ETHNIC AZERI ACTIVIST SAYS FOREIGN SERVICES BEHIND REPORTED TROUBLE IN GEORGIA
Ekho, Baku
26 Aug 06
A leading member of an Azeri ethnic body in Georgia is perplexed
about recent unconfirmed media reports about a campaign by the
Georgian authorities against ethnic Azerbaijanis. In an interview
with Ekho newspaper, Zumrud Qurbanov said it was probable that the
foreign services of a number of countries were behind the recent
trouble in Kvemo Kartli Province and it is high time the Georgian
authorities expressed their view on the matter. The following are
excerpts from R.Orucov’s report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 26
August headlined “Who is stirring up trouble? Georgian Azerbaijanis
are lost in conjectures and official Tbilisi simply keeps silent”;
subheadings have been inserted editorially:
With some strange regularity more and more blatantly false reports have
been appearing in the local media recently about incidents allegedly
happening in eastern Georgia, in Kvemo Kartli Province which is
populated primarily by Azerbaijanis. The original information, as a
rule, comes from Baku, then it creates a natural stir in Georgia, and
finally, without being backed up by any facts, is somehow forgotten.
[Passage omitted: reports in Regnum agency about arrests of members
of National Assembly of Azerbaijanis of Georgia which turned out to
be false]
Yesterday, Ekho asked an inhabitant of Marneulskiy District, a
former Georgian MP and member of the board of the Qeyrat [Honour]
National Movement of Georgian Azerbaijanis, Zumrud Qurbanov, to give
his assessment of these events.
Insulting leaflets distributed
“To start with, all the cards have become shuffled, in the sense that
much is being hyped up. All kinds of factitious forces have joined
in the Georgian political game, and at times like these it is very
difficult to sort out what is the truth and what isn’t. Take a recent
incident when leaflets with an insulting content were distributed
en masse in our district. They carried the words: ‘Tatrebo (Tatars –
author’s note), the land is ours. You were warned in 1991 – Georgia for
the Georgians.’ These fliers were circulated around Marneuli, during
the night in 10-15 villages, and no-one noticed anybody. This is very
strange. Is someone carrying out somebody’s orders? After all, if these
actions are not being done openly, not by definite political forces,
and at the same time various statements are being heard from public
platforms, the people are at a loss to know where an attack might
come from, whether is it worth worrying about it, or whether it is
serious or not. Let us try and work out who is benefiting by all this.
“If one proceeds from the AzTV version, it is the Armenians who are
behind this. But I live here and I can see this is not the work
of Armenians. They are not interested in coming to Kvemo Kartli,
where none of them live, to set Azerbaijanis against Georgians. And,
incidentally, the Armenian media in Georgia has never paid any
attention to this, especially as Armeniaphobia has been spread among
the Georgians themselves.
“Of course, it is easy for the Azerbaijani and Georgian leadership
to attribute all these incidents to an Armenian trace. This helps
them to maintain political and economic relations at the present
level. In the past 15 years hundreds of interviews have appeared in
which Azeri and Georgian politicians accuse the Armenians alone of
all the sins of Kvemo Kartli. But if this is the case, then why in all
these years have they been unable to find a single Armenian who could
be accused of such actions? Where then are the authorities, where are
the special services? This is a very important question. I do not rule
out that these might be Armenians, but why then are the Georgian and
Azerbaijani special services not working together on this question?
Foreign services behind trouble
“On the other hand, Russia, too, has always been named as the third
force.
We all know that there are certain problems at the moment between
Georgia and Russia, and Russia has a vested interest in destabilizing
the situation in Georgia. Let us suppose that Moscow wants to create
the same tension in Akhalkalaki and Kvemo Kartli as in Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. But if the Russians are behind this, that means
some people here are working for their special services. Why, then,
has not a single case of the participation of the Russian special
services in these activities been proved based on the facts? Why is
nothing being done at all and all we get is empty statements?
“In other words, it cannot be ruled out that the special services of
various states are operating in Georgia today, and there are local
people who are serving the interests of different states. These
could be Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, and so on. For example,
instability in Georgia is of no benefit to Azerbaijan, since it is a
strategic partner for Baku, and it is important that everything here
is stable and normal. But then Azerbaijan must work side by side with
Georgia in all crimes against the Azeris.
“One thing is clear – some people are trying to exacerbate the
situation in Kvemo Kartli and to use it either against the state or
against the present government. But it is also perfectly possible
that this is being done not from outside but from within, simply to
give an impression that somebody is heating up the situation – in
other words, by the state itself. Here we have thousands of leaflets
being distributed surprisingly quickly and unnoticed.
“This caused excitement among the Azeris. If the government was
concerned, it would have immediately made a political statement about
it. But neither the country’s leadership nor the province has expressed
any opinion about what happened, and they could have reassured the
people and told them where they stood on it.
