Tehran Times, Iran
July 30 2006
No quarrel over the pipe: Russian and Azeri presidents
MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) — To the surprise of some experts who had been
predicting a chill in Russian-Azerbaijani relations because of the
commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the two presidents
sat next to each other at one of the events of the recent informal
CIS summit.
Meanwhile, the first Azeri oil has already reached the Heidar Aliyev
terminal in the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but over a year later than it
was originally planned.
The BTC pipeline is the biggest non-Russian infrastructure project in
the entire post-Soviet space all along the line – in investment (four
billion dollars), the number of participants, and the potential
geopolitical consequences. Russia’s attitude to it is not
unequivocal. It is happy for its CIS neighbor, but weary about the
political anti-Russian fuss around its commissioning.
During the construction of the BTC, there was talk in the West about
the Kremlin’s destructive propaganda, and its continued attempts to
avert the implementation of this ‘project of the century’. But in
reality, it was back in the early 1990s, when the future project was
only discussed in broad outline, that Moscow refused to take part in
it for routine, non-political reasons. In those remote times Baku
profited much less from its oil exports than from a million-odd
Azeris who were selling vegetables and fruit in Moscow. The Azeri oil
industry was stagnating and investment in it required much optimism.
Besides, the BTC project was not likely to recoup because of low
world oil prices. All figures rested on the dubious estimates of the
Caspian deposits. The risks were too high also because the pipe was
to pass through Turkish areas inhabited by Kurds and Georgian regions
with a predominantly Armenian population. To sum up, Russia’s reasons
for refusing to join in the BTC building were clear and logical. Even
BP, the BTC operator, might have not undertaken it if it had not been
for the powerful pressure from the U.S.
Many of these apprehensions have now become reality. There is not yet
enough oil for the pipe to reach its rated capacity. The
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli deposits, which were supposed to be the BGC
main supplier, produce no more than 20 million tons of oil per year.
This compares with Azerbaijan’s total output of 22 million tons in
2005.
Russian-Azerbaijani bilateral economic ties are making steady
headway. Under the intergovernmental bilateral agreements, more than
two million tons of Caspian oil are pumped into the Baku-Novorossiysk
pipeline every year.
Transneft Vice President Sergey Grigoryev said that he was surprised
to learn that the Azeri exports via Novorossiysk had even grown in
the last few months, after the BTC was put into operation, though
they are still considerably less than the 5 million tons annually
reserved by Transneft.
When asked what will happen if all Azeri oil goes into the new
pipeline, Grigoryev said that such a small loss would be negligible
for his company. Last year it processed almost 454 million tons of
oil, and the share of Azeri oil was no more than 0.55%.
Baku is seeking partners exactly because it does not have enough oil
for the full operation of the first BTC extension. Not long ago
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan invited Russia to take part in
the BTC, but this proposal did not evoke much interest. The BTC rate
of $21 for a ton of oil circulations cannot compete with $15.6 at
Baku-Novorossiysk.
Eager to boost its oil exports, Kazakhstan has decided to go for the
BTC and signed the agreement, which provides for the annual
transportation of 7.5 million tons. In perspective, this figure may
grow to 20 million tons, but not necessarily – Kazakhstan cannot
provide any guarantees. It is also increasing its oil exports to
China, and has much interest in oil supplies to Lithuania and Latvia.
But cooperation with Kazakhstan is not problem-free. Kazakh oil is
more sulfurous as compared with Azeri Light, one of the best crudes
in the world, and hence the price for a barrel is different. Baku is
racking the brains over how to avoid a drop in price and not lose a
strategic partner. But will Astana agree to compensate for lowering
the quality of Azeri brand?
U.S. President George W. Bush, who did not take part in the BTC
inauguration, called it the gates to the world oil market, and
suggested their protection by the ‘Caspian Guards’, for which
Washington intends to pay $150 million.
Under this project, the U.S. will send a ground force to the BTC
countries, and will monitor them from the air and space. Needless to
say, the Kremlin cannot be happy about such close wardship, and the
military presence of third countries in the post-Soviet space.
This amounts to the formation of a new pro-Western bloc on Russia’s
borders. Maybe, this is another reason why Moscow is indifferent to
the BTC as a pipeline for liquid hydrocarbons, and is so worried
about everything around it. Russia is afraid that the BTC may turn
into the Trojan horse on its frontiers.
However, Moscow and Baku are linked by mutually beneficial long-term
economic contacts; there is a huge Azeri Diaspora in Russia; and the
Aliyevs – father and son alike – have traditionally pursued a
multi-vector foreign policy. These factors taken together will
hopefully make bilateral relations stable and predictable, and serve
as ‘an airbag’ in case of collision.

