Tehran: Iran-Armenia Gas Pipeline To Be Operational Dec. 2006

IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE TO BE OPERATIONAL DEC. 2006

Tehran Times, Iran
April 10 2006

Tehran Times Economic Desk
TEHRAN – The first phase of Iran-Armenia gas export pipeline is
expected to kick off in early December 2006, technical and foreign
relations director of Armenia Energy Ministry Leon Vartanian announced
on Sunday.

“The project is moving at desirable pace and it is going to come on
stream 30 days earlier than anticipated time,” the Persian service
of ISNA quoted Vartanian as saying, adding that the pipeline is 40
km long within the Armenian territory.

Elsewhere in the news, Iran’s oil minister, Seyyed Kazem
Vaziri-Hamaneh, stated that the country is exporting gas to
Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan Republic, on energy exchange basis and
several other gas export plans to the neighboring countries are
under consideration.

A natural gas sale to Armenia is Iran’s third largest long-term
contract in this sector after the export agreements to Turkey and
UAE. The deal is projected at the daily volume of nine million
cubic meters.

BAKU: Condoleezza Rice Had Phone Talks With Aliyev And Kocharian

CONDOLEEZZA RICE HAD PHONE TALKS WITH ALIYEV AND KOCHARIAN

Today, Azerbaijan
April 10 2006

The US Secretary of State met Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov.

The State Secretary phoned President Ilham Aliyev first and then
Armenian President Robert Kocharian before meeting with Mr.Mammadyarov,
APA reports.

Ms.Rice discussed settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with
the Presidents.

The talks with the Azerbaijani FM also focused on this problem. The
US State Secretary expressed hope that improvement would be achieved.

URL:

http://www.today.az/news/politics/24939.html

BAKU: Armenia Threatens To Drop Out Of Peace Talks

ARMENIA THREATENS TO DROP OUT OF PEACE TALKS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian made destructive statements
during the recent discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

Oskanian said the conflict settlement will be specified over the next
two months. He said if official Baku accepts the right of Garabagh
Armenians to self-determination, “Yerevan and Khankandi will be ready
to consider all the issues involved afterwards”. Otherwise, Armenia
will not participate in the talks concerning Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and the return of Azeri refugees home, Oskanian maintained.

“Granting Upper Garabagh’s Armenian residents the right to
self-administration should be taken as the main principle. If this
position of ours is not taken as a basis in the negotiating process,
Armenia will not be involved in addressing the problems of the persons
displaced by the conflict,” the Armenian minister alleged.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said the OSCE Minsk Group (MG)
mediation allows the conflicting sides to reach an accord. The
co-chairs are constantly working on proposals on the conflict
resolution that could help the parties to move the peace process
forward, he said.

“We do not disclose the details, as this is not in our authority,
but that of the parties to the conflict. But the Minsk Group has some
proposals that could be deemed as key for the conflict settlement,”
Lavrov said.

While in Moscow, Oskanian also met with the Russian co-chair of the
OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BAKU: Armenian Official Says Azerbaijan Open For Phone Calls

ARMENIAN OFFICIAL SAYS AZERBAIJAN OPEN FOR PHONE CALLS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
An Armenian official has said that phone calls are made from Armenia
to Azerbaijan.

“It is impossible to call from Azerbaijan to Armenia, but calling
the other way round is very easy. To connect, it is enough to dial
the 994 (area) code and the telephone number,” the head of Armenian
communications ministry’s foreign relations department, Gagik
Grigorian, said, commenting on the Azeri Minister of Communications
and Information Technologies Ali Abbasov’s statement made Thursday.

Abbasov said the government was aware of numerous facts concerning
phone communication between the two countries. He said the National
Security Ministry is monitoring the conversations. It is also working
to oversee the existing electronic communication between Azerbaijan
and Armenia, although it is extremely difficult to control, he said.

Grigorian said that indeed, hundreds of Azeris and Armenians
communicate via different Internet forums every day.

The two countries which are facing a long-standing conflict over Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh maintain no relations.

BAKU: Armenia ‘Ready’ To Host Azeri Soccer Match

ARMENIA ‘READY’ TO HOST AZERI SOCCER MATCH

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
The Armenian government has invited the Azerbaijani national football
team to Yerevan as part of the European Cup qualification leg, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has said in Moscow. He said his
country was ready to create all the necessary conditions for the game.

The minister added that Armenia had already appealed to FIFA, world
football’s governing body, stating that it was prepared to host a
match like that.

BAKU: Garabagh To Top Azeri-European Talks

GARABAGH TO TOP AZERI-EUROPEAN TALKS

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
The Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe (PACE) intends to discuss the Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict at a meeting with the chairman of the organization’s
subcommittee for the conflict, Lord Russell Johnston, the head of
the Azerbaijani delegation Samad Seyidov said Friday.

The sides are expected to explore ways of applying the PACE resolution
pertaining to the recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
to the process of negotiations.

With regard to the session proper, Seyidov said issues concerning
Azerbaijan would not be discussed during the spring session of PACE.

However, human rights, the situation in the army and the plight
of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs would remain in the focus of the
discussions. The repeat parliamentary elections in ten constituencies
due in May will be tabled at the session of the organization’s
monitoring committee on May 19.

BAKU: Azeri Minister Slams Armenia Over Environmental Pollution

AZERI MINISTER SLAMS ARMENIA OVER ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Baku, April 7, AssA-Irada
The Azeri Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyn Baghirov
said on Friday that Armenia’s actions hurting the environment
in the occupied Azeri land once again prove the true gist of its
hostile policy against Azerbaijan. This includes felling of trees
and pollution of water basins in borderline areas and rivers going
through the occupied territories.

The ongoing preparation of documents in several languages concerning
the issue will be completed soon. The data will be made public both
in and outside the country, the minister told a news conference Friday.

The trees are felled in the preserve located in the Zangilan district
as well as in other Armenia-occupied territories, for their further
exports to Italy, France, Greece and Iran. The timber is used for
various purposes, including furniture production and shipbuilding.

A prompt response center is operating under the Azeri ecology ministry
to track down the dire impact on the environment and natural resources
in the occupied areas. It has prepared two reports and a plan of
action in this respect. The center has plenty of materials at its
disposal proving Armenia’s destructive influence on these territories.

BAKU: Air France Opens Regular Flights To Armenia

AIR FRANCE OPENS REGULAR FLIGHTS TO ARMENIA

Today, Azerbaijan
posted on April 10 2006

Air France has begun regular flights between Paris and Yerevan.

According to Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency Airbus A-320 planes seating
159 business and economic class passengers will be used on the route.

Cities in Eastern and Central Europe are Air France’s priority
destinations, Air France Senior Vice President for Europe and North
Africa, Etienne Rachou said.

“Our company tries to keep abreast with the development of our
countries’ relations, contribute to higher economic and tourist
exchanges with Armenia, bearing in mind the large Armenian Diaspora
in France,” he said.

Air France hopes that passengers from Los-Angeles, U.S., where the
largest Armenian Diaspora resides, will guarantee high seat occupancy
rates. The company offers many connection flights across the Atlantic
Ocean.

“This is a strong political message on the eve of the Year of Armenia
in France festival,” French Ambassador to Armenia Henry Cuni said.

The launch of Air France flights to Yerevan “proves that Armenia is
of strategic interest to French investors,” he said.

URL:

http://www.today.az/news/business/24979.html

Turkey’s EU Membership Depends On The Kurds

TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP DEPENDS ON THE KURDS
by Harry Sterling, Citizen Special

Ottawa Citizen, Canada
April 10, 2006 Monday
Final Edition

‘The security forces will intervene against the pawns of terrorism,
no matter if they are children or women.”

With these chilling words Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
warned Kurdish families that women and children could be killed by
security forces if they continued to participate in anti-government
demonstrations in Turkey’s violence-wracked southeast region, homeland
to the nation’s large Kurdish minority.

Mr. Erdogan’s warning came following several days of clashes between
Kurds and riot police in various locations in the region. In the town
of Kiziltepe, thousands of Kurds took to the streets, hurling rocks
and Molotov cocktails at police. The local headquarters of Mr.
Erdogan’s Islamic-based Justice and Development Party, AK, were
set ablaze.

Three children died among eight killed during clashes with riot police
in the capital city of Diyarbakir. Three died elsewhere.

Mr. Erdogan claimed terrorists were deliberately using children to
gain sympathy. Kurdish representatives insisted the children were
innocent bystanders. The government praised security forces for their
“restraint” during the violence.

The anti-government riots erupted after recent funerals for 14 alleged
Kurdish insurgents from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, killed by
the Turkish military. A funeral rally in Diyarbakir, numbering 10,000,
erupted into a riot, with Kurds calling for “revenge.” Some mourners
waved flags of the banned PKK.

Local Kurdish leaders said the unrest was the worst in more than a
decade and denounced the government for its “policy of violence.”

They said the wide support for the demonstrations was symptomatic
of anger over the second-class treatment accorded Kurds, many
without jobs for years, others living in cramped temporary shelters,
thousands forced to flee their homes during fighting between the PKK
and military.

The European Union — which Turkey wants to join — has expressed
growing concern over the upsurge in violence. It has urged the
government to improve the cultural and linguistic rights of the
Kurdish community, a process that the Erdogan government had already
begun since coming to power three years ago.

However, some within the EU question the true commitment of Turkey
to continue reforms giving Kurds and other minorities greater human
rights. In their view, the dismantling of various restrictions on
minority rights has more to do with improving Turkey’s acceptability
to become a member of the EU than with any true desire to improve
the rights and conditions of Kurds — or other small minorities,
like the Armenians and Greeks.

Although the Erdogan government has now allowed the Kurdish language
to be used in the media, and in schools under certain circumstances,
critics say such apparent steps forward are essentially window dressing
to appease the EU. The violence of recent days will only reinforce
this viewpoint.

Unfortunately for Turkey, the issue of growing anti-foreigner,
anti-Muslim sentiment within European nations could further undercut
its EU prospects.

The populations of many countries, particularly France, Germany,
Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands, increasingly see Muslim Turkey’s
membership as threatening their countries’ traditional cultures
and values.

Former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing bluntly opposes Turkey
joining, saying its membership could destroy the future integration
of EU countries. Germany’s new chancellor, Angela Merkel, appears
ambivalent about membership, seemingly favouring instead a partnership
of some kind. Britain however, remains in favour.

Although Mr. Erdogan’s relatively moderate and pragmatic policies
had lessened concerns over his party’s pro-Islamic roots — improving
considerably his government’s image, especially vis a vis Greece —
some recent developments cause concern among European and other states.

His government’s hosting of a senior Hamas leader, Khaled Mashal,
and an invitation to the radical Iraqi Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr,
hasn’t been appreciated by the U.S. or Israel, not to mention Turkey’s
secular-minded military, which is determined to prevent Islamization
of its country.

The widely publicized death threats made by Muslims over the Danish
cartoons and threatened execution of an Afghan Muslim convert to
Christianity, along with the violence in Turkey’s Kurdish region,
have provided further fuel for those questioning the compatibility
of a Muslim nation such as Turkey joining the EU.

However, some see the turmoil in Turkey’s Kurdish region as simply one
aspect of a much broader situation involving the evolution of Turkish
institutions toward authentic democracy and the Turkish government’s
commitment to guarantee fundamental human rights for all its citizens.

Paradoxically, this transformation is taking place when growing
numbers of Turks are questioning the value of joining the EU,
convinced European nations are trying to impose their own western
values on Turkey as the price of admission to the EU’s exclusive club.

The challenge for Mr. Erdogan is to convince his own countrymen and
those of EU states that it is possible to be both a good Muslim and
a defender of democratic principles at the same time.

But the Kurds must be full partners in that transformation if it’s
to truly succeed.

Harry Sterling, a former diplomat, is an Ottawa-based commentator. He
served in Turkey.

Genocide Haunts Survivors: Testimonials Mark 12th Anniversary OfRwan

GENOCIDE HAUNTS SURVIVORS: TESTIMONIALS MARK 12TH ANNIVERSARY OF RWANDAN TRAGEDY
by Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star

Windsor Star (Ontario, Canada)
April 10, 2006 Monday
Final Edition

Her parents, grandparents, five siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins
were all murdered.

Later, when the extermination squads of the Rwandan genocide came
for her, Grace Mukasekuru — then 13 years old — survived by hiding
beneath the body of a murdered family friend and playing dead.

“I’ve seen so much that no one should ever have to see, at any age,”
said Mukasekuru, 25. “I’ve seen people get killed, I was lined up
waiting for my turn to get killed.”

Mukasekuru was an organizer on the weekend of a three-day memorial
commemorating the 12th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

For 100 days following the murder of ethnic Hutu president Juvenal
Habyarimana, extremist Hutu authorities organized the slaughter of
about 900,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Events this weekend included a gathering Saturday at the University
of Windsor, with testimonies from survivors of the Rwandan genocide,
the Jewish holocaust and atrocities in Armenia, Cambodia and Sudan.

Sunday, there was a prayer service at Assumption Church.

Organizer Hiram Gahima, 42, who lost his family to the genocide,
said holding remembrance ceremonies brings awareness, which can help
to end such atrocities.

“Genocide is a tragedy, it’s an evil we need to fight against and
never allow to happen again,” said Gahima, an engineer in Windsor.

“It happened all over the world. It’s still happening. We need to
stand up as a community, as one people, and fight this evil.”

The evil is etched in Mukasekuru’s brain. When she left Rwanda 11
years ago, bodies literally filled the streets.

“It was before they started burying people,” she said.

When the genocide began, her father and brother fled because the
Hutus were only killing the men. The restraint didn’t last long.

“They started killing everybody, the mothers, the kids,” said
Mukasekuru, who still has two siblings with her in Windsor. “That’s
when I lost my mom.”

It was a pitch black night when killers came to the house in which
she and others were hiding. The men said they would let their victims
live if they handed over their valuables. It was a lie.

“They started killing and killing,” Mukasekuru said.

“Everything became chaotic.”

In the chaos, she fell to the ground from a blow to the head. Lying
there, she watched the murder of a man who worked for her family.

“He fell on top of me, so I pretended to be dead,” Mukasekuru said.

“That’s how I survived — that’s how I survived that night. The rest
of the story is just a long story.”

She said it’s a tale that will never finish for her.

“The genocide ended 12 years ago,” she said. “But it doesn’t end
for me. Every day is a scar. Every day it is something I have to
deal with.”