Author: Tambiyan Samvel

UK REPORTER BARRED FROM RUSSIA ON SECURITY GROUNDS
Reuters, UK
July 3 2006
MOSCOW, July 3 (Reuters) – Russia has refused a visa to a British
journalist well-known for his coverage of Chechnya and the turbulent
Caucasus, citing the needs of “state security”.
Thomas de Waal, who has previously worked in Moscow for the
English-language Moscow Times, the BBC and the Times, said on Monday
he had been due to attend the presentation of a Russian version of
his book on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
But the Federal Migration Service refused him a visa.
The service was not available for comment on Monday but in its letter
refusing the application, which was obtained by Reuters, it cited
a 1996 law that says a visa can be refused “in the aims of securing
state security”.
De Waal said he had cooperated with Russian officials in the past
on Nagorno-Karabakh, a South Caucasus region officially part of
Azerbaijan but ruled by Armenians, and did not believe they would
bar him for his views on the conflict.
“This clearly has to be because of the other main thing that I write
about, which is Chechnya,” de Waal, 39, told Reuters by telephone
from London.
Russian officials have been very sensitive about Western criticism of
the war in Chechnya, where they have struggled to crush separatism
for more than a decade, and local journalists have been prosecuted
for sympathising with the rebels.
President Vladimir Putin in 2002 said a foreign journalist critical
of Russia’s policy in the region become a Muslim and be circumcised
“in such a way that nothing grows back”.
Russia barred U.S. channel ABC news from Russia after it ran an
interview with Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev.
Press freedom groups say Russia tries to intimidate journalists into
only reporting the Kremlin view on Chechnya. A Russian journalist in
February was convicted of provoking racial hatred after he printed
articles by rebel leaders.
De Waal is best known in Russia for appearing as an expert witness for
the defence at the extradition trial of rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev
in London. He said this could be behind his failure to get a visa.
The British court in 2003 declined to extradite Zakayev, giving him
political asylum instead — a move that infuriated Moscow, which
calls Zakayev a terrorist.
“It is possible that the wheels turn rather slowly, or that this is
a cumulative account of things I have done over the last 10 years,”
de Waal said. He last visited Russia in January 2005.

JULY 5 ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO LEAVE FOR IRAN ON WORKING VISIT
PanARMENIAN.Net
03.07.2006 13:24 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ July 5-6 Armenian leader Robert Kocharian will pay
a working visit to Iran, Armenian President’s Spokesperson Victor
Soghomonyan told PanARMENIAN.Net. In his words, the schedule of
meetings, the final format of Kocharian’s visit and the composition
of the delegation are being specified still.

