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06/01/2006
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1) Deputy FM Discusses Secret Talks with Turkey
2) Armenian Parliament Elects Torosian as New Speaker
3) Grassroots Pressure Building for Congressional Hearings on Evans Firing
4) Turkey Cracks ‘Plot’ to Kill PM

1) Deputy FM Discusses Secret Talks with Turkey

TSAKHKADZOR (Armenpress)Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Gegham
Gharibjanian, responded Thursday to statements made by the Turkish Foreign
Affairs Ministry about secret meetings conducted between Armenian and Turkish
diplomats on improving relations between the two countries.
According to the Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Namik Tan, there
have been three meetings between representatives of the Armenian Foreign
Affairs Ministry and “preparations are being made for the organization of
further meetings.”
Referring to this statement Gharibjanian said that as of now, the Armenian
Foreign Affairs Minister and his aides are not dealing with such issues.
However, they are closely following these processes.
“Last year meetings were conducted, but during this year no meeting took
place,” said the deputy minister.
The Turkish press reported that the Turkish side proposed the
establishment of
two committees to simultaneously hold talks on political issues and the
Armenian genocide, which Armenia rejected.
“We have suggestions and everybody knows about them, including Turkey: they
are–opening borders between Armenia and Turkey without pre-conditions,
establishing diplomatic relations, and, of course, recognizing the Armenian
genocide,” Gharibjanian said.

2) Armenian Parliament Elects Torosian as New Speaker

YEREVAN (RFE/RL/Armenpress)–Armenia’s Parliament elected Tigran Torosian as
its new speaker on Thursday, replacing Artur Baghdasarian after his Orinats
Yerkir party withdrew from the ruling coalition.
The National Assembly voted for him by 94 to 1, with a small number of
opposition members boycotting the vote.
Torosian, 50, is a senior member of Markarian’s Republican Party (HHK), which
has the largest faction in the parliament and is the biggest of the three
parties represented in Armenia’s Government. An engineer by training, he
served
as parliament vice-speaker until now.
Baghdasarian said before the secret ballot that he and eight other lawmakers
remaining in the Orinats Yerkir faction will unanimously vote for Torosian,
praising his former deputy as “one of the few professionals in our
parliament.”

“I think that his personal and professional qualities make him fit to run the
National Assembly,” said the ex-speaker.
Opposition deputies who took part in a debate preceding the vote also
commended those qualities, but claimed that Torosian will not make any
difference in the Armenian political stage in his new capacity. They dismissed
the parliament as a rubber stamp body that has little impact on government
policies.
“We are faced with very difficult problems and serious challenges,” Torosian
said in his acceptance speech. “I am sure that those of our colleagues who did
not take part in the election agree that we are facing such challenges,” he
added, referring to the opposition minority that boycotted the vote.
In his speech, the new speaker said one of the key challenges facing Armenia
is to holding “democratic elections” next year and in 2008. He said Armenia is
facing a serious challenge now of proving that it is moving in the right
direction
“The 2007 parliamentary elections will be of paramount significance to us in
order to dissipate the international community’s apprehensions that we are no
longer able to ensure free and democratic polls. We have no alternatives, but
fair elections, a key factor to improve our life,” he said.
He said that Armenian authorities have to revise the country’s legislation to
bring it in line with constitutional amendments adopted in last November’s
referendum. Torosian also pointed out the necessity of shaping a proper
political climate in Parliament to win back the respect of citizens.

