AZERBAIJAN INCLUDED CLAUSE REGARDING NK CONFLICT IN DECLARATION OF BAKU CONFERENCE OF OIC TOURISM MINISTERS
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2006
Azerbaijan included a clause regarding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
in the declaration of Baku conference of Tourism Ministers of OIC
(Organization of Islamic Conference), the Minister of Culture and
Tourism of Azerbaijan Abulfaz Garayev told journalists, Trend reports.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be once again delivered to the
attention of the representatives of Islamic countries, the minister
stressed. Azerbaijani side will present the facts of destroying
the historical and cultural values of Azerbaijan in result of this
conflict.

FALSE ARMENIAN MAPS CLAIMING TO NK AND NAKHCHIVAN ON SALE IN TAIWAN AND HK
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2006
“False maps, globes and school textbooks showing Azerbaijani
regions-Nakhchivan and Karabakh- as Armenian territories are on sale
in East and Southeast Asia,” Akbar Huseynli, an Azerbaijani living
in Hong-Kong, told APA.
He said that these school facilities are sold in Hong-Kong, Shankhay
and Taiwan.
“African, European, Arabian nations and even Armenians have a number
of economic and cultural societies in Hong-Kong and Taiwan. Most of
people living here are unaware of Azerbaijanis and Azerbaijan”.
He said that articles on Azerbaijani oil have recently spread in
media but Southeast Asia is not well known here.
“The reason may be that Taiwan has no political-economic ties
with Azerbaijan. It is a pity that Azerbaijan plays no part in the
activities of here- the most competitive trade center”.
He regretted that there is no Azerbaijani Diaspora in Southeast Asia
while there are about 17 diasporas in Belgium and the Netherlands. A
lot of Azerbaijani businessmen are active in China but they have not
gathered together to form a Diaspora”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KIDS’ ECO-CAMP HIGHLIGHTS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)
Reuters AlertNet, UK
Sept 9 2006
Children learn through fun and games at the Eco-Camp
World Vision MEERO,
Twenty four children from six villages in an ecologically devastated
region of Lori in north Armenia, heard how their communities’ precious
forests are disappearing at an alarming rate during an ecology camp
in late August.
Experts say some 30% of trees in Lori were illegally felled for
heating and construction purposes during the last decade.
‘This region used to be very rich in forests, and it suffered most
from people’s barbarity. Youth today don’tknow how long it takes for
a sapling to grow into a tree, have no idea about the environmental
disaster they face in future,’ said Marat Manukian, Lori ADP acting
manager.
[rquotebox] An estimated 15% of forests are cut in Armenia for heating
and construction purposes each year. [rquotebox] Forests covered 25%
of Armenia at the beginning of the 20th century but now only 8% to 9%
of the nation is forested. An estimated 15% of forests are cut in
Armenia for heating and construction purposes each year.
Organized by Lore Eco-Club NGO with the support from World Vision,
the eco-camp aimed to raise awareness about environmental issues and
find solutions through interactive games and presentations.
The participants were the children who have previously participated
in seminars on environmental issues and won a composition contest.
Together with ten local and two Peace Corps volunteers they learned
about water turnover of water, desertification, the provisions of
Orhus Convention and the importance of preserving the environment.
‘We believe these children will return to their villages and educate
their peers. We hope to see more people like us, people who care for
the environment and understand its importance for the development of
our region’, says Manya Melikjanyan, the president of Lore Eco-Club.
The camp was held near the village of Gyulagarak, where members of
Lore recently discovered massive, unauthorized woodcutting and raised
a clamour among the international organizations and governmental
bodies. As a result, the felling was stopped and the forest of relic
pine-trees will be preserved.
[lquotebox] We do hope that unauthorized tree felling will be reduced,
if we join efforts and educate people. [lquotebox] Sona Vardumyan,
22, a volunteer from Stepanavan, said those who plan wood cuttings and
all the population are now on the alert. ‘We do hope that unauthorized
tree felling will be reduced, if we join efforts and educate people’,
she adds.
Lore Eco-Club NGO was established in 1999 to implement environmental
and health programs. World Vision and the club have been organizing
seminars on environmental issues, publish booklets, monitor the Lori
woodlands and plant trees since April, 2006.

JORDAN EAGER TO DEVELOP COOPERATION WITH AZERBAIJAN IN TOURISM SECTOR
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 9 2006
Jordan intends to develop cooperation with Azerbaijan in the sphere
of tourism, Farrukh al-Habibi, the Jordanian Minister for Tourism
and Antiquary, told journalists on 9 September after a meeting with
Abulfaz Garayev, the Azerbaijani Minister for Culture and Tourism.
Azerbaijan ahs a rich political potential, he underlined, noting his
country’s intention in the expansion of cooperation with Azerbaijan
in this sphere.
The Minister stressed that it is planned to develop a project on
cooperation. In the near future this project will be submitted to the
Azerbaijan for consideration. The Minister hopes that the cooperation
will be mutually profitable for two countries.
In respect to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Farrukh
al Habibi noted that Jordan was interested in the peaceable resolution
of the conflicts.

ARIS KAZINYAN: “OWN GAME” OF MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI AND ARMENIAN FACTOR
Regnum, Russia
Sept 9 2006
Aris Kazinyan – expert of the Caucasus analytical center
On Sept 1 Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili appeared with a very
curious statement. While speaking in Sagarejo, he said that Russia is
pressuring Armenia into adopting an anti-Georgian policy. At least,
that’s how (and in no other way) one should understand his following
sentence: “Russia has finally closed the customs house in Lars; and
closed it not only for us, but also for Armenia, whose cargoes have
been going through Lars, because it tells Armenia too: let’s carry out
some plans together.” Saakashvili did not care to specify what “plans”
(perhaps, because there was nothing to specify) he was talking about,
however, Saakashvili’s “Armenian emphasis” is quite symptomatic as
such. What made him appear with such a tactless (in every respect)
statement?
