Author: Vorskanian Yeghisabet

DUMA PREPARING FOR HEARINGS ON ABKHAZ, SOUTH OSSETIAN, TRANSDNIESTRIAN INDEPENDENCE

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
February 26, 2008
Russia

It is expected that the Russian State Duma will hold parliamentary
hearings on the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Transdniestria.

"The Duma committee for CIS affairs and compatriots asked the Council
of the State Duma to hold parliamentary hearings on the settlement of
ethnic conflicts in the post-Soviet territories and the recognition
of Abkhaz, South Ossetia and Transdniestrian independence on March
13," first deputy head of this Duma committee, CIS Studies Institute
Director Konstantin Zatulin told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

"The State Duma Council should look into this motion on March 4,"
the MP said.

It is planned that speakers of the Abkhaz, South Ossetian,
Transdniestrian and Nagorno-Karabakh parliaments, as well as
representatives of Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan and Armenian will be
invited for the hearings, Zatulin said.

"Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdniestria asked Russia to recognize
their independence before the recent events in Kosovo," the MP said.

Speaking about the recognition of independence of these breakaway
republics, the MP said, "We should start the process of recognizing
the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

Meanwhile, head of the Duma committee for CIS affairs and compatriots
Alexei Ostrovsky from the LDPR faction noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue is not expected to be looked into at the hearings.

"In this regard I do not understand concerns of the Azeri Foreign
Ministry, which stated last week that is going to take measures over
the issue," Ostrovsky told Interfax-AVN.

MARTIN BERBERIANA AND RUSLAN BASIEV BECOME PRIZE WINNERS IN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT OF FREE STYLE WRESTLING HELD IN KIEV

Noyan Tapan
Feb 27, 2008

KIEV, FENRUARY 27, NOYAN TAPAN. An International Tournament of Free
Style Wrestling was held in Kiev on February 22-24. There were 9
sportsmen from Armenia among the delegates of 34 countries. Among the
Armenian sportsmen Martin Berberian (60 kg) took second, and Ruslan
Basiev (heavy weight) third place.

The team of Armenia will hold a teaching and training gathering in
Tsaghkadzor on March 1-12, after which they will take part in the
championship of Europe to start on April 1 in the city of Tampere
of Finland.

The champions will also receive passes for the olympic games.

FURNITURE AND CAR FOR CLINIC IN KASHATAGH

KarabakhOpen
28-02-2008 15:51:16

New furniture will be provided to the dental clinic in Berdzor. For
this purpose 1 million 397 thousand drams will be allocated from
the reserve of the state budget. The decision was affirmed by the
government on February 26.

By another decision, two GAZ 32214-432 cars will be provided to the
Ambulance Station and an UAZ 396294-016 car will be provided to the
medical station of Kashatagh.

KIRK KERKORYAN CONGRATULATES SERGE SARGSSYAN

ARKA
Feb 25, 2008

YEREVAN, February 25. /ARKA/. American-Armenian businessman Kirk
Kerkoryan congratulated Armenian Prime Minister Serge Sargssyan on
victory in the presidential elections.

"Accept my warm wishes as the third president elect of Armenia. I
hope you will use the investments made and the jobs created so
far for Armenia’s economic development," Kerkoryan’s congratulation
message reads. The businessman wished Sargssyan strength and energy to
accomplish all his projects aimed at the improvement of the people’s
well-being.

"I wish you strong health and successes, and I wish peace and
prosperity to Armenia. I am looking forward to learn about positive
processes in Armenia during the next several years," the message reads.

Kerkoryan finances the Lincy foundation implementing a number of large
projects in Armenia. The first project implemented by the foundation
in 2001-2003 cost $150mln.

Currently, the second project of the Lincy foundation costing $60mln
is underway. $20mln-worth road construction, $20mlnm-worth street
repair in the capital and $20mln-worth school renovation are to be
carried out within the project.

Nine contenders were running for the February 19 presidential
elections.

According to the preliminary results of the Central Electoral
Commission, Prime Minister Serge Sargssyan, Chairman of the Republican
party of Armenia won the elections in the first round with 52.86%
votes.