3) Grassroots Pressure Building for Congressional Hearings on Evans Firing

WASHINGTON, DC–Tens of thousands of Armenians–in the United States and
Armenia–have voiced their outrage over the Administration’s firing of US
Ambassador to Armenia John Marshall Evans, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).
In Armenia, tens of thousands of Armenians took part in the “Yellow Ribbon
Campaign” to protest the Evans firing and, more broadly, to voice
opposition to
a number of recent instances in which foreign diplomats stationed in Armenia
have denied the Armenian genocide. The campaign, which took place at the
Dzidzernagapert Memorial to the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan, started on April
24 with countless thousands of individual Armenians each tying a single yellow
ribbons on 100-yard lengths of rope stretched along the walking path
leading to
the Genocide Monument.
In the United States, Armenian American activists have called for
Congressional hearings into the Government of Turkey’s role in dismissal of
this highly-respected 35 year Foreign Service veteran over his honest and
accurate description of the Armenian genocide as a clear case of genocide.
The
ANCA WebFax system–on the web at been used by activists
from
throughout the United States–including a large number from state and
districts
represented by Members of committees with oversight responsibility of the
State
Department.
In their WebFaxes, these concerned citizens have stressed that: “Ambassador
Evans is, in effect, being punished for honoring his President’s pledge to
properly recognize the Armenian genocide–a promise that George W. Bush
made on
the campaign trail in February of 2000 but abandoned once in the White House.
Ambassador Evans should be praised, not dismissed, for rejecting “gag-rules”
imposed by the Turkish Government on the discussion of the Armenian
genocide by
America’s leaders at home and diplomats abroad.”
In demanding hearings on the Evans firing, the WebFaxers note that these
inquiries should “include testimony by all the key figures involved, including
the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen
Hadley. Among the issues that should be explored is the role of the Turkish
Government in exporting its suppression of free speech to the United States
and
the implications for the future of the Foreign Service if a senior American
diplomat’s career has been ended simply for acknowledging the historical
record
on one of the world’s greatest human rights tragedies.”
Commenting on the lack of openness by the Administration in dealing with this
matter, the WebFax letters note that, “the Administration has lacked the
courage to speak honestly–either to Congress or the American people–about
its
reasons for firing Ambassador Evans. Hopefully, these hearings will provide
the transparency that we, as citizens, have the right to expect of our
government.”
The firing of Ambassador Evans was the result of his February 2005 statements
at Armenian American community functions characterizing the Armenian genocide
as a genocide. Following his statements, Ambassador Evans was forced to issue
a statement clarifying that his references to the Armenian genocide were his
personal views and did not represent a change in US policy. He subsequently
issued a correction to this statement, replacing a reference to the genocide
with the word “tragedy.”
The American Foreign Service Association, which had planned to honor
Ambassador Evans with the “Christian A. Herter Award,” recognizing creative
thinking and intellectual courage within the Foreign Service, reportedly
rescinded the award following pressure from the State Department a few days
before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan traveled to Washington, DC
to meet with President Bush.
Congressional Response:
On the eve of the announcement of Evans’ replacement, sixty Members of
Congress, led by Representative Ed Markey (D-MA), sent a letter to
Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice asking for clarification of the reasons behind
Ambassador Evans’ recall. Earlier, Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chair
Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Representative
Grace Napolitano (D-CA) had each officially called on Secretary Rice for a
clarification of the State Department’s position on this issue. They have yet
to receive any response to their inquiries.
Media Response:
The Los Angeles Times, in a strongly worded March 22 editorial, made direct
reference to Ambassador Evans’ impending dismissal, calling on the Turkish
Government and US State Department to end their policies of Armenian genocide
denial.
On March 24, the Fresno Bee, published a similarly strong editorial
condemning
Evans’ firing. The Washington Times, on May 26, ran a story about the
“geopolitical firestorm” created by Evans’ remarks.
Armenian Youth Response:
At the Armenian Youth Federation Junior Educational Seminar, held in Western
Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend, over 400 young Armenian Americans
designed, produced, and signed original petitions protesting the
Administration’s decision to fire Ambassador Evans for telling the truth about
the Armenian genocide.

4) Turkey Cracks ‘Plot’ to Kill PM

(BBC News)–Anti-terror police in Turkey are reported to have foiled a plot to
kill Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkish newspapers say nine people, including three soldiers, have been
detained in the capital, Ankara.
Police are said to have found grenades, explosives, a timer, and a sketch
showing Erdogan’s route home.
There has been no official comment. Erdogan, whose party has Islamic roots,
criticized last month the army’s chief for encouraging popular protests.
He attacked General Hilmi Ozkok for supporting demonstrations against
Islamist
militancy after a judge was murdered by a suspected Islamist gunman.
The army sees itself as the guardian of secularism in predominantly Muslim
Turkey.
The Hurriyet and Sabah newspapers suggested Cuneyd Zapsu, one of Erdogan’s
advisers, was also the target of a possible attack.
There has been no confirmation from the police, but the semi-official
Anatolia
news agency said the suspects were “allegedly planning an attack against a
politician.”

