Author: Torgomian Varazdat

“WE MUST RESPECT THE SOVEREIGNTY OF KARABAKH, AS WELL AS THE RIGHT OF THE REFUGEES TO RETURN”
A1plus
| 20:01:08 | 30-05-2005 | Politics |
RA first Foreign Minister Raffi Hovhannisyan was elected today
President of the party Heritage. But before the election he made a
one-hour speech in which he represented concisely our history of the
first, second and third Republics.
He called everyone not to criticize the founders of either the first
or the second republics as if it weren’t for them, perhaps the third
republic would not exist. He recalled Karen Demirchyan and Vazgen
Sargsyan. Then he spoke about the challenges of the time.
Raffi Hovhannisyan also referred to his version of the settlement
of the Karabakh conflict. According to him, Karabakh’s right of
sovereignty must be respected, as NKR is a sovereign republic. Karabakh
must be included in the negotiation process as a third party. “And we
must remember: there are no recognized or non-recognized republics;
there are existing and non-existing republics”.
Raffi Hovhannisyan also announced that the Azeris must return to their
houses in Artsakh and Armenians must return to theirs in Getashen
and Shahoumyan, and, on the whole, “We must respect the right of the
refugees to return to their houses”.
As for the new format, Raffi Hovhannisyan said he respects Hovhannes
Hovhannisyan and Aram Sargsyan, as well as other representatives of
the political field, but today it is still to early to speak about
it. And Hovhannes Hovhannisyan informed the journalists once more
that the creation of a new format is inevitable.
By the way, the RA first and second Presidents, the NKR President
and the leaders of all the parties were invited to the conference of
the Heritage party. Naturally, the Presidents had not accepted the
invitation. Representatives of the Pan Armenian Movement and “New
Times” were not present either. Nevertheless, there has never been
such a wide range of representatives in the session of another party.

U.S. SENATOR NORM COLEMAN HEADS TO ARMENIA
WASHINGTON, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
committee member Norm Coleman (R-MN) arrives in Armenia this week
for meetings with high level Armenian and U.S. officials in a trip
co-sponsored by the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA) and the
Cafesjian Family Foundation. According to the AAA, during his 3-day
fact finding trip on the growing U.S./Armenia relationship, Senator
Coleman will meet with President Robert Kocharian, National Assembly
Chairman Arthur Baghdasaryan, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan,
Defense Minister Serge Sargsian, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
and Justice Minister Davit Haroutiunian. US Ambassador John Evans,
together with the US Embassy and USAID Mission teams, will provide
in-depth briefings for the Senator at the recently-opened US Embassy
in Armenia. Senator Coleman will visit the sacred Armenian Genocide
Memorial, attend the construction launch of the Gerard L Cafesjian
Museum of Art and more. The first-term Senator has been an active
supporter of Armenian issues, advancing last year’s passage of
a bill extending permanent normal trade relations and urging the
U.S. to encourage Turkey to lift its blockade of Armenia. Coleman has
co-sponsored a resolution ensuring that the lessons of the Armenian
Genocide, and other crimes against humanity, are not forgotten and
supported a 2005 congressional letter to President Bush urging him
to properly recognize the Armenian Genocide. Prior to his election
to the Senate, Coleman served as mayor of St. Paul, MN where he
issued a proclamation declaring 1999 as Armenian Centennial Year. Two
years later, he signed a proclamation marking April 24th as Armenian
Remembrance Day. Country Director of the Armenian Assembly’s Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh Offices, Arpi Vartanian, has been working with the
Cafesjian Family Foundation, and US and Armenian officials to make the
Senator’s first visit to Armenia productive and successful. Vartanian
notes, “It is very important that U.S. officials visit Armenia and
witness first-hand the progress in Armenia, as well as the challenges
facing Armenians today. Only by understanding the successes, challenges
and developments, can the vital and ever-expanding U.S./Armenia
relationship be strengthened. We look forward to welcoming Senator
Coleman and introducing him to Armenia.” The Cafesjian Family
Foundation has been working closely with the Senator’s office to
schedule and organize the trip. Cafesjian and Coleman, who are
long-time friends, have worked together on Armenian and important
local community issues – including a project to preserve a historic
State Fair carousel in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Russian military complain about difficult life in Georgia
Channel 3 TV, Moscow
28 May 05
[Presenter] While our politicians are discussing with Georgian
authorities the deadline for withdrawal of the Russian [military] bases
[from Georgia], the everyday life of the Russian military in the once
friendly state is gradually switching to a state of siege. Moscow has
forgotten about them, while Tbilisi is in a hurry to vacate the place
for American bases, which will not spoil the investment climate. See
a special report by Ivan Volonikhin.
