Category: News

SILVA KAPUTIKIAN AND SIX OTHER INTELLECTUALS APPEAL TO ARMENIAN
PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN “EXPRESSING HOPE” THAT HE WILL STOP
ILLEGALITIES CONNECTED WITH DALMA GARDENS
YEREVAN, October 20 (Noyan Tapan). Seven members of the Committee for
Protection of Yerevan Dalma Gardens addressed an open letter to
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan on October 14 asking for stoppage
of illegal acts by several high-ranking officials of the country in
respect to the gardens. The open letter signed by prominent poetess
Silva Kaputikian, RA People’s Painter Eduard Isabekian, academician
Paris Heruni, composer of songs Edvard Miroyan, professor Levon
Harutiunian, real member of the RA Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Anahit Shirinian and Chairman of Armenian Green Union Hakob Sanasarian
calls for establishing corresponding conditions for the organization
of detailed and multilateral discussions of the Dalma Gardens
program. The letter, in particular, expressed hope that the Armenian
President will keep his promises regarding the fact that Yerevan will
not be built up at the expense of Dalma Gardens.
Dissatisfaction and available problems connected with Dalma Gardens
were presented in the 3-page letter. It should be mentioned that Dalma
Gardens have cultural and historical value.

SLOVAK PARLIAMENT IS GOING TO DISCUSS ISSUES OF RECOGNITION OF
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AND TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP IN EUROPEAN UNION
BRATISLAVA, October 20 (Noyan Tapan). The National Assembly of
Slovakia is going to discuss the issues of Turkey’s possible
membership in the European Union during this and next weeks. According
to Ashot Grigorian, Chairman of the Armenian Community of Slovakia, it
will follow the discussion of the issue of Slovakia’s recognition of
the Armenian Genocide by the suggestion of the Christian-Democratic
faction of the parliament. It is also expected that the issue of
Turkey’s membership in the European Union will be connected with the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey.

BRITISH WAR MEMORIAL DESECRATED IN AZERI CAPITAL OVER MPS’ KARABAKH VISIT
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
20 Oct 04
(Presenter, referring to preceding report about protest of the
Karabakh Liberation Organization at the British embassy in Baku) There
has been more radical protest against British officials’ visit to
Karabakh.
Using black paint, unidentified people today wrote the name of (Deputy
Speaker of the British House of Lords) Baroness Caroline Cox, who led
the British delegation during the Karabakh visit, on the memorial (at
Martyrs’ Avenue in central Baku) to British soldiers killed in Baku in
1918 (fighting Turkish troops).
Police arrived at the scene and removed paint off the memorial. It is
still unknown who is responsible for the incident.

Monday, October 18, 2004
***********************************
The human brain is designed to think, but more often than not, thinking is the last thing it does.
*
You cannot argue with City Hall, they say; neither can you argue with a bishop, or, for that matter, with a dogmatist, a fanatic, a monomaniac, a partisan, and in general, anyone with an axe to grind or has more power than you do.
*
You cannot argue with Turks either. Not that I have ever argued with one. But I have argued with Armenians. As a matter of fact, I have had many arguments with Armenians and I have lost all of them. Not only have I lost the arguments but also quite a few friends, not to say a fraction of my dignity.
*
Sometimes I ask myself: Why do I go on? And the only answer I can come with is that I don’t know. I have no idea why I continue to argue with my fellow Armenians. It must be the Turk in me.
*
But I know something today that I didn’t know before. Our side of the story is not the whole story. To think that it is, is to make the same mistake that Turks make when they think their side of the story is the whole story. I am a not implying truth is located somewhere in the middle. What I am trying to say is that, it is a mistake to think in any argument or conflict, one side is 100% right and the other 100% wrong.
*
You cannot have consensus without compromise, and consensus does not mean agreement but cooperation. This applies not only to Armeno-Turkish relations but also to Armeno-Armenian relations.
