Author: Zargarian Hambik

PACE TO DISCUSS ARMENIA RELATED ISSUES

ArmenPress
Sept 6 2004

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: The monitoring commission of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will hold
a session September 15 in Paris, to discuss, among other issues,
also a preliminary report on how Armenian authorities are meeting
requirements of two PACE resolutions 1351 and 1374.

Parliament member Armen Rustamian, who is also a member of the
Armenian delegation to PACE, said today the Armenian delegation will
propose that the final conclusion be presented next January as under
decision 1361 Armenia still has some time to meet all requirements
and recommendations of the PACE.

Another PACE commission on political affairs is also expected to
meet September 15 and is supposed to discuss a preliminary report by
a former PACE rapporteur on Nagorno Karabagh, Terry Davis. Rustamian
said today that the commission may decide to put the report on PACE’s
autumn session agenda if it finds it complete, but he added that a
new rapporteur must be appointed to replace Davis, elected Council
of Europe Secretary General.

ACNIS COMPLETES ITS SERIES OF SEMINARS ON NATIONAL MINORITIES WITH NEW
BENCHMARKS

Noyan Tapan
2 Sept 04

Yerevan-The Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) convened today its fifth specialized policy seminar on
“The Rights of Armenian National Minorities in 2003-2004” at the
Armenia Marriott Hotel with the support of the Council of Europe
Confidence-building Measures Program. Held within the framework of the
“Coordination among National Minorities and Information Exchanges on
Minority Rights in Armenia” Project, the meeting brought together
specialized bodies dealing with national and religious minority
issues, human rights advocates, leaders and representatives of national
minorities in Armenia, relevant government officials, diplomatic corps,
international organizations, NGO and media communities to discuss
issues on Armenian national minorities and their rights in light of the
Report on European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI).

Karapet Kalenchian, ACNIS’s director of administration greeted the
capacity audience with opening remarks. “For a country having as large
a diaspora as ours, where respect for national minority rights is not
only a requirement of Council of Europe but also a matter of honor
and dignity, the problems of national minorities should always be the
focus of both the authorities and each of us. Therefore, let us speak
openly without bypassing the thorns of the problem.” Kalenchian called
on the audience to engage in a sincere and interested discussion.

In his address on “The Requirements for the Report on National
Minorities,” ACNIS analyst and project director Stepan Safarian called
attention to those provisions of the Council of Europe which promote
the development of language, culture, religion, health, science,
and education, and the preservation of their national values and
features. “The Council of Europe has expressed a desire for Armenia to
make positive changes in the legislative acts of national minorities
as well as to adopt a separate law on national minorities,” Safarian
noted.

During the first session entitled “Concerns of the 2003 Report on
Armenia of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance
(ECRI): Solved or Forgotten Issues?” Lilit Simonian, assistant
to Constitutional Court Justice Felix Tokhian and the director
of Law and Information Center, clarified the international legal
instruments, constitutional reforms, provisions of criminal, civil,
and administrative laws. According to her, the protection of national
minority rights is an integral part of international protection of
human rights. Minority rights protection is being enforced both
by general instruments addressing that problem, and a number of
international legal agreements on national minorities recently ratified
by Armenia. “Though the European Convention on Citizenship and several
other international instruments have not been signed yet, the Armenian
legislative, executive, and judicial agencies are acquiring commitments
to carry out the norms stipulated in those international instruments,”
Simonian emphasized, attaching importance to the constitutional
enhancement of national minority rights, in particular the necessity
of amending Article 37 of the Armenian Constitution. Parliamentarian
Vazgen Khachikian also referred to the conventions Armenia has
ratified. He claimed that any individual can appeal to court in the
event of violation of his/her rights and national dignity relying
on the intergovernmental instruments. Khachikian is convinced that
national minorities are more of a treasure for Armenia than a threat.
The second session on “National Minority Rights in Armenia: 2003-2004″
began with the review of the completed and forthcoming activities of
the governmental bodies engaged in national minority issues. Hranush
Kharatian, chairperson of the National and Religious Minorities Board
of the Government of Armenia informed that the draft Law on National
Minorities worked out with the active input of national minority
communities will soon be released. The law shall provide special
supervision over the preservation of national cultural traditions and
call for additional governmental assistance to tackle the problems
impeding their development. Nonetheless, no matter how positive it is
viewed, the law seems to be risky and inefficient,” opined Kharatian.

Victor Mnatsakanian of the Ombudsperson’s office negatively reacted
to the question posed in his address “Is There Discrimination in
Armenia?,” quoting the fact that there are no more than a dozen such
appeals addressed to the Ombudsman’s office. It is worth mentioning
that the latter will soon respond to Armenian Aryan Order leader Armen
Avetisian’s provocative statements published in the press which have
aroused the indignation of national minorities. Garnik Guyumdjian,
chief of the Department for State Programs, Cultural Cooperation,
Education and Science of the Ministry of Culture and Youth Issues,
underlined that the measures taken to preserve the cultural values
of national minorities constitute part of state policy pursued in
this field. He prioritized fostering of creative work, preserving
of cultural inheritance, dissemination of cultural values, the
application of creative potential and legal and economic regulation
for the development of national cultures. In his opinion, the national
minorities enjoy sufficient protection under the current legislation.
Nouridjan Manoukian, chief of the Control Department at the Board
of Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Science,
concentrated on the improvement of education including preserving
national languages. In his opinion the main obstacle one encounters
in education based on language is not the lack of the law but the
lack of educators and textbooks. “Nothing practical is undertaken
to face the challenge. Moreover, sometimes the contradictions in the
same community lead to conflicting actions,” he remarked.

Edgar Hakobian of “Toward Free Society” concluded the second session
with remarks on encouraging the youth of national minorities to take
active part in the statewide youth policy and other initiatives,
otherwise they will remain isolated of the Armenian mainstream. The
seminar was followed by a lively roundtable of views among Alikhan
Shababian, representative of Nor Nork district council; Hasan Hasanian,
head of the Yezidi religious organization “Followers of Sharfadin”;
Rabbi Gersh Bourstein, head of the Mordekhay Navi Jewish Community of
Armenia; Dalila Arzumanian of the “Atur” Assyrian union; Charkyaze
Mstoyan, chairman of the “Kurdistan” committee; Ivan Semionov of
Russian Compatriot Relief Foundation; Slava Rafaelidis, representative
of the Greek community and chairman of the Council of Armenian
Nationalities; Romania Yavir, chairperson of the Ukrainian Federation
in Armenia; Lavrenti Mirzoyan of State Inspectorate of Language;
Ara Sahakian of “Armat” Center; Avetik Ishkhanian of the Armenian
Helsinki Committee; Georgi Vanian of Caucasus Center of Peace-Making
Initiatives NGO; Gayane Markosian of the “Harmonious World” NGO;
Alexander Yaskorski of German community; and several others.

Despite some reservations, the participants in the discussion noted
that the rights of national minorities are respected in Armenia. They
offered practical suggestions for further promoting state policy in
educational, cultural, and other spheres towards the representatives
of the particular stratum of society. Lavrenti Mirzoyan, chief
of State Inspectorate of Language, suggested that the national
minority representatives cooperate with the agency he heads. He
expressed readiness to establish a group of national minorities in
the Inspectorate to address their language issues. Brisk discussion
was followed on the expediency of adoption of law on national
minorities. Charkyaze Mstoyan, chairman of the “Kurdistan” committee
was against its adoption as in his opinion it can be a “strait-jacket”
for them. Rabbi Gersh Bourstein thinks that the law should first be
discussed in the communities and only after then be submitted to the
parliament for consideration. “The law should protect the national
minorities from estrangement the symptoms of which are apparent,”
Bourstein maintained. In Yaskorsky’s opinion even a perfect law may
not be effective if not exercised.

Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS
serves as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy
challenges facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet
world. It also aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic
thinking and a wider understanding of the new global environment. In
2004, the Center focuses primarily on public outreach, civic education,
and applied research on critical domestic and foreign policy issues
for the state and the nation.

For further information on the Center or the full graphics of the
poll results, call (3741) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax (3741) 52-48-46;
e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit

ARMENIAN POLITICAL STANDOFF DRAGS ON AS OPPOSITION SHUNS PARLIAMENT

EurasiaNet.org
8/31/04

Eurasia Insight
**
By Emil Danielyan

Armenian opposition leaders recently announced they would prolong their
boycott of parliament. The announcement appeared to dash President
Robert Kocharian’s hopes of putting to rest questions about his
administration’s legitimacy.

Kocharian and his critics have been at odds since the 2003 presidential
election, which was tainted by numerous voting irregularities. The
defeated opposition candidate, Stepan Demirchian, has refused to
recognize the election results. To draw attention to their complaints,
Demirchian and other opposition leaders have maintained a boycott
of the legislature. Opposition MPs have already refrained from
participating in parliamentary sessions for seven months.

On August 27, the executive board of the opposition Justice alliance,
headed by Demirchian, decided to continue the boycott during the next
legislative session. The alliance bloc’s key ally, the National Unity
Party (AMK), is expected to follow suit. Justice and the AMK are the
only opposition forces represented in Armenia’s National Assembly,
holding 23 of its 131 seats.

Justice leaders complain that Kocharian’s administration has not met
any of their demands. “None of the reasons for our walkout from the
National Assembly has been addressed,” one of them, Victor Dallakian,
said, singling out the authorities’ refusal to hold a “referendum of
confidence” in Kocharian.

The Armenian Constitutional Court, in a non-binding decision concerning
the 2003 presidential election tally, had suggested a referendum on
Kocharian’s authority. However, the parliament, which is dominated by
Kocharian loyalists, refused in February to debate the issue. That,
in turn, prompted Justice alliance and AMK lawmakers to launch their
boycott.

The continuation of the boycott keeps open the possibility of renewed
street protests against Kocharian. In March, Justice and AMK began
organizing mass demonstrations in an effort to force Kocharian’s
resignation. The protest effort, however, never gained enough political
momentum to pose a serious danger to Kocharian’s hold on power.
Ultimately, the protests ran out of steam in May, amid a government
crackdown. The opposition formally abandoned the protest strategy in
late spring, but has remained defiant, pledging to continue to fight
for “the restoration of constitutional order” in Armenia.

Authorities, mindful of the boycott’s negative impact on their
democratic credentials abroad, have tried hard to get the opposition
minority back to the parliament. They have offered, in particular,
to give the opposition a voice in the planned reform of Armenia’s
constitution and in the writing of new electoral legislation. At the
same time, the Kocharian majority has threatened to strip opposition
members of their parliament seats. Under Armenian law, parliamentarians
can be expelled from the legislature for absenteeism.

The threats do not seem to be taken seriously by Justice and the
AMK, though. “Are they so stupid to do that? I don’t think so,” said
Justice lawmaker Shavarsh Kocharian (no relation to the president).

The boycott aside, opposition leaders appear to be struggling to
formulate new political tactics. Opposition leaders acknowledge
that their spring protest tactic was ineffective and is now being
reconsidered. The AMK’s outspoken leader Artashes Geghamian, for
example, now believes that Armenians should be urged to take to the
streets only for a decisive and quick push for power.

Most local analysts doubt the opposition has the ability to organize
crowds big enough to force Kocharian’s resignation. Still, the
government is taking no chances. In late August, officials tightened
rules for the holding of public gatherings. Those rules are grounded
in a new Armenian law that Council of Europe legal experts believe
violates European standards on freedom of assembly.

Meanwhile, there is mounting speculation about Kocharian’s political
future. The Armenian constitution bars the president from seeking
a third term. But some presidential supporters have suggested that
Kocharian, now in his second term, could be a candidate in the next
presidential vote, scheduled for 2008. A package of constitutional
amendments drafted by Kocharian and his top allies would keep the
two-term restriction. However, the proposed amendments may still
undergo changes before being put to a referendum next year.

Assuming that the 50-year-old Armenian leader will voluntarily quit in
2008, he must already be thinking about a successor. The most obvious
choice seems his most trusted lieutenant, Defense Minister Serge
Sarkisian. Both men are natives of Nagorno-Karabakh and have worked
in tandem ever since moving to high positions in Yerevan in the 1990s.

With his pervasive influence on economic affairs, Sarkisian is widely
regarded as the second most powerful official in Armenia. However,
his presidential ambitions would not sit well with at least one of
the three parties represented in Kocharian’s coalition government,
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Among other potential successors are parliament speaker Artur
Baghdasarian and Justice Minister David Harutiunian. They publicly
clashed during a parliament session earlier this year after
Baghdasarian accused Harutiunian’s ministry of misusing a World Bank
loan to strengthen Armenia’s judiciary. The accusations were construed
by some commentators as a sign of unfolding personal rivalry between
the two relatively young politicians.

A new influential government faction, headed by Prosecutor-General
Aghvan Hovsepian, has also emerged in recent months. Hovsepian is close
to Kocharian, and has cobbled together a strong support base in Aparan,
his home region in central Armenia. Hovsepian’s ostensibly apolitical
organization already has several representatives in the parliament
and is aspiring to amass greater political clout. A leading Yerevan
daily, Haykakan Zhamanak, has described him as another potential
presidential nominee.

The presidential succession question has not generated much interest
among ordinary Armenian citizens, many of whom doubt the fairness of
the electoral process. As another newspaper, Aravot, editorialized
in late August; “The next president will be the one who will have
the security structures and gangs of [government-connected] thugs at
his disposal.”

Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.

Armenian defence chief denies joint Russian army drills target Georgia

Mediamax news agency
27 Aug 04

YEREVAN

Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan said today that participants
in joint Armenian-Russian military exercises had completely fulfilled
the tasks set before them.

The Armenian defence minister described as “exaggeration” media
reports suggesting that the Armenian-Russian military exercises were
intended to put psychological pressure on Georgia.

“As far as I know, the Georgian side has not issued any statements
saying that Armenia was planning something against Georgia. The
exercises were a planned measure and did not pursue any other
objectives. We have conducted such exercises nine times,” Serzh
Sarkisyan said.

The final stage of the four-day joint Armenian-Russian exercises
involving field firing was held in Armenia today at the Marshal
Bagramyan training centre.

Azeri paper chides German envoy for remarks during visit to Turkish town

Ekspress, Baku
26 Aug 04

Text of Hasan Agacan’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 26
August headlined “German ambassador’s strange diplomacy” and subheaded
“Considering Kars to be Armenian territory, the German ambassador
advises Azerbaijan ‘to give up Nagornyy Karabakh'”

The German ambassador has spoken as an illiterate child in Kars
[Turkey]. Wolf-Ruthart Born asked: “Have you looked at the Armenian
Constitution? You can see the boundaries of Kars on the map of
Armenia.” He believes that Azerbaijan should give up Nagornyy Karabakh
for the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border.

According to a statement by the German embassy in Turkey, ambassador
Wolf-Ruthart Born left Ankara for the Kars region “in order to get
closely acquainted with the developments in the region” the day before
yesterday [24 August] and met local municipal head Israfil Cakaz.

The meeting was held in an atmosphere of “mutual understanding”.
[Turkish] Tercuman newspaper reported yesterday that during the
meeting, Cakaz had asked the German ambassador to exert the “necessary
influence” on official Ankara to open the Turkish-Armenian border as
soon as possible.

[Turkish] Havadis quoted Cakaz as saying: “The border between Turkey
and Armenia should be opened soon. Since the border with Armenia is
closed, Kars is one of the economically and socially backward regions
in Turkey. Our people are unemployed and businessmen are worried. We
want the border with Armenia to be opened.”

In response to his appeal, the German ambassador made an unexpected
statement, which has already provoked a big scandal in Ankara: “As far
as I know, Kars and the territory surrounding it are Armenian lands
according to the Armenian Constitution. As for the opening of the
border, the conflict between Azerbaijan and Nagornyy Karabakh should
be resolved for the resolution of this problem. If Azerbaijan gives
up Nagornyy Karabakh and recognizes its independence, the
Turkish-Armenian border will open.”

We contacted the Turkish Foreign Ministry in connection with the
incident. The ministry’s general press and media department said that
they were clarifying the statements made by the German ambassador to
Turkey, Wolf-Ruthart Born, during his Kars visit. “It is still
premature to express any position. Because all the reports are being
spread by the media. The ministry will express its official position
after contacting the embassy and obtaining the necessary
information. We hope that the German ambassador to our country has not
used expressions that are in any form against our territorial
integrity.”

The German embassy in Turkey has refused to make any comment in this
regard.

Turkey sets Yerevan’s withdrawal from the occupied Azerbaijani lands
as a precondition for the opening of the border with Armenia. The
German ambassador to Turkey understood the situation the other way
round and his illiteracy cannot but cause surprise.

Reporters without borders, France
Aug 26 2004

Photographer assaulted in the north of the country

Photographer Mkhitar Khachatrian, of the PhotoLur agency was
assaulted after taking photos of politicians’ private holiday villas
in Tsaghkadzor in the north of the country.

Reporters Without Borders called on Armenia’s prosecutor-general
Aghvan Hovsepyan to do everything possible to track down and punish
those responsible.

Khachatrian and Anna Israelian, of the independent daily Aravot, were
working on a report on the destruction of the forest caused by
house-building in the region.

They were photographing private homes, chiefly belonging to
parliamentary deputies, on 24 August when a guard ordered them to
stop. The journalists refused to comply.

The same evening the guard, accompanied by a group of thugs, found
the pair in a local café. One of them struck Khachatrian and
threatened to kill him. He then ordered him to hand over his camera
containing shots of the villas, and the photographer handed him the
disk.

Assaults on journalists have escalated since the start of the year.
On 5 April several journalists were manhandled on the sidelines of a
demonstration while security forces looked on. In June, two of the
assailants were fined about 150 euros in connection with the
assaults. Security forces beat up two more journalists at a
demonstration on 13 April.

In its letter to the prosecutor general, the international press
freedom organisation stressed that, “Coming after the incidents in
April it would be dangerous to all journalists if a climate of
impunity were allowed to take hold”.

FORMER PILOTS DEMAND PAYMENT OF THEIR TEN MONTHS WELFARE BENEFITS

YEREVAN, August 23 (Noyan Tapan). On August 23, about 20 former pilots
gathered in front of the RA government building demanding that they be
paid their welfare benefits, which are ten months overdue. According
to the agreement signed in 1997 with the Head Department of Civil
Aviation, the pilots who are discharged in accordance with their own
application, were fixed lifelong monthly benefits in drams equivalent
to $25-105. However, since October 2002, 169 pilots have been deprived
of these benefits, about which the Head Department of Civil Aviation
made the decision in July 2003. The pilots applied with the claim to
restore their welfare benefits to the court of the first instance of
Yerevan’s Malatsia and Sebastia Communities that met their demands
only partly by making a decision that the Head Department of Civil
Aviation should pay welfare benefits for only ten months (October 2002
– July 2003).

armenianow.com
August 20, 2004

Sona:”I Gave Up My Soul . . .

By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

Photos by
Ruben Mangasaryan

Editor’s Note: Compared with early years of independence,
life, finally, is getting much better for many people in Armenia.
But for many more – especially those outside the capital, recovery has
neither come, nor appears on any horizon.
They exist on the fragile fringe of society.
But like those who are surely building a new republic, these whose lives
have been damaged by the changes of time own Armenia, too. And they should
not be overlooked.
Photojournalist Ruben Mangasaryan, whose work over many years has included
attention toward the marginalized and socially exiled, is currently working
on a special project “Poverty in Armenia”.
Over the next several months, ArmeniaNow will highlight Ruben’s work, in
hopes that the unfortunate large number represented by his few subjects will
receive due recognition.
ArmeniaNow reporter Vahan Ishkhanyan joined Ruben during the first of his
photo investigations. . .
. . . and Live Underground.”
It has been two years since Sona has been able to go to her “job”, under the
wall of Kumayri Museum in Gyumri, where she would sit and beg for money.
Because of an illness, Sona Davtyan, 39, grew old right away and she can
hardly move. Her stomach is swollen, fluid seeps into it. People mock her as
if she were pregnant.

The face of 39
“Water collects, my stomach gets swollen, it becomes even more swollen in
the evening. I drink about a bucket of water,” she says.
The museum is about 4 kilometers away from her apartment. She can no longer
go there, so she does her begging closer to home. The farthest she can get
is the building of the Regional Government where “there are rich ones
wearing ties”.
Before, it was easy, she would sit under the wall and passersby would throw
her money. Now she has to come up to them herself and beg. It makes her job
harder, more troublesome. “Some give, some curse. There are more of those
who curse than those who give,” Sona says.
Until 1988 Sona was working at a factory. The earthquake took her job and
her apartment and made her a beggar. Now, the lingering effects of
earthquake are quickly taking her life.
The effect? “I gave up my soul and live underground,” she says.
Before, when she was healthy, she would collect 500-600 drams a day. That’s
more than a dollar, and enough for food and other expenses. Now she collects
less. She can hardly move and is always moaning.
And now, her daily needs include diuretics, which she cannot buy.
She says she expects no other treatment from this life.
“The ambulance has come twice. They do this (she shows how the doctors
pressed on her stomach with fingers) and go. They think by doing so it’ll
get better.” Now she cannot sleep from her stomach pains. “It hurts so much
that I can’t sweep anymore. I cannot bend down at all, if I bend down my
stomach will explode.”
Sona’s home is in the former park of the Polytechnic University, where
residents of Gyumri would walk, before the earthquake. All that’s left from
the park is the metal part of a rusty fountain and the round-shaped kiosk of
a café. Sona, five relatives, and the odd stray cat or dog in the kiosk.
Sona’s two daughters, who as she says were born from “a known mother and an
unknown father”, live with Sona. The younger, Arevik, 15, goes to school and
wants to become a handball coach. The elder, Armine, has a two-month old
child. Her husband, Samvel lives with them, too. He works at Gyumri Zoo,
cleaning up after animals. For it, he makes 20,000 drams (about $40 a
month).
Samvel’s arms are covered with cuts from top to bottom. Some wounds are
still fresh, others are old scars. He says when he gets nervous he cuts his
arms with a razor.
“I did it to myself. Cutting makes me high. When I’m angry I see my blood
and relax.”
Samvel, 29, has been convicted three times for fighting for fighting, and
has spent eight years in prison. But he’s been living straight for the past
four years. “I’ve become calmer now,” he says. “I clean under animals.”
The owner of the kiosk is Chichak, whose company is prostitutes and former
criminals. He grew up at an orphanage with Sona’s mother (her mother died
this year). Above Sona’s bed there’s a black and white photo that was taken
16 years ago. It is young Sona, pregnant with Arevik, and little Armine and
Chichak. Chichak raised Armine and he says she actually is his brother’s
daughter and that Sona is lying about the children, so that she is pitied

Home sweet home
Family relations have become entangled like the street animals that share
their lives. Besides the family, there are constant “guests” – old people
and women wearing shabby clothes, children with sooty faces and, like the
cats and dogs, one cannot figure out who is whose relative.
Chichak’s income is his pension.
“Life is very cruel. We’re starving, we miss fruits. The whole world has
eaten watermelons, we haven’t; it has eaten tomatoes, we haven’t. We give
what we get for the electricity, so that we at least see each other’s faces
in the evenings.”
He longs for the past. “Eh, it was very good during Soviet times.”
Last year, Sona, her mother and daughter were given a one-room flat near the
park. They took some of their belongings to the apartment, but do not live
there. Sona says with her bad health she cannot go four floors up. But the
real reason is not her physical state. Psychologically she cannot turn away
from the street, from Chichak’s kiosk which is her life and her way of
living.
It is hard to imagine how, for instance, she will take the street garbage –
which is their fuel – up to the apartment. In the kiosk it’s easy; they
collect whatever can be burnt from the nearby garbage pile. The fuel is
piled next to the kiosk – rags, plastic items, rubber . . .
Things that cannot be burnt are also collected in another pile, from which
scrap metal is occasionally sold for about $20 per ton.
They also collect from the garbage dress-up items. Sona wears rings that
were found in the garbage. And her nails are painted from discarded nail
polish.
But she didn’t find any lipstick and jokes that “the lipstick is left for
the next time.”
The old age that has come to her too early has left her hair young. She
jokes that if she finds dye “I’ll dye my hair gray.” And laughs as if on her
last breath.

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Aug 16 2004

Putin arrives in Sochi to hold working meetings, talks

SOCHI, August 16 (Itar-Tass) – – Russian President Vladimir Putin has
arrived in Sochi on Monday, press secretary of the Russian head of
state Alexei Gromov said.

In the next few days, Vladimir Putin will hold a series of working
meetings and international talks here. In particular, on August 18,
the Russian president is to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart
Leonid Kuchma, and on August 20, he is to hold talks with Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan.

Payvand, Iran
Aug 11 2004

Iranian University to Start Teaching Kurdish

In a groundbreaking attempt, Kurdish would be taught at Kurdistan
University, west of Iran, for the very first time come the new
academic year, Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency reported on
Wednesday.

It is decided that 30 eager students would be allowed to learn the
historical language academically, announced Bahram Valadbeigi, head
of the Kurdistan Institute.

He highlighted the similar roots of Kurdish and Persian languages,
saying `Expanding local languages would definitely boost the official
one.’

The editor of the Kurdish weekly `Ashti’ (reconciliation) also
expressed his gratitude to authorities in Iranian Higher Education
Ministry and hoped the language be taught in other universities as
well.

In Iran, 90 percent of Kurds live in villages, the rest are nomadic.
With a checkered history of acceptance and restriction of Kurdish in
modern Iran, a thriving literature in Iran has been slow to develop.
Since 1984 government policy has been open: Kurdish is permitted in
schools in Kurdish areas; a stream of publications has begun to
appear, and there are long-wave external broadcasts in Kurdish as
well as regional broadcasts on medium-wave radio in Kurdish and other
minority languages.

Kurdish, as a term, is often used to refer to two separate but
closely related language variants: Kurmanji (or Northern Kurdish) and
Kurdi (Southern Kurdish). Kurdi (sometimes Sorani) is spoken in Iraq
(2.8 million people), and in Iran (3 million people), especially in
regions bordering on Iraq and in a small enclave in the northeastern
province of Khorasan.

Kurmanji (sometimes Kurmanci) is mostly confined to Turkey (4
million) and northern Iraq (2.8 million). It is also spoken in Syria
(500,000); Armenia (100,000) in regions bordering Iraq; and in Iran
(100,000) south of Armenia and east of Iraq. There are unknown
numbers of speakers in Georgia and Azerbaijan. Smaller communities
speak the language (about 70 thousand) in Lebanon and in Europe, the
US, and Canada.

Total speakers of Kurdi probably number about 6 million and Kurmanji
speakers about 7 million, although some authorities cite a total of
20 million. Estimates of ethnic Kurds, not all of whom speak Kurdish
today because of assimilation, also are high. Some people who regard
themselves as Kurds speak Gurani and Zaza (or Dimli), closely related
Indo-European languages of a non-Kurdish group.