“But everyone is keeping silent. And people are starting to say that
it is not only external forces, but also the country’s authorities who
are benefiting from this. There are also Azeri emigres from Georgia
who are living in Russia and writing articles in which they sharply
and wrongly criticize the Georgian authorities, accusing them of things
that are not happening or which are not important (although there are
things which the authorities should be criticized for). And I have a
feeling that these people are operating artificially, again one does
not know on whose orders, so that in the future, when the Azeris have
a real problem, nobody pays any attention to our complaints and does
not take us seriously. Recently these people have been saying that
they killed some Azeris in Marneuli or they beat up some people and
detained them and their newspapers. But when one starts investigating
the facts, one suddenly discovers that one person was killed in an
accident, or something like that.
One gets as far as the deputy Interior Minister and finds out that
nobody of that name has been arrested.
“These people should be putting their questions in another way –
for example, why, when the Azeris are being treated unfairly, is not
one single investigation taken to its conclusion and it drags out for
years? It is not the Russians who are behind all this but some kind
of local forces who offend the Azeris when they feel like it and try
to portray us as professional swindlers.
All this is being done artificially. I would even suggest that it is
the Georgian special services, who have been given the task to prove to
everyone that there are no problems among the Georgian Azerbaijanis,
who are behind all this. Therefore, I think that the intelligence and
special services of many different states in the region, including
Georgian, are mixed up in all of this.
It may even be that they are working together on some issues. And by
the way, according to Georgian official data, 119,000 Azeris have
left Kvemo Kartli and the country as a whole for good in the past
ten years. This is 70-80 per cent of the overall number of people
who have left here. And nobody gives this a thought.”
Azerbaijani MP and a member of the interparliamentary group of
friendship between Georgia and Azerbaijan, Nasib Nasibli, found it
difficult to say who might be behind all the intrigues and provocations
of the past month in Kvemo Kartli.
“We want to know what is the official attitude of the Georgian
authorities to all this – how do they explain such incidents? But,
in theory, there are those who want the Azeris to quit Georgia. And
having followed all this for ten years, I believe there are certain
forces of a chauvinist hue in Georgia who are putting pressure on
the Azeris. That is a fact. On the other hand, theoretically, Russia,
too, has a vested interest in a pocket of tension being created there,
because of their relations with Georgia. It is a pity that we do not
hear anything from representatives of the Georgian leadership about
all this,” Nasibli said.

EU NEIGHBOURS DRIFTING INTO WAR, BRUSSELS WARNS
By Andrew Rettman
EUobserver.com, Belgium
Aug. 29, 2006
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Brussels has voiced alarm at the mounting
risk of open warfare in the EU’s southeast neighbours – Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan – amid European plans to sign new cooperation
pacts and build new pipelines in the region.
“Negative trends are coming together, the combination of which
is, frankly, alarming,” external relations commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner said at an experts’ forum in Slovenia on Monday
(28 August), citing a recent upswing in aggressive rhetoric and
arms spending.
“Defence spending is going through the roof,” she stated, adding
“there is a serious danger of the rhetoric lowering the threshold
for war” in reference to the so-called “frozen conflicts” of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
The three regions tore away from Georgia and Azerbaijan in three
separate conflicts in the early 1990s which together claimed some
35,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands before the various
warring parties ceased fire after reaching tense impasses.
Local diplomats say potshots are still exchanged “daily” on the
Nagorno-Karabakh border and “monthly” on the borders of the Georgian
territories, with one woman shot dead in fighting between Georgian
troops and Abkhazian separatists in the Kodori Gorge in July.
The International Crisis Group’s (ICG) Europe director, Nicholas Whyte,
shared Ms Ferrero-Waldner’s analysis, saying “That’s an extremely
reasonable concern…they are preparing for war.”
He cited potential Georgian military aggression in Abkhazia and
potential Azeri aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh as the most likely
threats to peace in the short term.
Preparing for war Georgia’s military budget proportionally increased
faster than any other country’s in the world last year, he stated,
while Azerbaijan has boasted that its military budget in 2007 will be
the size of the total budget of Armenia – its main aggressor in the
conflict over the ethnic-Armenian dominated Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Georgian and Azerbaijani diplomats in Brussels both say they
are committed to diplomatic conflict resolution under the various
multinational formats at work in the region, but Tbilisi sees Abkhazia
and South Ossetia as Russian-run mafia enclaves while Baku makes no
secret of its growing impatience with the status quo.
“[Displaced] Azerbaijani people have been waiting for the liberation
of the occupied territories, to return to their occupied lands for
15 years,” an Azeri diplomat told EUobserver. “It’s ridiculous to
wait for ever, to stand and do nothing.”