[Correspondent] Russia’s 12th military base in Batumi today has
about 1,000 personnel, 70 tanks, 150 armoured personnel carriers,
500 lorries, tractors and trailers and 120 artillery systems including
famous Grad rocket launchers.
All this military equipment was made 16-17 years ago but is still in a
very good condition. Insisting on an immediate pullout of the bases,
the Georgian authorities evidently hope that the equipment will
not be taken to Russia, because this task would be too difficult,
troublesome and costly.
But the Russian military assert that they will take everything,
including two memorial T-34 tanks.
[Mikhail Mulin, captioned as commander of the 3rd battery of the
artillery battalion] If we left these weapons and equipment, we would
never know what would happen to the Georgian government and what they
might do with it.
Armoured vehicles are lined up for tens of metres. There are enough
weapons for an army of an African state behind the barbed wire fence.
The vehicles have been motionless for several years. Basically,
they could go to Russia if filled up and provided with batteries,
but they will be transported by sea aboard a big assault ship. The
reason is that there are not enough drivers.
More than half of the manpower of the base are local contractors. New
conscripts from Russia cannot get to the base for more than a year,
because the Georgian government does not issue entry visas to them.
[Mulin] There practically no conscript soldiers. I have five officers,
five conscripts and five contract soldiers in my battery.
[Correspondent] And how many people do you need?
[Mulin] There should be 54 conscripts.
[Vladimir Timoshenko, captioned as chief of staff of the artillery of
the base] My three-year-old son once said: Daddy, we are Ukrainians
with Russian passports living in Georgia. Who we are?
[Correspondent] Lt-Col Timoshenko and his family cannot choose the
route for travelling to Ukraine or Russia on their own. Since the new
administration came to power in Ajaria, all travel details have been
determined by Tbilisi officials.
[Olga Timoshenko] We must go to Tbilisi first, then return to Batumi
and travel to [the Russian port of] Adler.
[Correspondent] The Gonio training ground occupies about two sq.km. of
land near Batumi. Between doing various exercises, tank driver Zaza is
ringing his wife by mobile phone to ask her about the menu for dinner.
[Passage omitted: Georgian contract soldier says he will go to Russia
and continue to serve in the Russian army after the base pullout]
The tanks are not allowed to go beyond the training ground so that
the windows in nearby houses did not shutter and foreign investors
were not frightened off.
[Gela Vasadze, captioned as Batumi deputy mayor] You should agree
that foreign military in a resort area hinder the investment climate.
[Correspondent] Nobody has ever seen a Russian tank in the city of
Batumi. But a pretext for a conflict will always be found if someone
wants it.
[Russian soldier in Georgian police custody, speaking off camera]
I have no right to answer.
[Correspondent] This video footage was shown by all Georgian television
channels for several days. Four Russian soldiers were accused of
hooliganism and arrested. They were released later as no concrete
charges could be brought against them.
[Pte Aleksandr Yeliseyev, captioned] Acts of provocation are
common. They ask soldiers to sell them cartridges and film the scene
on camera, or ask for an interview and then misinterpret your words.
[Correspondent] The Georgian officials are competing in who will
create more obstacles for the Russian military. Supplying food from
Russia has been prohibited. The hospital has found itself in a state
of siege. The list of medicines medics are allowed to buy locally
has been shortened. The personnel has been strongly recommended not
to provide medical aid to the local population though about 50 per
cent of doctors and nurses are locals.
[Makhmud Karamirzayev, captioned as hospital head] On 1 May I was
officially notified that our licence for buying group A medicines was
annulled. These are drug-containing medicines without which any kind
of surgery is impossible.
[Correspondent] The fort D, built several centuries ago and once
used by the British army, is now one of the biggest arms depots in
the Caucasus. Hundreds of thousands of artillery shells, cartridges
and firearms are stored there. Several wagons were recently shipped
from there to a Russian base in Armenia. The Georgian authorities
did not give permission for seven months.
