Author: Taslakhchian Andranik

TURKEY TO RESHAPE FORCES
By Andrew Borowiec
The Washington Times

Washington Times, DC
Aug. 28, 2006

NICOSIA, Cyprus — The Turkish army, NATO’S second-largest military
force, plans to downsize its cumbersome divisions in favor of smaller
and deadlier guerrilla-type combat teams.

The idea, according to Turkish sources, was born of the experience of
fighting Kurdish guerrillas in the southern region of the Anatolian
land mass as well as other low-intensity wars that have followed the
end of the Cold War.

Its author is Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, 66, who this week takes over
as head of the Turkish General Staff with a mandate to finish the
drawn-out rebellion led by the Kurdistan Workers Party.

He is on record as urging stronger anti-terrorist measures against
the Kurdish "peshmerga" (fighters) and their supporters in the savage
wind-swept mountains along the Iranian and Iraqi borders.

In April, a public prosecutor accused Gen. Buyukanit of fomenting
unrest in Kurdish areas and of setting up anti-terrorist commando
teams said to be illegal.

The prosecutor, Ferhat Sarikaya, was subsequently dismissed, showing
the continuing importance of the Turkish military, sometimes referred
to as "an interest group with heavy weapons."

Although Turkey’s application for European Union membership has
somewhat reduced the military’s political role, a general continues
to sit in the powerful National Security Council though he no longer
presides over it.

Turkish newspapers often refer to the armed forces as the country’s
most respected institution, untarnished by scandals or graft. Between
1960 and 1980, the military carried out three coups, stopping the
country’s slide toward anarchy.

After periods the military referred to as "national cleansing,"
the army returned to barracks but continued to watch over squabbling
politicians, regarding itself the key guardian of the secular system
imposed in the 1920s by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern
Turkey.

Today, Turkey’s armed forces comprise a half-million men, matched by
an equal number of paramilitary troops. They have no parallel as a
popular national institution.

According to British historian David Hotham: "The army takes peasants
from remote villages, feeds them, clothes them, teaches them to read
and write, instructs them in trade, brings them to the cities."

Mehmet Ali Kislale, a Turkish political analyst, said: "In Turkey,
the army is more than a branch of state. It is a unifying and to some
extent a civilizing force."

The army has unquestionably influenced Turkey’s opposition to a
solution in divided Cyprus, where about 35,000 Turkish troops are
deployed in the north of the island, considered by the military as
strategically essential.

In one of his last public statements, Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, outgoing chief
of the General Staff, rejected any idea of Turkish withdrawal from
Cyprus, as well as proposals for a national apology for the deaths
of more than a million Armenians in World War I massacres by the
Ottoman Empire.

Yesterday in the popular Mediterranean resort town of Marmaris, a
bomb blast blew apart a minibus, injuring 21 persons, including 10
British tourists, according to reports from the state-owned Anatolia
news agency and the Associated Press.

There were two other bomb blasts at the same time in garbage cans on
the main boulevard in Marmaris, an area is lined with bars, clubs,
cafes and restaurants. Kurdish guerrillas have in the past carried
out such attacks against tourist resorts.

ARF SUPREME BODY OPPOSES IDEA OF CHANGING COUNTRY’S ANTHEM

Yerkir
28.08.2006 18:17

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Body of
Armenia made a statement on Monday, reaffirming its position that the
"Mer Hairenik" should remain the country’s anthem.

Below is the text of the statement

The recent constitutional amendments provide that Armenia’s anthem
should be defined by law. But some circles groundlessly interpret
the law as a constitutional requirement to change the current anthem.

A commission has been established to draft a law on the Armenian
anthem.

However, the commission, based on unclear reasons, decided that its
task is to deny the "Mer Hairenik" (Our Homeland) and replace it with
another anthem. A campaign against the "Mer Hairenik" is apparent.

The situation when the national and state values are replaced with
mere esthetical ones is becoming very concerning and regrettable. A
country’s anthem is created and established through time only when
the logic of historical development makes it an inseparable part
of the nation’s fate and biography. This is what the "Mer Hairenik"
has become after entering its third century.

The ARF Supreme Body of Armenia

– Considering unacceptable the unhealthy environment set up around
one of the most important symbols of our state – "Mer Hairenik" – as
well as the work-style of the commission and the atmosphere it has
created; – Reiterating that love and respect towards the state are
strengthened first of all through forming respect towards its symbols

Announces the withdrawal of its representative from the commission
and its intention to draft a law to reaffirm the "Mer Hairenik"
as the country’s anthem.

Armenian high school proposed for property

Glendale News Press, CA
Aug. 26, 2006

Once the location of a speak-easy, most of the 40-acre plot would go
into Santa Monica conservancy.

By Tania Chatila

GLENDALE – Nearly 40 acres of land abutting Crescenta Valley Park
could soon be more than just open space. Granada Hills-based M.

Jorjezian Investments Inc.is proposing construction of an Armenian
high school and a condominium village on property it purchased from
Mountain Oaks, LLC, about two months ago.

"We’re trying to talk with all the neighbors to make sure everybody
is OK with the project," said Yeznik Kazandjian, M. Jorjezian
Investments’ corporate attorney.

~U POLITICAL LANDSCAPE: Bill would change school policies
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The vacant land is between Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo
Mountains in Glendale, near the Whiting Woods neighborhood.

Kazandjian did not divulge the purchase price of the property, but
did say that company officials plan on attending the Crescenta Valley
Town Council’s September meeting to flesh out some of the plans and
get community input.

They are proposing to build the condominium village on nine acres of
the land, and the high school – which would likely serve about 500
students – on six acres of the property, he said.

"The Armenian community in Glendale doesn’t have a high school," he
said. "The Armenian church has a junior high, they have an elementary
school and they have a number of pre-schools and kindergartens, but
no high school." advertisement

The remaining 25 acres will likely be handed over to the Santa Monica
Conservancy, Kazandjian said.

"We want to conserve the natural environment in that area because it
is a beautiful area," Kazandjian said, adding that the proposed condo
village and school would be built on a flat area of the land, and the
remaining hilly acreage would be given up.

The developer offered the open space to the city of Glendale, but
city officials suggested it might be better to give it to the
conservancy, Kazandjian said.

"It’s still premature to make any kind of deduction or any kind of
opinion on it," Crescenta Valley Town Council member Richard Toyon
said. "No one has seen what their plans are, so it’s really difficult
to offer an opinion."

The property borders unincorporated La Crescenta, which the Town
Council represents.

Toyon, president of the local conservancy group, Volunteers
Organizing and Conserving the Environment, met with Kazandjian and
Glendale Councilman Rafi Manoukian about two months ago to discuss
the preliminary plans.

"Mr. Manoukian felt it would be a good thing to meet and to help
smooth the waters," he said.

Toyon said the developer may have some trouble building on the site,
which has several mature oak trees on it. They may also have some
trouble with surrounding neighborhoods, and with their opinions of a
high school coming in, he said.

But without any real plans, it’s hard to say how the community will
react to the proposed project, Toyon said.

"It’s very preliminary," Kazandjian said.

"We have no target date at this point, but we’re working on it
diligently. Hopefully, in the next few months, we’ll have something
more concrete."

Rumors concerning the land’s fate have been circulating through the
community.

"I kind of heard it through the grapevine," said Mike Lawler,
president of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley. "It’s
pretty rumor-esque. That land has been conspicuously vacant for a
long, long time."

The land was originally the site for a speak-easy in the 1920s, but
was later turned into a vacation-home site, Lawler said.

The owners of the property sold off 10-foot-by-10-foot lots to
different owners, he said.

"It was kind of a goofy plan …. You could have owners in the
hundreds, and some of them were never recorded," he said.

While he would have rather seen the land stay undeveloped, the idea
of a school is promising, Lawler said.

"It’s better than just straight condos, in my view," he said.

QUESTION

What do you think of plans to develop an area of Glendale between
Crescenta Valley Park and the Verdugo Mountains? E-mail
[email protected] or write to News-Press and Leader Community Forum,
111 W. Wilson Ave. Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91203. Please include your
name and tell us your hometown and phone number for verification
purposes only.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Government House # 2, Republic Square
Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +37410. 562543
Email: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

24-08-2006

Minister Oskanian Meets with Jon Huntsman

On August 23, Minister Oskanian received a delegation headed by
philanthropist and entrepreneur Jon Huntsman, head of the US-based
Huntsman Corporation.

After welcoming guests, Minister Oskanian underscored with appreciation
the assistance provided to the Armenian people during the years since
the earthquake, by Jon Huntsman, his family and his corporation.

While Mr. Huntsman spoke of his impressions about the positive
changes he saw in Armenia, he also spoke about their future plans,
specifically regarding the opening of a cancer hospital and college
scholarships for United States education.

Minister Oskanian accompanied Mr. Huntsman to Gyumri in order to
visit the school and the residences which the Huntsman Foundation
had made possible.

US-AZERI RELATIONS DISCUSSED IN WASHINGTON

ArmRadio.am
19.08.2006 15:00

UN ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse has highlighted the main aspects
of bilateral economic relations during a meeting at the US-Azerbaijani
Chamber of Commerce in Washington, Baku based ANS TV reported.

Derse recalled that during his visit to Washington Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev had said that Azerbaijan was developing as a
modern and democratic country with a market economy. She added that
both president and his team had said during this visit that Azerbaijan
aimed to use oil revenues as a major source to develop the non-oil
sector and expand trade relations with the USA.

ANS’s special correspondent Ali Ahmadov has the details.

[Ali Ahmadov, ANS’s special correspondent, captioned, speaking over
phone over his still picture and video of meeting] The key speaker
at the presentation ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Business Centre
in Washington was US ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse. She gave
an update on US-Azerbaijani economic relations. She said that the
two countries cooperate in different areas such as energy security,
the fight against terrorism and democracy. Generally, the USA views
Azerbaijan as its major partner in the economic area, as well as in
other areas. The main challenge is to further develop economic ties
and provide mutual assistance. Naturally, one of the main issues was
to increase the volume of US investments in Azerbaijan.

Derse said that the Azerbaijani government intended to develop the
non-oil sector. Being situated at the crossing of Asia and Europe,
Azerbaijan is a vital transport corridor. Derse mentioned the newly
commissioned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline [designed to carry
Caspian oil to world markets] and the [Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum] gas
pipeline which is under construction. She said that these pipelines
would increase Azerbaijan’s role in the region. Touching on the
economic situation in Azerbaijan and US investment in the country,
Derse mentioned the non-oil sector. She said that the Azerbaijani
government wanted to develop the non-oil sector, including
telecommunications, agriculture and energy.

The business environment in Azerbaijan was immediately mentioned. It
was noted that there were certain problems in Azerbaijan such as
corruption and problems related to transparency. But the government
is already stepping up the fight against corruption and plans to
improve the situation in this area in accordance with international
standards. Corruption must also be tackled so that it does not prevent
Azerbaijan from spending its huge oil revenues in a very efficient way.

Investors who attended the meeting were interested in the situation
in Azerbaijan. They asked about how the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
affected the investment climate in Azerbaijan. The ambassador said that
the conflict did not create problems for the investment climate in
Azerbaijan on the whole. There were other questions, too. It emerged
at the end of the meeting that a group of US businessmen and experts
from the US administration were expected to visit Azerbaijan soon to
hold talks with the government to resolve the problems of US companies
in Azerbaijan.

Georgian Ambassador to Armenia says relations are ‘perfect’

The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 18, 2006

Svobodnaya Gruzia reports, in an interview with RIA Novosti
Armenia news agency, that Ambassador of Georgia to Armenia Revaz
Gachechiladze does not see any difficulties in bilateral interstate
relations. "It is very difficult to overestimate the current level of
the Armenian-Georgian relations-it is very high. Visits of the most
high-ranking officials are now a normal event. I can evaluate our
political relations as perfect. I think that economic and cultural
relations need to be intensified a little bit. Though, positive signs
can be seen in these directions as well," he stated.

"And I find no difficulties in Georgian-Armenian interstate
relations. In the future our joint aspiration for integrating into
the European Union will become the priority trend in our bilateral
relations, I believe. Though this prospect may not be that close,
it isn’t that far off either," the diplomat pointed out.

SCOT IAN PORTERFIELD TO HEAD TEAM OF ARMENIA IN YEREVAN MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 2

ZENITSA, AUGUST 17, NOYAN TAPAN. The team of Armenia completed with
up to 21 year old football players yielded to hosts with the result
of 2:3 at the August 16 meeting in the city of Zenitsa, Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Alexander Petrosian and Gevorg Ghazarian were most
accurate in the team of Armenia. The team of Armenia will receive
on September 2 the team of Norway for the next meeting of the group
tournament of the 2007 youth football championship of Europe. And the
Norwegians will compete with the team of Bosnia on September 6. To
recap, Scot John (Ian) Porterfield, who, on August 16, signed a 1.5
year contract on heading all age teams of Armenia, will undertake
the role of the team coach during the Yerevan meeting.

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS ANGRY AT COMMON EXAM SYSTEM

Panorama.am
13:21 17/08/06

The heads of secondary schools were introduced to the common
examination system for the first time at the hall of the secondary
school after Nikol Aghbalyan today. The principals of the schools
were furiously angry at the new mechanism and reportedly rejected it.

The government decided about the new system two years ago, but,
interestingly enough, the principals were informed about it only
now. The common examination system assumes that schoolchildren may
choose common system in case they want their grade to be transferred
to higher educational establishment. Otherwise, they may choose
graduation exam leaving their grade as part of their graduation
certificate only.

A HOT CAUCASIAN CUISINE
by Leonid Timofeev
Translated by Pavel Pushkin

Source: Tribuna, No. 31, August 11, 2006, p. 2
Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 14, 2006 Monday

COLONEL GENERAL LEONID IVASHOV: AGAINST THE BACKGROUND OF INSTABILITY
SAAKASHVILI HOPES TO SOLVE INTERNAL PROBLEMS OF GEORGIA; Tbilisi
lacks only a mere trifle for forcefully solving the problems with
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is getting rid of the collective
peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone.

Tbilisi lacks only a mere trifle for forcefully solving the problems
with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is getting rid of the collective
peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone. Russian posts are a special
obstacle.

The technology is simple. Recently, Georgian Foreign Ministry accused
Russia of shooting at Georgian posts in the Kodori Gorge. Information
about helicopters without identifying signs was launched afterwards.

Meanwhile, the situation in the gorge is growing more alarming.

According to the Abkhaz party, the so-called police operation is
failing and resistance of the rebels commanded by Emzar Kvitsiani
is growing stronger. The fate of the local population is a special
concern because it is threatened with humanitarian catastrophe.

Expert opinion

Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, Vice President of the Academy
of Geopolitical Problems: – It is necessary to speak about the
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict today in connection to what is happening
in the Middle East and in the world in general. Characteristically,
the Middle Eastern conflict was "launched" after a meeting of Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with George Bush. Saakashvili also visited
Washington on the eve of the G8 summit. He has evidently received
instructions and is kindling up a conflict in the Caucasus. What the
Georgian authorities are doing now is an obvious provoking of a large
conflict into which Russia will be involved at least partially.

Implementation of this plan will enable the Georgian authorities to
demand intervention international forces, most likely, Americans,
Turks and other NATO countries. The US is not interested in integrity
of Georgia and it needs to stir up the Caucasus. Americans have
stirred up the Middle East and now they need to extend the "arch of
instability" in the western and in the eastern directions. We see
what is happening in Ukraine. In the opposite direction, we see Iran,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Through Saakashvili Washington is fulfilling a task of formation of
instability zones in the world. The Georgian leader hopes that against
the background of instability it is possible to solve all internal
problems and to lay the blame for them on Russia, Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and to strengthen his position in Georgia through this.

It is possible to stop aggravation of conflicts in reality only
by decisive political and probably economic actions. Where it is
necessary, in case of military provocations, it is necessary to stop
this by decisive actions of military nature. Russia should return
everything to the international law norms and demand stringent
observance of the agreements of 1994 from Georgia. It is necessary
to demand respectful attitude towards our peacekeeping contingent
and to reinforce it.

SEEKING ROOTS BEYOND THE NATION THEY HELPED ESTABLISH
By Michael Slackman

New York Times, NY
Aug. 9, 2006

AMMAN, Jordan – The search for personal identity can be a trap for
people like Yinal T’haghapsau, who lives in the no man’s land between
the only home he knows and the land of his ancestors.

Like many children of immigrants, he has found that he does not fit
perfectly in either place. His great-great-grandfather fled the czar’s
armies in the northern Caucasus in the 1860’s and settled in a small
desert region that became the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Now, four generations later, he has one desire: to return to the land
of his ancestors.

"For me, my dream is to go back there," he said, in accented English.

"It is something that lives in me, whether I like it or not."

Mr. T’haghapsau is Circassian, a member of a diaspora created when
hundreds of thousands were forced from their mountainous lands in
what is now southern Russia, just north of Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Theirs is a quiet diaspora, one that has not roused passions or
militias but has quietly assimilated in places like Jordan, Turkey,
Syria and the United States.

The Circassian experience in Jordan is in many ways typical of the
immigrant experience for many around the world. It is about holding
on and letting go. Blending in and standing out. But in Jordan, a
nation that has struggled since its inception to define what it is
to be Jordanian, the challenge of fourth-generation Circassians has
special resonance.

Jordanians who are not Circassian bristle at the very notion that some
of their neighbors feel like they do not fully connect. To suggest
that is perceived as an affront to a nation that tells the world it
has, at last, defined what it means to be Jordanian.

"There is no issue, no issue at all," shot back Raouf Abu Jaber, a
Jordanian businessman and historian, when told that some Circassians
said they were eager to return to the land of their ancestors. "I am
personally surprised."

Of course, not all of the Circassians in Jordan, estimated to number as
many as 100,000, want to go. In all likelihood, only a minority would,
judging from interviews with more than a dozen people of different
ages. But that does not minimize the struggle of identity for a group
that has tried to meld with the Arab landscape while holding onto a
very different culture. It can be as simple as men and women dancing
together (which they still do) or as complicated as passing on a
language (most young people say that neither they nor their friends
speak the Circassian language).

"Most of the young people here do not know anything about their
history," said Mr. T’haghapsau, who moved to the Caucasus for a year
but returned to Jordan after seeing how hard it would be to build a
new life there. "They don’t speak the language. But tell them they
are not Circassian, and they will kill you."

Jordan is a small, dry patch of land carved out of the Middle East
by the British in the 1920’s when it was called the Arab Emirate of
Transjordan. When the first Hashemite king, Abdullah I, took power, the
Circassians were already longtime residents. They had been successful
farmers and wealthy landowners and worked closely with the new king
to forge their new nation. In 1946, Jordan got its independence,
and soon after took its current name.

But from the beginning Jordan was more a creation of history than
a place that passed through history. From its very inception, the
concept of being Jordanian was an abstraction. It was and remains an
amalgam of people, a Middle Eastern mosaic of nationalities, sects and
religions: Palestinians, Armenians, Syrians, Chechens, people from the
Arabian Peninsula called Hejazi, Druse and Christians. And Circassians.

Outsiders told Jordanian leaders that its very existence simply did not
make sense. And from the beginning, the Circassian minority, the people
thrown off their own land, helped try to prove those outsiders wrong.

King Abdullah was so grateful to the Circassians and so taken by
their loyalty and colorful traditions that he made them the private
protocol guard of the Royal Court. To this day, visitors to the king’s
offices are greeted by steely looking men in uniforms that resemble
old Cossack costumes.

Over the years, Circassians have held the highest positions in the
government, including prime minister and important posts in the
security services. But today many Circassians say they are feeling
edged out, all but excluded from important government positions. And
they resent all of the attention heaped on another important ethnic
group, the Palestinians, and their quest for an independent state.

Jordan had annexed the West Bank in 1950 but lost it in the
Arab-Israeli war of 1967.

Ahmed Wumar, 26, a recent university graduate, said that the historical
slight against the Circassians was far worse.

Palestinians, he said, at least get to live in their own geographical
neighborhood, surrounded by people who share their language and
customs.

"Our problem is hundreds of years old," he said. "We are here 143 years
already in Jordan. Everybody knows the Palestinians. No one knows us."

Mr. Wumar also tried to move back to his ancestral home, which is now
in Russia, and stuck it out for two years before returning to Jordan.

"I wanted to get a Russian passport, but they would not give it to me,"
he said.

The Circassian cultural center is a nondescript building on a small
street in a middle-class neighborhood of Amman. Inside on a recent
evening, young men and women were finishing up dance practice. Unlike
their Arab neighbors, Circassian men and women dance together in an
almost martial choreography, with a lot of spinning and fist pumping
for the men and chest-thrust-forward preening for the women.

"I am Circassian, but my nationality is Jordanian," said Shamil
Shroukh, 16, who does not speak the Circassian language, but has been
dancing for 10 years.

Tamer Qunash, 21, said: "All of us consider ourselves Jordanian. This
is our home."

Their instructor is a hard-driving man with a clean-shaven head named
Yinal Hatyk. He is 32 years old and is the chief of staff to Prince
Ali bin al-Hussein, the brother of the current king, Abdullah II. He
pressed the dancers to get it right, to spin and preen with confidence
and perfection.

"We are truly Circassian and truly Jordanian," he said, after giving
the dancers a break. But, he said, "a lot of Circassians want to
go back."