Russia is an added complicating factor in the region, with between
2,000 and 3,000 Russian “peacekeeping” troops stationed in Abkhazia and
South Ossetia as well as significant numbers in Armenia, with Moscow
issuing thousands of Russian passports to the Georgian separatists.
If fighting breaks out, the ICG’s Mr Whyte believes both Georgia and
Azerbaijan “are underestimating” the severity of the international
and Russian reaction, with Baku also underestimating the tactical
defensibility of Nagorno-Karabakh by an inferior force.
EU goals at risk Ms Ferrero-Waldner is planning to visit the region
in October to sign political and economic “action plans” for closer
EU integration, with the Georgian and Armenian action plan texts set
to “take note that [these countries] have expressed their European
aspirations” for future EU membership.
The texts are also set to give Georgia and Armenia the option to
formally “align themselves” with “some” future EU statements on common
foreign and security policy topics.
But the EU commissioner warned that sepratism could derail the
integration process, saying on 28 August that “the most important
impediments to the region’s development are the frozen conflicts.”
South Caucasus is strategically important to the EU, with Azerbaijani
oil already flowing from Baku via Georgia and Turkey to Europe
through the so-called BCT pipeline, and with plans afoot for major
gas pipelines to the EU from the Caspian Sea basin in the next five
to ten years.
Western analysts agree that the energy income to supplier state
Azerbaijan and transit state Georgia is helping to buy extra arms
and creating a bullish atmosphere however. “Oil is not helping to
lubricate conflict resolution,” Mr Whyte said.

AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS FAIL TO MEET IN SLOVENIA
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 29, 2006
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Vardan
Oskanian, who were attending the Caspian outlook-2008 international
conference in Slovenia, did not have negotiations for the settlement
of the Nagorno Garabagh conflict.
The Ministry told the APA it was due to co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group Bernard Fassier (France) and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) not being
in Ljubljana.
Though Matthew Bryza, deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European
and Eurasian Affairs & US co-chair of the Minsk Group, which is
mediating in the settlement of the conflict, attended the international
conference, he did not offer the foreign ministers to meet.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Taghizadeh told the APA Elmar
Mammadyarov is reported to have met with Matthew Bryza on the very day
he arrived in Slovenia and discussed the settlement of the conflict.
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers are expected to continue
the negotiations within the Prague process in a European country in
mid September this year.

3 QUESTIONS WITH LEBANESE ARMENIAN SINGER NOURHANE
By Sherif Awad
Egypt Today, Egypt
Aug. 29, 2006
Nourhane and her passion for change
Lebanese Armenian singer Nourhane received the award for Best Young
Female Artist’s Voice for her latest video clip, Men Zaman(Long Time
Ago) at the 6th International Oscar Video Clip Festival that took
place in Cairo this past August.
In this clip, directed by Elie F. Habib and written and composed by
Marwan Khoury, Nourhane is a desperate lover who tries to warn her
man of an unknown danger, while in her first clip, “Habibi ya
Einy” (My Love, My Dear), directed by Walid Nassif, she portrayed
a woman able to turn the dullness of any place into a lively show.
Her second clip, Shaklo Keif saw Nourhane lead a feminist revolution
against her lover, throwing vegetables at his new car, ultimately
forcing him to raise the white flag.
Nourhane spoke last month with Contributing Writer Nadine Emile:
NOURHANE ON HER PASSION FOR CHANGE: Of course it is better for the
artist to be different, because not all the people have the same
tastes. For example, there are people who loved me in “Habibi
Ya Eini,” others in “Shaklo Keif,” and others were
crazy about my character in “Men Zaman.” The clip that
I am now in the process of making will have a completely different
character from all the ones I have made before. This clip is called
“Tab Wana Mali” — it’s an old folkloric song from
the movie Beyn El-Kasreyn (Palace Walk) by Naguib Mahfouz, and I
took the song and made a remix. I will shoot it in Egypt You know,
I was watching the movie and I really loved the song, that’s
why I decided that I wanted to do it.
ON SNUBBING BIG PRODUCTION COMPANIES: If I am going to be an artist
in these big companies just as a filling spot, then I do not want to.
I am more comfortable and happy this way — I’m in the
beginning of my career and I have the freedom to present my clips
or album in the time that I find suitable. But if there is a company
that will use me as a star, of course I can consider it.
ON THE PRICE OF SUCCESS: I don’t have the privacy I used to
have. My friends love to stay out late at night partying, I love that,
but I can’t. Still, it doesn’t matter ’cause my aim in
the end is to be a famous artist, so I gave it priority in my life.
photo at 020

COE TO REALIZE SERIES OF PROJECTS IN AZERBAIJAN FOR DEVELOPING INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 29, 2006
The Council of Europe (CE) intends to implement a series of projects
in Azerbaijan directed towards developing intercultural dialogue,
the representative of the CE Department on Protection of Cultural
Heritage Fransuaza Kondol told on August 29 in Baku during the
presentation of the project of tourism route “Aleksandr Duma in
Caucasus”, Trend reports.
