Author: Tambiyan Samvel

Pan Armenian News
EQUATO-GUINEAN AUTHORITIES DENY CLAIMS 6 ARMENIAN PILOTS IN GUINEAN PRISON
IN PLIGHT
16.04.2005 04:31
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The government of Equatorial Guinea has denied the claims
that 6 Armenian pilots kept in prison in that country are in a plight. The
other day Kolawole Olaniyan, director of Amnesty International’s Africa
Program stated that the prisoners are emaciated with persistent torture and
chronic diseases. Besides, the prisoners of the Black Beach prison risk
starving to death, as the prison direction has cut their food rations. In
response to that Special Advisor to Equato-Guinean President Miguel Mifumu
stated that the prisoners get enough food and Amnesty International «merely
puts pressure upon the country authorities for the prisoners to be
released.» «Let them come and see what actually takes place, as the Red
Cross has done,» he added. It should be noted that the Armenian pilots were
indicted in complicity in an attempt of a coup d’etat in Equatorial Guinea
and were sentenced to long-term imprisonment.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

New York Times
April 17 2005
Mr. Bush, Take a Look at MTV
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
When Turkey was massacring Armenians in 1915, the administration of
Woodrow Wilson determinedly looked the other way. The U.S. ambassador
in Constantinople sent furious cables to Washington, pleading for
action against what he called “race murder,” but the White House
shrugged.
It was, after all, a messy situation, and there was no easy way to
stop the killing. The U.S. was desperate to stay out of World War I
and reluctant to poison relations with Turkey.
A generation later, American officials said they were too busy
fighting a war to worry about Nazi death camps. In May 1943, the U.S.
government rejected suggestions that it bomb Auschwitz, saying that
aircraft weren’t available.
In the 1970’s, the U.S. didn’t try to stop the Cambodian genocide. It
was a murky situation in a hostile country, and there was no perfect
solution. The U.S. was also negotiating the establishment of
relations with China, the major backer of the Khmer Rouge, and didn’t
want to upset that process.
Much the same happened in Bosnia and Rwanda. As Samantha Power
chronicles in her superb book, “A Problem From Hell: America and the
Age of Genocide,” the pattern was repeated over and over: a slaughter
unfolded in a distant part of the world, but we had other priorities
and it was always simplest for the American government to look away.
Now President Bush is writing a new chapter in that history.
Sudan’s army and janjaweed militias have spent the last couple of
years rampaging in the Darfur region, killing boys and men,
gang-raping and then mutilating women, throwing bodies in wells to
poison the water and heaving children onto bonfires. Just over a week
ago, 350 assailants launched what the U.N. called a “savage” attack
on the village of Khor Abeche, “killing, burning and destroying
everything in their paths.” Once again, there’s no good solution. So
we’ve looked away as 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur, with
another 10,000 dying every month.
Since I’m of Armenian origin, I’ve been invited to participate in
various 90th-anniversary memorials of the Armenian genocide. But we
Armenian-Americans are completely missing the lesson of that genocide
if we devote our energies to honoring the dead, instead of trying to
save those being killed in Darfur.
Meanwhile, President Bush seems paralyzed in the face of the
slaughter. He has done a fine job of providing humanitarian relief,
but he has refused to confront Sudan forcefully or raise the issue
himself before the world. Incredibly, Mr. Bush managed to get through
recent meetings with Vladimir Putin, Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair and
the entire NATO leadership without any public mention of Darfur.
There’s no perfect solution, but there are steps we can take. Mr.
Bush could impose a no-fly zone, provide logistical support to a
larger African or U.N. force, send Condoleezza Rice to Darfur to show
that it’s a priority, consult with Egypt and other allies – and above
all speak out forcefully.
One lesson of history is that moral force counts. Sudan has curtailed
the rapes and murders whenever international attention increased.
Mr. Bush hasn’t even taken a position on the Darfur Accountability
Act and other bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Jon
Corzine and Sam Brownback to put pressure on Sudan. Does Mr. Bush
really want to preserve his neutrality on genocide?
Indeed, MTV is raising the issue more openly and powerfully than our
White House. (Its mtvU channel is also covering Darfur more
aggressively than most TV networks.) It should be a national
embarrassment that MTV is more outspoken about genocide than our
president.
If the Bush administration has been quiet on Darfur, other countries
have been even more passive. Europe, aside from Britain, has been
blind. Islamic Relief, the aid group, has done a wonderful job in
Darfur, but in general the world’s Muslims should be mortified that
they haven’t helped the Muslim victims in Darfur nearly as much as
American Jews have. And China, while screaming about Japanese
atrocities 70 years ago, is underwriting Sudan’s atrocities in 2005.
On each of my three visits to Darfur, the dispossessed victims showed
me immense kindness, guiding me to safe places and offering me water
when I was hot and exhausted. They had lost their homes and often
their children, and they seemed to have nothing – yet in their
compassion to me they showed that they had retained their humanity.
So it appalls me that we who have everything can’t muster the simple
humanity to try to save their lives.