MUSICIAN, AWAY FROM POLITICS!

Hayots Ashkhar
Tuesday 26 February 2008

"The Law on Diplomatic Service does not allow our diplomats to adopt a
public political attitude. Some of our diplomats decided to violate the
law. In the aftermath, they were to be dismissed from post," Foreign
Minister V. Oskanyan announced, in response to the question of Radio
"Liberty", regarding the fact that several diplomats had joined LTP.

"Their political views were known to all of us from the very first
day. They were either relatives of former senior officials or occupied
posts under the rule of the former authorities," V. Oskanyan mentioned.

Let’s add on our part that among the MFA employers who have joined
LTP, VARSENIK BAGHDASARYAN, Head of the International Organizations
Division, is the wife of the well-known figure Shahen Karamanoukyan,
ARAKEL SENERDJYAN, Parliamentarian of the European Department, is L.

Ter-Petrosyan’s nephew; as to ELEN PETEYAN, her father was the MFA
Business Manager during the tenure of LTP, and so on and so forth.

It rests with us to congratulate V. Oskanyan on the occasion of
"clearing" the Ministry. Although, we believe that such "sanitization"
should have been undertaken long ago.

LEADER OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ARMENIA CONGRATULATES SERZH SARGSYAN ON HIS VICTORY

arminfo
2008-02-25 18:57:00

ArmInfo. The leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia Aram Sargsyan
has congratulated Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan on his victory in
the past presidential election.

The press service of DPA reports Sargsyan to express hope that
Sargsyan’s experience will help him to carry out effective system
reforms in the country.

Gates of Vienna
February 25, 2008 Monday 1:18 PM EST

When did the United States become the Islamic Republic of America?

"The Repetition of History"
by TGK

We are very fortunate in our readers. They supply us with information
we wouldnt get easily in other forms. In this case, the essayist is
TGK and the subject is one he knows well: the roots of the current
crisis in Serbia and Kosovo.

But this post is much more than that. TGK opens the door to the long
history of the area, and the bloody borders created there by the
influx of Islam so long ago. He says:

I would like to express how much I like your website. I am a writer
coming from an Eastern Orthodox-Byzantine point of view and a Greek
American and would like to share such an assessment regarding the new
Islamist success in Kosovo over the past week.
And here is his provocative essay:

In November 1979, Iranian militants seized the American embassy and
took hostages for 444 days. Throughout the 1980s, the Iranians
launched a variety of attacks on American targets (as in Lebanon) and
sponsored terrorism. During the 1990s Al Qaeda attacked the United
States in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and bombed the American embassies in
Africa. On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda attacked the United States on
its own soil.

The reaction of the United States has been to destroy Yugoslavia.
Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al Zawahri, and Al Qaeda remain at large. Al
Qaeda in fact, according to Youssef Bodansky, terrorism expert and
biographer of Osama Bin Laden established bases in Kosovo and Bosnia.
In 2006, Muslims from Kosovo were implicated in the plot to bomb Fort
Dix in New Jersey. The reaction of the United States is to ignore the
very spirit of the alleged war on terror and to approve the
establishment of a terrorist Islamic State in the Balkans at the
expense of the Serbs who were allies of the United States in both
World Wars.

When did the United States become the Islamic Republic of America? My
own idea is that the United States drifted toward pro-Islamic
sympathies when it became involved with the Turkish nationalists
between 1919 and 1922. Today, many of the Western backers of
independence for Kosovo were also those States who armed and
supported Mustafa Kemal and the Turkish nationalists in Asia Minor.
Italy, France, and Great Britain have extended immediate recognition
to Kosovo.

In 1919, the Italians were the first European power to arm Mustafa
Kemal in Asia Minor. According to Marjorie Housepian Dobkin in her
brilliantly researched Smyrna 1922 the Destruction of a City the
Greek Army might have destroyed Mustafa Kemals Army had it not been
for the intervention of the Italians and the British who according to
Dobkin, rescued Kemal from destruction. The connection between the
betrayal of the Greek cause in Asia Minor, and the betrayal of the
Serbs today reflects the continuing evolution of Western policy which
is in effect pro-Islamic.

