Author: Yeghisabet Arthur

STUDENTS CONDUCT ACTION AGAINST VIOLATION OF ARMENIAN POPULATION’S
RIGHTS IN GEORGIA
YEREVAN, APRIL 14, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 14, the students of Yerevan
State Pedagogical University after Kh.Abovian conducted an action of
protest against violation of rights of Armenians living in Georgia.
The action was conduced near the Georgian Embassy in Armenia. During
the action the students applied to Georgian authorities emphasizing
that the action isn’t political. “We are against Georgian extreme
nationalistic forces,” student Arsen Balian declared and gave
assurance that the Georgian state authorities are also interested in
the preservation of the age-old friendship between Armenian and
Georgian peoples. Edgar Gelgelian, students’ representative, was
received by envoy Georgy Saganelidze. According to E.Gelgelian, the
envoy gave explanations on the questions raised by the students. Thus,
the envoy guaranteed that the places compactly populated by Armenians
won’t be populated by Turks. As for the reduction of the number of
lessons of Armenian language and history in Armenian schools of
Georgia, according to the envoy, this issue will be solved in favor of
the pupils’ knowledge. The envoy gave assurance that transport and
energy problems of Akhalkalak will be solved during the coming
months. As for the issue of destruction of Armenian churches, the
envoy said that only 1 case of destruction was fixed and those guilty
were punished. E.Gelgelian also said that Georgy Saganelidze expressed
gratitude to the students

Taz, die tageszeitung
13. April 2005
“Our roots were destroyed”
Turkey’s refusal to recognize the Armenian Genocide is fatal, says
Masis Bedros …
“Unsere Wurzeln wurden vernichtet”;
Die Weigerung der Türkei, den Völkermord an den Armeniern
anzuerkennen, sei fatal, meint der Geschäftsführer der Kölner
Armenischen Gemeinde, Masis Bedros. Dass auch der Bundestag den
Begriff scheut, “ist eine Unverschämtheit”
AUTOR: SUSANNE GANNOTT
Die Weigerung der Türkei, den Völkermord an den Armeniern
anzuerkennen, sei fatal, meint der Geschäftsführer der Kölner
Armenischen Gemeinde, Masis Bedros. Dass auch der Bundestag den
Begriff scheut, “ist eine Unverschämtheit”
taz: Herr Bedros, heute beginnt eine Veranstaltungsreihe im Kölner
Lew-Kopelew-Forum zum 90. Jahrestag des Völkermords an den Armeniern.
Weitere Termine folgen in den nächsten Wochen. Wie wichtig ist für
Sie der 24. April als armenischer Nationalfeiertag?
Masis Bedros: Dieser Tag ist einer der wichtigsten unserer
Geschichte, nicht nur wegen der Vergangenheit, sondern auch wegen
unserer alltäglichen Probleme heute – und den Folgen der Diaspora.
Die macht vieles schwierig. Wenn zum Beispiel jemand stirbt, müssen
wir mit der Beerdigung oft tagelang warten, bis die Familie aus aller
Welt angereist ist. Da muss der Onkel aus den USA kommen, die
Schwester aus der Türkei und so weiter. Bei Hochzeiten oder anderen
Feiern gilt dasselbe.
In Köln und Umgebung gibt es eine recht große armenische Gemeinde mit
5.000 Mitgliedern. Ist der Zusammenhalt untereinander stark?
Auf jeden Fall. Das Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl in Alltag und
Geschäftsleben ist sehr stark.
In Köln leben ja auch viele Türken. Gibt es da Kontakte – oder eher
nicht?
Das kommt darauf an, woher die Leute kommen. Die meisten Armenier
sind aus der Türkei. Sie kamen vor allem in den 60er Jahren als
Gastarbeiter und in den 80ern als Asylbewerber. Sie haben durchaus
Kontakte zu Türken. Da gibt es auch viele Ähnlichkeiten in der
Mentalität. Bei den Armeniern aus Iran, dem heutigen Armenien, Syrien
oder Irak ist das weniger der Fall.