A1plus
| 16:27:59 | 15-04-2005 | Politics |
SOURENYAN SPOKE, BAZEYAN DID NOT
Today the 4th session of the Republican Party took place, in which al the
parties of the opposition were invited. Tigran Karapetyan, Marxist David
Hakobyan, Ararat Zourabyan and all the parties of the Justice bloc with
Stepan Demirchyan were present.
Aramazd Zaqaryan noted that a change of authorities should have occurred
three times – after October 27, on February 20, 2003, and on April 12, 2004.
«And in all the case the fault is ours when we think how to oppose each
other».
And Sourenyants criticized Russia in his speech announcing that no change of
authorities occurred because the opposition did not understand the role of
the RF. He noted that no one can deny the Karabakh conflict or the Armenian
Genocide but the solution must be looked for no in opposing each other but
in the dialogues. Souren Sourenyants repeated hi opinion about the necessity
of Armenian to joint the NATO and the EU.
Those preset expected Albert Bazeyan to make a speech, but he did not.
Neither did he want to answer the questions of the journalists.
At present the elections of the party political council and the council
president are in progress.

A Nationalist’s Global Following
Basque Leader’s Bid for Sovereignty Inspires Separatists World-Wide
WORLD NEWS

The Wall Street Journal
April 15, 2005; Page A8

By ANDRÉS CALA and KEITH JOHNSON, Staff Reporters of
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
BILBAO, SPAIN — On Sunday, voters in the Basque Country of Spain will
go to the polls to elect a new regional government. But interest in
the vote’s outcome won’t be confined to Madrid: Minority movements in
places as far away as Iraq and Indonesia also will be tuning in. The
Basque Country is a relatively small region, but it has become
influential among stateless nations around the world. The reason: Its
leader is pushing an audacious plan for effective independence from
Spain that would give the already autonomous region its own foreign
ministry, judicial system, and even sports teams to compete in
international competitions.
The plan is the brainchild of Juan José Ibarretxe, a soft-spoken
teetotaler, avid bike rider and ardent nationalist who has headed the
Basque regional government the past six years. If he wins re-election
as expected this weekend, he has pledged to defy Madrid’s rejection of
his plan and hold a referendum on it among the Basque Country’s 2.1
million people.
Mr. Ibarretxe’s proposal to unilaterally declare “co-sovereignty” with
Spain has ignited a political firestorm. One opposition-party official
calls it the “ideological triumph of ETA,” the terrorist group that
has waged a 37-year campaign for Basque independence. The Ibarretxe
plan, which Spain’s parliament already has rejected, shares some goals
with ETA, but aims to achieve those ends through peaceful means and
politicking, not terrorism.
For that reason, Mr. Ibarretxe’s plan has attracted attention around
the world. Its roots in territoriality and cultural and linguistic
differences give it broad appeal, political analysts say. Minority
groups in Iraq, Turkey, Ecuador, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and
even Chechnya have studied it as a blueprint for their own disputes.
As globalization and the creation of super-states such as the European
Union spur renewed interest in minority identities, the plan’s success
“could change the political landscape of the 21st century,” says James
Minahan, editor of the Encyclopedia of Stateless Nations.
Mr. Ibarretxe’s approach has struck a chord in Iraq’s Kurdish north,
for example. In late 2002, five months before the U.S. invasion, an
official Basque delegation traveled to Iraq to present Kurdish
strongman Masoud Barzani with a glass-encased oak branch. It came from
the old Guernica tree, which survived the Spanish Civil War-era
bombing of the town of Guernica and is an enduring symbol of Basque
nationalism.
Kurdish politicians say Mr. Ibarretxe’s plan has influenced their
thinking as they prepare to submit proposals for the new Iraqi
constitution. Later this year, a delegation of Kurdish jurists will
study the Basque model firsthand in Spain.
U.S. officials acknowledge that the Kurds have studied the Basque
model, but note they also have looked at many others.
The international interest has emboldened Mr. Ibarretxe, who says his
role model is Mohandas Gandhi. “It’s clear there is a global movement
of stateless nations, and we demand our say in this new world,” he
said in a recent interview.
Within Spain, Mr. Ibarretxe is widely disliked, with many Spaniards
worrying about his Basque Nationalist Party’s policies of ideological
and linguistic re-education and lingering ethnic politics. Even in the
Basque Country, he is a polarizing figure, with only about half the
region’s population describing itself as nationalist.
“This is not a homogenous situation like Kurdistan or Quebec,” says
Joseba Arregi, a former member of Mr. Ibarretxe’s party. “In many
respects, this is a fictional country, and the facade is starting to
come off.” Mr. Arregi gave up his party membership last year after
disagreeing with Mr. Ibarretxe’s sovereignty aims.
For now, Mr. Ibarretxe’s plan is more a bargaining chip than a
realistic template. He is evasive about when he will hold the
referendum if he is re-elected, and the plan — if ever approved in a
popular vote — would be difficult to apply without Spain’s
cooperation. Most constitutional scholars think it is illegal and not
viable. But Mr. Ibarretxe already has used it to squeeze concessions
from Madrid, which promised this week to overhaul the 1979 pact laying
the ground rules for Basque autonomy in the next two years.
Mr. Ibarretxe has made the Basque Country more visible on the
international stage. The region has its own foreign-relations office,
and Mr. Ibarretxe often meets with leaders in Latin America and
Europe. If other movements are studying the Basque model, “I suppose
it is because they find our actions rational,” he says.
Yochi Dreazen in Washington contributed to this article.
Write to Keith Johnson at ([email protected]).
,,SB111351465738807422-IFjfINklad4mpyuaYGHa6qHm4,00.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IranMania, Iran
April 15 2005
Iran, Armenia to broaden consular cooperation

LONDON, April 15 (IranMania) – The first joint consular meeting
between Iran and Armenia was held in Yerevan on Thursday.
The meeting held concurrently with the current visit of the Iranian
foreign ministry’s director general in charge of consular affairs
Rasoul Mohajer, studied social affairs of Iranian and Armenian
nationals in both countries as well as consular issues.
In the first round of talks, the two sides underlined the important
role of such meetings in promoting good-will among neighboring
countries.
In the two-day meeting a number of issues concerning social affairs,
residence of Iranian and Armenian nationals, easing formalities for
issuance of visas, education and transportation are to be discussed
by the two sides.
Both sides underlined that having good-will in developing ties in
various fields and the historical commonalties shared by the two
countries are considered as suitable back-up for deepening of such
ties.
The Armenian side, for his part, called the presence of Iranian
university students in Armenia as very effective and underlined that
the Yerevan government is to provide them with their required
facilities.
The Iranian delegation is scheduled to confer with a number of
Armenian officials on issues of mutual interests.