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CIS DEFENSE MINISTERS TO DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION IN BAKU

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 31 2006

BAKU, May 31 (RIA Novosti) – Defense ministers from the Commonwealth
of Independent States will discuss the scope of future military
cooperation at a meeting Wednesday in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

The 21 items on the meeting’s agenda include implementation of the
Concept for CIS military cooperation to 2010, the activities of CIS
Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the conflict zone in the breakaway
Georgian region of Abkhazia, and a joint action plan for operative
training in the CIS armed forces for 2007.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov arrived in Baku on May 30 and
met with his Ukrainian counterpart Anatoliy Hrytsenko. A source in
the Russian delegation said Russia had prepared a draft agreement on
joint inspection of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet bases in Ukraine that
will be signed during the meeting.

The CIS, a loose association of former Soviet republics, comprises
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova,
Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued
permanent membership on August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member.

The Armenian delegation has refused to attend the meeting in Baku,
citing security reasons in an ongoing dispute with Azerbaijan over
Nagorny-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that has a largely Armenian
population.

ARMENIANS PROTEST WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Military Newswire
May 30, 2006 Tuesday 4:49 PM MSK

Several hundred people have held a protest in Yerevan opposing the
withdrawal of Russian home to a significant number of Armenians,
an Interfax correspondent reports.

“History has shown that when Russians leave, Armenians soon follow
them,” Aram Karapetian, leader of the New Times party, which organized
the rally, said.

“Radical changes will happen after Russian troops pull out of the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region. In particular, the socio-political situation
will change as a result of the resettlement of Meskhetian Turks, which
will result in clashes with the Armenians who live in the region,”
he said.

After the Russian troops withdraw, serious destabilizing factors will
emerge in the region, he said.

Armenia and Georgia are planning to sign a border demarcation treaty
and “we believe that the issue of Samtskhe-Javakheti should be fully
settled before the document is signed,” he said.

SERGEY IVANOV: RUSSIA STANDS FOR POLITICAL RESOLUTION OF KARABAKH PROBLEM

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.05.2006 13:01 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia stands for the political resolution of the
Nagorno Karabakh problem, Russian Vice-Premier, Defense Minister Sergey
Ivanov said Wednesday in Baku. “We are for peaceful and political
settlement of the conflict. Russia along with the United States and
France is the Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno Karabakh,”
he said at a news conference upon completion of the sitting of the
CIS Council of Ministers. In his words, the OSCE Minsk Group is the
right way towards the problem resolution.

“Any settlement format imposed from outside in not only
counter-productive but also dangerous,” the Russian Defense Minister
stated, reported Interfax.

“BLACK BOXES” OF CRASHED A-320 AIRBUS IN SATISFACTORY CONDITION

Moscow, May 29. ArmInfo. The “black boxes” of the crashed –320 airbus
are in satisfactory condition. According to “Ekho Moskvi” Radio
Station, the “black boxes” are opened by the specialists of the
Inter-state Aviation Committee.

ITAR-TASS informed that the testimonies from the “black boxes” will be
decoded in a month.

On May 27, the “black boxes” were taken to Paris from Moscow for the
specialists to open them. After that, the chips from the “black boxes”
will be taken to Moscow for decoding.

Armenian soldier killed in cease-fire breach – agency

Mediamax news agency
29 May 06

Yerevan, 29 May: An Armenian serviceman was killed when the Armenian
positions in the northeastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border near Noyemberyan came under fire.

The press secretary of the Armenian Defence Ministry, Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, told Mediamax that the Azerbaijani side breached the
cease-fire at 2130 [local time, 1630 gmt] on 27 May, firing on the
front-line positions of an Armenian military unit in Noyemberyan.

As a result of the fire, 21-year-old senior sergeant Levon Adamyan was
wounded in the chest and died when he was being rushed to hospital in
Noyemberyan.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway

The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief

========================================== ======
24 May 2006
BELARUS: CASE AGAINST MINSK CHURCH STALLED
_id=788
The court case brought by Belarusian authorities to force the sale of the
charismatic New Life church’s worship building – a disused cowshed – has
been halted, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Judge Aleksandr Karamyshev
“promised to investigate our situation after he saw that the city
authorities’ arguments just don’t stand up,” New Life church administrator
Vasily Yurevich told Forum 18. “We feel that people’s prayers are making a
difference – we have reached a turning-point.” During the court hearing,
Aleksei Vaga of Minsk’s Architecture Committee insisted under oath that
city religious affairs officials have no influence over his committee. But
in a letter which Forum 18 has a copy of, the Architecture Committee
withdraws permission for the church to change the designated usage of its
building, “taking into account a 24 November 2003 written conclusion from
the Religious Affairs Department.” In a separate development, New Life is
also “very pleased” about the acceptance of their appeal against a refusal
to review a decision upholding curtailment of the church’s land rights. No
date has yet been set for this hearing.

26 May 2006
BELARUS: “DIVINE FREEDOM IS GIVEN BY GOD, BUT STATE FREEDOM YOU HAVE TO
PAY FOR”
=789
In what seems to be an increasing trend, a Belarusian Pentecostal pastor
has been fined for leading worship without state sanction. “Divine freedom
is given to us by God,” Pastor Ilya Radkevich remarked to Forum 18 News
Service, “but state freedom you have to pay for.” Natalya Lutsenko, head
of the administrative commission which fined Pastor Radkevich, totally
refused to say why an individual had been punished for holding a peaceful
religious service. Radkevich’s fine is the latest to be imposed on some
Baptist, Pentecostal and independent Orthodox groups, under a legal
provision punishing violation of legislation on religion or the foundation
and leadership of an unregistered religious congregation. The 2002 Religion
Law bans unregistered religious activity, thus violating Belarus’
international human rights commitments. A regional assistant bishop of a
separate registered Pentecostal Union has told Forum 18 that the number of
fines for worship by groups in private homes – which is illegal without
state sanction even for registered communities – would be much greater if
such worship did not take place discreetly.

23 May 2006
SERBIA: NO CHANGES TO CONTROVERSIAL RELIGION LAW
785
Despite Serbian President Boris Tadic requesting amendments to the new
Religion Law as it breaks the European Convention on Human Rights, and
strong criticism from the OSCE and Council of Europe, the Religion
Ministry “is not preparing any amendments and no-one has sent any
amendments to the Ministry,” it told Forum 18 News Service. Religion
Minister Milan Radulovic refused to comment on either the President’s
request, or the strong criticism of the Law. Sonja Biserko of the Helsinki
Committee for Human Rights told Forum 18 that “I believe that the pressure
of international organisations – including the OSCE, the Council of Europe
and the US Congress – is needed.” Vidan Hadzi-Vidanovic of the Belgrade
Centre for Human Rights states that they will challenge the Law in the
Constitutional Court. But, “we will need help to ensure that an appeal to
the Constitutional Court does not end up in some file,” Zarko Djordjevic
of the Serbian Baptist Union told Forum 18.

23 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: DEMOLITION OF PLACES OF WORSHIP CONTINUES
le_id=786
In large-scale demolition projects in Turkmenistan, those expelled from
their home get no compensation and often nowhere to live. Amongst the
buildings demolished are religious communities’ places of worship. The
last surviving pre-revolutionary Armenian Apostolic church and a
family-owned Sunni mosque in the Caspian port of Turkmenbashi have been
destroyed, Forum 18 News Service has been told. Exiled human rights
activist Vyacheslav Mamedov told Forum 18 that the mosque “was used on
Muslim festivals and for family events like weddings, funerals and sadakas
[commemorations of the dead].” The former Armenian church “was a very
beautiful building,” Mamedov recalled. He told Forum 18 that there is
widespread anger and fear over the destruction of the town’s historic
centre. Amongst places of worship in Turkmenistan, known to Forum 18 to
have been demolished in the past, are mosques, an Adventist church, and a
Hare Krishna temple.

24 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: “WHAT WILL REGISTRATION GIVE US?”
=787
Despite making several registration applications, the Armenian Apostolic
Church community in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabad has still not been
given state registration, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Some religious
communities have considered registration – including Protestants, Catholics
and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – but have not yet applied. Protestant
congregations are sceptical about their chances of gaining registration.
Forum 18 has been told that during interrogations of ethnic Turkmen
Protestants, they are told to report everything that happens in their
churches to the authorities. “You have to do this if you’re registered,”
they are told. A Catholic parish has not applied for registration, as they
are not allowed to have a foreign priest leading the parish. Jehovah’s
Witnesses told Forum 18 that “there’s still the very important question:
what will registration give us? Others have got registration and it hasn’t
helped them.”
* See full article below. *

24 May 2006
TURKMENISTAN: “WHAT WILL REGISTRATION GIVE US?”

d=787
By Felix Corley, Editor, Forum 18 News Service <;

Back in February, the Armenian Apostolic Church community in
Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabad [Ashgabat] lodged an application for state
registration. “Although three months have gone by the Justice Ministry has
made no response,” an Armenian who preferred not to be identified told
Forum 18 News Service from Ashgabad on 22 May. “This is the third or
fourth application the community has lodged.”

