WATCHDOG BUNGLES SPIRITS SUSPENSION
Rogan Macdonald / Bloomberg
The Moscow Times, Russia
Aug. 10, 2006
The Federal Consumer Protection Service mistakenly announced that
Pernod Ricard’s license had been suspended.
The Federal Consumer Protection Service’s Moscow branch had egg on
its face after it mistakenly announced that Pernod Ricard, the world’s
No. 2 wine and spirits company, had had its license suspended.
A statement saying that Pernod Ricard’s Russian subsidiary, P.R. Rus,
had its wholesale alcohol sales license suspended was posted on the
service’s web site Tuesday. It listed eight other alcohol market
players, saying that their licenses were also suspended by the
Federal Tax Service’s Moscow branch at the request of the consumer
protection service.
“It was a mistake,” a spokesman for the watchdog said. “It happens.”
Dated, incorrect information was given to the press service for
publication, he said, adding that everyone was under a lot of pressure
and that the department’s chief was on vacation.
The statement caused a stir — including front-page stories in the
country’s two largest business newspapers, Vedomosti and Kommersant —
before it disappeared from the service’s web site Wednesday.
The phones at the Moscow office of P.R. Rus were ringing off the
hook after the statement was released, said Olga Kasatkina, the
company’s spokeswoman, adding that P.R. Rus didn’t have any problems
with licenses.
“We are working as usual,” she said.
P.R. Rus distributes Jameson’s whiskey, Armenian cognacs produced by
Yerevan Cognac Enterprise and Pernod Ricard brands including Havana
Club rum.
Retailers and importers have been struggling for weeks with delays in
the introduction of new customs labels for imported wine and spirits
that have left store shelves empty of many popular liquor brands.

‘GODFATHER OF ALL ARMENIANS’ GUNNED DOWN
By Hovannes Shoghikian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Aug. 10, 2006
Law-enforcement authorities were hunting on Wednesday for unknown
gunmen that shot and killed a controversial businessman who referred
to himself as the “godfather of all Armenians” and reportedly had
underworld connections.
Aleksandr Givoev, 53, was gunned down on Tuesday at a roadside market
on a major highway where he reportedly stopped to buy fruit while
driving his family to the northern city of Gyumri. An innocent woman
who sold agricultural produce there was also killed by a stray bullet
fired from what police described as a stolen car used by the gunmen.
A spokesman for the Prosecutor-General’s Office said the car was
found completely burned about 10 kilometers from the scene shortly
after the shooting. She said law-enforcement officials immediately
launched a criminal investigation but have made no arrests yet.
A father of seven, Givoev was officially known in recent years as the
head of a non-governmental organization campaigning for the protection
of children’s rights. He claimed to have helped to baptize more than
8,000 children from socially vulnerable families since the group’s
creation in 2000.
Givoev, notorious for his flamboyant behavior and statements,
unsuccessfully ran for parliament in the May 2003 elections. A
campaign booklet released in the run-up to the vote carried pictures
of Givoev surrounded by children. Curiously, he was also pictured,
apparently in Paris, with Jean-Paul Belmondo, a famous French movie
star. The booklet claimed that “the people” have bestowed on Givoev,
an ethnic Assyrian, the title of Godfather of All Armenians.
Givoev spent much of the past three decades in Russia, developing
a controversial reputation there. In 2001, the Armenian newspaper
“Iravunk” reprinted a Russian press report that listed him among
Russia’s leading crime figures of Caucasian descent. The businessman
reacted furiously to the information, urging President Robert Kocharian
to close the paper.
Givoev was last spotted by journalists in early May as he tried
to board a plane at Yerevan airport that carried relatives of the
Armenian Airbus A-320, which crashed off the Russian Black Sea cost,
to the site of the disaster. He said one of the crash victims, also
a reputed crime figure, was a close friend of his.
In addition, Givoev, who also sponsored the Armenian women’s
weightlifting team, was seen wearing an army general’s uniform during
the April 24 commemoration in Yerevan of the 91st anniversary of
the 1915 Armenian genocide. Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman
Seyran Shahsuvarian insisted on Wednesday that he has never served
in Armenia’s military, police or any other security structure.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘WORLD OPINION’ IS WORTHLESS
By: Dennis Prager, Special To The Evening Bulletin
Evening Bulletin, PA
Aug. 9, 2006
If you are ever morally confused about a major world issue, here is
a rule that is almost never violated: Whenever you hear that “world
opinion” holds a view, assume it is morally wrong.
And here is a related rule if your religious or national or ethnic
group ever suffers horrific persecution: “World opinion” will never
do a thing for you. Never.
“World opinion” has little or nothing to say about the world’s greatest
evils and regularly condemns those who fight evil.
The history of “world opinion” regarding the greatest mass murders
and cruelties on the planet is one of relentless apathy.
Ask the 1.5 million Armenians massacred by the Ottoman Turks.
Or the 6 million Ukrainians slaughtered by Stalin.
Or the tens of millions of other Soviet citizens killed by Stalin’s
Soviet Union.
Or the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their helpers
throughout Europe.
Or the 60 million Chinese butchered by Mao.
Or the 2 million Cambodians murdered by Pol Pot.
Or the millions killed and enslaved in Sudan.
Or the Tutsis murdered in Rwanda’s genocide.
Or the millions starved to death and enslaved in North Korea.
Or the million Tibetans killed by the Chinese.
Or the million-plus Afghans put to death by Brezhnev’s Soviet Union.
Ask any of these poor souls, or the hundreds of millions of others
slaughtered, tortured, raped and enslaved in the last 100 years, if
“world opinion” did anything for them.
On the other hand, we learn that “world opinion” is quite exercised
over Israel’s unintentional killing of a few hundred Lebanese civilians
behind whom hides Hezbollah – a terror group that intentionally
sends missiles at Israeli cities and whose announced goals are the
annihilation of Israel and the Islamicization of Lebanon. And, of
course, “world opinion” was just livid at American abuses of some
Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
In fact, “world opinion” is constantly upset with America and Israel,
two of the most decent countries on earth, yet silent about the
world’s cruelest countries.
Why is this?
Here are four reasons: First, television news.
It is difficult to overstate the damage done to the world by television
news. Even when not driven by political bias – an exceedingly rare
occurrence globally – television news presents a thoroughly distorted
picture of the world. Because it is almost entirely dependent upon
pictures, TV news is only capable of showing human suffering in, or
caused by, free countries. So even if the BBC or CNN were interested in
showing the suffering of millions of Sudanese blacks or North Koreans
– and they are not interested in so doing – they cannot do it because
reporters cannot visit Sudan or North Korea and video freely. Likewise,
China’s decimation and annexation of Tibet, one of the world’s oldest
ongoing civilizations, never made it to television.
Second, “world opinion” is shaped by the same lack of courage that
shapes most individual human beings’ behavior. This is another aspect
of the problem of the distorted way news is presented. It takes courage
to report the evil of evil regimes; it takes no courage to report on
the flaws of decent societies. Reporters who went into Afghanistan
without the Soviet Union’s permission were killed.
Reporters would risk their lives to get critical stories out of Tibet,
North Korea and other areas where vicious regimes rule. But to report
on America’s bad deeds in Iraq (not to mention at home) or Israel’s
is relatively effortless, and you surely won’t get killed.
Indeed, you may well win a Pulitzer Prize.
Third, “world opinion” bends toward power. To cite the Israel example,
“world opinion” far more fears alienating the largest producers of
oil and 1 billion Muslims than it fears alienating tiny Israel and the
world’s 13 million Jews. And not only because of oil and numbers. When
you offend Muslims, you risk getting a fatwa, having your editorial
offices burned down or receiving death threats.
Jews don’t burn down their critics’ offices, issue fatwas or send
death threats, let alone act on such threats.
Fourth, those who don’t fight evil condemn those who do. “World
opinion” doesn’t confront real evils, but it has a particular animus
toward those who do – most notably today America and Israel.
The moment one recognizes “world opinion” for what it is — a statement
of moral cowardice, one is longer enthralled by the term.
That “world opinion” at this moment allegedly loathes America and
Israel is a badge of honor to be worn proudly by those countries. It
is when “world opinion” and its news media start liking you that you
should wonder if you’ve lost your way.
Dennis Prager hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show based
in Los Angeles. He is the author of four books, most recently
“Happiness is a Serious Problem” (HarperCollins). His Web site is

AZERI EMBASSY TO BE OPENED IN SWEDEN BY END OF THIS YEAR
Author: A.Mammadova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006
The Azerbaijani embassy will be opened in Sweden by the end of this
year. This question was discussed by Azerbaijani foreign minister
Elmar Mammadyarov during his official visit to Stockholm and meeting
with his Swedish colleague Yan Eliasson,Trend reports quoting the
press-center of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
The Swedish minister was submitted the order of Azerbaijani president
on establishment of an embassy in this country. The sides exchanged
views on the role of the international organizations in the settlement
of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Eliasson, who played a role of no small
importance in achieving the cease-fire regime between
Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994, mentioned the significance of the
peaceful solution of the conflict. Besides, he voiced his concerns
over the fires in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and said that
this issue will be on the focus of attention.
The ministers discussed the development of the economic cooperation,
especially involvement of Swedish businessmen and investments into
Azerbaijan, conducting of joint business-forum with the participation
of Azerbaijani head. Besides, discuss
Ions were held on the establishment of joint intergovernmental
economic commission.
Mammadyarov held several meetings with Swedish senior officials and
the representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora during his official visit
to Stockholm. The visit was completed on August 9.

ARAM SARKISYAN: ANY DOCUMENT SIGNED BY KOCHARYAN ON NK CONFLICT SETTLEMENT WILL BE ILLEGITIMATE
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006
“If security strip around Nagorno Garabagh is given to Azerbaijan,
we will get the people to rebel,” said Armenian Democratic Party
leader & former aide to President Aram Sarkisyan.
As he said, any document on the settlement of Nagorno Garabagh conflict
signed by Kocharyan will be illegitimate.
“‘Kocharyan does not represent Nagorno Garabagh. Besides, Armenia
has not recognized Nagorno Garabagh as an independent state. Finally,
if Armenia takes this step, Nagorno Garabagh will have to reconsider
its position,” he underlined.

AGHAYEV: AZERBAIJAN MUST ACQUIRE BIG FRIENDS AND DO AWAY WITH SMALL ENEMIES
Author: J. Shakhverdiyev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006
Azerbaijan cannot jeopardize its independence because of not so closer
states that also do not defense the Azerbaijani people`s interests,
the leader of the Party of national Movement of Azerbaijan Nasir
Aghayev told Trend commenting the Israeli-Lebanese conflict.
He underlined that some countries` geostrategical interests are
behind this conflict. “No doubt, shedding Lebanon thousand sitizens`
blood, Israel does not avenge its two captured soldiers. The logic
is in other thing. The happening developments show that the UN double
standards towards the world events trigger little countries` involving
in conflicts. Here they pursue their own ends”, he told.
He expressed his regret that some forces in Azerbaijan supports
Lebanon on the religious principle. “We should not forget that in
hostilities for Karabakh many Lebanese citizens Armenians got to take
part in the conflict shed the blood of thousands of Azerbaijanis.
That is why we can not express our attitude on the religious or other
principles. We could approach to these or those events from the point
of justice,” he underlined.
N. Aghayev also pointed out that the silence of the European Union, the
Council of Europe, the Parliament of Europe on the Israeli-Lebanese
conflict developments let us know about skeptical aspects.” The
Parliament of Europe which is considered to be the cradle of democracy
on June 27 1987 proposed to mark the anniversary of the so-called
Armenian Genocide in Armenia,” he told.
According to him, both Hesbollah and Asalah signed an agreement to act
jointly. “When the Azerbaijan Democratic Republicwas fallen in 1920,
we hoped that the Turkish Republic would be kept. That is why we
sacrificed our independence. Now Azerbaijan cannot jeopardize t its
independence because of not so closer countries that do not support
our interests either. Azerbaijan must acquire big friends and do away
with small enemies”, he underlined.
Political experts note that the leader of Asalah hold systematical
consultations with the Armenian leadership. The members of
this organization also represented in the force bodies of the
self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Many Armenians from
Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, and France are got to take
part in Asalah trainings in Beirut. During the Karabakh war Asalah
and Dashnaktsutun announced mobilization of Armenian young people
from all around the world to take part in the hostilities. If the
hostilities are resumed, the most of Asalah members will be directed
to Karabakh. Near the airport located in the Gorge of Beka Asalah
organizes field trainings. Armenians also grow there drugs and send
them to Europe. Despite the fact that bearing of arm was prohibited
in Lebanon, Lebanese Armenians organize small firms and get Asalah
members as security guards to freely bear arms.

INTERVIEW: SCOTT TAYLOR ON THE RISE OF AZERBAIJAN
Balkanalysis.com, AZ
Aug. 9, 2006
In another exclusive interview with Balkanalysis.com director
Christopher Deliso, Canadian journalist and publisher Scott Taylor
shares his insights on the current situation in the strategic Caucasus
republic of Azerbaijan, from where he recently reported.
Christopher Deliso: We understand that you have just returned from
your first trip to Azerbaijan. So, how is it that you went there? How
long did you stay?
Scott Taylor: The trip came about as the result of an invitation from
the Azeri embassy in Ottawa. They were aware of my extensive coverage
of the Middle East -Iraq in particular, and they felt I might wish
to broaden my scope a little. By happenstance I had some previous
business arrangements lined up in Turkey at that juncture, so I was
‘in the neighborhood’ anyway so to speak. I was able to spend a week
in Azerbaijan, met a lot of senior officials and generals and managed
to get outside of Baku on one field trip into the south.
CD: Did you have some older, pre-existing idea about visiting the
Caucasus? Or was this something out of the blue? How do you see
Azerbaijan as fitting into the general network of places which you
more regularly cover?
ST: To be honest, before going I had no real in-depth appreciation
for the complex strategic, economic and political issues that envelop
this former Soviet Republic. However, the Azeris are actually a
Turkic people, and therefore historically connected to my old friends
-the Turkmen of Iraq. So in reality, this was a natural extension
of my journalistic ‘trap-line’ as opposed to a leap into a totally
unrelated theatre.
CD: For readers to get some background on your trip, we add the link
to your long article that appeared last week in the Canadian press,
but we would still like to get any extra stories you may have left
out of this piece here. Azerbaijan today is, like some of the Balkan
countries you have covered in the past, not a war zone but a site
of a frozen conflict. You spoke with refugees and regular people-
so to what degree did you get the sense that the conflict is still
close to the surface?
ST: Our field trip included visits to the refugee camps, and we were
able to see firsthand a tiny fraction of the nearly 800,000 Azeris who
were displaced during the Armenian offensives into Nagorno-Karabakh
from 1992-1994. As long as there is no effort made to permanently
resettle these people, they are being used as political pawns to
keep international pressure on the Armenians to withdraw from the
occupied territories.
However, as it has been over a dozen years and no one has made any
real attempt to enforce the UN Resolutions (which call upon Armenia
to pull out their troops), the Azeris have upped the ante.
Azerbaijan’s army has sat in trenches surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh
all this time, but now, as the oil boom kicks in and the economy
starts to explode, the Azeris are starting to pump money into military
hardware. I’m not sure how close the army is to mounting an offensive,
but given the huge disparity in relative economies and population,
this military buildup is bound to alarm the Armenians. As of next
year, the Azeris will be spending as much simply on defense as the
entire Armenian national budget!
CD: In your article, you spoke about the latest peace proposals from
the Minsk Group about Nagorno-Karabakh. There have been many peace
proposals over the years, so many that one gets the sense that few
believe in even the possibility of a breakthrough plan anymore. What
about this time? Did you sense any popularity or expectations among
the people?
ST: After 12 years of ceasefire and zero progress towards a settlement,
the expectation of a negotiated agreement is about zilch.
The Nagorno-Karabakh issue was a tremendous blow to Azeri nationalist
pride, and now that their country is expanding their economy so
quickly, the young people want to see some results militarily. It
is a dangerous combination when you fuel injured pride with huge oil
profits being used to bolster a one-sided regional arms race.
CD: How important is an initial Armenian troop pullout for the Azeri
side, as a show of good faith in advance of any final solution?
ST: I think the very first step to any resolution is the pullout
of Armenian troops from at least the seven occupied Azeri provinces
which surround the Nagorno-Karabakh region. After Armenian troops had
secured the disputed territory in 1992 and expelled the 40,000 ethnic
Azeris, they continued to clear a large buffer zone. In the process
of establishing this occupied defensive perimeter, approximately
800,000 Azeris were ethnically cleansed out of areas in which they
constituted the overwhelming majority. So even if a final resolution
on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh remains elusive, the Azeris want
those seven occupied provinces returned immediately.
CD: From the people you spoke with in, specifically, the government,
what was their sense that a real breakthrough on the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue might be in the offing? What would it take?
ST: I think that a military option is something which the Azeri
government is trying desperately to add to the bargaining equation.
Their military commanders warn of losing their patience and top
politicians brag about their huge new defence budget. Foreign diplomats
based in Baku are not alarmed at this stage as they see the Azeri
arms buildup as mostly bluff. “When they start buying helicopter
gunships we’ll know they [the Azeris] are getting serious” is what
one US spokesman explained to me.
However, now that the government has signed that huge ‘Deal of
the Century’ oil contract with British Petroleum, and opened the
strategically important Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, I think the
political worm is turning in favour of the Azeris. It may be the
hollow threat of renewed military action which causes Azerbaijan’s
new found strategic ‘friends’ to exert the necessary pressure on
Armenia to begin a withdrawal.
CD: You mention the cult of personality of the former leader,
Haydar Aliyev. Is this something that could be compared with, say,
Tito in Yugoslavia? To what extent do you think that it is something
spontaneously sustained, from the hearts of the people, or to what
extent do you see it as a ploy of Aliyev’s son (the current ruler)
to retain power? Or is it none of the above?
ST: I think it is more in the Azeris’ desire to create a Kemal Ataturk
figure as a national symbol, who would stand above day-to-day politics
and corruption. Once such individuals are immortalized in such a
mythical manner, their legend only continues to grow. For Ilham
Aliyev it is both a blessing and a curse, as he will always rule in
his father’s ‘larger-than-life’ shadow.
CD: There is also a tight bond between the Azeris and their “big
brothers” in Turkey. To what extent did you notice this? Turkey
has not opened the border with Armenia because of the unresolved
Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Would Turkey come to the direct military
assistance of Baku in case of new fighting?
ST: During the heavy fighting in 1992-1994 there were Turkish
advisors on the ground assisting the Azeris. In the early stages of
that fighting, Azerbaijan got thumped pretty good by a Russian-backed
Armenian defence force. However, by 1994 the regrouped Azeris (with
Turkish help) had begun to turn the tide.
Azerbaijan’s army is rapidly trying to bring itself up to NATO
standard, and the Turks have been instrumental in overseeing this
transition. I think the only time that Turkey would intervene directly
against Armenia would be if the isolated Azeri province of Netchevan
was threatened. This tiny region is administered by Baku, is populated
entirely by ethnic Azeris, borders on Turkey but sits surrounded
by Armenian-controlled territory. In 1992-1994, the Turks made it
clear to Armenia that this was a no-go zone- or else ‘big brother’
Turkey would jump into the fray with both feet.
CD: One of the things that comes across in your article is
the whole ‘Star Wars’ nature of the lifestyle for expatriate oil
workers/mercenaries/etc. Share with us some colorful stories about the
characters you encountered. Who are these people? I imagine that most
of those men must have had some form of previous military training?
ST: Chris, I don’t scare easily, but some of these characters were
downright frightening. Most of the oil workers are former British
soldiers…. mostly special forces or paras, and invariably they
had seen real combat in either the Falklands, Northern Ireland or in
either of the last two rounds of the Gulf Wars.
There were also a number of serving SAS types frequenting the Baku
bars, and one quickly knows enough not to ask them why they’re in
town. Although I suppose that some of them are also keenly interested
in keeping an eye on Azerbaijan’s southern neighbor, Iran.
Such individuals naturally attract the attentions of certain classes
of women anxious to, er, milk their own share of the oil boom. In
some of the ex-pat bars you could find a bizarre collection of these
‘ladies’ from all over the former Soviet Republics of Central Asia.
Alcohol is a huge part of the oil workers’ routine, and between that
and the hard living they’ve endured, these guys age fast. Some of
them in their mid-forties looked at least 70….but still frightening,
mind you.
CD: Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Kosovo
independence for the Albanians would mean universal principles for
self-determination across the board- including in places like the
Caucasus. Did you get any sense of Russian involvement or potential
involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue on behalf of Armenia,
if Kosovo becomes independent and they are able to push the precedent?
ST: The Russians are not too pleased with Azerbaijan for selling
off shared Caspian Sea oil rights to BP, and for opening the BTC
pipeline. This now constitutes a conduit whereby the Central Asian
petroleum resources do not have to transit to Europe via Russia.
Consequently, Russia’s support for Armenia is not entirely selfless.
Furthermore, as the US-allied Georgians continue to push local Russian
military bases out, Armenia offers a solution to Moscow for maintaining
a military footprint on this strategic fault-line.
CD: That said, in a world where sudden new challenges in the Middle
East are now manifesting, has the danger of future conflict in
Azerbaijan (or around it) now been heightened or lessened? Is it a
case of the country wanting to be on its best behavior to keep the
West happy, or is it perhaps an ‘anything goes’ situation, now that
everyone is so preoccupied with Iran and Lebanon?
ST: The Iran issue is the most pressing one, in that approximately 17
million ethnic Azeris live inside the Iranian border. The territory of
Azerbaijan was originally divided by Tsarist Russia and Persia back
in 1828. The 8.5 million Azeris residing in the independent former
Soviet Republic are just the tip of a big iceberg. I have been told
that the CIA is hoping to use Azerbaijan’s newfound prosperity and
freedoms to incite Azeri nationalism south of their border.
Constituting one-third of Iran’s population, any separatist movement
on the part of the Azeris would deeply destabilize the Tehran regime.
Not that America ever plays such games, of course…
CD: Finally, considering that you were visiting Azerbaijan as part
of a press junket, do you feel that you were presented with the real
situation completely? Are there aspects of the Armenian issue that
may have been overlooked, or that you might like to put caveats around
until you can see the situation from their point of view?
ST: It is never possible to see a ‘complete’ picture from only one
vantage point. Unlike many of our media colleagues who thump their
chests and claim to ‘know’ an issue, I always present my findings as
what they are…..one piece of the puzzle. I look forward to getting
more acquainted with the Armenian side of the conflict, and I can’t
wait to actually visit the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh to
see things for myself in the near future.
terview-scott-taylor-on-the-rise-of-azerbaijan/

NO APPEALS FROM NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO ERMITAJ
Author: A. Ismayilova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006
No appeals from Nagorno-Karabakh concerning the displays put in the
Russian State Museum of Ermitaj have not been received, the Chief of
the Press Centre of Ermitaj Larisa Karabelnikova told Trend.
According to her, the museum which has collected more than 3 million of
exhibits does not have any separate exhibitions devoted to Azerbaijan,
particularly to Nagorno-Karabakh.
“These are ancient exhibits, and they belong to the Department
of East. The period they belong to there were neither exhibits of
Nagorno-Karabakh nor other countries “, she stressed. She also pointed
out that if Armenians decide to dispute these exhibits, then experts`
and arts critics` involving to this process will be needed.
It should be noted that according to the Informational Agency of
REGNUM, the Director of the so-called Artsakh Historic Museum of
Local Lore Melanya Balayan told that in the Depertment of Azerbaijan
of X-VII Centuries BC of Ermitaj, a golden seal found on the territory
of the Village of Arachadzor of Mardakert District of Nagorno-Karabakh
was put. Nagorno-Karabak was marked as the place where this seal was
found, and in this connection the Armenian party corresponds with
the Ermitaj Board.
In his turn, the Director of the Department of Policy and Culture
of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan Republic Fikret
Babayev told Trend that such an appeals are not of significance. F.
Babayev thinks that everybody including a natural person has a right
to apply to Ermitaj. On F. Babayev`s opinion, such an appeals cannot
be the cause of disputing of ancient exhibits.

RAFAEL HAMBARSUMYAN: RUSSIA IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Aug. 9, 2006
Turkey and Russia are equally responsible for 1915-1923 Armenian
genocide,” said Armenian historian Rafael Hambarsumyan, APA reports.
He said Russia always used Armenians in its invasion policy, made
them victims of its interests.
“During the World War I, Russia helped Turkey to pursue a genocide
policy against Armenia mobilizing 200 Armenians to the front against
Germany. According to the 1921 agreement between Turkey and Russia,
eastern parts of Armenia was invaded and shared between Turkey,
Georgia and Azerbaijan. The agreement aimed to wipe out Armenia
completely. Finally, there is hardly any writer from east Armenia who
Russia has not ever exerted physical pressure on,” he concluded.

EMBATTLED JOURNALIST SAYS LOCKED OUT OF YEREVAN HOME
By Anna Saghabalian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Aug. 10, 2006
An independent journalist facing the possibility of imprisonment said
Wednesday that his rented apartment in Yerevan has been sealed off
by police as part of a controversial criminal investigation stemming
from his dispute with an influential local government chief.
Gagik Shamshian, a freelance correspondent and photographer, claimed
to have been locked out of his home in the city’s southern Nubarashen
suburb since it was searched by police officers last Friday. “They
broke the door, went in and found that the furniture is not damaged,”
he told RFE/RL. “They took away my passport, tape recorder with
cassettes, computer diskettes and back issues of the newspapers
‘Chorrord Ishkhanutyun,’ ‘Aravot’ and ‘168 Zham.'”
“I am scared of returning to my apartment and engaging in my
professional activities,” he said.
A top police general, Hovannes Hunanian, confirmed on Monday that that
the Nubarashen police opened a criminal case against the journalist
on the basis of “complaints” filed by local residents. He said they
accuse Shamshian of defrauding and insulting them.
Shamshian rejects the accusations, saying that the case was brought
in retaliation for his refusal to retract incriminating testimony
against the brother of Nubarashen Mayor Mher Hovannisian who was
charged with assaulting the journalist last month. Ruben Hovannisian
spent several days in police custody before being released a week ago.
Hovannisian’s lawyer, Robert Grigorian, denied his client’s involvement
in the July 12 attack on Shamshian by a large group of men allegedly
linked to the head of the local government. “My client did not organize
the assault,” said Grigorian. “There is no evidence to support these
allegations.”
A spokesman for the Armenian Police Service confirmed that Shamshian’s
apartment was search but could not elaborate on accusations that may
be formally leveled against him.
According to Shamshian, the most important of those accusations is
that he damaged the furniture owned by his landlord. He said he has
spent the past few nights in a friend’s apartment and does not know
when he will be able to return home.