blood disorders from which the Yeni Fikir activist
suffers. Soon after his arrest, Nuri was taken to the Musa Nagiyev
Emergency Hospital in serious condition. Nuri’s family, friends and
lawyer have not been allowed to see the detainee since his
hospitalization. A statement released by doctors two days after
Nuri’s arrest said that the youth activist’s condition had
stabilized. The state prosecutor’s office has since reportedly
stalled its investigation out of consideration for Nuri’s health.

Nonetheless, the scandals surrounding Yeni Fikir show no sign of
abating. On September 15, organization members reportedly discovered
three hand grenades and a cartridge of TNT in the group’s main office
in Baku. Media reported that the police officer called to the scene
to investigate refused to remove the explosives. The building also
houses the offices of the opposition newspaper Azadliq and the
Popular Front. Azadliq Editor Ganimat Zahidov, reportedly accompanied
by foreign and local journalists, eventually took a bag with the
explosives to the local police station. Zahidov claimed that the
explosives were deliberately planted by authorities to provide
justification for another Yeni Fikir arrest, and to search the
organization’s headquarters. Zahidov has since ordered all
individuals entering the building to be checked. Police pledged to
conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, but have not issued
any updates.

Some human rights activists believe that the arrests of Yeni Fikir
members are designed to reduce the potential for a election-related
protest in Baku akin to those that occurred in Georgia and Ukraine in
2003 and 2004 respectively. Those protests resulted in regime-change
in Tbilisi and Kyiv. [For additional information see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. Georgian and Ukrainian youth groups played key
roles in organizing those demonstrations. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. “The former leaderships of Georgia and
Ukraine never took such tough action against youth leaders,” said
Saida Gojamanli, director of the Bureau of Human Rights and Law
Observance.

The arrest of a representative of the Ukrainian youth group Pora in
Baku has helped fuel speculation that the government plans to
discourage such organizations from playing any role in Azerbaijan’s
parliamentary elections. Azerbaijani authorities detained Sergei
Yevtushenko — an advisor to the Ukrainian foreign minister, and a
Pora leader – at Baku airport on September 15. Two days later, he was
forcibly returned to Ukraine. Yevtushenko had traveled to Azerbaijan
at the invitation of the opposition election bloc Azadliq to attend a
conference on democratization in Azerbaijan and Belarus.

No official reason was given for Yevtushenko’s detention. The
Ukrainian consul was allowed to meet with Yevtushenko only after the
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry lodged a formal diplomatic protest. In a
September 16 interview with Trend news agency, the country’s
ambassador to Baku, Igor Kizima stated that Azerbaijani officials had
violated international agreements by making the Ukrainian consul wait
five hours before seeing Yevtushenko. Ukrainian officials also
accused Azerbaijan of violating bilateral agreements that provide for
a no-visa entry to Azerbaijan for Ukrainian citizens.

Editor’s Note: Khadija Ismayilova is a freelance journalist based in
Baku.

A1+

| 12:56:12 | 17-09-2005 | Politics |

IT MAY BE TOO LATE

Majority of extraparliamentary parties are not in a hurry to decide whether
they will take part in the agitation process or in the referendum itself.

National Self-Determination Union headed by Paruyr Hayrikyan will
participate in the process as the initiators of constitutional amendments.
How he is going to do it will be clear on September 21. On the Independence
Day an administrative sitting will be convoked to decide the way the party
will appeal to the citizens. `Our position will be precise’, Paruyr
Hayrikyan said.

Leader of Christian Democratic party Khosrov Harutyunyan does not want to
run before the hounds either. He considers it would be more correct to
outline the position of the party after the adoption of the constitutional
amendments in the third reading. Like the Venice Commission he hold the
opinion that `certain progress has been achieved’. `On the whole we support
the amendments but there are some clauses that can cause tension and
problems. In this view we have issued a package of proposals consisting of
6-7 items’, Khosrov Harutyunyan said.

The Liberal Democratic Party of Armenia also prefers not to reveal its
further plans yet. `We calmly watch this `squabble’. Each leadership wishes
to create its constitution. This is a tradition that originated in the
soviet period. At Stalin, for example, we also had human and perfect laws.
But were they implemented?’ Kh. Harutynyan noted. In his opinion it is
senseless now to give any assessment to the constitutional amendments at
present.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR TO USA: ECONOMIC FREEDOM IN ARMENIA
HIGHEST IN LIST OF TRANSITIONAL STATES

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14. ARMINFO. Armenian Ambassador to the USA Tatul
Margaryan met with Head of the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation, an independent US Government agency, Ross Connelly,
Tuesday. The press-service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry told
ARMINFO, during the meeting, the Ambassador stated that due to the
reforms by the Armenian Government, the country is in the lead of the
group of the transitional states as to economic freedom. The economic
field of Armenia is favorable for foreign investments, the Ambassador
said.

In his turn, Ross Connelly expressed readiness on behalf of OPIC to
stimulate investments of American businessmen in the economy of
Armenia, as well as the cooperation to upgrade the awareness of
American businessmen of the programs OPIC implements in Armenia. The
largest of the programs is financing of the Marriott-Armenia repairs.

According to the economic freedom rating prepared by the US Heritage
Fund, Armenia ranks the first in the CIS, and in the 44th place among
155 countries in the world.

CSTO SEC. GEN. OBSERVES ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN EXERCISES

Pan Armenian News
13.09.2005 02:42

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian President Robert Kocharian will observe the
final phase of the annual joint Armenian-Russian military and tactical
exercises that are held on the ground after marshal Baghramyan in
Armavir region of Armenia. These are the tenth Armenian Russian
exercises on the territory of Armenia. Secretary of the National
Security Council at the Armenian President, Defense Minister Serge
Sargsyan, CSTO Sec. Gen. Nikolay Bordyuzha and commander of the Group
of Russian Troops in Transcaucasia (GRTT) major general Andrey Popov
will follow the firing as well. The ground is also being prepared
to the firing. Motor shooting fortified regiment will represent the
Armenian party, while servicemen and equipment of the 102nd Russian
military base situated in Gyumri (the northern part Armenia) will
represent Russia. Aviation will take part in the maneuvers. The script
of the exercises provides for repulsing an attack of a conditional
adversary and subsequent elimination of his units. The exercises aim
at working out interaction between the Armenian and Russian formations,
reported IA Regnum.

A Feast from Fire
Any occasion will do for an Armenian barbecue

Bronwyn Dunne
Saveur Magazine, no. 87 (October)
“Fare,” p. 28

My introduction to the Urartu fire god occurred last year while my husband
and I were living in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. A new friend,
Yulia, announced one day that we were going on a picnic to experience the
national food and outdoor event known as khorovats. The word is Armenian
for barbecue–typically a spread of grilled skewers of lamb or pork served
with vegetables, lavash (flat bread), and ample helpings of vodka–but it is
also Armenian for birthday party, wedding anniversary, or any other
celebration you have in mind. If the weather is beautiful or your cousin
has just bought a new car or your two-year-old has just lost a tooth, then
you have an excuse for a khorovats.

Khorovats also celebrates something far more ancient: fire. Looking up at
Mount Ararat, a peak looming nearly 17,000 feet over Yerevan, you can
imagine the importance of fire when the winter winds blew down the
mountain’s lofty flanks and swept over the shepherds guarding their flocks
below–so it’s no wonder that a principal deity of the Urartu, an ancient
Armenian civilization dating to the 13th century B.C., was the one concerned
with flame. It was an Urartu tradition that the men would build a fire
after they’d returned from the hunt and pray to the gods for another day of
good luck.

The first stop on the morning of our picnic was at the apartment of one of
Yulia’s friends, Armen. He was to be the chef and manager at our event. We
watched with a mixture of alarm and admiration as Armen packed his
Soviet-era Lada with all thenecessities for our meal–blankets, trays of
marinating pork, a heavy iron coffeepot, skewers as long as swords, bottles
of vodka and water, and plastic bags full of peppers, eggplants, tomatoes,
and potatoes–along with his wife, twin daughters, and young son. Then our
little band caravaned off to the highlands north of Yerevan. We forded a
stream almost too deep for our cars to cross and drove through the rural
countryside on challenging wagon roads until the ideal site was found.

