FRANCE SATISFIED WITH LEVEL OF BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH AZERBAIJAN
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006
Prior to the forthcoming State visit to France in January 2007of the
Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, development of the bilateral
relations is very satisfactory, the French Foreign Minister Flip
Dust-Blazi stated during his meeting with the Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister, Elmar Mammadyarov, Trend reports with reference to the
statement of the French Embassy in Azerbaijan.
The French Foreign Minister commented on the successful development
of trade relations. Last year the amount of trade turnover between
the two Countries increased three-fold and reached ~@500,000,000.
According to the Minister, French companies are well represented in
Azerbaijan, and a significant co-operation has begun between the two
Countries regarding civil defense and culture.
Together with the USA and Russia, France is also the Co-chair in the
OSCE Minsk Group regarding the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. In this respect, the meeting of Foreign Ministers of
Azerbaijan, Armenia and France togetherwith the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group, may lead to progress in the process of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, the Minister stated.

OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS TO VISIT CONFLICT REGION
Author: A.Ismayilova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006
Tahir Tagizade, Head of Press & Information at the Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministry, informed Trend that following the meeting of the Azerbaijani
and Armenian Foreign Ministers in Brussels, the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs will be visiting the region.
He noted that the meeting in Paris of the Azerbaijan and Armenian
Foreign Ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan Oskanian, with the
participation of OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs continued for 5 hours. In
its conclusion, in accordance with protocol, the Ministers were
photographed with the French Foreign Minister, Philippe Doust-Blizi.
The talks were held in accordance with a new approach which the
Co-chairs introduced during the Moscow meeting. Both sides stated
their positions. For the interest of continuing the development of
the peace process, it was decided to hold the next meeting in Brussels
on 14 November, Tagizade stated.
He also noted that after the meeting in Brussels, the OSCE Minks
Group Co-chairs would visit the region.

NEXT MEETING OF AZERI AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS DUE IN BRUSSELS
Author: A.Ismayilova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 25 2006
The Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian announced that the
next meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers will
be held in Brussels on 14 November, Trend reports citing Radio Liberty.
He noted that at present there is no reason for the Presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia to meet. “The meeting with the Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister in Brussels on 14 November will decide whether a
meeting by the Presidents will be necessary.”
Oskanian described the Paris meeting as “normal and constructive”. “I
cannot say that there were any specific points of discussion, but
we covered topics of mutual interest and new principles that were
proposed during the Moscow meeting,” Oskanian stated.
He also underlined that the principles were discussed during a visit
to Nagorno-Karabakh, where they succeeded in reaching common ground
on certain principles.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FINDING HIS ROOTS: AN NFL PLAYER WITH AN ARMENIAN HERITAGE HEADS TO THE HOMELAND
By Ani Amirkhanian
Burbank Leader, CA
Oct 25 2006
Peter Musurlian can be found toting a video camera around the cityand
documenting people and places for Burbank TV6, the city’s public-access
channel.
But it turns out that Musurlian’s camera isn’t only trained on city
doings. He’s got a larger field of view.
Musurlian, 44, the senior producer and station manager for Burbank’s
public access channel, is also a documentary filmmaker.
He recently finished his first documentary film, “The Long Journey
from the NFL to Armenia,” which he produced, directed and submitted to
the Arpa International Film Festival – a three-day, Los Angeles-based
festival of film screenings that explore issues of diaspora, exile
and multiculturalism.
In his film, Musurlian documents the journey of Rien Long, a
25-year-old defensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans, on his trip
to Armenia in search of his roots.
“I’d been studying the idea of going to Armenia,” said Musurlian,
a Glendale resident. “In the 1960s, everybody wanted to go back to
the homeland. That was the dream. Now it’s a reality.”
The Wisconsin-born Musurlian, who is of Armenian descent and the
grandson of genocide survivors, learned about Long after his friend and
co-producer, Arbi Ohanian, heard about the Armenian football player.
“I had no idea who Long was,” Musurlian said. “I was not interested
in the first place.” advertisement
But Musurlian changed his mind about Long after he found out that
the 6-foot, 300-pound lineman had always wanted to go to Armenia to
learn about his heritage.
“He had only heard stories during family functions,” Musurlian said.
“Long’s great-uncle would talk about Armenia. That was the driving
force in his interest in Armenia.”
Musurlian also discovered that Long identified so strongly with his
ancestral roots that he opted to get a tattoo of the Armenian flag
on his right bicep.
