Category: News

Getting the job done
Bangkok Post – Thailand;
May 24, 2004
CHIRATAS NIVATPUMIN — A squeak of protest emerges from the well-padded
chair as Bob Kevorkian settles back and lights a cigar.
“You know, I do miss the physical work from a project. It’s less
stressful. You’re done for the day, come home, take a bath, relax,
and it’s over,” he said with a shrug.
“Management is different. So I do miss it, but of course, I’m fatter
now.”
Yet the 61-year-old former construction labourer shows little sign
of slowing down, not with the Thai economy firmly on the upswing and
the property sector booming with activity.
A former managing director of Philipp Holzmann (Thailand), Mr Kevorkian
has worked on some of the most prominent construction projects in
town, including projects such as the Sukhothai and Peninsula hotels
and the ill-fated Hopewell train project.
The British-educated Armenian left Philipp Holzmann just before the
1997 crisis to start his own firm, K-Tech Construction. Needless to
say, the timing was not good.
“I started in February 1997, with just one room, a maid, a driver
and a secretary,” Mr Kevorkian recalled, noting that turnover for
the first year was a paltry 50 million baht.
Compare that with last year’s revenues of 2.6 billion baht, expected
to rise to 4.5 billion this year. The company now employs some 10,000
people, including contract workers, with a project record boasting
the 260,000-square-metre Central Rama II development, the 47-floor
Central World Tower project, seven Carrefour projects and the Royal
Phuket Marina and Spa development.
The company recently filed to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand
with a proposed float of 7.2 million shares at five baht par value,
equal to 16% of its new capital.
K-Tech, with paid-up capital of 185 million baht, currently is 35%
owned by Mr Kevorkian. Other major shareholders include Suprangporn
Thumsujrit at 27% and the Thailand Equity Fund at 19%.
Funds raised from the initial public offering, expected to be held
within the next two months, will be used for working capital and
expansion, including diversification into public sector infrastructure
projects and development projects abroad.
“My basic philosophy is to believe in people. You must work with the
clients, give them what they want, on time, on budget and with the
right quality,” Mr Kevorkian said.
Finding the right balance for all three factors is a balancing act
for any contractor.
“The bricks, the concrete, the windows, they’re all the same. The
difference is in how well can you do it, how well can you control
the costs and manage time,” Mr Kevorkian said.
Logistics and planning, more so than engineering and technical
issues, are the key to completing any construction project on time
and on budget.
“The particular challenges of working in Thailand? You have working
hour restrictions, small sois, traffic,” Mr Kevorkian said.
“In most countries, you order the concrete for 10am delivery and it
comes at 10. In Bangkok, it could come at 1pm”
He paused. “Construction is a risk business. If you don’t want the
risk, you shouldn’t get involved. The more your experience, the better
your people are, the easier it is to manage the risks.”
Maintaining quality is key, Mr Kevorkian said. “You can be late,
you can be overbudget, but you need to deliver value,” he said.
“It’s like in a restaurant. A steak might cost just 100 baht, but if
it’s bad, you will leave feeling cheated. But a good steak, it can be
30 minutes late, it might cost 1,000 baht … but if it’s really good,
you will be happy.”
Mr Kevorkian noted that over 60% of K-Tech’s customers were repeat
customers such as Central, Golden Land, Carrefour and Ananda
Developments.
“I’ve worked in dozens of countries. It’s a great feeling to pass a
building and think to yourself, I was involved,” he said.
An acknowledged workaholic, Mr Kevorkian says he puts in 14 hours
of work a day, six days a week, meeting with clients, architects,
consultants and his project managers. And even after a full week,
he still takes time each Sunday to drive around to various K-Tech
construction sites to sneak a peek at where the project stands.
“My wife asks why I work so much. I like to say, in the office,
I’m king. At home, I’m only a husband,” he said with a grin.
“I don’t get stressed. It’s important to enjoy what you are doing. I’ll
be ready to retire once the excitement is gone. But for now, the
interest is still there.”

Research Refutes Armenian-Urart Relation
Zaman, Turkey
May 24 2004
It has emerged that the Armenians do not have a genetic relationship
with the Urart civilization that once settled in Eastern Turkey in
the vicinity of Van city.