Offiziell weigert sich die Türkei, den Völkermord an den Armeniern
anzuerkennen. Gibt es trotzdem im Persönlichen keinerlei
Berührungsängste?
Jein. Die türkischen Familien, die schon länger in Anatolien lebten,
wissen aus ihrer Familiengeschichte, was den Armeniern angetan wurde.
Zumal viele sagen, dass ihre Oma oder ihr Opa Armenier waren, die als
Waisenkinder aufgenommen und türkisch erzogen worden sind. Dann gibt
es aber auch Nachkommen türkischer Familien, die nach 1923 in
Anatolien angesiedelt wurden. Die kennen die Geschichte überhaupt
nicht. Die Familien wussten oft nur, dass die Häuser, in die sie
einzogen, früher von Armeniern bewohnt waren, aber nicht, unter
welchen Umständen man sie vertrieben hatte. Von offizieller Seite
oder wenn zwei Türken miteinander reden, heißt es sowieso: Nein, das
haben wir nie im Leben getan. Da muss die Ehre gewahrt bleiben.
Im Deutschen Bundestag wird jetzt ein Antrag zu Armenien diskutiert,
in dem das Wort “Völkermord” nicht vorkommt, weil man es sich mit der
Türkei nicht verscherzen will. Wie empfinden Sie das?
Das ist eine Unverschämtheit, was Deutschland sich hier leistet,
zumal es ja eine große Mitschuld Deutschlands gibt. Besonders
enttäuscht bin ich, weil der Holocaust an den Juden hier sehr gut
aufgearbeitet wurde. Gerade Deutschland könnte als guter Freund der
Türkei sagen: Hört mal, wir haben unsere Vergangenheit so
aufgearbeitet, es wäre gut, wenn ihr das auch tätet.
Warum ist die Anerkennung des Völkermords durch die Türkei für Sie so
wichtig?
Es geht hier nicht nur um 1,5 Millionen Opfer. Unsere gesamten
kulturellen Wurzeln wurden vernichtet. Hinzu kommt noch, dass wir in
der Türkei oft als Täter hingestellt werden. Die Geschichte wird so
hingestellt, als hätten wir es nicht anders verdient. Und die ganze
Kultur der Türkei wird entarmenisiert. Vor kurzem wurden sogar Tiere
und Pflanzen, die lateinische Namen wie “Armenica” und “Curdica”
hatten, umbenannt in “Anatolica”. Solche Dinge schmerzen die
Armenier.

FrontPageMagazine.com, CA
April 11 2005
And Dhimmitude For All
By Alyssa A. Lappen
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 11, 2005
Review: The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats
non-Muslims
Edited by Robert Spencer
Prometheus Books (2005)

`A thing without a name escapes understanding,’ warns preeminent
Islamic scholar Bat Ye’or of jihad and dhimmitude – the Islamic
institutions of, respectively, war and perpetual servitude imposed on
conquered non-Muslim peoples. Both, Ye’or notes in an essay entitled
`Historical Amnesia,’ are in the process of globalization.
This is not the benign economic globalization that most Westerners
laud. Islamic jihad and dhimmitude trade in every available
means – military, political, technological and intellectual. And if the
towering collection of 63 essays (including Ye’or’s) contained in the
new book The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats
Non-Muslims is to be believed, these specific Islamic processes are
globalizing at a disturbingly rapid pace. The book, courageously
assembled by JihadWatch director and FrontPage columnist Robert
Spencer, provides historical and contemporary profiles of jihad and
dhimmitude.
In six sections, the book delineates how Islamic ideology has
affected non-Muslims both historically and in the contemporary world.
The first three sections cover the myth vs. historical realities and
Islamic law and practice regarding non-Muslims. The last three
sections cover how the myth of Islamic tolerance has affected
contemporary geopolitics, power politics at the United Nations and,
finally, academic and public discourse. It is Ibn Warraq’s forward
and the latter 400 pages in which this book really shines. He
explains:
Islam is a totalitarian ideology that aims to control the religious,
social and political life of mankind in all its aspects; the life of
its followers without qualification; and the life of those who follow
the so-called tolerated religions to a degree that prevents their
activities from getting in the way of Islam in any way. And I mean
Islam, I do not accept some spurious distinction between Islam and
‘Islamic fundamentalism’ or Islamic terrorism’.
