Author: Tigranian Ani

CONCESSIONAL MANAGEMENT THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE ARMENIAN RAILWAYS, MINISTER SAYS

ARMENPRESS
Oct 25, 2007

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 25, ARMENPRESS: Transport and communication minister
Andranik Manukian said yesterday handing the Armenian Railways to a
concessional management is the only way to salvage the aging system
and maintain it as a government property.

Speaking during a parliament Q&A session he said since the collapse
of the former Soviet Union the only investment in the system were $16
million of a World Bank credit for a major repair of a 72-km section
of the railway from Yerevan to Ayrum, while the entire length of the
railway is 306 km.

Manukian said two companies, one from Russia and the other from
India, have made bids in a tender. He said the winning company will
be announced on December 15 and the subsequent talks are expected to
be over by January 15 next year.

The winner of the tender will have to transfer $10 million as
concessional payment and pay 2 percent of its incomes to the
government The railway tariffs will be set by the Pubic Services
Regulatory Commission.

"In a couple of years Armenian Railways will lose its carriages and
locomotives as they are in their last days. Armenia does not have
extra $170 million to repair the railroads and buy new carriages and
this is the main reason that prompts us to hand it to confessional
management,’ Manukian said.

LAWMAKERS DELAY PUSH FOR HOUSE VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEASURE
By Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Los Angeles Times, CA
Oct 25 2007

WASHINGTON — Sponsors of a congressional resolution to recognize the
Armenian genocide said today that they would delay their drive to bring
the measure before the House for a vote, amid waning support for the
measure sparked by concerns that it could harm relations with Turkey,
a key U.S. ally.

The decision represents a swift reversal for the controversial
resolution, which only weeks ago appeared certain to pass the House.

The resolution’s chief sponsors said in a letter today to House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) that they would still press
for passage of the long-debated measure.

"We believe that a large majority of our colleagues want to support a
resolution recognizing the genocide on the House floor and that they
will do so, provided the timing is more favorable," the sponsors,
Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank), Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks),
Anna G. Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) said in
the letter.

Supporters of the resolution, recently approved by the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, once counted more than half the members of the House
as sponsors. But many representatives have since withdrawn support,
raising doubts about whether it would pass.

The resolution has been strongly opposed by the Bush administration,
which warned it could offend Turkey. After the committee vote,
the administration and Turkey, aided by high-paid, well-connected
lobbyists, stepped up their efforts to persuade the House to shelve
the measure, which calls on the president to "accurately characterize
the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians
as genocide."

Turkey withdrew its ambassador in protest, and its top general said
House passage of the resolution would rupture U.S. relations with
one of its most reliable allies in the Islamic world. U.S. military
supplies for the war in Iraq pass through a critical air base in
Turkey.

At the same time, deadly cross-border raids by Kurdish rebels into
Turkey have inflamed public opinion in the country, which has accused
the U.S. and Iraq of not doing enough to prevent the attacks. The
Turkish parliament overwhelmingly granted the government permission
to invade northern Iraq to pursue Kurdish insurgents.

Kurdish rebels ambushed a Turkish army patrol Sunday, killing at
least 12 soldiers and raising the possibility of a Turkish incursion,
which could destabilize the safest region in Iraq.

The resolution’s sponsors said they would continue to work for
consideration of the measure "sometime later this year, or in 2008."

THREAT OF WAR LOOMS OVER KURDISH VILLAGE

Khaleej Times
Oct 24 2007
United Arab Emirates

ENISHKE, Iraq – Georgis Hamon Shlemo feels he is being stalked by
fate. The Christian fled Baghdad to escape the daily violence and
settled down to a new life in his ancestors’ village of Enishke in
Iraq’s Kurdish region. But now war has caught up with him again.

In the dead of night, six Turkish artillery shells slammed into the
sleeping village just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border.

Nobody was hurt and the damage was minimal, but the craters and
scorched vegetation are clear for all to see.

For Shlemo and the 450 inhabitants of this tiny Christian hamlet 250
kilometres (150 miles) north of Arbil, the mountains which surround
them and which had previously seemed so secure now feel considerably
less safe.