The Greek-Serbian alliance in the Balkan Wars drove the Ottoman
Empire out of the Balkans. These achievements are being
systematically undermined today. Kosovo was liberated during the
Balkan Wars, and now the change of borders there challenges the
outcome for Greek achievements as well. The Ottomans who were
defeated by the Greeks and the Serbs get the last laugh! The
Ottomanization of the Balkans is under way.

Turkeys recognition of Kosovo was to be expected. The Turks are
reestablishing links with their former Muslim subjects and expanding
their influence in the region at the expense of Greece and Serbia. In
1922, in the aftermath of the Genocide and mass slaughter of Greeks
at the City of Smyrna, the Greeks wanted to make a last stand in
Eastern Thrace, and pondered the possibility of entering
Constantinople. The Greeks were told in no uncertain terms by the
three European Powers that if they entered Constantinople, they would
not be permitted to remain there. Ultimately, over 1,000,000 Greek
Orthodox Christians were ethnically cleansed from Asia Minor with the
full cooperation of the Americans and the three European Powers.

During the 1990s, the Serbs were ethnically cleansed from Krajinna by
the Nazi armies of Croatia and from Bosnia. They have also been
ethnically cleansed from Kosovo since 1999 with their Churches and
Monasteries being destroyed. In both Asia Minor and Yugoslavia, the
Western powers were present when the Christians were slaughtered by
the Muslims. Today, NATO and the European Union talk of protecting
the rights of Serbs in Kosovo, and of maintaining peacekeepers even
while Serbs have been lynched, murdered, beaten, and terrorized into
leaving under the auspices of the peacekeepers.

During the fall of 2007, a resolution in the House of Representatives
was introduced which would have recognized the Armenian Genocide. The
Bush administration lobbied against it, and intimidated many of the
Democrats who supported it, into withdrawing their support. The
extermination of a Christian people by an Islamic government was not
recognized in order to placate the Islamic successors of the
Genocidal regime! One would think that Islamists were dictating
American policies.
– – – – – – – – –
Over two million Christians in the Sudan have been slaughtered by the
Islamists. The Coptic Christians of Egypt have suffered relentless
discrimination and persecution by Islamic extremists. Saudi Arabia
prohibits the practice of Christianity. While Monasteries in Kosovo
are being destroyed, the Saudis are subsidizing the construction of
Mosques in Kosovo, which fly the Saudi flag. In the struggle between
Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, the West is backing the
Muslims.

Then there are the benefits of European multiculturalism. The
European Constitution does not mention Christianity (a fact which
outraged the Orthodox Church of Greece). Various feminists in the
European Parliament have suggested that the Monastic Republic of
Mount Athos should be compelled to lift its prohibition on the entry
of women onto its hallowed grounds. This Orthodox Monastic community
established on the Holy Mountain of Athos which is dedicated to the
Theotokos (Mother of God) does not allow women in order to
specifically honor the Theotokos. The Orthodox Church of Greece has
bitterly resisted the attempts by the European Union to undermine
Greek traditions and to impose secularism on Greek society.

Contrast these radical anti-Christian stances with the recent
statement of the Archbishop of Canterbury who suggested that Sharia
law should be allowed to coexist with Civil laws in Great Britain. It
is not ironic that the capitals of Europe are being thoroughly
Islamicized, or that they are being held hostages (the riots in
France 2005) by extremists, considering the extent to which Eastern
Christians have been sacrificed throughout the twentieth century.
Gone are the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which saved Europe
>From the Ottoman Empire in 1539 and 1683.

A Rock Concert in Croatia recently received a great deal of publicity
because the band in question proceeded to give the Nazi salute. The
wars that were waged against the Serbs during the 1990s were waged by
a government of Nazi sympathizers on the one hand, and two Islamic
governments in league with Al Qaeda on the other. The 800,000 Serbs
that were slaughtered by the pro-Nazi Croats and Muslims during the
Second World War were entirely ignored by western media.

