Category: News

Canadian Press
May 11 2004
NFB leads Canada at Cannes
Toronto — No Egoyan. No Cronenberg. No Arcand.
This year, as it has so often in the past, the National Film Board
will be carrying the can at Cannes for Canada.
The NFB is bringing several shorts and documentaries to the
prestigious festival, which opens Wednesday and runs until May 23.
And at least one of them has the potential to spark an international
incident.
What Remains of Us (Ce qu’il reste de nous) is a feature-length
documentary that follows a young Tibetan refugee in Quebec who
smuggles a forbidden videotaped message from the Dalai Lama back into
her native land and shows it to various Tibetan families. Chinese
authorities could impose severe penalties on any Tibetan caught
viewing the five-minute tape of the exiled spiritual leader and major
security precautions were taken when the film was screened recently
at Toronto’s Hot Docs festival.
There have been fears that if the Chinese get their hands on a copy
of the film, they might be able to identify and track down the
anonymous Tibetans who allowed their reaction to the tape to be
filmed.
Two years ago when Atom Egoyan’s Ararat was screened at Cannes there
were concerns the film would spark protests from the Turkish
community because of its politically charged theme that the Turks
inflicted genocide on the Armenians during the First World War.
Trouble never materialized and the co-producer of What Remains of Us,
Francois Prevost, isn’t anticipating any this time either. But he
says security will be in place anyway.
“The reason for security obviously is not to have any pictures going
out of the theatre,” he says.
Prevost is also in touch with a network of people within Tibet and
says that so far nothing has happened to any of the 17 people there
who were brave enough to take part.
But he does hope the film initiates an international dialogue, with
both foreign governments and the Chinese communities in their
countries about the half-century of oppression of six million Tibetan
people.
“We see this culture disappearing,” Prevost says. “Countries don’t
want to face China about this issue and they all want to keep their
economic links. So that’s a major, major, major point that is not
talked about enough.”
The film will be screened out of competition next Sunday but
co-director Hugo Latulippe isn’t looking for any prizes, just the
international exposure.
“It’s already a prize for us really to go there and bring our message
to the world. It’s fantastic.”
Another major film board entry will be a very avant-garde digital
animation short called Ryan.
The creation of Toronto-based animator Chris Landreth, it uses
surreal 3-D imagery to tell the story of one of Landreth’s
predecessors, Ryan Larkin, a groundbreaking animator with the NFB
back in the 1960s, whose decline, apparently a combination of
creative block, alcohol and drugs, has left him panhandling on the
streets of Montreal today.
Larkin was nominated for an Academy Award back in 1968, but lost to a
Disney entry. Landreth himself was also an Oscar nominee in 1996 for
a creative digital short called The End — which bears some style
similarities to Ryan — but he lost to Brit Nick Parks, creator of the
Wallace and Gromit films.
While none of Canada’s major directors are represented at Cannes this
year, the half-dozen titles submitted are still considered quite
significant.
Danny Chalifour, director of operations and international relations
for Telefilm Canada, the federal funding agency that operates the
Canada pavilion at Cannes, said there’s more to do at Cannes than
screen films.
While he prefers not to use the word shmooz, Chalifour says bilateral
discussions with delegations from Britain, France, Germany, Australia
and New Zealand are vital for the future of the Canadian film
industry, both in terms of export sales and co-productions.
“If we’re looking at financing a feature-film budget in excess of
$6-$7 million in Canada, we basically need a partner. We can’t fund
it internally.”

Armenian president not to attend NATO summit in Istanbul
Turkish Daily News
May 11 2004
ANKARA – Turkish Daily News — Armenian President Robert Kocharian
will not attend a NATO summit in Istanbul on June 28-29, a spokesman
for Kocharian was quoted as saying on Monday.
The decision not to take part in the historic summit is “explained
by the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations,” Presidential
Press Secretary Ashot Kocharian said in an interview with Russia’s
ITAR-TASS news agency.
No progress in bilateral relations was seen in 2003,” the press
secretary said. “Armenia reiterates its readiness to improve relations
with Turkey without preliminary conditions,” he said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan will represent the country
at Istanbul’s summit.
Heads of state or government of some 46 countries, including U.S.
President George W. Bush are to attend the NATO summit in Istanbul,
which will welcome seven new members in the alliance’s biggest ever
enlargement.
Armenia is working with NATO as part of the alliance’s Partnership
for Peace program with some of the former Soviet republics.