The Standard, Kenya
July 1 2006
Brothers travelled with shared passport

By PATRICK MATHANGANI and BIKETI KIKECHI
The Artur passports mystery deepened yesterday as it emerged they
used the same travel document at least once and were cleared by the
Immigration Department.
Also, when they were kicked out of Kenya, none of the names in their
air tickets corresponded with the names in the deportation order
signed by Immigration minister, Gideon Konchella.
It was further revealed that when Artur Sagarsyan was deported,
immigration officials gave him a travel certificate exclusively
reserved for Kenyans wishing to travel within East Africa.
This means Sagarsyan can still travel to Uganda, Kenya or Tanzania
until July 9, the expiry date of the certificate that should have
been valid only for the day he travelled.
The principal Immigration Officer in charge of Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport, Mr John Cheruiyot, said despite the security
issue raised by the discrepancies, the Arturs were still allowed to
travel.
JKIA is regarded as Kenya’s most secure airport, and travellers are
extensively vetted before boarding planes. Cheruiyot admitted that if
such discrepancies had been noted on a foreigner entering the
country, he or she would have been turned back. When the Armenians
finally left, no records were kept at JKIA to show they had been
deported.
“Our system does not capture deportation. Anybody going through the
system won’t know if they were deported,” Cheruiyot told the
commission sitting at Kenyatta International Conference Centre.
Despite the inconsistencies in their travel tickets, Kenya Airways
allowed the foreigners to travel, following consultations with the
immigration department, he said.
Evidence adduced by businessman Raju Sangani showed the two first
came to Kenya on November 10, 2005. Sangani sent his `acquaintances’
to meet them at the airport.
However, Cheruiyot said records at the Immigration Department show
while Artur Margaryan came to Kenya on the said date, Sargasyan
arrived on December 13, 2005.
He produced the records showing the Arturs’ movement in and out of
Kenya from the first day to the date they were deported.
Instead, the records show it was a man named Arthur Gevorkyan who
accompanied Margaryan to Kenya on November 10. It emerged that this
is the passport Sargasyan had used when he first came to Kenya in the
company of Margaryan on November 10.
When he was finally deported, Margaryan used Gevorkyan’s passport,
meaning the two brothers used the same passport on different dates
and were cleared to travel.
Cheruiyot told the commission of inquiry investigating the conduct of
the Artur brothers that he was learning for the first time about how
they kept changing their identities. “After looking at these records,
I realise they played a trick,” Cheruiyot told a hushed sitting.
Records further show none of the Artur’s travelled on the day they
held a press conference at JKIA’s VIP lounge, which is reserved for
senior people in the Government and dignitaries.
On that day, (March 13, 2006) records show it was the man named as
Gevorkyan who arrived from Dubai.
Cheruiyot said Kenya does not have a document to issue to deportees.
In the case of Sargasyan, officials had to improvise and gave him one
reserved for Kenyans travelling in East Africa, he said.
He explained that they forgot to cancel the segment that gave
Sargasyan the go ahead to return.

Cyprus Observer, Cyprus
June 30 2006
Enlargement fatigue but only for Turkey
30.06.2006
Showing off to their public, the French government seeks to impose
EU’s `absorption capacity’ as a new condition for further EU
enlargements.
By Umut Uras
It is a regular method for EU member state governments to blame their
own failures on the European Union (EU). Actually it has become a
regular tool for governments to use the EU as a scapegoat.
For example, a government could secretly lobby for a positive
decision in the Council of Ministers through alternative methods,
whereas it could vote against it just to satisfy public opinion. Or
similarly, when a decision is certain according to qualified majority
voting, again it can vote against it only to satisfy public opinion
and increase its reputation. France’s stance towards Turkey’s
membership is a good example.
Absorption capacity
The ‘absorption capacity’ of the EU is regularly quoted by EU leaders
these days, but only for Turkey. In the last gigantic enlargement the
public did not hear much about this additional Maastricht criterion,
because the EU was willing to absorb these countries, including
Poland with a population of 40 million and 20% unemployment. In the
conclusions of the 1993 Copenhagen Summit, it was not defined
properly, an issue the EU leaders are working on after enlarging from
12 to 25 since 1993.
However, after the 2004 Central and Eastern European enlargement the
term has become very popular. The Commission quoted the ‘absorption
capacity’ in the new enlargement strategy publicized in December
2005. And in March 2006, the European Parliament requested a clear
definition of this criterion in its report on the Commission’s
enlargement strategy.
French example of playing to public
France’s stance towards Turkey on the issue of absorption capacity is
a good example how the EU governments are using the EU as a tool to
increase political reputations. It is a known fact that in some EU
countries, most significantly France, Turkey’s membership is not
welcomed. However, it is also obvious that Turkey’s membership of the
EU is in the interest of French businesses. Before the Foreign Direct
Investment boom in Turkey that came after the EU bid finally got
serious, for a few years French firms did the highest investment in
Turkey. Today, the trade level between the two countries is more than
10 billion euros per year. Turkey is also among the target countries
for investment according to statements made by the French Foreign
Trade Minister, Christine Lagarde. France made a huge Airbus deal
with Turkey in the past and is regularly interested in military
weapons bids.
We all saw what happened with the Armenian genocide bill that
awakened a huge reaction in Turkey. The French National Assembly
postponed debate and a controversial bill sponsored by the opposition
Socialist Party until at least October after being threatened with
trade sanctions by Turkey.
At the European Council that took place on 15-16 June, the French
suggested bringing a thorough definition to the absorption capacity
of the EU. It was only fully supported by South Cyprus for obvious
reasons. Even euro-sceptic Denmark rejected bringing an extra
condition for enlargements. As a result, France’s view that the
definition of the EU’s absorption capacity should cover the
democratic, institutional, political and financial ability of the EU
to absorb new members was not shared by the rest of the EU. French
President Jacques Chirac went even further and said that the
political ability of the EU is concerned with the views of the
populations, which should “be able to say if they accept or not.”
This approach provides a new criterion to be a member of the EU, as
there was no public voting for Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and the
other new EU member states, as there will be for Turkey. Southeastern
Balkan states will probably also be included in the deal because of
Turkey, if and when this additional criterion is realized.
Olli Rehn’s statement
Just after the enlargement discussions during the Summit in Brussels,
Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, made a
call on Monday to European leaders to promote enlargement to their
public and not to make the enlargement of the EU a scapegoat for
their own policy failures like in the issues of unemployment and
globalisation. He also argued that Europeans are often “more
rational” than their governments, adding that the absorption of the
new member states has been a success story, uniting a Continent
previously divided by the Cold War.

RIA Novosti, Russia
June 30, 2006
Russia says completes 60 criminal cases on WMD technologies
MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s main security service has
completed about 60 cases against Russians, foreigners and firms that
were interested in technologies for the production of weapons of mass
destruction, a senior official said Friday.
“We have completed about 60 cases against 30 Russians, foreign
citizens and firms that were interested in such information or tried
to obtain access to it,” said Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the
Federal Security Service’s economic security strategic department.
In particular, Bortnikov said that during a joint Russian-U.S.
security operation, operatives arrested an Iranian-born U.S. citizen
attempting to receive sensitive information about the development of
nuclear weapons.
Also, a joint effort involving security services of Russia, Georgia,
Armenia and the U.S. led to the arrest of a Russian citizen who was
trying to smuggle 160 grams of enriched uranium out of Russia, the
official said.

SENATE COMMITTEE GRILLS AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA DESIGNATE OVER U.S. POLICY ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Washington, DC, June 29. ArmInfo. While Members of Congress and
the Armenian community demand a full explanation for the premature
replacement of Ambassador to Armenia John M. Evans, the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee today held a hearing on the Administration’s
nominee, Richard E. Hoagland, reports Armenian Assembly of America.
If confirmed, Hoagland would replace Evans who was rebuked by State
Department officials last year after publicly affirming the Armenian
Genocide during his meetings with Armenian-American communities. In
those exchanges, Evans declared that “the Armenian Genocide was the
first genocide of the twentieth century.” In making his statements,
Evans pointed to the International Center for Transitional Justice
(ICTJ), which concluded that the events could be properly characterized
as genocide.
Senator George Allen (R-VA), who chaired today’s proceedings, noted
that there have been serious concerns that Evans was forced to
prematurely end his service as a result of those public declarations.
“I don’t know this to be true,” Allen said, referring to the
circumstances surrounding Evans’ departure. “[I] will say that many
of my colleagues and I refer to the tragic events of 1915 as genocide
and have strongly encouraged the President to do so as well.”
-Switching topics, Coleman questioned Hoagland over the Turkish
blockade against Armenia, asking him how he plans to address this
issue. Hoagland responded that he would support talks between the
countries, noting that a peaceful resolution to the NK conflict
was paramount.
Allen, for his part, expressed concern over the proposed railroad
linking Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, that would bypass Armenia.
Hoagland said it would make economic sense to rehabilitate the existing
rail line which traverses Armenia, adding that the U.S.
supports regional cooperation and economic integration. The Senator
also reaffirmed his commitment to ensure security assistance parity
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In his opening statement, Hoagland stressed the importance of
strengthening U.S.-Armenia ties and said that if confirmed, he would
work to advance democratic and social reforms. He expressed concern
that Armenia’s elections have not met international standards, and
said he would work to implement electoral reforms in the run-up to
the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2007 and 2008.

ARMENIAN FM SAYS SHOULD SEEK ALTERNATIVE GAS SUPPLIERS
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 28 2006
TBILISI (Georgia), June 28 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s foreign minister
said Wednesday that the South Caucasus country should seek to diversify
its natural gas suppliers, following Georgia’s example.
In January, Russia doubled the price for natural gas supplies to the
former Soviet republic from $54 per 1,000 cubic meters to $110 as part
of its efforts to put the gas market on a free-market basis. But the
move has put some strain on relations with Armenia, whose struggling
economy is heavily dependent on Russian supplies.
“Like Georgia, Armenia should diversify its gas sources,” said Vardan
Oskanyan, who is in Georgia on a two-day visit. “We are currently
discussing with our Iranian colleagues issues concerning Iranian gas
supplies to Armenia.”
Georgia now imports natural gas from Iran via Azerbaijan. Supplies
began in January after explosions on a pipeline from Russia, previously
Georgia’s sole supplier.
Oskanyan said that the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline would be commissioned
by January 2007 and added that a mooted trans-Caspian gas pipeline
to pump gas from energy-rich Central Asia to Turkey and Europe via
Azerbaijan and Georgia, was also of interest for his country.
The construction of the 141-kilometer (90 mile) pipeline from Iran
began in 2004. It will bring Armenia about 36 billion cubic meters
of gas over 20 years. The natural gas will be used for electricity
generation for Armenia’s domestic needs and for export to Iran.

RUSSIA, ARMENIA TO POOL EFFORTS TO STOP BRANDY FAKES
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
June 28, 2006 Wednesday
Russian Interior Ministry and Armenian police will boost cooperation
to stop the export of Armenia’s forged brandies to Russia, Interior
Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told a news conference on Wednesday.
Russian and Armenian law enforcers took more active steps of late
to eliminate forgery of consumer goods, mainly Armenia’s brandies,
he said.
The two countries have created a bank of brandies’ samples produced
in Armenia.
“At present, experts are capable of identifying brandies’ authenticity
with 100-percent certainty,” Nurgaliyev said.
“Unfortunately, there are still too many forgeries,” he said.

MARTAKERT IS CELEBRATING 13 YEARS OF LIBERATION
Lragir.am
28 June 06
On June 28, 1993 Martakert was liberated being controlled by the foe
for a year. On the 13th anniversary people who come from Martakert
will arrive to take part in the celebration. Most of them are quite
successful scientists, politicians, businessmen, but few of them have
contributed to the reconstruction of Martakert.
The atmosphere in the town is interesting. Some ruined buildings,
with new metal and plastic windows, were turned into beauty parlors,
the windows of other buildings are covered with blue cellophane that
the Red Cross distributed to returning natives of Martakert. One can
see a Jeep and an old Moskvich loaded with hay in the street.
Water is a serious problem in Martakert, although the big rivers
of Karabakh flow via this region. Roads are bad, there is shortage
of water, what business can there be? They only sow wheat, but the
yield is low. On the other hand, the two largest companies of NKR are
“based” in Martakert, the mines and copper factory in Drmbon and the
woodworking factory of Vank. It is interesting that both factories
were built after the war.
The telethon of the Armenian Foundation held last year was devoted to
the reconstruction of Martakert. Although, we have learned that work
on the raised funds has not started yet. Well, we are not being late.

Ottoman Documentary Cancelled in US
By Zaman, Istanbul
Published: Wednesday, June 28, 2006
zaman.com
The History Channel, which broadcasts in a number of countries
worldwide, abruptly cancelled the scheduled showing of a documentary
on the Ottoman State. The documentary titled `Ottoman Empire: The War
Machine’ scheduled to be shown on June 22-23-24 was cancelled without
a prior notice or explanation. Turkish viewers, who tuned in the
program’s scheduled hour were astonished. Those who complained to the
network about the sudden cancellation were told: `The montage wasn’t
ready yet.’ Immediately following this statement, it was announced the
documentary would be shown on July 24. The DVD of the documentary was
on sale on the channel’s web site when the statement was made.
Internet sales of the DVD were later discontinued. After the
scheduled broadcast date of July 24 was announced online, it was
replaced by the notice: `We apologize, but the program scheduled for
this hour will not be shown’ The film documents the stages of the
Ottoman State from its rise to decline.