Armen, his friend Tigran, and the other men–men are always responsible for
the cooking at a khorovats–built a fire in the grill and then gathered
around, beers in hand, looking a lot like their suburban American
counterparts. Our food was cooked in a specific order: first the skewers
threaded with the whole vegetables, then the skewers of seasoned ground pork
and of alternating chunks of pork and potato. The lavash bread, which we
would use in place of utensils, was baked in a tonir, an oven dug in the
ground.

Peeling the cooked vegetables was a ritual overseen by the women. We
stripped the skins with our fingers and then sliced them into a bowl filled
with onions, salt, and pepper. Our fingers became so black from the charred
skins that there was much laughter over the mess that we were making.

Once everything was ready, the vodka was poured, and, with raised paper
cups, we made a toast to our Armenian friends. They wished us good health
in return, and then we broke bread in the shadow of Mount Ararat, just like
the shepherds of old.

Men’s News Daily, CA
Sept 11 2005
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN

Doing Away With The Poor

September 11, 2005

by Burt Prelutsky

It is alleged that when his ex-wife was asked to sum up William
Saroyan, famous for his heartwarming stories about Fresno’s Armenian
community, she replied, `Bill loved mankind, but he hated people.’
Knowing from firsthand experience how bitter ex-wives can be, I can’t
comment on the veracity of that rather pithy analysis, but I think
it’s a very appropriate comment when it comes to large numbers of
Democrats.

The specific group I have in mind includes several millionaire
members of the U.S. Senate, virtually every major figure in the
motion picture and popular music industries, and a slew of business
tycoons. The one thing all these muckety mucks have in common is they
only mingle with each other. They love mankind, but they hate poor
people. That’s why they live behind high walls and electric gates,
and travel everywhere in limos and private jets, generally
accompanied by extremely large men carrying extremely large guns.

When it comes to speaking at charity banquets and delivering
political speeches, the rich and famous will say all the usual
compassionate bilge about the poor and the downtrodden. But so far as
actually interacting with them, that’s strictly limited to the peons
who mop their floors, cook their food, mow their lawns, and look
after their kids. And, frankly, I don’t blame them. I mean, who the
heck really wants to hang around poor people? Besides not looking or
even smelling as good as rich people, they always want something. And
usually what they want more than anything is to be rich. That’s
exactly the sort of thing that makes wealthy people really nervous.
After all, it’s not their own kind who go around starting
revolutions, burgling their homes, kidnapping for ransom, or knocking
them on the head to steal their wallets.

So it is we have millionaires like Kennedy and Kerry, Edwards and
Feinstein, Boxer and Dean, trying to pass themselves off as
populists, yammering about raising taxes and soaking the rich, as if
they themselves were members in good standing of the lunch bucket
brigade. The odd thing is that so many poor people seem so willing to
go along with the gag. That can either be attributed to extremely
good manners or a naivete bordering on feeble-mindedness.

In any case, being neither rich nor poor myself, perhaps it’s no
surprise that, being in a position to view the problem objectively, I
have been able to come up with a surefire cure for poverty in
America.

I’m not sure if it’s this way in other parts of the country, but here
in Southern California, individuals and companies get to adopt a mile
or two of freeway. I’m not sure what their responsibility is,
inasmuch as the orange-vested clean up crews consist, so far as I can
tell, of bad drivers performing the community service portion of
their sentences, and not of Rosanne Barr or the gang at Morton’s
Mufflers. But I figure they must have kicked in a pretty penny in
order to get their names on those little highway signs. After all,
publicity doesn’t come cheap in this town.

Well, it struck me that if the well-to-do are willing to adopt a
stretch of the 405, why don’t they, instead, adopt the poor? Heck,
all by themselves, liberals like Ted Turner, Barbara Streisand and
George Soros, can afford to adopt every illegal alien coming across
the border. And what’s more, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream moguls Ben Cohen
and Jerry Greenfield can provide them with butter pecan and fudge
ripple until the cows come home.

AZG Armenian Daily #161, 09/09/2005

Turkey

TURKISH PRESS KEEPS ON WRITING ON SEPT. 6 POGROMS

Nationalists Attack Exhibition Dedicated to Pogroms

Covering the 50th anniversary of pogroms of Greek, Jewish and Armenian
communities in Istanbul, daily Azg mentioned in its September 7 issue that
all central newspapers of Turkey draw public’s attention to that horrific
data in order to prevent future massacres.

The papers are still responding to the anniversary. On the commemoration
day, the Istanbul offshoot of Turkey’s Union for Human Rights Protection
organized a march in memory of the victims and the “History” Foundation
exhibited photos.

At the end of the march the Union of Human Rights Protection delivered its
message to the public. President of the Union, Eren Keskin, personally read
the epistle informing meanwhile that cadets of 2 military academies took
part in the march. As to the photo exhibition, titled “50th Anniversary of
Events of September 6-7”, it was assaulted by Turkish nationalists.

Turkish papers together with state and private TVs draw Turkish public’s
attention not only on the anniversary of the pogroms but also the attack on
the exhibition.

Turkish NTV responded to the attack the very day it happened on 6 September.
It’s noteworthy that Turkish papers Radikal and Aksam responded in an
article with an identical title “50 Years Later With the Same Mentality”.
The 250 photos of retired admiral Fahri Coker’s archive displayed at the
exhibition featured pogroms of September 6-7.

The admiral was the chairman of the court that was set to investigate into
the pogroms. He handed down photos and documents to “History” Foundation.
Around 1 thousand people visited the exhibition on the opening day. It will
be open for 21 days.

The exhibition opened at 6 pm local time on 6 September. Right at that
moment the members of intellectuals’ clubs of Anatolia, headed by
vice-president Aynur Saydam, entered the hall. A group of 10-15 people,
headed by former spearhead of Istanbul’s clubs Levent Temiz, follow them
declaring that they represent the Union of Turkish Resistance.

Temiz suddenly holds forth saying, “Our homeland is occupied today. Even the
law enforcers have been neutralized. The Turkish youth whom Ataturk
entrusted republican Turkey will do its holy duty by exerting itself”. The
members soon joined in yelling “Traitors”, “Love or go away”, “Turkey
belongs to Turks” and attacked the photos and documents on stands. Most of
them were torn off. Grabbing the exhibits and waving Turkish national flags
the attackers march to the square of Beray. 3 protesters were arrested as
police interfered.

The France-Presse disseminated all details attached with photos of the
attack to its subscribers in every corner of the world. In the meantime,
president of the “History” Foundation, Orhan Milier, accuses the police for
the attack saying that no preventive measures were taken. But it is well
know that the organizers of the attack have warned 15 prior to the events
about possible protest and their threat was even published in the press.

By Hakob Chakrian

SERVICEMAN KILLED IN ARMENIAN TRUCE VIOLATION – AZERI TV

ANS TV, Baku
8 Sep 05

A warrant officer of the Azerbaijani army has been killed on the
front line, Azerbaijani ANS TV said on 8 September.

The officer was wounded when Azerbaijan’s army positions in the
village of Borsunlu in Tartar District came under fire from the
Armenian armed forces at about 0700 gmt on 7 September, ANS reported.

FREE-SPEECH CASE CAN’T HIDE PROGRESS
by Soli Ozel

The International Herald Tribune
September 8, 2005 Thursday

In December, the internationally renowned Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk
is scheduled to appear in court here for having “blatantly belittled
Turkishness.” If convicted he faces six months to three years in
prison. His offense? Having said to a Swiss newspaper in February:
“Thirty thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in
Turkey. Almost no one dares to speak out on this but me.”

Pamuk’s indictment last week by a district prosecutor here was
undoubtedly an affront to the principle of freedom of expression as
was the vicious campaign by ultranationalists that followed Pamuk’s
remarks, including death threats that led him to leave Turkey for a
couple of months. In December, the court should throw out the charges
against him.

But those, especially in the West, who would use the indictment against
Pamuk to denigrate Turkey’s progress toward greater civil rights and
toward European Union membership are ignoring the distance that the
country has covered in the past decade.