Saakashvili is hardly aware of what exactly the “relevant”
Armenian-Russian talks are about; of course, we do not doubt the
competence and awareness of the Georgian President, but the whole
point is that Moscow and Yerevan are not plotting anything against
Tbilisi. Anyway, Saakashvili appears to be sure of, at least, the
present Armenian authorities; dwelling on the subject of imaginary
Russian pressure on Armenia, he notes: “Naturally, nobody will agree
to this, but such a policy – of pressure on Armenia over Georgia –
is present!”
It may also happen – it may well be so – that the imperative of the
Georgian President – “naturally, nobody will agree to this” – has no
specific addressee and is just a preventive move. We can see this in
his following statement: “Nobody has ever succeeded through slavery.
Only proud, self-respecting countries succeed – countries like Poland,
Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, who did the same a few years ago and
have become successful European states. I don’t want to name a few
other countries who are being led by those forces and are beggars
and, today, they are as impoverished as they were before.” Let’s
not conjecture what Saakashvili meant; the more important point is
that Saakashvili’s speech in Sagarejo – and the quite unexpected –
at first glance – address to the Armenian issue – perfectly fits into
the context and logic of his present policy.
First of all, we should note that the process of ethnic consolidation
of the Kartvelian nations populating Georgia (in the scale and content
officially proclaimed by Tbilisi) is yet far from completion.
Georgian citizens – representatives of the Kartvelian group
of the Caucasian language family – are not objectively a single
ethno-political community and are quite diverse in terms of traditions,
culture, language, mentality and the perception of the very concept of
“Homeland.” For quite a long period in history, there was almost no
consolidating ethnonyme in Georgia; even today, people representing
the Kartvelian group do not identify themselves according to the
state terminology. The diversity of dialects: Gurian, Imeretian,
Lechkhumian, Rachian, Kartlian, Kakhetian, Pshavian, Meskhetian,
Ingiloian and some others and the circumstance that Megrels (in
particular) speak their own language reflect not so much the purely
linguistic peculiarities of those groups as the extent of difference
in their traditions, mentality and values.
Particularly, the biggest Kartvelian group, Megrels, call themselves
not “Kartvelians” but “Margali” and their country (their historical
area – Homeland) – “Samargalio.”
It is especially important to note that, from the ancient times
till the first half of XIX, the western and eastern parts of the
Kartvelian group had very little contact with one another. The Surami
Range dividing the territory of Georgia into two parts was a kind
of Great Dividing Range between two worlds, and this fact has given
rise to such concepts as “Amiereti” – the country behind the range –
and Imiereti – the country before the range (like Ciscaucasia and
Transcaucasia). It was exactly due to this historical division that
the western Kartvelians are initially called “Imeretians.” But, in
fact, Imeretians are also Gurians (who call themselves “Guruli”),
Lechkhumians, Rachians, etc. Megrels live farther to the west and
have always been closer to Abkhazians than to Gurians or Imeretians.
Eastwards of the Surami Range was the land of the eastern sub-groups
– mostly Kartlians and Kakhetians, who have not historically had
close contacts with the western Georgians, not mentioning Megrels,
Abkhazians or Svans.
Due to this peculiar logic of historical development, the Kartvelian
group does not now have a single approach to the concept of
“Homeland.” This is a very important aspect of the problem we are
considering – this aspect allows us to see how much interested the
present-day population of the Republic of Georgia can actually be in
“fighting and dying” for Abkhazia or South Ossetia. The foundations of
the nationalist ideology were laid by public figures Ilia Chavchavadze
and Akaky Tsereteli in late 19th century. It was exactly they who
tried to give the local concept of “Homeland” a larger – mass –
scale. And it was they who established a certain tradition: the factors
consolidating the nation are based not so much on (the assertion of)
the national – all-Kertvelian values – but on the search for the
image of “extra-Kartvelian” enemy. Particularly, in his works Ilia
Chavchavadze chose Armenians as “an enemy.” “The Armenian choice”
of Chavchavadze was due mostly to the fact that, unable to adjust
themselves to the development of capitalist relations, the Georgian
noblemen were forced to sell their estates to rich Armenian merchants.
What really matters in this context is not so much the ethnicity of
the “external enemy” as the very ideological existence of such an
image. By the way, this ideology has lived up to now. The key weapon
of the Georgian parties in the first quarter of the 20th century,
this ideology predetermined the logic of the development of the
national life, and the First Georgian Republic (1918-1920) was also
based on the vector of United and Indivisible Georgia. At the same
time, it should be noted that in 20th century this ideology failed to
go outside the activities of the political elite and to grow into a
national (all-Kartvelian) feeling. Still, as we have already said,
the process of consolidation of the Kartvelian nations populating
Georgia (in the scale and content proclaimed by Tbilisi) is far from
completion. The political elite of new Georgia has failed to make the
Abkhazian problem a consolidating – all-Kartvelian – factor. People
have failed to see what exactly they must sacrifice themselves for.
And even the western Georgians, who still have mutual problems, have
refused to unite “for the sake of Abkhazia.” Even more, in the most
concerned Megrel community, we can see diametrically opposite moods –
one part of Megrels is definitely closer to Abkhazians.
The historical “psychology of feudal principalities” in Georgia is
traditionally the most influential internal political factor in the
country. Even more, it is exactly this psychology that gives birth to
leaders of “national scale,” whose political image reflects not only
the specificity of “own nation” but also the traditional separatism of
feudal princes. In this light, it should be noted that the concept of
“separatism” the Georgian authorities keep applying to Abkhazia and
South Ossetia is much more applicable to the lifestyle and traditional
mentality of the Kartvelian society. The separatism of feudal princes
has actually taken deep roots in the multi-layer Georgian soil, and the
modern history proves this mentality to be quite viable. It is typical
of almost every politically (publicly) significant figure in Georgia,
irrespective of his psychological, moral or intellectual image. It
is quite noteworthy that, right after his political fiasco, the first
Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia proclaimed the independence of
the Megrel-Abkhazian Republic. And even this rare historical example
is just the top of the iceberg of Georgian contradictions that is
drifting around the scattered “principalities” of Sakartvelo.
As we have already noted, besides the factor of linguistic isolation
of the Kartvelian society, there is also another nuance that
does not let the Abkhazian and South Ossetian problems become a
consolidating factor. The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, just
like the Republic of Georgia, internationally recognized within its
territory, is a kind of empire, and the struggle of the country’s
leadership for Abkhazia is more like a colonial than patriotic war (in
fact, it is a war of robbers – it’s enough remembering the figures of
“the leaders of the Georgian home guards”). This is a very important
circumstance – as colonial wars more often shatter and even decay the
rear than consolidate it. With no all-national concept of “Homeland” in
Georgia, the local authorities still apply feudal ways of territorial
administration. What we could see during the civil war was exactly
a feudal rule; at a certain moment, the confrontation was very much
like the squabble of “feudal princes” – the only difference was that
the new rulers of the territories were not noblemen but criminals.
Emzar Kvitsiani is a typical representative of the Pleiad of
“Georgian feudal lords” of the epoch of independence. That’s why the
acting Georgian authorities tend to qualify almost every de facto
disobedient administrative-territorial unit as “a bed of criminal
structures.” And they do this irrespective of the extent of their own
corruption. In this light, we would like to remind you the words of
the well-known Georgian historian Berdzenishvili, who wrote in 1937:
“Feudal Sakartvelo (Georgia) has never fully embraced the concepts of
‘Abkhazia,’ ‘Kartli,’ ‘Kakheti,’ ‘Somkheti’ and the title of the King
of United Georgia has never turned into a formula with historical
content.”
The present Georgian President sees himself in the historical
chronicles standing beside the most respected monarchs of the past.
His fixed idea is to restore the territorial integrity of the
Georgian state and, more importantly, to resolve the historical
internal Kartvelian conflicts. He truly imagines himself to be
the monarch of United Georgia. This is a very important nuance –
a nuance that must be always kept in mind; the present Georgian
President is capable of any most unexpected and thoughtless action:
he is really unsurpassed in giving political surprises. He can take
aback even the most sophisticated technologists; the ace of political
intrigue, feudal lord Aslan Abashidze, was unable to oppose anything
(constructive) to the irrationalism of Mikheil Saakashvili; the
President is illogical and sure of being the chosen one. He really
believes that his destination is to unite Great Georgia. Being the US’
protege, he is not like his “nest brothers” – Viktor Yushchenko or
Alexander Milinkevich, who are being actively built up by the masters
of Hammer and Angle Bar; unlike them, Saakashvili has the Idea. The
first thing that comes into mind is the famous phrase: “If Garibaldi
had not been a Mason, Italy would not have united.” That’s probably
how Saakashvili interprets his position of a “protege” – at least,
for the time being.
The first Georgian President also felt himself as a kind of missionary,
but, among other things, he lacked extravagance: pedantic Zviad was
not a trouble maker. He clearly saw that his country was “a patchwork
blanket” and realized that this mosaic posed a real threat to the
idea of United Georgia. At first, he also tried to implant the idea
of Common and United Homeland into the minds of all the Kartvelians
and traveled the whole Sakartvelo for this purpose; emotionally
restrained, seaside Megrel, he praised Kakhetia as the first wine
grower. “Demographically, Kakhetia has always been a mono-national
region, and Georgians have always been a majority here,” he said in
the Kakhetian village of Akhalsopeli in 1989.
“Today, we are facing a serious problem. Tatars, Armenians and
Ossetians have risen to their feet. We must save from foreigners
Kakhetia – our holy land!” Could Gamsakhurdia imagine then that
some few years later he would be forced to rise with the idea of a
Megrel-Abkhazian Republic?
Today, there are no grounds for speaking about serious prerequisites
for changing the state structure exactly as a mechanism consolidating
the nation, especially as there was almost no concept of “the King
of All Georgia” in Georgia’s history; at the time of the signing of
the Treaty of Georgievsk (in Aug 1783) Irakly II was called the King
of Kartli-Kakheti. The authority of the Georgian King has never been
a consolidating force as people in other regions swore allegiance
to other rulers – the King of Imeretia and others; in fact, the
restoration of monarchy in the disintegrated Georgian society may
disintegrate the Georgian state.
President Saakashvili, who is really daydreaming of a Place in the
chronicles of the Georgian history (certainly, next to the most
outstanding rulers), is going to solve this problem too; of course,
not as a King but as the ruler of “All Georgia.” He openly views the
period of his accession to “the presidential throne” in the context
of the events of early XIX. The starting point for him is 1801 when
the western Georgian Kingdom was abolished and annexed to Russia. The
supporters of the ambitious President consider the following 205
years as the “frozen interval” of the national life.
In this context, we would like to point to the speech of the advisor of
the Georgian president, former prime minister and MP of Estonia Mart
Laar: “The so-called ‘Russian peacekeepers’ are not keeping peace,
they are trying to keep the last fragments of the Russian Empire.” The
July 28 article in the Akhali 7 Dge daily is also quite symptomatic:
“It is exactly the strong powers that tell the other countries involved
in international relations how to play in the political game and
often decide in their stead. As a rule, small and weak countries are
‘oppressed’ in international relations. For such countries it is very
dangerous to be neighbor to a strong country as stronger neighbors
leave weaker countries no chance for maneuver or choice. Unfortunately,
Georgia is a small country neighboring on Russia – this is our ‘gift
of fortune.’ Russia’s policy on the Caucasus has not changed. Czarism
is still Russia’s ideology. This crossroads of the world civilization
is still the axis of the Russian neo-imperialism, and Georgia is part
of this axis. For years Russia has refused to put up with the lost
of this rebellious country. They can’t put up with the fact that our
small country is showing resistance to Great Russia. Russia has failed
to enslave Georgia even though for many years it has been pressuring
our country economically and supporting separatist regimes.”
It is noteworthy that the emphasis on the year 1801 (just like on
the Treaty of Georgievsk) goes well together with Saakashvili’s
world-view; it allows him to kill several birds at once: to
demonstrate his ambitions and succession to royal traditions, to
present the Georgians as a chosen noble society (thereby, increasing
discrimination against other non-Kartvelian citizens), to show why
Georgia has lost its independence – because of Russia. Each of these
vectors is a doctrine for a special study – a self-sufficient policy –
but only taken together, do they form the “effect of Saakashvili.”
The policy to blame Russia for the loss of the Georgian throne
fits well into the context of the present developments in Georgia;
the American strategy of expansion into the region requires further
aggravation of Russian-Georgian relations, and this fits well with the
mood and ambitions of Mikheil Saakashvili. The July 5 2006 meeting of
the US and Georgian presidents resulted in George Bush’s statement
that each state has the right to carry out military actions against
radical forces with a view to protect its own security and sovereignty.
Even though this statement was made in connection with the Middle
East events and was aimed at justifying the policy of Israel, it was
equally referred to Georgia. Some sources say that this issue was even
discussed during the Washington meeting. “This meeting was absolutely
historic for Georgia,” Saakashvili said. “I am sure it was, and the
Georgian people will certainly see its results. It is absolutely
clear that the US will support our struggle for freedom till the
end.” We should note that, when saying “struggle for freedom,”
the Georgian President also means the restoration of Georgia’s
territorial integrity.
It is especially important to note that, when speaking about the
right of each country to protect its independence and security by
any means, George Bush emphasized the destructive influence on one or
another region by exactly the forces supporting terrorism. As early
as July 9 – just four days after the meeting – a terrorist act in
Tskhinvali claimed the life of South Ossetian Security Secretary Oleg
Alborov; two weeks later the Georgian Parliament adopted a resolution
“On Peacekeeping Forces in the Conflict Zones”; and on July 21 the
Georgian President dismissed his State Minister for Conflict Resolution
Giorgy Khaindrava. The next step was the “anti-criminal operation in
Kodori Gorge.”
The royal hunt for birds has revealed one more target for the
indignant Georgian “monarchists” – Armenians. In the context of the
constantly discussed topic of 1801 and the policy of making an enemy
of Russia, the researchers cannot but point out that “the decree
on the liquidation of the Georgian throne was read out in Tiflis
(Tbilisi) by Armenian Iosif Argutinsky, and the first governor
general was Armenian general Lazarev.” In the first half of the
20th century Georgians began showing increasingly negative attitude
towards Armenians; they regarded Armenians as Russia’s proteges and
the heralds of the loss of the Georgian throne. The founder of the
Georgian nationalist ideology Ilia Chavchavadze wrote: “Armenian
scholars are standing their ground, they are seeking to get home in
a place they have never had home… they wish to convince everybody
that they allegedly have the historical right to live here.”
This idea runs through the nationalist ideology to these days. No
coincidence that during the “revolution of roses” certain
representatives of the Georgian nation, particularly, those from
the nobles, expressed concern for the presence of Armenian blood in
the veins of all the three leaders of the revolution; those times
were not easy for Saakashvili… “Christian Georgians have always
felt danger on the part of Armenians,” says the academic head of the
Russian Project of Jerusalem University, Dr. Dan Shapira. “Armenians
have lived in Georgia since the beginning of time. Even the capital
of Georgia, Tbilisi, has until recently been the Armenian city
and the key Armenian cultural center eastwards of Istanbul. Thus,
Jews have never been regarded in Georgia as a problem or threat –
the traditional place of ‘Jew’ was occupied by Armenians.”
In other words, anti-Semitism in Georgia has traditionally been
expressed in the form of Armeno-phobia. As we have already noted, the
Georgian President is trying to implant the idea of Common Homeland
in the minds of the Kartvelians and to make this a basis for a new
scale of values. Language is not a consolidating factor, that’s why
general consciousness of Homeland is given an exclusive role.
This is also important from pragmatic point of view; only if generally
conscious of their Homeland, will the Kartvelian people be able to
perceive the unprecedented achievements the acting president has made
in the last years – first of all, the establishment of control over
Ajaria and Abkhazian Svanetia. Otherwise, all his achievements will
look just a zero (in the general consciousness).
That’s why he is forced to regularly appear with the story about
notorious Armenian-Russian plot against Georgia in hope that the
factor of external enemy will consolidate the Georgian society. In
“his game” Mikheil Saakashvili actually needs nationalists.

DAVID CRUMM: ICONS OPEN NEW RELIGIOUS WORLDS
Free Press Columnist
Detroit Free Press, MI
Sept 9 2006
Free lectures to be given on Tuesday
This Madonna and child icon belongs to Bishop Nicholas Samra, a Melkite
Catholic clergyman who visited St. John Armenian Church recently.
Related articles:
~U If you go
~U Tell us what you think In our culture where image is everything,
local Orthodox and Catholic leaders are planning to showcase some of
the most powerful images human hands can create.
They’re icons, and it’s no coincidence that this ancient term for
sacred images also describes the little pictures on our computer
screens. At first glance, icons are merely pictures, but both kinds
of icons really are doorways to the forces hovering behind them.
In computers, icons open software from e-mails to databases. In
churches, icons are “visible images that open up the invisible world,”
said the Rev. Garabed Kochakian, an iconographer and the pastor of
St. John Armenian Apostolic Church in Southfield.
“Icons are channels, like windows to God,” added the Rev. Dimitrie
Vincent, pastor of St. Thomas Albanian Orthodox Church in Farmington
Hills. Like Kochakian, he is an artist as well as a priest.
The two were among nine religious leaders who met recently at St.
John to plan a joint icon showcase Tuesday at an Orthodox church
in Livonia.
“Icons really are symbols of what unites us as Christians,” Vincent
said last week.
Catholics also are getting more interested in them, said Michael
Hovey, an ecumenical adviser to Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida. “In the
past year, I’ve visited at least 60 of our Catholic parishes and I’m
impressed at the growing number that have icons,” Hovey said.
Dan McAfee, the director of Maida’s office for Christian worship,
said, “There was a time after our Second Vatican Council when people
were eager to clear out everything in our churches that might seem
extraneous. People removed lots of statues and paintings. But I think
people are realizing that, in some cases, we may have gone too far.”