The Times of India, India
July 27 2006
Iran bans Da Vinci Code after protests
AGENCIES[ THURSDAY, JULY 27, 2006 12:42:57 AM]

TEHRAN: Iran has banned the best-selling novel `The Da Vinci Code’
after protests from the country’s Christian clergy, the culture
ministry said on Wednesday, but the Persian translation is already in
its eighth edition.
Iranian publishing thresholds have relaxed considerably in recent
years and Tehran booksellers have noted an increased appetite for new
age and spiritual titles.
`Based on the request of three Christian clerics, yesterday we
decided to ban its republication,’ said an official at the ministry
of culture and Islamic guidance.
Most of Iran’s Christians belong to the Armenian church. Although a
small minority in a country of 69m Muslims, the Armenians have two
seats reserved for them in the 290-seat parliament.
The tiny Assyrian Christian community also has its own
parliamentarian. Many Christians have condemned Dan Brown’s
page-turner, saying the plot is offensive for arguing Jesus Christ
married Mary Magdalene and that their descendants are alive today.
The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 40m copies worldwide and has
been turned into a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks.
Although the film has not had a box office release in Iran, the
pirated DVD is widely available.
Copies of the book were still on sale in Iran and will not be taken
off bookshelves, but a ninth edition will not be printed, the
official said.

The Irish Times
July 29, 2006 Saturday
Report from the coalface of crime
by Carol Coulter
Crime: Is there a link between the act of apparently gratuitous
violence that leads to a death, and mass murder on a genocidal scale?
Can we extrapolate from the individual psychology of a criminal to
generalise about the nature of evil in the world?
These are the questions posed by Peter Charleton in this challenging
book, which ranges from the behaviour of individual criminals to the
conduct of genocidal wars such as the Nazi Holocaust and the Rwandan
massacres.
Charleton is one of the leading criminal lawyers of his generation, a
senior counsel who now mainly works for the State prosecuting serious
crime, though, as he recalls in this book, he has also often worked
for the defence. This book has arisen from his experience of 25 years
at the coal-face of dealing with serious crime, crime that challenges
our idea of what is human, and is an attempt to come up with a
coherent explanation for what lies at the root of serious crime,
especially murder.
Charleton looks to philosophy, psychology, history, myth and
literature for an explanation, and advances the thesis that “there is
a lie behind every crime”. “In twenty-five years of practice in the
criminal courts,” he writes, “it has become evident that deceit is
the primary instrument for doing evil.” This deceit is not only of
the victims; the most successful criminals also deceive themselves.
Gangland killers inflate their self-regard “so that they became
volatile to any challenge”. They live out a myth regarding their own
status and that of their group.
Charleton goes on to examine how whole societies become trapped in
lies, pointing out that the Inquisition used the same methods as
those followed by totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. The
central lie was that “enemies of God” or “enemies of the people”
existed, and that the greater good justified their extermination.
Societies that target whole groups, like the Nazis’ extermination of
the Jews or the Turks in their persecution of the Armenians, see
themselves as victims and the enemy as possessed of an ineradicable
essence, passed through the generations, which must be destroyed.
Charleton quotes Himmler: “Even the brood in the cradle must be
crushed like a puffed-up toad.”
Similar statements are to be found from the ideologues of the
campaigns against the Armenians or the Tutsi minority in Rwanda, or
from someone like Lt Calley, architect of the My Lai massacre in
Vietnam, who said: “We weren’t in My Lai to kill human beings really.
We were there to kill an ideology that is carried by, I don’t know.
Pawns. Blobs. Pieces of flesh.”
What Charleton finds disturbing is how widespread such feelings are:
“The human mind must contain some structure of indescribable evil:
call it the shadow, or the death instinct, it does not matter.”
Consciousness is that part of the mind which sees the truth, and
there may also be “unconscious powers at the disposal of people who
affirm life”.
This book is informative and stimulating, but leaves the reader with
more questions than answers. Neither truth nor lies are defined;
rather they are presented as absolutes, which are applicable to a
multiple of situations.
Truth and myth are not so easily divided. Victims exist, and
sometimes criminals have emerged from lives of almost unbelievable
deprivation and abuse; just as some groups – indeed, Jews among them
– have been victims of genocidal oppression that has marked their
subsequent political development and attitude to the lives of others.
Truth is not the same thing as self-awareness, and lies are not the
same thing as self-deceit. The wellsprings of murderous hatred are
manifold, and there may not be, in the end, a single explanation for
the presence of evil in the world.
Carol Coulter is Legal Affairs Correspondent of The Irish Times
Lies in a Mirror: An Essay on Evil and Deceit By Peter Charleton
Blackhall Publishing, 301pp. EUR 40hb/EUR 25pb

