ROMANIA: CROUCH SAYS US BACKS DEVELOPMENT OF BLACK SEA FORUM
Rompres news agency
5 Jun 06
Bucharest, 5 June: The United States backs the development of
the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership, Jack D. Crouch,
deputy national security adviser to US President George W. Bush,
told the summit meeting of the Forum held at Parliament Palace,
in the Romanian capital, on Monday 5 June.
The United States backs the efforts for the creation of a more
prosperous, freer and safer Black Sea region, said Crouch, a former
US ambassador to Romania.
He underscored the importance of the dialogue among the region’s
leaders with a view to finding solutions to the threats to the region’s
security and stability such as “frozen” conflicts, the trafficking
in weapons, drugs and people.
The US supports the Black Sea Forum since it deems it a foundation
for the creation of viable economic development and investment
opportunities in the region, as well as for providing the transport
routes for the energy resources of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia,
for building a regional mechanism of mutual support in the crises
provoked by natural disasters, Crouch stressed.
The US official highlighted the role played by the respect for the
democratic values and human rights and hailed the progress made in
this respect by Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.
The US deputy national security adviser announced the US government
will donate “a significant financial contribution” to the Black Sea
Fund that is to be set up with a view to financing the projects that
have common goals with those of the regional initiative.
The initiative to establish a Black Sea Forum was also welcomed
by the representatives of France – Frederic Baleine du Laurens,
director general at the French Foreign Ministry; Germany –
special representative Norber Baas; Italy – State Secretary Famiano
Crucianelli; Spain – special representative Pablo Zaldivar; Belgium
– Foreign Minister Karel de Guht; Poland – Undersecretary of State
Stanislaw Komorowski.
Messages of appreciation for the launching of the Black Sea Forum
were communicated by Sergey Ordzhonikidze, Director General of
the Geneva-based UN Office; Terry Davis, the Council of Europe’s
secretary-general; Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE secretary-general;
Brunson McKinley, director general of the International Migration
Organization; Erhard Busek, special coordinator of the Southeastern
Europe Stability Pact; Marek Belka, executive secretary of the
UN Economic Commission for Europe; Robert Simmons, NATO special
representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia; Peter Semneby,
the EU special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

BULGARIA’S KALFIN: NATO, EU “NATURAL PARTNERS” IN BLACK SEA REGION
BTA website, Sofia
5 Jun 06
Bucharest, 5 June: NATO and the EU are natural partners in the Black
Sea region. The Black Sea is already part of the alliance’s zone of
responsibility, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Ivaylo Kalfin said, addressing a Black Sea Dialogue and Partnership
Forum, the Information, PR, and European Communication Directorate
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release Monday
[5 June].
“We hail the EU’s enhanced interest and are ready to assist in the
further formulation of a comprehensive approach to the region,”
Kalfin also said.
According to Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister, Bulgaria is paying
special attention to the development of economic cooperation, transport
and energy infrastructure projects and the deepening of interculture
dialogue between the Black Sea countries.
The meeting, which was opened in Bucharest Monday, is attended by
the presidents of Armenia, Russia, Moldova and Ukraine. Greece and
Turkey are represented by their ministers. The Forum is also attended
by representatives of the OSCE, the EU, NATO, the Council of Europe,
the UN, the Stability Pact and regional and European banks.
The purpose of the meeting is to set up a framework for discussing the
problems of the Black Sea region as part of the process of formulating
common priorities and deepening cooperation between the countries of
the region, the press release says.

ROMANIA: US’ MARSHALL FUND EARMARKS 20M DOLLARS FOR BLACK SEA DEMOCRACY
Rompres news agency
5 Jun 06
Bucharest, 5 June: The Marshall Fund of the United States announced
on Monday 5 June, at a summit meeting of the Black Sea Forum for
Dialogue and Partnership, having set up a Black Sea Fund for funding
democracy consolidation, good governance, regional cooperation and
civil society development projects in the Black Sea area.
The Marshall Fund has earmarked 20m dollars for the establishment of
the Black Sea Fund and started negotiations with the US Agency for
International Development (USAID), the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation,
the Romanian government as well as with other US and European public
and private donors over support for this initiative.
Marshall Fund Chairman Craig Kennedy says the Black Sea area is vital
to long-lasting stability and peace in Europe, the United Sates and
NATO. According to him, the Black Sea Fund will help secure progress
in the region, as well as at national and international levels.
An annual fund of 42m [dollars] will be available for the earmarking
of two fellowships of between 1,000 dollars and 75,000 dollars for
which NGOs, local and regional authorities, learned bodies and the
media of the Black Sea Forum countries -Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria,
Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine – will qualify.
According to a press release of the Marshall Fund, the fellowships
will be distributed for two main components – the Civic Programme,
under which the consolidation of democracy, the state of law, good
governance, citizen education in participatory democracy are supported,
and the Cross-Border Programme for cross-border cooperation projects.
The Marshall Fund highlights the important contribution of Romanian
President Traian Basescu and the Romanian Foreign Ministry to the
establishment of the Black Sea Fund, mentioning that it is conducting
negotiations with the Romanian government over setting up the Fund’s
secretariat in Bucharest.
According to the release, the Black Sea Fund will become operational
this year.

ETHNIC AZERIS VOW “MAJOR” RALLY OVER TEHRAN’S REJECTION OF DEMANDS – BAKU PAPER
Yeni Musavat, Baku
5 Jun 06
The Baku-based Yeni Musavat paper has reported that ethnic Azerbaijanis
in Iran have vowed to continue their protests because of Tehran’s
refusal to fulfill over 30 demands put forward in a statement issued
by a rally in Tehran on 4 June.
Quoting the statement, the paper said that ethnic Azerbaijani
protesters in Iran will stage “a major protest” in Qum on 6 June
and the Iranian government will be held responsible for any future
incidents.
The statement said: “The Turkish language should be recognized as
an official language, the use of the phrase ‘Azeri language’ should
be stopped in official documents, the Turkish language should be
taught at secondary and high schools throughout the country, given
that Turks live throughout the entire territory of Iran, radio and TV
channels should be established and broadcast in Southern Azerbaijan,
a separate Turkish-language 24-hour channel should be opened for
[ethnic] Azerbaijanis in Tehran, a state newspaper or agency which
could be distributed to all Iranian regions should be set up.”
It also called for the allocation of 5bn dollars for the implementation
of economic projects and “for the coverage of damage inflicted by
the recent developments”.
The statement said that 22 May, a day of riots in Tabriz, “should
officially be marked as Azerbaijani Martyr Day, … and a separate
Azerbaijani province should be set up”.
“Those arrested should be freed, those who fired at people should
be brought to book and the publication of all [ethnic] Azerbaijani
papers which were recently closed down should be resumed… and Iran
newspaper should be closed down for good, the policy of changing the
ethnic composition of Azerbaijani-populated towns should be ended,
Iran should cease all political, cultural and trade relations with
Armenia,” it said.
Yeni Musavat quoted a source in Ardabil in Iran as saying that forty
of 1,075 people who had been recently arrested were women and only
102 of the detained protesters were set free.

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR MORE REGIONAL ENERGY COOPERATION
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev
5 Jun 06
[Presenter] President Viktor Yushchenko is visiting Bucharest for the
summit – Black Sea Forum: For Dialogue and Partnership. The presidents
of Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are also taking
part. The main themes of the summit are environmental protection, joint
energy projects, the fight against human and drug trafficking. The
forum will also discuss infrastructure projects. In particular,
Viktor Yushchenko proposed coordinating regional policy in the energy
sector through the framework of the Community of Democratic Choice
[an organization that brings together a number of former Soviet and
East European countries, which was founded in Kiev in December 2005].
[Yushchenko] The Black Sea region occupies a central position in the
transport of fuel from Central Asia to Europe. I am convinced that
regional energy cooperation can be more systemic and effective.
Wishing to optimize cooperation in this sector, Ukraine proposes
to launch a new consultative mechanism, an energy dialogue of three
seas through the framework of the Community of Democratic Choice. We
see its key task as developing a coordinated regional policy in the
energy sector.

VAHRAM NERSISYAN NAMED POLITICIAN OF THE YEAR
ArmRadio.am
05.06.2006 17:13
Together with the “Enemy of the press” and other similar negative
titles, often awarded to our politicians, we should not forget the
positive. The young should be shown a good example. According to
the survey among state o fficials, carried out by the Youth Party
of Armenia, Adviser to the President Vahram Nersisyan is the most
exemplary. The latter was awarded a diploma by President of the Youth
Party Sargis Asatryan.
In our country a post is the shortest way to well-being. Vahram
Nersisyan, however, suggests his own theory, “The state official
should content with a modest life. The pleasure of an official is
occupying his post, not getting reach through this position,” Adviser
to RA President said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HRANT MARGARIAN: PROSECUTOR GENERAL HAS NO EIGHT TO FOUND POLITICAL PARTIES
Editorial
Yerkir.am
June 02, 2006
Speaking to the Radio Liberty, Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF)
Bureau representative Hrant Margarian said the prosecutor general
has no right to found political parties, directly or indirectly,
referring to the news that Armenia’s Prosecutor General Aghvan
Hovsepian stands behind the foundation of the Union for Armenia Party,
Noyan Tapan reported.