He even got a tattoo of a design inspired by an 11th-century Armenian
cathedral on his left arm with his Armenian name, “Vartan,” woven
into the design.
Musurlian accompanied Long, his mother and grandmother to Armenia
for 15 days in March.
He documented Long’s visits to historical monuments, cathedrals,
schools and points of interest and interviewed Long about his
experience and impressions of the country.
His co-producer Arbi Ohanian went along to provide assistance to Long
and Musurlian.
“I participated mainly by helping out with some of the planning,
guiding the tour through the different locations, being a translator,”
Ohanian said.
“Peter made it very easy for me to participate in this process.”
Musurlian hopes the documentary will interest more non-Armenian
audiences.
His goal is for non-Armenian film goers to see the film as much
as Armenians.
“I’m not doing this film just for Armenians,” Musurlian said. “I want
to see people’s reactions and I’d like to hear everyone’s response.”
The festival films are being shown from Oct. 25 through Oct. 27 at
the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
Musurlian’s documentary, “The Long Journey from the NFL to Armenia,”
will be shown on Oct. 26.
Photo: Documentary filmmaker Peter Musurlian displays the video
he produced of NFL player Rien Long finding his roots on a trip to
Armenia. Long is displayed on the screen with Father Der Hovaness,
left, a priest with whom he became acquainted during his 15-day trip
to Armenia.
06/10/25/entertainment/blr-film25.txt

SIBEL EDMONDS VINDICATED? FBI REVEALS INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
By John Stanton – Online Journal Contributing Writer
Online Journal, Florida
Oct 25 2006
On October 10, FBI spokesman Bill Carter confirmed that matters raised
by Sibel Edmonds and shielded form public view by the invocation of
the US States Secret privilege were still under internal investigation
by the bureau.
“Due to the fact that the allegations of Sibel Edmonds reflect internal
administrative and investigative matters it would not be appropriate
to respond to your inquiry. I will point out that the DOJ Office of
the Inspector General has reviewed this matter and released a public
report. I would refer this report to you for your review.
The Inspector General’s report concluded that the FBI did not
adequately investigate allegations Ms. Edmonds made regarding
a co-worker. After the OIG’s initial classified report, the FBI
conducted further investigation into Ms. Edmonds’ allegations. That
investigation is continuing.”*
Back in March of 2002, Edmonds was released from the FBI over her
discovery of an array of espionage activities. Looking back, and
with the benefit of new information from the FBI and elsewhere, it
appears that the government of Turkey was spectacularly successfully
in compromising FBI, CIA, DEA, DIA and DOS operations, and was also
able to mount other espionage programs that allowed Turkish interests
to obtain assorted military and WMD technology know-how, and garner US
and Israeli military support for its bloody internal struggle against
its significant and much maligned Kurdish population/opposition.
The Turks: Masters of Espionage
The Turks would not have been successful in staging what may be
recorded as one of history’s finest intelligence coups had it not been
for many sympathetic US military personnel, bureaucrats and politicians
who, whatever their egotistical reasons, believed themselves to be
acting in the USA’s best interests. Certainly, no one can accuse them
of not effectively representing their powerful Turkish clients whether
in defeating US congressional action recognizing the Armenian Genocide
or ensuring that US corporations close lucrative deals in Turkey.
The sympathizers names are now overly familiar: Douglas Feith,
Brent Scowcroft, William Cohen, Richard Perle, Michael Leeden,
Bob Livingston, Marc Grossman, Paul Wolfowitz, Eric Edelman,
Richard Armitage, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Dennis Hastert, et
al. Rather than rehash their affiliations and track records here,
visit rightweb.irc-online.org to find out more about their linkages
to each other and Turkey (Israel, too).
The Turks knew it would take lots of cash to pull off such a scheme and
sustain it. The illicit drug trade provided an endless source of funds
to pay for WMD components, US defense technology, politicians, money
laundering schemes, counterterrorist operations, safe interrogation
houses, and dozens of front companies. Given Turkey’s solid reputation
as a key refining point/middleman for opium coming out of Afghanistan
(it is ultimately transported into the Balkans and on to Europe
and the USA), it is no surprise that the Turkish government always
seems to have a steady supply of cash to spread around. Perhaps it
is just coincidence, but under the watchful eyes of the Pentagon and
US law enforcement and intelligence agencies, opium crop production
in Afghanistan has increased over the last decade. The profits from
refining and distribution of the product have flooded the black
market — the playground for intelligence operatives and assorted
criminal enterprises.
Joltin’ Joe Ralston
Desmond Fernandes, has recently published an extraordinary piece,
titled “Turkey’s US Backed War on Terror: A Cause for Concern?”. The
information provided in this publication shows the lengths to which the
US and Turkey (and Israel) will go to keep some very nasty activities
quiet. One of the more interesting bits of news in the report is that,
at the invitation of the Turkish government, US and Israeli forces
are assisting the Turkish government in military operations against
the Kurdistan Workers Party (PPK) and the Kurdish people and their
culture. The US is ostensibly engaged in counter-narcotics operations
with the Turks.
Joseph Ralston, former USAF general and now Lockheed Martin
employee and American Turkish Council principal, is the special
envoy/coordinator for US-Turkey anti-Kurdish operations. In October
2006, the US Congress approved the sale of 30 of F-16 combat aircraft
worth $2.9 billion to Turkey.
The world has seen the effects of similar alliances on persecuted
people, most notably the tragic one between the US and Israel. That
template will now be applied in Turkey to manage the Kurds. It’s
their turn to be abused and pushed from their homelands by the
same methods and equipment used against the Palestinians (and now
the Iraqis). American leaders sanctioned the elimination of the
Palestinian leaders and their people, even groups freely elected like
Hamas. With eager US approval, Israeli military operations continue
unabated in Gaza and the West Bank into late 2006. US support for
Israel’s destruction of the Shia population in Lebanon during the
Hezbollah-Israeli conflict in 2006, along with decades of unswerving
support in the United Nations and the US Congress is notoriously
legendary. All this bodes ill for the Kurds.
And so it begins. According to kurdmedia.com, “the PKK — the most
prominent Kurdish freedom movement — declared a unilateral ceasefire
that went into effect on Sunday, 1 October. It still remains unilateral
– the entire Turkish establishment, from top general, Yasar Buyukanit,
to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has rejected it, clearly
stating their determination to continue the war . . .
Joseph Ralston spoke for the US government when he indicated that
“a ceasefire sort of implies an act that is taken between two states,
two actors, to do that. And I don’t want to confer that kind of status
on the PKK by saying a ceasefire . . .”
According to Fernandes, “General Joseph W. Ralston, the US government’s
Special Envoy who is responsible for countering the terrorist PKK and
coordinating actions and eliminationist strategies with the Turkish
and Iraqi states . . . [He] . . . just so happens to be a member
of the Board of Directors of Lockheed Martin, the same corporation
whose deal for the sale of 30 F-16s [to Turkey] sits in the venerable
halls of Congress at this very moment.” F-16s it must be remembered,
were needed during Turkey’s genocidal War on Terror during the 1990s
because of their usefulness in obliterating Kurdish settlements,
killing civilians and terrifying Kurdish civilians.
It is widely known that the Turkish military used Lockheed Martin
F-16s to assist with the destruction of Kurdish villages in North
Kurdistan during the 1990s Dirty War, with the facts well documented
by human rights groups. In 1995, Human Rights Watch documented arms
sales to Turkey, along with related violations of the laws of war by
that state . . .”[It] included the many gross abuses that Turkey . .
. perpetrated against the Kurdish people [with] the F-16 fighter
jet figure[ing] prominently . . . In a report ordered by the [US]
Congress, the State Department admitted that the abuses included
the use of US Cobra helicopters, armored personnel carriers, and
F-16 fighter bombers. In some instances, critics say, entire Kurdish
villages were obliterated from the air.
“This proposed [new multi-billion dollar] sale in 2006, the
[Pentagon] has claimed, will enhance the Turkish Air Force’s ability
to defend Turkey, no doubt against its internal Kurdish threat in
[the Kurdish] colony in the southeast, and its external one in
southern Kurdistan/Northern Iraq . . . [The aircraft will be used to
patrol the] nation’s extensive coastline and borders against future
threats and to contribute to the Global War on Terrorism and NATO
operations . . . With this in mind, you should ask yourself what,
exactly, General Ralston is coordinating. We all know the real deal,
don’t we? We all know who have been the targets of those F-16s . . .”
Lt. Col. Dickerson: Human Hot Potato . . . Plame & Wilson: Spies
Like Us
On Monday, October 2, Captain Warren Comer (USAF, 374AW/PA, Yakota
Japan) indicated that the USAF could provide no further information
about Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Dickerson, a central figure in the
Edmonds’ matter. “Looking at your request, the only information that
I can confirm to you is what is written in the Fuji Flyer newspaper
that you read. For any other questions on this subject, please refer
to the FBI or the US State Department.”***
Taking Captain Comer’s advice, the US State Department was contacted.
