PanARMENIAN.Net
Ghukasian Confirmed NKR Readiness to Hold Direct and
Constructive Dialogue with Baku
02.09.2006 13:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `The declaration on the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
proclamation is a brave political and legal act that was adopted is
accordance with the fundamental norms of the former USSR Constitution
and international law. It became epochal in the centuries-old history
of Artsakh. It reflected the will of our people who had chosen the
path of freedom and independence,’ NKR President Arkady Ghukasian said
in Stepanakert during the festivities dedicated to the 15th
anniversary of the NKR proclamation. He remarked that under the
circumstances independence proved to be the only way to secure
Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, its development and
prosperity.
`I would like to remind that NKR was proclaimed at the time when no
single Armenian remained at the territory of the Azeri SSR. The
Azerbaijani leadership isolated Nagorno Karabakh from the outer
world. 15 years that have passed proved the historical necessity and
relevance of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s proclamation,’ Ghukasian
said. In his words, the economy of the state was almost completely
destroyed. Dwellings, hospitals, schools were demolished. `Half of
Nagorno Karabakh was occupied by Azerbaijan as result of bloody
battles. Thousands of people were killed but thanks to the incredible
efforts of our people and leadership as well as owing to Armenia and
Diaspora’s support the enemy was forced of retreat and conclude
armistice agreement signed by Stepanakert as well. Thus, the
Azerbaijani leadership actually recognized Nagorno Karabakh as a party
to conflict although now it denied this fact,’ the NKR leader said.
Arkady Ghukasian voiced regret over the fact that the `Azeri
authorities prefer to counteract the logic of political
development. Karabakh problem cannot be resolved by force. War will
bring new losses and sufferings to both peoples. I call on the Azeri
side to abandon delirious intentions to take revenge and settle all
the issues at the bargaining table,’ he said. At that he underscored
that the efforts of the NKR political leadership are targeted at a
peaceful settlement of the conflict. `We consider the irreversible
democratization process as factor promoting peaceful resolution of the
Karabakh conflict. The calls to war in Azerbaijan can be explained by
absence of democracy in the neighbor republic. If the process reached
a deadlock now, it’s not the fault of Karabakh or Armenia but the
result of Azerbaijan’s counterproductive position,’ Ghukasian said.
He remarked that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is possible
only on the basis of mutual compromise that demands courage and
political will of the leaders of the conflicting sides. `I would like
to confirm Karabakh’s readiness to hold a direct and constructive
dialogue with Azerbaijan without preconditions. Such format will
reflect the core of the problem,’ Ghukasian concluded, reported IA
Regnum.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Lebanese Armenians Protest Turkish Soldiers
02.09.2006 13:10 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A group of Lebanese Armenians opposed Turkey’s
presence in Lebanon in a protest Thursday. Nearly 100 Armenians,
mainly university students, gathered before the U.N. office in Beirut
carrying banners claiming that Turkey collaborated with Israel. The
protestors then presented a U.N. official with an open letter
addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, reported Zaman.

PanARMENIAN.Net
PACE Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno Karabakh to Sit in October
02.09.2006 14:17 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The sitting of the PACE Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno
Karabakh will be held in October, head of the Azeri delegation to PACE
Samed Seyidov said. In his words, the agenda will include the visit of
the committee members to Azerbaijan. The issue of Lord Russell
Johnston’s visit to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh will be
also discussed during the sitting.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Belgian Senator Shared Impressions of Karabakh Visit with RA FM
02.09.2006 15:19 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met
with chairman of the committee for foreign relations and defense at
the Belgian Senate, Mr François Roelants du Vivier, reported the RA
MFA press office. During the meeting the Armenian Minister assessed
highly the efforts of the Senator targeted at the development of the
Armenian-Belgian relationships. For his part Mr du Vivier expressed
satisfaction with the level of cooperation between Armenia and
Belgium.
He also shared the impressions of his visit to Karabakh with the
Armenian FM. By the guest’s request Vartan Oskanian briefed on the
current stage of the talks. Besides, the interlocutors discussed the
Armenia-EU Action Plan within the European Neighborhood Policy,
regional development and the Armenia-Turkey relations.

Abkhazia denies human rights violations in Georgian-populated district

Apsnypress
1 Sep 06

Sukhumi, 1 September: The Abkhaz president’s representative in Gali
District Ruslan Kishmaria has rejected and described as provocative a
statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia which
says that mass human rights violations are being perpetrated in Gali
District [predominately Georgian district in Abkhazia].
“All of this is being done to provoke the situation in Gali District
and the whole of Abkhazia,” Kishmaria told Apsnypress while commenting
on the statement by the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s Press and
Information Department which said that “Sukhumi’s separatist regime
continues to perpetrate gross human rights violations in Abkhazia on a
massive scale”.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry’s document reads that “Georgian
residents of Gali District are forced to dig trenches for the
so-called Abkhaz army”. Kishmaria said that no one was digging
trenches in Gali District. Work is under way there to restore
fortification buildings in the limited armament zone along the entire
line of the separation of sides, he said.
“Given the actions carried out by official Tbilisi in the upper part
of the Kodori Gorge, we do not rule out that Georgia will go to war
against Abkhazia.
Therefore, we are preparing for the defence and protection of our
state and its independence. Residents of Gali District, alongside any
other residents and citizens of Abkhazia, are participating in this
voluntarily,” Kishmaria said.
Commenting on the allegation of forceful conscription of Georgian
youths into the Abkhaz army, Kishmaria said: “There exists such a
state called the republic of Abkhazia. Even though it has not been
recognized by the world community it still has its armed forces in
which all of its citizens over age 18 serve. Anyone who considers
themselves a citizen of the republic of Abkhazia is obliged under the
constitution to pay their duty to their homeland. This applies to the
local Megrelian [ethnic subgroup of Georgians] population of Gali
District as well.”
Georgians constitute 3 per cent of the population in Gali, Russians,
Armenians and Abkhaz another 3 per cent, while Megrelians constitute
94 per cent, Kishmaria said.
“Megrelians living in Gali District consider Abkhazia their homeland
and they choose to serve in the armed forces of the republic. Forceful
conscription is out of the question. The Georgian side is trying to
artificially inflate this problem,” Kishmaria said.
The joint command of the CIS collective peacekeeping force operating
in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone did not confirm the information
circulated by the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information
Department either.
“The Russian peacekeeping force has not registered any gross mass
human rights violations on Abkhaz territory. If there had been such,
the peacekeepers’ command would have known about them, the head of the
press service of the peacekeeping force, Vladimir Anikin, said.
Neither does the UN Human Rights Office in Sukhumi know anything about
“gross and mass human rights violations in Gali District”.
“We learnt about this from Georgian media reports and are now
verifying the information. No one has addressed the UN office in
Sukhumi regarding this yet.
No complains have been made,” the head of the office, Vladlen
Stefanov, said. Stefanov said he had sent his staff to Gali District
to verify the information circulated by the Georgian Foreign Ministry.

British envoy urges end to injustice against Azerbaijan in Karabakh – agency

Azerbaijani news agency APA, Baku
1 Sep 06

1 September, Baku: Azerbaijani Defence Minister Col-Gen Safar Abiyev
has met British ambassador to Azerbaijan Lawrence Bristow, the Defence
Ministry press service has told APA news agency.

The minister spoke about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict at the
meeting and said that there was no positive result in the settlement
of the conflict due to Armenia’s destructive position.

“Armenia does not observe four resolutions of the UN Security Council,
and the international community is putting no pressure on Armenia to
make it withdraw its troops from occupied lands. Azerbaijan will not
reconcile itself to the occupation of its lands by Armenia. Azerbaijan
will use all means, including force, to liberate our lands,” Abiyev
said.

Bristow said that Azerbaijan had the right to liberate its lands.

“But the Azerbaijani government should pursue this policy in a
balanced way. My observations in the South Caucasus during three
years show that the Armenian public is under the influence of foreign
forces. Turkey is a leading NATO country. Azerbaijan has a strong
economic foundation and has been developing harmoniously in all
spheres. What situation will Armenia be in 10-15 years’ time? An end
should be put to injustice against Azerbaijan as soon as possible,”
Bristow said.

[Passage omitted: Abiyev met other envoys too]

FT WEEKEND MAGAZINE – BOOK REVIEWS: In brief – Paris: The Secret History

Financial Times; Sep 02, 2006
By Natalie Whittle

Paris: The Secret History

by Andrew Hussey

Penguin £25, 512 pages

Where Peter Ackroyd left off with London: The Biography, Andrew Hussey
picks up with Paris: The Secret History, another obsessive history
tour, teeming with arcane, colourful detail. Hussey’s project is to
show that Paris is not, and never has been, a city in stasis: its
staid, glamorous image has always had a dirtier, more complex
counterpart.

Although it’s hardly a secret that Parisians like sex and
insurrection, Hussey has an abundance of research to show how these
tastes evolved. The 18th-century boom in bookshops, for example,
begins Parisians’ fondness for pornographic writing: all classes could
read erotica as a “sexual aperitif” before seeking gratification out
on the street.

Literary figures are important players in Hussey’s underbelly history,
huddling together in cafes, wandering the streets for inspiration and,
in the case of Balzac, taking the dawn air while his debt collectors
were still asleep. We meet other kinds of outsiders too, from
prostitutes, peddlers and sans-culottes to the “apache” street gangs
of the 1900s. There are also the many immigrants who have shaped
Parisian life. (It was a pair of Armenians who opened Paris’s first
coffee-serving cafe.)

Hussey has an obvious passion for the city and what makes it tick, and
The Secret History is an excellent introduction to its many sordid
mysteries

PanARMENIAN.Net
European Parliament Concerned over Dink Sentence
02.09.2006 13:47 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European Parliament is concerned over the
conviction of Hrank Dink, the editor of the Armenian Istanbul-based
newspaper `Akos’. A corresponding report will be published next
Monday. To remind, Hrant Dink was sentenced to six months’ suspended
imprisonment for `outraging Turkish identity.’ The report also remarks
that the bill on religious minorities worked out in Turkey is
incomplete. It should be noted that in several weeks the European
Commission will consider the reform process in Turkey, reported
RFE/RL.

Armenia remain in the hunt
Saturday, 2 September 2006
Armenia revived their chances of reaching the UEFA European Under-21
Championship play-offs as a first-half goal from Tigran Gharabaghtsyan
proved enough to defeat Norway in a Group 1 fixture in Yerevan.
Final fixture
The result left Samvel Petrosyan’s side level on three points with
Bosnia-Herzegovina – who had beaten the Armenians 3-2 in the section’s
first fixture last month – with the match between Norway and the
Bosnia-Herzegovnians to come on 6 September. The latter need a point
to progress to the play-offs, while Armenia will qualify should Norway
win by one goal.
Opportunist Karabagtsyan
The home team had a number of early opportunities at the Republican
stadium with Artur Yedigaryan missing the target when well placed, but
the breakthrough arrived in the 24th minute when Boris Melkonyan’s
pass gave Alexander Petrosyan an opening and, although Rune Jarsyein
parried, Karabagtsyan was on hand to put away the rebound.
Norwegian opening
Samvel Melkonyan then headed wide, but Norway had chances of their
own, Magnus Myklebust twice being crowded out while Alexander Tettey
tried his luck from distance on several occasions without
success. Tomasz Sokolowski shot over for the visitors after the break
before Myklebust hit the post from close range after a great cross
from Tore Reginiussen. Armenia held out, however, and must wait and
see whether they will be involved in the play-off draw on 8 September.
uefa.com 1998-2006.

Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad says he spoke to kidnapped priest 7 days ago
AP Worldstream; Sep 02, 2006

The Chaldean Patriarch of Baghdad said Saturday he had spoken on the
phone with a priest who was kidnapped earlier this month in the Iraqi
capital, who told him a week ago that he was well but still in the
hands of his captors.

Patriarch Emmanuel Delly told the Italian missionary news agency
MISNA, however, that the kidnappers had assured him at the end of his
conversation last Saturday that they would release the priest
immediately, but he had heard nothing since.

“We’ve been waiting for him for seven days, but still nothing,” Delly
said. “It’s been exactly a week since I had any news. Let’s hope they
will let him go as soon as possible, and let’s hope they won’t kill
him.”

The Rev. Hanna Saad Sirop, who is director of the Theology Department
at Babel College, was abducted Aug. 15 as he left Mass celebrating the
Assumption holiday.

Delly said Sirop told him, “I am Father Sirop, I am in good health and
I am in the hands of the men who kidnapped me,” according to MISNA.

Bishops from all of Baghdad’s Christian churches have sent a letter to
the Iraqi government asking them to help secure the release of the
34-year-old priest, and Pope Benedict XVI appealed for his release.

Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people. The
major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians, with
small numbers of Roman Catholics.