Category: News

SoHo in Vegas?
New Developments
Will Recast Sin City
By CHRISTINA BINKLEY
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 10, 2004; Page B1
Two giant development projects, each of them conceived as a minicity
with homes, shopping and gambling, are set to change the face of Las
Vegas by the end of the decade.
MGM Mirage announced today that it will build a $4 billion “city” on the
Las Vegas Strip. The company says the massive development is the size of
New York’s SoHo district, Times Square and Rockefeller Center combined.
At the same time, casino impresario Steve Wynn is planning to build a
huge resort development behind his latest casino project, Wynn Las
Vegas. According to the plans, described by several people familiar with
them, the project would entail as many as a dozen resort hotels
surrounding a vast lake that would be built behind the copper-colored
Wynn Las Vegas tower that now is rising.
“The goal is to create a pedestrian village where you walk, where
there’s stores and shopping in a beautiful environment with no cars,”
Mr. Wynn said.
MGM Mirage’s master-planned urban metropolis, approved by the casino
giant’s board during a lengthy meeting yesterday, is being designed by
the same architects responsible for Battery Park City in New York and
the Baltimore Inner Harbor East. It will be the largest private
development under way, said Jim Murren, MGM Mirage’s president and chief
financial officer.
“This is a fairly dramatic departure for Las Vegas and for our company,”
Mr. Murren said in an interview.
The development plans are set to take advantage of the recent
renaissance of Las Vegas, where casino profits and stock prices — and
land values — have been soaring. Boosted by the city’s return-to-sin
mentality and the success of a global advertising campaign — “What
happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas” — people from all over the
world have been flocking to the city’s nightclubs, shows and casinos.
Another catalyst for the development activity is the coming opening of
Wynn Las Vegas, which is set to debut in April. Given the previous
successes of Mr. Wynn’s earlier casino resorts — Bellagio, the Mirage,
and Treasure Island — most Las Vegas casino operators expect Wynn Las
Vegas to be a tough and highly luxurious competitor.
All this activity has contributed to a wave of mergers and acquisitions
this year in the casino industry, which is centered in Las Vegas. MGM
Mirage in June cut a $4.8 billion deal to buy Mandalay Resort Group.
Following that deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, Harrah’s
Entertainment Inc. agreed to make an even bigger acquisition — to buy
Caesars Entertainment Inc. for $5.3 billion. That was followed by
several additional planned acquisitions, including Penn National Gaming
Inc.’s planned purchase of ArgosyGaming Co., announced last week.
When its acquisition of Mandalay Resort Group closes next year, MGM
Mirage will have several hundred more acres to develop nearby along the
Las Vegas Strip. Ultimately, MGM Mirage will oversee most of the
southern end of the Las Vegas Strip in what some people who are familiar
with the dense, urban plans are calling “Kerkorian City.” MGM Mirage is
controlled by billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian.
The working title for the MGM Mirage metropolis is “Project CityCenter.”
The plans include a 4,000 room hotel and three smaller hotels. The
company has been talking with existing hoteliers that would manage those
smaller hotels. While no deals have been cut, the company is seeking
hotel brands that exist in Europe and Asia, places where Las Vegas is
competing heavily for high-rolling gamblers. Mr. Murren mentioned
Raffles, Peninsula and Cipriani as the type of hotel the company is
seeking.
There also will be 1,650 condominium and private residence club units
whose role will be to create a city-like 24-hour atmosphere. The 66-acre
development, designed by New York-based Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn
Architects, will sit next to Bellagio and the Monte Carlo casinos on
land that is owned by MGM Mirage.
It isn’t clear yet exactly how MGM Mirage will pay for the project. But
Mr. Murren, who this week put together a $9.7 billion package of bank
debt that can be used for the Mandalay acquisition and other things,
said he thinks the company will be able to fund CityCenter “easily.”
The CityCenter retail shopping area will be outdoors and “SoHo-type,”
Mr. Murren said, with streets designed for strolling as well as cars —
and no mall. Executives at MGM Mirage have been referring to this retail
area as “SoBella” for “South of Bellagio.” “We’re creating our own urban
environment,” Mr. Murren said.
One goal of both MGM Mirage and Mr. Wynn is to prevent their customers
from leaving for rival properties. The idea is to build vast resorts
with dozens of restaurants, several shows and endless shopping.
Mr. Wynn’s project would build out the 240-acre site where he is
building Wynn Las Vegas. The dozen or so resorts are to be built on the
$22 million Tom Fazio, Steve Wynn-designed golf course whose own
construction was completed just last week. “The whole thing would be
many waterfront resorts, not high-rise — medium-rise,” said Mr. Wynn in
a recent interview.
Several people familiar with Mr. Wynn’s plans there said that project
would be built around a vast lake — which could offer water skiing and
other entertainment — with a boardwalk that would lead to the high-rise
hotels. There would be more shows and entertainment, as well as vacation
homes that probably would be sold as timeshares or other forms of
“fractional” real estate.
Unlike MGM Mirage’s hotels, the elements of those resorts would be fully
owned by Wynn Resorts Ltd. “This is for my grandchildren,” Mr. Wynn
said. The costs would be paid for with cash flows from Wynn Las Vegas
and bank debt. Construction isn’t expected to start until 2008.
Write to Christina Binkley at [email protected]

La Padania, Italia
30 Ottobre 2004
Turchia: è la sinistra che dovrebbe opporsi
GIOVANNI FACCINI
Innanzi tutto mi consenta di farle i miei più entusiastici
complimenti per la sua nomina o riconferma al Parlamento Europeo dove
però, ahinoi, la situazione rischia di divenire pericolosa.
L’imperativo categorico del momento deve essere per tutti noi, forse
anche per Lei: inficiare quel subdolo tentativo in atto con cui si
cerca di fare passare per legittima e benefica una decisione che
sarebbe invece destinata a annientare tutti i popoli europei.
Ecco perché Lei cade proprio a fagiolo, vale a dire in questo momento
e dalla parte di chi, come il sottoscritto, sta cercando d’esortare
chiunque, anche politico professionista, abbia la necessaria dose
minima di coraggio per dichiararsi contrario a quel demenziale nonché
letale progetto volto a consentire l’adesione della Turchia alla
nostra Unione Europea.
Illustrissimo Onorevole Bertinotti, quest’iniziativa è stata
concepita, architettata, avviata dai soliti astutissimi poteri forti.
Bisogna arrestarla, bocciarla definitivamente.
I primi ad essere colpiti e danneggiati, infatti, se entrasse la
Turchia con paritetico diritto legislativo e esecutivo, sarebbero
proprio quei Lavoratori che voi così abilmente proclamate di volere
difendere. È evidente che qualsiasi ulteriore ampliamento dell’Unione
Europea ad altri paesi, appunto come la Turchia, già oltremodo
caratterizzati da pesantissimi problemi politici e socio-economici
d’ogni genere e dimensioni, in particolare soggetti a ormai
incontrollabili e incontrollate spinte migratorie, come quelle che
siamo obbligati a intravedere quasi ogni giorno, non farebbe che
complicare e peggiorare l’esistenza di chi, da noi, già oggi si trova
in fortissime difficoltà persino nel drammatico tentativo di pura
sopravvivenza.
Ecco perché, ora più che mai, è assolutamente indispensabile che i
più alti esponenti politici e sindacali scendano in campo nella più
strenue difesa dei Diritti dei Lavoratori.
Chi più di Lei avrebbe l’esperienza, la conoscenza e l’indipendenza
intellettuale e morale necessarie per ergersi in difesa dei Diritti
dei Lavoratori che, ancora una volta, stanno per essere così
platealmente e barbaramente ignorati, disattesi, mistificati,
danneggiati, se non addirittura travolti dal più spregevole
mercimonio politico e socioeconomico di tutte le epoche civili
conosciute?
Alludo a ciò che io stesso ho denominato “Questione Turca”, quel
progetto per il quale la Commissione esaminatrice di Bruxelles ha
emesso un primo parere favorevole, che dovrà poi essere seguito dalla
decisione che il prossimo consiglio dei ministri dovrà prendere il
prossimo 17 dicembre, sulla cui base si dovrà poi sancire l’avvio di
formali trattative finalizzate all’ammissione a pieno titolo della
Turchia nell’Unione Europea.