The Times (London)
July 29, 2006, Saturday
Christina Hardyment on a century of slaughter
by Christina Hardyment
Sobering, enthralling and illuminating, Niall Ferguson’s The War of
the World: History’s Age of Hatred (Penguin, CDs, £ 16.99, offer £
15.29) begins with a plot summary of H. G. Wells’s The War of the
Worlds, then moves into an overview of the century that fulfilled
Wells’s prediction of a ruthless takeover of Earth by aliens.
As Ferguson points out, there was no need for the aliens to come from
Mars. All that was required was for nation states to use industrial
techniques to exterminate men, women and children as if they were
aliens, so that the chosen folk could find “living room” in their
countries.
Although it has a respectable role, our own island’s story is far
from central to Ferguson’s global viewpoint, making it easier to
understand why the killing of the heir to the Austro- Hungarian
Empire sparked the First World War, how Asiatic ambitions decided the
future of Europe, and how inhumanly civilians have been treated as
armies flow and ebb across killing fields in Armenia, Poland, the
Balkans, Cambodia and Africa.
Nor has humankind changed. Ferguson points out that the furnace of
racial hatred still burns, and that all the elements for a Third
World War, rather than the Third World’s endemic wars, are in place
as China rivals the US in economic power.
Sean Barrett’s narration is measured and compelling.
Turning to lighter things, Emilia Fox’s gloriously fluffy reading of
Sophie Kinsella’s The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (Corgi, CDs,
£ 14.99, offer £ 13.49) fizzes with fun, but is not without an
improving moral. It introduces the incorrigibly optimistic Rebecca
Bloomwood, a savings clerk who is in debt up to her expensively
maintained eyebrows but can’t resist designer clothes, chic home
accessories and expensive meals out.
She has plenty of sassiness and inner resource; also a generous
flatmate, an almost saintly bank manager and a millionaire with a
soft spot for her could just see her through. Kinsella makes us
realise that there is a little of Beccy in us all as we roam the
shops snapping up bargains on credit. That most of what we buy seems
to be made in China takes us squarely back to Ferguson’s ominous
predictions.
To buy audiobooks at offer price with free p&p, call 0870 1608080 or
visit timesonline.co.uk/booksfirst

Kathimerini, Greece
July 29 2006
Turkish court rejects demand for damages against writer
ISTANBUL (AP) – A Turkish court yesterday dropped a lawsuit against
novelist Orhan Pamuk, rejecting a compensation demand by nationalists
from the author for claiming that Turkey had killed more than 1
million Armenians and more than 30,000 Kurds. Nationalist lawyer
Kemal Kerincsiz and five other nationalists were seeking 6,000
Turkish lira ($4,500 or 3,700 euros) each from Pamuk accusing him of
`insulting, humiliating and making false accusations.’ Kerincsiz had
instigated an earlier high-profile court case against Pamuk for the
same comments, but those charges were dropped earlier this year,
under harsh criticism from the EU, which Turkey hopes to join.

Mehr News Agency, Iran
July 29 2006
Iranian `Escape’ soundtrack recorded in Armenia
TEHRAN, July 29 (MNA) – Iranian composer Peyman Yazdanian finished
recording some parts of a soundtrack for Niki Karimi’s `Escape’ in
Armenia, he told the MNA here on Saturday.
`I was familiar with her work style since I had composed a soundtrack
for her previous film `One Night’,’ Yazdanian added.
The classic pieces of `Escape’ soundtrack were recorded in Armenia
for better quality, he explained.
`The soundtrack has been mostly played by piano, flute, and cello.’
`Escape’ is the second film of Karimi as a director and tells the
story of Shahrzad, a girl who has to make crucial decisions in her
life.
The film stars Karimi and Nilufar Khoshkholq.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 29 2006
Nagorno-Karabakh problem was discussed at plenary session of PA of
South Caucasus in London