The September 11, 2001 murderers acted canonically. They followed
Sharia, a collection of theoretical laws and ideals `that apply in
any ideal Muslim community.’ This body of regulations, based on
divine authority, according to devout Muslims `must be accepted
without criticism, without doubts and questions.’ It sacrifices the
individual’s desires and good to those of the community.
`Expressing one’s opinion or changing one’s religion’ are punishable
by death. That apostasy is not today mentioned in the legal codes of
most Islamic countries, Warraq notes, hardly implies freedom of
religion for Muslims in those states; their penal codes are filled
with Islamic laws. The myth of Islamic tolerance is defied by the
massacre and extermination of the Zoroastrians in Iran; the million
Armenians in Turkey; the Buddhists and Hindus in India; the more than
six thousand Jews in Fez, Morocco, in 1033; hundreds of Jews killed
in Cordoba between 1010 and 1013; the entire Jewish community of
Granada in 1066; the Jews in Marrakesh in 1232; the Jews of Tetuan,
Morocco in 1790; the Jews of Baghdad in 1828; and so on ad nauseum.
Ironically, despite Islam’s immutability, the myth evolved through
the Western propensity to criticize its civilization. In 98 CE, Roman
historian Tacitus in Germania compared the noble simplicity of the
Germans with the vices of contemporary Rome. Michele do Montaigne
(1533-1592) in circa 1580 painted noble savages based on dubious
secondhand information in order to condemn his own civilization.
Later writers substituted Islam for savages to condemn Christendom
and materialism. In 1686-89, for example, Huguenot pastor Pierre
Jurieu exclaimed that Christians had spilt more blood on St.
Bartholemew’s Day than had the Saracens in all their persecutions of
Christians. Of course, Islam had claimed millions of lives – in 1399,
Taimur killed 100,000 Hindus in a single day. But during the 17th
century, and later the Enlightenment, writers perpetuated the `two
ideal prototypes, the noble savage and the wise and urbane Oriental,’
substituting Turks for Muslims, and Islamic tolerance for Turkish
tolerance.
Actually, 18th century Turkey was no interfaith utopia. In 1758, a
British ambassador noted that Sultan Mustafa III had non-Muslim
Christians and Jews executed for wearing banned clothing. In 1770,
another ambassador reported that Greeks, Armenians and Jews seen
outside their homes after dark were hanged. In 1785, a third noted
that Muslim mobs had dismantled churches after Christians had
secretly repaired them.
`The golden age of equal rights was a myth, and belief in it was a
result, more than a cause, of Jewish sympathy for Islam,’ Bernard
Lewis wrote in 1968 in the Encyclopedia of Islam. `The myth was
invented in 19th century Europe as a reproach to Christians – and taken
up by Muslims in our own time as a reproach to Jews….’
Until the late 19th century, Jews in North Africa, Yemen and other
oriental Muslim lands, were obliged to live isolated, in special
quarters, and `were constrained to wear distinctive clothing.’ They
could not carry arms (including canes), and could not give sworn
testimony in Muslim jurisdictions. Even in 1968, an Egyptian sheikh
explained at Cairo’s preeminent Islamic University of al-Azhar, `we
say to those who patronize the Jews that the latter are dhimmis,
people of obligation, who have betrayed the covenant in conformity
with which they have been accorded protection.’ The late president
Anwar el-Sadat declared in 1972, `They shall return and be as the
Koran said of them: ‘condemned to humiliation and misery’.’
Western failure to recognize this subservient condition, much less
its historical or contemporary results, has put democratic
civilization in danger. Organizations have been founded to promote
jihad and dhimmitude through the imposition of the Sharia. The
International Institute of Islamic Thought, for example, was
established in 1981 to Islamify Western history and thought.