The project has been created with the initiative of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan and supported by the CE Supervisory
Cultural Committee. Both sides consider that the project will serve
mutual understanding and mutual support between nations, development
of intercultural dialogue, as well as propaganda of the cultural
heritage of Caucasian nations.
Azerbaijan is interested in further development of the co-operation
with CE in the protection of cultural heritage, development of
intercultural dialogue with European nations, Deputy Minister of
Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Sevda Mammadaliyeva said during the
presentation. In her opinion, this project will open the Caucasian
culture to Europe.
Also, the Deputy Minister voiced her concerns about the existence
of many military conflicts in Caucasus. She stressed that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the territory of Azerbaijan and the
separatist conflicts in the Georgian territory impose serious obstacles
for the realization of such projects.
Besides, the presentation was attended by the representatives of the
Ministries of Culture and Tourism of Georgia, Dagestan, as well as
cultural attaches of the Russian and French Embassies in Azerbaijan.

ARMENIAN FM: KARABAKH PEACE TALKS AT CRITICAL POINT
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 29, 2006
“The Karabakh peace talks are at a critical point, and the
international community must do its best to bring Azerbaijan back into
constructive course for serious discussion of the principles that
are currently on the negotiating table,” Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan said while speaking at the Caspian Prospects 2008
congress in Bled, Slovenia.
Press office of the Armenian FM reports Oskanyan as saying that
Azerbaijan’s policy hinders the resolution of the Karabakh conflict,
especially, in the context of its statements about possible military
resolution and efforts to delay the peace process.
Oskanyan stressed the importance of Armenia’s cooperation with the
EU under the New Neighborhood Policy. He said that this program will
contribute to peace, stability and development in the region. The New
Neighborhood Policy is in harmony with Armenia’s program of reforms.
It clearly says in what directions the country should carry out its
economic and political reforms in the coming years. Oskanyan expressed
hope that the simultaneous implementation of the program in the three
South Caucasian countries will promote regional cooperation.

BRITISH COUNCIL LEADS FIRST PROJECT FOR ARMENIAN, GEORGIAN, AZERI JOURNALISTS
Author: À.Ismayilova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 29, 2006
British Council is, for the first time, leading a project for
journalists from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, said Andy Williams,
Director of British Council Baku office, giving the exclusive interview
to Trend. Mr Williams said journalists from these Countries had
already met in the United Kingdom.
The U.K Government-funded project aims at creation a network between
the conflicting areas. Upon completion of the project in U.K,
the journalists will continue working in their home countries and
will monitor governmental programs, society development, and most
importantly, keep an eye on transparency in the Government.
The most interesting program scientifically will be the “Science
is Beautiful” program. Its primary objective is to involve Azeri
youth to participate in scientific activities. “The same project is
implemented in the U.K. We are going to organize the international
version of this project by the name of “Fame lab”, said Mr Williams.
–Boundary_(ID_hTB3P1cbGoh9pxeOju6Y0w)- –

VIKTOR YAKUBYAN: BORN BY “REVOLUTION”: SAAKASHVILI AND RUSSIA
Viktor Yakubyan – expert on the South Caucasus
Regnum, Russia
Aug. 29, 2006
The three years of Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency have brought
about significant changes not only in Georgia itself but in the whole
South Caucasus. We will hardly exaggerate if we say that any change
in the South Caucasus directly or indirectly affects the fates of
the nations of the Big Caucasus. Consequently, directly or indirectly
affected are also the positions and interests of Russia as the fourth
Caucasian state along with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Georgia is showing steadily growing regional activity and increasingly
open ambition to get involved in important international processes
and initiatives. The advent of Saakashvili and his team into power has
caused an obvious upsurge in Georgia’s foreign political activity and
has posed a whole number of questions to Russia. The nature of those
questions and the lack of adequate answers to them is turning them
into a kind of challenges. We should admit that Russian politicians
and analysts have proved unprepared for responding to such challenges.
Despite the vexed comments from Moscow regarding certain Georgian
politicians and the ways they carry out their policies, the results
of the Saakashvili government’s work are evident. At least, they are
enough for being enumerated:
1. Tbilisi has gained unconditional control over Ajaria and is
carrying out big investment projects in Batumi and other regions of
that autonomy. Foreign capital is actively involved therein. Quite
active in Ajaria are Kazakh companies and banks. This is due mostly
to Georgia’s plans to increase the Kazakh gas transit via the region.