Somewhere in the undergrowth of the mountainside are concealed the
fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the separatist group
branded terrorists by Turkey which wants to destroy them.

"We don’t know what to do any more. In Baghdad I was threatened
because I was a Christian. And here I find more violence," sighs
Shlemo as he clutches a set of rosary beads.

The Kurds of northern Iraq have had a great deal of autonomy for
more than 15 years, and are torn between preserving this security
and prosperity and sympathy with the Turkish Kurd rebels, many of
whom have sought refuge close by.

"We have never seen the PKK fighters. They never come here," says Demke
Yalda, the 56-year-old mayor of the village where the Assyrio-Chaldean
population still speaks the Aramaic language of Jesus Christ.

Western-dressed, his face sporting a bushy white moustache, he does
not want his little community to fall victim to the bloody conflict
between the PKK and Turkey which has raged for almost 25 years.

"Luckily we have not suffered any casualties. Only the windows of
several houses were smashed," explains Yalda, discussing the first
Turkish bombardment of their village in front of an attentive audience
of locals.

"But the people now have fear in their hearts, especially the women
and children."

The anxiety of residents has grown with the increasing threat of an
incursion by Turkish soldiers, after a series of deadly raids by the
PKK into southern Turkey close to the border with Iraq.

"They do not have the right to come onto our land. Our region is
stable. Perhaps this is what holds back the Turkish government,"
suggests the mayor of Enishke where most voters are farmers.

"The Turks? We don’t want them under any pretext," says Matti Esho,
56, a grocer.

"It is a dictatorship. In the past they have massacred Armenians,
Assyrians and Kurds. They are criminals."

For Shlemo and his neighbours, fleeing in the face of the increasing
tension is not an option.

"I will not leave for any reason. It is my village and it was the
village of my ancestors. I am living in the heart of my community,"
he says.

"Here we can practise our religion without any problems. A priest comes
each Sunday and takes mass and we live in peace — Kurds and Arabs."

In his little shop, Esho arranges fruit, cheese, cans of beer and
bottles of whisky. He fears for the future of his business.

"Since the start of these problems, the people from the nearby towns
do not come to breathe the fresh mountain air. Economically we are
going to collapse," he says.

In the street outside his stall, little girls in blue skirts, white
blouses and satchels on their backs are heading for school.

But for the grocer of Enishke, this tranquil image of childhood
happiness masks a sense of foreboding.

"The Turks are going to come. I’m sure of that," are his closing words.

The Independent

Claire Fox: Debate is being stifled by a new form of inquisition

Published: 25 October 2007

What do has-been "comedian" Jim Davidson, DNA pioneer Professor James
Watson, TV nature man David Bellamy and Tory MP Patrick Mercer have in
common? They have all been recently denounced and told – You can’t say
that or else!

Whether or not unpalatable views have been expressed, these views fade
into insignificance beside the relentless clampdown on those who go
against the grain.

The real danger is that we are entering a new era of the heresy and
heretic hunting – whether it’s ITV bosses booting out some middle-aged
has-been from a reality TV show for his homophobic row about
shirt-lifters, or Bellamy’s own admission this week that he’s been
branded a heretic for his unfashionably sceptical views on man-made
climate change. Not only have certain issues become taboo in a way
that touches the totalitarian, we demonise those who don’t conform.

This is more than a case of the hackneyed complaint against political
correctness gone mad. I fear that we are engaged in modern-day witch
hunts. Western societies seem to have become prey to powerful
illiberal and intolerant influences and have rediscovered the charge
of heresy as a means of silencing those who question prevailing
cultural orthodoxies. Healthy heresy – described in more enlightened
times as critical thinking, sceptical enquiry, or even free speech –
is again being hunted down. That is why no subject should be treated
as a taboo.

Is heresy too strong a term? Of course, today the old Inquisition
stands discredited and the Catholic Church holds little sway in
dictating what we can say or think. However the American academic,
Professor Arthur Versluis usefully reminds us in his important book
The New Inquisitions of the connections between heretic hunting in
medieval times and totalitarian trends today.