No-one at the Registration Department of the Adalat (Fairness or Justice)
Ministry was available to explain to Forum 18 why the application by
Ashgabad’s Armenian community has not been processed. Reached on 22 May,
Maysa Sariyeva, who is head of the International Legal Affairs and
Registration of Public and Religious Organisations Department, put the
phone down as soon as Forum 18 explained who was calling. Subsequent calls
went unanswered. Also not answering his telephone on 22 and 23 May was
Serdar Valiev, who reports to Sariyeva and has responsibility for
registering religious communities.

The Armenian ambassador, Aram Grigoryan, was out of the country on 22 May
and no-one at the Embassy was able to comment on the stalled registration
application from the Ashgabad Armenian community. Nor was anyone available
for comment at the Armenian Foreign Ministry in Yerevan on 22 May, or at
the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin near the
Armenian capital.

The registration application was lodged exactly one year after the
authorities destroyed the last surviving pre-revolutionary Armenian
Apostolic church in the country, in the Caspian port town of Turkmenbashi
[Türkmenbashy, formerly Krasnovodsk], on the orders of President
Saparmurat Niyazov. The authorities had previously refused to hand it back
to the local Armenian community for worship (see F18News 23 May 2006
< e_id=786>).

In the absence of any Armenian Apostolic church in Turkmenistan, Armenian
Christians who wished to worship have had to attend Russian Orthodox
churches (although the Armenian Church is of the Oriental, not the
Orthodox family of Churches). An estimated one sixth of parishioners at
Turkmenistan’s Russian Orthodox churches are ethnic Armenians.

Meanwhile, other religious communities which have been considering lodging
registration applications – including Protestant Christians, the Catholic
parish in Ashgabad and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – have not yet done so.

Forum 18 has learnt that several Protestant congregations are preparing
registration applications, but many are sceptical that the Adalat Ministry
will grant it. “All the churches wanting to get registration are made up of
ethnic Turkmens and it is not so easy,” one Protestant told Forum 18 on 22
May. “The authorities don’t like this.” The Protestant said that the
Protestant congregations the Adalat Ministry was forced to register under
international pressure from 2004 – including the Adventists, Baptists,
Pentecostals, Greater Grace, Light of the East and the Church of Christ –
were all made up of ethnic Russians. “When the persecution was at its
worst five or six years ago, ethnic Russian churches suffered, but Turkmen
believers suffered the worst.”

Even today, the Protestant added, every time officials interrogate any
ethnic Turkmen Protestants they tell them they should report everything
that happens in their churches to the authorities. “You have to do this if
you’re registered.”

The Jehovah’s Witnesses remain cautious. “Nothing has moved on the
registration issue,” one Jehovah’s Witness told Forum 18 on 22 May. “The
authorities show no real desire to register us. There’s still the very
important question: what will registration give us? Others have got
registration and it hasn’t helped them.” Contacts in 2005 with the Adalat
Ministry were “not very encouraging”, the source added. However, the
Jehovah’s Witnesses have not ruled out trying to get registration and are
still working on preparing the necessary documentation.

Ashgabad’s Catholic parish has not yet applied for registration, as it
remains unhappy with the terms of the Religion Law and has not been able
to meet Adalat Ministry officials to discuss the wording of the statute.
“We want to explain to the Ministry the absolute impossibility for the
parish to be led by a local citizen,” one Catholic familiar with the
process told Forum 18 on 23 May. “The authorities have to allow us to
build up a community and only with time will there perhaps be a local
priest who could lead the community. We want to discuss this point with
the Ministry and we hope they’ll understand it.”