*
Our choice is between compromise and consensus on the one hand, and on the other, disagreement and feud to the end of time.
*
And now, let us pray: Our Father who art in heaven….
*
And, if you are not big on prayer, let us reason together. Let us, for a change, use our brain for the purpose it was designed.
#
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
**********************************
Whenever I read a favorable comment on Turks by a Western observer, I think: “What the hell does he know?” But more and more frequently now, the question I ask next is: “What the hell do I know?”
*
Is there a single imperial nation on the face of the earth and in the history of mankind that can plead not guilty to the charge of massacre?
*
When we think in terms of right and wrong, good and evil, lies and truth, love and hate, we, in a way, assume to live in a black-and-white world. But what if the colors of reality are closer to shades of gray?
*
So far we have concentrated our efforts on exposing Turkish crimes and Western lies to such an extent that we have ignored our own. Which is where I come in…. But what if I too have been so busy exposing our own prejudices and misconceptions that I have had no time to see my own? As a matter of fact, it is by observing my own prejudices that I began to see our collective lies.
*
Born and raised in a Tashnak neighborhood, educated in a chezok (Catholic) school, now living in a predominantly Protestant country among Ramgavar relatives, I have been exposed to a veritable supermarket of conflicting ideologies, religions, propaganda and lies.
*
We may agree on the number of our victims, but we agree on nothing else. What the hell do we know? That is our question.
#
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
***********************************
In one of our weeklies I read today that an Orthodox Jew spat on an Armenian archbishop in Jerusalem, and the archbishop reacted by slapping the Jew. This minor incident epitomizes all the aberrations that at one time or another have been committed in the name of god or religion.
*
God may be good, but his role in the history of mankind has been ambiguous. If god were accountable to a separate set of superior gods, he would need a dream-team of lawyers. Either that or plead insanity.
*
Socrates was condemned to death because he was accused of not respecting the gods of Athens. Jesus was crucified because he claimed to be the Messiah. Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on religious grounds. Gandhi was assassinated by a fanatic Hindu. I could go on…
*
During the Soviet era, Ramgavars supported the regime in Yerevan and the Tashnaks opposed it. The regime is no longer with us but we continue to have two sets of churches, schools, community centers, weeklies, bosses and bishops where one would be more than enough. Our unspoken slogan: Bad blood first, solidarity last.
*
If our political bosses are ever impeached, they too will need a dream team.
*
Readers, who have programmed themselves to disagree with me, also program themselves to misunderstand everything I say, and when it comes to misunderstanding, the average Armenian can be as creative as a genius.
*
According to the boomerang school of Armenian criticism, if you are against something, you will be accused of that very same something. Because I have been critical of intolerance and dogmatism, I have been accused of both aberrations.
*
Religious faith is sometimes confused with religious insanity, which, unlike other forms of insanity, may raise an entire civilization against another. It is no exaggeration to say that religious insanity has claimed more victims than all other forms of insanity combined.
*
As for nationalism and idealism (two other forms of collective insanity): they too may lead to war and massacre, but only when they acquire religious fervor. Is not the fascist slogan “Mussolini ha sempre ragione” (Mussolini is always right) an echo of divine infallibility?
#

Armenian National Committee of Florida
931 NE 48th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33334
Tel. (954) 401-9787 – E-mail. [email protected]
PRESS RELEASE
October 15, 2004
Contact: Bedo Der-Bedrossian ~ Tel: (954) 401-9787
FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE SCORES 100% ON ANCA QUESTIONNAIRE
Betty Castor Signals Support for Genocide Recognition, Increased
Aid, Expanded Trade, and an End to the Blockades
WASHINGTON, DC – In a move welcomed by Florida’s growing Armenian
community, “Sunshine State” Senate hopeful Betty Castor responded
positively to each of the nine questions on the Armenian National
Committee Of America (ANCA) Candidate Questionnaire.
The Questionnaire features nine questions about recognition of the
Armenian Genocide; U.S. support for Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh;
U.S.-Armenia economic relations; Self-determination for Nagorno-
Karabakh; Conditions on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan; the Turkish
blockade of Armenia, and; the U.S.
subsidy of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline bypass of Armenia.
Despite its growing Armenian community, estimated at over 30,000,
Florida remains among the shrinking number of states in which
neither Senator has cosponsored the Genocide Resolution, S.Res.164.
or actively supported Armenian American issues. Both Senators –
freshman Bill Nelson (D) and Bob Graham (D), who is retiring after
three six-year terms in the Senate – have been largely unsupportive
of Armenian American issues and unresponsive to the concerns of
sizable Armenian communities in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa/St.
Petersburg, Ocala, Orlando, Fort Meyer, Jacksonville, Tallahassee,
and elsewhere throughout the state.
Castor is running against Mel Martinez, the Bush Administration’s
former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to succeed
Senator Graham. The race is widely considered to be among the most
competitive in the nation. Castor has served as a state senator,
as Florida Education Commissioner, and as a university president.
She founded the nationally recognized Healthy Kids insurance
program.
Those interested in learning Mel Martinez’s positions on Armenian
American issues can contact his campaign and urge him to complete
the ANCA Candidate Questionnaire. His campaign manager, Scott
Barnhart, can be reached by phone through the campaign’s operator
at (407) 897-3130; the campaign’s political director, Nathan Blake,
can be contacted via email at [email protected]. For complete
contact information for the Martinez campaign:
<;h ttp:// The Armenian National Committee of South Florida commended one of its local activists, Michael Toumayan, for urging Betty Castor, in behalf of the ANC of South Florida, to state her positions on Armenian issues by filling-out the ANCA Candidate Questionnaires. In addition Michael has also worked closely with the Castor's senior aides and arranged for the campaign to send a representative to deliver an address to the Armenian Americans attending the Florida "Kef for Kerry" on October 24, 2004. For an Adobe PDF version of the ANCA Questionnaire: <;http: // The ANCA chapter contacts for Florida are: ANC - Central Florida Ara Manoogian [email protected] ANC - Gulf Coast Richard O'Brien [email protected] ANC South Florida Bedros Der Bedrossian [email protected]

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
19 October 2004
Official visit of Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian to Italy
Foreign Minister Oskanian arrived in Italy with official visit on 18
October. On the same day minister Oskanian had a meeting with the Foreign
Minister of Italy Franco Frattini.
The foreign ministers discussed a wide range of bilateral and international
issues, taking into consideration the prospects of development of
Armenian-Italian relations concerning various arenas.
The ministers paid special attention to the programs that are of high
priority for the economic development of Armenia and could use Italian
experience in the field of the system of small and medieval enterprises, as
well as development of tourism. For the purpose to encourage Italian
investments parties come to an agreement to improve bilateral legal
framework. Also discussed was the possibility of deepening the relations in
the field of health care, culture and education.
In a course of the political sphere parties paid an attention on the
necessity of frequent mutual visits at the high level. The prospects of
euro-integration of Armenia within the frames of New neighborhood policy of
the EU, as well as the issue of cooperation of the two states in the
international organizations have also been discussed.
The foreign ministers thoroughly discussed the urgent issues of
international policy, developments in the Southern Caucasus, the situation
around the problem of Nagorno-Karabagh and, Armenian-Turkish relations.
On the same day Minister Oskanian visited The Vatican and met the Secretary
of Relations with Foreign States of the Holy See, Giovanni Loyola.
This was the third visit of the Foreign Minister of Armenia to Italy since
the July of 1998, when documents were signed on the encouragement and mutual
protection of capital investments and on consultation between the foreign
services of the two states. The Foreign Minister Oskanian paid his second
visit in the midst of June 2002, during the course of which, an
inter-governmental treaty was signed on the incomes and the escape from
double taxation.
Deputy Foreign Ministers of Italy, Umberto Ranieri and Margherita Boniver,
paid visits to Armenia in June of 2000 and July of 2002.

Itar-Tass, Russia
Oct 19 2004
Russia, Azeri presidents to discuss Caucasus sit, Karabakh

MOSCOW, October 19 (Itar-Tass) – Russian President Vladimir Putin is
to hold a meeting here on Tuesday with his Azeri counterpart Ilkham
Aliyev, who arrived here on Monday for a working visit.
A Kremlin administration official has told Itar-Tass, “Putin and
Aliyev will exchange views on the development of the situation in the
Caucasus area”. In this context, considering the September meetings
of the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia in Astana, Putin
and Aliyev will discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
“Russia welcomes a continuation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian dialogue
at various levels, primarily at top level, and is prepared to render
an active assistance to the sides involved in the conflict in the
search for a way out towards a mutually acceptable solution, both on
a bilateral basis and as a co-chairman of the OSCE (Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group (on Nagorno-Karabakh)
and act as guarantor of the prospective accord”, the Russian
presidential administration official pointed out.
Kremlin analysts expect that the two presidents will devote much
attention to a discussion of ways to invigorate the two countries’
anti-terrorist interaction, considering their common attitude towards
the need to intensify the efforts of the world community in the fight
against international terrorism.
“Figuring importantly at the upcoming talks will be matters
concerning a rise in the effectiveness of bilateral
trade-and-economic cooperation, the task of doubling trade turnover
in the coming years, interaction in the fuel-and-energy sector,
machine building, transport, the development of cooperation between
Russia’s regions and Azerbaijan,” the presidential administration
official said.
The Azerbaijani President’s working visit has been timed to coincide
with the holding of the 2nd convention of the All-Russia Azerbaijani
Congress (ARAC) in Moscow. This is the largest and most influential
all-Russia public organisation, which brings together Azerbaijanis
who reside and Russia, and which plays an important role in the
socio-economic and cultural life of Russia, and in the strengthening
of Russo-Azerbaijani versatile cooperation.
Forum organisers have announced that participants in the ARAC
convention will discuss ways to unite Azerbaijanis who live in Russia
still more closely and raise their economic and socio-political
status. Those present at the convention are also to consider problems
being encountered by Azerbaijanis in Russia.
The ARAC was established in March 2001 with the support of the
leadership of the two countries. The first session of the ARAC was
held in October of the same year. The forum has united more than 70
Azerbaijani public organisations, including regional ones instituted
in 54 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The ARAC
activities involve prominent scientists, cultural figures, members of
business circles closely connected with Russia and Azerbaijan. The
ARAC prioritises the preservation of spiritual and historical
traditions of Azeri nationals, and the ensurance of the legal
protection of compatriots from manifestations of discrimination on an
ethnic basis.

New York Times, NY
Oct 19 2004
Home of 3 Faiths, Rubbing One Another the Wrong Way
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: October 19, 2004
ERUSALEM, Oct. 18 – To all the depredations and brutality meted out
in the name of religion in the holy city, add a little spit.
When a young yeshiva student spat at the cross-carrying Armenian
archbishop of Jerusalem, Nourhan Manougian, the archbishop struck
back, a fistfight broke out, the police were called and a new debate
started spinning about the nature of intolerance among the faithful.

Jerusalem may have the world’s highest diversity of religious belief
per square meter but here, it seems, diversity does not produce a lot
of tolerance.
In fact, it is almost the reverse, suggests Rabbi David Rosen, based
in Jerusalem as head of inter-religious affairs for the American
Jewish Committee. “It’s the paradox of Jerusalem,” Mr. Rosen said.
The competition among true believers of all faiths creates tension,
not ecumenicism.
“Here, the vast majority of Muslims, Christians and Jews live with a
pre-modern mentality, a linear truth,” he said. “And since I possess
it, they think, why should I come together with you? Diversity is not
seen here as positive, as in the Western world, or dialogue
enriching.”