A new priestly class has arisen to police secular heresies. Say the
wrong thing on race and watch the CRE swoop zealously to demand you
retract, are sacked, are humiliated. Their viciousness and intolerance
would make medieval cardinals blush. Dare you challenge global warming
orthodoxy, and watch everyone from the Royal Society to
environmentalists shout "blasphemy"? James Watson may not have been
shown the instruments of torture as Galileo was but his treatment
speaks to some chilling similarities between the new and old
inquisitions.

Take 19-year-old drama-school brat Emily Barr being dragged from her
bed to the Big Brother diary room at 3.30am, confused and groggy,
while the disembodied voice of Channel 4 authority condemned her for
using an "unacceptable word" ("nigger") while she pleaded hysterically
that she was not racist. She was then asked to leave the house in only
a night-gown, and holed up in a hotel before being placed in the hands
of a psychologist – the modern equivalent of the stocks. As we watch
young Emily, Professor Watson and Jim Davidson drummed out of
respectable society and recant, we know we are all being told to be
careful what we say, and who we offend. We are encouraged by every
telling-off to become more and more obedient and super-cautious lest
we too are humiliated.

One of the key weapons of the new inquisitions is the notion of
denial. The label of "denial" – applied with ever-greater promiscuity
– expresses the illiberal notion that contentious issues are beyond
debate. It is the most pungent and effective tool in shutting up those
who challenge today’s received wisdom. It began with Holocaust denial.
Few of us would want to get into an argument with an actual Holocaust
denier – why argue with lunatic theories? But the criminalisation of
Holocaust denial has led to the repression of other denials of
conventional wisdom. To be accused of denial is to be outcast.

The notion of Holocaust denial, now raised to the status of secular
blasphemy, has beenrevised and adopted for themodern era.

The European Union has recently moved to outlaw genocide denial; this
means anyone convicted of denying the genocide of the Jews in Europe
before and during the Second World War, or the mass killings in Bosnia
and Rwanda, will face a prison term ranging from one to three years.
The French National Assembly passed a law in October last year that
could sentence to a year’s imprisonment anyone who denies the Armenian
genocide.

Other "thought crimes" – whilst not against the law – also invoke the
pernicious denial label, most obviously the accusation of
"climate-change denial" attributed to anyone who does not
wholeheartedly embrace global warming orthodoxies.

So what do you do if you have serious doubts about the received
wisdom, but you know that your ideas will be denounced as heresy? If
we stigmatise those who question "self-evident" truths, how will
interrogativedebate survive?

Surely this can only breed a conformist outlook, forcing open debate
on to the back foot. Free thinkers cannot help but question the
prevailing dogma, which often involves a denial of the official
version of the truth. We are entitled to argue and debate and freely
express our views about everything. And in our conformist era, a
healthy dose of heresy is no bad thing.

Claire Fox is Director of the Institute of Ideas; Prof Arthur Versluis
is speaking at the The Battle of Ideas, which takes place at the Royal
College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU this weekend;

Source: cle3093766.ece

TALKING WITH THE ENEMY

The Christian Century
Oct 22 2007

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran visited Columbia University,
he was introduced as a "a petty and cruel dictator" by his host,
the school’s president, Lee Bollinger. When he addressed the General
Assembly at the United Nations, the U.S. delegation walked out. He was
treated with considerably more respect when he met for two hours with
over 100 religious leaders at a chapel across from the UN. The third
in a series of meetings with Ahmadinejad arranged by the Mennonite
Central Committee, this dialogue was opened to other church leaders
and endorsed by the World Council of Churches’ Commission of the
Churches on International Affairs.

At this meeting, Ahmadinejad focused on religion. He recited the roster
of biblical prophets, culminating, according to Islam, in Muhammad,
and talked about his expectation of the coming of the Mahdi, who along
with Jesus will establish a reign of peace and justice on earth. When
their turn came, the Christian panelists, representing mainline,
Quaker, Catholic and evangelical churches, asked the president largely
political questions-about his statements denying the Holocaust and
calling for the destruction of Israel, about Iran’s nuclear plans,
and about the treatment of religious minorities in Iran.