The Republic of Cyprus is another Christian country struggling to
survive. Over 500 Greek Orthodox Churches have been destroyed or
converted into Mosques. From Cyprus to Kosovo, Christianity is being
eradicated and the destroyers in both cases are being embraced by
Europe and the United States. The Greek Orthodox in Constantinople
are on the verge of extinction. The betrayal of the Greek Christians
of Constantinople since the 1940s represents another heartbreaking
tragedy in the history of the Orthodox Church during the twentieth
century.

Turkey today is notoriously anti-American. Islamic fundamentalism is
faring quite well despite the assurance of American and European
officials that Turkey is a secular, democratic country. Ordinary
Turks have become enraged by American policies toward Iraq and the
Palestinians out of Islamic solidarity, but Ankaras public relations
people have successfully convinced many Americans that
Turkish-American relations were fine until Nancy Pelosi introduced
the Armenian Genocide Resolution in Congress. When the Iraq war was
launched in 2003, Turks cursed the United States for attacking a
Muslim country long before the Armenian Genocide Resolution was
introduced.

Western sacrifices of Christians preceded the pro-Turkish policies
undertaken between 1919 and 1922. During the nineteenth century,
Tsarist Russia took up the cause of the Christians of the Ottoman
Empire. In 1853, Great Britain and France occupied Greece to prevent
Athens from aligning with Moscow in the Crimean War. In 1878, the
Russians had Constantinople in their sights, but the Ottomans were
protected by London and Paris.

During the 1870s, the slaughter of the Bulgarians by the Ottoman
Turks was widely publicized. As the nineteenth century concluded, the
Armenians, Assyrians, and Asia Minor Greeks came under extreme
persecution by the Ottomans. International conferences were convened
by the three great powers of Great Britain, France, and Russia. Only
the Russians were interested in protecting the Christians, as in
Kosovo today. The strategic interest in the Ottoman Empire by London
and Paris prevented the Russians from interfering.

This essay is a response to the events being undertaken in Kosovo and
the Balkans today. It is extremely difficult to believe that in the
age of Al Qaeda, the Great Powers maintain an irrational hatred of
the Serbs and the Russians. The essay began by noting the various
terrorist attacks on the United States. The Serbs have done nothing
to the United States or the Europeans, and have found themselves
being mercilessly deprived of their ancestral homelands and holy
places.

The Western governments have chosen to restore the heritage of the
Ottoman Empire in the Balkans. Several years ago, then Assistant
Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz praised Turkey for its treatment
of minorities! In 1204, the Knights of the Fourth Crusade destroyed
Constantinople and opened the door for the Ottomans. What the
Crusaders did physically to the Christian East, the Western powers
are doing intellectually by suppressing and rewriting the history of
the Christian East.

During the Seventh Century, the Emperor Constantine V of
Constantinople successfully defended his Capital from the onslaught
of Muslim invaders. He successfully defended the West as well as his
own Empire. During the tenth century, Emperor Nikephoras Phokas took
the offensive against the Arabs after three hundred and thirty years
of being on the defensive and liberated most of Syria! In 1453,
Emperor Constantinos Palaiologos died in battle defending his City
against the Ottomans.

How tragic that the legacy of Christian Byzantium whose Emperors took
up the fight against the forerunners of Osama Bin Laden has been cast
aside as the model for the Balkans in favor of the Ottoman Turks who
were the perpetrators of terrorism and Genocide. This is exactly what
the sacrifice of Orthodox Serbia represents. In our own day, the
Russians again represent the aspirations of Orthodox Christians, and
it is to be hoped they will help save Kosovo and the Balkans.

Agence France Presse — English
February 25, 2008 Monday 1:51 PM GMT

Mayor demands end to Armenia election protests: statement

YEREVAN, Feb 25 2008

Officials in the Armenian capital Yerevan on Monday ordered an end to
a six-day demonstration against alleged rigging of a presidential
election.

The mayor’s office issued a statement calling on demonstrators to
"end the holding of unauthorised protests" which had become an
"unacceptable situation."

The statement ordered protestors "not to obstruct the free movement
of traffic and not to prevent citizens from free movement… and to
restore normal life in the capital."