Similarly, the Organization of Islamic Conference ruled in 1990 that
the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam – implementing the
Sharia – supersedes the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Even Arabist calls for universal mobilization of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) are a form of jihad, as was Egyptian attorney
Fouad Abdel-Moneim Riad’s call to treat all Israeli civilians as war
criminals. The notion here – categorization and demonization of all
infidels – is fundamental to jihad. Thus when church spokesman
Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports Riad’s pronouncement, he too
supports jihad.
In this context, `Servile flattery is the ransom [paid to avoid]
economic and terrorist reprisals.’ Thus Western thinkers succumb to
jihad and dhimmitude when we refuse to identify the Turkish
perpetration of Armenian genocide, or (conversely) present
Andalusia – complete with harems, eunuchs, and Christian slaves – `as a
perfect model of multicultural societies for the West’ to emulate in
the 21st century.
The West has built historical negationism as the `cornerstone of its
economic, strategic, and security relationships with Muslim
countries.’ One sign is the increasingly hostile international
attitude towards Israel. Failing to recognize the Muslim jihad
against Israel, which `symbolizes the liberation of the Jewish people
from dhimmitude in their homeland,’ also adversely affects remnant
indigenous Christian communities throughout the Middle East. Their
dhimmitude has deteriorated since the Armenian genocide and the 1933
massacres of Christians in Iraq. Historical amnesia, Bat Ye’or warns,
allowed the decolonization of Arab Muslim nations to be accompanied
by re-introduction of jihad, dhimmitude and sharia.
Only testimony can counter the pathological trends. Thus, Walid
Phares and Bat Ye’or tackle the forgotten tragedy of the Middle
Eastern Christians – 10 to 12 million Egyptian Copts; 1.5 Lebanese
Maronites, Orthodox, Melkites and others; 7 million Anglican,
Protestant and Catholic southern Sudanese Africans; 1 million
Christian Syrians; 1 million Iraqi Assyrians, Nestorians, Chaldeans,
and Jacobites; 500,000 Iranian Persian, Armenian and Assyrian
Christians; and perhaps 100,000 Christian Arab Palestinians. Patrick
Sookhdeo and Mark Durie also cover the alarming rise of
anti-Christian persecutions in Nigeria, Sudan, Pakistan and
Indonesia. After September 11, 2001, attacks on Christians increased
precipitously.
Ironically, what caused obfuscation of minority Christians’ situation
was 19th and 20th century Christian involvement in the Arab-Islamic
jihad – against Zionism and Israel. Whereas Christian oppression in the
East is `rooted in the doctrine of jihad’ and dhimmitude, projecting
all evil onto Israel and Zionism prevented testimony and hid Eastern
Christian history and suffering.
But for decades, secretly or openly, Middle Eastern Christians have
praised the Israeli liberation model, and hoped to emulate it. The
Arab reaction has been to falsely claim the Middle East as an Arab
and Muslim region, denying the rights of all non-Arab, non-Muslim
populations, to isolate these minorities from one another and somehow
eliminate them within predominantly Arab and Muslim states.
Another arena requiring testimony is dhimmitude in Western
institutions. This is `epitomized,’ writes Mark Durie, `in the
slavish attitude adopted by Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights,’ in a 2002 statement to the Organization of the Islamic
Conference Symposium on Human Rights in Islam in Geneva. Like a
dhimmi, she affirmed the greatness and moral superiority of Islam,
implying inferiority of non-Muslim infidels, and denied any possible
voice of protest against Islamic abuses of human rights.
Not surprisingly, Islamism is growing at the UN, too. On August 5,
1990, explains David Littman, the 19 members of the Islamic
Conference of Foreign Ministers adopted the Cairo Declaration on
Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI). This document very specifically
subjugates all human rights to those accorded by Islam. [1] The CDHRI
totally contradicts the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR). Yet the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in
December 1997 published it, establishing its authority as a quotable
UN source. For example, the 26-member Sub-Commission on Human Rights
referred to it in the preamble of a resolution adopted on August 21,
1998. [2] That Islamic human rights is gaining ascendancy and
credence at the UN should be of concern to all Human Rights activists
and organizations.
Dhimmitude is also developing at universities and in governments
worldwide. This owes to the nearly ubiquitous influence of Edward
Said, according to Ibn Warraq, despite his `third world intellectual
terrorism.’ The tautology-filled Orientalism accuses orientalists of
somehow preparing the ground for western imperialism, but haughtily
dismisses `books and journals in Arabic (and doubtless in Japanese,
various Indian dialects, and other Oriental languages)’ revealing
`contempt for the non-European, negative attitudes toward the Orient
far greater than that of some imperialists he constantly condemns.’
Worse, Said ignores innumerable orientalists – including the German
school that created the Middle Eastern, Islamic and Arabic Studies
field – and hailed from a nation with zero imperial interests.
To break the disastrous logjam created by this trend, it is essential
to discuss the heretofore taboo subjects of jihad dhimmitude in
policy and educational forums. This book can help to turn the tide,
if only significant numbers read it.
[1]Articles 24 and 25 of the CDHRI state`All the rights and freedoms
stipulated in this Declaration are subject to the Islamic Shari’a’
and `This Islamic Shari’a is the only source of reference for the
explanation or clarification of any of the articles of this
Declaration.’
[2] The preamble expressed dismay and concern were over women’s
rights in Afghanistan, but nevertheless, stated that it was `fully
aware that the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam…
guarantees the rights of women in all fields.’

EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’S 90TH ANNIVERSARY TO OPEN
IN RF FEDERAL ASSEMBLY WITH PARTICIPATION OF RA NA SPEAKER
YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 12, the delegation headed by
Artur Baghdasarian, RA NA Speaker, will leave for Moscow at the
invitation of Boris Grizlov, Speaker of RF State Duma. Within the
framework of the official visit meetings with Boris Grizlov, Speaker
of RF State Duma, Sergei Mironov, Chairman of the Council of
Federation of RF Federal Assembly, Mikhail Fradkov, Chairman of RF
government, Igor Levitin, Co-chairman of Armenia-Russia
inter-governmental commission, are planned. According to RA NA Press
Service, an exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of Armenian
Genocide will open in the building of RF Council of Federation with
participation of parliamentary speakers of the 2 countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RAPA CALLS RA NA TO RECOGNIZE FACT OF ARMENIANS’ GENOCIDE IN
AZERBAIJAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Ramkavar Azatakan Party of Armenia
(Liberal Democratic) finds that discussion of the Artsakh problem in
international instances must go on on the legal field, not
contradicting international norms of territorial integrity and
nations’ self-determination one another. Haroutiun Arakelian, the RAPA
Chairman stated about this at the April 9 press-conference. According
to him, the RA National Assembly’s recognition of the fact of Genocide
conducted against Armenians in Azerbaijan in 1988-1991 will stimulate
settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. According to H.Arakelian,
a resolution concerning continuation and development of the party’s
further advances in social-economic, Diaspora-Armenia, Hay-Dat
(Armenian Trial), the NKR conflict, national ideology and other most
important national spheres, was adopted at the RAPA 13th special
(close) congress. H.Arakelian attached special importance to
Armenia-Diaspora relations. According to him, the party finds
necessary to create most favourable legislative conditions which aimed
at passing from charity programs of the Diasporan Armenians to
extensive investments using as much as possible potential and
practical and lobbist opportunities of the Diasporan Armenians to
provide serious economic presence in Armenia.

Ethnic communities vie for land in Crimea
NTV Mir, Moscow
10 Apr 05
[Presenter] There has been an incident of land-grabbing in the
Crimea. Before the beginning of the tourist season, the ethnic
communities of the peninsula reminded everybody about their demands in
a way that makes the authorities fear that they might lose control
over the situation. Here is a report by Anna Konyukova.
[Correspondent] A group of Crimean Tatars has seized the children’s
diving centre Shelf near Sudak [Crimean southern coastal resort]. The
intruders demand that the land should be handed over to the Crimean
Tatars.
[Angry protester] I am going to beg nobody. This is our land and I
have a right to this land.
[Correspondent] Several employees of the centre were beaten up by the
intruders. The diving centre’s director is one of the victims.
[Igor Opsha, director of the children’s diving centre Shelf] I had a
conversation with them, if you can call it a conversation. These
people have come here on orders to grab land.
