SOAD CALGARY BOUND
By MIKE BELL — Calgary Sun
Jam! Showbiz, Canada
June 25 2006
For System Of A Down, the vacation is over.
Now, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and get back to work.
Well, in order to get ready for summer vacation.
Which, um, will precede an extended vacation.
Don’t question it, or even attempt to make sense of it, just be
thankful the Armenian-American metal band is returning to our fair
city for a ‘Dome show Monday.
And for those who were lucky enough to catch the band nine months
ago in the same venue, drummer John Dolmayan says that first break
in SOAD’s schedule bodes well for their return visit.
“We haven’t toured for over seven months and we have a lot of desire
to get out there and play onstage again,” Dolmayan says from his home
during a break in his World Cup-viewing.
“So we’ll probably have a little bit more energy than we had last time.
“Last time we came out it was after about five months of touring,
and you know how it is, you just burnout after awhile, you get tired.
“Although you may not have noticed it, we feel like near the end
of the tour we get a little tired — now you’re catching us on the
beginning of the tour.
“Nice and fresh.
“Although,” he says jokingly, “you’ll have to deal with whatever
cobwebs are there …”
Of course, those who caught the quartet’s incredible show last
September will take them however they can get them, especially because,
since that show the band released its second album of 2005 Hypnotize,
the companion piece to the earlier dropped Mezmerize.
With the pair of albums and a year of touring, burnout was
understandable.
That’s also the reason after the brief tour they’re embarking on,
SOAD will follow it up with a stint on this year’s Ozzfest, something
Dolmayan likens to summer camp for bands, because of its easy pace
and enjoyable atmosphere.
And then, once those shows wrap up, the band will take an extended
hiatus, which the Lebanese-born drummer estimates will last more than
two years.
While there have been rumours the break will be permanent, fuelled
further by confirmation guitarist Daron Malakian is starting a new band
Scars On Broadway — with bassist Shavo Odadjian a likely member —
Dolmayan says the temporary cessation of SOAD business will likely
further the band’s career.
“It’s hard to maintain focus after so many years of doing the same
thing over and over again,” he says. “We need a break from each other
as well as the whole scene and the pressures of being in a band that’s
at the level were at.”
As to how he’ll spend the next couple of years, Dolmayan says he
won’t pursue a musical project of his own, noting he has no wish to
be a songwriter, even admitting he’s not that good at it.
“Everyone’s got a position, and I’m happy with mine.”
Instead, he’ll spend the time doing something else he loves.
“I’m starting a comic book company based on the Internet …,” he says.
“That’s what I’ll be pretty much diverting most of my attention to.
It’s my other passion — I love music and comics are what I’ve also
been into since I was a kid.
“I’m a nerd, man. I’m staying true to my nerd roots.

GREEK CYPRIOT AMBASSADOR WAS NOT WELCOME IN AZERBAIJAN
Mehtap Cicekcar (JTW) With Hurriyet 23 June 2006
Journal of Turkish Weekly
June 25 2006
Greek Cypriot Ambassador to Moscow, Leonidas Pantelides, met with
frustration on a trip he took two days ago to the Azerbayjianian
capital of Baku to attempt to block decisions made in support of
Northern Cyprus at a meeting of Islamic Conference Organization
(IKO-ICO) foreign ministers. Pantelides was reportedly unable to
receive a hotel room in Baku, and spent the night going between bars,
restaurants, and the streets of the capital. The Greek Cyprus has
made efforts to prevent any co-operation between the European Union
and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan had started direct flight to the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) last year.
According to sources in Turkey, Ankara had known that the Greek
Cypriots would be sending a representative to the ICO meeting,
and had contacted Baku authorities to ask that the Greek Cypriot
representative be blocked from the meeting.
When in fact the Greek Cypriot authority did send Pantelides, the Azeri
leadership told him that they would not extend accreditation to him for
the ICO conference, and that all the hotels in the capital were full.
At a previous IKO conference in Yemen, a Greek Cypriot ambassador did
succeed in entering into proceedings, even attempting to participate
in a commemorative group photograph, though he was discovered by the
Turkish delegation at the last moment.
Meanwhile, one of the results from the ICO conference in regards to
Northern Cyprus was a firm proclamation in support of the entity, with
a stress on the necessity of lifting current isolationary blockades
on the northern side of the island.
It is also reported that Azerbaijan is not happy with the close
relations between Greek Cyprus and Armenia. Both states signed
aggrements including military and intelligence co-operation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MAILER EFFECTS LAST: LONG AFTER ELECTION GLENDALE COUNCILMAN WANTS PROBE
By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
June 25 2006
GLENDALE – If the City Council were a high school cafeteria, Councilman
Frank Quintero – at least for now – would be the quiet kid forced to
eat lunch by himself.
Weeks after a failed state Assembly run in which he caught flak for
an attack mailer some denounced as anti-Armenian, the mood around
him seemed tense at last week’s council meeting.
In contrast, the other four council members – three of them
Armenian-Americans – joked and jibed while approving budgets and
countering critics.
“It’s almost like he’s a whipped puppy dog, losing that election,”
said Barry Allen, head of a local watchdog group called Vanguard.
Quintero, who lost to Burbank school board member Paul Krekorian in
the 43rd Assembly District’s June 6 Democratic primary, has denied any
connection with the offending mailer distributed by the Oakland-based
California Latino Leadership Fund.
“I don’t have any ill feelings toward any council member,” he said
in an interview. “I had nothing to do with that flier. It was an
independent expenditure.”
The mailer sought to link his Armenian-American opponent to terrorism
by way of the Armenian National Committee of America, which endorsed
Krekorian. A former ANC leader no longer tied to the advocacy group
was sentenced in 2001 to 37 years in prison for stolen explosives
and weapons possession.
“Things like this shouldn’t be happening,” said Councilman Bob
Yousefian, who was among those offended by the mailer. “And this was
done by people who had been discriminated (against) in the first place.
“All bets are off against the candidate (when running for office).
But when you attack a whole group of people, I don’t think that’s
fair game.”
Quintero said he was ready to put the campaign behind him and return
to work. He also is pressing for a state investigation of the mailer,
a matter the City Council is slated to consider Tuesday.
“I’m back at the job I was elected to do,” he said. “I’m looking
forward to spending my time working (on) city issues. There are plenty
of things we need to work on.”
But members of the council’s Armenian-American majority may not be
as forgiving.
“(Quintero) has chosen to completely deny it and not take
responsibility for it,” Yousefian said. “He has to take some
responsibility for it.
“Time has a tendency to heal things. I hope that will take place. I
think Frank is going to have to take steps to basically wave the
olive branch.”
Councilman Ara Najarian – who is also pushing for an investigation
to help “clear up some of the air” – downplayed the flap.
“There may be some tense and uneasy moments,” he said. “(But) we’re
not going to vote against Frank just because he votes one way. We’re
not trying to isolate him or alienate him. He’s a full-fledged member,
and I for one expect him to participate fully.”
It’s in the best interest of politicians to make nice, said Sherry
Bebitch Jeffe, a political scientist at University of Southern
California’s School of Planning and Public Policy.
“To get anything done in politics takes a majority of the vote,” she
said. “You can’t hold a grudge.” But with three Armenian-Americans
on the council, “the defeated candidate has a harder job.”
City Manager Jim Starbird, who has more than 30 years’ experience
in municipal management, is optimistic that the council will remain
functional.
“Maintaining a professional relationship despite their differences is
always important in maintaining a council that will function well,”
he said. “I’m hopeful that we can separate the campaign issues that
arose from the Assembly race and the issues that confront the city.
“You don’t really expect all members of a council to think alike all
the time. What’s important is how they express these differences, and
working through the differences they have and coming to a conclusion.”
As for Quintero, who was elected in 2001 with help from the ANC,
he still has time to mend bridges with his former supporters.
“He still has two more years before the next election,” Allen said.

WOMAN HELPED CREATE PITT’S ARMENIAN ROOM
By Jerry Vondas
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA
June 25 2006
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
August 1988 had a special meaning for Alice Kabakjian Lewis, daughter
of Armenian immigrants who achieved the American dream – that of
raising their family in a society devoid of sectarian strife.
During that month, the Armenian Nationality Room was added to the
Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh, a project that
Mrs. Lewis; her husband, Alexander Lewis; and numerous members of
the Armenian community strived to complete.
Alice K. Lewis, 91, of Mt. Lebanon, died Thursday, June 22, 2006,
in St. Clair Hospital, Mt. Lebanon.
“Alice and her husband, from the very beginning of the Armenian Room
project, were faithful members and very generous donors to the room,
which is patterned after a 10th- to 12th-century Armenian monastery
library,” said E. Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms
Program.
“They followed it through until its dedication,” she added.
Dennis Lewis recalled his mother’s pride in helping to create the
Armenian Room.
“Although the Armenian community in Pittsburgh is rather small,
they represent a group of Christians who date back to the early days
of Christianity,” he added. “The room and its artifacts serve as a
memory of a cultured people.
“Although my brothers, Alex and Brady, and myself were raised in a
typical American household, we’re proud of our Armenian heritage,”
Dennis Lewis said.
Lewis also recalled the achievements of his maternal grandparents,
Dicran and Dicranouhi Kabakjian, who arrived in the United States in
1912. His grandfather became a professor of physics at the University
of Pennsylvania and raised his mother and her siblings in the Lansdowne
area of Delaware County.
In 1936, Alice Kabakjian received a degree in English from the
University of Pennsylvania.
Shortly afterward, she met Alexander Lewis, who at the time was
completing a master’s degree in chemistry at Penn.
“My parents were married in 1942,” Dennis Lewis said. “Dad entered the
Navy and for the next three years my parents were based in California,
where Dad was involved in analyzing the fuel supplies used by the
military.
“They arrived in Pittsburgh in 1946, when Dad went to work for
Gulf Oil. Dad had the opportunity to receive his doctorate from the
University of Pittsburgh and in later years was appointed president
of the Gulf Oil Foundation.”
Because of Alexander Lewis’ position with Gulf Oil, the family traveled
around the world, Dennis Lewis recalled.
“It was never dull,” he said. “My mother, who was fluent in French,
was a big asset for my father in his travels.
“She was an active member of Southminster Presbyterian Church (Mt.
Lebanon) and took the time to write a book about the Armenian genocide
in 1915.
“She interviewed her Aunt Grace and titled her book “Shnorhig,” which
means grace in Armenian,” he added. “Her aunt was one of 20 Armenian
female music students who attended Anatolia College in Merzifon,
Turkey, and, with the protection of the American consulate, were able
to escape the genocide.”
Mrs. Lewis is survived by her sons, Alexander III, of Lafayette,
Calif., Dennis, of Mt. Lebanon, and Brady Lewis, of Squirrel Hill;
six grandchildren; and sisters Louise Treichel and Lillian Bailey,
both of Philadelphia.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alexander Lewis Jr., and
her brothers, Raymond and Armen Kabakjian.
Friends will be welcomed from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. today at the
Laughlin Memorial Chapel, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Southminster Presbyterian Church.
Interment will be in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.

IRAN’S WESTERN BEHAVIOR DESERVES CRITICISM
by Rostam Pourzal
Monthly Review, VA
June 25 2006
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Iran must really adore
the American model of state conduct. Contrary to popular perceptions,
the decision-makers in Tehran agree with their nemesis, Akbar Ganji,
who recently told the Voice of America that the West was “the cradle
of civilization.” Two recent moves by Iran are especially noteworthy
in this regard.
First, the police in Tehran try to imitate the beating of women
in Turkey on the International Women’s Day of 2005. Turkey is the
closest ally of the US and Israel in all of Middle East and North
Africa, and its security apparatus is modeled after and integrated
with Washington’s war on terrorism. Now comes evidence that the
Iranian leadership is inspired by America’s disrespect for the United
Nations, too.
Following the precedent set by President Bush’s appointment of the
thuggish John Bolton as the US ambassador to the world body, Iran is
sending its notorious former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, who locked
up Ganji for six years, to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.
The Bush Administration must be feeling pretty flattered.
But appearances can be misleading. Photographic evidence indicates
that Istanbul police savagely attacked and beat up the peaceful rally
of women on March 8 of last year, rather than just try to disperse
them. In these photos, the Turkish protesters are running from the
police, with panic clearly visible on their faces. It is a sign of how
far behind “civilization” Iran is that the widely condemned images
of the police breakup of Tehran women’s protest earlier this month
show no such pandemonium.
Iran also lags behind Turkey in its treatment of Armenians, a
Christian minority native to the region. Thousands of Armenians march
freely through Tehran every year to commemorate the genocide their
co-religionists suffered in the Ottoman Empire ninety years ago. By
contrast, Turkey severely punishes any public hint that well over
one million Armenians were massacred by the Turks. Armenian citizens
of Turkey are reluctant to speak out on the genocide even when they
travel abroad for fear that they will be placed under surveillance for
“national security risk” when they return.
Iran has much catching up to do, especially as Turkey is not the only
US ally that is ahead of it in teaching women the price of protest.
Two months after the Istanbul beatings, a few hundred women were
savaged by state troopers in Bhopal, India, as they gathered to
protest the contamination of local ground water. You may recall
that some 7,000 Indians died in Bhopal within days after a massive
toxic leak from a local factory of the American chemical giant Union
Carbide. Ever since that fateful night in 1984, India has not dared
push the company hard to compensate the survivors, because it is
afraid bad publicity will discourage American investment in India.
The Bhopal women were attacked last May for demanding that the
government at least provide safe drinking water, because their well
water is still contaminated with the leaked Union Carbide toxins. By
contrast, I noticed on Iran’s sparsely populated Qeshm Island in
2000 that the islanders no longer drink their salty ground water
like generations before them, because boatloads of fresh water are
regularly sent there by the Iranian government for free.
Alas, at this rate, we will never catch up with America’s proxy
woman-beaters in India. According to Amnesty International, 15,000
Bhopal inhabitants have died of injuries inflicted by the Union Carbide
leak. That is five times the highest estimate of the Kurdish death
toll from Saddam Hussein’s bombardment of Halabja with chemicals that
he procured from the NATO allies of the US. 100,000 more in Bhopal
are still suffering from chronic, debilitating effects of the Union
Carbide poisoning, according to AI.
But we should not lose all hope; some “civilization,” as Akbar Ganji
calls it, will trickle down to Iran from the West. For example, Iran’s
controversial appointment of Saeed Mortazavi as a delegate to the UN
Human Rights Commission is a sign that Tehran is fully committed to
closing the gap. According to Human Rights Watch, Mr.
Mortezavi “has been implicated in torture, illegal detention, and
coercing false confessions by numerous former prisoners.” It is too
early to tell whether Mortazavi can compete with the US ambassador
to the UN, John Bolton, for viciousness. Bolton’s record, too, is
far from ordinary.
He received his early political inspiration in the 1964 campaign of
Barry Goldwater, the Arizona Senator remembered for his promise to
use nuclear weapons against North Vietnam if elected president.
Jesse Helms, one of the most racist Neanderthals ever to chair the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was another Bolton admirer. He
said fondly that Bolton was “the kind of man with whom I would want
to stand at the gates of Armageddon.”
Piety did not stop Helms or Bolton from defending the Chilean mass
murderer Augusto Pinochet or the Contra mercenaries who terrorized
Nicaragua. It was such outrageousness that drove Larry Birns, the
director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, to say of Bolton’s
nomination as UN ambassador: “[T]here is no one in U.S. public life
today more ill-suited for that position than Bolton. His nomination
reflects nothing less than an affront to the American people, the
diplomatic community and people of goodwill everywhere. . . .” 59
former US ambassadors painted a similar picture of Bolton in opposition
to his nomination.
Bolton’s fondness for Contra-style war crimes was quite evident
when he led the push in 2001 as Undersecretary of State to withdraw
Washington’s signature on the Rome Treaty, thereby putting the Bush
Administration at odds with the new International Criminal Court. He
told the Wall Street Journal that ending the American endorsement
of the ICC was “the happiest moment of my government service.” Had
the US not quit the ICC, American atrocities in Afghanistan, Iraq,
and elsewhere could, of course, be brought before the court today as
war crimes.
We could also discuss how Iran imitates American interference in Iraq,
executions by the dozen in Texas, torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghreib
prisons, Bush’s opposition to women’s right to abortion, and a host
of other “civilized” behavior. You get the idea. Now someone tell
Akbar Ganji and other heroes of the Iranian opposition movement.
Based in Washington DC, Rostam Pourzal writes regularly on the
politics of human rights. MRZine has also published Pourzal’s
“Market Fundamentalists Lose in Iran (For Now)” (3 August 2005);
“Open Letter to Iran’s Nobel Laureate” (27 February 2006); “Open
Letter to Iran’s Nobel Laureate: Part 2” (9 March 2006); “The Shah:
America’s Nuclear Poster Boy” (25 May 2006); “Iranian Cold Warriors
in Sheep’s Clothing” (20 May 2006); “MEK Tricks US Progressives,
Gains Legitimacy” (12 June 2006); and “What Really Happened in Tehran
on June 12? Did Human Rights Watch Get It Wrong?” (18 June 2006).

EXPERT: SPEAKING OF SETTLING THE NK CONFLICT IN A YEAR OR TWO IS TOO OPTIMISTIC
Regnum, Russia
June 25 2006
“Nagorno Karabakh is a conflicting party, and the people of the
republic is not only object but also a subject of international law.
And it is the people that has to decide its own fate,” researcher
at the Institute of World Economics and International Relations
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian political scientist,
turcologist Victor Nadein-Rayevskiy said at a news briefing at the
Caucasus Institute for Democracy.
He said that each country has to be granted certain guarantees.
“Resolving a conflict depends on the readiness of the conflicting
parties to compromise, on the capability to respect one’s partner and
understand their apprehensions in security issues.” However, so far
we do not have such guarantees, first of all, from the Azerbaijani
party. “Despite the Azerbaijani party’s promises of widest possible
autonomy to the Nagorno Karabakh, up to the level Tatarstan enjoys in
Russia, apprehensions of both Nagorno Karabakh government and people
are not dismissed.” Nadein-Rayevskiy also found it relevant to remind
the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the South Ossetian
conflict. “President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that people we also
have to consult with. It is the people who have to decide their fate –
that is the essence of democracy,” Nadein-Rayevskiy said.
He reckons that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is “very far from being
resolved.” “Arguing that, in a year or two, it will be possible to
make a progress in the settlement process, is too optimistic.”

ISRAEL NEEDS A PREEMPTIVE NUCLEAR STRIKE AGAINST IRAN
By Jonathan Ariel
Israel News Agency, Israel
June 25 2006
Evidence of Iran building nuclear weapons.
After Iran stated that it will “wipe Israel off the map” Israel must
now act to defend herself.
Jerusalem —– June 24…… One of the best ways to ensure the world
doesn’t get wobbly over Iran, is to make it understand that although
Israel prefers to regard the rogue Islamic regime as an international
problem, we will, if necessary, do whatever it takes to ensure our
survival, including a preemptive nuclear strike.
In 1936, when Hitler marched into the Rhineland the allies appeased
him, even though they could have been in Berlin in two weeks. In 1938
they once again let him off the hook, even though the allies could
have been in Berlin within two months. Shortly after the appeasement
of Munich, Russia signed a non-aggression treaty with Hitler, setting
the stage for what it hoped would be his defeat of the West, which
would pave the way for Russian domination of Eurasia, from Lisbon
to Vladivostok.
Now we have Iran, a country led by Ahmadinejad, an equally deranged
and evil maniac. He is driven by an ideology combining elements of
Nazism and Mahdism, with a tad of Maoism as well, a lethal cocktail
of three of the most evil ideologies of human political history.
By most current intelligence estimates, by 2008, exactly 70 years
after Chamberlain announced on his return from Munich he had achieved
“peace in our time”, the Iranian Islamo-Nazi regime will have succeeded
in developing an atomic bomb. Although it seems that the international
community has belatedly begun to awaken to the danger, it is still far
from certain that this will actually lead to concrete and concerted
steps to ensure this doesn’t happen.
Moreover, even if the West does get its act together, three is no
guarantee that Russia will not revert to course, enacting a repeat
performance of the Molotov-Ribbentrob pact. Putin seriously mulling
double crossing the West.
This week new and highly disturbing evidence came to light that this
is exactly what Russia is doing. According to a western intelligence
report published earlier this week, satellite images showed large
volumes of heavy Russian weaponry heading towards Iran. The weapons
belonged to Russian military units evacuating Georgia, as part of
the Russian-Georgian agreement signed in March, which calls for all
Russian troops to be withdrawn from Georgian soil.
The Russians were evacuating their two big Soviet-era military bases
in Georgia on the shores of the Black Sea – the 12th base in Batumi
and the 62nd at Akhalkalaki to the north, 19 miles from the Turkish
border. The mages revealed the retreating Russian units moving along
not one but two routes. The first showed small groups of Russian
officers and soldiers heading out of Georgia carrying only their
personal kits, the second was jammed with convoys of trucks loaded
with weapons and logistical systems, radar and ammo.
Freight trains were also pressed into service. This route wound out
of Georgia and headed into Armenia where the vehicles halted at the
Russian base near Gyumri. A Russian military spokesman explained this
relocation by stating that “the property of the 62nd (Akhalkalaki),
Georgia, would be reassigned to replenish Russia’s 102nd base in
Gyumri, Armenia.” He added: “The transfer of this property to any
other party is not envisioned.”
However Armenia was not the “the property’s” last stop. The close
watch on the Russian supplies convoys continued and, lo and behold,
a third route surfaced, this one heading out of the 102nd base in
Armenia and into Iran.
Western military sources have traced the route these weapons took.
>>From Gyumri, the trucks and trains rolled on to the Armenian capital
of Yerevan. There, they were offloaded onto Armenian and Iranian
trucks and trains, which turned south to the Iranian border. The
freight crossed the border and halted at the Iranian town of Sadarak.
Its next stop was the Iranian-Azeri town of Naxcivan and then on to
Tabriz. Subsequent shipments by truck and rail followed the same route,
They included APCs, heavy artillery, Grad rockets, BM-21mm missiles
and anti-aircraft systems.
So far this year, Iran has purchased over $7 billion for arms from
Russia, including anti-air, nuclear-capable Tor-M1 cruise missiles,
considered by experts the most advanced of its kind in the world.
Iran has purchased these missiles to secure the Bushehr atomic reactor
and other nuclear sites. These sources say that Teheran is using the
Georgian weapons deal as bait, to get Moscow to part with weapons
and technologies it has so far refrained from passing over to the
ayatollahs, specifically technology transfers enabling Iran to begin
domestic production of the sophisticated Russian X-5518 nuclear cruise
missiles, known also as Kh-55 or AS-15s.
Tehran already has a dozen of these missiles, which have a 3,000km
range and are capable of carrying a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead. They
were purchased on the black market of Ukraine in 2005. Teheran
has reportedly promised to significantly increase its purchase
of conventional weapons from Russia, if it agrees to the missile
technology transfer.
Despite the uncertainty as to whether Russia (and possibly China as
well) would cooperate with the West regarding Iran, the conventional
wisdom has remained unchanged, namely that Iran is an international
problem, being dealt with accordingly by the international community,
and that Israel should therefore take a back seat.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The world needs to understand
very clearly that Israel cannot and will not allow a Holocaust
-denying regime that openly calls for its destruction to wield a
nuclear bomb. Israel needs to make it very clear that the consequence
of it having to face a nuclear Iran by itself will be a preemptive
strike against Iran.
The more the international community gets the message that the
consequences of appeasement will be worse than those of action,
the better the chances of action. The growing evidence of Russian
perfidy makes it even more important that there be no room for
misunderstandings in this regard. The best way to get that message
across is to make it very clear that if Israel is faced between an
Iran nuclear bomb, or having to launch a preemptive nuclear strike
to prevent that eventuality, it will opt for the latter.
The world must be told loud and clear by Israel that the only way to
avoid the first nuclear strike by a nation since Nagasaki is to take
whatever actions are required to ensure Iran doesn’t get the bomb,
and to prevent an Iranian conventional weapons build up to the point
where a preemptive nuclear strike becomes the only option for dealing
with the rogue ayatollah regime.
Jonathan Ariel, was an advisor to the South African government and
is a former editor-in-chief of the Israel on-line Maariv International.
He has filled numerous positions with well known Israel and
international media organizations such as Maariv, Makor Rishon,
Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz, The International Herald Tribune, Israel
Radio, SABC and the Independent Foreign Service. These include
Managing-Editor of Makor Rishon and Editor-in-Chief of Maariv
International. He has been interviewed and quoted by leading media
organizations such as the LA Times, The Economist, The Guardian,
The New York Sun, Times of India, The Australian, Sunday Times and
the BBC. His articles have been translated into over a dozen major
languages, including German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Serbo-Croatian,
Spanish, French, Arabic, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. He has degrees
in Political Science and Journalism. He speaks English and Hebrew at
mother tongue level, French, Dutch (Afrikaans) fluently.
aelnuclearariel3890624.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY IN GEORGIA: INTEGRATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS ANALYSIS
Regnum, Russia
June 25 2006
“Armenians love Tbilisi but they don’t like Georgians. The city
and the people are two absolutely separate concepts,” concluded
Tamara Vardanyan at an academic conference organized by the Noravank
Foundation. Tamara Vardanyan has recently come back to Yerevan from
Georgia where she researched the conditions of ethnic Armenians and
their level of integration in the community life. REGNUM publishes
abstract from Tamara Vardanyan’s presentation.
She said that there are problems both at the level of integration
of Armenians in Georgian economic, social, and political life and
at the level of Armenian community itself. “In Georgia, Armenians
are stereotyped as being employed as barbers, taxi drivers, or
shoemakers,” she observed. Most of the Armenians residing there do
not want to leave the country; however, their motto is “integration,
not assimilation.” What about the attitude of Georgians to their
neighbors, the situation is complicated by their “historical memory”
on which it is inscribed that Armenians are aliens on the Georgian
land, and by the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that is impeding solving
the Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhaz conflicts.
As for the Georgian-Russian relations, “Armenians do not support the
anti-Russian policies of the Georgian authorities, as well as the
Georgian society itself.”
The Armenian community in Georgia is “very weak: it lacks internal
will and both economic and political elite,” Vardanyan said.
“Armenians are incapable of seeing the danger of being assimilated as
an ethnical minority on the Georgian territory.” This is the reason
why almost no ethnical Armenians are present in the Georgia’s public
sector. To be employed in the Georgian public sector, an Armenian
would need first to change his last name. As for the private sector,
people with their last names ending on -yan, are far lesser paid than
their Georgian colleagues.
Separate issues are education of the Armenian youth in Georgia and
preserving Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage.
On September 1, 2006 only two of eight previously working in Georgia
Armenian schools will be opened for children. Besides, it is not
even yet clear if they will remain Armenian in their curricula or be
reformed. The reason of the change alleged by the Georgian government
is that they decided to close all schools whose number of students
is below 700, based on some “voucher system.” And Tbilisi enjoyed
a total of eight schools with 700 Armenian students. Of the eight
schools only two were wholly Armenian; other schools included both
Armenian and Russian sectors.
Today, the Georgian government decided to introduce the system of
“bilingual education” where, starting in secondary school, exact and
natural sciences will be taught to Armenian students in Georgian.
Vardanyan said that research study conducted in this regard shows
that 15 percent of Armenian children are now studying in Georgian
schools. Their parents hope that this would help their kids be later
employed in the Georgian public sector.
Armenian applicants to Georgian higher education establishments will
also have to face new challenges. Armenian and Russian enrollees will
hold examinations designed previously only for children who graduated
from Georgian high schools, which decreases chances of minorities’
children to be enrolled.
As for preserving cultural and spiritual heritage of Armenians in
Georgia, many problems here arise from the absence of the law on
religion. There are two Armenian churches in Tbilisi, Surb Gevorg
and Echmiadzin. They, however, do not have any official status, for
they are not legally registered in any agency and their jurisdiction
is not defined. Vardanyan said that, although Georgian churches are
in a similar position, Georgians are more religious and go to church
more frequently than Armenians. “Georgians have an impression that
Armenians are not Christians at all, that they are adherents of some
satanic sects,” Vardanyan said.
Vardanyan said that almost all the burden of Armenian problems in
Georgia rests on non-governmental organizations. Most abundant are
Armenian NGOs (67), they are followed by Azerbaijani and Ossetian ones
(20), Russian (15), Jewish (10), Lithuanian (6), Yazidi (5), Chechen
(4), and one German organization.
Armenian NGOs, according to Vardanyan, do not cooperate closely. The
only event that could mold them together is a meeting before
the Turkish embassy to Tbilisi on April 24, the Day of Memory of
Victims of Armenian Genocide. “If in 2002-2003, Armenian NGOs were
mostly preoccupied with organizing cultural events like exhibitions
and musical concerts, today politics is becoming their priority,”
Vardanyan said. Most of Armenian non-governmental organizations are
financed by European international structures.
According to the information of Armenian embassy to Georgia, about
350, 000 Armenians reside in Georgia today; 100, 000 of them live
in Tbilisi.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

VIKTOR YAKUBYAN: GUAM AND GUM: GEORGIA, MOLDOVA AND UKRAINE SUSTAIN OTHERS’ LOSSES
Viktor Yakubyan – expert on South Caucasus
Regnum, Russia
June 24 2006
Any big political event or a chain of such events is interesting
from, at least, two points of view – informational and analytical. If
information is almost simultaneous to the process, analysis comes
much later – not only to reveal the motives of the actors but also
to compare their goals and achievements. In this article, I would
like to analyze the present situation in three CIS states: Moldavia,
Georgia, and Ukraine. No need to remind you about the well-known chain
of events in those countries, you have a detailed media coverage of
it. I would like just to show you the general logic of tendencies
that has led those countries to their present situation.
Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova are three CIS states that have been
in growing political confrontation with Russia for several years
already, with each of them systematically counterpoising its “own”
interests to those of Russia. Experts are unanimous that in this
particular case those “own” interests are tightly bound to the
interests of the Atlantic bloc. The confrontation of those countries
with Russia comes not so much from their wish to cooperate with the
West as from the emphatically mono-vector nature of their foreign
policies. Today almost all the CIS countries – and Russia as well –
are developing their cooperation with NATO, but none of them are trying
to counterpoise polar interests in the situations they objectively
exist in. For example, in its foreign policy Azerbaijan is trying to
avoid collision of the interests of Iran, Russia and the US in its
territory or over its agenda issues. That’s why I am going to analyze
the situation not in terms of the full GUAM format – together with
Azerbaijan – but with focus on GUM – Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
In fact, several years have passed since Georgia and Ukraine changed
their governments and the Moldavian president revised his attitude
to Russia in the face of a new presidential election. What have
those countries come to and what have they got from their strategic
Russia-West contraposition?
Georgia
Despite being generally accepted, the view that Ukraine is the leader
in the GUM “confrontational bloc” seems not so very well grounded.
Initially, it was Georgia who took up the role of key resister to
the Russian sway and key political and economic link in the GUAM chain.
Georgia will also be the key respondent if the project fails. Already
today that country is feeling the painful political and economic
consequences of the inflexible policy of its leaders.
At the first glance, the internal political situation in Georgia seems
quite stable and safe for Mikhail Saakashvili, Georgian president
who came into power through popular support. At the same time, the
post-revolution period has seen some remarkable events that forebode
not so much the crisis of government as the crisis of statehood
as such.
After declaring the restoration of the country’s territorial integrity
as his priority, Saakashvili suggested quite an interesting mechanism
of achieving this goal – confrontation with Russia. By declaring that
Georgia has no problems with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and all its
problems are related to Russia, the Georgian president, in fact,
attempted to involve the western community in Georgian-Russian
relations and to fully shade the position of the unrecognized
republics.
Such a policy was obviously able to aggravate Russian-Georgian
relations, at best, and to spoil Russia’s relations with the so-called
friends of Georgia, at worst. The worst case proved impracticable as
despite various contradictions, Russia tries to be in constructive
dialogue with almost all the international process participants
and to discuss with them problems that are much wider in scope than
Georgia’s interests. Saakashvili doggedly tried to escalate tensions
in the conflict zone and thereby to turn the attention of the world
community to his country’s problems, which, as I have already said,
he has initially ascribed to Russia’s influence.
He has succeeded in a sense, but the question is what to do next. It
turns out that very few people actually want to conflict with Russia…
GUM’s task was to pool efforts to create a ‘sanitary cordon’ against
Russia and, together with Azerbaijan, to consolidate to gain control
over the self-proclaimed republics. This maneuver was followed by
an adequate response – Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdniestria
also consolidated their efforts, which complicated their individual
problems and questioned the very expediency of Georgia’s policy. It
is becoming clear that Saakashvili will actually have to fight for
restoring his country’s territorial integrity, but, this time, at
two rather than one fronts.
Meanwhile, he has an invariable alternative – to agree with Russia.
In the meantime, Saakashvili’s rating precipitously fell following the
internal political events like the mysterious death of prime minister
Zhvania and the shift of several parliamentary forces and the foreign
minister into the opposition. Georgia’s policy on Ajaria, who, in
fact, lost its autonomy after the expulsion of Abashidze, made it
even harder for Tbilisi to find acceptable solutions to the conflicts.
In his attempt to keep the situation under control, Saakashvili formed
a rigid intra-party hierarchy, nominated radical figures into military
offices and as a result got a warning from US Deputy Secretary of
State Dan Fried that he is going back to authoritarianism.
The illogicality of Georgia’s consistent efforts to exacerbate its
relations with Russia – its key economic partner – ended in quite
logical consequences. Russia consistently enhanced its presence in
Georgia’s energy sector, with its surgery strikes on the country’s
key export items resulting in Tbilisi’s absurd announcement about
secession from the CIS. In fact, for Georgia the CIS membership is of
much bigger economic importance than for any other member-state. The
CIS countries are Georgia’s biggest foreign trade partners, with Russia
being traditionally on top with 16%. Until recently, 70-80% of Georgian
wines and mineral waters have been exported to Russia. Some sources
say that because of the wine embargo alone Georgia loses $18-25mln a
week. Besides, the winemaking infrastructure is tightly connected to a
whole cascade of raw material industries and services: vine-growing,
the production and import of mineral fertilizers, packing, railroad
operations. The natural result of these tendencies and of almost
redoubled fuel export price was the rise in consumer prices – 5.8%
since early 2006 and 10% against a year before.
Thus, the real results of the Georgian policy of the last years are
as follows:
1. Setback in the Abkhazian and South Ossetian peace processes;
Shattered foreign trade balance;
1. Slumping rating of the authorities;
1. Real prospect for becoming the biggest vinegar supplier.
Moldavia
I can definitely say that in this new prospective export item Georgia
may face a tough rivalry from Moldova, but, if seriously, the economic
situation in Moldavia does not have even this prospect.
Experts say that the Moldavian economy is on the verge of a large-scale
financial-banking crisis: currency reserves are steadily decreasing,
the negative foreign trade balance is spasmodically growing (43%). In
January-April 2006 alone Moldova’s foreign trade turnover dropped by
10%. After losing positions on the alcohol and fruit markets in Russia,
Moldova is steadily turning into a pure importer, with no progress
shown in trade with immediate neighbors – Romania and Ukraine. The
Moldavian export to the CIS has decreased by 15%, to the EU by 4%.
President Voronin continues hoping for financial injections from
the West, perfectly realizing that they will not save the country’s
traditional industries unless they regain sales markets. Moldavia’s
strategy of the agri-industrial complex development till 2015 plans
5-7% annual growth in agricultural produce. Meanwhile, in 2005
this index was just 1% and in 2006 it may go even lower because of
stagnating winemaking.
The Ukrainian-Moldavian anti-Transdnestr campaign for introducing new
customs rules has also ended in economic damage for Chisinau. The cargo
turnover via the Ukrainian-Moldavian border has dropped from 4.5mln
tons in January-April 2005 to 3.1mln tons in January-April 2006. In the
first quarter of 2006, the total volume of Ukrainian-Moldavian mutual
supplies dropped by $4.8mln or 3%. Experts say that the Moldavian
government’s promise to ensure 9-10% inflation in 2006 is unreal, they
say that, in fact, inflation will be no less than 13%. In January-May
2006, inflation grew by 7.2%. Last months, food prices grew by 1.6%,
non-food prices by 1.4%, service tariffs by 0.3%. Meanwhile, the
heaviest impacts of the rise in the Russian gas tariff are yet to come.
In the political agenda the “achievements” of Moldova are not much
different from those of Georgia.
Objectively unable to play more or less significant role in GUAM,
Moldova is just watching the game with a hope that it will get
dividends just because it is in the project. Obviously, Moldova is
not able to make any economic or political contribution to the bloc’s
maneuvers, but it will certainly have to reckon with the consequences
of the coordinated policy of “the union of the unrecognized” under
the “Kosovo precedent” aegis. The rigid contraposition of the EU and
Russian interests and the wish to force Russia out of the Transdnestr
peace process has made the positions of the sides even tougher and
that of Moscow – maximally tough.
Ukraine
Ukraine is facing the most complicated political situation of all.
Besides being the key potential importer of the Georgian and Moldavian
vinegar, that country claims to become the most consistent executor
of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages.
Speaking seriously, this long campaign seems to have knocked Ukraine
out of the general logic of the international political process. What
is beginning to happen in Ukraine proves that the country has lost
control over the situation. The best example is the last incident
with American marines and engineers in the Crimea. The Americans
seemingly failed to notice they were treated as occupants just because
the authorities were so busy with fighting for portfolios that they
simply forgot they had come. One might as well speak about chaos in
parliament and government.
Having come into power amid democratic slogans, “the orange trio”
has now gone as far as to charge each other with betraying “the
ideas of Maidan.” By strictly counterpoising the planned accession
into NATO with the military-technical cooperation with Russia, the
Ukrainian politicians risk to bring to nothing the Ukrainian-Russian
defense cooperation. Russia is already saying it is ready to stop
military-technical cooperation. No doubt this will damage not only
the economy but also the defense potential of Ukraine and no need
proving that it will take the country years if not decades to repair
this damage.
Meanwhile, each day of de facto anarchy in Ukraine is making
things even worse and is bringing to the surface the apparent and
latent problems of the Ukrainian statehood. One such problem is
the country’s language division – hardly something coincidental or
inspired from outside. This factor was objective reality, and the
Ukrainian authorities should have accepted it, but the fact is that
it was just another opportunity for some political forces to reinforce
their own positions.
The long political uncertainty has slowed down the economic growth
set off by Leonid Kuchma. Despite its strong industrial and agrarian
potential, Ukraine has almost the lowest economic growth in Europe.
EBRD forecasts that this year, Ukraine will be the worst in economic
growth among 27 Central and Eastern European countries – only 1.2%
against twice as much last year. In 2005, the GDP growth fell by 3.6
times, the industrial output growth by 4 times as against January-June
2004.
Ukraine’s Clearing House says that in January-June 2006, the fixed
capital investment growth rate dropped by 4 times, with the share of
the state budget falling by as much. As of August 1 2005, the positive
foreign trade balance had plummeted by almost 21 times (!).
Ukraine has fallen back to the level of 2000. In January-July 2006,
the state budget got only 51.6% of the annual plan. Financiers say that
the political stagger of the Ukrainian establishment may shatter the
stability of the national currency. One more prerequisite for such
an outcome is rising fuel prices, growing inflation and augmenting
negative trade balance.
It should be noted that Ukraine’s advantage over Georgia and Moldova
is that if restoring foreign political stability it can relatively
compensate its economic losses by budgetary capital investments and
big foreign credits. Still, it is exactly political instability that
continues to be the biggest potential danger not only for Ukraine but
also for the whole GUM. We know that it pains them in Georgia to see
what is going on in Ukraine. We can understand them: being the engine
of the project, the Georgian leaders perfectly realize that their key
argument against Russia is exactly Ukraine. The first and foremost
trump of Ukraine is its role of a transit corridor between Russia
and Europe. Russia has covered this trump by a preventive measure –
it has begun to lay the Northern-European pipeline. In fact, this
project is a response to the Ukrainian elite’s vector contraposition
attempt coming from the Polish and Baltic “priorities.”
The results of the “orange” revolution are as follows:
1. Economic stagnation, growing consumer, fuel, and transport prices;
1. Growing public tension fueled by continuing chaos in the government
and vague and sometimes mutually contradicting state priorities;
Growing contradictions in the Crimea, globalization of this local
problem;
1. Weakening power vertical, lack of control over regions as a result
of impulsive staff policy;
1. Weakening sovereignty and, as a result, interference of external
forces in the political fate of the country;
1. Loss of organic place in Europe’s geo-political construction –
Ukraine has turned from the key link between the CIS and Europe into
a conflict buffer between Russia and Europe and risks to lose the
confidence of both Russia and Europe;
1. Big business is losing because of unwise privatization, some
politicians are openly revengeful and thereby pose threat to the
national security.
In conclusion, I can say that the present tension in the anti-Russian
“arc” was expected by many – and, probably, even by the leaders
of those countries. When you are between two poles you can hardly
expect to avoid discharge. Still, the “sanitary cordon” project is
not over – it is at its climax. And much will depend on what comes
next in Ukraine. The “happy end” of the “portfolio passion” drama
has been followed by a new situation. It is clear that the backstage
confrontation will continue to deepen and each of the big political
leaders will try to prove that his voice is decisive. With her bitter
experience of short-lived premiership, the future premier Timoshenko
may well try to reinforce her positions by, probably, undermining
the positions of the president. Still, the key task of those actors
is not to allow the split of the country – for, as it turns out, the
western script writers made a major mistake when projecting Ukraine’s
place and role – they miscalculated that this country cannot perform
the role of a mono-layer buffer. Roughly speaking, if the western
part of the country becomes a buffer between Europe and Russia,
the eastern part will fence off Russia from Europe and its buffer.
Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova are three CIS countries who have
undertaken confrontational, if not hostile, policy towards Russia.
They are openly torpedoing integration initiatives in the post-Soviet
area, particularly, by tearing the CIS from inside by means of GUAM and
by belittling the potential significance of EurAsEC. This is obviously
bad, not only for Russia but also for the other CIS countries. For
example, Georgia’s secession from the CIS cannot but cause harm to
Armenia, though, unlike Georgia, Armenia has managed to somewhat
diversify its foreign policy and has given the EU an even bigger
share in its export-import operations than to Russia.
In its turn, Russia, whose motto is “we will hold dialogue only
with those who are ready for one,” has undertaken a number of
counter-measures. I can’t say that all of them are correct or
justified, on the contrary, many of them make things even worse.
Obviously, Russia is taking up a new attitude – “our losses are
becoming yours.”

ILHAM ALIYEV LOST TRUST IN PEACE TALKS AND MEDIATORS ON NAGORNO KARABAKH
Regnum, Russia
June 24 2006
“We have been loyal to negotiation process for more than 10 years,
which is the evidence of our constructiveness,” Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev said on June 23 in Baku.
Ilham Aliyev reminded that UNO has issued four resolutions on
Nagorno Karabakh, pointing out that Azerbaijani land should be
liberated without any conditions. Additionally, there are decisions
of other international organizations such as the Council of Europe,
Organization of the Islamic Conference, GUAM, etc. Nevertheless,
according to the head of state, Armenia does not fulfill them.
“We do not hope any longer for international regulation mechanisms.
We can not bear with this situation. We well never accept loosing of
land. We will never allow separating Nagorno Karabakh from Azerbaijan;
it is not subject for talks. We will only negotiate of the restoration
of Azerbaijani territorial integrity and guaranteeing security for
all peoples living in the region. No agreements are possible outside
these limits,” the president stressed.
“How long will we participate in the talks? How long will we wait?
Our patience is limited. Today, Azerbaijan is a quickly developing
country. Armenia is not able to compete with us from neither
economic, nor political, nor military point of view. Armenians
should imagine where will be Azerbaijan and where will be Armenia
in one, in three, and in five years. Armenia does not have any
resources for development. They are excluded from all international
regional projects. Their abilities for economic development are very
restricted. About half of their population left the country.
According to our information, they are experiencing difficulties
even guarding the border due to the lack of servicemen,” Ilham Aliyev
asserted.
According to Aliyev, Azerbaijan lives in the state of war; in which
case much attention should be paid to army development. “Our military
expenditures have increased four times for the last three years. They
totaled $135mln in 2003 and $700mln – in 2006. We are going to further
increase them,” Ilham Aliyev said.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress