ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMS’ MEETING HELD IN STRASBOURG
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
May 19 2006
May 18 RA and AR FMs Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov met in
Strasbourg. During the meeting the parties considered the ways of
the Karabakh conflict settlement.
According to the information DE FACTO received at the RA MFA press
service, the OSCE Minsk group Co-Chairs Steven Mann (the U.S.), Bernard
Fassier (France) and Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia) had also participated
in the meeting. After the negotiations Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar
Mammadyarov proceeded with the talks in a separate format.
The meeting’s goal is to prepare a visit of the Deputy FMs of the U.S.,
France and Russia, the countries that co-chair the OSCE Minsk group,
to the conflict region late May. In the course of the meeting the
principles and approaches to the Karabakh conflict settlement were
discussed. The Armenian party gives positive estimate to the meeting,
though there still remain unsettled issues.

SOUTH AFRICA PLAN TO SELL ARMS TO LIBYA
Nic Dawes
Mail & Guardian Online, South Africa
May 19 2006
Denel CEO Shaun Liebenberg hopes to provide Libya and Turkey with
Rooivalk helicopters
Planned weapons sales to previously taboo customers, such as Libya and
Turkey, are part of the package of measures adopted by the troubled
parastatal defence conglomerate Denel to turn around persistent losses
and declining sales.
Briefing Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises on the
status of his turnaround plans for the company, CEO Shaun Liebenberg
said new markets were opening up as the company won improved political
backing for its marketing efforts and sought more flexibility from the
National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), which regulates
arms exports, ostensibly limiting sales to repressive regimes and
conflict zones.
The company will record a loss of about R1billion for the 2005
financial year, he said. “There are markets where I can go right now
and get R1billion worth of business, but those markets are closed
to us for very good reasons,” he said. Other markets, however, were
closed for what he described as “legacy” reasons. Libya, which is
enjoying dramatically improved diplomatic relations with the West
as its dictator Moammar Gadaffi opens it borders and oil fields to
foreign investment, is one potential customer.
A more immediate prospect, however, is Turkey, where Denel hopes to
conclude the first major sale of its hi-tech attack helicopter, the
Rooivalk, despite persistent concerns from human rights organisations
over the use of helicopters by Turkish forces in suppressing internal
dissent. This deal, worth between R12billion and R15billion, would
rescue the Rooi-valk programme from commercial oblivion. Despite
its impressive capabilities, the helicopter has been unable to find
international customers in competition with European and United
States alternatives.
“Technically, we are looking very good,” Liebenberg told the committee,
but he warned that Turkey might feel constrained to buy from a European
country, given the support it needs in its quest for European Union
accession. The deal is already being used to apply political leverage
in the increasingly bitter stand-off between Turkey and France.
Denel is competing against the Franco-German firm Eurocopter, which
manufactures the Tiger, Italian firm Augusta with its a-129 Mangusta
and Russia’s MI-28 havoc. It narrowly lost out to Eurocopter in a
bid to sell the Rooivalk to Australia, but has been in talks with
the firm over a strategic equity partnership for aspects of its
helicopter business.
According to French and Turkish media reports, Eurocopter has sent a
strongly worded letter to French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin,
protesting at proposed legis-lation that would make it a crime to
deny the “genocide” of Armenians at the hands of Turkish troops during
World War I.
The Bill exacerbated tensions between the two countries, which are
already at odds over French opposition to Turkish entry into the EU.
Some Turkish newspapers have said that the contract will most likely
go to Denel if the French Parliament passes the Bill, which was due
to be debated as the Mail & Guardian went to press.
Liebenberg said Turkey had traditionally been off limits because of
sensitivities about its internal situation, but the Rooivalk deal
now had backing at presidential and Cabinet level, and two ministers
would soon visit Ankara to press for a deal.
NCACC approval for this transaction, should it happen, has not yet
been sought, said Liebenberg, but he is confident that the political
backing of the Presidency and Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin,
who sits on the committee, is in place.
Turkey has, since 1996, sought to conclude a major helicopter
purchase to assist in its crackdown on the activities of Kurdish
separatist rebels in the east of the country. A previous deal to buy
145 King Cobra helicopters from the American firm Bell Textron ran
into intense international opposition over human rights concerns,
and the US ultimately withdrew its bid on the grounds that it was
dissatisfied with the tender conditions.
Amnesty International has been protesting since the mid-1990s about
the use of military helicopters for both transport and attack purposes
in operations that have apparently targeted civilians in remote parts
of the country. It has repeatedly said helicopter exports under these
circumstances violate international law.
South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Act prohibits the
export of military equipment if there is a risk it will be used in the
violation of human rights. Sales to Libya, where economic opening has
not been accompanied by democratic reforms, may also attract scrutiny.
Denel has often expressed frustration in the past with the approvals
process at the NCACC, which is charged with applying the provisions
of the Act, but Liebenberg says the company is working much better
with the committee now as government support for his restructuring
plan becomes more coordinated.
The committee, chaired by Minister of Provincial and Local Government
Sydney Mufamadi, is supposed to report annually to Parliament on
weapons exports. Its 2004 report is more than a year overdue and
2005 statistics, which were due at the end of March, have yet to
be tabled. It has been criticised in the past for allowing sales to
countries with poor human rights records or messy internal conflicts.