[Correspondent] Seafront plots of land are seized in Sudak every year.
However, this time news about the invasion of the children’s centre
has provoked a wave of indignation among the residents of Sudak and
neighbouring villages. In a few hours, several thousand people
gathered on so-called alternative fields of protests. After
spontaneous rallies, the protesters passed a resolution to draw up a
list of all residents of Sudak region who need land and demand that
the republic’s authorities distribute land in turn, regardless of
nationality.
[Alternative protester] Here there are Germans, Greeks too, those who
were also deported. They are not trying to jump the queue, they want
to get land by law but cannot do so because of land grabbers.
[Correspondent] The organizers believe that a separate protest camp of
German, Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian communities must remind the
Crimean authorities that these peoples, just like the Crimean Tatars,
have the status of deported people. The protesters are saying they
will continue until the authorities ban land grabbing.
The population of the tent camps and protest fields is increasing
every hour. People are coming by car, bus and even on foot. The local
authorities are saying they are unlikely to keep the situation under
control for long.

US ‘Betraying’ Ideals of Pope, Says Rafsanjani
.htm
04-09-2005
TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani paid
homage to John Paul II during Muslim prayers in Tehran yesterday and
urged the Vatican to recall the Pontiff’s ideal of Christianity which,
he said, was being betrayed by the US.
“His actions in favour of peace, his opposition to war – in
particularly the war in Iraq – the denunciation of American crimes at
Abu Ghraib prison conferred on John Paul II a greater international
stature than that of his predecessors,” said Rafsanjani, one of Iran’s
most influential personalities.
The former president, widely expected to stand again in Iran’s June
presidential election, heads the Expediency Council – Iran’s top
political arbitration body.
Rafsanjani also recalled the Pontiff’s opposition to “heretical
ideologies, communism and Marxism.”
The cleric, in his sermon to thousands of the faithful and broadcast
on state radio, offered his condolences to the Christian world on
the death of the Pope, adding: “Christianity and the Vatican would
do well to recall these lessons.”
He said: “The precepts of Christ have disappeared from the Christian
world.”
Rafsanjani, whose country was described as part of the “axis of evil”
and alleged by US President George W Bush to support terrorism,
charged: “In the name of the struggle against terrorism, (Americans)
commit numerous crimes across the world. They impose (themselves)
by force in international institutions and pillage the wealth of
other peoples.
“All this goes against Christ’s ideals and (Christians) should tell
the US that it dishonours Christ,” he said.
Reformist President Mohamed Khatami, in Rome for Pope John Paul’s
funeral, took a similar line in an interview with Italian daily
Corriere della Sera.
“For me, it is very important to pay a full tribute to John Paul II.
He was a man of spirituality, ethics, justice. I hope that the road
he paved will be pursued in the future,” said Khatami.
“Unfortunately, the current US leaders, more than their predecessors,
resort to violence, to military means, to impose their own will.
“They believe in a principle that is absolutely dangerous which
generates terrorism – the pre-emptive strike which provides a simple
pretext to launch a military intervention.”
Meanwhile, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Gholam-Ali Hadad-Adel,
joined Iran’s tiny Roman Catholic community for a requiem mass.
Several thousand faithful crammed into Tehran’s small brick-built
Saint Joseph’s Cathedral to hear Bishop Ramzi Garmo remember the
Pope’s commitment to “peace and dialogue between the civilizations
and religions.”
Hadad-Adel said he had decided to attend the service as a “sign of
the Iranian people’s sympathy with their Catholic compatriots.”
Iran counts some 10,000 Catholics among a Christian community of
80,000, a tiny minority in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of 67mn
people. Most of the rest are Armenians or Assyrians.
Assyrian MP Younatan Botkilia attended yesterday’s mass along with
Iran’s chief rabbi, Yusef Cohen Hamedani, and Jewish MP Maurice
Motamed.

Armenian, Belgian MPs discuss ties
Arminfo, Yerevan
4 Apr 05
Yerevan, 4 April: Armenian MPs met a delegation of the Chamber of
Deputies of the Belgian parliament led by its chairman Herman de Croo
in an extended format at the National Assembly today.