A parte il fatto che la Turchia con l’Europa c’entra pochino,
quand’anche riuscisse a convincerci d’essersi sinceramente avviata
lungo un percorso di riforme istituzionali rigorosamente
democratiche, e magari anche a riconoscere pubblicamente il genocidio
armeno, e magari persino decidesse di liberare Ocalan, per non
parlare di tutta la questione curda, della questione cipriota, dei
diritti umani, delle torture, nelle piscine femminili e altrove,
questo progetto presenta parecchi altri aspetti se non oscuri
senz’altro poco convincenti.
Taluni sostengono entusiasticamente che l’ingresso della Turchia
consentirà solidi progressi di varia natura geopolitica,
socioeconomica e finanziaria di cui tutti potranno fruire. Quali
vantaggi esattamente? Tutti chi esattamente? Altri ancora affermano
che non si possa e non si debba assolutamente abbandonare la Turchia
a sé stessa, correndo il rischio che essa sia infine travolta dal
peggiore fondamentalismo islamico a vocazione terroristica
globalizzata. Altri ancora sostengono che in ogni modo Europa e
Turchia assieme saprebbero realizzare cose eccelse mai viste prima
d’ora.
Chi e che cosa esattamente impedirebbe a un nuovo eventuale tandem
euro-turco di conseguire esattamente, ripeto esattamente, gli stessi
favolosi risultati senza che l’attuale Unione Europea sia obbligata
ad accettare la Turchia quale nuovo membro?
Sia chiaro, qui nessuno nutre alcuna antipatia personale o speciale
malevolenza nei confronti della Turchia o dei turchi – e lei nemmeno,
penso. O sbaglio?
Qui si tratta solo di chiarire alcune cose fondamentali. Innanzi
tutto è una questione di principio.
È ovvio: l’Europa deve cercare di aiutare gli altri paesi meno
fortunati. Ci mancherebbe altro che rifiutassimo di impegnarci in tal
senso solo perché memori di certe incaute imprese compiute dagli
antenati degli attuali popoli ottomani, o perché turbati dalle gesta
di certi Sultani che avevano il gioioso vezzo di fare strozzare o
altrimenti assassinare i loro stessi figli e fratelli? Come ad
esempio fecero tale Maometto I Sultano (1387-1421) allorquando ordinò
l’eliminazione dei suoi fratelli Musa e Solimano? Oppure come l’altro
ancor più feroce settimo Sultano, alias Fatih il conquistatore
(1430-1481) il quale organizzò l’annegamento del proprio fratello
Ahmed ancora lattante? Lo stesso che, dopo avere distrutto l’impero
di Trebisonda, fece pure strozzare il proprio figlio primogenito?
Oppure come il tredicesimo sultano (1566-1603) il quale, non appena
salito sul trono, dopo la morte del padre Murad III, provvide a fare
strozzare tutti i suoi fratelli (tranne uno sfuggito miracolosamente
alle mani del carnefice), completando poi l’amorevole opera con
l’uccisione del proprio figlio Maometto?
Eh no, Onorevole Bertinotti, ci mancherebbe altro che oggi noi ci
lasciassimo fuorviare da simili storielle d’altre epoche.
Qui nessuno vuole in alcun modo impedire l’ulteriore progresso della
Turchia. Qui nessuno si sogna di affermare che la Turchia, come tale,
possa costituire seria minaccia per l’Unione Europea. Tutt’altro!
Io personalmente, le assicuro, quanto più approfondisco questo
argomento, tanto più mi convinco che vi siano non una, bensì due
doverose considerazioni da fare a riguardo degli ipotetici pericoli
conseguenti l’eventuale adesione turca: se mai l’Europa dovrà
difendersi dalla invasione turca, allo stesso modo la Turchia dovrà
difendersi dall’evasione europea.
Innanzi tutto non bisogna dimenticare le gravissime crisi
istituzionali, finanziarie e economiche che la Turchia ha vissuto
negli ultimi cinque anni, con ripetuti fallimenti del sistema
bancario e successivi salvataggi grazie agli aiuti, a suon di
svariati miliardi di dollari del Fondo Monetario Internazionale,
eccetera.