The spitting incident occurred a week ago, during a procession for
the Feast of the Holy Cross, which commemorates the return of the
true cross to Jerusalem by the Romans after they defeated the
Persians, who had apparently stolen it. In the post-spittle struggle,
the archbishop’s medallion, dating from the 17th century, was
damaged, and so, too, some worried, was Israel’s reputation for
tolerance and fair administration of the disputed capital.
Though the target was important, this was hardly an isolated
incident. Spitting on Christian clergy by ultra-Orthodox Jews, while
not an everyday occurrence, happens often enough to have become a
sensitive topic among Christians in the Old City, said Wadie
Abunassar, an Israeli Arab Roman Catholic who worked as a spokesman
here for the Latin Patriarch, a leader of the Eastern Orthodox
Church.
“Jerusalem is supposed to be a city for ecumenicism – it’s supposed
to be,” Mr. Abunassar said. “But Jerusalem is a very nervous city.
You feel the denominational and sectarian tension there, not just
between Christians and Jews, or Jews and Muslims, but among
Christians, too.
“Everybody, every sect tries to claim that we are the cleanest, the
purest, the best,” he added.
Rabbi Rosen said the matter has to be understood in an ultra-Orthodox
context. “Ultra-Orthodox Jews don’t by definition live in the modern
world,” Rabbi Rosen said. Many, to varying degrees, see Christianity
as idol worship. “For them, the cross is a symbol of idolatry and of
hatred of Judaism,” he said.
For the ultra-Orthodox, Mr. Abunassar said, “Jesus is not just a bad
Jew, but almost Satan’s messenger.
“They avoid writing his name,” he said. “Some won’t wear neckties, to
avoid making a cross around their neck, or use shoelaces. In math,
instead of the plus sign, a cross, they use an upside-down T.”
Some ultra-Orthodox also spit at women in skirts deemed too short,
and there have been cases when a driver on the Sabbath is stopped, as
if for directions, and when he or she rolls down a window, is spat
upon.
In this case, the student who spat, Natan Zvi Rosenthal, was
arrested. He told the police he had been brought up to see
Christianity as idol worship, forbidden by the Torah, and spat at the
cross as its symbol. He was ordered to stay away from the Old City
for 75 days, and may yet be indicted. On Monday, he made a formal
apology in the company of his teachers, rabbis from the Har Hamor
Yeshiva in Jerusalem. They said they tried to educate their students
to be courteous.
Archbishop Manougian accepted the apology. But he said there had been
many such incidents since Israel took control of east Jerusalem in
1967. “Sometimes they spit, sometimes they cut through the
procession,” he said. “They have thrown garbage in front of the
churches and broken the crosses on tombstones.” The police, he said,
did little or nothing.
This time the government responded. The interior minister, Avraham
Poraz, condemned spitting at clergy, which he called repulsive, and
vowed to crack down. He ordered the police to prevent further such
occurrences, presumably by putting more officers in the Christian
quarter of the Old City. Because of the intifada, many Orthodox Jews
who want to visit the Western Wall skirt the Muslim quarter and pass
through the Armenian one, leading to more confrontations.
A former chief rabbi, Israel Meir Lau, condemned the incidents as
“spitting in the face of Judaism.” They are a “desecration of the
Divine Name” and could contribute to anti-Semitism, he said, while
violating Israel’s sacred trust over the holy places. “Protection of
everything sacred to other religions is one of the justifications for
Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem,” he said.
The Jerusalem office of the Anti-Defamation League called on Israel’s
two chief rabbis to come out “quickly and firmly against this clear
violation of Jewish ethical teaching.” The office director, Laura
Kam Issacharoff, said: “It’s all about intolerance and lack of
education – or miseducation. There is no respect for another
religion; there is no education for tolerance in the yeshiva. It has
to come from the top, to pound into the heads of these kids that this
sort of behavior is offensive and un-Jewish.”
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva in the Muslim
quarter and an ultra-Orthodox leader, said he had not known of the
controversy. But when it was described to him, he called Mr.