On Tuesday, October 3, Ms Nancy L. Beck (US DOS, PACE) indicated that
“Responding to your inquiry, this is not a matter for the US Department
of State. Recommend you direct your question to the FBI or Department
of Justice.”
Dickerson was recently deployed to the Iraqi theater of operations
where he heads up logistics matters for an element of the USAF. His
handlers in the intelligence community apparently are happy about that
and so must be the public affairs personnel who don’t want anything
to do with him.
In 2002, Dickerson and his spouse, Melek Can, left the country for
Belgium and a quiet post with NATO after Edmonds exposed them as
Turkish operatives or, perhaps, US counterintelligence operatives.
Dickerson and his wife’s activities remain a mystery. According to
various reports, they were once stationed in Ankara, Turkey, in the
1990s, and had contact with Douglas Feith and Marc Grossman. Another
report indicated that in 1995, while in Turkey, Dickerson was the
subject of investigation for accepting money from foreign agents,
whereupon he was abruptly transferred to Germany. In 1999, Major
Douglas Dickerson returned to the United States. His wife, Melek Can
Dickerson, started to work for the American Turkish Council (atc.org)
and related Turkish American business groups.
In 2001, Dickerson was apparently given a position in the weapons
systems acquisition arena with the Pentagon and US Department
of State. Dickerson’s areas of responsibility supposedly included
Turkey, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. He also
had dealings with Eric Edelman, formerly US Ambassador to Turkey and
now with the Pentagon’s Policy Organization. Dickerson was also active
with ATC and Scowcroft. He and his wife associated with several Turkish
and American individuals from the Turkish Embassy and the ATC. Many
of these folks were targeted by FBI counterintelligence for criminal
activity. But thanks to the Turkish government’s penetration of the
highest echelons of the US political / military / intelligence /
corporate apparatus, the Pentagon and US State Department forced the
FBI to back off any criminal investigations that may expose criminal
activity, and untidy and covert operations.
Finally, there’s the perplexing case of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.
According to dozens of media reports, Valerie Plame was introduced to
Joe Wilson by Brent Scowcroft at an ATC function. Shortly thereafter,
the pair was invited to a Turkish Embassy function. Quickly after that,
Plame’s CIA WMD operation (Brewster Jennings) was exposed by then
Under Secretary of State, Richard Armitage. Coincidently, Dickerson
was in close proximity to Plame and Wilson in the 1999-2002 timeframe
and the Pentagon and US State Department. It seems likely that only a
Turkish operative located somewhere in the US government/intelligence
community would have uncovered that information and disclosed it to
the Turks and their US sympathizers.
Was it Wilson? Dickerson? Armitage?
More fallout is to come from the Edmonds’ matter and the word in the
Washington, DC-Metro is that it will involve some individuals named
in this piece.
References
* Email to FBI PA Bill Carter from John Stanton. Thanks
to Mir Carter and the FBI, plus the reference to
usdoj.gov/oig/special/0501/index.htm. The CIA, DOD-IG, DEA and Turkish
Intelligence did respond.
** From the October 2006 electronic edition of Variant: Cross Currents
in Culture, No. 27, Winter 2006 variant.randomstate.org and from
Chapter 5 of the book by Desmond Fernandes and Iskender Ozden (2006)
US, UK, German and NATO ‘Inspired’ Psychological Warfare Operations
Against The Kurdish ‘Communist’ Threat in Turkey and Northern Iraq
(Apec Press, Stockholm)
*** 8.pdf
John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national
security and political matters. Reach him at [email protected]
an/publish/article_1355.shtml

AZERBAIJAN BEST, FRANCE WORST FOR TURKS
Angus Reid Global Scan, Canada
Oct 25 2006
– Few adults in Turkey express positive feelings on two European
nations, according to a poll by A&G published in Milliyet. Only 2.8
per cent of respondents trust France, and 3.2 per cent feel the same
way about Britain.
The United States was next on the list with 3.6 per cent, followed
by Greece with 4.2 per cent and Russia with 17.7 per cent. The three
most trusted countries are Azerbaijan with 71.4 per cent, Pakistan
with 47.3 per cent, and Iran with 29 per cent.
On Oct. 12, France’s National Assembly approved a bill that makes
it a crime to deny that the state-sponsored deportation campaign
undertaken by the Turkish government from 1915 to 1917-which targeted
the Armenian population-actually constituted a genocide.