Insomma, per non farla troppo lunga, la Turchia non esibisce ancora,
nemmeno oggi, le cosiddette “fondamentali” premesse macroeconomiche,
da cui poter intraprendere un reale percorso di progresso sociale e
di crescita economica. Ma non tanto per cattiva volontà. Soprattutto
perché è l’occidente stesso a volerle imporre un modello
istituzionale, giuridico, socioeconomico, finanziario e produttivo
che le è sostanzialmente estraneo e conflittuale.
Non sarà certo, come vorrebbe appunto fare l’attuale Commissione
Europea, estendendo qualche favore di natura assistenzialistica, che
la Turchia riuscirà a superare le attuali difficoltà di crescita,
sino a qualificarsi pienamente per l’adesione alla Ue.
Non sarà certo entrando nelle stanze dei bottoni, acquisendone gli
stessi diritti al voto in Commissione e nel Parlamento Europeo, che
la Turchia riuscirà a trasformarsi in meglio, ovvero a compiere quel
miracolo che è incompatibile con tutte le loro tradizioni e costumi.
A casa propria ognuno deve potere mantenere le proprie identità
culturali e conseguenti stili di vita.
Non è certo cosa elegante lasciar credere al vasto pubblico europeo
che, quand’anche si procedesse con gli scenari proposti, la questione
diverrebbe di concreta attualità solo fra 15 o 20 anni. Nulla di più
inesatto e ingannevole! L’Unione ha già sborsato e sta tuttora
sborsando fior di quattrini per mandare avanti questo piano: circa
440 milioni di euro per il periodo 1995-1999 e ben 2500 milioni di
euro per il periodo 2000-2003!
Così, mentre qui al nord Italia, oltre alle migliaia di aziende che
sono già state annientate o “delocalizzate” negli ultimi anni, se ne
stanno chiudendo molte altre ancora – vedi fra gli ultimi casi citati
recentemente la Zoppas di Treviso o l’Alfaromeo di Arese, con il
conseguente licenziamento di migliaia di fedeli lavoratori, per la
cui difesa è stato fatto poco o nulla, mentre nelle stesse regioni
già invase da migliaia di clandestini, oggi i soliti geniali
industrialoni nostrani pretendono l’arrivo di altri duecentomila
nuovi volenterosi immigrati.
Onorevole Fausto Bertinotti, mi auguro ardentemente che anche Lei
vorrà unirsi a noi in una sincera e onesta battaglia in difesa dei
Popoli Europei. Quelli veri.
–Boundary_(ID_ntaeTI+VBQrUw+6bBdcqlw)–

La Padania, Italia
29 Ottobre 2004
Non solo Olocausto: il genocidio degli armeni è ancora negato
PIER LUIGI PELLEGRIN
VENEZIA – I mille anni di storia che hanno caratterizzato il
tormentato rapporto tra turchi e armeni sono al centro del convegno
organizzato dalla Fondazione Giorgio Cini e iniziato ieri sull’isola
di San Giorgio, a Venezia. In tutte e tre le giornate nelle quali si
svolge il convegno il dibattito analizzerà il dramma del genocidio
armeno, perpetrato dai turchi agli inizi del secolo scorso. Il
convegno è stato diviso in cinque sessioni nelle quali vengono
esaminati i rapporti tra Armeni e Turchi dall’età selgiuchide (una
sorta di “Rinascimento” islamico) a quella ottomana e repubblicana.
Sono state poste sotto la lente di ingrandimento, pertanto, anche le
relazioni interetniche in Anatolia dal periodo ottomano in poi e,
soprattutto, il concetto di genocidio, analizzato in termini storici,
psicanalitici, filosofici e giuridici.
Oggi pomeriggio, inoltre, si parlerà di un altro tema strettamente
connesso al genocidio degli Armeni, il negazionismo, visto anche in
prospettiva di comunità europea e di diritti umani. In conclusione il
lavoro complessivo sarà sintetizzato attraverso la tavola rotonda
prevista nella tarda mattinata di domani.
Tra i relatori del convegno vi sono anche: Taner Akçam,
dell’Università del Michigan; lo storico del genocidio armeno, Frank
Chalk; il direttore dell’istituto di Gerusalemme per l’Olocausto e il
Genocidio, Israel W. Charny; il direttore della Bibliothéque Nubar,
Raymond Kevorkian; Pier Paolo Portinaro, docente di filosofia
politica all’Università di Torino; il medico parigino, Yves Ternon;
Giampiero Bellingeri, dell’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia; Mauro
Bussani, dell’Università di Trieste; Frank Chalk, dell’istituto per
il Genocidio a Montreal, l’armenista Aldo Ferrari; Ferhart Kentel,
dell’Università di Istanbul; Antonia Arslan dell’Università di
Padova. I loro interventi sono introdotti e coordinati da Antonio
Rigo, professore di Filologia bizantina all’Università Ca’ Foscari di
Venezia.
–Boundary_(ID_oOjIFv1ZvLNovpm2QFxg0Q)–

Clarín, Argentina
Nov 9 2004
CUADERNILLO PARA ESCUELAS PORTEÑAS
La memoria del genocidio armenio
Ayer se presentó un cuadernillo sobre el genocidio contra el pueblo
armenio, elaborado para las escuelas porteñas por la Secretaría de
Derechos Humanos en colaboración con el Consejo Nacional Armenio de
Sudamérica.
El cuadernillo El Genocidio Negado tiene contenidos informativos y
documentales y actividades didácticas sobre los hechos ocurridos
entre 1915 y 1923.
En esos años, se asesinó a más de un millón y medio de personas, se
destruyeron monumentos, escuelas, iglesias y se dispersaron en el
exilio cientos de miles de ciudadanos armenios.
Los armenios reclaman el reconocimiento de este genocidio por el
Estado turco y la restitución de las tierras usurpadas.
“Es fundamental promover en nuestros jóvenes y niños hacer memoria de
aquellos actos que han atentado contra el ser humano para poder
analizarlos, evaluarlos y prevenir actos similares en el futuro” dice
el cuadernillo.
La idea anunciada es difundir hechos históricos y promover “la
solidaridad y el respeto mutuo desde una perspectiva intercultural
como bases necesarias para la convivencia”.
–Boundary_(ID_Tv01tWEr7ZINb/px4FdA1A)–

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Oct 9 2004
Pro-government party to picket foreign embassies
The pro-government Modern Musavat Party (MMP) plans to hold pickets
outside the UN office in Baku and the US, French, Russian and German
embassies with regard to the Upper Garabagh conflict settlement.
The party will urge the UN to fulfill its resolutions on liberation
of Azerbaijan’s occupied lands and assist in ensuring the rights of
some one million refugees and internally displaced persons, deputy
chairman of the party Telman Hagverdiyev said.
Hagverdiyev said the party plans to hold massive protests if the
Mayor’s Office of Baku sanctions them. Otherwise, about 50 people
will participate in each picket, he noted.*

Grève de la faim de Kurdes d’Arménie contre la détention d’Ocalan
Agence France Presse
10 novembre 2004 mercredi 2:40 PM GMT
EREVAN 10 nov
25 militants du Comité arménien “Kurdistan” ont annoncé mercredi
avoir entamé une grève de la faim de trois jours pour exiger
l’amélioration des conditions de détention du chef rebelle kurde
Abdullah Ocalan, qui purge une peine de prison à vie en Turquie
depuis 1999.
Selon le dirigeant du Comité “Kurdistan” d’Arménie, Therkez Mstoïan,
“les grevistes exigent que M. Ocalan quitte sa cellule destinée à une
seule personne et déménage dans une cellule collective pour pouvoir
communiquer avec ses co-détenus”. En plus, “le niveau d’humidité trop
élevé dans sa cellule actuelle est dangereuse pour son état de
santé”, selon le responsable.
Les Kurdes d’Arménie exigent également que la Turquie “arrête la
politique visant à l’isolement du peuple kurde et apporte des
amendements à sa Constitution pour permettre aux Kurdes de recevoir
une éducation dans leur langue et de la pratiquer en liberté”, selon
un communiqué du Comité diffusé mercredi.
“Si la Turquie continue sa politique (actuelle), toute la
responsabilité (des conséquences) incombera aux autorités turques et
à l’Union Européenne qui garde le silence”, selon le texte.
Les Kurdes d’Arménie protestent également contre l’adhésion de la
Turquie à l’UE, “les 20 millions de Kurdes qui constituent un tiers
de la population turque étant privés des droits les plus
élémentaires”.
Abdullah Ocalan est incarcéré en isolement sur l’île-prison d’Imrali,
dans le nord-ouest de la Turquie. Agé de 55 ans, le leader du Parti
des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK, séparatistes kurdes de Turquie)
avait été condamné à la peine de mort en 1999 pour “séparatisme”,
pour avoir dirigé pendant quinze ans une rébellion visant à créer un
Etat indépendant dans le sud-est du pays, à majorité kurde. Cette
sanction avait été commuée en réclusion à perpétuité en octobre 2002
après l’abolition de la peine de mort en Turquie.
Ses défenseurs dénoncent systématiquement les conditions de détention
de leur client.
–Boundary_(ID_uH8CByi53XyEhAojPcDdUQ)–

Analysis: Azerbaijan Rejects Armenian Warning Over Karabakh Talks
By Liz Fuller
Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Nov 10 2004
In an exclusive interview on 9 November with RFE/RL’s Armenian
Service, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that he and
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov made “serious progress”
during their four rounds of talks on approaches to resolving the
Karabakh conflict. Oskanian said it is now possible to begin a
second stage of talks building on what was achieved earlier, and
that Azerbaijan has signaled its readiness for such talks. “Armenia
has already given its positive answer and is ready to resume the
negotiations [as early as] tomorrow,” Oskanian said.
Since May, Oskanian and Mammadyarov have met four times in Strasbourg
and Prague to discuss approaches to resolving the conflict. Whatever
provisional consensus they reached was the subject of discussion
at a meeting on 15 September between the two countries’ presidents,
Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev, on the sidelines of a CIS summit in
Astana, after which Oskanian said there would be an “interval” before
the second stage of his talks with Mammadyarov began. Azerbaijani
Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov said in late September that the
past meetings with Oskanian had proved “useful” but that further such
talks had been postponed “indefinitely” at Armenia’s request.
No details have been divulged of the issues on the table in Prague,
and that enforced confidentiality has spawned rumors that Yerevan
is prepared to withdraw from either three or five of the seven
occupied Azerbaijani districts bordering on Karabakh even before
a final decision is reached on the future political status of the
unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
On 27 October, the Armenian Foreign Ministry issued a formal statement
denying such speculation. “Regardless of Azerbaijan’s wishes or
statements, Armenia’s focus during negotiations is on the issue of
the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. All other issues are tangential to the
status issue, and Armenia views them only in the context of the future
status of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement said. It further underscored
that Yerevan “is interested only in a comprehensive resolution of this
issue, and its participation in negotiations is conditional on that
approach,” the statement continued. In other words, Armenia wants the
final agreement on a solution to the conflict to address, and stipulate
a solution to, all disputed issues, and to specify the order and time
frame in which the various points agreed upon will be implemented.
Also in his 9 November interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service,
Oskanian criticized as “a diplomatic error” Baku’s insistence on
including on the agenda of the UN General Assembly the issue of the
resettlement of Armenian families on territory controlled by Armenian
forces. He warned that Azerbaijan should not proceed on the assumption
that it can continue negotiations on resolving the Karabakh conflict
under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group while at the same time seeking the assistance
of other international organizations in resolving individual issues
related to that conflict. Armenia wants the final agreement on a
solution to the conflict to address, and stipulate a solution to,
all disputed issues, and to specify the order and time frame in which
the various points agreed upon will be implemented.
“Either we continue the negotiations within the Minsk Group,
trying to reach a solution of the whole problem, or Azerbaijan
can take the issue to other instances, seeking separate solutions,”
Oskanian said. Should Azerbaijan choose the latter approach, Oskanian
said, the Azerbaijani authorities will have to negotiate with the
Nagorno-Karabakh leadership. “Today the ball is in [Azerbaijan’s]
court,” Oskanian concluded.
But on 10 November Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Metin Mirza
rejected Oskanian’s warning that Azerbaijan should not try to launch
a parallel mediation effort as an effort to “torpedo” the negotiating
process at a juncture when “favorable conditions” had been created
for making progress. He inferred that Yerevan is “seriously concerned”
by the prospect of the UN General Assembly debate. And he stressed yet
again that Baku will not agree to negotiate with the Nagorno-Karabakh
leadership.
President Aliyev similarly argued last week that raising the Karabakh
issue in other international forums will not jeopardize the ongoing
search for a solution under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk Group,
nor does Baku seek to replace the Minsk Group by another mediator,
ITAR-TASS reported. Aliyev said Baku simply wants international
organizations such as the UN, the EU, and the Council of Europe
to “recognize unequivocally that Armenia has occupied part of
Azerbaijan’s territory,” and that this “unfair situation” should be
corrected. Touring four southern regions of Azerbaijan on 9 November,
President Aliyev said that Baku will not sign a formal Karabakh peace
agreement until Armenian forces have retreated from the districts
adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh that they currently occupy, ITAR-TASS
reported. “We demand with justification that the seized territory be
freed and the occupying forces withdraw,” Aliyev said while visiting
Astara, where he formally opened a new cargo terminal on the border
with Iran.

Armenians, Azeris continue clashes over joint conferences
The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 12 2004
According to the Azeri newspaper Zerkalo.Baku, the European Union,
Council of Europe and State Duma of the Russian Federation all made
the offer to hold meetings of the heads of the parliaments of the
South Caucasus countries. According to the Speaker of Mili Mejlisa of
Azerbaijan Murtuz Aleskerov, Azerbaijan is not against this initiative.
According to the paper, one meeting of the speakers of the parliament
of the South Caucasus countries was held recently in Versailles
Palace near Paris by the initiative the chair of senate of France
Christian Ponsole. As Aleskerov said, participants of the meeting were
informed about the cases of destruction of some Azeri cultural-historic
monuments as the result of aggression from Armenia. “Talk regarding
the regional cooperation can take place only after the release of
Azeri lands, the return refugees and forced immigrants to their native
land. Armenian-Azeri, Nagorno-Karabakh, and also Georgian conflicts
are the main obstacles for the development of the Caucasus region,”
said Aleskerov.
According to the speaker, the Armenian side did not present
any important ideas regarding the issues which were discussed,
particularly, regarding the Karabakh conflict, and only noted that they
support the settlement of this problem in a peaceful way. “The Azeri
delegation once again stated that the problem must be settled within
the framework of the international rights and territorial integrity of
the country, and we will not step back from our standpoint,” he said.
As for the participation of an Armenian delegation in the forthcoming
conference to be held in Baku in the end of November, “Rose-Road” of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the NATO, Alekserov noted that their
participation “does not present much importance for us, though we
are not against their arrival.”
Meanwhile, reports surfaced that the Armenian side intends to take
part in the conference “Rose Road” being organized by the Parliamentary
Assembly of NATO in Baku. Earlier this year, authorities of Azerbaijan
did not allow an Armenian delegation to attend the training exercises
NATO Best Effort 2004. Proceeding from this fact, the training was
cancelled.
As head of the commission in the defense issues, national security and
internal affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia Mger Shakhgeldian
stated that besides himself MPs Alekasn Karapetian and Artur Petrosian
will be a part of the Armenian delegation. Shakhgeldian noted that
the Armenian side has already informed organizers of the conference
regarding its decision.
As for visas, the Armenian MPs will receive them upon arrival in
Baku. The conference Rose Road is planned to be held on November 26-28,
despite the fact that some local Azerbaijan parties and organizations
have held demonstrations against the Armenians’ arrival.

Road rage suspect caught in Armenia
By Jason Kandel, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
Nov 12 2004
One of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives has been captured and returned
to Los Angeles four years after fleeing to Armenia after killing a
man during a vicious road rage incident in Universal City, authorities
said Thursday.
Shahen Keshishian, 32, a former truck driver from Burbank and a U.S.
citizen, was arrested this week by Armenian authorities at his
apartment in Yerevan, the country’s capital.
FBI agents and Glendale police, who were in the country on unrelated
business, located Keshishian after detectives in the Los Angeles
Police Department’s North Hollywood Division asked for assistance
tracking him down.
They quickly located him and informed Armenian authorities, who
arrested him for overstaying his visa. Keshishian was promptly handed
over to U.S. authorities.
“I am pleased as punch. I am just so elated,” said LAPD Detective
Martin Pinner of the North Hollywood Division’s homicide unit, who
returned from Armenia on Wednesday with the suspect.
“This arrest, I do believe, came as a result of policemen talking
to policemen, and massive cooperation with other agencies in two
different countries.”
LAPD Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, who oversees the LAPD’s Valley
Bureau, praised the work of North Hollywood Division detectives.
“This is an example, once again, of how we do police work in the
Valley. We try to always get our man. North Hollywood did a great
job putting it all together.”
FBI officials said the arrest was a warning to criminals who have
fled the country.
“This arrest should send the message to individuals who flee to
Armenia and other countries that it’s not a safe haven,” said FBI
spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.
Keshishian has been charged with murder and is expected to appear in
court Nov. 24. He is being held at the Twin Towers Jail in lieu of
$1 million bail.
He is accused of running down freelance film editor Michael Craven,
44, of Canoga Park with a black Chevrolet Suburban on April 29, 2000,
after the men became involved in a road rage confrontation along the
Hollywood Freeway.
Craven had been driving on the freeway after dinner with a friend when
several men in their 20s pulled up in the black Suburban and threw
eggs. One of the drivers had apparently cut in front of the other.
Authorities say Craven pulled to the side of the freeway just south
of Barham Boulevard to confront the suspect, and the Suburban driver
stopped behind him. A passenger in the Suburban then threw a beer
bottle at Craven’s Jeep.
Police said that after Craven got out of his Jeep, the Suburban was
seen backing up, then driving forward, running Craven over. He died
hours later.
Minutes after the incident, Keshishian was ticketed for speeding,
but police did not connect him with the earlier road-rage case. A
month later, officials issued a $25,000 reward for his capture and
released a composite sketch.
Three months after the killing, Keshishian was listed as one of the
FBI’s most wanted.
The Suburban was a key clue that eventually led to the international
manhunt, Pinner said. An unidentified person had fraudulently bought
the SUV and loaned it to Keshishian the night of the murder.
“We researched every Suburban purchased in the time frame around the
murder,” Pinner said. “We looked for him all over the U.S. with the
help of the FBI and tons of agencies. Boston, New York. I spoke to
people in Texas. We did a lot of work.”
Detectives continue to search for the passengers in the SUV that night.
“It was the passenger throwing the stuff at the victim,” Pinner said.
“It’s a felony. The passenger is also going to jail. I’d love to
figure out who he is.”

Plans announced for new local Armenian cathedral
By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News
Nov 12 2004
Hopes are high for building an Armenian cathedral able to accommodate
600 worshippers across from Woodbury University, where an Armenian
diocese has been headquartered since 1997.
The Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America was based
at a cathedral in Hollywood until the 1994 Northridge Earthquake
damaged the building. The diocese took up temporary headquarters in
Pasadena before moving to Burbank.
Although the diocese last month opened a one-room library at its
headquarters at 3325 N. Glenoaks Blvd., it has no cathedral on the
property and about 50 worshippers pray on Sunday inside the building
before a movable altar.
“Since it’s not an official church building, people prefer to go to
an established, consecrated church. But if someone is faithful, it
doesn’t matter if you have it in the church building or the parking
lot. When you have prayer, God is everywhere,” said the Rev. Sipan
Mekhsian of the diocese.
The cathedral is expected to cost more than $6 million to build.
About $2 million has been pledged, fund raising is ongoing and the
diocese hopes to begin construction within the year, said Toluca Lake
resident Armen Hampar, 72, who chairs the building committee.
“The Armenian community that seems to have spilled over from Glendale
into Burbank and North Hollywood … are all looking for a place
where they can come and worship,” Hampar said.
The project is called Mother Cathedral, although the building is
expected to have a different name once consecrated. It would have
an interior of roughly 10,000 square feet and would be built in a
traditional Armenian architectural style.
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian, formerly the primate of the Canadian
Diocese, took the helm of the Western Diocese last year. He would
lead services at the new cathedral.
The Western Diocese has churches throughout the Los Angeles-area and
the western states and a school under its jurisdiction in Pasadena.
Hampar said the diocese has grown in the 30 years he has been involved
with it.
“We’ve gotten waves of Armenians, all from different cultures depending
on where they come from, coming to Los Angeles,” Hampar said.