Several thousand opposition supporters continued to gather Monday on
Freedom Square outside Yerevan’s opera house demanding the result of
the February 19 presidential election be overturned.

Much larger crowds numbering 20,000 to 30,000 supporters of
opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian had
rallied for the previous five days. Official results from the
election gave victory to Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian.

Slovak Foreign Minister Jan Kubis, representing the Council of
Europe, told journalists after meeting Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian in Yerevan, that "violence is something that must be
avoided at all costs."

"I hope very much there will be no escalation," he said.

Kubis said he was "very glad there is a place for this kind of
manifestation" and praised the government for "acting in a
responsible way, with restraint."

The Strasbourg-based Council of Europe has 47 member states and
upholds democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The Messenger, Georgia
Feb. 23, 2008

Interview: Giorgi Targamadze

By Messenger Staff
Friday, February 22
Has Giorgi Targamadze come full circle?

Once an MP and parliamentary leader for exiled Adjaran dictator Aslan
Abashidze’s party, Targamadze joined Badri Patarkatsishvili’s Imedi
TV in 2003. As host of the popular `Droeba’ program, Targamadze was
one of the most well-known faces on television, garnering praise and
respect for his reporting.

When Imedi TV’s studios were raided by special forces on November 7
as riot police battled anti-government protestors, it was Targamadze
who rushed to the anchor’s desk to tell viewers the channel being
forced off-air.

As other prominent journalists left, he stayed with the network. But
when the government released secretly recorded tapes seeming to
implicate Patarkatsishvili in plotting a violent coup, Imedi TV staff
went on strike until the station’s founder sold his shares.
Targamadze quit the station in January.

A month later, flanked by ex-colleagues and young men in traditional
Georgian dress, he announced his new opposition political party, the
Christian Democratic Party.

Calling his party a `patriotic and democratic alternative’ which
would `defend national identity and help preserve ethnic and cultural
uniqueness,’ Targamadze said the Patriarch himself would bless the
party’s emblems.

Later, he would emphasize that his party is political, not religious.

The Messenger interviewed Targamadze in his new party headquarters,
an expansive Vake home converted into office space. It was February
13, and the country was just learning that Badri Patarkatsishvili had
died. Targamadze, somber but composed, spoke about the loss of his
former boss, the divide between politics and religion and the need
for a Georgian middle class.

How will the death of Badri Patarkatsishvili change the situation in
Georgia?

I think this tragic incident has an important effect on political
developments in the country. The government’s traditional method was
to find a scapegoat, a main opposition force, like Igor Giorgadze,
[Aslan] Abashidze and Badri Patarkatsishvili. His death will bring
serious change to the government’s plans. [Before] the government
could blame any political or media activity against the government on
Patarkatsishvili.

Will Patarkatsishvili’s death affect your party and your personal
political plans?

First of all, it’s a big personal loss for me, because I have known
him for the last four years and I think he was an extremely kind
person who did a lot for Georgia.

As for a direct influence on our party, there is no reason for
changes in our party’s work, because he was not involved in the
foundation of our party.

We had a close partnership while I was working in Imedi TV. He was
the founder of our TV station, and during these four and a half years
he supported our independence, as independent journalists. Imedi TV
was the island of TV democracy in Georgia.

He contributed a lot to the democratization of this country. He was
the only person who created balance.

Fortunately, at this stage the opposition has strengthened, as well
as our party. There is a basis for thinking in the parliamentary
elections will be competitive.

When you left Imedi in January, you said, `It’s not clear for me why
the owner is inattentive toward the problems at Imedi.’ Why did
Patarkatsishvili’s attention move away from Imedi?

We should divide Imedi’s history between 7 November and after 7
November. Before 7 November, everything was absolutely right, there
was no mistake in the founder’s attitude towards Imedi and Imedi’s
work. But after November 7, we had to work in extreme situations,
including journalists and the founder.

So, evaluating his work and our work [by normal criteria] is wrong.

Imedi’s future is now in doubt. Are you still involved in
negotiations over Imedi?

