Basayev: From Rebel to Vicious Extremist
How a student radical became the mastermind of insurgent outrages.
By Thomas de Waal in London
Institute for War & Peace Reporting, UK
July 11 2006
Shamil Basayev did not look like a man responsible for horrific
atrocities. He was soft-spoken, and with his domed forehead, bushy
beard and long Russian phrases, could have been mistaken for a Moscow
intellectual. But if he was not frightening close up, few men have
managed to terrify so many people across so wide an area.
Basayev played on his reputation and treated the long vain attempts
of the Kremlin to catch him as a kind of game. In rare interviews
over the last few years, he suggested he enjoyed being labelled a
dangerous terrorist and, in the last four years of his bloody career
when he planned the hideous operations to seize the Dubrovka Theatre
in Moscow and School No. 1 in Beslan, he lived up to the reputation.
He not only planned the detail of the operations, he designed them to
create maximum publicity and to cause the greatest possible humiliation
for his enemies in the Kremlin.
It is misleading to label Basayev as an Islamic militant. His
background was as part of a Russified generation of Chechens who
developed a strong streak of nationalism and despised all authority.
As a student radical, he idolised Che Guevara and had a poster of
the famous revolutionary on his wall.
Basayev was born in 1965 in the traditionally warlike mountain
village of Vedeno, once headquarters in the 19th century for the
great Dagestani warrior leader Imam Shamil. His family had recently
returned from collective Stalinist exile in Kazakstan, where they
had suffered sickness from Soviet nuclear testing.
Basayev studied in Moscow, where one of his teachers was Konstantin
Borovoi, who later became a famous entrepreneur and politician. In
August 1991, he joined the pro-democracy demonstrators defending the
White House in Moscow in opposition to the attempted coup d’etat.
In November 1991, he began his career of publicity stunts, hijacking
an airliner to proclaim the Chechen pro-independence cause and then
releasing all the passengers unharmed.
Basayev then became a career warrior, restless and bored unless he
was fighting someone somewhere. He fought on the Azerbaijani side in
the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, being one of the last men to leave
the besieged citadel of Shusha in May 1992 before the Armenians
captured it.
He then moved on to Abkhazia, where he joined a coalition of North
Caucasian volunteers, Cossacks and Russian special forces officers
in helping the Abkhaz win their bitter conflict with the Georgian
government. He was appointed deputy defence minister of Abkhazia
and still has many supporters there – though they do not voice those
views in public in what is now a very pro-Russian region. Persistent
rumours that he collaborated with the Russian secret services date
from this time, but they have never been substantiated by any evidence.
Basayev finally found his metier when Boris Yeltsin sent his troops
into Chechnya in December 1994. He was involved in all major operations
of the war of 1994-6, including the masterfully planned recapture of
Grozny from the Russian army in August 1996.
He should not have got out alive from his most extraordinary operation,
his raid in June 1995 deep into the heart of southern Russia, which was
halted when he seized a hospital in the town of Budyonnovsk. Following
a botched assault by Russian special forces and the death of over a
hundred people, the then Russian prime minister, Viktor Chernomyrdin,
negotiated the free passage of Basayev and his men out of the town
in return for the release of the hostages.
In Russia, Basayev was seen as a bloodthirsty terrorist but in much
of Chechnya he was regarded as a hero.
Basayev was driven by a new motive with deep roots in Chechen culture,
blood revenge, after 11 members of his family were killed in a bombing
raid near Vedeno. By this time, many who talked to him found him more
than slightly deranged. British journalist Victoria Clark, formerly
Moscow correspondent of The Observer newspaper, recalls interviewing
him in August 1995, when he was at the height of his popularity in
the mountains of Chechnya.
“We were spirited off to a place in the hills, where he was waiting
for us,” Clark recalled. “He spoke all night without stopping. Things
got really out of hand when he started talking about sprinkling
radioactive dust on the Kremlin.”
In the interview, Basayev revealed a strange obsession with the history
of Russia, telling Clark, “The [Russian symbol, the] double-headed
eagle is the epitome of unnatural evil. No living thing can survive
like that, so it has to become a parasite on the blood of other
nations.”
Basayev still had sufficient prestige in January 1997 to collect around
a quarter of the vote in Chechnya’s only ever internationally-monitored
presidential election. But as Chechnya gained de facto independence and
collapsed into chaos, his reputation began to plummet as he and other
warlords were accused of corruption and involvement in kidnapping. His
alliance with Saudi jihadist Emir Khattab alienated those Chechens who
were tired of conflict and wanted a sensible accommodation with Moscow.
Basayev appeared to positively enjoy being Russia’s Enemy Number One,
a mindset that had fatal consequences for both Russians and Chechens.
In 1999, in defiance of Basayev’s rival and president Aslan Maskhadov,
he and Khattab led an armed incursion into the neighbouring republic
of Dagestan. This was the cue for Russia’s new prime minister Vladimir
Putin to fly to Dagestan and begin preparations for a re-invasion
of Chechnya.
Basayev lost a foot fleeing the Chechen capital Grozny across a
minefield at the beginning of the second Chechen conflict, confirming
an almost mythical reputation amongst Chechen radical fighters that
he could defy death anywhere. To the amazement of many, he lasted
another six years, eclipsing the more moderate Maskhadov as he took
on the role of an Islamic radical. He used the Internet to mock the
Kremlin and boasted that he moved freely across the North Caucasus
and even that he had married for a third time to a Russian woman in
the Krasnodar region.
The attacks on the Dubrovka Theatre and the school in Beslan confirmed
that Basayev now had no compunction about targeting civilians anywhere
in Russia. The deaths of 330 people in Beslan, half of them children,
marked the final nadir in the descent of a man who had once claimed
to be a democrat
Basayev was a talented warrior and brilliant propagandist, and a very
twisted and cruel human being. Very few will mourn his demise, with
most Chechens breathing a sigh of relief that someone who blackened
their reputation round the world is dead.
Thomas de Waal is IWPR’s Caucasus Editor.

Kurdish Aspect, CO
July 11 2006
Independent South Kurdistan after 15 years of Self-Rule
Book Review – “Independent South Kurdistan” by Steve Tataii
Kurd Net
THE WAR OF LIBERATION AFTER 85 YEARS Unfair treatment of the Kurds
by Turkey shows it is still the true terrorist military regime in
the region without improvement since 1915 Kamal Ataturk’s Tyrannical
Rule with his forceful Westernization. [This is the Modified version
of my article first posted by Kurdistan Observer on April 10, 2003]
This war and all other wars in Southern and Northern Kurdistan have
been caused by Turkey’s barbaric and senseless prevention of forming
an Independent Kurdistan in 1920, keeping the 5-7 million Kurds in
Southern Kurdistan and more tan 25 million Kurds in North Kurdistan (a
figure Turkey has tried to conceal), [as well as over 2.5 million Kurds
in West Kurdistan Syria Cannot deny], in constant bloody clashes and
wars for freedom in the past 85 years. If the League of Nations had
implemented an independent Kurdistan in 1920s; there would have been
no wars, and no Tyrant regimes in Iraq would have dared to emerge. What
Turkey did against Kurds in 1920 has had a similar domino effect in the
other 3 Kurdish parts. As I have stated before, and I say it again: in
simple terms, Turkey, which has the gall to accuse the Kurdish freedom
fighters as terrorists and render this malicious verbal assault on
Kurds and endanger our U.S. troops while in action to liberate Iraq,
is the most dangerous terrorist regime itself; hence Turkey has been
the only major threat to peace, security, and stability in the region,
and in essence must be disarmed immediately.
American and Kurdish Peshmarga must always keep this crucial fact in
mind and deal with it accordingly as a move to disarm Turkish terrorist
military establishment as quickly as possible if they refuse to have
a positive change in their military-Ruled regime. Here is a quick
and comprehensive look at Turkey’s major international crimes since
1920: The origin of the whole dilemma causing a war for liberation by
Kurds in their own ancient homeland encompassing an area as large as
California began around 85 years ago. By 1920 the vast Ottoman Empire
fell apart after the WWI, and its nations were left with no central
power to answer to Sultans in the fallen Capitol City of the Ottoman
Empire in Constantinople, today known as Istanbul.
Kurdistan was scheduled to be an Independent country of its own
together with a few other nations on the listed nations of the
drafted treaty of Sevres being implemented by the League of Nations
to bring peace, security, and stability in the post ottoman empire
era. All those nations living peacefully side by side within the
Ottoman Empire including those located in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria,
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and the reduced portion of the Empire itself,
Turkey, did achieve their independence through that treaty, but the
nations of Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia did not because of the
left over and reduced portion of the Empire, namely “Turkey.” With
its expansionist greedy nature, a hegemony of its predecessor bigger
Ottoman, it was still trying to act with ambition for land snatching,
even if it would trample upon Kurdistan’s sovereignty.
Kurdistan, today home to over 45 million Kurds, is the largest
nation without a country, no thanks to Turkey with the help of its
supporters Great Britain and France, which continued its tyrannical
and dictatorial stranglehold on its own nearly 25 million Kurds, and
forcing their war of Liberation to continue in the past 85 years. The
other two major portions of Kurdistan are in Iraq with 5-7 million
Kurds, and Iran with over 15 million Kurds, and Syria with 2.5 million
Kurds, each causing the Kurds wars, genocides, executions, ethnic
cleansings, torture, imprisonments, and oppression. In short, this
war is mainly due to what Turkey initiated, and other parts followed
in a domino effect since around 1920. When Turkey, under the brutal
regime of Kemal Ataturk, who continued its campaigns of genocide
against Kurds and Armenians, killing over a million Kurds along with
their political leaders, as well as over 2 million Armenians.
This was the beginning of a prolonged war for liberation by Kurds,
Armenians, and Azeris. Armenia and Azerbaijan luckily obtained their
independence after the fall of another Empire, the USSR, after the
end of the Cold War in 1989, but Kurds remained captive. Therefore,
this war has many untold stories, but there is no question about
Turkey’s initial foul play when it interfered with the implementation
of the treaty of Serves by the League of Nations Independence treaty,
when the League did not safeguard the plan for Kurds, Armenians,
and Azeri nations within the fallen Empire due to Ataturk’s iron fist
colonialist military attacks, when the League abandoned its obligation
to the most ancient nation of Kurds with 12,000 years of civilization.
Although Armenia and Azerbaijan got their Independence in 1989 after
the fall of U.S.S.R., but Kurdistan, mainly outside of U.S.S.R.,
continues to remain without an officially recognized state to this
day. Particularly, the Independent South Kurdistan is yet to be
officially recognized as a UN member state even while we have Liberated
the Iraqi region after invasion, but it is totally unrealistic and
ludicrous to even think that the two nations of Kurds and Arabs in
Iraq since 1920s wrongfully drawn up map aimed to exploit Kurdish
natural resources in Kirkuk Kurdistan, and Basra oilfields in the
South, after 85 years of wars; suddenly restart another chapter of
wars to be left alone, and live in their own independent states
in peace and security. This intended piracy of the colonial past
has become the most vicious and malicious plot against the entire
nation of Kurds, which has so far left around 3.5 million innocent
Kurdish civilians killed in series of wars, and bombings, but most of
all Ethnic cleansing in the large provinces of Kirkuk Kurdistan and
Mosul against the Kurds in the artificial Iraq, and North Kurdistan
usurped by Turkey, as well as West Kurdistan usurped by Syria. Our
attempt at unification of the two totally diverse ethnic groups of
Ancient Kurds and the desert Arabs of South is utterly irresponsible
and insensitive. Some of our administration’s spokespersons immature
and nave statements of the Kurds themselves told me they don’t want
to be independent is unbelievably stupid and internationally criminal.
The Kurds have held half a dozen of Referendums and elections since
our invasion in 2003, and have signed declarations at the rate of 98%
of their entire Kurdish population, declaring that they want to live
in an Independent South Kurdistan as you’ll read in my book series
printed published articles. What we must focus on now; is to declare
and recognize an Independent South Kurdistan as quickly as possible
before it is later than the three years gone by, and before we cause
further tensions, and possible clashes between Kurds and Arabs in
Kirkuk, the inseparable part of Kurdistan. The unstable part of the
defunct Iraq in South is not and should not be imposed on the Kurds.
To establish security in the South should not be prerequisite to
Kurdish Independence in South Kurdistan, ready to be officially
recognized as a nation state in the past 15 years. All those wise
guy journalists trumpeting their statements about Kirkuk having other
minorities other than Kurds should really shut the hell up, because
it is obvious that they their own paid agendas to do their dirty work
for their masters, and the pushing of this anti-Kurd agenda has gone
on far enough. Our U.S. Administration should wake up and smell the
coffee, because they’re forcing the Kurds to fight for what belongs
to them and has been their homeland and their territory from time
immemorial. Finally, the Kurds have gone far beyond their line of
duties to help our Iraq Liberation.
They understand; that it would have taken longer to Liberate Kirkuk
and Mosul if it wasn’t for our invasion to remove the pathetic Saddam,
but there should not be any negotiations over the fact that Kurds want
their Independence, and there should not be any doubts about Kirkuk
Kurdistan’s inclusion within the Independent South Kurdistan. The
more we prolong this matter; the closer it may get to another war
within the already existing unfinished war to secure the South. We
have repeatedly admitted we are not there for oil. What we should do
then, we must get on with Liberating the Kurds, and securing an Arab
government for the South. We can’t have it both ways, and we won’t
succeed in our plan of unification as an exit strategy. Once we have
an official Independent South Kurdistan, then we may focus on the
remainder of the task, which appears to be the lack of security in
the Arab provinces. The Kurds have done their share. Isn’t it time we
let the Kurds be, and instead help their nation after 85 years of wars?
Book Review – “Independent South Kurdistan” by Steve Tataii
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EBRD, “ARMENIA- INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS” TO SIGN CREDIT AGREEMENT
Arka News Agency, Armenia
July 11 2006
YEREVAN, July 11. /ARKA/. The European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) and the “Armenia-International Airports” CJSC are
to sign a contract agreement at the Marriot-Armenia hotel at 4:00 p.m.,
on July 13, 2006.
Under the contract the EBRD and the German Corporation of Investments
and Development (DEG) are to allocate a US $30mln credit for the
renovation and re-equipment of the “Zvartnots” airport.
On June 29, 2006, the Armenian Government approve the signing of a
“Direct Contract” between the “Armenia-International Airports” CJSC,
EBRD, DEG and the RA Government.
On June 9, 2002, the Yerevan “Zvartnots” airport was transferred
to concession to the Argentinian company “Armenia-International
Airports”. P.T. -0–

AMBASSADOR TO ITALY MEETS WITH ITALIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER
[July 11, 2006, 20:47:41]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Rome Italy Emil Kerimov met here on
Monday with Faminao Krucianelli, the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister
responsible for relations with the South Caucasus.
The Ambassador congratulated Mr. Krucianelli on his new appointment and
Italy’s becoming a football World Cup winner. He added that on this
occasion, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev had sent congratulatory
messages to his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano and Prime
Minister of the country Romano Prodi.
Mr. Kerimov pointed out that there are wide opportunities for deepening
relations between the two countries in all fields. He described Italy
as Azerbaijan’s large trade partner mentioning that such Italian
companies as Edison, Technimont and Fincantieri show great interest
in making business in Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador thanked the Italian side for rendering technical and
humanitarian assistance to Azerbaijan. He stressed the necessity
of organizing a political dialogue between leaderships of the two
countries after reshufflings in the Italian government.
Mr. Krucianelli said Italy is interested in expanding relations with
Azerbaijan noting the country is located in a very important region,
possesses rich natural resources and huge economic potential. He added
his country is striving for enhancement of cooperation in not only
energy but also other sectors of the economy. Mr. Krucianelli also
pointed out Italy’s intention to contribute to democratic development
in Azerbaijan.
Ambassador Kerimov dwelt on democratic reforms being implemented
in Azerbaijan, and the policy conducted by the government towards
economic development and bettering people’s well-being. He noted,
however, that full-scale development of the region is being hampered
by the aggressive policy of Armenia resulted in occupation of 20% of
the Azerbaijan’s territories, destruction of cultural monuments on
the occupied territories, ethnic cleansing and plight of more than
one million Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced people.
“All this poses serious threat to security and regional cooperation
in the Caucasus,” he said. Taking the chance, Mr. Kerimov thanked
the Italian side for the support of the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan. He added that Azerbaijan wants this conflict to be resolved
on the basis of the norms and principles of the international law,
and within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
Mr. Krucianelli expressed regret about the unresolved conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh noting his country is ready to contribute to peaceful
resolution of the problem. He added that the existing conflicts in
the South Caucasus jeopardize stability and security in the region,
and stressed the need for more active involvement of the European
Union in the process of their settlement.

PRIME MINISTER WARNED THAT TERROR LAW CHANGES COULD IMPOSE CENSORSHIP OF KURDISH ISSUES
Int’l Freedom of Expression eXpress (IFEX), Canada
July 11 2006
Reporters Without Borders has written to Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Erdogan voicing concern about amendments to the anti-terrorism law
that have just been passed by parliament. The organisation roundly
condemns articles providing for prison sentences for the
dissemination of statements and propaganda by “terrorist
organisations,” fearing they could lead to arbitrary prosecutions of
journalists covering issues related to these organisations.
The amendments are sufficiently vague that any member of a news media
organization producing a contested report or article could be
prosecuted, especially as several journalists are already charged
with collaborating with the successor to the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) and face stiff sentences for covering military
operations or pro-Kurdish demonstrations.
Paris, 6 July 2006
Dear Prime Minister,
Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends press freedom
worldwide, would like to share with you its concern about the
situation of free expression in Turkey, a country currently holding
negotiations with a view to joining the European Union. We are
worried about amendments to the 1991 Law on the Fight against
Terrorism (Act 3713) that were passed by parliament on 29 June, as
they introduce new restrictions on press freedom and above all target
the pro-Kurdish media, whose very existence you are threatening.
Article 6, paragraph 2 of this law now provides for a three-year
prison sentence for “any dissemination of statements and communiques
by terrorist organisations.” The owners and editors of news
organisations risk a heavy fine.
Article 7, paragraph 2 of the law says that: “Whoever makes
propaganda for a terrorist organisation will be sentenced to five
years in prison. If the crime is committed by means of the press, the
penalty may be increased by half. Owners and editors will also be
sentenced to a heavy fine.”
Reporters Without Borders would very much like the term “terrorist
organisation” to be precisely defined in order to avoid any abuse of
this provision for the purpose of arbitrary arrest or imprisonment.
For example, an official list of organisations considered to be
terrorists could help avoid misunderstandings.
Parliament also added a new article (article 8, paragraph b)
providing for “chain liability,” under which, for example, a
newspaper report with no byline could result in a prosecution being
brought against the editor in charge, the editor-in-chief, the
newspaper’s owner, the printer and even the translator if it was
translated from another language. The amendment says “persons
responsible for a programme” or “persons responsible for an issue of
a publication” can be prosecuted and sentenced to heavy fines.
Parliament introduced this extremely dangerous concept with the aim
of extending the range of editors, executives and others liable for
prosecution. The entire chain of command becomes potentially guilty.
The persistent legal obstacles to free expression in Turkey have been
highlighted by Reporters Without Borders in the past. The government,
the armed forces, militant nationalists and any state institution can
abuse the law to target journalists commenting on sensitive or
controversial issues or episodes in Turkish history such as the
Armenian genocide, the withdrawal of the Turkish armed forces from
Cyprus or the Kurdish question.
The fight against terrorism is, of course, necessary and legitimate,
but Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the possible
intention of these new amendments. We think they are especially
targeted at pro-Kurdish journalists who are often accused of
terrorist collaboration with the outlawed Kurdish separatist
organisation PKK/Kongra-Gel.
We could cite the case of Rustu Demirkaya, a reporter with the
pro-Kurdish news agency DIHA, who has been held in Tunceli prison, in
eastern Turkey, since 14 June on a charge of “collaborating with the
PKK/Kongra-Gel.” A former PKK activist reportedly accused him of
supplying PKK members with a laptop computer and 10 blank CD-ROMs and
of tipping them off about an ongoing military operation. He could be
sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.
The police handling the investigation have not produced any concrete
evidence in support for the allegations made by the former PKK
member. It is completely unacceptable that Demirkaya should have to
remain in prison while the investigation continues.
We could also cite the case of Evrim Dengiz and Nesrin Yazar, two
young women working for DIHA who were stopped by anti-terrorist
police on 15 February in Mersin as they returned from covering a
demonstration marking the seventh anniversary of the arrest of the
PKK/Kongra-Gel leader Abdullah Ocalan. We have been told that the
police took them some distance away from their car, which they then
proceeded to search and claimed to have found two home-made petrol
bombs inside.
Dengiz and Yazar were accused of making the bombs for the
demonstration. The judge in charge of the case has classified it on
security grounds. The Mersin prosecutor has requested life
imprisonment for a “threat against state unity and territorial
integrity” under article 302-1 of the criminal code. Their lawyer,
Bedri Kuran, who has not been allowed to see the prosecution case
file because it has been classified, says the search violated legal
procedure because it should have been carried out in a judge’s
presence. He also says there is no forensic report on the petrol
bombs.
Prime Minister, we cannot help being troubled by the speed with which
journalists are placed in pretrial custody in Turkey even when the
evidence against them is very slim. Free expression and press freedom
are inviolable democratic principles that must be respected.
We urge you, Prime Minister, to ask parliament to revise the
amendments to the Law on the Fight against Terrorism so that they
meet international standards.
We trust you will give this matter your careful consideration.
Respectfully,
Robert Menard
Secretary-General

TREND, Azerbaijan
July 11 2006
Russia hopes for Georgia’s understanding on checkpoint closure
Source: Trend
Author: À.Mammadov
11.07.2006
(RIA Novosti) – Russia hopes Georgia will treat the temporary closure
of a border checkpoint with understanding and that the move will not
impede mutual border crossing at other checkpoints, a senior Foreign
Ministry official said Tuesday.
Russia closed the Verkhny Lars checkpoint on the border with Georgia
for reconstruction early Saturday morning for an indefinite period.
The South Caucasus state has protested against the move, saying it
was an “unfriendly act.”
“We hope Georgia will treat this temporary measure with understanding
and will not impede border crossings in other areas,” said Mikhail
Kamynin, official Foreign Ministry spokesman, reports Trend.
Kamynin said transnational criminal groupings had frequently used
the checkpoint for smuggling drugs and arms and planting militants
to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory.
The spokesman also said Russia was aware that the move had created
problems for people traveling via the checkpoint, including from
Armenia, and for trade. He said Russia would try to find ways to make
up for the inconvenience.
Vaan Ovannisyan, deputy chairman of Armenia’s parliament, said Monday
that by closing the checkpoint Russia had hit Armenian interests
and added the closure was due to difficult relations between Russia
and Georgia.
“They [relations] have been worsening rather than improving recently,”
he said. “Our Russian colleagues must understand that each step against
Georgia also hurts Armenia’s interests. Therefore, they should be
more flexible and careful.”
Verkhny Lars checkpoint has been a source of occasional conflicts
between Russia and Georgia, the most serious of which occurred in the
1990s, when Russian border guards moved to curb spirit smuggling into
the country.
–Boundary_(ID_FTifboVdac7Gyauj3XXjGw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian Christian Democrats: Armenia has a chance to get control of
Nagorno Karabakh negotiation process
Regnum, Russia
July 11 2006
Resuming military action in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone will
throw the regional development a decade back, Head of the Christian
Democratic Union of Armenia Khosrov Arutyunyan said at a press
conference in Pastark club. He said the co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
group on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement realize this perfectly
well, which is why they will not quit the negotiation process.
Khosrov Arutyunyan also said that the co-Chairs in their last
statement were sincere in stating that they were interested
in the peaceful conflict settlement by way of Nagorno Karabakh
people self-determination and in that they ran out of ideas on the
conflict settlement proposals, and that the responsibility of holding
negotiations lays on the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“Rambouillet and Bucharest proposals on the conflict settlement were
rejected by the Azerbaijani side. Today, Armenia has a chance to get
control of the negotiation process,” the CDU leader maintained. He also
asserted that Nagorno Karabakh de facto participates in the negotiation
process. “Co-Chairs visit Stepanakert, verbally coordinate particular
issues, so Nagorno Karabakh is a part in the negotiation process,”
the Armenian CDU head concluded.

Lebanon is ready to contribute to Karabakh conflict settlement
Regnum, Russia
July 11 2006
Lebanon is ready to contribute to Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,
as well as to share its experience with interested parties. Lebanese
Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Minister Fawzi Salloukh is quoted by
a REGNUM correspondent as stressing in particular that war would be
of benefit for no conflict parties and the problem should be settled
exclusively in a peaceful way, taking into consideration interests
of the conflict parties. At the same time, he stressed that there
is no religious implication in case of Nagorno Karabakh conflict –
“landed property is concerned here.”
In his turn, Vardan Oskanyan stated that there were no contacts
yet with Azerbaijani side. “OSCI Minsk Group US co-Chair Matthew
Bryza is going to visit the region soon; may be, it will cause some
developments,” the minister stressed. Mentioning mediators’ statements,
in which they pointed out that their imagination had been exhausted,
Vardan Oskanyan stressed that it did not mean that the settlement
process was over and the mediators rejected it. “The parties themselves
should demonstrate activity. The document proposed by the co-chair
is acceptable for those, who really want to achieve settlement based
on compromise. We hope, Baku will recommence negotiations, assuming
the document as a basis,” the Armenian foreign minister stressed. At
the same time, Vardan Oskanyan stressed that it was inapprorpiate
to organize meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in the
framework of G8 summit in St. Petersburg. “Had the parties achieved
serious progress in Bucharest, the co-chairs would have thought
about conducting such meeting. However, I do not exclude that summit
participants will surely mention Karabakh problem,” Vardan Oskanyan
stated.

“Insulting Turkishness”: Charges Reopened Against Author Elif Shafak
By Kimberly Maul
Kirkus Reviews
The Book Standard
July 11 2006
A case against author Elif Shafak, who is charged with “insulting
Turkishness” under Article 301 in the Turkish Criminal Code, reached
a new level this week. Shafak wrote The Bastard of Istanbul, in which
a character references Armenian genocide.
Last month, a public prosecutor in Istanbul dismissed the charges,
based on Shafak’s argument that the book is a work of fiction and
therefore un-prosecutable.
A complaint from a member of the Unity of Jurists, a group of
right-wing lawyers, caused the seventh high criminal court to overrule
the decision. The charges have also been brought against Shafak’s
translator, Asli Bican, and publisher, Semi Sokmen, of the Metis
Publishing House.
“The situation in Turkey has changed since the introduction of
Article 301 last year,” Sara Whyatt, director of the Writers in Prison
Committee at International PEN, told The Guardian on Monday.
“I think the trials are intended to harass and intimidate these writers
and journalists. Elif Shafak is at the beginning of what could be a
long and painful process.”
Shafak faces three years in prison if convicted.
At the end of 2005, Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk was persecuted under
Article 301, but the charges were later dropped.
In Shafak’s Bastard, two families-one in Istanbul and one, an exiled
Armenian family, in San Francisco-share an old secret that affects
their current lives. It is set to be released next year from Viking
Penguin. The date for Shafak’s trial has not been set.
Farrar, Straus & Giroux released in the U.S. last year an English
translation of the author’s The Saint of Incipient Sanities.

Russia hopes for Georgia’s understanding on checkpoint closure
18:37 | 11/ 07/ 2006
RIA Novosti, Russia
July 11 2006
MOSCOW, July 11 (RIA Novosti) – Russia hopes Georgia will treat the
temporary closure of a border checkpoint with understanding and that
the move will not impede mutual border crossing at other checkpoints,
a senior Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday.
Russia closed the Verkhny Lars checkpoint on the border with Georgia
for reconstruction early Saturday morning for an indefinite period.
The South Caucasus state has protested against the move, saying it
was an “unfriendly act.”
“We hope Georgia will treat this temporary measure with understanding
and will not impede border crossings in other areas,” said Mikhail
Kamynin, official Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Kamynin said transnational criminal groupings had frequently used
the checkpoint for smuggling drugs and arms and planting militants
to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory.
The spokesman also said Russia was aware that the move had created
problems for people traveling via the checkpoint, including from
Armenia, and for trade. He said Russia would try to find ways to make
up for the inconvenience.
Vaan Ovannisyan, deputy chairman of Armenia’s parliament, said Monday
that by closing the checkpoint Russia had hit Armenian interests
and added the closure was due to difficult relations between Russia
and Georgia.
“They [relations] have been worsening rather than improving recently,”
he said. “Our Russian colleagues must understand that each step against
Georgia also hurts Armenia’s interests. Therefore, they should be
more flexible and careful.”
Verkhny Lars checkpoint has been a source of occasional conflicts
between Russia and Georgia, the most serious of which occurred in the
1990s, when Russian border guards moved to curb spirit smuggling into
the country.