In his responses, Ahmadinejad generally deflected the questions or
turned them back at the interrogators. Religious minorities are treated
even better than the Muslim majority in Iran, he insisted, because
each group-the Assyrian Christians, the Armenian Christians and the
Jews-has one or two representatives in Parliament even though their
numbers are minuscule. While there was little substantive engagement
between these religious leaders and Ahmadinejad, participants got a
sense of how he sees the world and of his deep Muslim faith.

Should Christians even be talking with a figure like this? The answer
to that question is that we should not allow the government to dictate
to us who our enemies are or how we are to relate to them.

Christians are called to love and pray for enemies. At a time when
there are rumors of war with Iran, the meeting in New York was at
least a symbolic gesture which pointed to the need to seek other than
military means for resolving conflicts. When we’re talking with each
other, we’re not shooting at each other.

Some claim that the religious leaders who met with Ahmadinejad were
naive and that they were being used to bolster his status on the
international stage and back in Iran. But that’s a risk that people
of faith must be willing to take in the search for peace. And it’s
just as likely that the inhospitable reception Ahmadinejad received
in New York fed anti-American sentiments in Iran and bolstered his
status there and in other parts of the Muslim world.

A year ago it seemed unlikely that the U.S. would be able to persuade
North Korea to cease production of nuclear weapons, but an agreement
was reached through tough negotiations and diplomacy. We need to
continue to pray and work for a similar outcome with Iran.

U.S. SHOULD RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Michael A. Moodian

Ventura County Star, CA
/us-should-recognize-armenian-genocide/
Oct 21 2007

>From 1915 to 1917, it is estimated that nearly 1.5 million Armenians
were killed by the Ottoman Empire in one of the greatest systematic
massacres in the history of modern civilization. Today, more than
20 countries, including Russia, Canada, Greece, Italy and Poland,
formally recognize the atrocious events at the start of the 20th
century as a genocide. However, Oct. 10, the Bush administration, in
a direct insult to the people of Armenia and hundreds of thousands
Armenian-Americans, urged the House not to support a resolution
sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., in which the United States
would officially recognize the event as a genocide, citing a potential
strain in relations with Turkey.

Could there be a greater hypocrisy? On one hand, the Bush
administration is saying that we are engaged in a war to liberate the
Iraqi people from a recent history of large-scale massacres from the
Saddam Hussein regime, yet, we will do so by disregarding historical
crimes against humanity by our key ally in the Middle East?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines "genocide" as "the systematic
and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or
ethnic group." However, though President Bush acknowledges the tragedy
of the mass killings during the World War I era, he fears losing a
geographic ally in the supposed "war against terror." How keen of him.

To add to this, Oct. 11, Turkey announced that it was recalling its
U.S. ambassador, Nabi Sensoy, in response to a House committee passing
the resolution.

For Turkey, it is a move to show the mighty United States that it
means business. As history has demonstrated time and time again with
other regimes, the government of Turkey is diametrically opposed
to recognizing a dark era of history through the initiative. Today,
it is ready to stand its ground if the United States moves forward
with such a stance.

Putting opinions of the legality and justness of the expensive American
occupation of Iraq aside, whatever happened to the strength, valor,
ideals and values that made America great? Why are we bowing to the
Turkish government right now? Isn’t it time to, as the motto of a
Southern California congressional candidate states, "do what is right
and let the consequences follow"?

The bottom line is that the United States needs the help of Turkey to
continue with its occupation of Iraq. However, we are the superpower
of the world and the relationship is mutually beneficial.

What is the worst-case scenario if we were to publicly recognize
the genocide that was committed by an earlier government at another
time in history? Yes, it would cause a stir in the beginning, but,
in the long run, it would most certainly be in Turkey’s best interest
to remain a collaborator with the United States.

Perhaps what is most disheartening is that we still have more than
one year of an incapable Bush administration to continue with damage
that will take far longer than his eight years in office to repair.

Here’s hoping that the next president – Republican, Democrat or
independent – works to end the occupation of Iraq, restore America
back to the values and ideals that we should stand for, and supports
the acknowledgment one of the greatest atrocities of the 20th century.