Denel is restructuring into a holding company with focused subsidiaries
working in areas such as missile technology, aircraft components,
optical systems and artillery. Equity in each of these is likely to
be sold to international partners with the heft to assist in market
access and the capital to help scale up production.
As the M&G has previously reported, the government has agreed to
provide about R5,1billion to recapitalise Denel and rescue it from
bankruptcy over the next three years.
leid=272200&area=/insight/insight__national/

AZERBAIJAN IS A COMBINATION OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHY AND PRIMEVAL PAGANISM: AZERI PRESS DIGEST
Regnum, Russia
May 19 2006
Real Azerbaijan writes about the propagation of the personality cult
of Heydar Aliyev (Azeri president in 1993-2003 – REGNUM). The daily
says: “After coming into power in 1993 and rejecting liberal values
and social democracy ideas, Heydar Aliyev began propagating his own
authoritarian ideology. In fact, this quasi-ideology is not based
on any basic political ideology and is just designed to acknowledge
the beatified messianism of Aliyev and his heirs. This ideology
harmoniously combines elements of absolute monarchy and primeval
paganism. Its basic rule is primeval worship of the cult of Power
itself and its only historical achievement is the victory over public
institutions, public consciousness and national dignity.”
Real Azerbaijan notes that there are all possible prerequisites for
development of political Islam in the country: “Unruly authorities,
gangster-policemen, pan-national depression and overall degradation –
this all is pushing tens of thousands of young and battle-worthy Azeris
into mosques. They prefer the justice of Allah to the voluntarism
of Heydarism. In fact, they have no third option. The headquarters
of political parties have become a place where they wash their
political corpses. Every day more and more youths are assembling in
mosques and are replenishing the shafi, hambali, shiah and wahabi
communities. Looming large in the horizon is the image of thousands of
young people inspired and amazed by the heroism of the Chechen mojaheds
and dreaming to bring the Chechen Islamic revival to Azerbaijan. The
authorities are sleeping and failing to see from their democratic camp
(where power is still in the hands of Aliyev’s authoritarian clones)
the dawn of new Islamic politicians…”
On May 9th Azerbaijan was admitted into the UN Human Rights Council
for three years, reports 525th Daily. Also admitted were Bangladesh,
China, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, Germany
and Switzerland. Azerbaijan was nominated by the UN Eastern-European
Regional Group. Six countries were admitted from this group. Despite
application Armenia was denied membership.
The opposition Azadlyg bloc does not believe in Azerbaijan’s admission
into the UN Human Rights Council. “If confirmed, this fact will prove
that the UN is collapsing. The admission of Azerbaijan and other
totalitarian countries into the Council will become a step towards
the UN’s collapse,” says leader of the Party of the People’s Front
of Azerbaijan Ali Kerimli. (Azadlyg)
Azerbaijan-Armenia. Karabakh
“The present moment is crucial for the Karabakh peace process,” Russian
co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov says in an interview
to Azeri Press. He says that the time is ripe for agreement. “We must
not miss such a crucial moment. We will hardly have a better one,”
says Merzlyakov. He does not specify what the MG’s new proposals are
about. He just says that there are many proposals and they concern
some details of the “Prague process.”
The key reason why the speaker of the Armenian parliament has broken
away from the government coalition is his party’s wish to run in the
parliamentary and presidential elections, the leader of the Party of
Democratic Reforms, MP Asim Mollazade says about the resignation of
Armenian Parliament Speaker Artur Bagdassaryan and the crisis in the
Armenian government. He says that what is going on in the Armenian
government is just preparations for parliamentary and presidential
elections. Mollazade can already see the forces who seek to run in the
elections, and even acting Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will
take part in the race. “The political parties are beginning to fight
for the presidential seat. One of the key reasons of Bagdassaryan’s
resignation is his wish to run in the elections as opposition,” says
Mollazade. He also notes that the Kocharyan government is greatly
responsible for no-progress in the Karabakh peace process.
Commenting on the present situation in Armenia, Azeri political expert
Rasim Musabekov says that every time the Armenians have to make some
unfavorable decision in the Karabakh peace process, they feign internal
tensions to gain time and to evade the decision. What is going on
in Armenia now may well be the case; but it may as well be not. “In
any case, it has already become a tradition that whenever the talks
get unfavorable for the Armenians, they allege internal problems,”
says Musabekov.
Commenting on the Armenian parliament speaker’ joining the
opposition, Musabekov says that Kocharyan can hardly be removed now
as all Armenia’s force structures are presently controlled by the
Kocharyan-Sarkisyan tandem (president and defense minister – REGNUM).
He does not expect serious chaos either. “This is a two-way process.