The Catholic said the community is grateful that the Turkmen authorities
have allowed two Polish priests to serve the community. Mass is currently
held on Vatican diplomatic territory in the Nunciature in Ashgabad.
Eventually the Catholics would like to build a church to replace the one
destroyed by an earthquake in Soviet times. “But the church is the
community, not the building,” the Catholic stressed to Forum 18.

Other religious communities registered since May 2004 are the Baha’is, the
Hare Krishna community and the New Apostolic Church. Already registered
were about a hundred Sunni Muslim mosques. Shia Muslim mosques are
unofficially barred from registering. Most of the country’s 12 Russian
Orthodox churches were finally re-registered in November 2005, though the
Dashoguz [Dashhowuz] parish was stripped of registration in 2003 and has
been unable to regain it. The parish has also been prevented from
completing building work on its church (see F18News 3 April 2006
< e_id=754>).

Conditions that have been imposed on registered communities are highly
restrictive, including bans on meeting for worship, including in private
homes, and on printing and importing religious literature (see F18News 28
February 2005 < 521>), tight
financial restrictions and a ban on foreign citizens leading religious
communities (see F18News 13 May 2004
< e_id=320>). Many religious
believers in Turkmenistan strongly object to these conditions, describing
religious freedom in the country as “fictitious” (see F18News 16 February
2006 < 728>).

Among the problems communities have experienced since registering are that
nationally registered communities have had their regional communities’
registration denied by officials in police raids (see F18News 19 December
2005 < 707>); and unwritten
extra-legal obstacles have been placed in the way of unregistered
communities registering, or registered communities meeting (see F18 News 9
December 2005 < 702>).
Registered congregations are also pressured to subscribe to the cult of
personality around President Niyazov, and the Ruhnama, his alleged
“spiritual writings” (see F18News 1 March 2005
< e_id=522>).

Unregistered religious activity remains illegal (see F18Nerws 24 May 2004
< e_id=326>).

Although extreme harassment of religious communities has eased off
recently, official intimidation still occurs. This was described to Forum
18 by one Protestant as officials “inciting interreligious hatred” (see
eg. F18News 19 January 2006
< e_id=717>).

Among recent incidents, two teachers of the Koran in the village of Kongur
near the south-eastern town of Mary were summoned by the Ministry of State
Security (MSS) secret police early in the year and banned from teaching
the Koran, Jumadurdy Ovezov, a correspondent for Radio Free Europe’s
Turkmen Service told Forum 18 from Mary on 15 May.

Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 that in March, one of their members was
detained in Ashgabad while he was on his way to visit a fellow-believer. A
police officer hit him on the head several times, forced him to get into a
car and took him to the police station. There he was interrogated and had
his Bible and other religious books confiscated, but was released later
that day. In April, two female Jehovah’s Witnesses were coming out of a
block of flats in Turkmenbashi when they were detained by police. They
were taken by car to the local police station where they were searched and
interrogated. “Officers used the usual crude words during the
interrogation,” one Jehovah’s Witness told Forum 18. The two were forced
to write statements before being freed.

Protestants have complained that some are still being prevented from
travelling abroad for religious purposes, including a group who had visas
but were not handed their pre-paid tickets ahead of their planned
departure from Ashgabad airport in April. “We don’t know why this
happened,” one Protestant told Forum 18. “The travel company and all the
other people at the airport kept putting the blame on each other.”

Hare Krishna devotee Cheper Annaniyazova is still in jail, on a seven year
jail term believed within Turkmenistan to have been inspired by the MSS
secret police to intimidate the Hare Krishna community (see F18News 3
April 2006 < 754>). (END)

For a personal commentary by a Protestant within Turkmenistan, on the
fiction – despite government claims – of religious freedom in the country,
and how religious communities and the international community should
respond to this, see < 728>

For more background, see Forum 18’s Turkmenistan religious freedom survey
at < 672>

A printer-friendly map of Turkmenistan is available at
< s/atlas/index.html?Parent=asia&Rootmap=turkme& gt;
(END)

© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855
You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News

Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

ROBERT SIMMONS: “NATO HAS PLANS CONCERNING NK”

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
May 24 2006

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Vardan Askanyan, stated
that NATO “wants to be involved with many issues concerning Nagorni
Garabakh, and proposes to hold discussions in this respect”.

In turn, deputy General Secretary of NATO, Robert Simmons, being in
Yerevan, informs: “Our interest directly concerns military changes
and conflicts in the region. NATO has some active plans and concept
concerning Caucasus and conflicts in the given region”.

In near future Alliance is going to enlarge the mandate of coordinator
of the region in question. Armenian mass media focused on recent
statement of R. Simmons concerning the fact that regulation of “frozen”
conflicts is the main priorities of NATO.

Special representative of organization stresses that nothing has
changed in NATO policy directed to Nagorni Garabakh: conflict should
be regulated peacefully owing to mutual efforts of both countries.

Azerbaijani officials in turn inform about necessity to increase NATO
role in regulation of the mentioned conflict. It should be reminded
that the given issue was touched upon during Simmons’ recent visit
to Baku while presentation new priorities of Alliance.

One of the principal items NATO “Individual Partnership Action Plan”
(IPAP) intended for Azerbaijan and Armenia includes security, defense,
public policy, science and administration issues of the countries.

During press conference held in Yerevan, Simmons stated that Brussels
watches tension in Caucasus which impedes cooperation. Alliance is
not worried about Russian military forces in Armenia. Accordingly to
Simmons, NATO dose not interfere in this issue, moreover Armenia is
not against it.

As for possibility of placement of NATO peacemaking forces in Nagorni
Garabakh Simmons underlined that it is possible after long and detailed
discussions. Regardless of anything NATO hopes for peaceful end of
the above conflict.

It was also pointed out that if addressed, the structure may join
the events to provide peace agreement.

NATO official does not deny participation of organization he
represents in security of oil-pipe line Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan and
other energetic project being realized in the region.

Accordingly to him NATO forces will not be entrusted with security of
oil-pipe. Alliance may provide technical aid for countries in which
the line lies and organize training.

In his speech delivered in Yerevan, Simmons touched upon the issue
of Armenian-Turkish frontier. He informed that military alliance does
not want to interfere in affairs of these countries.

At the same time Simmons called relationship between Armenia and
NATO “very good”. NATO representative specially stressed that he is
satisfied with cooperation of Yerevan and Brussels in the field of
army improvement.

–Boundary_(ID_hNVwjeF7EPa71HkZ4DuCk A)–

NATO ENVOY PRAISES ARMENIA’S PROGRESS IN PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME

Arminfo
22 May 06

Yerevan, 22 May: Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan
met the special representative of the NATO secretary-general for the
South Caucasus, Robert Simmons, today, a source in the press service
of the Armenian Foreign Ministry has said.

Summing up the outcome of working meetings of representatives of NATO
and members of inter-agency commissions for the implementation of the
Individual Partnership Action Plan [IPAP] programme on 18-19 May,
Simmons highly appreciated the implementation of the plan and said
that Armenia had made considerable progress in the implementation of
the provisions of the programme within a short time.

Kirakosyan said that cooperation with NATO and Armenia’s participation
in the IPAP programme and the Partnership for Peace programme are an
important element of the country’s security system.

He also stressed the importance of expanding political dialogue with
NATO, carrying out relevant reforms in the defence system and devising
a national security conception.

The sides also stressed the importance of informing the wider
public of NATO’s purposes and policies, especially of cooperation
between Armenia and NATO. The deputy foreign minister touched on the
settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and the current status
of Armenian-Turkish relations.

[Passage omitted: Simmons took part in IPAP implementation commission
meeting]

ANDRANIK KHECHUMIAN HOLDER OF MEDAL OF IRAN’S PLAYWRIGHTS’ UNION
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily
24/05/2006

Director and translator Andranik Khechumian was recently awarded a
medal of Playwrights’ Union of Iran for his services as translator and
for fostering cultural ties between the two friendly nations. For his
commitment to the theatre Khechumian was awarded “Artavazd” prize of
Theatre Workers’ Union of Armenia in 2004.

Theatrical organizations of Iran celebrate the Theatre Day each April
during which they pay tribute to theatre workers who have contributed
to the sphere.

This time four theatre workers were honored: our compatriot,
famous theatre critics Hushang Hesami, Kholamhosein Saedi and
Nosrat Navedi. At the ceremony of presentation renowned Iranian
stage director and actor Behzad Farahani stated: “Alongside his
considerable contribution in other spheres, Andranik Khechumian has
translated numerous plays from Persian into Armenian and vice versa
thus familiarizing art critics and the publics on both sides with
each other’s theatres.”