Rosenthal’s behavior impolite.
“You can disagree with another religion, but it’s not a reason to
spit,” he said. “I’m a spiritual enemy of Christianity, because the
hands of Christians are full of our blood, and it’s not so simple to
forget it. But it’s a spiritual fight, not a spitting fight.”

Eurasianet, NY
Oct 19 2004
RUSSIAN BLOCKADE OF SOUTH CAUCASUS LEAVES ARMENIANS FUMING
Emil Danielyan 10/18/04
Russia’s decision to close border-crossing points with Georgia and
Azerbaijan, purportedly to frustrate movements by Chechen militants,
has produced widespread discontent, even anger in Armenia – Moscow’s
long-time strategic ally in the Caucasus. Some in Yerevan suggest the
move may prompt a reassessment of Armenia’s special relationship with
Russia.
Armenia – a landlocked country already squeezed by embargos enforced
by neighboring Turkey and Azerbaijan – had depended heavily on a
trade route via Georgia to Russia, known as the Upper Lars Pass. The
Kremlin’s decision in September to close its border with Georgia has
added to Armenia’s isolation, severing one of its two overland export
routes to Russia. Armenian businesses dependent on trade with Russia
and other parts of the former Soviet Union are facing ruin.
Armenian leaders have pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to
reconsider the border closure. Yerevan rejected a Russian proposal to
transport goods via South Ossetia, saying the route was impractical
due to the high level of tension in the region. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive]. Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin
indicated during talks with Armenian official on October 14 that the
Upper Lars Pass would remain closed for at least another month so
that Moscow can implement “anti-terrorist measures.” Levitin also
claimed that a trade route via Iran and the Caspian Sea was a cheaper
alternative for Armenia than sending goods to Russia via the Upper
Lars Pass.
The maximum Moscow could do, Levitin said, is to again reopen the
Upper Lars Pass for a few hours. This is what happened on October 10
when nearly 600 Armenian trucks, personal cars and buses stranded on
the mountain pass for a month were allowed to cross into Georgia and
proceed to Armenia.
Russian authorities ordered the closure of Georgian-Russian
checkpoint, including Upper Lars, immediately after the September 3
hostage tragedy in Beslan, North Ossetia. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive]. Russian officials insist that the Chechen
separatists have used Georgia and Azerbaijan as safe heavens to carry
out terrorist acts. [For additional information see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. Officials in Baku and Tbilisi strongly dispute the
Kremlin’s claim.
Armenian authorities have yet to offer an estimate of the financial
damage done to the Armenian economy. Officials have made
contradictory assessments, with Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
citing “serious consequences,” while Trade Minister Karen
Chshmaritian suggested that the direct damage was not substantial.
Whatever the true extent of the disruption, many in Armenia consider
Russia’s actions as unjustified. Vahan Hovannisian, a leader of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, a traditionally pro-Russian party
represented in Kocharian’s coalition cabinet, branded the border
closings as “hasty and not fully calculated.”
Opposition politicians have been even more outspoken in their
criticism of Moscow. “I am convinced that it [the border decision]
has nothing to do with terrorism,” said Vazgen Manukian, a former
prime minister. “This is simply political pressure on Georgia. That
Armenia is suffering from it doesn’t matter to Russia. It [Moscow]
will trample our national interests for the sake of its own
interests.”
Such resentment is echoed by the Armenia’s politically diverse print
media, which has been unanimous in condemning Moscow’s policy. Many
Armenian political experts are warning that the Russians’ actions
risk alienating their main regional ally, which, they some go on to
note, has strengthened its ties with the West in recent months. “The
Russian-Armenian strategic relationship is called into question,”
declared Azg, an independent daily normally supportive of Russia.
The Russian-language newspaper Golos Armenii complained that Putin’s
administration was “measuring all Caucasians with the same
yardstick.”