People are really sick with the present situation in Armenia and
the democratically elected authorities will be forced to search for
ways-out. One way-out is to solve problems with Azerbaijan,” says
Musabekov. He does not expect that the present tensions in Armenia
will result in any changes in the government. “Kocharyan will use
its levers to split the former speaker’s party and to preserve the
parliamentary majority, which proves that his regime is already
getting weak,” says Musabekov. (Trend)
Well-known political scientist Zardusht Alizade says that the Armenian
parliament speaker did not resign on his own will. “I suppose there
was some agreement. Perhaps, it was a response to Russia’s pressure,
particularly, to the rise in the Russian gas tariff. Armenia wants
to show that if Moscow continues its economic pressure, the number
of anti-Russian forces in Armenia may grow. This is a game,” says
Alizade. He does not think that the present political developments in
Armenia will have any influence on the Karabakh peace process. (Trend)
“Armenia is the US’ second ‘favorite’ after Israel. Since 1992 the
US has granted that country almost $1.6 bln,” reports Zerkalo daily.
“Now the White House is planning to give Armenia $7 mln more so
it can hold democratic parliamentary and presidential elections
in 2007-2008. Some sources says that the US has already agreed to
grant Armenia $235 mln from the Millennium Challenge fund. This
money will be given stage by stage within 5 years and will be spent
mostly on construction and restoration of rural roads and improvement
of irrigation. The program will cover almost 75% of countrymen. By
2010 their total monthly profit will amount to $36 mln and by 2015
to $113 mln.
John Evans (US Ambassador to Armenia – REGNUM) says that in order to
further enjoy financing Armenia should closely comply with the free
marker economy principles. Thus, if before the war of 1973 the US
provided Israel with $3 bln a year, this means that each citizen of
that country got $500. It would be interesting to know how much of
the US tax payers’ money goes into the pockets of people living in
Armenia, a country we are at war with.”
The daily says: “Balancing between Moscow and Washington, they in
Yerevan prefer making no much noise about the US assistance so as not
to annoy their mighty ally. They get no less from Russia too – in the
form of money transfers by Armenian labor migrants to their families.
Let alone the financial-economic concessions by the Russian
government. All this is the fruits of the “complimentary policy” of
the Kocharyan-Sargsyan tandem. Although it’s a big question if they
will enjoy these fruits for long. Presently, Armenia’s establishment
has split into pro-Western and pro-Russian camps. The question is who
will beat who. Both camps are strong. They in Moscow closely follow the
pro-Western tendencies in Armenia and react to them from time to time.
For example, when the Vardan Oskanyan (Armenian FM – REGNUM) spoke
about “the priority of Armenia’s relations with NATO, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan said to Golos Armenii right away that
Yerevan will not join NATO but will abide by the CIS Collective
Security Treaty. Thus, until the present pro-Russian authorities are
changed, there will be no enlargement of relations with NATO.
Nevertheless, many experts believe that with the quickly changing
geo-political situation in the South Caucasus, the parliamentary
elections 2007 in Armenia may become the climax of the political
struggle between the pro-Western and pro-Russian trends…
The US’ approach towards Azerbaijan is a bit different. Here it has
different priorities: cooperation on security and against terrorism;
various energy projects; South-West energy corridor; Trans-Caspian gas
projects; democracy development. Obviously, Washington’s interests in
Azerbaijan are wider and more serious. All this was pointed out during
President Aliyev’s recent visit to Washington, when the White House
proclaimed Azerbaijan as its political, economic and even military
partner. Asked about Azerbaijan’s involvement in the anti-terror
operations in Iraq, Aliyev said that “Azerbaijan will preserve
and, if need be, enlarge its presence in Iraq until the operation
ends.” In this light, the Washington strategists cannot but see the
whole destructive and even provocative nature of Armenia’s foreign
policy, which is strongly restricting the White House’s activities
in the South Caucasus. So, by increasing their financial assistance
they may well be trying to win Armenia over from Moscow…
(Zerkalo)
Around Iran
“Quite against its will, Azerbaijan is being drawn into very thick
of the regional processes, which are not all very safe for it. At
the present stage, Baku has been given the role of mediator (mostly
veiled) between the US and would-be regional power Iran; but Tehran
has not forgiven Baku some of its steps and statements,” says Zerkalo.
Between the lines of its interview with Jalal Mohammadi, an Iranian
expert known for his close terms with the Iranian president, Zerkalo
sees quite interesting moments of Iran’s policy on Azerbaijan. The
daily notes that they in the West regard Mohammadi’s statements as
Tehran’s official stance.
Excerpts from Mohammadi’s interview to Zerkalo:
Zerkalo’s sources in Tbilisi confirm the media rumors that Georgia and
the US have reached some agreement on the use of Georgia’s Black Sea
waters in case of military aggression against Iran. In the US-Iranian
conflict Azerbaijan is assigned another role.
The leader of the Islamic revolution ayatollah Khomeini said in his
time that if the US decides to start a war against Iran, it will face
an all-round war. For me all-round war means that all sides supporting
the aggressor will get their deserts.
The well-known incident during the 2nd Congress of World Azeris has
been followed by some veiled tension between Baku and Tehran. Is
Tehran harboring a grudge against Baku?
A bit earlier, after the exchange of visits by our presidents,
there was a positive atmosphere between Tehran and Baku. But the
anti-Iranian speeches during the 2nd Congress of World Azeris have
shown how shaky Azerbaijan’s Iranian policy is and have given ground
for distrust. Iran recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and
the fact of occupation of Nagorno Karabakh, while Baku allows some
suspicious people to speak against the territorial integrity of Iran.
Such statements allow Armenia and other unfriendly countries to
actively undermine our cooperation. Iran’s response to speeches
questioning its territorial integrity will become known later
You mean Israel. But the Jewish lobby supports Azerbaijan in vital
issues, particularly, it opposes the Armenian lobby.
A group of Azeri politicians think that by cooperating with the Jewish
lobby and Israel they can effective fight the Armenian lobby.
The illusions that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict can be resolved with
the help of the Jewish lobby have gone. No single inch of the occupied
land has been liberated as a result of the 15-year Baku-Jerusalem
cooperation. Obviously, those politicians are not aware of the
priorities of the world politics. The Western Empire has two wings:
the Armenian and the Jewish lobbies.
One of the reasons the US has given up the idea of “color revolution”
in Azerbaijan is its Iranian policy and the role it gives to Baku in
it. Before its serious dialogue with Iran, the White House is afraid
to shatter the stable political situation in neighboring Azerbaijan.
First, Baku has made appropriate conclusions from the Georgian and
Ukrainian events and has cleared its government from officials that
could support “the colored.” Besides, the Azeri opposition is weak and
not popular. Nobody in Azerbaijan supports it except the US Embassy
in Baku. However, the US is not as omnipotent as it seems: it has
failed to pave the way for “color revolution” in Azerbaijan. Of
course, the White House’s motive might also be that Azerbaijan is
Iran’s neighbor, that both are Shiah countries, that they have much
in common in culture and history.
The unresolved Nagorno Karabakh conflict is also an obstacle for
the White House. That’s probably why the West is in such a hurry to
resolve it?
The West is in a hurry because of the internal problems in Armenia
and Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s international relations and the
geo-political situation. These factors make it even harder to
resolve the conflict. One can’s liberate occupied territories at
the negotiating table. Of course, war claims lives and causes moral
and financial damages. You can’t help it, the world is unfair. Many
countries use the Azeri-Armenian conflict in their interests. They
try to keep up the status quo and are by no means interested in
its resolution. France, Russia and Turkey – all of them want the
conflict to go on. Turkey links the Armenian-Azeri conflict with
Armenian-Turkish relations and its internal problems. By brandishing
the fact of Nagorno Karabakh occupation, Ankara is just trying to
prove Armenia’s aggressive policy and to protect itself from the
psychological and political pressure of the Armenian lobby who demands
that it recognize the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire…
“Azerbaijan has not yet decided how to act in case of sanctions
against Iran,” says Echo. “What should Azerbaijan do if America and
most of the world’s civilized countries restrict their cooperation
with Iran?” Member of the commission on international issues of the
Azeri parliament Akram Aylisli says: “Azerbaijan will not accept such
sanctions inasmuch as it is too close to Iran. Azerbaijan must not
do that, but politics are politics, if America starts pressuring,
we may well acquiesce. Though, we may as well not allow America to
pressure us. I think Azerbaijan must do its best to stay neutral
in this issue. Neutrality is the only way-out for us. Iran has very
ancient statehood traditions. It may forgive America, who is stronger
and very far, but it will not forgive us, I am sure it won’t.”
“Azerbaijan understands that nuclear arms in the hands of Iran are
a serious threat for the region, but believes that this problem
should be solved by peaceful, political and diplomatic means,” says
MP Asim Mollazade. “In this situation our country should act like
all international organizations are acting. Azerbaijan is not a big
country or super-power, whose decisions may influence the situation.
It is for the UN Security Council to decide in political way – to
apply sanctions against Iran or not.”
Deyerler analytical portal’s public opinion poll among 100 public
and political figures of Azerbaijan has shown that most of them are
against Azerbaijan’s involvement in the anti-Iranian coalition. They
main question was: “Should Azerbaijan take part in the anti-Iranian
coalition in case of military actions?” The survey was held from May
1st to May 11th 2006. The respondents were to answer: “yes,” “no,”
“don’t know.” As a result, 27% said “yes,” 60% “no,” 3% “don’t know”
and 10% refused to answer at all.
Azerbaijan-US
“Rich in oil and gas, Azerbaijan has great potential for increased
energy exports. With Azerbaijan, we (the US – Trend) should continue
to assist in opening a southern corridor for oil and gas transit
to Europe, but also work with the Azerbaijan government to promote
transparency in the energy industry and development of alternatives
to oil and gas,” Trend reports Richard G. Lugar, chairman of Foreign
Relations Committee of US Senate as saying during the hearing of the
nomination of Anne Derse as US Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
“Last August, I traveled to Azerbaijan where I met with President
Aliyev. I discussed with him the opportunities and challenges
facing his country and urged him to hold free and fair parliamentary
elections”, – Lugar said. Lugar also recalled the visit of President
Ilham Aliyev to Washington. “We had a candid conversation about
democracy, the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and Azerbaijan’s
relations with neighbors, including Russia and Iran. I emphasized
that U.S. relations with Azerbaijan have a promising future”, he said.
“Azerbaijan is located in a tough neighborhood. I commend its efforts
to interdict terrorists transiting its territory and to combat
indigenous terrorists and terrorist financing”. “After September 11,
2001, Azerbaijan quickly granted overflight rights and intelligence
support to the United States and offered the use of its bases for
Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. It was also among the
countries that supported Operation Iraqi Freedom. It was also among
the countries that supported Operation Iraqi Freedom”, Lugar said.

IMF: IMF EXECUTIVE BOARD COMPLETES SECOND REVIEW UNDER ARMENIA’S PRGF ARRANGEMENT AND APPROVES US$4.9 MILLION DISBURSEMENT
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
May 19 2006
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) yesterday
completed the second review under the Poverty Reduction and
Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement for Armenia (see Press Release
No. 05/123). The completion of the review, which was undertaken on
a lapse of time basis,1 enables the release of a further SDR 3.28
million (about US$4.9 million) under the arrangement. This will bring
the total amount drawn under the arrangement to SDR 9.84 million
(about US$14.7 million).
The PRGF is the IMF’s concessional facility for low-income countries.
PRGF-supported programs are based on country-owned poverty reduction
strategies adopted in a participatory process involving civil
society and development partners and articulated in the country’s
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. This is intended to ensure that
PRGF-supported programs are consistent with a comprehensive framework
for macroeconomic, structural, and social policies to foster growth
and reduce poverty. PRGF loans carry an annual interest rate of 0.5
percent and are repayable over 10 years with a 5½ -year grace period
on principal payments.
1 The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure
when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered
without convening formal discussions.
–Boundary_(ID_Eo30cqPzdaC0u04f1KfHO w)–

DEBRE DROPS THE MOTION, ARMENIANS’ NEW TARGET IS NOVEMBER
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Zaman, Turkey
May 19 2006
The most important role played in the dropping of the motion to
penalize those who deny the so-called Armenian genocide in France
yesterday was undertaken by Parliamentary Speaker Jean Louis Debre,
a close friend of President Jacques Chirac.
Though not customary, Debre took the decision of directing the session
where the draft was discussed.
It is very rare for parliamentary speakers in France to chair the
sessions where motions brought by the opposition are discussed.
Debre gave the deputies discussing the first item of the session the
unlimited right to speak, which diminished the time remaining.
He twice allotted a break to ease the tensions that rose because
of this.
In the statement he made after the session, Debre said, “We can
write the history of neither France nor its relationships among other
nations,” and repeated once again that he is against the bill.
Meanwhile, there was no consensus among the parties for the passing
of the motion, as was the case in 2001.
The majority of the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) opposed
the motion, and opposing voices also rose from the Socialist Party
(PS) that put forth the bill.
The PS must also use its next “right to determine the agenda” for
the motion to reach the parliamentary agenda again, which would be
possible only in November.
Officials from PS and Armenian associations cite the draft will come
to the general assembly again in the fall.
That the draft bill is still on the agenda should not be considered
a victory. Even the Armenian associations, the architects of the
project, did not expect the bill to pass in the first attempt. We
watched the session together with Alexis Govciyan, Chairman of the
Coordination Council of the Armenian Organizations of France, who
foresaw the delay of the bill until November.
The law suggesting “France openly recognizes 1915 Armenian Genocide”
was enacted over four years, even with compromise by the parties.
Today’s bill that was prepared and presented by Socialist deputy
Didier Migaud in 1998 was not on the senate’s agenda for a long time,
though it was passed unanimously.
Upon these developments, a group of senators presented the bill as
a new proposal to the senate and requested an urgent negotiation.
Thus, the bill passed by the senate was easily approved.
Armenians we interviewed are confident that the passage of the new
bill will be more difficult.
The reactions of historians and division among the parties head the
list of reasons. Their biggest gains stand to be the presidential
and general elections.

TWO WEEKS AFTER CRASH AND HANGAR FIRE, ARMAVIA TAKES SECOND A319, PLANS TO ADD REGIONAL AIRCRAFT
By David Kaminski-Morrow in London
Flight International
May 19 2006
Two weeks after separate accidents wiped out much of its fleet,
Armenian carrier Armavia has taken delivery of the second of two
Airbus A319s and stated that it intends to complement its fleet with
50- to 70-seat regional aircraft.
Yerevan-based Armavia has received the A319 which, like its
predecessor, was formerly operated by US carrier Independence Air. It
will bear the registration EK-32012. “Soon this aircraft will begin
operating scheduled services,” says the carrier.
It has also revealed that its fleet plan includes acquiring a regional
aircraft with 50-70 seats, but the carrier has not indicated a type –
although it says that the aircraft will be “American”.
Armavia fleet additions come two weeks after a fatal Black Sea crash
and a subsequent maintenance hangar fire at Brussels destroyed two
of its three Airbus A320 aircraft.
Introduction of the A319 brings its fleet up to six aircraft – two
A319s, its sole remaining A320, an Ilyushin Il-86, plus a Yakovlev
Yak-42 and Yak-40 – but the airline says that its policy is not to
use aircraft manufactured before 2000.

FILM REVIEW: VODKA LEMON TASTES LIKE ALMONDS
5/19/2006 Seattlest.com – By Michael van Baker
Kurdish Media, UK
May 19 2006
Vodka Lemon by Hiner Saleem
Vodka Lemon opened its run at Central Cinema last night and Seattlest
was there because, after a forceful interior discussion, we couldn’t
recall ever having seen an Armenian film. Certainly not lately. Vodka
Lemon was shown in Seattle for the 2004 SIFF, but since we usually
stall out by the third page of the catalog, this was news to us.
mini-vodka_lemon01.jpgIn other news, before we get to the movie,
Central Cinema has a new spring menu. It’s a seasonal update; they’re
still all about those pizzas and beer. On rotating tap (picture a
possessed faucet twirling for just a second) is a summery Belgian
beer which we could have just kicked ourselves for forgetting to try.
Now the little thumbnail review: Vodka Lemon is set in an area of
Armenia that will profit greatly from the effects of global warming.
The scenery is stark, snowy, and frozen; people’s faces are chapped
and reddened by windburn; and we learn that Armenians (in this film
at least) sit around on chairs in the elements to discuss the affairs
of the day.
Director Hiner Saleem, an exiled Iraqi Kurd, places a budding romance
between two widowers in front of the evidence of wrenching decay.
(With the fall of the the USSR, Armenia was unhooked from its economic
life-support machine.) Saleem offers us allegory, but he remembers
to ground it in scenes from a rocky life.
Grizzled old Hamo has to survive on a pension of less than $10/month,
beg his sons (who have left Armenia to find work) for extra cash,
and slowly sell his most treasured possessions to cover his bus
trips to the cemetery to update his dead wife with the news that
“things are fine.” The whole village is hard up, but somehow the
movie skirts being grim — Hamo’s not-exactly-surefooted courtship
of a younger widow not only lightens the mood, it embiggens the soul.
Vodka Lemon plays a minor but essential part. Someone complains
that it tastes like almonds, not lemon. “That’s Armenia!” is the
laconic response. The movie plays through Sunday. If you go see
just one Armenian film directed by an Iraqi Kurd this year, you’d be
hard-pressed to beat this one. Let us know about the Belgian beer.

BRUSSELS SHIES AWAY FROM TURKEY-ARMENIA GENOCIDE DISPUTE
By Teresa Kuchler
EUobserver.com, Belgium
May 19 2006
The French parliament on Thursday suspended a vote on a law that would
criminalise denial of the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in
the early 1900s, with Brussels shying away from seeing the event as
a political criterium for Turkish EU entry.
In 2001, French lawmakers passed a bill which accuses the Ottoman
Turks of committing genocide against the Armenians between 1915 and
1923, with Armenians asserting the campaign cost 1.5 million lives.
As a consequence, French MPs were on Thursday (18 May) set to vote on a
law similar to already existing legislation against holocaust-denial,
which could see an individual facing a sentence of up to five years
in prison and a ~@45,000 fine.
The president of the French parliament, Jean-Louis Debre, however
interrupted the session in the middle of a heated debate, saying
there was “no time” to deal with the initiative put forward by the
socialist opposition party.
The announcement caused uproar in the visitor’s grandstand, where
dozens of members of the French 400,000-strong Armenian minority
clapped their hands for over five minutes, while shouting “The vote,
the vote!”
For its part, Ankara denies the genocide charges, recognising only
500,000 Armenian deaths during the Ottoman war, and rejects the
genocide tag saying both sides suffered severe losses in the war.
Addressing the plenary in Paris, French foreign minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy following his party’s line, stressed the “serious
political consequences” an adoption of the law would mean.
“The Armenian cause is righteous and it should be defended and
respected. But the national representation must keep France’s
interests in mind, and the methods it uses to defend its principles,”
Mr Douste-Blazy told deputies.
Ankara has announced that Turks could boycott French products and
French firms could lose lucrative contracts if the legislation is
passed, just as the country did in 2001 when the alleged genocide
was officially recognised by French law.
Political criteria in EU talks?
The topic has come up several times in the discussion on a future
possible EU membership of Turkey, which started accession negotiations
last autumn.
A number of European parliament reports urging Turkey to admit to
the genocide have been adopted by MEPs since as far back as 1987.
In September last year MEPs backed a resolution on the matter to
be forwarded to the European Commission, which monitors Turkey’s
readiness for EU accession, urging the latter to include the genocide
in Ankara’s EU membership negotiations with Brussels.
“The proposal that the recognition of the alleged Armenian genocide
as a political criteria has arisen from time to time throughout the
accession process with Turkey,” a commission official told EUobserver.
Brussels has however so far taken a hesitant approach to include
conditions on historical events as political criteria for EU accession,
because of the European continent’s motley war and border history.
The official said that during the bloc’s last enlargement round,
several eastern European member states had- and in some cases still
have- ongoing disputes about “who did what to whom during the war”,
and that therefore it was important to Brussels to stay out of such
disputes.
As for Armenia, the official said “We do not take a stance on the
Armenian case, we leave it to historians to study what happened.”
The official said a number of EU countries were sceptical to a
commission defining historical events, explaining that to add such
a criteria to the current demands would need unanimity among member
states.
He pointed out however that the commission has underlined the
importance of “good neighbourly relations”.
The so-called “accession partnership” text, adopted by EU member
states in January this year, suggests that candidate states “address
any sources of frictions at their borders”.
“That is the closest we get to addressing the matter,” the commission
official said.
Some MEPs have followed along the same line of argument, pointing out
that it would be insensitive and unfair to demand political criteria
for Turkey other than those used for the last round of enlargement.
“The recognition of the Armenian genocide should not be political
criteria for EU accession of Turkey,” leftist German MEP Feleknas Uca
told Euobserver, adding that compliance with the so-called Copenhagen
Criteria should continue to be the sole measure of EU-accession
for Turkey.

FORGIVE THEM FATHER, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO
By Samy H. Adam
Kurdish Media, UK
May 19 2006
Zggurt at Ashur
No fair historian or student of political science disagrees with the
statement: “The Kurds have suffered the longest and persecuted the
most by savage and vindictive foes than any other nation during the
20th century”. It is a miracle that the people, language and culture
survives. The newly created Arab, Persian and Turkic nation states
after WW 1, have been in a continuous state of war with their organised
armies, air forces and all the toys of destruction afforded to them
by an indifferent world in order to erase the Kurds from existence
in the middle-east. Just like they successfully done to the ancient
Armenian, Chaldean and Assyrian communities.
It was only the fortitude and courage of the Kurds, the emergence of
Barzani as the undisputed leader of the Kurdish resistance movement,
whose tenacity and resilience guided a doomed cause towards hope
and salvation and finally the mountains or fortress Kurdistan, that
ultimately saved the Kurds, Divided, weak and unfulfilled but alive.
While waging their desperate struggle for survival, the much maligned
and oppressed Christians communities in Iraq, Turkey, Syria and
Persia, the Chaldeans, Syriacs, Armenians and Assyrians became the
natural allies and bonded brothers of Kurds and active participants
in the struggle for emancipation. During the early sixties the names
of Malak Chako and Margrate Malak spread throughout the world as
legendary guerrilla commanders. Muslim blood mixed with Christian
blood in a heroic saga of unselfish and patriotic resistance to the
evil and racist Arab-Turkic and Persian tormentors. Mosques along with
ancient churches were destroyed, along with villages and hamlets. The
Bishop of Kani-Masi was the roving Ambassador for Barzani and the
resistance abroad. No Iraqi must ever forget how an army unit led by
an Arab nationalist officer from Mosul set fire to the mouth of the
cave where 70 men, women and children from the Christian villages of
Dhaka and Sorya, near Duhok were hiding, shooting every one trying
to escape and suffocating the rest. That was in April of 1969.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since. When Saddam’s
Bedouins savagery and bloodthirsty regime buried alive the people
of Kurdistan and destroyed its villages, the Christian communities
fled to the safety of Baghdad and the big Arab cities and ultimately
abroad. This was exactly what the Baath Arab nationalists wanted:
all Iraqi Christians to become model Arab citizens like Tariq Azziz or
leave the country. Were a great deal of money was spent by the regime
on the major Christian communities in Detroit, Melbourne..etc. to
create through a network of collaborators and greedy businessmen and
apolitical and indifferent Diaspora unaware of its history and true
place in the Iraqi society and the great contribution of Christians
and their sacrifice for the salvation of Iraq, either through the
great liberal and communist parties or the Kurdish resistance movement.
It saddens me to say that Saddam’s plans have almost worked. Large,
apolitical and unaware Iraqi Christian societies have mushroomed
all over the western world misguided and poorly informed by a set of
selfish, utopian and unrealistic politicians and political parties and
societies, many of whom were collaborators and informers in Saddam’s
security apparatus’. Their contribution both moral and material to
their brethren in the homeland has been negligible compared to the
Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni communities abroad. It was sad to see that
less than 7% of them voted during both general elections. It is even
sadder to see the shallow and crass TV satellite stations pretending
to be Assyrians or Chaldeans continuously attacking our best allies
and friends, the Kurds, and so called ‘patriotic’ Assyrians all over
Europe and the US activating and distorting information to demean,
implicate and spread hatred of Kurds while leaving the real tormentors
of our people, the ones who burned our churches and schools, and
killed and assassinated our doctors and lecturers in Basra, Dora,
and Mosul continue killing and expelling the remaining Christians
from their ancient habitats. The Kurds welcomed the fleeing Christians
housed and befriended them.
Since 1992, Assyrians and Chaldeans have become an integral component
of the Federal movement and played an important role in the Kurdistan
Regional Government, and the parliament in Erbil. They are part of
the administration, security, army and commercial life of the region.
I’m sure that many reactionary Kurdish tribes and individuals and
clergy harbours ill will towards our people, after all it was backward
Kurdish tribes who collaborated with Saddam to carry out the Anfal
campaign and massacre their own people.
Many isolated incidents of injustice against Assyrians occur, but can
anyone deny that the Kurdish political leadership has gone further than
any other political leadership in the entire Muslim world to address
the problem on equitable and fair bases. The holly Qur’an strictly
ordains that “your ruler and guardian must be of your faith”. And even
during the British mandate no Christian was allowed to be a Governor
of even the smallest sub district, even the Christian ones. The Late
and much lamented Franso Harriri became the governor of the most
populous city and the capital of Kurdistan, Erbil millions of Kurds
wearing black poured into the streets in grief upon his assassination
by Islamist terrorists.
The first Christian administrators for Telkef and Alkosh, Christian
cities in the Mosul district were installed by Peshmerga’s after its
liberation in 2003. Numerous churches and temples have been built,
schools teaching in Syriac language have been established, colleges
and Universities for Assyrians and Chaldeans are being planned by
KRG, clubs, associations and parties are founded from Sulaimaniyah to
Kani-Masi. Our people are free, proud and unafraid they voice their
discontent freely in their publications and media against excesses by
corrupt KRG officials. Our children are not constricted by fear from
Muslim bullies and Arab racists who think Christians are only good
to be bar tenders, waiters and septic tank cleaners, that withdrawn,
docile and resigned face worn by native Christians all over the
Islamic world indicating subservience is absent in Kurdistan. It is
our homeland. It is our future and our right, and together with our
compatriots and brother Kurds we shall protect and advance our region
to democracy, and prosperity.
So what does Assyrian nationalists in the Diaspora want. They
swear and denigrate the Kurds, portray them as the worst enemy,
continuously insult and spread hate in their websites and satellites
and literature. Do they think that if the Kurds were erased totally
from their homeland, it will be given to Assyrians? Do they think
that by hating and shouting the UN or USA will create a state for them
build houses, swimming poles and shopping centres just like the ones
in California or Sydney and then invite them to return to the republic
of Assyria?.. Stop hallucinating O sons of Nestor and Sinhareb. Stop
spreading hate against our brothers and allies and give a little
of your vindictive thoughts to our real tormentors and historical
oppressors. Come back to the land of your ancestors and help rebuild
and repopulate it. We might become autonomous, federal or independent
but only if: (1) we get back physically and claim our heritage. (2)
If we enter into an alliance with the Kurds tempered in fire and
steele and a common struggle against Turco, Persian, Arab despotism
and Islamic fundamentalism. Without these two conditions, we do not
stand a chance of bringing back even a shadow of the glory of Ashur.
O ‘Father thou art in Heaven forgive the ignorant and the misled and
the paid bearer of falsehood from among my people, they know not what
they do.

FRANCE SHELVES SENSITIVE ARMENIAN BILL VOTE
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 19 2006
The French Parliament on Thursday indefinitely postponed voting on
a controversial bill that aimed to introduce prison terms to those
who question the Armenian genocide claims.
During yesterday’s special session of Parliament, several deputies
from the Socialist Party, which prepared the bill, as well as ruling
Union for Popular Movement (UMP) deputies, who criticized the bill,
took the floor, and the debate lasted longer than planned.
Parliament Speaker Jean Louis Debre closed the session without
holding a vote, saying that they had run out of time due to the long
debate. Under the rules of the French Parliament, the bill can’t
return to Parliament’s agenda before its next term, which opens in
October. The socialists are not able to bring the same bill to the
floor, and so they would be forced to prepare a new one.
The bill, which proposed to make denial of the Armenian genocide claims
a crime by introducing up to a year’s imprisonment and a fine of up
to 45,000 euros for those who question the controversial issue, was
brought to the Parliament floor for debate by the socialists. As the
postponement sparked criticism by mainly socialist parliamentarians,
dozens of members of Armenian groups yelled, “The vote! The vote!” and
pounded their fists for five minutes from a balcony over the assembly
floor.
Douste-Blazy rejects bill, but uses term ‘genocide’
During debate yesterday, French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy
opposed any step towards approval of the Armenian bill, underlining
that it would seriously harm reconciliation efforts by Turks and
Armenians, but he did use the sensitive term “genocide” while referring
to the brutal events of 1915.
“Armenians are right in their ‘genocide’ case and they have the right
to defend it. But I don’t believe that this bill will have positive
consequences,” Douste-Blazy said in his address to the Parliament.
Taking the floor in the name of the French government, the
foreign minister urged the Parliament not to trespass on the duty
of historians. He stressed that passage of the bill would harm
reconciliation efforts between Turkey and Armenia, two countries that
have no diplomatic relations.
Referring to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggestion
to establish commissions composed of both Turkish and Armenian
historians to study the controversial events of 1915, Douste-Blazy
called on France to give Turks and Armenians the opportunity to
determine their joint history.
He also urged France to follow a policy towards the promotion of
peace and reconciliation, citing the fact that some 300,000 Turks are
living in France and the two countries have historic, economic, and
cultural ties. The French foreign minister’s speech sparked criticism
from deputies supporting passage of the bill.
Armenians accuse the Ottoman Empire of deliberately massacring up to
1.5 million Armenians between 1915 and 1919. Turkey stresses that
these figures are inflated and says that far fewer Armenians died,
due to civil unrest under the conditions of World War I and the
collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Ankara suspended its diplomatic
relations with Yerevan a decade ago due to Armenian occupation of
the Azeri territories of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey expects France to drop bill from agenda
Turkey welcomed the shelving of the bill, but also called on France
to drop the debate from Parliament’s agenda altogether and instead
support the Turkish suggestion to establish a joint historians’
commission to study the 1915 events.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry made its request public in a written
statement following the decision to shelve debate over the bill.
Referring to the opposition of French historians, public opinion
and Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy to the bill, the statement said:
“Our expectations from France is that they drop the bill from
Parliament’s agenda and support the Turkish suggestion to establish
a joint commission composed of Turkish and Armenian historians to
investigate in detail the events of 1915, by studying the archives
that will be made public later on.”