Research conducted by Ankara University’s Anthropology Department
faculty member, Prof. Erksin Gulec, scientifically refutes Armenian
claims of kinship with Urarts. The Urarts established a strong
civilization in the 7th and 8th centuries in Eastern Anatolia as
well as in Caucasus. Armenians believe that the lands under the Urart
hegemony are the homeland of Armenians.
This thesis has been historically and scientifically refuted. Now,
it is anthropologically refuted as well.
Gulec anthropologically examined 288 different skeletons unearthed
during archeological excavations in Van and Hakkari. The Urart
skeletons previously removed in Tilkitepe and Erzincan were also
examined. Using a special method, distance analysis, it is possible to
analyze kinship relations of populations. In the end, the morphological
characteristics of Urarts and Armenians were compared.
Gulec presented his study at the 1st National DVI Congress held in Van
lately and said that Urarts had a Mediterranean morphologic structure
while the others have an Armenian structure. He said that the ancestors
of Armenians are accepted as Armenoids and said they were a sub-group
of Dinarics who lived in Anatolia previously in the Bronze Age.
05.24.2004
Necip Cakir

Armrosgazprom seeks involvement in Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
Interfax
May 24 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armrosgazprom intends to be part of the building
and operation of the gas pipeline running between Iran and Armenia,
Armrosgazprom general director Karen Karapetyan has told the press.
The company would also “like to take on the building of the new gas
pipeline and its further exploitation,” Karapetyan said. “We are a
very ambitious company, and aspire to involvement in this serious
project,” he said.
This is now being discussed with Armrosgazprom founders Gazprom (45%,
worth $280 million), the corporation Itera (10%) and the Armenian
Energy Ministry (45%).
As reported earlier, the Armenian government is working on finding
funding for its role in the Armenian-Iranian project. Actual investor
proposals have yet to be announced.
Final agreement between the two countries on this pipeline was inked in
Yerevan on May 13. The document provides for shipments of 20 billion
cubic meters (bcm) of Iranian gas over twenty years in exchange for
electricity produced in Armenia.
The 700-mm diameter pipeline will run 141 kilometers and cost an
overall $210-$220 million to build. It will initially pump 1.1 bcm
per year, and that will steadily increase to 2 bcm. The gas will be
used by Armenian power plants to make and export electricity to Iran
and Georgia.

Ethnic communities in Abkhazia object to Georgian jurisdiction
Interfax
May 24 2004
Sukhumi. (Interfax) – Ethnic communities in Abkhazia are against plans
to restore Georgian jurisdiction over the self-proclaimed republic.
“The Russian, Armenian, Greek, Estonian, Ukrainian, Polish and German
communities in Abkhazia declare that the Georgian administration’s
hopes to gain support for their expansionist plans are unfounded,” says
a statement from Abkhazia’s ethnic communities circulated on Monday.
“The Georgian authorities, which are planning to ‘peacefully’
restore their jurisdiction over the territory of our republic, claim
that certain forces, including representatives of certain ethnic
communities in Abkhazia, allegedly support the intentions of this
potential aggressor,” the statement says.
“We, the various nationalities in Abkhazia, strongly support the
constitution of the Republic of Abkhazia, which proclaims independent,
sovereign and democratic development of our state,” the statement
says. “The multinational people of Abkhazia, who have had to struggle
for freedom and economic and cultural development, will not allow
anyone to encroach on their homeland, Apsny.”

Reuters, UK
May 24 2004
CORRECTED – European Golden Shoe leading rankings
Mon 24 May, 2004 16:24
In LONDON item headlined “Soccer-European Golden Shoe leading
rankings”, please read… 9= Ara Akopyan, Banants (Armenia)
…instead of… Ara Hakobyan …corrects spelling of surname.
A corrected repetition of follows.
LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Following are the leading rankings for the
Golden Shoe, awarded to the leading scorer in the European leagues,
after the completion of the major leagues at the weekend.
Thierry Henry is set to become the first Frenchman to win the Golden
Shoe, and the first player from the English premier league to win the
award since Kevin Phillips in 1999/2000.
The final list will not be issued until mid-June when all the
European domestic leagues have been completed. Player, Team Goals
Value Total 1. Thierry Henry, Arsenal (England) 30 2 60 2. Ailton,
Werder Bremen (Germany) 28 2 56 3. Djibril Cisse, AJ Auxerre (France)
26 2 52 4= Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan (Italy) 24 2 48 4= Ronaldo,
Real Madrid (Spain) 24 2 48 6. Mateja Kezman, PSV Eindhoven
(Netherlands) 31 1.5 46.5 7= Roy Makaay, Bayern Munich (Germany) 23 2
46 7= Alberto Gilardino, Parma (Italy) 23 2 46 9= Ara Akopyan,
Banants (Armenia) 45 1 45 9= Henrik Larsson, Celtic (Scotland) 30 1.5
45
Note: A player’s league goals are multiplied depending on the “value”
of their league.
Only the leading five countries in the UEFA rankings are given a
multiple value of 2.

Azeri TV reminds BBC that deadline ends 1 June
ANS TV, Baku
24 May 04
[Presenter; Following a report about two Armenian defectors] Another
comedy is being played with our Azerbaijani colleagues who are working
under the management of an Armenian Mark Grigoryan. But we will talk
about this later.
[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. It is
this day when a deadline given by the ANS management to BBC World
[Service] is ending [ANS rebroadcasts BBC World Service programmes in
Baku]. As we have reported, ANS took this step as a protest against
BBC’s position on Azerbaijan, in particular, against this company’s
morning programmes. Finally, today we managed to learn the regional
executive editor of the Eurasia regional unit, Olexiy Solohubenko’s,
oral response to ANS’s letter of warning. We should say that Mr
Solohubenko expressed a tough reaction to ANS’s step.
[Olexiy Solohubenko in English over Azeri-voice over] I think it
is a very bad mistake on the part of ANS if it really goes to do
it. It is even a bigger mistake as it is made by ANS. This is very
bad for Azerbaijan. I am very much surprised that ANS is going to do
so without proving that BBC is wrong.
[Correspondent] It is interesting that Mr Solohubenko says that ANS is
doing so without proving BBC’s wrong steps. It is surprising because
several letters have been to the BBC management protesting against
BBC’s biased programmes broadcast in the mornings, particularly,
programmes by producer Mark Grigoryan in which he clearly attempts
to distort the existing realities around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict. The letters have more than enough number of proofs and
evidence.
However, Solohubenko is determined to support their positions and
Mark Grigoryan. Incidentally, ANS’s another prediction turned out to
be correct. Mr Solohubenko skilfully used the fact that Azerbaijanis
work under the leadership of Mark Grigoryan.
[Solohubenko] The fact that Mark Grigoryan is an Armenian does
not mean that he is no good. He works with us in a team involving
11 Azerbaijanis. If you have any specific claims concerning Mark
Grigoryan, we are ready to consider them. But given that there is
no other claim apart from the one that he is an Armenian, this is
inadmissible.
[Correspondent] Going further with his explanations, Mr Solohubenko
started informing us on BBC’s international essence. He said that
there are Jews and Arabs and other Africans work there and they all
work there as part of BBC but not as ethnic groups or representatives
of their nations. But ANS CM is trying to highlight this point that
the status of a citizen of an aggressor country and of a citizen of
an occupied country cannot be equal. Their truths are also different.
We also talked about the Muslim-Christian side of the problem. Mr
Solohubenko taught a little lesson for us here as well.
[Olexiy Solohubenko] Muslims and Christians work together here. This
is why we cannot understand the problem you have raised. I regret that
this is happening in the Caucasus, in Azerbaijan which is tolerant
to free media. This is a bad mistake and it is very bad for Azerbaijan.
[Correspondent] There is only one week left until 1 June. Which means
that Mark Grigoryan has seven more days on the air. Sevda Hasanova,
ANS.