No, I have less information then I had before, but as I know
negotiations between News Corporation and Imedi’s founder, Mr. Badri
Patarkatsishvili continued [until his death]. As I know, a concrete
agreement was not signed

The future of Imedi is even more unclear now than it was before.

Did you request that the Patriarch bless your party’s emblems?

When a Christian starts a new business, it’s important to receive a
blessing from a church, especially starting such an important thing
[as a political party].

No other parties did this.

This is not my problem [laughs]. I’m a Christian Democrat, and I
think it’s absolutely normal and understandable when a political
movement, which has political ideas of the Christian Democratic
political philosophy, should try to be very close with the Georgian
Orthodox Church.

…[The Patriarch’s blessing] is very important for us, but it’s a
political neutral event, because our Patriarch is not an opposition
leader or the government leader. He is the leader of Georgian
Christian Orthodox Church. For him, all of us who are involved in
different political movements and political parties are absolutely
equal.

So, you’re not the Patriarch’s man?

If it means I’m the Patriarch’s man as a political activist, no…
But as man for whom the Patriarch’s words are very important, you can
say I’m his man.

The Georgian Orthodox Church…should not be something for speculation.
[The Christian Democratic Party] is a political movement in the
European Christian Democratic political tradition, and of course for
us the Church and all other traditional institutes in our society are
very important. But at the same time, it’s very important to separate
the Church’s function in the society and the state’s function.

Many voters, seeing that the Patriarch blessed your party’s emblems,
thought this was an implicit endorsement. You’re telling me this is
not true?

For me and for my movement, the Patriarch’s blessing is very
important. But it doesn’t mean this blessing is a ticket [to success]
in Georgian politics.

…I think the Georgian Patriarch’s position towards Georgian policy is
absolutely correct and right. The last six months demonstrated well
how important the Georgian Church and Patriarch’s position is in our
nation’s life. We had a very serious and very tense crisis in the
country, and always [the Patriarch] played a crucial role in defusing
the situation.

So why does the country need your party?

For the last four years, the Georgian government has had a policy
which tries to demolish and weaken all traditional and democratic
institutions in our society: Church, court, elections, media.

I think our country needs political movements for whom tradition and
democratic institutions are the most important issue… [The Christian
tradition is] very old and the basis for Georgian national identity.

At the same time, the democratic tradition is a new fruit for
Georgians – but if we say that democracy is based on two important
issues, freedom and responsibility, both stem from Christian belief.

[The Christian Democratic Party] is not a religious movement; this is
a political movement with a very clear political philosophy. And this
is a philosophy which respects national minorities and other
religious confessions.

What minorities are in your party?

A lot of Muslims. Gregorian Christians, Armenians. Azerbaijanis.

In describing your party at its public presentation, you used the
phrase `moral majority.’ Are you taking cues from Jerry Falwell’s
Moral Majority in the US?

I know about this, but when I mentioned this phrase I meant that
Georgian society was always based on traditional values. In politics
and social life, the moral aspect of a person was very important for
us in this country.

A demoralization during the last few years in Georgia has seriously
affected the political, economic and social spheres. Improving the
moral face of society is an important target, not only for Christian
Democratic movements in Georgia but around the world.

How do you do that? What policies make society more moral?

First of all, the attitude of state officials and political leaders
towards citizens and their country, which will be fully cleansed of
cynicism and irresponsible attitudes towards the people.

Every person’s rights are very important for us: basic human rights,
and citizens’ protection from state pressure.

…Without a middle class, Georgian democracy won’t have serious
prospects for development. We mostly reflect the interests of the
Georgian middle class… I think Georgian businesses should start
investments in Georgian policy, in the political area, to create a
political class with more qualification.

Georgian business should invest in Georgian politics?

Yes, transparently invest in Georgian policy, in Georgian political
movements, political parties [in line with their interests].

It sounds like you’re having trouble finding business supporters.

Not only I do, other political parties have serious problems with
financial support from Georgian business. It happens not because
businesses do not want to [contribute], but because they are
threatened.

How are you paying for your campaign?

Our supporters from business helped us [start operations], but they
refrain from publicizing themselves.