He also said that some people in Armenia think they are “a feudal”
of a marz (province). “I am speaking about the Aragatsotn marz,”
Margarian added.
He also mentioned he would not seek a presidential nomination in the
2008 presidential election but did not rule out he would be included
in the ARF list in the parliamentary election due in 2007. He also
noted several businessmen will also be included in the list.
Margarian said he did not consider the Prosperous Armenia and the
Union for Armenia parties as ARF’s rivals in the elections.
Speaking of the political situation after the Orinats Yerkir party left
the ruling coalition, Margarian said nobody was pleased by that fact.
“The coalition is currently made up of the ARF, Republican Party and
the president,” he concluded.

APPRECIATION OF NATIONAL HEROES EMERGES AS DAILY NECESSITY
By Karine Mangassarian
Yerkir.am
June 02, 2006
The presentation of historian Ashot Nersissian’s book titled “Living
Heroes” was held at ARF on May 30. The book tells about the lives
and activities of outstanding Armenian leaders of the First Republic
period Avetik Sahakian, Karo Sasuni and Zoravar (Commander) Sepuh.
The prominent Iranian-Armenian author Hovsep Hovhannissian’s book
“Memoirs” was also presented at this event. Ashot Nersissian has
also published two monographs titled “Djokhq Hrayr” (Hell Hrayr) and
“Ruben”.
ARF representatives, professors from YSU’s department of history and
Diaspora Armenian attended the presentation. Artashes Shahbazian,
ARF, stressed the importance of the publication since in the fifteen
years after the independence there is a lack of national literature
and historiography. The generation that wants to learn about its
national political identity needs such works.
ARF Bureau Representative Board Hrant Margarian notes in his speech
that even though the books are not ARF’s publications ARF appreciates
and values such initiatives that tell about outstanding people of
our history that are not known to our nation.
“These books are important because they tell about historic realities
not known to our people before. They are important for another
reason: in our materialized life when material values are preached
everywhere and when the value system in the whole state system has
been distorted our generations are shaped with no national value
systems. It is foreign states that shape our young generation’s
outlook and we seem to have surrendered to this situation. In this
context, the publication of this book is crucial for the upbringing
of generations,” Margarian stated.
Margarian assured the national leaders of those times can serve as
an example for today’s leaders and young people. Head of the history
chair at YSU Babken Harutyunian noted that today it is necessary to
remind our young people about our history every second.
“Not a single nation can make its future without properly examining
its past. The First Republic of Armenia gave us a number of dedicated
national leaders who were ready to sacrifice their lives to sustain
our first state,” Harutyunian noted.
Harutyunian believes that even though these people are not recognized
internationally they were very important for Armenia and their
example can help to bring up the coming generations with the spirit
of patriotism to make them citizens that would be ready to struggle
for our small piece of land.
Commenting on the books, Harutyunian noted that the authors
had succeeded in presenting the material in an easily readable
manner. Historian Norayr Pahlavuni noted that several books telling
about the heroes of the First Republic have been published since
independence.
“However, publication of these books would not have importance if they
were to stay on our bookshelves and our generations were not exposed
to them,” Pahlavuni noted. He suggested that these books should be
included into the university curricula and be distributed not only
in Yerevan but also in the regions.
Hrach Abrahamian, a descendant of one of our national heroes
participated in the whole process of publication of the books. In
his speech he stressed the importance of appreciation of the lives
and activities of these heroes who are not known to our people but
have proved with their lives the dedication to their nation and
the motherland.
“I have chosen prominent leaders: Avetik Sahakian (Father Abraham)
who was the speaker of the Parliament of the First Republic, Karo
Sasuni who was a member of ARF’s Armenia Board and the organizer of
the February uprising, and Zoravar Sepuh whose life had one guideline –
do not rely on foreigners, but rely only on your own hopes.
Guided by this principle they built the First Republic and we can still
learn lessons from this experience,” Ashot Nersissian said noting
that the history of activities of national leaders was covered with
the dust during the Soviet period. The books published today will
help to remove this dust from the pages of our history.
The author of the book thanked all those who had supported the
publication especially the descendants of his heroes who had assisted
wit the publication of the book. Karo Sasuni’s son Babken Sasuni,
Father Abraham’s grandson Armen Sahakian, Levon Palian and Avetik
Sahakian’s granddaughter Madlen Minassian assisted the author with
the publication. Ashot Nersissian informed those present at the
event that he will continue the series of publications titled ”
The Living Heroes”.

AGHBALIAN’S LESSONS OF MORALITY
By Hovannes Yeranian
Yerkir.am
June 02, 2006
The heritage of Nikol Aghbalian, the literary critic, pedagogue and
public figure, is so enormous that the first international conference
organized by the Hamazkayin and the Yerevan State University last
November could not entirely cover the topic.
Following the conference, Aghbalian’s “Selected Works” were published.
Before that, Aghbalian’s works had been published only in Beirut.
In a follow-up, the Hamazkayin presented on May 27 the collection
titled ” Nikol Aghbalian-130: Materials of the International
Conference.” The presentation was held at the Yerevan State University.
In her remarks, Lilist Galstian, the chairwoman of the Hamazkayin
Armenia office, said the date was symbolic. On the eve of May 28,
“the justice was served, and Aghbalian returned to the state university
he had founded.”
Despite all that happened, Aghbalian never felt upset with Armenia;
in fact, when the Beirut Seminary was being established, soil from
Armenia was brought there.
YSU rector Aram Simonian pointed to Aghbalian’s high morality. He
reminded a decree by Aghbalian, according to which, the salaries of the
university professors were raised to match those of cabinet members.
“Aghbalian’s lessons of morality were aimed at mainly the youth and
students because Aghbalian was teaching without posing as a teacher,”
Philology Department Dean Artsrun Avagian said.
There were many students present at the event. Some of them were
awarded Hakop Karapents fellowships by the Hamazkayin.

IF RUSSIA YIELDS ARMENIA, IT WILL LOSE ALL OF ITS POSITIONS IN THE CAUCASUS: INTERVIEW WITH VIKTOR NADEIN-RAYEVSKY
08.html)
15:04 06/05/2006
Senior researcher of the Institute of World Economy and International
Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky
answers REGNUM’ s questions:
REGNUM: Mr. Nadein-Rayevsky, presently Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov is paying a visit to Turkey and Turkish President Ahmed Necet
Sezer is going to shortly visit Russia. The sides are speaking about
strategic cooperation – basically, in energy. What do you think about
Russian-Turkish relations and the prospects of their development?
The strategy term is hardly applicable to Russian-Turkish
relations. Russia and Turkey have never had any strategy in the
past, do not have it in the present and will hardly have it in the
future. Turkey was the first who tried to bring in some strategy in
bilateral relations: in 1990 Ankara attempted to make a strategic
alliance with the Soviet Union, but decided to take time when it
collapsed. The Turks hoped that now they would be able to enlarge
relations already with the post-Soviet republics and with some of
them to use the factor of common Turkic origin and language. They
planned this almost the way Ataturk planned, but they failed: the newly
independent nations turned out to be quite different in mentality and
culture. Historically, Turkey itself is responsible for the gradual
distancing between the Turkic nations: they first regarded themselves
as Ottomans, then, under Abdul Hamid II, they proclaimed pan-Islamism,
then, they still preferred pan-Turkism and brought into power Young
Turks, who joined Germany during the WWI – so much eager they were
to expand.
Everything what happened after 1991 was, to a certain extent,
the consequence of this pan-Turkic policy. Pan-Turkism proved
impracticable – it was like Communism. Not that the national elites
of the Turkic republics were just unready to give up power, they
were simply unwilling to do that: to give power, money and economy
for some idea – nobody will agree to this. Ankara saw that there is
absolutely no basis for pan-Turkism. Roughly speaking, they faced
the same we faced with our Slavonic brothers in XIX.
As regards Russia, as I have already said, it was mainly Turkey who
tried to bring up bilateral relations to the level of strategic
cooperation. The first Ankara’s proposal in 1990 was rejected by
the Soviet authorities as they took it as an attempt to interfere in
the Soviet influence zone, which was right. Turkey raised this issue
again in 1995, when its pan-Turkic policy ran across some impassable
barriers – but our position was the same. It was then that Turkey began
realizing that 90% of its ties in the Soviet area were with Russia
and no Uzbekistan could replace the millions of dollars it got from
shuttle trade. It turned out that language is not the main thing. The
main thing is economic interests – the lives of people and the life of
a nation. This is the very principle the present Russian-Turkish ties
are based on. The key link between Russia and Turkey has been and is
economy. Already before the big energy projects, like the Blue Flow,
Turkey got $6 bln-$15 bln from shuttle trade alone, and it was the
key source of income for its economy for quite a long time.
REGNUM: The first thing that comes in mind when one speaks of Turkey’s
trade policy is Turkish “fast moving consumer goods.” Is this problem
still topical for the Russian consumers, if yes, how serious is it?
In 1995 we warned the Turks that they should not trade with us the
way they did, that they should raise the quality of their goods to the
European standards, that our consumers were buying Turkish goods only
because of hard social conditions, that they would no longer buy them
as soon as they got better-off, that Turkey could lose our market. In
the following years Turkey faced default but still preserved its
shuttle trade. Later, suitcase sellers were replaced by firms trading
in big lots and paying taxes. It was already an improvement. The
quality control was also improved. Now Turkey is trying to make quality
the basis of its trade as it clearly understands that it can get in
the situation the Georgian and Moldavian wines got in.
One should always care for the quality of his exports rather than
just allege that Russia does something for political motives. Our
relations With Georgia have been tensed for many years already —
but what we actually want is to, finally, taste a normal Georgian
wide. Russia is fighting with all low quality producers and with home
producers it is even tougher than with foreigners.
I think we are right as it is high time to stop high mortality caused
by faked alcohol – to stop the death of tens of thousands of people
every year. The same was the situation with the American chicken
legs – the row was big but they solved the problem. The US raised
the quality control standards. Why could they do this and Georgia
and Moldova can’t? This is a national issue, and when the Russian
president spoke about demography he meant there will be no indulgence –
for Turkey either.
REGNUM: They in Armenia are worried with any closer contacts between
Russia and Turkey? Can Russian-Turkish relations be bad for Armenia?
Russia will never cede Armenia for improving its relations with
Turkey. This is a matter of principle. There are things one can
sacrifice, but there are things one cannot. The point is not so
much that two million Armenians live in Russia and many of them
are Russian citizens. For Armenia Russia’s steps must never be
bad. The point is that even the Yeltsin Russia perfectly realized
that it must not waive Armenia’s interests, not mentioning Putin,
who clearly sees the national interests, at least, the clear ones. He
is trying to extrapolate them for the future. I simply can’t imagine
that Russia may yield Armenia – if Russia does this it will lose all
of its positions in the Caucasus.
Russia should understand one most important thing – there are partners
and allied countries with whom one should keep up the sense of alliance
and duty.
REGNUM: How could you explain the outburst of activity of the
Iranian Azeris? Large-scale destabilization – is it possible and what
consequences it may have?
There are several versions. Northern Iran has two provinces with
some 12 mln-18 mln Azeri residents. Iranian Azeris are not outcasts
in Iran. Iran is a multi-national and multi-religious country and
Azeris have their serious place there. Even the religious leader
of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei is Azeri. The basic principle in Iran is
religion rather than nationality.
Iran’s official version is that the protest actions are an American
project.
They probably have proofs, but I don’t believe this. My personal
opinion is that this is an Iranian project, or the result of local
nationalism, or a preventive action to neutralize a potentially
unreliable element. In any case, many complex processes are taking
place in Iran – many people are displeased with the tyranny of
mullahs who dictate a lifestyle nobody accepts any longer outside
Iran. Obviously, there is tension and there is need for reforms. At
best, this situation may end in reforms and, if the Iranian authorities
prove wise enough to carry them out, everything will be OK. Of course,
the Americans can capitalize on this tension. They can use any social
tension to plot a revolution, which is all but good for Iran.
REGNUM: How much probable is the US’ active invasion of Iran or its
preventive strikes on its nuclear facilities?
Though I don’t believe this will happen, I prefer to call
this hypothetical action “a possible American stupidity.” The
strikes by Israel or US groups will spark off numerous mostly
unpredictable scenarios. One thing is clear – there will be no
internal explosion. The Iranian authorities will be able to unite
their people against the foreign enemy, to stop all reforms, which
will mean an end to the hopes of the democratic part of the Iranian
society. It seems that the Americans do not realize this, they are
like an elephant in a china-shop. For them the invasion of Iran is
an initially counterproductive action. They will immediately lose
the confidence of the Shiahs — 55%-60% of the Iraqis. As a result,
they will get a collapsing coalition and anti-American southern Iraq.
REGNUM: What are the chances that Turkey may join the anti-Iranian
coalition?
I very much doubt that it will. Turkey is wise enough not to get
there as this would be a suicide. This would mean to blow up the
10-12 mln Kurds, to blow up Shiahs – a total of 1/3 of the Turkish
population. This would be a fatal trick. The Turks are wise politicians
and they will not get into this bog exactly now that their economy is
coming out of crisis. The Iraqi example has shown that it is very hard
to insure oneself from the American stupidity. They got into a mess in
Iraq though they could get what they wanted – oil – in a more civilized
manner. Relying on force, they could not imagine that cities can also
be a serious arena for guerrilla war, they were not ready for that.
As regards the South Caucasus, here the major risk is the flow of
refugees who may simply overwhelm the region in case of bad scenario.