For one thing, public debate in Turkey has in fact become much more
open and varied, particularly on the Armenian issue. For another,
though some liberals took exception to Pamuk’s wording and the platform
he chose, in the end Turkey’s democratic voices unequivocally defended
his right to express his views.

In addition, the very justice system that brought down the indictment
against Pamuk is deeply divided between those who favor a more modern,
liberal judicial mentality and those who are uncomfortable with such
an opening: Only two months ago, the Istanbul prosecutor’s office
had decided that Pamuk’s words were indeed protected by free speech.

A month from now, Pamuk is scheduled to receive the prestigious
Peace Award of the German Publishers and Writers Association. For
evidence of how far Turkey has come, it might pay to go revisit the
moment eight years ago when the grand old man of Turkish literature,
Yasar Kemal, received the same award.

At the time, Kemal had just been sentenced to 20 months in prison,
with his sentence suspended on condition that he did not commit the
same “crime” within five years. His crime was an article entitled
“Dark Clouds Over Turkey,” in which he severely criticized the Turkish
government’s policies toward its Kurdish citizens.

Turkey was indeed under dark clouds in 1997. The military was fighting
against the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a vicious group that
specialized in murdering its civilian opponents. The military’s tactics
trampled upon the human rights and dignity of Kurds in the country’s
southeast, and the overall national climate served to suppress any
expression of Kurdish identity. The war cost Turkey more than 30,000
lives, and hundreds of thousands became refugees in their own land.

When Kemal won his award, human rights violations were rampant and
freedom of expression was severely restricted. The European Union’s
refusal in that year to extend candidate member status to Turkey
froze relations with Ankara. The Union had no influence on Turkey
and its pull was weak.

Since then, not only has the war ended, but the EU has also reversed
its course. Turkey has made huge strides to fulfill the economic
and political conditions necessary to join the Union because the
Turkish public overwhelmingly support this goal. The movement toward
democratic governance and liberal politics has certainly encountered
great resistance at every turn. Yet in the end, the democratizing
will of Turkish society has prevailed; despite stiff opposition from
some powerful entrenched interests, groundbreaking reforms have been
undertaken. Last December, the European Council decided to start
accession talks with Turkey on Oct. 3 of this year, a decision
that many in the Union and in Turkey still find hard to digest,
or outright unacceptable.

So the indictment against Pamuk, however offensive, ought to be seen as
part of the ongoing struggle within Turkey about the country’s future,
particularly within the justice system. Some judiciary members have
been slow to adjust to contemporary legal norms. But judicial opinion
increasingly reflects the sophistication and outlook of a new attitude
toward the law and citizens’ rights.

Detractors of Turkey’s European destiny must have rejoiced in Pamuk’s
indictment. Yet they themselves have been displaying a non-European
spirit toward Turkey, with their rejection of Turks on cultural
(read religious) grounds and their petty maneuvering over commitments
already made. As such they are the Turkish hard-liners’ best allies.

Turks not unlike Kemal and Pamuk have spent over two centuries in
their country’s European vocation, often fighting on two fronts. That
is why it took them so long to get to where they are. But at the end
of the day, they have always prevailed.

*

Soli Ozel is a professor of international relations at Istanbul Bilgi
University and a columnist for the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah.

OMBUDSMAN CAUTIOUSLY CONDEMNS

A1+
| 17:35:53 | 08-09-2005 | Politics |

Human rights defender Larissa Alaverdyan has issued a special report on
violations of human rights of the residents being expelled from their
houses over the construction project of Yerevan. Today the Ombudsman
met with journalists to tell that the report will be placed at the
website

Without mentioning any names or state structures infringing the rights
the residents L. Alaversyan diplomatically noted, “The violations can
be observed n the government resolution, the programs worked out by
the city administration and in the course of performing pleas.” The
forcible expelling and the amount of compensation aroused indignation
of the Ombudsman.

During today’s’ press conference L. Alaverdyan stated that the report
in not called to condemn the incumbent or the construction works
carried out in the capital. After attending Buzand Steet 23 and seeing
the expelled residents the Ombudsman concluded that the program caused
serious social tension, which, in her opinion can cause emergency
situation. “The authorities have to settle this issue”, she said.