Concurrently, part of the blame lies with the U.S. education system,
which has done a poor job of bringing justice to this event. History
classes offer a short segment, if any time at all, to the Armenian
genocide. It will take increased education to lead to a greater
recognition so that history does not repeat itself, and the proper
respect is given to 1.5 million who were killed.

– Michael A. Moodian, Ed.D., of Rancho Santa Margarita, is a professor
of organizational leadership. His first book, "Contemporary Leadership
and Intercultural Competence," will be released in 2008 by Sage
Publications.

OFFICIAL SAYS AZERBAIJAN READY TO ASSIST TURKEY

Azad Azarbaycan TV
Oct 20 2007
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister has said that the country is
ready to assist Turkey in any sphere.

In his remarks to Azad Azarbaycan TV (ATV) on 20 October, Araz Azimov
said that "Azerbaijan is a strategic ally of Turkey. Both Turkey and
Azerbaijan are ready to give each other assistance at any time and
on a mutual basis."

Azimov added that cooperation between the two countries’, the situation
in Iraq, the Azerbaijani-Armenian problem, and the US Congress genocide
bill were discussed at his meeting with his Turkish counterpart Unal
Cevikoz on 19 October, ATV reported.

AZERI CITIZEN GIVEN 2-YEAR SENTENCE FOR RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.10.2007 19:22 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A resident of Aliabad village in Azerbaijan, Zaur
Balayev, detained May 20, 2007 under accusation of membership in a
Christian Baptist organization, was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

Balayev’s family members said he was arrested for religious
convictions.

"We live in a country where religious tolerance and liberty of
conscience are established. Our state legislation allows citizens to
practice any religion and propagandize it. Alas, Zaur was arrested
for religious convictions. Later he was charged of resisting police
and sentenced to 2 years in prison," they said.

"The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict and we are going to address
the head of state," they said.

It’s worth noting that presently some 80 Baptists live in Aliabad
village, APA reports.

DARCHINIAN’S VICTORY

A1+
[01:21 pm] 22 October, 2007

World boxing champion, IBF and IBO, Vic (Vakhtang) Darchinian defeated
Philippine Federiko Katubey with a technical knock-out blow. The
referee stopped the meeting at the 12th round.

The meeting was really tense. I am really glad to beat such
a strong rival. I shall do my utmost to regain the champion’s
belt. Nevertheless, it is too early to speak of revenge on Doner,
Darchinian said.

Lragir, Armenia
Oct 19 2007

ARMEN RUSTAMYAN THINKS THE PRESIDENT FAILED

Armen Rustamyan, an intermediate presidential candidate named by the
ARF Dashnaktsutyun General Meeting, who was hosted at the Hayeli Club
on October 19 stated that in Armenia the public and political
relations are regulated by arrangements between government groups,
not by legislation or Constitution. `We have a Constitutional order
which exists legally but we also have a public and political order
which exists de facto. In other words, the Constitutional order has
de jure and de facto differences. There is a major difference,’ Armen
Rustamyan says.

He thinks it is necessary to introduce mechanisms through structural
changes which will bring about the laws. `How? It is very simple.
Mechanisms of balance are needed, the powers should be distributed
equally, it is the power pyramid, in the power pyramid it is in my
interests that as a president I prevent the National Assembly from
curbing my powers, and making me unable to do anything beyond my
powers by the Constitution,’ Armen Rustamyan says. He says there must
be a clash of interests to balance the system. Otherwise, we now have
a system where a narrow circle, 5-10 percent enjoy rights and others
do not.

If the Constitution de facto does not exist as Armen Rustamyan says,
it turns out that the president of Armenia who is the guarantor of
the Constitution failed to perform his functions. `Certainly he
failed,’ Armen Rustamyan said in answer to this question although he
felt the start was too tough, and continued more mildly. `If the
Constitution is observed, we would have no other problems. Everything
would be guaranteed if the Constitution were observed. If we think
so, therefore I am saying I do not want to speak in percentages, but
I cannot say that the Constitution is not observed at all. No. Unlike
fundamental approaches, I do not think so,’ Armen Rustamyan says.