The Messenger, Georgia
April 15 2005
Reviving business in Georgia
By Mary Makharashvili
Business leaders and economists at Thursday’s forum
How to stimulate investment and the establishment of new businesses
was the focus of a round table discussion on Reviving Business in
Georgia on Thursday.
Economists, businessmen and government officials met in the Courtyard
Marriott hotel to discuss how to stimulate business activity, why
there is so little direct investment, and what the Georgian
government should do to increase exports to European markets
Economist Ivan Samson from the University of Grenoble in France
explained that the aim of the discussion was to understand and
classify the obstacles to setting up new enterprises and investment
more generally, particularly in areas where domestic demand exists,
but tends to initiate more trade than production.
“Another major issue is to identify the incentives for legalizing
gray or semi-gray activities,” he added.
He recommended that in Georgia small enterprises should become the
engine of economic growth: “They will become the basis of the birth
of medium size firms, which are currently totally absent.”
“Business needs a sound, transparent and stable economic environment
for working. This is what a strong state, supported by a large amount
of its population, is available to provide,” Samson said.
The new Tax Code, the conference participants felt, was a step
forward, but they said it still needs refinement, particularly
regarding the simplification of rules.
Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce Georgia Amy
Denman added that other aspects of the government’s work had helped
too.
“I do think that the government was successful in working with
businesses in order to weed out corruption and help them to do
business more legally. I think that the new customs code will help as
well,” she said.
However, Denman added that, “the long term step is to relieve fiscal
pressure. We understand that the country is desperately looking for
revenues, but it also needs to look long term and reduce the fiscal
pressure and create incentives to compete with neighboring
countries.”
According to her, companies that are currently working on the ground
have seen a number of changes over the past year. She says that the
Tax Code and an Amnesty initiative have together allowed businesses
to work more legally.
“This is good for business and good for government. There is more
work to be done because, in general, in order to attract new
investment you need to make current investors happy,” she said.
Talking with The Messenger General Manager of Nestle Georgia &
Armenia Esben Emborg said that good legislation is essential.
“It is important to have a level playing field; conditions have to be
the same for everyone. Businesses are impatient but the government is
definitely on the right track,” he said.
One particular area he felt the government had done well was to work
together with business. “I think what was very interesting about the
tax code was that the government and business sat down and worked out
a tax code, which was far from perfect, but it’s not bad. It is much
better in comparison with the old one. We are moving forward,” he
said.
Speaking with The Messenger Deputy State Minister for European
Integration Tamar Beruchashvili said that the government clearly
understands that a stable environment is one of the main components
for stimulating business in Georgia.
“We know that a number of legislative acts needs to be changed, but
on the other hand the changes, even though positive, create a very
unstable environment. That is why it is very important that business
be actively involved in not only the decision-making, but also in the
process of formulating this decision,” she said.
According to her, a second important issue is deregulation, which she
says also has “its rules of the game.” She says that deregulation
should not be understood as anarchy, as those issues which concern
the security of people’s lives and health will always remain under
the subordination of the state.
Nevertheless, there is a need for deregulation, and changes to
legislation, Beruchashvili said, citing the Customs code as one
example.
“Creating a Customs Code according to international norms and
standards is vitally important. The functions of customs should be
clearly determined and the procedures should be maximally simple.
There should be no discrimination,” she said.
Formulating new laws is not enough, however, the deputy state
minister said, admitting, “unfortunately our weak point is that the
written laws are much better on paper than in implementation.”
Talking about the European market Beruchashvili said that this is the
most attractive market for Georgia. “Georgian mineral waters, fruits,
vegetables and honey have real perspective of entering the European
market,” she said.
Unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest to enter. For example,
she said that it took a full year for Georgian wine to pass through
all the procedures to be formally recognized and legally sold on the
European market.
Deputy Minister for Economic Development Tamar Kovziridze, meanwhile,
highlighted three areas in which the government can support business.
“The first is legislative changes with regard to deregulation and
more concretely the issuing of licenses and permits. Our ministry is
now working on how to simplify legislation. This will be a very
important legislative package,” she declared.
“The second component is institutional. The prime minister has
started regular meetings with businessmen – the so-called Investment
Council. It is very important that certain decisions will be made
within the framework of this council and based on such discussions.”
The third component highlighted by Kovziridze relates to
international PR. “I mean the regular investment forums in different
countries organized by the ministry. It is known that the first
investment forum was held in London and then in Rome. At the end of
May a similar forum is planned in Berlin and Vienna, and in September
in Japan,” she said.
“At this forum there will be a presentation of the country’s economic
and financial policy. Over 200-250 people will participate in these
forums and I think this is one of the most important initiatives to
get the representatives of international business acquainted with
everything that is taking place in Georgia,” the deputy minister
added.