[Vladimir Belov, captioned as deputy commander of the 12th military
base] The ammunition shipped by trains to Armenia is a small part of
what is still here.
[Passage omitted: Lt-Col Belov, who served in Batumi for 20 years,
is packing his personal belongings; he says that he is ready to leave
but does not want to be treated as an occupier]

NaharNet, Lebanon (In English)
May 30 2005
It is official: Saad Hariri Won
Monday, 30 May, 2005 @ 3:57 PM
Beirut – Lebanon – Hassan Al Sabaa ,the Lebanese Interior Minister
Hassan Al Sabaa announced at a news conference Monday morning , May
30, 2005 the final and official results of the polls that took place
in Beirut on Sunday, May 29.
Beirut is divided into 3 electoral districts. The results for each
district are as follows:
Beirut District no.1 : Turnout 31 percent.
Winners: Saad Hariri, 39,499 votes, Ammar Houri, 30,741 and Gebran
Tueni, 30,519.
Losers: Ahmed Dabbagh, 7,318, Jihad Dana 253, Khalil Brummana 6,588,
Jack Tamer, 23.
Beirut District no.2 : Turnout 29.6 percent
Winners: Amin Sherri, 31,895, Bahij Tabbara, 27,980, Walid Ido,
25,123, Nabil de Freij 27,364, Atef Majdalani, 26,163.
Losers: Adnan Arakji, 7,379, Badr Tabsh, 6,182, Ibrahim Halaby, 3,614,
Zuhair Khatib, 148, Nabila Saab, 110, Ahmed Yassin, 28, Ibrahim Mehdi
Shamseddin, 4,172, Ali Shahrour, 491, Salah Osseiran, 45, Najah Wakim
14,231, Raymond Asmar, 6,212.
Beirut District no.3: Turnout 20 percent
Winners: Mohammed Kabbani, 24,572, Ghenwa Jalloul, 23731.
Losers: Adnan Trabulsi, 5442, Yahya Ahmed, 1,765.
Overall Turnout in Beirut Region: 28 percent Total number of eligible
voters : 420,000
The above results confirm that Hariri’s list won all the 19 seats
allocated for Beirut.
As expected, many people in Beirut stayed away because Hariri’s
victory was a foregone conclusion. Nine of the 19 candidates won by
default before elections, since they were unopposed.
Even though Hariri said “this was a vote for his slain father Rafik
Hariri”, the win makes Hariri, 35, a strong contender to lead the
next government and pursue the political and economic policies of
his father.
The vote follows two political earthquakes in Lebanon — Hariri’s
killing in a bomb blast many Lebanese blamed on Damascus, and the
end of Syria’s 29-year troop presence.
The second highest vote-getter is Amine Sherri, a pro-Syrian Shiite
Hezbollah candidate on Hariri ‘s slate with 31,895 votes. Hezbollah
and Hariri formed an alliance in the Beirut elections.
The turnout was thinnest in the Christian districts, because of the
boycott by the Armenian Tashnag Party and supporters of Christian
leader Michel Aoun.
Beirut had a 34 percent turnout in 2000, when Hariri’s father, then
cooperating with Syria, also swept the board.
For the first time, foreign observers monitored the polls, with a
team of more than 100 led by the European Union.
“Today was a victory for national unity,” Hariri told a jubilant
crowd on Sunday night. “This is a victory for Rafik al-Hariri. Today,
Beirut showed its loyalty to Rafik al-Hariri.”
Thousands of supporters drove through the streets, blaring horns and
flying Lebanese flags as fireworks lit the night sky over Beirut’s
center, rebuilt by the slain Hariri from the ruins of the 1975-1990
civil war.
Hariri announced earlier that he and his allies are expected to win 80
to 90 seats in the new parliament. He will therefore be very active
until the last day of elections. His first objective is to get rid
of the pro Syrian Lebanese president Emile Lahoud.
Rafik al-Hariri’s shadow hangs over the elections, not only in Beirut,
but all over Lebanon.
“I am happy but my happiness is mixed with sadness,” said a tearful
Joumana Tabbara, a housewife celebrating the results of Sunday’s
polling outside Hariri’s villa.