Source: Trend
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

29.07.2006

The Nagorno-Karabakh problem was discussed at the 5th plenary session
of the initiative group of the Parliamentary Assembly of South
Caucasus in London, the chairman of social policy commission of
Azerbaijani parliament Hadi Rajabli who participated at the session
told journalists, Trend reports. The Azerbaijani delegation attending
the meeting included Siyavush Novruzov, Kh.Rajabli and chairman of
parliament commission for agrarian policy Eldar Ibrahimov.
Rajabli noted that the discussions aimed at finding a way for the
settlement of the conflict. `The position of Azerbaijan was steady
and reasoned. Other representatives agreed with our opinions. The
Georgian delegation protected our position in all aspects,’ ho told.
Azerbaijani deputies announced that the efforts of liberating the
occupied territories through war have increased in the country and
besides, the budget of the military expenditures have been raised.
`It was stated at the meeting held under chair of the head of Eastern
European countries department of the Foreign Ministry of Great
Britain Symon Smite that if Azerbaijan is eager to the peaceful
solution of the conflict, then why to take arm. We brought an
argument that it is not increased the interest of military
expenditures in the state budget. For the reason
of increase of budget expenditures, the finance was directed toward
various spheres. I told in my speech that if the military
expenditures of Azerbaijan is of concern for you, then why do you
keep silence for the delivery of Russian military technique from
Georgia to Armenia? Russia has supplied $1 billion military arms to
Armenia, but no-one came against it. I stressed that Azerbaijan will
take any possible steps to ensure its territorial integrity,’ he
added.
According to Rajabli, during the meeting, it was announced the
position of Armenian side regarding Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
`Armenian deputies stressed that the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group
announces that Azerbaijan doesn’t accept their proposals. And we said
that Azerbaijan cannot agree with the proposals bringing damage to
its territorial integrity. In any cases, the economic growth of
Azerbaijan makes Armenia worried. They take a great interest in
establishing economic relations. We have stressed that it is possible
only after settlement of all problems. Besides, we drew the attention
to the fires committed by Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied
territories,’ he said.
The next meeting is planned to be held in December in Dubai. That
meeting will focus on the cooperation in the sphere of ecology,
transport and banks.

Nationalist lawyer loses compensation case against author Pamuk
The New Anatolian / Ankara
July 29 2006
A court on Friday dropped a compensation case against renowned
Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, adding a fresh defeat for complainant
Kemal Kerincsiz, an ultranationalist lawyer seemingly fixed on
fighting any deed or comment contradicting the state’s views.
The case was opened on the grounds that Pamuk accused the Turkish
people of genocide by saying “Thirty thousand Kurds and 1 million
Armenians were killed on these lands, and nobody but me dares to talk
about it” in an interview published by a Swiss newspaper last year.
Kerincsiz and five other nationalists each sought YTL 6,000 in
compensation from Pamuk, accusing him of “insulting, humiliating and
making false accusations.” Kerincsiz said after the hearing that
they’ll appeal the decision.
Pamuk also stood trial for the same comment earlier this year on
charges of “denigrating Turkish identity” under controversial Article
301 of the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK). However that case, which
Kerincsiz also attended as a third party lawyer, was dropped for
technical reasons.
The case was heard amid intense international scrutiny and made the
headlines in both the domestic and foreign media when
ultranationalist groups attacked Pamuk, his supporters and foreign
officials.
Although the official Armenian stance accuses Turkey of killing some
1.5 million of their ancestors in an organized campaign of genocide
during World War I, Turkey denies the state’s involvement but admits
that large numbers of Armenians died of starvation and disease, which
it says is normal in wartime.

Tehran Times, Iran
July 30 2006
Armenian Orthodox primate calls Nasrallah a patriot
Tehran Times Political Desk
BEIRUT (MNA) — Resistance is not only a right but also mandatory for
the Lebanese nation, Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon Bishop Kegham
Khatcherian told the Mehr News Agency here on Friday.
The Armenian Orthodox bishop condemned Israel’s continuing attacks on
Lebanon, saying that the massacre and displacement of innocent people
is not acceptable in any interpretation of international law.
`Over the course of history, any nation whose lands were occupied had
the right to resistance.
`If a group is attacked in our country, it means all other groups
have been targeted. We are like a family in Lebanon, and we should be
united,’ he added.
Khatcherian noted that the doors of all Christians’ houses are open
to Lebanese refugees during the war.
He expressed hope that the diplomatic efforts to return calm to
Lebanon will bear fruit as soon as possible. Describing Hezbollah
leader Hassan Nasrallah as a wise and patriotic figure, he said, `We
will support those who favor a ceasefire in the war.’ RS/ END MNA

Today, Azerbaijan
July 29 2006
Armenians violate cease-fire regime, one Azeri soldier killed

30 July 2006 [04:58] – Today.Az

Armenians violated the cease-fire once again.
Azerbaijan defence Ministry press service told APA that on July 28
Armenian Armed Forces’ units fired on Azerbaijani Army’s positions
from their positions in 3.5km northwest of Jerabert village of Terter
by machine and submachine guns from 2010 to 2030 hrs.
On Saturday at 1130 hrs Armenian Armed Forces violated the cease-fire
in Terter region. A solider of Azerbaijani Army was shot dead.
Defense Ministry pres service told APA that solider Ismayilov Galib
Movlud was killed during violation of the cease-fire. He had been
drafted by Khachmaz Military Registration office in July, 2005.

URL: