The New Anatolian, Turkey
July 28, 2006
WB says Turkey tackles corruption successfully
EkoTürk News Agency / Ankara
The World Bank released a new report titled `Anticorruption in
Transition 3-Who is Succeeding … And Why? ‘ taking a detailed look at
firm-level survey data and concluding that the studied region’s
progress in reducing corruption is unmistakable.
The study is the third in a series of World Bank reports tracking
levels of corruption in enterprise-state interactions since 1999.
Like its predecessors, the report draws on the Business Environment
and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), a joint initiative of the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank.
The triennial survey, conducted most recently in 2005, covers 26
former socialist countries and Turkey, as well as five western
European comparator countries. The non-transition European
comparators are Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. More
than 20,000 firms have been interviewed since the inception of BEEPS.
“Since 2002, firms in most countries are paying bribes less
frequently and in relatively smaller amounts, and they report
corruption to be less of a problem than in the past,” explains James
Anderson, co-author and Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Europe
and Central Asia region, “The common assumption that corruption is
steadily worsening does not stand up to scrutiny.”
“Strong leadership is a key weapon in the fight against corruption.
Every country that has made measurable progress in reducing
corruption has had a strong champion who made transparency and
accountability top priorities,” explains Cheryl Gray, co-author of
the study and Sector Director in the World Bank’s ECA region.
The study also comments about Turkey where it stands out in a way.
Those parts say;
On general corruption:
`For the first time in 2004/5, the BEEPS also was conducted in a
number of nontransition countries, including five European
comparators: Greece, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. A sixth
comparator country, Turkey, has been included in all rounds of the
survey. The results confirm the widespread assumption that corruption
tends to be worse intransition countries than in Western Europe,
indicating that most transition countries – including the eight new
members of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe – still
have a way to go in improving accountability in government. However,
along some dimensions of corruption the nontransition European
comparators – most notably Greece and occasionally Portugal, Turkey,
and the eastern part of Germany – fared worse than many transition
countries.
As with other measures of corruption, the impact of state capture is
perceived by firms to be somewhat lower in several European
comparators – Germany, Ireland, and Spain – but relatively high in
Portugal and Turkey and at about the average for transition countries
in Greece.
Firms in most transition countries – other than perhaps Estonia and
Slovenia – still report significantly higher levels of corruption than
Western European comparators – most notably Ireland, Spain, and
Germany, as some indicators in Greece, Portugal, and
Turkey are not too different than those in the transition countries.
Bribery appears to have worsened from already high levels in the
Kyrgyz Republic, from more moderate levels in Serbia and Montenegro,
and from previously low levels in Armenia. Of the comparator
countries, corruption in the tax system appears relatively higher in
Greece and Portugal, moderate in Turkey, and very low in Germany,
Ireland, and Spain.
Portugal and Turkey appear to have levels of corruption in customs
that are comparable to most of the new EU members, while bribery in
customs appears to be very low in Germany, Greece, Ireland, and
Spain.
Turkey appears to be tackling corruption successfully through a wide
variety of policy and institutional reforms, including a strengthened
supreme audit institution and a law on `Freedom of Information for
Citizens’ enacted in 2003 that has led to a major expansion in the
distribution of information to the public through government
websites.’

Agence France Presse — English
July 28, 2006 Friday 3:36 PM GMT
Another Turkish writer to stand trial for book on Armenian massacres
ISTANBUL, July 28 2006
A prosecutor has sought up to three years in jail for prominent
Turkish author Elif Shafak for a novel dealing with the massacres of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the Anatolia news agency reported
Friday.
Shafak, 35, was charged with “denigrating the Turkish national
identity” in lines uttered by fictional Armenian characters in her
novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul,” or, in Turkish, “Baba ve Pic” (The
Father and the Bastard), Anatolia reported.
The case appears certain to draw angry reactions from the European
Union, which has warned Turkey that the prosecution of intellectuals
and journalists is casting a pall on its bid for membership.
The EU has urged Ankara to amend article 301 of its penal code, under
which Shafak is charged. The article has landed many intellectuals in
court.
They include Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who received a
six-month suspended sentence, and Turkey’s best-known novelist, Orhan
Pamuk, who saw the case against him dropped.
Much to Turkey’s ire, the massacres, which took place during World
War I, have been recognized as genocide by many countries and open
debate of the issue often sends nationalist sentiment into frenzy.
The proceedings against Shafak were initiated after a complaint filed
by Kemal Kerincsiz, a nationalist lawyer notorious for relentlessly
pursuing before the courts intellectuals who dispute the official
line on the Armenian massacres.
A first investigation resulted in the complaint being rejected, but
this was overturned by a higher court.
“The Bastard of Istanbul,” originally written in English, was
published in Turkish in March 2006 and quickly became a bestseller.
The novel moves between Turkey and the United States as it follows
four generations of women to tell the story of an Armenian family and
the descendants of a son left behind during the deportations, who
converts to Islam and lives as a Turk.
It was not immediately known when the trial will start.
Shafak, who was born in France and spent her teenage years abroad as
the daughter of a Turkish diplomat, writes both in English and
Turkish. Her books have been published in Britain and the United
States.
She is also an assistant professor at Arizona University’s Near
Eastern Studies department and divides her time between Turkey and
the United States.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917 and want the massacres to
be internationally recognized as genocide.
Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took
up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with Russian
troops invading the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

Agency WPS
What the Papers Say Part A (Russia)
July 28, 2006 Friday
THE CROSS AND CRESCENT OF LEBANON;
How to bring Christians back into the Crusaders’ camp
by Nadezhda Kevorkova
Christians in Lebanon comment on the conflict with Israel; Political
logic would seem to suggest that there’s no better country than
Lebanon for unleashing a major war in the Mideast: it has 17
communities, all of which have fought each other at some time in the
past. But the Lebanese aren’t interested in an “Islam versus
Christianity” war scenario.
The Lebanese themselves are no longer concerned about the idea of war
between Islam and Christianity. But since this topic does cause
concern in political clubs around the world, particularly as applied
to Lebanon, we decided to ask some Lebanese Christians whether they
regard themselves as “new Crusaders.”
In Lebanon, belonging to a particular community is a family tradition
going back a thousand years. Whether or not they’re believers, people
have a strong awareness of which community they belong to. It’s hard
to displace people whose ancestors have lived in the same location
for centuries.
The people of Lebanon include direct descendants of Phoenecians,
Greeks, Romans, Arimatheans, and Crusaders. Their heritage is in
their faces.
Long before politicians grew obsessed with the idea of a conflict
between civilizations, people in Lebanon were fighting wars and
making history, just as in the old days.
Political logic would seem to suggest that there’s no better country
than Lebanon for unleashing a major war in the Mideast: it has 17
communities, all of which have fought each other at some time in the
past. But the Lebanese aren’t interested in an “Islam versus
Christianity” war scenario. Right now, they’re concerned with far
more prosaic problems: how to bury the dead while bombs continue to
fall, how to provide water, food, and mattresses for 600,000 refugees
in a nation of 4 million people, and how to keep children fed when
jobs and homes are gone.
* * *
I’ve stopped in the Armenian quarter of Beirut to photograph some
children. Within moments I’m surrounded by a whole press conference
of people – a truly international mix. Jennifer, a Christian, and her
family are from Syria. Akop, 19, is an Armenian. Yasir, 32, and his
children are Sunni Muslims. Tony, a shopkeeper, is an Orthodox
Christian.
They all have refugees staying in their homes. Thirty people are
living in two rooms in the Jamili family’s home. There are no more
rooms to spare in the apartment. Madame Jamili tells us how shortly
before the bombing began, the refugees sought shelter at a United
Nations post. They weren’t allowed to cross the threshold; United
Nations personel wouldn’t even talk to them. While the people were
running back and forth seeking alternative shelter, the bombing
began. (And an Israeli air strike killed five UN peacekeepers on July
25.)
* * *
I approach an Armenian priest who is walking by with a friend. He
looks at my business card and flatly refuses to talk. Ten minutes
later, his friend catches up with me: “He’s not a Lebanese priest,
he’s from Jerusalem, and he fears he might get in trouble there if he
says anything against Israel – that’s why he’s afraid to talk.”
So that’s how it is. The Bishop of South Lebanon celebrates mass
under fire. Another priest is afraid of his own government.
* * *
Pierot Serhal, Maronite Catholic and a Lebanese member of parliament
representing Hezbollah, has been trapped since the start of the war
in his home town of Jezzin in southern Lebanon. He’s a surgeon,
trained in Paris and working at the local hospital. The Maronites are
Lebanon’s largest Christian community.
“We support Hezbollah because they’re fighting. The idea that
Christians are against Hezbollah is Israeli propaganda. We Christians
are in a better position to know whether we’re for them or against
them,” says Dr. Pierot. “The late Pope John Paul II visited Lebanon
and called on Christians to live in peace with Muslims. But
aggression against our countries is pushing Christians out of here.
Iraq had 3 million Christians before the war – now only 100,000
remain. The number of Christians in Lebanon is declining, and that’s
because of Israel, not Hezbollah.”
He can’t understand why the Russian Orthodox Church is keeping
silent: “The Orthodox know the problems of Lebanon better than the
Catholics.”
* * *
I knock on the door of the First Baptist Church of the Bible in
Beirut.
Pastor Richard Saddak starts off by preaching some Gospel at me, then
moves on to current events: “Thirty-four people have been killed in
Israel, 19 of them soldiers. Over 350 people are dead in Lebanon, all
of them civilians, mostly children! Is that what they call defending
their country? How does it fit in with international law? Or do
certain countries feel free to ignore the law?” Pastor Richard was
born in Australia and teaches at the American University in Beirut;
English is his native language. “Bombing a dairy farm – what’s that
all about? Do they feel threatened by Lebanon’s bridges, churches,
yoghurt factories, or television stations? A Baptist pastor in
Merdjayoun needs heart surgery, but it’s become impossible to get to
the hospital. This elderly man is having trouble breathing. Is he a
threat to Israel too?”
Pastor Richard points out that Israel and Hezbollah have always
exchanged prisoners. “Twelve years ago, Israel abducted two people
from the Bekaa Valley in order to exchange them for a pilot who was
shot down in 1967 and disappeared. Neither Hezbollah nor Lebanon
attacked Israel at the time. Why is Israel allowed to start a war
over two soldiers and call it self-defense? If they drop a nuclear
bomb in self-defense and wipe Lebanon off the map, would politicians
continue to keep silent? Politicians have forgotten the Sermon on the
Mount: blessed are the peacemakers.”
* * *
Bishop Elias Kfouri of Tyre, Sidon and South Lebanon (Antioch
Orthodox Patriarchate) has his residence in Merdjayoun, a district
capital in southern Lebanon – right in the border territory which
Israel intends to purge and turn into a buffer zone.
Question: You’re in a war zone. Why aren’t you leaving?
Elias Kfouri: Many residents have been able to save themselves by
leaving. But a great many still remain. Around a thousand people in
Merdjayoun alone. Last Sunday I celebrated mass on the border, in the
village of Derminaz. About 40 people attended the service. How could
I leave? My flock is here. I don’t fear for my own life. I’m worried
about the children, women, and the elderly who are unable to leave.
On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday there was heavy bombing in Nabatiye
and nearby villages. Seven people were killed in Nabatiye on Tuesday.
Merdjayoun and surrounding villages are being bombed from the air
every ten minutes – hitting the homes of people, ordinary people. The
longest interval between bombs is half an hour. The planes are
constantly overhead. The Orthodox church of St. George has been
severely damaged. We’re five kilometers from the border. There is
heavy fighting there.
Question: Is any aid reaching the people at all?
Elias Kfouri: Aid – yes, Greece is sending a great deal. The problem
is delivering the aid. Food products, medical supplies, water – many
villages don’t have any of these. Israel is making it impossible to
deliver anything. The only remaining road is the one through the
Bekaa Valley. It’s being bombed all the time. All the roads around
here have been blown up. The UN Security Council and the media should
make every effort to stop the blockade.
Question: Why are the Orthodox churches keeping silent? Why are
Christians around the world keeping silent?
Elias Kfouri: Ask the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Church is
our friend. I’m not sure they are keeping silent. Perhaps we’re just
not hearing them? Bishop Nifon is in Moscow – he’s an emissary of our
Church, a wise and effective bishop, the voice of our people. As for
Christians around the world, I’m cut off from information.
Question: Are you hearing any support from Russia and President
Putin?
Elias Kfouri: We love Russians and Russia. But you should ask
President Putin himself what he thinks of the situation in Lebanon.
Question: Many Western experts claim that Lebanese Christians are
hostile to Muslims in general and Hezbollah in particular.
Elias Kfouri: It’s not true that Christians are against Hezbollah.
There is no such problem. All Lebanese are against Israeli aggression
and Israel’s policies, not against Hezbollah. Individuals may have
their differences on political issues, but when you see someone
devastating your country, political differences are set aside.
Question: It is said that Hezbollah runs southern Lebanon. Do you
feel that’s true?
Elias Kfouri: Hezbollah does not govern us. But people do trust
Hezbollah. We have municipal and village administrations, elected by
the people. If they don’t perform well, the people elect someone
else.
Question: How dangerous would occupation be for Orthodox Christians?
Elias Kfouri: Israel is trying to start an occupation, and it may
succeed. I lived under occupation in the 1990s. They made no
distinctions between Christians and Muslims. Christians who disobeyed
the occupation regime, or showed resistance, were terrorized and sent
to concentration camps just like any other Lebanese. Now they’re
bombing Christian homes and Muslim homes alike. A hundred Christians
have been killed in the Christian district of Sabkha. Many Christians
were killed in the village of Rnish. They were buried on Monday. On
July 19, thirty families sought shelter in churches in Rashaya. The
air-strikes spared neither the churches nor the people.
Beirut Airport, destroyed by bomb – was that for Muslims only? Only
for Hezbollah’s use? In Lebanon, you can’t divide people into
“Christians here” and “Muslims there.” We’re all intermingled. And
the Christians are fighting occupation alongside the Muslims. The
bombing campaign has brought the entire Lebanese people to the brink
of humanitarian and economic catastrophe. And all the Lebanese people
believe that Israel’s actions, not Hezbollah, are to blame.
Source: Gazeta, July 27, 2006, p. 17
Translated by Elena Leonova

Music
Jul 28 2006 12:00 AM
Doing their own thing
System Of A Down plans to take break after Ozzfest
By David Friedman
NEWS-TIMES MUSIC WRITER
System Of A Down
includes, from left,
singer Serj Tankian,
bassist Shavo Odadjian,
drummer John Dolmayan
(foreground) and
guitarist Daron Malakian.
Growing up, John Dolmayan collected comic books featuring popular
superheroes the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spiderman, Superman, Batman
and the Incredible Hulk — plus lesser-known series like the Watchmen by
Alan Moore and an early, more serious and dark version of Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles by Kevin Eastman.
So what does this have to do with Dolmayan’s primary job and passion of
the past nine years — playing drums in the multi-platinum, Grammy
Award-winning alternative metal band System Of A Down?
Well, when System takes a much-deserved hiatus after headlining on the
Ozzfest 2006 tour, which includes a July 30 show at New England Dodge
Music Center in Hartford, Dolmayan plans on opening an online comic book
super store.
“Oh, dude, I’m into almost every kind of comic book you could think of,”
Dolmayan said in a July 21 interview from Columbus, Ohio, after putting
in a dinner order for barbecue chicken pizza. “Right now, I’ve got
almost 6 million books. By the time I’m up and running, I’ll probably
have about 20 million. The company’s gonna be called TorpedoComics.com.
Right now there’s a mailing list. People can sign up and get information
as I have it. There’s gonna be a lot of pop culture stuff too, as well
as comic books.”
What kind of “stuff” exactly?”You know what, if I tell you everything
I’m gonna have, we might be doing this interview for about eight hours
because I have so much stuff it’s just ridiculous,” said Dolmayan,
declining to disclose specifics for fear of being beaten to the punch.
“But it’s cool, man. People that are fans of music will be able to find
cool stuff there too. Like I said, it’s gonna be a lot of pop culture,
so it’s gonna encompass all kinds of different things. If I ever had a
dream store that I would go to to buy stuff, I’m building it basically.
But it’s gonna be online because it’s a little easier these days to do
it online.”
Before revolutionizing heavy metal with a string of top-selling albums
and MTV and radio hits that included “Chop Suey!” and “B.Y.O.B.,” the
members of System Of A Down came from far more humble beginnings.
Dolmayan, singer Serj Tankian, guitarist Daron Malakian and bassist
Shavo Odadjian are all of Armenian descent.
Born July 15, 1973, Dolmayan, like Tankian, is originally from Lebanon.
His father played saxophone and cut hair during the day to pay the
bills, while his mother was a teacher. The couple also had a daughter.
When John was 4, his parents left Lebanon, where a battle was raging,
for Canada. They lived there for four years before moving to the Los
Angeles area.
Growing up, Dolmayan listened to The Who, the Rolling Stones and jazz
greats Maynard Ferguson, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Stan Getz. The
musical variety prepared him for his role in SOAD, where “there’s so
much happening in the music that you have to have a wide range of tastes
and styles to bring that out and give the music what it deserves,” he
said.
Dolmayan, who began playing drums at age 15, was in six or seven bands
before joining System. He also worked at a variety of jobs before
focusing on music full time. He was employed at a summer camp and by
Pepsi-Cola, UPS and Robinsons-May Company.
System Of A Down formed in 1995 and shared a rehearsal studio with
Dolmayan, who replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian in 1997.
In late ’97, System signed to American/Columbia Records. The following
year, they released their self-titled debut, which has since gone
platinum and includes the Mainstream Rock hits “Spiders” and “Sugar.”
Working with producer Rick Rubin once again, the band released its
followup, “Toxicity,” in 2001. The triple platinum CD featured the No.
7, Grammy nominated Modern Rock smash “Chop Suey!” and a No. 3 hit in
its title track. Meanwhile, the song “Aerials” reached No. 1.
While metal bands rarely get radio play, System had a knack for writing
catchy songs.
“I think that’s a natural part of System Of A Down,” Dolmayan said.
“What you’re talking about is melody. And because we have melody, I
guess it seems `catchy.’ But it’s just melody. We just have our own
thing going on. We don’t write for the sake of radio. We don’t write
toward appeasing (the public). We just do our own thing. And it’s worked
out well for us because people have accepted it. It could just as easily
have not been accepted and we’d still be doing the same thing.”
In 2005, System released companion albums that hit store shelves within
roughly six months of one another. The first, “Mezmerize,” contained the
No. 4 Mainstream Rock hit “B.Y.O.B.,” which won the Grammy Award for
Best Hard Rock Performance; and the No. 7 hit “Question!”
The title track to “Hypnotize,” meanwhile, was a No. 1 hit. Another song
from that album, “Lonely Day,” hit No. 10.
The big news, though, was that — like “Toxicity” before them — both
“Mezmerize” and “Hypnotize” reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. In
fact, the 2005 releases made System only the third act in history, along
with the Beatles and DMX, to debut two studio albums at No. 1 in the
same year.”That’s one of the reasons we’re taking a hiatus — (because)
that was a lot of work,” said Dolmayan, who lives in Las Vegas. “We just
felt like we had too many songs to put them on one album and we didn’t
feel like there was anything that we could necessarily leave off. We had
another maybe 10 songs. We probably could have put out three albums had
we made that decision.”
After Ozzfest, System’s members will keep busy with other projects:
Malakian with the rock band Scars On Broadway, Odadjian with RZA of
Wu-Tang Clan and Tankian with a solo CD. They’ll also likely continue
posting links on their Web site to articles on political and social
issues affecting people across the globe, including the pursuit of
recognition by the Turkish governments of the Armenian Genocide in
1915.”I don’t know if you can call us political activists,” Dolmayan
said. “We definitely are not afraid to bring up topics that are not
necessarily comfortable for other people, but we just try to tell the
truth. We try to enlighten people to the truth. Just to have them expand
their mind and learn as much as they can about something before they
judge it — that’s what we’re trying to tell people. It’s not so much
about `You have to vote for this or that.’ It’s about before you make a
decision, make sure it’s an educated decision.”‘
The show begins at 10 a.m., with 18 bands performing, including
Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, Hatebreed and Zakk Wylde’s Black Label
Society. The venue is at 61 Savitt Way. Tickets are $85.50, $65.50 and
$35.50. Call (203) 744-8100.
y.php?id=1008137

JAM Showbiz
Live Review: SOAD in Toronto
By Steve Tilley – Toronto Sun
TORONTO – It had to be the biggest, loudest, hardest, brightest, wildest
and (to use the proper vernacular) most completely f—ed up `see ya
later’ in modern metal history.
And if it had been an outright `goodbye’ instead, the Molson
Amphitheatre might have been levelled last night.
On their final visit to Toronto before a self-imposed hiatus that’s
expected to last at least a few years, System Of A Down closed out the
marathon of metal that is Ozzfest in a way that had to be seen and heard
to be fully appreciated. Even if it meant being both temporarily blind
and deaf, which a good portion of last night’s capacity crowd will be
today.
This Ozzy Osbourne-less stop on the tour did not suffer from the
grandpappy of metal’s absence one iota. Even Ozzy might have had
troubJle following System Of A Down’s enthusiastically received (read: A
massive, impromptu mosh pit breaking out on the mid-level concourse
walkway) headlining set, which drew heavily from last year’s Mezmerize.
Blame that giant photo of SOAD’s Serj Tankian to the right, but there
simply isn’t the space to touch on most of the acts that made up
yesterday’s 71/2 hour buffet of molten sonic energy. To try to do so
would do justice to none of them.
So, no disrespect to Norma Jean, Bleeding Through, Unearth, Atreyu,
Lacuna Coil, Hatebreed or especially Avenged Sevenhold and their awesome
giant, winged silver skull. You guys surely rock like the ves foundation
of the earth.
But the reality is the Amphitheatre didn’t get jammed all the way back
to the back of the lawns until Chicago foursome Disturbed took the stage
and unleashed more than an hour of aggressive yet melodic rib
cage-rattling metal, from Guarded to the band’s cover of Genesis’
still-relevant Land of Confusion to, of course, Down With The Sickness.
Uh-WAH-AH-AH-AH!
A bolder man might even say that Disturbed’s bald and barrel-chested
frontman David Draiman injected more raw passion into the evening than
System Of A Down’s Tankian did. Truly, one of the highlights of the
night was Draiman’s near-religious rant against bands who, in his eyes,
dilute the purity of genuine hard metal. It’s probably safe to say he
doesn’t have any posters of The Killers on his bedroom wall.
Still, there was no eclipsing the totality of System Of A Down’s
performance, from the hypnotizing lights aimed at the crowd to the
creative rearrangement of familiar hits (Violent Pornography started out
sounding suspiciously like a power ballad) to the fans’ rabid and
rapturous response.
Enjoy your time off, gentlemen. And if you think `so long’ was insane,
wait until you see `welcome back.’
l

PanARMENIAN.Net
Azerbaijan Won’t Be Allowed to Start War in Karabakh
28.07.2006 13:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The military operation in the Codori canyon is just
a political PR campaign launched by Mikhail Saakashvili, head of the
International Relations Department at the Institute of the Political
and Military Analysis Sergey Markedonov told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. In his words, neither Georgians nor Abkhazians control the
territory where the operations started. `This operation gives
Georgians the opportunity to hold talks with the `other state
structure’ of Abkhazia bypassing official Sukhumi. However this
territory is too small to talk about it seriously. It doesn’t even
include the Galsky region mostly inhabited by Georgians,’ Markedonov
said.
At the same time the Russian political scientist underlined that
Azerbaijan’s wish to follow Georgia’s example and launch hostilities
against Nagorno Karabakh is just unsound. `The operation in Kodori is
just a walk while incursion into Karabakh is a lingering and bloody
war Azerbaijan can lose. Karabakh’s security zone is a deeply
echeloned defense while the Defense Army of Karabakh cannot be
compared to a group of Georgian `guerrillas’ led by Emzar
Kvitsiani. The territory of Nagorno Karabakh is really controlled what
cannot be said about the Kodori canyon. There is one more nuance: late
Heydar Aliyev has created an image of a victim for Azerbaijan in the
West. Now, if military operations start in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict region this image will immediately crack. It will be the end
of Ilham Aliyev and I suppose he understands this. It’s just a
political move. From time to time he just has to tell his people that
`Azerbaijan will liberate its territories. Moreover, Europe, the
U.S. and of course Russia will be against Azerbaijan’s
aggression. Thus, adding the factor of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline Azerbaijan will not start war. It just won’t be allowed,’
Markedonov said.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Matthew Bryza to Visit Stepanakert Tomorrow
28.07.2006 13:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Mr Matthew Bryza, the U.S. Co-chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, will pay a
visit to Stepanakert July 29. The U.S. mediator is scheduled to meet
with NKR President Arkady Ghukasian July 30, then he will return to
Yerevan, reported the press office of the NKR leader.
It should be noted that it’s Bryza’s first visit to the region. Let us
also remind that NKR parliament speaker Ashot Ghulian and Foreign
Minister Georgy Pertosian met with Mr Bryza June 26, 2006 and reached
agreement on continuing consultations in Yerevan, Stepanakert and
Baku.

PanARMENIAN.Net
RA MFA: No One Treats Seriously Myths Invented by
Azerbaijan
28.07.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Hearing Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s
statements one can suppose that this official speaks of a process he
is not concerned about, RA Foreign Ministry’s Acting Spokesman
Vladimir Karapetian said when commenting on the recent statement by
Mammadyarov on the Karabakh conflict settlement. `I think Azerbaijan
still suffers from the myths it invented and nobody but Azeris
believes in them or even takes seriously. The sooner they get rid of
these illusions the more possible will become the establishment of
stability and mutual trust in the region,’ Vladimir Karapetian said,
reported the RA MFA press office.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Armenia Striding Confidently towards Eurointegration
and Cooperation with NATO
28.07.2006 13:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `European integration: Ways of formation of unified
and peaceful neighborhood’ international conference started in
Yerevan. The purpose of the conference is to represent the European
values, principles and obligations as guarantees of security and
partnership as well as to discuss the current situation and further
cooperation. Representatives of Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova,
Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey, the EU, NATO, OSCE and CoE are
taking part in the conference.
According to NATO Liaison Officer for the South Caucasus Romualdas
Razuks, NATO’s target in the South Caucasus is the unification of
efforts by international organizations for ensuring security and
stability in the region and development of economic ties. `Armenia is
confidently striding towards the European integration and cooperation
with NATO. `Armenia has already chosen the European path and we
welcome her moves in this direction,’ he said.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
July 27, 2006
Armenian Government Takes On Gold Company
An American mining group accuses the Armenian government of trying to
expropriate its assets.
By Susanna Petrosian in Yerevan
Armenia’s environment ministry is trying to revoke the license of an
American gold company in a dispute that puts investors’ rights under
the spotlight.
Connecticut-based Global Gold Corporation, GGC,is contracted along
with the Australian company Iberian Resources to mine gold, silver
and zinc in the Marjan district of southern Armenia until the end of
2007.
Now the ministry is claiming it has lost its right to do so – though
GGC continues its exploratory work, saying it has the law on its
side.
Some say Armenia wants to take back the mine in order to then sell it
off to a Russian group. Russia is by far the biggest investor in
Armenia with investments worth 400 million US dollars.
The government, however, insists GGC has lost its license because it
has failed to meet its obligations.
`The ministry gave the license and it can take it away,’ said Grant
Avetisian, who heads the department for protecting underground
resources at the environment ministry. He declined to say whether the
ministry was planning to go to court to enforce its claim against
GGC.
`GGC carried out only five per cent of the work,’ added environment
minister Vardan Aivazian. `They did not fulfil their duties as
investors. As they cannot work legally, they should go and someone
else should replace them.’
But GGC’s regional director Ashot Boghosian told IWPR that the
company had only just begun work in the mines and there was no legal
basis for stopping them continuing.
Boghosian says that by law his company’s right to do exploratory work
can be suspended only by a court, and that the company must be
informed of the allegations levelled against it 90 days before the
court hearing.
Gagik Adibekian, head of the department that deals with agreements
and contracts at Armenia’s trade ministry, confirmed that a court
order was needed for a company to lose its license.
`We did not receive any warning, and we don’t know what infringement
we have committed,’ said Boghosian.
`If the ministry tries to deprive us of our licenses and to give them
to another organisation, the best definition of this action will be
expropriation,’ said Boghosian. `I don’t think this is the situation,
and I hope that GGC’s investments will not be expropriated, as that
is a serious responsibility.’
Van Krikorian, president and chief adviser to the company, said that
the Armenian government risked counter-measures from the United
States government if it tried to force GGC to shut down its
operations, and that the company might seek international
arbitration. `The decision to strip us of our license is illegal,’ he
told IWPR.
GGC has a number of projects throughout Armenia and says it will
invest almost 10 million dollars in the country by the end of this
year. It says it is spending 1.2 million dollars on its exploratory
work in the Marjan mine, which contains an estimated 17.8 tonnes of
precious metals.
Around 400 people are employed on the project. Ashot Saakian, head of
administration of the nearby village of Arevis, told IWPR that locals
are pinning their hopes on the mining project and on GGC restoring
outdated infrastructure.
The company has won the support of economist and opposition
parliamentary deputy Tatul Manaserian, who said revoking the
company’s license without proper justification could hurt
Armenian-American relations.
`Statements like this made against GGC will make the investment
climate unpredictable in the future, and this lack of clarity is the
most serious threat for business in terms of instability,’ said
Manaserian.
However, the ministry is not backing down. It says not only has GGC
has lost its license, but that it may soon announce the name of the
new company contracted to work in the mines.
A source in government told IWPR on condition of anonymity that a
Russian investor was interested in acquiring the Marjan mine.
Under a `debt-for-assets’ deal, Russian companies now control almost
the entire energy network of Armenia and have expressed an interest
in acquiring the telephone network.
Some experts see this is an economic takeover that undermines
Armenia’s sovereignty, although trade minister Karen Chshmaritian
says there is nothing to be worried about.
`All of these processes, including the energy sector, are under our
full control,’ said the minister.
Critics are not convinced, seeing the travails of GGC as a symptom of
a wider phenomenon.
`Today Armenia’s attitude to investors is defined by its foreign
policy, which is basically focused on Russia,’ said Stepan Grigorian,
head of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional
Cooperation in Yerevan.
`Russia thinks it is not enough to keep its influence over Armenia
through the military sector alone, and is now using economics as
well.’
Susanna Petrosian is a journalist with the Noyan Tapan news agency in
Yerevan.