Turkey became one of the first countries to recognize the independent
Armenia in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union
but relations with this country has been severed after Armenian
forces occupied Azeri territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. As part of a
trade blockade against Armenia, Turkey also keeps its border gate
with Armenia closed for the last ten years.
Turkey’s conditions for normalization of relations with Armenia are
withdrawal of Armenian troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, Yerevan’s stopping
to support Armenian diaspora efforts aimed at international recognition
of allegations of an Armenian genocide at the hands of late Ottoman
Empire and its renouncing territorial claims on Turkey’s eastern part.

Georgians in Tsalka demand disarming of the local Armenians
Batumi News
May 11 2004
Officials of the Armenian Embassy in Georgia have not commented yet
on the incident between the local Georgians and Armenian population
in the Tsalka region on May 9.
On the statement of the Armenian Embassy, they will clear with
their stance over the issue later today. The officials indicated,
this issue lies within the Georgian internal affaire and Armenia is
not going active involvement into it.
On May 11 the Georgians, living in the Tsalka region, rallied in
front of the State Chancellery, Tbilisi, and demanded meeting with
the President Saakashvili over the disarmament issue of the Armenian
population, domiciled in Tsalka. The rally participants said almost
all the Armenian families keep firearms, what stirs concerns among
the Georgians in the region.
There is a pending threat, that the frequented conflicts in the Kveda
Kartli region may turn into the armed clashes. Notably, on May 9,
on the Tsakla stadium, the argument, started among the football fans,
grew into the brawl. Scores were reported injured.
Georgian government deployed in Kvemo Kartli the regional police and
interior forces after the incident.

Igor Ivanov and the Russian Retreat to Moscow
By Mark Almond
Moscow Times, Russia
May 12 2004
It is getting to be a habit. Any post-communist leader seeing Igor
Ivanov across the threshold of his presidential palace knows his time
is up.
On Oct. 6, 2000, it was Slobodan Milosevic who received the
then-Russian foreign minister as graciously as a living political
corpse can receive his undertaker. Late last November, it was Georgian
President Eduard Shevardnadze who found Ivanov escorting him off the
premises of the presidential villa in Tbilisi.
Now Adzharia’s Aslan Abashidze and assorted family members and
hangers-on have been given a one way ride on Ivanov’s plane from
Batumi to Moscow.
Even after swapping his role from foreign minister to secretary of
the Security Council, Ivanov has carried on his role as an angel of
political death. Oddly, the victims of Ivanov’s political version of
euthanasia have all been on Washington’s rather than Moscow’s hit-list
of obvious geopolitical targets.
It seems that whenever popular discontent at poverty and corruption
reaches a critical mass fired by George Soros’ money and CIA muscle,
Ivanov is on hand to offer the coup de grace. Perhaps President
Vladimir Putin sometimes wonders whether one day — after seeking
a controversial third term? — he will receive a gentle nudge into
obscurity, or even a ticket to the Hague from Ivanov.
Russia has been in retreat since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Many of us can remember how in the late 1980s people in Boris
Yeltsin’s camp explained that Soviet imperialism was bad for ordinary
Russians. Hadn’t the British or Dutch got richer as their empires
vanished? Wouldn’t Russians be even better off without the burdens
of Brezhnevian overstretch? In many ways they were right. Ordinary
Russians had paid a high price for the Kremlin’s superpower status.
But sadly, the opposite of imperialism is not necessarily any more
advantageous.
It would no doubt be nicer if Russians could just get on with trying
to make a living. Siren voices say that that is precisely what is
happening now. Economic growth is making life more bearable for more
Russians than at any time since the early 1980s. No longer is it just
a rich micro-percentage that benefits from reform. And so no wonder
Putin enjoys real popularity.
Yet Russia’s retreat from world power politics, personalized by the
prominence of Ivanov in the Kremlin policymaking apparatus, could
easily have dire domestic economic consequences.
At present, high oil prices buoy up the Russian economy. Even pensions
are getting paid on time. But step by step, Russia’s significance as an
independent actor in the world of natural resources is being cut back.
The reach of the United States deep into Russia’s hinterland has
reached the tipping point. With the whole of the southern Caucasus
within grasp and U.S. garrisons pock-marking Central Asia, Russia’s
own energy resources are falling under the shadow of U.S. power, and
the routes to export Russian oil or gas, independent of Washington’s
sphere of influence, are narrowing.