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
05/24/2004
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Intellectuals Again Call for Dialogue 2) Renewed Calls for US-Armenia Tax Treaty 3) Azerbaijan's FM Says Karabagh Talks Have New Impetus 4) Senate Committee Approves Funding for Genocide Curriculum 5) Blasts Kill Seven in Baghdad, More Killed In Clashes 1) Intellectuals Again Call for Dialogue YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Armenia's intellectuals met for the second time in recent months to discuss the current political climate of the country. At a roundtable discussion organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) of Armenia, a government coalition partner, prominent academics and cultural figures once again emphasized, on Monday, that the only means to find a possible resolution to current political tensions is for the authorities and the opposition to engage in political dialogue. ARF Supreme Body representative Armen Rustamian emphasized that though the first round of discussions helped alleviate tensions, there is threat of "a new wave of confrontation," and asked those present for their input to avoid yet another escalation. "We must find the guarantees to provide the necessary changes," he urged. Linguistics University rector Suren Zolian, stressed that both sides must first and foremost display political will, and pointed to the roundtable as a practical tool in reviewing the situation, and offering ideas. The majority of participants voiced their discontent with behavior of both the government and opposition, saying that authorities should not expect praises while 80% of population remains socially underprivileged. They also went on to say that both sides do not comprehend the silence of the population that remains hapless and distrusting of both sides. They concluded that Armenia's political arena remains flawed because of its Constitution and delays in amending the document. "There is stability in the state. But changes must be made in order for the country to enter its natural course of development," Rustamian stressed. 2) Renewed Calls for US-Armenia Tax Treaty --Treaty Needed to Address Growing Bilateral Commerce and Increased Diaspora Economic Involvement in Armenia WASHINGTON, DC--In a letter to Treasury Secretary John W. Snow and in correspondence sent to members of Congress, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) renewed its call for the US government to facilitate the growing levels of US-Armenia trade and investment by negotiating a comprehensive tax treaty with Armenia. "With the expansion of US-Armenia economic ties, it is more important than ever that our government negotiate a comprehensive and far-reaching tax treaty that will strengthen the US-Armenia economic relationship for many decades to come," said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "The Department of the Treasury should be working closely with the Armenian government and with American businesses operating in Armenia--including the growing number run by Diaspora Armenians--to specifically tailor an agreement that addresses the needs of Americans who divide their careers between the US and Armenia--or who plan to retire to Armenia--in terms of portability of pensions and healthcare and a variety of other concerns." The US has negotiated tax treaties with over forty nations in order to clarify the taxation of transactions, investments, rents, royalties, management contracts, dividends, interest, and salaries of companies and employees working in both countries. The US has recently exchanged instruments of ratification with three new countries--Ukraine, Luxembourg, and Denmark. As part of its broader efforts to strengthen US-Armenia bilateral economic relations, the ANCA has been working for more than four years to encourage the US to negotiate a tax treaty with Armenia. Other elements of this effort included helping to secure Armenia's membership in the World Trade Organization--which took place in February of last year--and the granting to Armenia of Permanent Normal Trade Relations Status (PNTR). Several thousand Armenian Americans have written to the Social Security Administration using the ANCA WebFax program to call for a Social Security Agreement that would help US citizens who work part of the year or plan to retire in Armenia. At the state level, the ANCA-Western Region spearheaded the creation of the California-Armenia Trade Office, which is set to open in Yerevan later this year. In January of 2002, Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) and Frank Pallone (D-NJ) urged then Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, to help expedite a bilateral tax treaty between the US and Armenia that would effectively eliminate the "double taxation" of income of citizens working in both countries. The appeal came on the eve of an inter-agency US Armenia Task Force meeting, which discussed taxation issues as part of an overall framework to promote bilateral trade and economic cooperation between the two countries. For an overall review of US Tax Treaties For the full text of most US Tax Treaties: ind_info/ treaties.html. For information about Armenia on the website of the US Department of Commerce: To learn about USAID's private sector aid to Armenia: 3) Azerbaijan's FM Says Karabagh Talks Have New Impetus (AFP)--Peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve one of Europe's longest-running armed conflicts are "intensifying" after a period of stagnation, Azerbaijan's foreign minister told AFP in an interview. Elmar Mamedyarov said that the newly-expanded European Union (EU) was showing a greater interest in resolving the conflict over the territory of Karabagh, a factor which he said will have a "positive impact." Azerbaijan's foreign minister was speaking a week after President Ilham Aliyev, on a visit to EU headquarters in Brussels, urged the organization to take a more active stand in finding a peaceful solution. "The negotiations…have recently become more intense after certain stagnation," Mamedyarov, a 44-year-old career diplomat appointed last month, told AFP in the interview. "After the European Union received new members, the EU, and Europe as a whole, has begun to look attentively at our part of Europe," he said. "I believe that will have a positive impact on the search for a conflict resolution." He said Azerbaijan's negotiators were pushing for an interim deal, under which Armenia would relinquish its control over the regions around Karabagh in exchange for the Azeri side loosening its economic blockade on Armenia. This deal would reduce tension between the two sides, and "create a possibility for negotiations to go forward in a freer atmosphere to find some sort of compromise," Mamedyarov said. Armenian negotiators have already rejected this proposal but the Azeri foreign minister said he would be "persistent." "Resolving this question is a priority for us," Mamedyarov added. "It is very difficult, when you are in the twenty-first century, you are moving towards Europe, and you have these displaced persons and you feel under occupation." 4) Senate Committee Approves Funding for Genocide Curriculum SACRAMENTO--The Senate Budget Committee on Education, chaired by Senator Jack Scott (D-Glendale), has approved $250,000 in the 2004-05 state budget for a model curriculum on human rights and genocide to be distributed to all public schools in California, which would include studies related to the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust, as well as other attempts to destroy or eliminate ethnic groups around the world. "To be able to operate in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy, one must understand the evils that have haunted past generations," stated Senator Scott. "We must open the discussion on human rights so that today's children become responsible adults." The model human rights and genocide curriculum, approved by the State Board of Education, is intended for use at all K-12 public schools and county offices of education. 5) Blasts Kill Seven in Baghdad, More Killed In Clashes BAGHDAD (AFP)--Several blasts rocked Baghdad, killing seven people, including two Britons, while clashes between US troops and Shiite militiamen left 18 people dead in the populous Sadr City neighborhood. Four people were killed and two wounded in an explosion that destroyed an armored civilian vehicle just outside the sprawling complex housing the US-led coalition that administers Iraq, a military spokesman said Monday. Two of those killed in the blast were British civilians, according to the British Foreign Office. "These deaths are shocking and they show the risks that civilians and others have to take in order to assist the Iraqis in the necessary task of rebuilding and reconstructing their country," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters in Brussels. Another three people, including a child, also were killed Monday in an explosion that destroyed their car only minutes before a US convoy drove by, witnesses said. Meanwhile, US troops, who have vowed to wipe out Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's private army, clashed with the militia overnight in a neighborhood of Baghdad where he has strong support. Hospital officials said 18 civilians were killed in the Sadr City neighborhood, but the coalition put the figure at 26 and said all were militiamen loyal to Sadr. The military said US soldiers already had killed "an estimated 21" militiamen over the weekend after coming under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire in Sadr City. US troops had announced the death of another 32 militiamen Sunday in Kufa, just a few kilometers (miles) from the holy city of Najaf where Sadr is holed up to escape arrest in connection with the killing of a rival cleric. Twenty of those killed were felled during a battle in the compound of a Kufa mosque, the coalition said. Sadr's Mehdi Army has been involved in weeks of clashes with the occupation forces, mainly in central Iraq, after the coalition closed down his newspaper and threatened to arrest him. Some of the fiercest battles were fought in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, but both sides moved out of the city over the weekend. Coalition officials have made it clear they are determined to wipe out the armed militia. The coalition's military and civilian spokesmen have also said they feared violence could surge further as the date for a transfer of power nears. The Coalition Provisional Authority is scheduled to hand over sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government on June 30, and US authorities have insisted they intended to stick to that date despite the violence. Last week insurgents carried out two attacks against senior Iraqi political figures, killing the president of the coalition-installed Governing Council, Ezzedine Salim, in a suicide car bombing on May 17. A similar attack on Saturday wounded deputy interior minister General Abdel Jabbari Yussef. Three guards, an unidentified woman and the attacker were killed in the blast. Salim's successor, Ghazi Ajil al-Yawar, said in an interview published Monday that the coalition must grant "full sovereignty" to the transitional government, which has yet to be formed. "We will not agree to less," he told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper. The United States and Britain were to submit to the UN Security Council later Monday the first draft of a resolution to recognize a new Iraqi government and clear the way for foreign forces to remain in Iraq after the formal end of the occupation. "Once we have full sovereignty, we will have the right to decide whether multinational forces go or stay," Yawar said. But he added that the lack of security "means that we will need multinational forces...which we hope to broaden to include European Union troops and certain influential Arab countries." He also said another two weeks were needed to set up the transitional government amid intense negotiations involving UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the Iraqi council and coalition officials. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. 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Iran Supports Azerbaijan’s Territorial Integrity, Karrazi Says
Baku Today
May 25 2004
Tehran will always stick to its policy of supporting Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity in the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kamal Karrazi, said on Sunday,
according to Azertag news agency.