On behalf of all Belgian MPs, Herman de Croo expressed readiness to
help Armenian delegations in international structures, the National
Assembly’s press service has told Arminfo. Croo said that Armenia was
an important country in the South Caucasus and added that Belgium was
interested in its democratic and economic development. He welcomed
Armenia’s readiness to establish friendly relations with all countries
in the region and said this would guarantee the development of the
region. Croo said that all political forces of his country were
represented in the delegation, which was a rarity.
For his part, Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan thanked
the Belgian parliament for the recognition of the Armenian genocide
back in 1998. Bagdasaryan said Armenia attaches great importance to
the visit by the Belgium delegation. He said this was the first high
level visit by a Belgian delegation to Armenia. Bagdasaryan expressed
the hope that the visit would give a boost to the development of
Armenian-Belgian relations.
The speaker also talked about the great importance of Belgium’s help
in getting Armenia involved in the EU’s New Neighborhood policy.
Touching on regional processes, Bagdasaryan pointed to Armenia’s
attempts to forge friendly relations with all countries of the region
and its readiness to resolve all issues through negotiations. However,
not always do the neighbors respond positively, he said.
By participating in the South Caucasus parliamentary initiative
along with Georgia and Azerbaijan, Armenia hopes for the creation of
a parliament of the South Caucasus countries which will serve as an
arena for discussing regional issues, Bagdasaryan said.
[Passage omitted: Armenia wants to integrate into Europe]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EURASIA INSIGHT
THE CIS IS LITTLE MORE THAN A POLITICAL DISCUSSION “CLUB” — PUTIN
EURASIA
Haroutiun Khachatrian 4/05/05
Amid the usual diplomatic exchanges during Russian President Vladimir
Putin’s recent visit to Armenia there was noteworthy nugget of
information: the Russian leader acknowledged publicly that the
Commonwealth of Independent States is not a viable organization for
the promotion of political and economic integration.
Putin paid an official visit to Armenia on March 24-25. Responding
to a reporter’s question about the CIS’s effectiveness as a working
international confederation, Putin declared that “if someone was
expecting some particular achievements from the CIS in, say, the
economy, in political or military cooperation and so on, it is clear
that this was not going to happen because it could not happen.”
The CIS’s task, Putin told a March 25 press conference in Yerevan,
was to “make the Soviet Union’s collapse as civilized and smooth
as possible.” In this, the Russian leader argued, the confederation
succeeded.
But, Putin stressed, other groupings of post-Soviet nations,
in particular the Eurasian Economic Community and the Common
Economic Space, are now in better position to foster free-trade and
intergration. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The
CIS itself, he noted, is “a very useful club for exchanging information
and discussing general problems.”
Putin’s remarks appear to be connected to the growing anti-Russian
stance assumed by three CIS countries ~@” Georgia and Ukraine, where
popular uprisings in November 2003 and December 2004, respectively,
swept away the post-Soviet political order, and Moldova, whose
pro-Western communist leader, President Vladimir Voronin, has turned
away from Moscow over the Trans-Dniester region. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Nonetheless, the Russian daily newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s March
29 characterization of Putin’s statement as “the funeral of the CIS”
seems extreme. By acknowledging the organization’s shortcomings, Putin
may be attempting to prevent the defection of discontent CIS members,
and arrest the steady erosion of Russia’s geopolitical position.
Putin’s statements in no way indicate a shift in Russia’s desire
to retain influence in the so-called “near abroad.” Putin and
Armenian President Robert Kocharian both emphasized the desirability
of increased Russian participation in the economy of the South
Caucasus. “What we are talking about here is a new quality of
cooperation that will have regional significance and scale, and
I am convinced that we have a lot of potential to draw on here,”
Kocharian said.
No major agreements emerged from the Yerevan summit, but multiple
economic issues are now shaping bilateral ties. Plans to build an
Iranian-Armenian natural gas pipeline have long been a source of
concern for the Kremlin. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive]. Russian energy heavyweight GazProm, which supplies Armenia
with all of its gas, recently expressed interest in taking part in
the project. On the Armenian side, strong objections exist to efforts
by another Russian energy player, United Energy Systems, to purchase
the country’s electricity distribution network.
Both Putin and Kocharian avoided energy issues during their
press-conference, focusing instead on Russian plans to ship goods
to Armenia via the Georgian port of Poti as an indication of one of
several areas, including banking, where there are “good prospects
for growth.”
Expectations also ran high in Yerevan that some agreement would be
reached for the reopening of those Armenian companies that passed
into Russian hands under a 2002 debt-for-equity deal, but no official
announcement was made of such a plan. [For additional information
see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Cultural ties could provide important reinforcement for any expanded
economic cooperation (the official reason for Putin’s Yerevan trip
was Armenia’s Year of Russia, a celebration of Russian culture). But,
even here, playing off regional rivalries remains part of Moscow’s
game. Armenia may be Russia’s main military ally in the South Caucasus,
and 2005 is the Year of Russia in Yerevan. Yet in Russia, it is the
Year of Azerbaijan.
Putin, during the news conference, spoke of a need to foster an
“atmosphere of confidence” throughout the Caucasus that would enhance
conflict resolution prospects. [For additional information see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. Putin added that his talks with Kocharian
touched on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. “Everybody is looking
forward to the continuation of direct contacts between the presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Russian president said.
Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.
–Boundary_(ID_VRGYGQ4m9Ormh3iqTMYPMQ)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azeri TV criticizes US rights watchdog for including Karabakh in its
report
ANS TV, Baku
4 Apr 05
[Presenter] US-based Freedom House has made public its report. There
are noteworthy points in it.
[Correspondent, over video of scenes in USA, Baku, Freedom House web
site] US-based Freedom House has compiled its report on the basis
of reports prepared by different organizations during the year, its
director of studies, Christopher Walker, told ANS. Mr Walker also said
that another source of information for them was the Azerbaijani press.
The report was prepared on the basis of information covering a period
from 1 December 2003 to 30 November 2004. The organization described
Azerbaijan as an unfree country in the report. Azerbaijan was graded
six for political rights and five for human freedoms on the seven-scale
list. Here, one means the most free country and seven means the most
unfree country.
Armenia, which has occupied Azerbaijani lands and where human rights
abuses have been reported more than once, is shown as a partly free
country on Freedom House’s list. Georgia made a step forward towards
democracy as compared to the previous report, the organisation’s
studies showed. Tbilisi has got the status of a partly free country.
Azerbaijan’s another neighbour, Iran, is graded as unfree. Among the
CIS countries, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were also granted the status of unfree
countries. Interestingly, Azerbaijan is in the same boat with
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which are deprived of opposition.
[Christopher Walker, Freedom House director of studies, captioned,
over phone in English with Azeri voice-over] I think one thing to keep
in mind is that on our scale Azerbaijan performed somewhat better than
the countries you have mentioned. If we proceed from our position on
broadcast media, we can see that TV broadcasts in Azerbaijan have been
restricted a little. Television is under the control of the current
regime or forces close to it. As for newspapers, we can say that the
majority of opposition papers have limited circulation. In general,
the activities of the opposition and the authorities are not covered
equally on TV channels and in the press in Azerbaijan.
[Correspondent] Walker said that there are serious restrictions for
people from different political camps in Azerbaijan on expressing
their views. What is most interesting is that Freedom House considers
the so-called Nagornyy Karabakh republic, where the military police
regime reigns, to be a partly free territory on the list of disputed
territories. The separatist regime was graded five for its performance
in the area of both human freedoms and political rights. And this
is despite the fact that the US Department of State expressed concern
over drug production in Nagornyy Karabakh, which is out of Azerbaijan’s
control, in its 23 March report. But Walker is trying to justify his
report in all possible ways.
[Walker] I think that our methodology is the key here. I do not
think that the criteria you have mentioned could be included in our
methodology. We considered issues like civil society, freedom of
expression and human rights and rested on these principles.
[Passage omitted: other disputed territories’ grade and other grades]