The growing fascination with these strangely flat-looking images of
saints and biblical scenes may seem puzzling. The rest of the world’s
media are racing in other directions, like sending clips of movies
to the tiny screens of cell phones.
Antiquity is part of the allure of icons. Traditional Christian
stories say that the gospel writer St. Luke also painted icons.
Centuries-old tales of miracles surround many of them. But icons are
much more than history lessons.
After the meeting, Kochakian took guests to see a large icon that
he designed for a wall of his church. It’s a mosaic made of colored
glass and gold leaf, showing St. Gregory the Illuminator, the first
head of the Armenian Church about 1,700 years ago.
As guests approached the mosaic, they saw a tall, bearded man in red
robes standing before a snow-capped mountain in Armenia, holding a
model of a church. Then, as guests moved closer, they could see a
drama unfolding in the background. A fist seemed to emerge from the
sky, wielding a flaming hammer.
“In Armenian tradition, that’s the hand of Christ emerging to strike
the ground with a golden hammer to mark the location of our first
cathedral,” Kochakian said.
There was more: The saint’s eyes seemed to fix on viewers wherever
they stood, silently asking what each one thought of these images.
Such all-seeing eyes are the trademark of this sacred art, McAfee
said. “As you approach an icon, you find that, as much as you look
at the icon, the icon looks back out at you.”
The icon of St. Gregory was merely an arrangement of colored glass
and yet the saint’s eyes seemed alive with the question: So, what do
you think of this spiritual world?
Then, suddenly it dawned on at least this visitor: Our contemporary
fascination with asking for each person’s viewpoint on the spiritual
world is really as ancient a practice as icons themselves.

FILM “YOL”: A MONUMENT TO HUMAN ENDURANCE
By Jalal Jonroy
KurdishMedia, UK
Sept 9 2006
Yilmaz Guney (1 April 1937 – 9 September 1984)
When shown at the Cannes Film Festival ’82, YOL received a standing
ovation and won the coveted first prize. YOL is a Kurdish drama made
by Yilmaz Guney -a Kurd- while serving 19 year prison sentence in
Turkey. Y. Guney escaped prison and now lives in Paris where he and
other Kurdish artists in exile have formed (The Kurdish Institute)
to help save the Kurdish culture – a much neglected and maligned
treasure of mankind’s cultural heritage.
On the surface, YOL relates the sufferings, the loves, and the hope
of five Kurdish prisoners while on temporary leave. On the way -YOL-
to their homeland Kurdistan, occupied by fascist military Turkey,
the film slowly and sensitively reveals the terrible operation
and hardships of the Kurdish nation. YOL is a long harsh road into
Kurdistan -deliberately kept backward socially and economically, by
successive Turkish governments. Poverty, bad transportation, luck
of schools and hospitals (witness the dentist’s scene), deprived
children smoking cigarettes, villagers crammed in tiny mud houses,
and farmers still having to work with antiquated tools are all shown
in dramatic contrast to the purity and natural beauty of Kurdistan.
The only signs of 20th century progress the Kurds see daily are the
machine guns of Turkish soldiers!
The five prisoners soon find themselves in the greater and more
oppressive prison of Kurdistan. Through lack of education, the Kurds
are held under and old feudal system with its blood feuds and complex
codes of honor -for example with the respect to adultery. Today,
this medieval web coupled with religious ignorance, and compounded by
Turkish political and economic oppression, reduces much of Kurdistan
to a rigid backward social structure with both men and especially
women trapped as victims. (Witness during the snow scenes the unspoken
painful dilemma of husband and wife who had “betrayed” him martially.)
To ease its exploitation, Turkey dupes the people with confused
brand of religious and archaic moral standards, hence, for example,
the mass hysteria and the tragic scene of the train.
YOL is a compassionate journey through Kurdistan kept under a permanent
state of siege by Turkey since the dawn of this century.
Here, over one and a half million Kurds (and similar numbers of
defenseless Armenians) have been massacred. Persecution, tortures,
gallows, mass deportations, aerial bombardments, napalm, poison
gas, mass trials, organized terror, forced assimilations, and total
destruction of towns and villages are marked in blood on Kurdish
mountains as the unwritten history of Kurdistan. To talk about basic
human rights would be futile, when Turkey, in order to add insult,
calls the Kurdish nation “Mountain Turks”.
To this date, mere speech in Kurdish or Kurdish costume carries a
mandatory prison sentence! Of course, since twelve million Kurds in
Turkey are not supposed to exist, any mention of even the word Kurd
is banned, let alone Kurdish culture! (Last March, a non-Kurdish
sociologist, Ismail Besikci, was sentenced to ten years for merely
describing the Kurds as a separate ethnic group.)
Turkey, a member of NATO, receives over one million dollars a day from
the United States as military aid. The corrupt fascist Turkish junta
uses much of this to destroy Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, and liberal
Turkish people. As recently as last May, Turkey in conspiracy with
Iraqi military fascists staged a back-handed attack on Iraqi Kurdistan,
and burned Kurdish villages. Two thousand Kurds were captured, most
of whom are now under torture in the already over-crowded Turkish
prison camps.
Robbed of its oil, food produce, and other natural resources by its
more powerful neighbors, Kurdistan lies in a singularly strategic
position -between the Middle East, Russia, and Europe. Due to this
quirk of fate, Kurdistan has always been the battlefield of aggressors
with Kurds used as worthless pawns in a brutal game of greed and power.
Today, the fascist governments of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq are
shamelessly ganging up to exterminate the Kurdish nation -something
no one has been able to do for 3000 years from Alexander the Great,
the Mongols, the Persian and Ottoman empires, to the British. The
Kurds are some 40 million people. Descendants of the ancient Medes,
they have lived in Kurdistan long before the Turks existed.
YOL is a monument to human endurance; to the sick and wounded
in Kurdish mountains; to thousands of lost orphans and homeless
families. YOL is a poem of tears and flowers dedicated to the bereaved
women and weeping mothers of Kurdistan.
If you add up the hardship of the freedom-loving peoples of El
Salvador, Vietnam, South Africa, Afghanistan, Palestine and Poland, it
may not equal the plight of the Kurdish nation whose very existence is
endangered. Yet ironically because Kurds are being massacred by Iran,
Turkey, and Iraq, and not directly by “white” or “big” powers such
as Russia or America, the Kurdish cause, though a unique tragedy,
does not get the media exposure of the support automatically given
to other national causes. How apt, even today, is the sad, age old
proverb: “Kurds have no friends”!
YOL is hymn to the unsung heroes of the Kurdish nation, who against all
odds and modern destruction machines, fight alone for the preservation
of their dignity, and identity. Form the heart of Kurdistan, YOL
is a gift of spirit and hope to the oppressed people everywhere in
the world.
Outside links KurdishMedia.com does not take the responsibility for
accuracy of the outside sources.

EP’S TURKEY REPORT RADICALLY ACCUSES TURKS
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 9 2006
The European Parliament (EP) late Monday approved a sharply critical
report on Turkey, calling on Ankara to recognize the Armenian genocide
claims before becoming a member of the European Union.
The report entitled “Turkey’s Progress Towards Accession,” which
was prepared by the EP Committee on Foreign Affairs Rapporteur and
MEP Camiel Eurlings, was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee
with some amendments which made it harsher towards Turkey than
it had been. It also criticized a number of issues, including
Cyprus, a slowdown in the EU reform process, the situation in the
southeast, problems with religious minorities, cultural rights and
civilian-military relations.
The report, which was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee,
isn’t binding but plays a role in making recommendations for Turkey
and will be put to a vote by the EP’s full 732-member assembly during
Sept. 25-28 meetings.
Taking note of a Turkish proposal to set up a bilateral committee of
experts to deal with controversial past incidents and of Armenia’s
position on the proposal, the report urged the Turkish and Armenian
governments to continue their process of reconciliation leading to a
mutually acceptable proposal and asked Turkey to take the necessary
steps, without any preconditions, to establish diplomatic and good
neighborly relations with Armenia and open their land border as soon
as possible. Armenia does not recognise Turkey’s eastern borders and
Turkey keeps its territorial borders with Armenia closed since the
Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
The report also claimed that Turkey committed “genocide against the
Pontic Greeks and Assyrians.”
Turkish experts argue that the genocide claims are added by the
Greek and Armenian lobbies to prevent Turkey’s EU process. Dr. Sedat
laciner from USAK, Ankara-centred Turkish think tank told the JTW
that there is no condition of recognition of any genocide claim:
“Turkey has fulfilled all main conditions for EU membership. That’s
why the anti-Turkish groups add new condition to stop the process”.
Dr. Laciner also claims that the EP report is so biased and accuse
only the Turks:
“The Armenian claims are historical claims. The Armenians believe
in that the 1915 Relocation Campaign was a genocide. It means the EP
gives great importance to the events happened almost a century ago.
Yet the same EP mention nothing about the Armenian occupation in
Azerbaijani territories. Yerevan does not recognise the Kars Treaty.
According to Armenians the Eastern parts of Turkey is Western
Armenia. I mean EP should also see the Armenian irredentism.Similarly
the Pontus and Assyrian genocide claims are baseless and not serious.”
EU rebukes Ankara on pace of reforms
In Eurlings’ report, EU lawmakers sharply criticized Turkey over its
‘slow pace’ of reforms and warned that failure to make progress on
the Cyprus dispute risks bringing entry negotiations to a halt.
Ankara Government does not accept the slow pace critics.
Turkey’s reservations about opening its airports and harbors to the
Greek Cypriots will have serious implications for the EU process and
could even bring it to a halt, warned the draft report, calling on
Turkey to take steps towards the recognition of the Greek Cypriot
administration during its accession process. It also raised the idea
of an early withdrawal of forces from the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC). It also called on the European Council to renew efforts
to implement trade regulations with Northern Cyprus.
The EU accepted only the Greek part of the Cyprus island as the
EU member.
Report urges progress in human rights
The toughly worded report also called on Ankara to take steps towards
making progress on freedom of expression and raised concerns about the
country’s treatment of religious minorities, the Kurdish population
and women.
Noting that certain progress has been made in women’s rights after
the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK) came into force last year,
the report however then stressed that a lack of respect for women’s
rights in Turkey remains a matter of serious concern.
The EP report also urged Ankara to take concrete steps to remove
obstacles facing Christian religious minorities related to, in
particular, their legal status, the training of clergy, and their
property rights, and called for an immediate stop to all seizures
and selling off of property belonging to religious communities by the
Turkish authorities and the immediate reopening of the Greek Orthodox
Halki seminary and public use of the “ecclesiastical title of the
‘ecumenical’ patriarch.”
It also called for the protection and recognition of Alevis, including
the recognition of cemevis as religious centers, and for all religious
education to be voluntary and not cover just the Sunni branch of Islam.
Taking into consideration the amendment requests of MEPs Joost
Lagendijk and Cem Ozdemir, the report also called on Ankara to find
a solution to the headscarf ban in Turkish universities.
Solidarity with Turkey in fighting terror
The EP also condemned a resurgence of violence in the southeast by
the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and stressed that there
can never be an excuse for violence against Turkish citizens in any
part of the country. The report also expressed solidarity with Turkey
in fighting terrorism. The PKK is on the terrorist organizations list
of the EU and the US.
Turkish media however find the report unbalanced and radical. Many
Turkish newspapers blamed the report as ‘Armenian’ or ‘Greek-made
report’.
Dr. Mehmet Ozcan argued that the EP report should have been more
realistic to be taken consideration in Turkey. “The EU loses its
seriousness in the eyes of many Turkish people” Dr. Ozcan claimed.
Similarly Dr. Ihsan Bal says that the EU names all the political
problems regarding Turkey as ‘genocide’. He continued: “Armenian,
Greek, Assyrian, Kurdish, they name all of these issues as genocide.
What is the next, no one knows. According to the EP reports Turks are
the champion on genociding other peoples, but the reports never mention
Algerian genocide or many more genocide committed by the EU nations
in Europe and Asia. The report is not realistic and constructive. The
report undermines the Turkish people’s trust towards the EU”.

FRENCH MINISTER SARKOZY DECLARES ‘WAR’ AGAINST TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP
By Melahat DUZGECER, Jan SOYKOK, ANKARA and PARIS (JTW)
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 9 2006
* French Minister Sarkozy Says That Turkey Should Never Be EU Member
* Turks accuse him of being racist and religionist
French Interior Minister and chairman of the centre-right UMP Nicolas
Sarkozy argued that Turkey should never be part of the European
Union. Turks accuse Mr. Sarkozy of being racist and religionist.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who is expected by many
to win the French presidency in 2007, reiterated his opposition to
Turkey’s E.U. membership, saying that membership talks with Turkey
should be suspended. “For many reason, the E.U. should deepen relations
with Turkey but without going as far as full membership,” Sarkozy
said in a speech delivered to a Brussels think tank on Friday. Sarkozy
proposes a privileged partnership to Turkey instead of full membership.
In a speech to the Friends of Europe think-tank setting out his
“vision” of the EU’s future, Mr Sarkozy urged the creation of ad
hoc groups of countries (“an open avant-garde”) empowered to forge
ahead with common policies, leaving others behind; the formation of
pan-European political parties; and handing powers to the European
commission president to choose his own team of commissioners.
Demanding a watertight definition of Europe’s frontiers, he made plain
that Turkey should never be allowed to join and current accession
talks should be frozen until Ankara opened its ports and airports to
(Greek) Cyprus, in effect recognizing the EU’s 25th member.
Prof. Dr. Sedat Laciner, director of the USAK, told the JTW that Mr.
Sarkozy abuses Turkey’s EU membership process for his presidential
campaign. “The Greek and Armenian voters with other anti-Turkish
groups give great importance to the Turkish issue and the French
politicians simply abuses the problems with Turkey” Dr. Laciner added.
Similarly Dr. Nilgun Gulcan accused Mr. Sarkozy of being racist
and religionist:
“There is no difference between his understanding and the Nazi
understanding. The only difference is the new Jews are Turks. Mr.
Sarkozy and his party do not want to see Turkey in the EU though
Turkey is an European country because Turkey is a Muslim country.
There are many Muslim countries on the European continent, yet none
of them is EU member. Mr. Sarkozy is talking about the Cyprus issue.
They fully accepted the Greek side as the only state on the island
and now they only accuse the Turkish side. The French minister is not
sincere and racist. He fully supports the Greeks against the Turks
because they are Christian. He also supports the Armenians against
Turkey and Azerbaijan because the Armenians are Christian. Mr. Sarkozy
is one of the supporters of the clash of civilizations in Europe.”
One of the Turkish diplomats in Ankara told the JTW that the Greeks
were accepted as full EU member though they rejected all peace plans
in 2004. “The EU did not keep its words in Cyprus issue and now they
blame Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots for the problems regarding the
Cyprus issue” he added.
Many in Turkey believe in that the EU will never accept Turkey as full
member because the EU is a Christian club. Most of the Middle Eastern
countries, including Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Saudi Arabia,
Algeria, Jordan and Iran, declared that they fully support Turkey’s
EU membership.
Sarkozy: Turkey is not European
Nicholas Sarkozy had opened his anti-Turkish campaign on the eve of
the critical EU constitution referendum in France in May 2005.
“Israel and Lebanon have more European values than Turkey,” Sarkozy
had said, meeting with university students in Paris. Describing Turkey
as an “Asian country,” Sarkozy had said, “I’m not against the Turks
or Muslims, but I’m not for the EU membership of an Asian state.”
“I don’t want to see the Kurdish, Hizbullah and Palestine problems
become European problems,” Sarkozy, who is touted by many as the next
French president, continued. “I don’t want a Europe, which will be
neighboring Iraq or Iran.” However Mr. Sarkozy have been champion of
French involvement in Kurdish and Lebanon issues.
More than 100 million Muslims live in Europe yet no Muslim country
has been accepted as the full member to the EU including Turkey,
Azerbaijan, Albania, Bosnia and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC).
php?id=38109

NO, MINISTER WE ARE NOT FREE OF TERROR
Canberra Times, Australia
September 9, 2006 Saturday
I T WAS somewhat disturbing to hear someone as eminent as
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock claim on television on Monday that
there has never been a terrorist attack on Australian soil. The
reality is there have been many terrorism incidents, although the
number of deaths is quite low.
The first recorded act of terrorism in Australia was the shooting in
1868 of the visiting Duke of Edinburgh at Clontarf beach in Sydney.
This caused great embarrassment, as he was the first royal visitor
to NSW.
The perpetrator, Henry James O’Farrell, was an Irishman from Victoria
and an alleged Fenian (predecessor organisation to the Irish Republican
Army).
This incident led to acrimonious exchanges between the NSW and Victoria
governments and, some claim, to today’s adversarial relationship
between NSW and Victoria.
Fortunately, the Duke of Edinburgh did not die and Australia has
been relatively fortunate in the number of deaths attributable to
politically motivated violence (PMV). (This includes terrorism. The
term “politically” also embraces “ideologically”, “sociologically”
and “religiously” motivated violence.) The bloodiest incident occurred
during World War I, in January 1915, when two Muslims, Mulla Abdullah
and Gool Mahomed, opened fire on a picnic train near the town of
Broken Hill in NSW.
They were members of a religious sect headed by the Sultan of Turkey
who apparently objected to Australia’s military operations against
Turkey. Six died, including the two attackers.
There is little data about the period 1915 to the 1960s, although
there were undoubtedly violent incidents that were not recorded as
politically motivated.
During the 1960s and ’70s, there were regular bombings and firebombings
involving the Croatian Revolutionary Brotherhood (HRB) and members
of the Serbian community – who in turn were backed by the Yugoslav
intelligence service. The HRB was a terrorist organisation formed in
Australia in the early 1960s by Croatian immigrants to Australia. It
was responsible for more than 120 terrorist acts in Australia and
Europe. Surprisingly, there were no resultant deaths in Australia.
In 1966, the Leader of the Federal Opposition, Arthur Calwell, was
shot in his car at Mosman, Sydney, by Peter Kocan, shortly after an
anti- Vietnam conscription meeting at the Town Hall. Calwell’s lower
face was cut by flying glass, but he was not otherwise injured.
In February 1978, the next most significant incident in terms of loss
of life occurred outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. It has generally
been believed that members of Ananda Marga were responsible for an
improvised explosive device that detonated in a garbage truck, killing
a policeman, Constable Paul Burmistriw, and two garbage collectors,
William Favell and Alec Carter.
A Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting was taking place
at the hotel at the time.
The suggested intent of the attackers was to kill Indian Prime Minister
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai, whose government’s policies were detrimental
to Ananda Marga.
There are several books about this incident, such as Tom Molomby’s
Spies, Bombs and The Path of Bliss, but there has never been any
certainty as to who was responsible.
If members of Ananda Marga were responsible, they could have been
acting without the sanction of the organisation.
Conspiracy theorists make the unlikely claim that Special Branch or
ASIO were responsible in an attempt to gain additional resources.
In June 1980, David Opas, a Parramatta family court judge, was shot
dead at the front door of his Woollahra, Sydney, home by a person or
persons unknown.
Then in December 1980, two members of the Justice Commandos of
the Armenian Genocide shot and killed Sarik Arijak, the Turkish
Consul-General, and his bodyguard, Engin Sever, at Dover Heights
in Sydney.
The perpetrators were believed to have flown into Australia to
undertake the operation with local support, and left after the
attack. No-one was ever prosecuted.
In December 1982, two members of the Palestinian group, 15 May, flew
in to Sydney and with local support bombed the Israeli Consulate-
General in Sydney and the Jewish Hakoah Club at Bondi. No one was
killed. The police case against the local supporters fell apart when
the key witness left the country.
In July 1984, Pearl Watson, the wife of a Parramatta Family Court
judge, Ray Watson, was killed by an improvised explosive device at
their Sydney home.
In November 1986, the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide
struck again. This time, two members resident in Sydney attempted
to bomb the Turkish Consulate in Caroline Street, South Yarra, in
Melbourne. The only person killed was Hagop Levonian, one of the
bombers. Levon Demirian, the other bomber, was arrested as he was
about to leave the country for Lebanon. He served 10 years in jail.
In 1989, David Locke, a member of the right-wing Australian Nationalist
Movement in Perth, was killed by two other members of the group,
who suspected him of being an ASIO or police informer.
In 1990, David Noble, a member of the right-wing group National Action
was murdered with an axe by two other members of the group after a
party to celebrate Hitler’s birthday.
In April 1991, unknown assailants shot dead the chairman of the Coptic
Human Rights Commission, Dr Makeen Morcos, in Sydney, after he gave
a radio talk criticising Islamists and the Egyptian Government for
harassing and murdering Coptic Christians in Egypt. It is thought
that he was assassinated by agents of the Egyptian Government or one
of the Islamist groups in Australia.
Another National Action member, Wayne Smith, was murdered in April
1991 in Sydney because of suspicions that he was an ASIO or police
informant. This time, ASIO had a covert sound-activated microphone
at the site and the recording of his murder was later used to convict
an National Action member.
In 1993, the Reverend Doug Good, a pastor in Western Australia,
was stabbed to death just before going to officiate at a marriage
between a Christian man and an Iranian woman who had converted from
Islam to Christianity.
Good’s attacker, an Iranian Muslim, killed the pastor at his home,
claiming he was defending himself from a homosexual advance.
In September 1994, John Newman, a Cabramatta politician, was shot
in the chest and killed. Seven years later, a jury found a bitter
political rival, former Fairfield city councillor Phuong Ngo, guilty
of masterminding the murder.
In 1996, suspected Islamic extremist Mohammad Hassanein entered
Australia with the possible intention of attacking, with local support,
Jewish targets. There is some dispute as to whether Hassanein was a
dangerous terrorist or simply a deluded individual.
The facts are that he did have past connections with an extremist
group in Egypt, he did travel here on a false passport, and he was in
Melbourne in the lead-up to a Jewish congress. As far as is known, he
had no access to weapons or explosives. ASIO and the Australian Federal
Police decided not to take any chances; he was arrested and deported.
In July 2001, anti-abortionist Peter James Knight shot and killed a
security guard, Steven Rogers, at a Melbourne abortion clinic.
In October 2002, Dr Margaret Tobin, the South Australian Director
of Mental Health, was shot four times in the back and killed in
her Adelaide office building. A deregistered Sydney psychiatrist,
Jean Eric Gassy, was found guilty of her murder. Dr Tobin had been
involved in his removal from the medical register.
By my count, the current death toll for PMV incidents in Australia
is at least 22 – 13 by shootings, five by improvised explosive
devices and four by stabbing or unknown circumstances.There have
been other well-known violent incidents in Australia, such as the
murder of anti-drugs campaigner Donald Mackay in 1977 in Griffith,
or the Russell Street police headquarters bombing in Melbourne in
1986, but the primary motivation in those cases was criminal rather
than political.
A concern now is Islamist extremist “sleeper cells” in Australia that
could one day be responsible for much more deadly attacks than those
we have suffered in the past. This issue is complicated by the large
numbers of people who are here illegally and who have disappeared into
the general community. The Department of Immigration and Multicultural
Affairs estimates there are 60,000 people unaccounted for. If correct,
this presents ASIO and other national security agencies with a
near-impossible monitoring task, despite the good work they have
done in the past. A further concern now is “cleanskin” (no police or
security record) self-starter Islamist extremists, probably born or
brought up in Australia, who may act with little or no outside support.
The most likely cause of death would be from multiple improvised
explosive devices, similar to the bombings in Madrid, London and
Mumbai. We could then easily end up with numbers of dead and injured
far surpassing the total of all previous incidents in Australia.
Clive Williams is a Visiting Fellow at the Strategic and Defence
Studies Centre, ANU.