Iran has always supported Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the
United Nations and this policy will not be changed, Karrazi said in
a meeting with Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, Khalaf Khalafov.
The Iranian foreign minister also said his country is for a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that it would do its
best so that the conflict is resolved peacefully.
Azerbaijan’s former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh — which
was home to 140,000 ethnic-Armenians and 40,000 Azeris, according to
1989 census, was occupied by Armenian army in 1991-94 war. The latter
also took control of seven Azeri administrative districts, Lachin,
Kelbejar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jebrail, Zengilan and Qubadli, in the war.
Despite a cease-fire agreement reached between the two countries
in May 1994, peace negotiations mediated by OSCE s Minsk group has
failed to find a final settlement to the conflict.
Karrazi also mentioned that the Iranian President Mahammad Khatami
is planning to make an official visit to Azerbaijan soon.

The Rising Cost of Poor Azeri Healthcare
By Chloe Arnold
Moscow Times
May 25 2004
BAKU, Azerbaijan — To look at the row of boutique shops that just
opened round the corner from my house, selling Versace shirts, Armani
suits and Manolo Blahnik shoes at crippling prices, you’d never guess
that Azerbaijan has an infant mortality rate similar to some of the
poorest countries in Africa.
In fact, more babies die in Azerbaijan every year than in any country
in the former Soviet Union, bar Turkmenistan. For every 1,000 children
born here, 74 will die before their first birthday as compared to
just five in Britain, 18 in Russia and 79 in Senegal.
It’s a shocking figure by anyone’s standards, and more than double
the rate of its former Soviet neighbors Georgia and Armenia, with 24
and 30 infant deaths per 1,000 births respectively.
And it doesn’t seem to make sense. The wealth per capita here is
far greater than in many former Soviet states thanks to the flood of
foreign investors eager to get their hands on the country’s oil.
True, it’s not Kuwait, and the government is not rolling in money.
But neither is it sub-Saharan Africa. They should have enough income
from the export of their crude oil to be able to fund a decent public
health service.
So why are the levels of infant mortality so high? One explanation is
Azerbaijan’s refugee population. Hundreds of thousands of people who
fled the war with Armenia in the early 1990s now live in miserable
camps, which are breeding grounds for diseases like malaria.
But there is another reason. According to a report by UNICEF, the
United Nations children’s fund, part of the reason for Azerbaijan’s
high infant mortality rate is “the declining quality and rising cost
of public healthcare services.”
The key phrase here is the “rising cost” of health services. You see,
in Azerbaijan healthcare is supposed to be free. But, of course,
it isn’t. My Azeri friends tell me that if you go to the doctor,
you have to slip him a few crisp notes before he will even let you
into his consulting room.
What this means is that the poorest families can no longer afford to
get proper treatment. Women give birth at home, or they save up to
go to hospital, but cannot pay if there are complications.
Of course, Azerbaijan is famous for its high levels of corruption. In
international surveys of graft it comes out near the top and ranks
along other champions of corruption like Nigeria and Bangladesh.
No one expects bribery and corruption here to disappear — it’s
simply a part of life. But when babies are dying in critically high
numbers because their parents can’t afford to pay for basic treatment,
perhaps the government needs to sit up and take notice.
Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Kaftaro/ Meeting
Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
May 24 2004
The Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Ahmad Kaftaro asserted that the
Arab nation is rich with values and culture that call for modernization
and development.
In a meeting with Archbishop Armash Nalindian, Head of the Armenian
Orthodox community, Kaftaro highlighted the national unity and
religious tolerance Syria is witnessing.
Both sides called on the international community and legitimacy to
play an effective role in halting the dangerous violations perpetrated
by the forces of aggression and injustice under complete absence of
the international law.
H. Zein- A. F. ZAHRA