Azeri leader, BP manager discuss progress on major oil pipeline
Azartac news agency, Baku
14 Apr 05
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received the president of the
Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), David Woodward, at
the presidential office on 14 April.
Mr Woodward described as a significant event the extraction in
February of the first oil from the Central Azari platform operating on
the Azari-Ciraq-Gunasli oil fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the
Caspian Sea. The AIOC president added that work on this area has been
successfully progressing.
He expressed his confidence that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan [oil
pipeline] project would be completed in the near future and oil would
be successfully transported through the pipeline.
The Azerbaijani president described the extraction of the first oil
from the Central Azari platform as the beginning of a great oil era in
Azerbaijan and pointed to the fact that work on this area was
progressing successfully.
President Aliyev expressed his confidence that this work would also
continue in the future and the commissioning of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan global energy project would open up a new era in
cooperation with the AIOC.

Le Télégramme , France
14 avril 2005
Génocide arménien. La Turquie fait un geste d’ouverture
Quatre-vingt-dix ans après les faits, la Turquie accepte de débattre
des massacres d’Arméniens de 1915-1917.
Officiellement, pour la Turquie, il n’y a pas eu de génocide arménien
en 1915-1917. Elle reconnaît que des massacres ont été perpétrés et
que de nombreux Arméniens sont morts de fatigue, de maladie ou
d’attaques commises notamment par des bandes kurdes lors de leur
déportation.
Mais elle affirme qu’il s’agissait d’une répression dans un empire en
déclin contre une population coupable de collaboration avec l’ennemi
russe, dans un contexte de guerre, et que des dizaines de milliers de
Turcs ont été tués au même moment par des rebelles nationalistes
arméniens.
Les massacres et les déportations d’Arméniens ont fait plus d’un
million de morts, selon les Arméniens, et jusqu’à 300.000 morts selon
les Turcs.
Réponse à une campagne arménienne
Pour la première fois, pourtant, le Parlement turc a débattu hier sur
ce sujet. Dans un contexte il est vrai particulier. Il s’agit pour la
Turquie de prendre des contre-mesures face à une campagne arménienne
pour la reconnaissance en tant que génocide des massacres
d’Arméniens.
C’est lors de ce débat que le ministre des Affaires étrangères
Abdullah Gu l a annoncé que le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip
Erdogan avait écrit au président arménien Robert Kotcharian , lui
proposant la création d ‘ une commission conjointe afin d ‘ enquêter
sur les massacres des Arméniens.
Pour Abdullah Gul, la mise en place de cette commission constituera
it un premier pas vers la normalisation des relations avec l ‘
Arménie.
La Turquie, où vivent actuellement 45.000 Arméniens, a reconnu
l’Arménie à son indépendance en 1991, mais sans établir de relations
diplomatiques, en raison du profond différend sur le s massacres . La
frontière entre les deux pays est fermée depuis 1993.
Pas d’ extermination systématique et massive
La position turque, qu’Abdullah Gul a ré pétée hier, ne semble
cependant pas près d’évoluer. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères a
affirmé que l ‘ administration ottomane n ‘ avait jamais ordonné une
extermination systématique et massive de la population arménienne sur
son territoire.
« La Turquie est en paix avec son histoire dont elle est fière » ,
a-t-il encore di t .
Le ministre s ‘ en est aussi pris à plusieurs pays, dont la France,
qui ont reconnu dans leurs parlements les tueries d ‘ Arméniens comme
un génocide.
Certains hommes politiques de l’Union européenne ont appelé la
Turquie à un « travail de mémoire » et affirmé que le sujet serait
une des questions que la Turquie devrait régler avant le début de ses
négociations d’adhésion à l’Union, programmé pour le 3 octobre.
GRAPHIQUE: Photo, Legende: Le ministre des Affaires étrangères turc
Abdullah Gul (à gauche), avec Jean-Claude Juncker, président en
exercice de l’Union européenne. Le travail de mémoire sur les
massacres d’Arméniens est l’une des questions à régler avant le début
des négociations d’entrée dans l’UE. (Photo AFP)

Turkish Press
April 14 2005
Friendship Is Ok, But…
BY OKTAY EKSI
HURRIYET- The fact that Turkish and Greek boats have been uttering
threats and challenging each other even while Greek Foreign Minister
Petros Molivyatis is in Ankara to discuss how the two nations can
obtain lasting peace and friendship confuses us. Maybe you’ve been
able to make some sense of it. We haven’t…
Our Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and his Greek counterpart Petros
Molivyatis signed an agreement to end dogfights over the Aegean.
Meanwhile, the Athens News Agency reported that 34 Turkish airplanes
had recently violated international air traffic laws by violating
Greece’s national airspace.
Gul had previously announced that he was against lifting the casus
belli decision, but somehow he changed his mind overnight and
expressed that he had no objection to removing it. I’d say, `If no
one has any objections, then just announce that the casus belli has
been lifted and be done with it.’ But it’s not that simple.
Let’s say the Kardak issue is just a minor, unfortunate disagreement.
What about Turkish airplanes violating Greece’s national airspace? If
the reports are true, doesn’t this mean that our Foreign Ministry and
General Staff have communications problems?
Let’s make it clear, we do want to be friends with the Greeks, but we
believe that friendship is only possible if both sides adopt a
serious and sincere approach towards each other.
But if you say, `Let Turkey lift the casus belli and give up on
Kardak, but let Greece continue to teach its children in primary
school that Turks are savages and barbarians. Let Greece ignore the
European Union criteria for minorities when it comes to Turks living
in western Thrace. And let Greece still recognize the Armenian
`genocide’ and other fake claims.’ If you say this, then I say, no
way.

999 Today, UK
April 14 2005
Prisoners starving to death
Author: Rachel Sharp14 Apr 2005
At least 70 prisoners held in Equatorial Guinea’s Black Beach prison
in Malabo are at imminent risk of starving to death, Amnesty
International has claimed.
It said 11 foreign nationals sentenced in an unfair trial in November
2004 and dozens of Equatorial Guinean political detainees arrested
throughout 2004 and held without charge or trial were among those at
most risk.
Amnesty International said conditions had drastically deteriorated
with the authorities halting the provision of prison food and
blocking all contact with families, lawyers and consular officials
over the last six weeks.
Many of those detained at Black Beach prison are already extremely
weak because of the torture or ill-treatment they have suffered and
because of chronic illnesses for which they have not received
adequate medical treatment, it said.
“Such near starvation, lack of medical attention and appalling prison
conditions represent a scandalous failure by the Equatorial Guinea
authorities to fulfil their most basic responsibilities under
international law. Unless immediate action is taken, many of those
detained at Black Beach prison will die,” said the Director of
Amnesty International’s Africa Program Kolawole Olaniyan.
It said the provision of food by the authorities was reportedly
reduced from a cup of rice daily in December 2004, to one or two
bread rolls, and since the end of February 2005, provision of any
prison food at all has been sporadic.
Prisoners and detainees are now dependent on food handed to prison
guards by families. This means that the 11 foreign nationals and
dozens of Equatorial Guinean political detainees arrested on the
mainland are particularly at risk of starvation because they do not
have families in Malabo to support them.
All those incarcerated are kept inside their cells 24-hours-a-day and
the foreign nationals are also kept with their hands and legs cuffed
at all times.
In addition to the six Armenians and five South Africans convicted
last November, Amnesty International has also learnt that four
Nigerian nationals have been held in Black Beach prison for several
months without charge or trial and without their embassy being
notified.
Two former Black Beach prisoners are now being held at Malabo’s
central police station. Convicted of attempting to overthrow the
government in June 2002 after an unfair trial, Amnesty International
considers them to be prisoners of conscience and is seriously
concerned that they may now be tortured.
Amnesty International is calling on the Equatorial Guinea authorities
to immediately provide regular and adequate food, medical care to all
who need it, remove any hand and leg cuffs, end all incommunicado
detention, and grant international humanitarian organisations such as
the International Red Cross Committee immediate access to all those
detained.
But the Equatorial Guinea authorities have denied the allegations and
said that prisoners were assured their basic rights.