High oil prices temporarily obscure how parlous Russia’s geostrategic
position is in its only area of economic strength — the export of
natural resources.
The United States’ grab of Iraq’s oil reserves has misfired for the
moment, but Libya has been brought on side by Washington and London to
release oil to fill the tankers left empty by Iraqi sabotage. At the
same time, the West is closing in on Russia’s remaining export routes.
With the oil terminal at Batumi under the guard of President Mikheil
Saakashvili’s troops, who were parading on CNN under the banner
“Georgia-USA United We Stand,” the Silk Route to Central Asia is safely
in Western hands. Does anyone doubt that Gazprom’s export pipelines
via Ukraine and Belarus will soon pass through states enjoying the
same kind of “Rose Revolution” which Georgia has accomplished?
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has an embryonic Rose Revolution
budding already and must be waiting for Ivanov’s visit. Ukrainian
President Leonid Kuchma has probably got an arrival date for Ivanov
pencilled in his diary. Even that refusenik against the New World
Order, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, ought to expect
a knock on his door soon after the Ukrainian president goes into exile.
What have Russia as a state or Russians as people got out of a weary
withdrawal to a state smaller than Peter I’s?
Arabs used to raise the joke-question: Why is it better to be an
enemy of the British rather than their friend? And answer: Because
if you are their enemy they will certainly buy you, but if you’re
their friend they’ll certainly sell you.
Certainly Russia’s retreat has bought it no friends. The Western
media portray Putin as a war criminal worse than Milosevic over the
war in Chechnya and accuse him of meddling in Georgian affairs as
his lieutenant hustles Moscow’s friends into exile.
A huge gap exists between the Western media’s portrait of Russia under
Putin as a reviving great power playing and winning subtle games in
its former sphere of influence and the reality of a Russian retreat
which has been gaining pace since Yeltsin’s retirement. Ivanov is
a man who straddled the two presidencies in Russia. More than anyone
else he personifies the age of accelerating withdrawal.
For instance, Ivanov was working for the political demise of Milosevic
well before his arrival in Belgrade on Oct. 6, 2000. Ivanov played
a major role in advising the NATO states how to start the war in
Kosovo in 1999 that led to Milosevic’s ultimate downfall. Both
Madeleine Albright and German officials have revealed how Ivanov
urged them not to go to the United Nations Security Council so that
the Russian government could avoid pressure from its own people to
veto a U.S. resolution for war.
By all accounts, the signals from Smolenskaya Ploshchad to George W.
Bush in March 2003 were: Storm Iraq, then ask the UN to pick up the
pieces as in Kosovo. But Tony Blair needed to show the British public
that the Security Council was on his side, which forced Russia’s hand
into voting “No” alongside France and China.
What is to be done?
After Margaret Thatcher sent troops to fight the Argentine invasion
of the Falkand Islands in 1982, Henry Kissinger remarked, “No nation
retreats forever.”
No doubt Russia’s slinking back deeper into a Eurasian hinterland
will stop some day, but Russians must be asking themselves whether
the retreat to Moscow will stop before or after Ivanov tells Vladimir
Putin it is time to go.
Mark Almond, lecturer in modern history at Oriel College, Oxford,
contributed this comment to The Moscow Times.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS TRY TO SETTLE POLITICAL CRISIS
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 11 2004
YEREVAN, May 11 (RIA Novosti) – On the initiative of the chairman of
the National Assembly of Armenia (parliament), Artur Bagdasaryan,
on Monday evening another round of political consultations between
the leaders and representatives of the parliamentary factions and
deputies’ groups will be held to settle the tense internal political
situation in the country.
The parliament’s public relations department told RIA Novosti on
Tuesday that after the consultations, Artur Bagdasaryan, the speaker
of parliament, said that the first positive results had been achieved:
the sides had come to an agreement on the beginning of a political
dialogue. In connection with this, on May 13, representatives of the
parliamentary forces will form an appropriate agenda for the coming
negotiations.
The speaker said that he hoped, “the forces represented in the
parliament will do everything possible to create a new political
situation and that through a political dialogue will be able to solve
the complicated problems.”
Representatives of six factions took part in the consultations: the
Republican Party, the Orinats Erkir Party, the Dashnaktsutyun Party,
the Justice Bloc, the National Unity Party, the Labor Party and the
People’s Deputy parliamentary faction.
The opposition factions of the Justice Bloc and the National Unity
Party have been boycotting the plenary sessions of the Armenian
National Assembly since February 3, and demanding that amendments and
additions to the law “On Referendum,” be included on the agenda. On
the basis of the amendments, the opposition intends to hold a vote
of confidence on President Robert Kocharyan.
Protests demanding the president’s resignation that were organized
by the opposition but not sanctioned by the authorities have been
going on in Yerevan since April 9.
However, many analysts, including Armenian analysts, are afraid that
the situation may complicate Armenian-Azerbaijan relations and result
in Azerbaijan changing its position on the Nagorny Karabakh settlement.
“The opposition has incorrectly created problems. Its aim is to
change power in the country in any way and, if necessary, even by
force,” said Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan. He advised
the opposition raise legal demands, social demands for example.
According to him, by shaking the central government, the opposition
could provoke Baku to resolute actions in Nagorny Karabakh.
Political scientists have not ruled out that that Azerbaijan could use
the political crisis in Armenia to attempt to regain Nagorno-Karabakh,
a self-proclaimed republic that was once populated primarily by
Azerbaijanis and now the majority of the population is Armenian.
Incidentally, Mr. Kocharyan is from Nagorny Karabakh, and was the
president of the unrecognized republic.

UNDP LAUNCHES THE COMMUNITY WEEK ADVOCACY INITIATIVE WITH EVENTS IN
REMOTE AREAS OF ARMENIA
ArmenPress
May 11 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: Today, the Ministry of Territorial
Administration and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
officially started the Community Week advocacy initiative with two
major events in Tavoush, one of the most remote regions of Armenia.
The events were attended by the Governor of Tavoush, four deputy
ministers from the Ministries of Territorial Administration,
Agriculture, Nature Protection, Trade and Economic Development
and the UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative. The
events included the inauguration of the fully rehabilitated secondary
school in Voskepar village and the creation of a Village Development
Foundation in Koty community.
In the framework of UNDP’s Community Development Project, the secondary
school in Voskepar has been fully renovated, including installation
of a new heating system. The Armenian Social Investment Fund (ASIF)
and the Governor’s office have provided the school with new furniture
and materials and the local community has provided a seven percent
in-kind contribution to the project.
In Koty village, UNDP’s Agricultural and Rural Development Coordination
Unit, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, have facilitated
the development of a Koty Community Strategy Development Plan for
2004-2008. A working group representing all main social groups in
the local population has worked to develop a comprehensive plan
aimed at addressing various problems in the community. To ensure
the successful implementation of the Plan, Koty is establishing a
Community Development Foundation. The Foundation will be formed
by donations from community members, former Koty villagers and
international organisations.
According to Ms. Grande: “UNDP is committed to supporting communities
throughout the country. We recognise that the country’s strength is
its communities and that through partnerships we can and should help
communities help themselves. The inauguration of Voskepar school and
the launching of the Koty Village Development Foundation are wonderful
events to mark the beginning of Community Week, an advocacy initiative
of UNDP Armenia and the Ministry of Territorial Administration aimed
at raising public awareness about ongoing legislative and other
reforms affecting communities and contributing to discussions on
community-related issues.”
Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration, Mr. Vache Terteryan,
noted: “The Government of Armenia has adopted an approach to
delegate more authority to our communities in order to make them more
viable in the long run. Currently, most of the communities are in
need of considerable assistance especially in terms of quality and
accessibility of social and health services and education. In this
respect, we are grateful for UNDP’s attention and ongoing support to
our efforts aimed at community development, and we are confident that
our successful cooperation will continue in future.”
Background: UNDP cooperation to date in the area of community and
rural development in Tavoush region amounts around USD 750,000. Three
schools and eight primary healthcare facilities have been rehabilitated
by UNDP. In addition, UNDP supports the Tavoush Farmers Association,
which provides technical support and various services to approximately
1,000 rural households in seven communities.

1.2 MILLION ARMENIANS APPLY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY CARD
ArmenPress
May 11 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: Armenian employment and social affairs
minister Aghvan Vardanian told a news conference today that some 1.2
million Armenians have already applied for social security cards and
added that the government is not going to extend the deadline for
application beyond July 1.
The government first suggested to introduce the system of social
security cards last year and the first bill appeared as “identity
cards”. According to the reform, each Armenian citizen must have the
lifetime card with a 10-digit number of a citizen’s personal data,
which will be used for opening a bank account, paying taxes, applying
for state benefits and identification at healthcare facilities.