Some Turkish consumer organizations have called for a ban on French
products. On Oct. 22, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
pleaded for calm, saying, “What do we have to win or lose by
boycotting? We should consider that with a great deal of caution.”
Polling Data
Do you trust the following countries?
Yes No Not sure
France 2.8% 76.1% 21.1%
Britain 3.2% 73.2% 23.5%
United States 3.6% 78.5% 17.9%
Greece 4.2% 78.1% 17.7%
Russia 8.7% 64.8% 26.5%
Germany 17.7% 56.9% 25.3%
Iran 29.0% 43.1% 28.0%
Pakistan 47.3% 24.3% 28.4%
Azerbaijan 71.4% 11.1% 17.5%
Source: A&G / Milliyet Methodology: Interviews with 2,408 Turk adults,
conducted in late September 2006. No margin of error was provided.

POLL SHOWS PUBLIC’S SUPPORT FOR EU WANING IN TURKEY
Ethan Mcnern
Scotsman, United Kingdom
Oct 25 2006
FEWER than a third of Turks think their country must enter the European
Union, a poll showed yesterday, as Ankara comes under increasing
pressure to make concessions before it can join.
The survey, published in the newspaper Milliyet, showed 32.2 per cent
thought Turkey “must certainly enter the EU”, a sharp decline on the
57.4 per cent figure last year and 67.5 per cent in 2004.
The poll, which shows a more dramatic decline in EU support than
other recent surveys, comes as Brussels is urging Turkey to step up
reforms and make concessions over the divided island of Cyprus if it
is to avoid a possible freeze in membership talks later this year.
The survey may make it harder for Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister,
who faces elections next year, to push through unpopular measures
demanded by the EU.
Of the 2,408 people polled, 25.6 per cent said Turkey “should certainly
not enter the EU” – only 10.3 per cent felt that way last year.
The survey was carried out in late September, and since then
nationalism and anti-EU feeling have been fuelled further by a law
passed in the French parliament making it a crime to deny – as Ankara
does – that Ottoman Turks carried out genocide against Armenians
in 1915.
The poll also showed that only 7.2 per cent trust the EU. Many Turks,
including the government, complain that Brussels is changing the
rules over Cyprus as it goes along.
The EU is due to present a report on Turkey’s progress on 8 November,
which will probably criticise Ankara for a lack of reform on issues
such as minority and religious rights and freedom of speech –
prosecutors have continued to take journalists and writers to court
over insulting “Turkishness”.
Meanwhile, Turkey still refuses to open its ports and airports to
Greek Cypriot planes and vessels. Ankara supports a breakaway Cyprus
in the north, refusing to recognise the EU-member Cypriot government
in the south.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PAMUK WINS, TURKEY LOSES
Washington Post,DC
Oct 25 2006
Istanbul, Turkey – The most important story in Turkey over the past
two weeks was Orhan Pamuk winning the Nobel Prize for literature. The
announcement came an hour after the French National Assembly passed
a resolution making it a criminal offence punishable by five years
in jail to deny that a genocide against the Armenians of the Ottoman
Empire was committed during World War I.
Pamuk himself was once tried for defaming “Turkness” because he said
“a million Armenians and thirty thousand Kurds have been killed in this
land” in the course of an interview he gave to a Swiss newspaper. Many
of his detractors viciously linked the two developments. They argued
that the prize was given to Pamuk not because of his literary
accomplishments, his recognition as a master of the novel who
transformed this literary form and raised substantive questions
about East and West and their relations in his work but because of
his political stance. The public in general was unable to rejoice in
the accomplishment of one of its own.
This peculiar and rather unhealthy reaction is a reflection of
the growing self-absorption of the public in Turkey and a growing
mistrust of the West. Such a mood of xenophobic nationalism ill-suits
Turkey’s current trajectory and undermines its future projects. The
deterioration of Turkey’s relations with the West and the rise of an
anti-Western orientation will harm Turkey’s long-term interests.
Beyond that such a development will exacerbate the West’s legitimacy
problems, further fuel anti-Western rage in the Middle East and
beyond and seriously undermine pro-Western and/or secular forces in
the region as well as assisting in Iran’s ascent.

SENATE GROUP HEAD: “WE WILL NOT APPROVE IT”
Sabah, Turkey
Oct 25 2006
The dominant name of French senate guaranteed: “Armenian bill is a
mistake, we will prevent it.”
Senate Group Head of the ruling party UMP Josselin Rohan said:
“If the Armenian bill comes to the senate, we will reject it.”
Our relationship of ages can not and should not be taken in pawn
Senate Group Head of the ruling party UMP Josselin Rohan said: “If
the Armenian bill comes to the senate, we will object to it with all
our might. Our relationship with Turkey can not be taken in pawn.”
New reactions against the denial bill are growing from all Europe
including France. Senate Group Head of the ruling party UMP Josselin
Rohan said: “The bill has not come to the Senate yet. However, if it
happens, we will do our best to reject it as a group. Considering our
a hundred year friendship with Turkey, this draft is a diplomatic
mistake. It is really depressing and sad. It does not have any use
to anybody, but it is harmful in many aspects.”

US AZERBAIJANIS WORK TO KEEP TRADITIONS ALIVE
By Mike O’Sullivan
Voice of America
Oct 24 2006
The modern state of Azerbaijan is just 15 years old, but the country,
a part of the former Soviet Union, has maintained its distinctive
traditions. Azerbaijani Americans are working to keep alive their
culture and help others understand the nation’s problems and
potential. Mike O’Sullivan spoke with Azerbaijani Americans who
attended a recent conference in Los Angeles.
Asmar Eyvazova (l) and Nazrin Baghirova
Nazrin Baghirova is studying educational administration at the
University of Utah. She tells people about her country and its ancient
capital, Baku, and often get quizzical looks, but says it is a great
way to start a conversation.
“It is always exciting for me to give them information [about] where
I’m from and showing them the location of Azerbaijan on the map,
and seeing their reaction – oh, wow,” she said.
Her friend, Asmar Eyvazova, works at center for distance education at
the University of Texas, Arlington. When Asmar talks about Azerbaijan,
reactions range from blank stares to limited recognition.
Some people know, for example, that Azerbaijan has abundant oil
supplies. A few realize that its population is mostly Turkic-speaking
and Muslim. On occasion, she meets people who have traveled to
Azerbaijan.
“Those who have been to our country, they just really express it
immediately that, oh, you are very hospitable,” she said. “People
are really nice and they like having guests and offer the best things
that they have in their houses.”
Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea and Iran, Georgia, Armenia, Russia
and Turkey. The region was in the news in the late 1980s and early
1990s, and the news for Azerbaijan was mostly bad.
A separatist movement of ethnic Armenians declared independence in
the Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, where they formed the
dominant group. Fighting erupted and Azerbaijan lost 16-percent of
its territory to Armenia. The dispute is unresolved, despite a 1994
cease-fire, and Azerbaijan is now coping with more than half a million
displaced people.
Elin Suleymanov Other Azerbaijanis are scattered around the world,
and many have come to the United States to settle or study. Elin
Suleymanov is consul general for Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. He
estimates there are from 200,000 to 500,000 Azerbaijani Americans,
a figure that includes ethnic Azeris from Iran.
“They share the language and the culture, and attitude, and cuisine and
everything else,” he said. “And increasingly they share the identity.”
He says Azerbaijanis come from a difficult neighborhood, and part
of the reason for holding this Los Angeles meeting is to get Azeri
Americans to tell their story. He urged his countrymen to get involved
in U.S. civic life and make sure their congressional representatives
get to know them.
One participant at the conference is not from Azerbaijan, but is
helping educate the world about the Caucasus nation.
Betty Blair Betty Blair edits a quarterly publication called Azerbaijan
International. She and her husband, an Azerbaijani, started the
magazine in 1993 to answer questions like this one she has encountered.
“Is this in Africa? Where is it? What is it,” she said.
She says when she and her husband started the magazine, fighting was
raging with Armenia, and Americans often heard the Armenian side.
“That other side of the story was not being presented,” she said.
“And we just started very simply, 16 pages.”
Traditional Azerbaijani dancing Now, each issue the glossy magazine
has 100 pages of articles and pictures on Azerbaijani history,
literature, and culture. The couple also runs what is billed as the
world’s largest website about Azerbaijan, called
Blair says that over the years, Azerbaijan has been under the rule of
czars, shahs, caliphs and khans, and now, is coping with the problems
of independence.
The country has been called an authoritarian democracy. Critics say
its oil wealth remains largely undeveloped and that the nation is
mismanaged and plagued with corruption.
But Azerbaijani Americans say their ties with their homeland are still
strong, and that they hope to play a role in the country’s development.