“There is a growing number of organizations in Armenia that are not
carriers of Armenians’ traditional pro-Russian orientation,” the
editorial continued. “And that is not only the result of the West’s
actions [to improve its relations with Armenia], but also Russian
steps leading nowhere.”
Some opinion polls appear to confirm that traditionally strong
Armenian-Russian ties are eroding. One survey last May — conducted
by the Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS), an independent think-tank — found that almost two-thirds of
the 50 political and public-policy experts interviewed wanted Armenia
to join NATO within the next decade. In addition, most experts
identified Russia as the foreign power that “limits Armenia’s
independence.”
An ACNIS survey in August, however, found that opinions among the
broader Armenian population remain strongly pro-Russian. Almost 90
percent of 2,000 respondents described Russia as a friendly nation.
Only 47 percent had the same perception of the United States.
The pro-Russian sentiment is deeply rooted in the Armenians’ sense of
insecurity, generated largely by decades of hostility between Armenia
and Turkey, and fueled by the unresolved conflict with Azerbaijan
over Nagorno-Karabakh. [For additional information see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. A Karabakh settlement, though unlikely in the near
future, would presumably help ease Armenians’ siege mentality. The
pro-Western outlook of a growing number of intellectuals could also
reflect on public opinion over time.
Russian-Armenian relations have a strong socio-economic component.
Since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, hundreds of thousands of
Armenian citizens have moved to Russia in search of jobs. Their
regular cash remittances back to Armenia are a major source of income
for many families in the impoverished country.
At the same time, Russia’s share of Armenia’s external trade has
steadily declined over the past decade. Indeed, in 2004, the European
Union emerged as Armenia’s single largest trading partner. Official
figures for the first half of this year show the EU accounting for
over 40 percent of the country’s commercial exchange. Russia’s share
was less than 20 percent. A recent survey, conducted by the
independent Vox Populi polling organization, found that a majority of
Armenians would prefer to join the European Union, rather than remain
in the Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States.
The closure of the Russian-Georgian border stands to accelerate the
decline in Russian-Armenian commercial ties. Some media commentaries
suggest that public attitudes in Armenia towards Russia may also
start shifting soon. As a commentator for the Azg daily stated in
early October; “If Russia really wants to stir up anti-Russian
sentiment among Armenia’s political circles and public in general, it
can continue this blockade.”

Interfax, Russia
Oct 18 2004
Georgia starts to import electricity from Armenia
Tbilisi. (Interfax) – AO United Distribution Company (UDC) of
Georgia, which is managed by the U.S. concern PA Consulting, has
started to import 60 megawatts of electricity from Georgia, Georgian
Energy Minister Nika Gilauri told Interfax.
The minister said that in the near future the Tbilisi energy
distribution company Telasi, which is managed by Unified Energy
System of Russia, also plans to start importing up to 100 megawatts
of electricity from Armenia.
“Thanks to electricity imports by the companies Telasi and UDC we
will be able to ensure the stability of the energy system and no
sabotage on power lines connecting eastern and western Georgia will
be able to create force majeur situations in the country’s energy
supplies,” Gilauri said.
He said that electricity would be supplied from Armenia through two
power lines.
UDC General Director Dean White told journalists that imports of
electricity from Armenia would be carried out throughout the
fall-winter season – until April 1, 2005.
The electricity is being supplied at $0.025 per kilowatt-hour.
According to the agreement with the Armenian side, this tariff will
not change until December 31, 2004, after which it may be reviewed.
White said that in the future UDC, like Telasi, plans to begin
imports from Russia also. However, for this it is necessary to
restore the Daryal power line connecting Georgia and Russia. UDC is
currently holding talks on this issue with the Russian side.
State-owned UDC was set up in 2002 by merging regional grid
companies. The company supplies electricity to almost 70% of the
country, in all regions except for Tbilisi, Ajaria and Kakhetia. PA
Consulting received management of UDC in May 2003 for a period of 18
months. UDC supplies electricity to about 660,000 consumers.