The only country Tbilisi reckons and will reckon with on Ajaria is
Turkey. The period of Russian sway that started in Batumi in 1878
is over.
2. Pressed by the international community, Georgia has got Russia to
withdraw its military bases from its territory. Now Russia is actively
withdrawing its arms, ammunition and personnel from two strategic
regional-level points: Batumi (a big Black Sea port, an object of
close interest for Turkey) and Akhalkalaki (junction of the state
frontiers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey). Along with Armenian
Gyumri, Akhalkalaki is the “key” to the South Caucasus, and it is
via this region exactly that Georgia is laying the Kars-Tbilisi-Baku
railroad. This project is meant to cut off Russia and its regional
partner, Armenia, from the Central Asia-Asia Minor cargo flow and it
would be impossible were the Russian military bases on the way. Here,
Georgia has solved not only the problem of Russia’s military presence
in its territory but, much more importantly, the problem related to
Moscow’s regional military-strategic positions.
3. Under Saakashvili’s rule Georgia has managed to go back into
the orbit of the international financial process. Under Eduard
Shevardnadze, Georgia went through a series of defaults and was,
in fact, struck off the IMF and WB trust list. Presently, both
organizations have resumed their basic credit and humanitarian projects
in the country.
4. Georgia has significantly increased and improved its
military-technical potential. Irrespective of who has supplied the
arms (Turkey, the Czech republic, Bulgaria, Ukraine or the US), who
has instructed the personnel (Turkey, France or the US) and what this
potential is actually for – it exists, has been built without Russia
and is aimed against regions with compact Russian communities – the
regions Russia takes care of. The military budget Georgia can afford
is steadily growing. Today, the Georgian army is a real force of a
regional scale, who can do whatever its leaders will tell it to. The
military and police salaries have substantially grown. The reserve
system is being successfully developed.
5. By systematically raising the tensions in the Georgian-Ossetian
conflict zone, the Georgian authorities have increased the outflow
of Ossetians from the region, have significantly improved their
military positions in the conflict zone and political positions on
the international arena. As a result, now the world community is
considering the efficiency of the Russian peacekeeping mission rather
than the prospects of the independence or, at least, the safety of
people in South Ossetia. That was a hard job to do for Georgia as even
its western partners realize that, before annexing South Ossetia,
Georgia will carry out a mass ethnic cleansing and will expel the
majority of Ossetians from the territory of that unrecognized republic.
6. Tbilisi has effected quite an unexpected operation in Kodori
Gorge. A region that was de jure recognized by everybody as an
Abkhazian territory and was de facto never controlled by either
Tbilisi or Sokhumi has now gone under the full control of Georgia.
Even more, for the first time since the end of the Abkhazian war, the
so-called “Abkhazian government in exile” can be actually called so.
Of course, this is a trick, a sharp practice with terms and that
government governs only the ground under its own feet… However,
we should remind you once again that those feet have stepped on the
ground everybody recognizes as Abkhazia. And so, the size of the shoes
of “the exiled governors” – whose very existence was already something
forgotten – does not matter much now. What actually matters is that,
yesterday, there was no such government for anybody except Tbilisi,
while today, it is a factor in a local game – a small but real
factor. Russia was just a looker-on throughout the Kodori operation,
and Georgia reacted immediately: after the end of the operation,
it insisted that Russia be excluded from the group who will shortly
monitor the region. Besides liquidating the relatively unreliable
Svan factor, Georgia has attained one more, even bigger goal: having
gained control over the upper part of Kodori Gorge, Georgia has, in
fact, got an “overhanging” position over Abkhazia and a springboard
for future attack on Gali – quite a practicable scenario given the
prevalence of Georgians in that region.
7. The effective use of available resources and favorable geographical
situation has allowed Georgia to fully neutralize the internal
potential of the Armenian population of Samtskhe-Javakheti region. The
withdrawal of a Russian base from the regional center Akhalkalaki
and Armenia’s total passivity were decisive in the matter. Yerevan’s
neutrality was due to Mikheil Saakashvili’s efforts, particularly,
his meetings with Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. The period
of Russian influence and the Russian orientation of the local
mostly-Armenian population that started in Akhalkalaki in 1829 is over.
8. The Georgian authorities have managed to stabilize the energy
situation in the country. They undertook just one simple and absolutely
productive step: they accepted the requirements of RAO UES. What has
Russia gained from achieving “commanding heights” in Georgia’s energy
sector? Russian companies have been given management over Georgia’s
power generating and distributing facilities, which has obliged them to
keep this strategic sector in a proper state. And their achievements,
after years of devastation, have all been ascribed to the Saakashvili
government. Now, electricity supplies are regular, and each Georgian
knows that this is due to his president.
In this light, we would like to note that all of Russia’s efforts to
gain control over Georgia’s gas transit infrastructure, particularly,
the Soviet-time Russia-Georgia-Armenia gas pipeline, are coming across
the fierce resistance of Georgia and the US (!).
9. Georgia is becoming a foothold for the US in the South Caucasus,
while the Georgian President openly says that he is the mouthpiece
of US policies in the region.
We could easily continue the list if we’d like to.
However, there are errors, too, and we should point them out lest
they in Georgia might think that everything is cloudless in their
country. Of course, the key problems of Georgia are the conflicts in
South Ossetia and Abkhazia, especially the moods of the authorities
and people of those republics. Georgia is facing serious problems
with Ukraine. The new political format in that country has made
things much more difficult for Saakashvili, who now risks to lose a
key anti-Russian partner. The US will not support Georgia as actively
should Ukraine opt for a policy meeting its national interests. For
the US, Georgia is, first of all, a link (a transit unit). Ukraine’s
withdrawal from the “sanitary,” i.e. anti-Russian, belt will strongly
limit Georgia’s operational and political positions. No coincidence
that right after Viktor Yanukovich’s comeback as Ukrainian Prime
Minister, Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili said: “The
example of Ukraine has shown that one should not form a coalition
with an inexperienced partner. The Ukrainian President will now find
it hard to bring his country back onto its former path.”
Nevertheless, it seems that, when visiting the US before the G8 Summit
in St. Petersburg, Saakashvili managed to prolong the benevolence
of Georgia Bush, especially as the US President owes Georgia the
disclosed “attempt” on his life. Exactly after that visit Georgia
made a demarche against Russia’s admission into WTO and carried out
an operation in Kodori Gorge.
Some of the problems have been caused by impulsive and unreasoned
actions and statements by Saakashvili and his men. One such problem
is the time trouble in decision-making on South Ossetia caused by the
statement of Defense Minister Irakly Okruashvili that he is going to
celebrate the year 2007 in Tskhinvali.
The much too aggressive rhetoric towards Moscow has also had a
reverse effect. Extremely indecisive until recently, the Russian
Foreign Ministry has appeared with a number of harsh statements. The
growing harshness of the Russian-Georgian polemic has left no room
for spontaneous concessions or good will gestures.
Tens of thousands of people once making wines and mineral waters
can also be “grateful” to Georgian politicians for their unbalanced
character. We can only guess how much damages they have actually
sustained as a result of the loss of the 80% of the sales market
of Georgia’s key export item. Tough and effective control over
information and statistics can also be described as Saakashvili’s
achievement. As you may know, for quite a long time already Georgia
has failed to provide its economic and financial statistics to the
CIS Statistical Committee. We think one can easily understand the
logic of this decision.
Some unpopular methods, like pressure on media, opposition, public
and business sectors, are presented by Saakashvili as part of his
policy to consolidate the potential of the Georgian nation for
preserving the Georgian statehood (a policy proclaimed after the
overthrow of Shevardnadze). Today, many in Georgia are beginning to
doubt that Saakashvili’s rule is democratic. In order to prevent this
doubt, the Georgian authorities feed their people with fantastically
exaggerated populism. On the other hand, it is clear that the very
hard tasks Saakashvili has to tackle and the very little time he has
for tackling them are pushing him to risk. Regimes born by revolution
cannot be matricides. That’s why they inevitably seek revolutionary
breakthroughs. Once risking themselves, those born by revolution
ignore those who are reluctant to risk – or are reluctant to share.
As a result, we can see rows of Georgian oppositionists going
to London and meeting with the international tandem of oligarchs
Patarkatsishvili-Berezovsky.
We should remind you that Badri Patarkatsishvili, who is also the
President of the Federation of Businessmen of Georgia, has joined his
crony Boris Berezovsky in London. Before that, he appeared in Tbilisi
with a whole number of charges against the Georgian authorities. He
said that they censored his “Imedi” TV channel and extorted money
from his business for their various funds. As of now, the Georgian
oligarch has managed to bring “under censorship” Rupert Murdoch’s
media conglomerate, News Corporation, who is reported to have bought
a big share in “Imedi.”
So, the Georgian opposition is seeking support in London. This reality
has been directly or indirectly confirmed by oppositionists themselves
– the leader of the New Rights party David Gamkrelidze, the leader of
the Republican Party David Usupashvili and others – and has obviously
worried the pro-governmental camp. At least, one of the leaders of
the ruling United National Movement party, MP Giga Bokeria said that
“…judging from the information received, one can conclude that in
London the oppositionists have discussed two key issues: getting
a financing and, probably, nominating Patarkatsishvili as united
opposition candidate for Tbilisi Mayor.”
To all appearances, Saakashvili is no longer going to make advances
to Patarkatsishvili as the latter is beginning to seek a place in
the Georgian political pyramid. Meanwhile, before learning that,
Saakashvili presented Patarkatsishvili’s big investment projects,
particularly, projects to restore Georgia’s recreation infrastructure,
as a proof of the successful economic policy of “the rose authorities.”
With no view to analyze all the possible troubles and scenarios of this
process, we just establish the fact: the Georgian authorities, who
are carrying out a special mission in the region, have got a serious
opponent. The Georgian oppositionists are turning their eyes on London,
while one of the key Georgian mouthpieces, Imedia TV company, has,
in fact, been given to a western corporation.
At any rate, this makes little difference for Russia. We dare say
that Russia has lost: simply, all the niches of the Georgian political
elite – the government, the opposition and, consequently, the public
are all fully oriented towards the West. Of course, certain Georgian
politicians are still on good terms with their Russian colleagues
but in Georgia they are labeled as marginals and this label is quite
effective even if those people appear with ideas that are less marginal
in essence than those offered by the authorities.
Still, it would be a big and quite primitive mistake to say that the
Georgian public is hostile towards Russia and Russians. It would be
much more correct to say that they in Georgia expect nothing good
from Russia. Even more, in fact, it is not quite clear how actually
Russia treats Georgia – and not only Georgia but the whole region.
Russia is showing weakness, and the weak are not only ignored, they
are despised. One proof is the chain of shameful actions in front of
the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi. For a whole week, openly insulting
words and images were projected on the facade of the building. This
could be enough for severing diplomatic relations with Georgia –
especially as the whole blame for crowds of Georgians citizens denied
visas would be on the Georgian authorities. However, the Russian
Foreign Ministry preferred to keep silence.
Let’s assume that the trump of the US policy in the South Caucasus is
precise and timely analytical information and well-planned tactics in
achieving well-targeted priorities. In quite a short period, the US has
clearly determined: who is its partner, who will provide it territory
or supply it with resources and who is its enemy. Of course, the US
can also fail, but for the US such failures are just of economic and
tactical nature, while for Russia, they mean instability on its own
southern border – in the region connected to the explosive Northern
Caucasus with hundreds of arteries.
Unlike the US, Russia is trying to balance and wait and is slow
in reacting to challenges and problems. Though trying to build its
policy on market relations only, Russia is still unwilling to give
up its status of leading regional force. Meanwhile, it is clear that
Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are simply unable to develop pure
market relations with Russia – relations based on European standards
and, most importantly, tariffs. Thus, once subsidized, those countries
are now simply forced to look for other subsidizers. The Americans
are always there to be ones, but everybody knows that once they have
filled this niche they are very much reluctant to leave it.
Russia’s position on Georgia and its smoldering conflicts is quite
contradictory. By unreservedly recognizing the territorial integrity
of Georgia in its long-inexistent borders, which can be restored
only through bloodshed, Moscow is putting itself in an ambiguous
situation. The political and expert communities realize that Russia
has a decisive say in the matter, but nobody can be sure – at least,
neither its enemies nor friends in the South Caucasus – what exactly
Russia will decide and what it has already decided on. And if the
uncertainty of the enemies is good for Russia, the uncertainty of
the friends is hardly so.
Obviously, the next step of Georgia after Ajaria and Kodori will be
the use of the Georgian enclaves in South Ossetia and Gali region
in Abkhazia. Russia’s war with Georgia can spur a chain of extremely
unpleasant processes all over the Caucasus. Have the Russian analysts
weighed all “pros” and “contras”? Judging from what we see now, they
can hardly answer this question. The lingering uncertainly on this
flank is losing Russia its key strings in the region. It is time for
Moscow to determine and openly proclaim its priorities or, simply,
to admit that the problems of the regions are a puzzle it cannot
solve on its own and, if so, to ask Georgia to help it solve their
mutual problems. It must no longer pretend that existing problems are
inexistent. It must no longer comfort itself that losing influence
in the South Caucasus does not yet mean losing positions. In fact,
it must understand that once beginning to retreat in the region,
it will not be able to stop, at least, on its own will.
One proof is Russia’s full setback from active mediation in the
Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. The last two years’ talks have shown
that dominating in the process is the US, and, if they in Russia
don’t see that (because they refuse to see), everybody in the South
Caucasus does.
In conclusion, we should admit that Russia will never be able to fence
itself off the South Caucasus by just showing a pragmatic economic
policy. This tactics will result in growing political influence
by third forces and serious problems. The time trouble the Georgian
authorities have put themselves in is equally pressing for Russia. The
clock hands are running equally quickly for both.

TULIP JOSHI’S HOT AND SULTRY LOOKS SCORCH THE RAMP
By Nitin n Sethi, Bollywood Trade News Network
Glamsham.com, India
Aug. 29, 2006
Tulip Joshi is being seen in a new ‘Avtaar’ these days and the
shutterbugs seem to be the happiest of the lot. Tulip scorched the
ramp again reminiscent of her earlier days for Nisha Jamval fashion
show at Amara organized by Viren Shah last weekend. The concept of
the show was ‘Phoenix India’ and had celebs from different walks of
life strutting the ramp. Tulip looked resplendent and enchanting and
had the crowd raving about her. “It was exciting after a long hiatus
from the ramp. It’s been ages since I last walked the ramp. It was
deja vu!! But guess it was great fun and damn cool. The outfits too
looked pretty. I loved every bit of it,” expressed Tulip.
It was quite a bit of revelation since Tulip had earlier done a
contrasting de-glam avatar as Kalki in MATRUBHOOMI. Tulip who played
the girl next door Anjali in Yash Chopra’s dream debut MERE YAAR
KI SHAADI and then wowed the critics in a totally de-glam role as
Kalki in Mathrubhumi is all set for a total image make over in her
forthcoming films.
After her hard-hitting performance in MATRUBHOOMI, Tulip is all set to
sizzle and blaze the screen in a glamorous avatar in her forthcoming
HOSTEL and SHOONYA set to release this winter. “I am so excited to be
doing commercial cinema back again. Though I am proud of MATRUBHOOMI,
because it gave me an opportunity to showcase my acting skills in the
beginning of my career, I always relished doing mainstream films. I
want to play roles that would suit my age. MERI YAAR KI SHAADI and
DIL MAANGE MORE were essentially commercial films and I had a blast
shooting for it. “I would love to do roles that the youth would relate
to. I’m quite young and have a long way to go. I am also excited about
my forthcoming films that will project a glamorous image, which is
my real life image. Infact everyone teases me that I am essentially
a fashion child,” she said.
“Bollywood has changed so much and with so much influx of designers
in the industry, the look of the films have undergone a sea change. I
would really love to do light hearted campus capers that will appeal
to the youth. Even one of my forthcoming films deals with the issues
of the youth. I am looking forward to doing commercial cinema back
again,” she added
Incidentally Tulip is half Armenian, half Indian by birth and is a
fashionista in the true sense of the word. She will always be found
in a designer wear. Tulip swears by Prada, Armani, La Perla, Versace
and also has a collection of over 300 pairs of designer tinted glasses
from Roberto Cavalli, Gucci, Dolce and Gabanna, Versace, etc.
Amongst her favorite Indian Designer is Varun Behl, a 3 times winner
in Milan and whose forte is designing the European line.
Those who have seen her latest photo-shoot pics. Swear by her hot and
sultry look. Definitely with her acting talent and gorgeous drop-dead
looks, Tulip is all set to sizzle in her glamorous avatar…
“Tulip looks luminous even when she is chained to a post in a cowshed
in MATRUBHOOMI,” as one of the critic sums it up best.
photo at
_tulip_joshi.asp
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BRITISH LADY MOURNED
By Bill Laye, Calgary Sun
Calgary Sun, Alberta, Canada
Aug. 29, 2006
Family, friends saying goodbye to honoured citizen, author and nurse
Calgary has lost a touch of nobility with the death of a bona-fide
British Lady.
But her many family and friends will always remember Lady Ashkhain
Skipwith, a published author, for her keen wit and huge heart, said
her niece Chantey Aldridge.
Skipwith, 64, died last Wednesday after a 10-month battle with cancer.
Born of Armenian parents in Jaffa, Israel, she came by her royal
title through her second marriage to Briton Sir Patrick Skipwith,
said Aldridge, 33.
“She was a gem, that’s for sure … an amazing woman,” Aldridge said,
adding her aunt, an oncology nurse by trade, lived many places —
including Saudi Arabia and London, England.
During the past 10 years she’d been on staff at the Foothills hospital
in Calgary.
“We did all kinds of fun things in London with her and she had a very
sharp wit,” Aldridge said.
“It’s a major, major loss for our family.”
Aldridge said her aunt’s passions included classical music and
literature — and that love of words is what prompted her to take up
the pen.
Skipwith’s six published books include Ashkhain’s Desert Cookery and
Unload Your Own Donkey — she co-authored Arabic Sayings from Egypt
and Other Countries with Primrose Arnander.
And while she’d long since left the Mideast, Aldridge said her aunt
always tried to keep up with the latest developments — and was deeply
disturbed by recent events in her former homeland.
Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. today at St. Stephen’s
Anglican Church, 1121 14 Ave. S.W.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking donations be made in her
name to either the Canadian Cancer Society () or the
Calgary Health Trust ().
.ca/News/Alberta/2006/08/29/1783403-sun.html