They think supporting a new Georgian political class is very
pragmatic and rational for them… For business, the most important
thing is the sustainable development of society, and stability in the
country. Without a middle class, without a serious strong opposition,
without an independent court, their business stability is illusory.

If you win majority in parliament, what’s the first law you pass? How
do you go about building a middle class?

There would political actions bringing order to the country. But at
the same time, decentralization of power in Georgia. In Georgia,
everything happens in two or three rooms in central Tbilisi.

The Christian Democratic political philosophy [includes principles]
where power is decentralized, and the people and their
representatives make decisions at the local level, which is more
effective in solving problems.

We will create a very strong legal space to defend private property
rights and basic human rights. At the same time, we will [take] very
strong steps towards [independence of the judiciary]. It must become
a real independent branch in the Georgian power system.

How?

We will support bringing new people to the court system, specifically
new leadership for the courts, who will be free from any political
influence, and aren’t associated with the current government.

It’s a small country. How do you find them?

Even in such a small society as ours, we have enough people who have
the political will to do their job.

I’m from an independent profession. I was independent journalist, and
I know if you want, if you have the will, you can always achieve
professional targets.

…Also very important for us is an independent media.

Do you support the current government’s foreign policy of NATO
integration and Western orientation?

I think for Georgian policy, radicalism is very dangerous. Any
radical changes in foreign policy are very dangerous for the
country’s development.

Let’s talk about your political viability. In the government’s
incriminating tape of former Patarkatsishvili campaign chief Valeri
Gelbakhiani, your name was mentioned as a possible accomplice in a
coup plot. You said you had no connection with this, but do you think
your party is tainted from birth by these allegations?

You know, there was always interest towards me, even from my
resignation from the Georgian parliament four and a half years ago.
[There was always] political interest toward me. And there was a lot
of speculation about my future, my political future. This was often
discussed in political circles.

So they were just speculating?

Yes.

I’ll say frankly that I made my decision to start political
activity…on [the evening of] 7 November, when spetsnaz entered my
studio and when I saw reality in the face of six machineguns.

It was comfortable for me to work in journalism… But every
independent profession will always be under very serious risks. These
are not personal risks. We made investigations and special stories
about a lot of problems in Georgia, especially against government
officials, when no one in Georgia was talking about this. But I’m
speaking about professional risks and I think my friends and I should
do everything to create more guarantees for the functioning of a
democratic system.

If other opposition parties agree with you, will you join them in a
bloc?

We are open for partnership with our opposition colleagues… Our
political partners may be the New Rights, Conservatives,
Traditionalists.

Are you in talks with them?

I have good personal relations with their leaders…we have a lot in
common, similar positions about Georgian politics, economy. For us,
these negotiations and relations will be easy.

Do you plan to return to journalism?

I never say never. I like journalism very much; when I sleep, I dream
about my studio and TV station.

When there will be a sustainable democratic system in Georgia, when
all of the people from independent professions – journalists,
lawyers – will do their job decently and effectively, I will start
thinking about my comeback to my first profession.

Questions and answers have been edited for length and clarity.

SMBAT AIVAZIAN AND PERSONS ACCOMPANYING HIM HAD WEAPONS WITH THEM, POLICE STATES

Noyan Tapan
Feb 24, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA Police Main Department for
Fight against Organized Crime received an alarm call from an unknown
citizen at 11 a.m. on February 24 about armed persons sitting in a
black Lexus (number plate 03 SU 003) at the crossroads of Terian and
Koryun Streets in Yerevan.

According to a press release of the RA police, upon arriving at
the scene, the operative group detained the passengers of the car:
Smbat Aivazian, 49, former Armenian minister of state revenues,
Artak Sisakian, 34, previously convicted under Article 232 of
the old Criminal Code of the RA, and Vardan Kirakosian, 46. The
policemen searched them and found a cudgel with a black handle and a
nickel-plated spring (S. Aivazian carried it with him) and a Makarov 9
mm-calibre pistol with a charger and seven 9-mm cartridges in the car.

The detained persons and the seized items were sent for
examination. The details are being revealed. The Main Department for
Fight against Organized Crime is conducting an investigation.