“I stood in this spot five years ago when his father won the last
election. We were so happy then. This time our happiness is incomplete
because someone very dear is missing.”
The UN is investigating Hariri’s assassination, which was blamed on
Syria, but Syria has denied any hand in it.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska)
May 27, 2005 Friday
City Edition
System of a Down’s new album doesn’t Mezmerize’
Rock
System of a Down
“Mezmerize ”
4 stars
“Mezmerize,” the latest album from Armenian alt-rockers System of a
Down, is solid but not spectacular.
Last fall, guitarist Daron Malakian told Rolling Stone magazine that
fans should expect a drastically different sound this time around.
The Los Angeles-based foursome gets harmonic on “Mezmerize,” more so
than on the band’s 1998 self-titled debut or 2001’s “Toxicity,” and
Malakian sings a lot more on this one, but the elements that made the
previous albums so successful are still there: screeching vocals,
heavily distorted guitars and abrupt changes in dynamics.
In the radio single “B.Y.O.B.,” or “Bring Your Own Bombs,” lead
singer Serj Tankian throws in a line that sounds like it belongs in a
pop or hip-hop song (“Everybody’s going to the party, have a real
good time”), and the 11 tracks also include references to gonorrhea,
sodomy and Tony Danza, but the bizarre lyrics should come as no
surprise from a band that recorded a song about a pogo stick
(“Bounce” from “Toxicity”) and an ode to pizza toppings (“Chic ‘N’
Stu” from 2002’s B-side collection “Steal This Album!”). The
ridiculousness of some of the lyrics helps to balance the seriousness
of other parts of the album, which, at times, is highly political.
“Mezmerize” opens with the eerie intro “Soldier Side,” which
transitions into six fast-paced songs before slowing down (a little)
with the acoustic ballad “Question!” The music is relentless, which
may come as a disappointment to those looking forward to hearing the
softer side of S.O.A.D., but perhaps the toned-down stuff is yet to
come when the band releases the other half of the two-disc set,
“Hypnotize,” this fall.
As for this album, Tankian sounds amazing, demonstrating his range of
shrieking and wailing but refraining from his usual animal noises. He
even seems to channel David Byrne of Talking Heads near the end of
“This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m on This Song.” Malakian and
bassist Shavo Doadjian are also in fine form, hammering away at their
instruments at breakneck speed.
But “Mezmerize” lacks variety. The first five songs are all
standouts, but the last half of the album blurs together, and the
crunched-up guitars get old after a while. And, at less than 40
minutes, it’s mighty short for an album four years in the making.
This is a “must-have” for alternative rock buffs, but everyone else
should file this one under “maybe.”
– Sean Hagewood
Lincoln Journal Star

Rules of the game
Landlordism is still with us
Nepali Times (Nepal)
13-19 May 2005
#247
BY ASHUTOSH TIWARI
Daron Acemoglu, a professor at MIT, was honoured last month with a John
Bates Clark medal. While a Nobel Prize is given out every December, the
Clark medal is rarer because it is awarded to an influential economist
under the age of 40 every two years. Through his research, Acemoglu has
attempted to shed light on the central puzzle of development economics:
what accounts for the wealth of nations?
Policy pundits have long hewed the usual `poor countries save less,
invest less on education and do not use technology’ explanations. Others
attribute it to variations in geography and culture. Still others,
citing North and South Korea as examples, say that what matters is
market-friendliness of a country’s institutions. Working with other
academics, Acemoglu has treated this last observation with rigour to
answer: how is it that countries end up with the institutions that they
have now and how big is the effect of such institutions on those
countries’ wealth? In doing so, he has put the study of institutions
right in the middle of economics and underscored the importance of
history, politics and legal systems in interpreting nations’ economic lives.
Acemoglu defines institutions as `the rules of the game in economic,
political and social interactions’. These rules refer to property
rights, contract enforcement mechanisms, limits on politicians’
excesses, distribution of political power and the like. What he shows is
that in many countries, these institutions have been set in place by
historical happenstances that responded to the then prevailing
incentives. For instance, even when the Spanish were in San Francisco
and Los Angeles well before the English traders, they could not be there
for long. Because they had to share the profits with monarchs in Europe
who controlled how much spoils the traders could keep for themselves,
they saw little incentive to hold on to their new land. Meanwhile, the
English pushed for property rights to stake claims on the New World that
the Spanish had first discovered.
Likewise, in Africa, death rates of their `bishops, soldiers and
sailors’ affected the settlement patterns of Europeans. That, in turn,
affected the eventual arrangement of institutions in African countries.
The logic is that in most places, high death rates discouraged Europeans
from settling down. As such, they set up institutions to siphon the
riches from those places to their home countries. As a result, at times
of independence in the `60s and the `70s, most African countries such as
Zaire, inherited those entrenched extractive institutions, which the
local elites kept in place to transfer resources into their own pockets.
But in places (such as the US and Australia) where their death rates
were lower, the Europeans settled down, cleared land for farming and
started demanding that their properties be protected by laws similar to
those of their home countries. Over time, those demands coalesced into
market-friendly `rules of the game’, positively affecting those new
countries’ economic growth.
Could an application of this `rules of the game’ theory help us
understand what is holding Nepali businesses back? Two hypotheses:
first, the Nepali state, though never a colony, has long acted as a
landlord – extracting surplus from villagers to pay for the elites’
indulgences. Reforms notwithstanding, that landlordism is still with
us – dulling Nepalis’ entrepreneurial zeal to innovate, produce and sell
anything anywhere with ease. And second, given that Nepal’s legal system
is a mishmash of Hindu jurisprudence, traditional rules, ad hocism and
western common-law statutes, Nepali businesses continue to find it
difficult to fit in with the global supply chain of goods and
services – credibly, competitively and for a long haul.

PRESS RELEASE
Haigazian University
Mira Yardemian
Public Relations Director
Rue Mexique – Kantari
P.O. Box 11-1748
Riad El-Solh 1107 2090
Beirut – Lebanon
Haigazian University hosts Prof. Peter Balakian
In the line with Haigazian University’s 50th Anniversary celebratory
events, and with the cooperation of the United States Embassy in Beirut,
prize-winning memoirist, poet and scholar , Peter Balakian was the host of
Haigazian University for four memorable days in Beirut.
This long planned visit and Balakian’s participation in the University’s
50th Anniversary unfolded on Monday the 23rd and Tuesday the 24th of May,
2005, where Balakian delivered his two public speeches in the hall of the
First Armenian Evangelical Church in Beirut.
The caliber of the lectures- highlighted by their focus on Balakian’s
childhood, and the Armenian Genocide, the enraptured capacity audience, and
the effective interaction- had tremendous positive echoes in the Lebanese
society.
In his first lecture, “A Memoir about Growing up in the New Jersey Suburbs
and the Armenian Genocide”, Prof. Balakian read some passages of his book
Black Dog of Fate, and shared with the audience some of his experiences on
growing up as an American in a typical New Jersey suburb, and later
learning of his family’s terrible suffering during the Armenian Genocide.
Balakian emphasized the role his grandmother, a genocide survivor, played
in delivering encoded messages about her experience, which he was later
able to decipher and develop.
The second lecture, entitled “The Armenian Genocide and America’s First
International Human Rights Movement” was even a greater success. The hall
was filled with an overflow of people, many attending the lecture twice, in
order to grasp the maximum opportunity of benefiting from Balakian’s
presence in Beirut.
Balakian considered the Armenian Genocide as an important part in history
of the 20th century, insisting the issue should be incorporated in school
and university curricula worldwide. He added that it’s impossible to
narrate the 1st World War without pausing to consider the Armenian
Genocide, a paradigm for subsequent twentieth century genocides.
Dr. Balakian also read passages from The Burning Tigris, his book which
appeared on the best-seller lists of the New York Times, the Los Angeles
Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. This book was the
existential answer to Hitler’s statement: “Who today, after all, speaks of
the annihilation of the Armenians?”
Towards the end of his speech, Dr. Peter Balakian, expressed his deepest
gratitude to Haigazian University, represented by its President, Rev. Paul
Haidostian, and the Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Arda Ekmekji.
Upon the completion of the lecture, Prof. Balakian received a token of
appreciation from President Haidostian, representing Haigazian University,
and went to the Arthur Matossian hall, to sign his books.
It is worth noting that while here, Balakian met with the students of
Haigazian, at an event organized by the Debate Club. The students enjoyed
this rich exposure with the author of Black Dog Of Fate an Intercultural
Studies course requirement.
Besides his lectures, Balakian had the chance to discover the Armenian and
Lebanese heritage by visiting Radio Van, and recording an interesting
interview, exploring the Armenian Museum at the Armenian Catholicossate in
Antelias, and finally enjoying Lebanese food and discovering the ancient
heritage of the city of Byblos.
Dr. Peter Balakian is a Professor of the Humanities and Professor of
English at Colgate University in New York state. He was the first director
of Colgate’s Center of Ethics and World Societies. He lives in Hamilton,
New York with his wife and two children Sophia and James.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT MEETS WITH HEAD OF ALL-RUSSIAN TV & RADIO COMPANY
YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan has held a
meeting with Director General of the all-Russian TV & Radio company
Oleg Dobrodeyev. The RA presidential press service reports that the
sides discussed Armenian-Russian cultural cooperation, pointing out
the necessity of elaborating joint programs. Kocharyan pointed out
that the relaying of the Culture TV channel in Armenia allows the two
nations to expand their cultural ties. In his turn, Dobrodeyev
reported that preliminary agreements on the implementation of a number
of joint projects have been reached. P.T. -0–

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
May 25 2005
Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline Opens A New Era in the Region
A BP-led group loaded the first Azeri oil into a pipeline to Turkey’s
Ceyhan sea port at Mediterranean coast which will unlock the Caspian
Sea’s riches and reduce Russia’s stranglehold on export routes from
the region. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline will also connect
the Turkic world. Kazakhstan oil will also be connected to the line.
Officials inaugurated the first section of a 1,760-kilometer,
U.S.-backed pipeline on Wednesday that will bring Caspian Sea oil to
Mediterranean coasts. The project seen as an economic and political
opportunity for the troubled Caucasus region. The BTC will contribute
the Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey economies. The project further
will put Turkey at the heart of the energy lines.
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey were on
hand for the ceremony at the Sangachal oil terminal, about 40
kilometers south of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to open the taps for
the first drops of oil to enter the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
The pipeline from Baku to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan is
seen as a significant move toward reducing the West’s dependence on
Middle Eastern oil. Most Caspian oil exports previously moved through
Russian pipelines, often adding to the congestion in the Bosporus
strait. The new line will reduce the environmental risks for the
Turkish straits and the Aegean Sea.
The pipeline `will take new supplies of oil to the world market and
will help to demonstrate that security is best achieved by having
multiple sources of supply and trade routes,’ BP PLC Chief Executive
John Brown, whose company leads the consortium that built the
pipeline, said at the opening ceremony.
The $3.2 billion project, with a capacity of 1 million barrels a day,
is the first direct oil link between the landlocked Caspian, which is
thought to contain the world’s third-largest oil and gas reserves,
through Georgia en route to the Mediterranean.
BUSH: `THE PIPELINE OPENS A NEW ERA IN THE CASPIAN BASIN’S
DEVELOPMENT’
The pipeline `opens a new era in the Caspian Basin’s development,’
U.S. President George W. Bush said in a letter read by U.S. Energy
Secretary Samuel Bodman. Bush, whose administration is seeking to
diversify energy sources, called it a `monumental achievement.’
`The United States has consistently supported (the pipeline project)
because we believe in the project’s ability to bolster energy
security, strengthen participating countries’ energy diversity,
enhance regional cooperation and expand international investment
opportunities,’ the letter said.
A NEW SİLK ROAD
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey look to earn substantial revenue from
the pipeline, through transit fees and royalties.
`I do not doubt that BTC will be of use both to Azerbaijan and our
neighbors. This pipeline first of all will help solve economic and
social problems, but the role of the pipeline in strengthening peace
and security in the region also is not small,’ Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliyev said at the ceremony. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer said the pipeline `can be called the Silk Road of the 21st
century.’
Azerbaijan is banking on the pipeline to raise its profile in the
world and swing international support behind Baku in its dispute with
Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which ethnic armed
Armenian separatists with Armenia took control of more than a decade
ago. 20 percent of Azerbaijan has been under Armenian occupation and
Yerevan rejects to withdraw its forces despite of the American and
European calls.
IMPROVE LIVING STANDARDS
Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said the pipeline should help
attract investment and improve living standards. Saakashvili has
sought to lessen Russia’s influence on his impoverished country,
which depends heavily on Russia for energy.
Pipeline officials said it would take up to a month and a half to
fill the Azerbaijani section. The Georgian part will be ready after
that, and then the Turkish stretch, which Turkish authorities have
said should be filled by Aug. 15.
It will take approximately 10 million barrels of crude to fill the
entire pipeline. Bodman said Tuesday that deliveries of oil from the
pipeline to tankers at the terminal in Turkey are to begin in the
fall. Once fully operational, the pipeline will represent a’
significant’ addition to Western oil supplies, said analyst Jason
Kenney of ING Financial Markets, although the time needed to fill it
means `you won’t see exports until the later part of the year.’

Transitions on Line, Czech Republic
May 25 2005
Where Oil and Democracy Clash

by Khadija Ismailova and Shahin Abbasov
25 May 2005
Azerbaijan’s political temperature rises as the parliamentary
election campaign looms.
Two principles seem to guide foreign policy of the administration of
U.S. President George Bush – an intent to open up international
energy markets and a desire to promote democratic values around the
globe. These two notions appear to be on a collision course in
Azerbaijan, an oil-rich state in the Caucasus where the risk of risk
of political violence is growing.
The last half of this year promises to be eventful in Baku. The main
pillar of the country’s long-range economic development effort – the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline – is expected to become operational in
late 2005, around the same time parliamentary elections are held in
November. Already, there are indications that the election could
prove tumultuous. Political uncertainty, in turn, could cloud the
pipeline’s prospects for a smooth launch.
Opposition parties have become increasingly active in 2005, clearly
emboldened by the revolutionary trend in the former Soviet Union that
has produced regime change in Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan over
the past 18 months. On 21 May, an opposition coalition sponsored a
demonstration, calling for guarantees of a free-and-fair legislative
vote. The Azeri government refused to sanction the rally, and police
used force to break it up. Dozens were injured in the confrontation,
including several journalists covering the event who were wearing
special vests designed to identify them as members of the press and
thus protect them from harassment. Estimates of the number of arrests
ranged from 45 to 149.
Before being set upon by club-wielding riot police, some opposition
demonstrators could be seen holding portraits of President Bush.
During a 10 May speech in the capital of neighboring Georgia, Bush
indicated that the United States would back democratic change in all
former Soviet states. “Across the Caucasus, in Central Asia and the
broader Middle East, we see the same desire for liberty burning in
the hearts of young people. They are demanding their freedom – and
they will have it,” Bush told the crowd assembled on Tbilisi’s
Freedom Square. “We are living in historic times when freedom is
advancing, from the Black Sea to the Caspian.” In organizing the Baku
rally for fair elections, opposition leaders seemed to be acting on
Bush’s Tbilisi’s comments.
One of the explanations given by local authorities in refusing to
grant the opposition permission to assemble was a desire to maintain
stability in the capital in advance of the opening ceremony for the
BTC pipeline, scheduled for 25 May. The event is expected to draw
dignitaries, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from
around the world. The extent of force used by police, however, puts
foreign diplomats and corporate representatives in a difficult spot
for the BTC ceremony. Some may end up staying away from the event out
of concern that an appearance would be seen as an endorsement of the
suppression of the right to freedom of assembly.
The incident puts the Bush administration in an especially awkward
position. As a key backer of the BTC project, Washington has
developed a close strategic relationship with Azeri President Ilham
Aliev’s administration. U.S. officials have energetically promoted
stabilization initiatives in recent months, including a diplomatic
push to break the stalemate in the talks between Azerbaijan and
Armenia on a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. A stable political
environment is needed to help BTC realize its economic potential,
many observers say.
The aggressive tactics adopted by Azerbaijan’s opposition seem sure
to raise the country’s political temperature, running counter to the
U.S. desire for regional tranquility surrounding the BTC launch. Yet,
given the Bush White House’s messianic advocacy of democratic values,
U.S. officials cannot appear to discourage the Azeri opposition’s
quest for a free-and-fair vote. A U.S. embassy statement, issued
after the rally was suppressed, expressed regret over the police use
of force in Baku, adding that American officials will closely monitor
events. “We urge the Azeri government to respect the democratic
freedoms of the people,” the statement said.
In comments made prior to the 21 May rally, Ali Hasanov, an advisor
to Aliev, insisted that the Azeri government is committed to
democratization. “We think this [democratization] is normal,” Hasanov
said in comments broadcast on 21 May by Space TV. “Azerbaijan has
chosen the way of evolution. Some states have chosen the way of
revolution, and that is their own business.”
Opposition leaders characterized the 21 May rally as a success, and
gave every indication that the use of confrontational tactics would
continue. “Although hundreds of people were arrested and injured,
these people brought the victory of democracy even closer,” said Isa
Gambar, leader of the opposition Musavat Party was quoted as saying
in the 22 May edition of the Yeni Musavat newspaper.
Another opposition leader, the Popular Front reformist wing’s Ali
Karimli, said the demonstration was “more effective than we had
planned.” He added that the rally offered confirmation that “Azeri
authorities are ready to rig the elections and that they have no
respect for human rights,” Yeni Musavat reported.
The Azeri government’s image has taken a beating since the October
2003 presidential election, and the ensuing crackdown on the Aliev
administration’s political opponents. International monitors found
numerous flaws in the conduct and the results of the 2003 vote, in
which Aliev secured his own political mandate, succeeding his father,
Heidar, who died in December of the same year.
On 11 May, the younger Aliev took action designed to improve the
country’s electoral image, issuing a decree to make the
ballot-counting process more transparent. A week later, government
officials and opposition representatives agreed to a code of conduct
governing the upcoming campaign. In the so-called “Consensus of
Behavior” document, both sides pledged to observe democratic norms.
Prior to the 21 May incident, officials had sought to persuade
opposition leaders to postpone the demonstration until mid-June.
Opposition leaders dismissed the proposal, saying that such a
postponement would greatly reduce their ability to influence the
debate on possible amendments to the country’s election code.
Parliament is expected to take up the issue in early June.
In the aftermath of the 21 May incident, both sides’ commitment to
the code of conduct seems in doubt. Officials and opposition leaders
have traded accusations that the other side was the first to violate
the agreement. “The ink on the Consensus of Behavior agreement …
was hardly dry when the police wielded their truncheons [to break up]
a peaceful manifestation,” complained Fuad Mustafayev, the Popular
Front’s deputy chairman. Mustafayev maintained that the opposition
was determined to promote changes to the electoral code.
A spokesman for the governing Yeni Azerbaijan party, Husein Pashayev,
seemed equally determined not to give in to opposition pressure. “The
government of Azerbaijan is not that weak so that it should [alter]
its position just because of rally of some radical groups,” Pashayev
said.
“After the acts of violence performed by opposition in October of
2003 we had no confidence that they [the opposition activists] will
not destroy public order in the city,” Pashayev said. “The fact that
the opposition parties did not agree … to postpone their rally
until late June shows that they are keen to create trouble.”
Pashayev hinted ominously that international organizations played a
role in organizing the opposition rally. However, he declined to
identify any foreign entity under suspicion of assisting anti-Aliev
forces. Meanwhile, Mustafayev dismissed the notion that opposition
parties received assistance from foreign “donors.” At the same time,
he indicated that opposition leaders had contacts and shared
information with foreign organizations, noting that all such
interaction was driven by a common interest in “freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly and fair elections, which are the basis of any
democracy.”
In addition to the U.S. embassy statement on the 21 May clash, the
European Union and the OSCE office in Baku also criticized the
behavior of Baku police. Andreas Herkel, the co-raporteur of the
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe, said the “practice of banning mass actions must be
abolished.”
The U.S. and EU commitment to democratic reforms is sure to be put to
the test in Azerbaijan in the coming months. The Azeri opposition
appears determined to push the government on the election issue.
Aliev administration officials seem to view the opposition activists
more as rabble rousers than democracy advocates. The stage is thus
set for fresh, and potentially more violent confrontation as the
election campaign progresses.
Some political analysts in Baku believe the government is committed
to retaining power at any cost, describing as “just words” the Aliev
administration’s rhetoric on the need for free elections. “The
government possesses the tools to ban demonstrations, and change
election statistics,” said Rasim Musabekov, a skeptical political
analyst.
There is a good chance that the Azeri government’s behavior in the
coming months could force the Bush administration, along with
European governments, to choose between the desire for stability and
a smooth launch for BTC, and the desire to promote democratic
reforms.