The government said the cards would increase the efficiency of
state-run agencies and help it reduce the volume of corruption,
however, the idea was opposed strongly by the Armenian Church,
whose main counter-argument was that the name “identity card’ must
be replaced by another one, as the word “identity card” contradicts
Biblical precepts, found in the New Testament Book of Revelation. The
government met halfway this demand and changed the name of the
“identity cards” into “social security cards.”
According to the law, the use of the cards is mandatory for all
financial transactions including receiving pensions and family
benefits, paying taxes and social insurance. The minister said
today those citizens who will refuse cards will be subjected to
administrative fines.
Shifting to politics, the minister ruled out “a revolutionary
situation” in Armenia, incited by heavy social conditions, admitting,
however, that a great majority of people are in still desperate
conditions, but went on to argue that Armenians are not apt to revolt
because of poor living standards.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROMANIA AND ARMENIA FOSTER COOPERATION IN EDUCATION AND SCIENCE
ArmenPress
May 11 2004
YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS: An Armenian delegation headed by
minister of education and science was in Romania recently. Education
and science ministry press services reported that the visit aimed to
discuss cooperation projects with Romanian education and scientific
research ministry to ensure implementation of a 1999 agreement between
Armenian and Romanian governments.
During the working meetings the sides discussed ways of fostering
cooperation. Particularly it was proposed to open a department of
Armenian Studies at Bucharest State University and a department of
Rumanian studies at the Yerevan Linguistic University.
Further it was arranged to foster student and research exchange
program. Romanian government took the responsibility to support the
Armenian school in Bucharest. The sides signed a memorandum which
they will later develop into an agreement.

Armenian PM to hold talks in Kiev on trade, economic cooperation
By Vitaly Matarykin
ITAR-TASS News Agency
May 10, 2004 Monday
KIEV, May 10 — Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan arrived
in Ukraine on a three-day official visit on Monday for talks with
Ukrainian leaders on trade and economic cooperation.
During the visit, the Armenian prime minister will be received by
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.
Margaryan will meet Ukrainian parliament chairman Vladimir Litvin, his
Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich, president of the National
Academy of Sciences Boris Paton and Foreign Minister Konstantin
Grishchenko.
The prime ministers of the two countries will take part in a session
of the inter-governmental commission on economic cooperation that will
focus on prospects for interaction in the energy sector, transport,
aircraft building, as well as military relations and contacts in
international organisations. After the session representatives of the
inter-governmental commission are expected to sign a protocol and an
agreement on authors’ rights.

KARABAKH HAD TO BE TRANSFERRED UNDER ARMENIAN SOVEREIGNTY IN KEY WEST,
BRITISH RESEARCHER WRITES
11.05.2004 16:41
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The international mediators for settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict from the US, France and Russia have
proposed several modes for solution of the problem. However, the most
courageous was the Key West one. As reported by Liberty radio station,
Wall Street Journal reports it referring to Thomas de Waal, the author
of a book on the Karabakh conflict. For the fist time lifting the
veil of mystery of the settlement project, presented in the course
of the talks in Key West US city, de Waal notes that in compliance
with that version, “Armenia had to provide an opportunity to 95%
of Azeri refugees to return to their homes.” Besides, “a way to the
Azeri enclave of Nakhichevan had to be opened through the territory of
Armenia.” In exchange, in de Waal’s words, “Azerbaijan had to refuse
from Karabakh, except for Shushi town.” Citing the second item of the
Key West document on “conveying Karabakh under the sovereignty of
Armenia,” the author notes that if it is the case, “from the human
point of view the benefit would be the biggest, however so would be
the political risk for Azerbaijan.” Member of the British Institute for
War and Peace Reporting Thomas de Waal also considers the opportunity
of resumption of hostilities. “The human price of a new war will be
horrible even if the conflict is local. Azerbaijan will lose thousands
of young people only on minefield, which lie along the whole of the
front line. And the small beautiful province in the middle – Nagorno
Karabakh – may disappear at all,” he forecasts. At that Thomas de Waal
considers the Karabakh conflict solvable, noting if it is the case
“both nations will be saved from isolation.” “Armenians and Azeris
have much more in common, than, e.g., Israelis and Palestinians,” he
writes. The percentage of mixed nationality family couples was rather
high. “The problem is that for already more than ten years the two
nations rarely enter into a dialogue,” the author considers. “The most
surprising for a person from the outside is that Azerbaijan does not
sit at a bargaining table with Karabakh Armenians, whom it considers
its citizens,” the Wall Street Journal article sums up.