2006 NANSEN REFUGEE AWARD GOES TO JAPANESE MAN WITH GLOBAL VISION
Reuters, UK
July 4 2006
GENEVA, July 4 (UNHCR) – The prestigious Nansen Refugee Award will
go this year to Japanese optometrist Dr. Akio Kanai, who over more
than two decades has improved the quality of life of over 100,000
uprooted people around the world by testing their eyes and providing
them with spectacles.
The Nansen Refugee Award Committee selected Dr. Kanai, chairman and
chief executive officer of Fuji Optical, for his practical commitment
to humanitarian work and dedication to easing the plight of refugees
by improving their eyesight.
The committee found Dr. Kanai had “rendered exceptional service to
the refugee cause” and had made a huge and genuine contribution to
uprooted people in human as well as financial terms. Dr. Kanai’s
company is based in Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
The annual Nansen Refugee Award is given to individuals or
organizations that have distinguished themselves in work on behalf of
refugees. It includes a US$100,000 grant from Norway and Switzerland
for a refugee-related project of the winner’s choice and is scheduled
to be presented in October during the annual gathering in Geneva of
UNHCR’s governing Executive Committee.
“Tens of thousands of displaced people living in extremely difficult
circumstances have been given a new outlook on life thanks to Dr.
Kanai,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres. “The
gift of sight is precious. Restoring it makes a huge difference in
individual lives, making learning possible for children and adults
and pulling them back from the fringes of marginalisation.”
Dr. Kanai, himself forcibly displaced from the northern Pacific island
of Sakhalin at the end of World War II, started his humanitarian
optometry work in 1983 in Thailand with Indochinese refugees, many
of whom had lost or broken their glasses while fleeing. Many were
undergoing courses ahead of being resettled and needed glasses to
study. Dr. Kanai checked the sight of the refugees and, in doing so,
started a long engagement with refugee work.
He began cooperating with UNHCR in 1984, and has since conducted
more than 24 missions to help uprooted people in Nepal, Thailand,
Azerbaijan and Armenia. He has donated more than 108,200 pairs of
glasses, provided optometry equipment, made cash grants and trained
local medical staff. Fuji Optical is UNHCR’s longest-serving corporate
partner.
Dr. Kanai’s family and his staff are also involved in Fuji Optical’s
Vision Aid missions. Some 70 employees have taken part in the aid
missions, using their holidays to work in refugee camps.
The Nansen Refugee Award, created in 1954, is named after Fridtjof
Nansen, the celebrated Norwegian polar explorer and the world’s first
international refugee official. Previous recipients include Eleanor
Roosevelt, Medecins sans Frontières, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
and Graca Machel.
Last year, the award went to Margarita Barankitse, also known as the
“Angel of Burundi,” in recognition of her work with separated children
whose lives have been devastated by war and the scourge of HIV/AIDS.
–Boundary_(ID_9oLa5Dc86mynyRjWRLXgYA)- –

SESSION OF INTERPARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE TO BE HELD IN AUTUMN IN YEREVAN
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
July 4 2006
On July 3 Tigran Torosyan, President of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia received Ashot Ghulyan, President of the National
Assembly of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.
Mr. Ghulyan told the NA President about meetings with representatives
of the USA President Staff, Congress, Armenian community and analytical
centers during his visit to the USA, which were of mutual effective
and useful character.
The RA NA President Tigran Torosyan informed the NKR NA President
about the debates at PACE summer session in Strasbourg, referring to
the debates on the issue of prevention of forest fires, which the
Azeris’ delegation was trying to turn into regular speculation. He
talked about the upcoming visiting session of PACE Subcommittee
on Nagorno-Karabakh in Karabakh, and also about envisioned visit
of Leo Platvoet, Rapporteur on Missing People in Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population.
It was mentioned that though in debates of the report on independence
referendum in Montenegro speakers tried to abstain from comparisons
with other countries, it was evident that the use of the right to
self-determination is becoming more and more acceptable for PACE MPs.
Mr. Torosyan mentioned also that during the debates of the report on
countries that didn’t ratify the Convention on Human Rights to Abolish
the Death Penalty it was reported that the death penalty is cancelled
in Nagorno-Karabakh, in contrast with other conflicting regions.
During the meeting the issues of the works of the RA NA and NKR NA
Interparliamentary session were touched upon. The regular session of
the Committee will be held in autumn in Yerevan.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST IMPORT TURKISH GOODS SET UP IN ARMENIA
Author: A.Alasgarov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006
A campaign against the Turkish foodstuff as trough dangerous for
human health has been set up in Armenia, while Turkey is willfully
trying to hurt Armenian’ health.
The Armenian Trade Ministry jointly with the Society on Protection
of Consumer Rights in the country banned the sale of some products
imported from Turkey, the Turkish media reports. They set a ban on
delivery of food to Armenia, in particular, the realization of fruit
juices, chocolates, and chewing gums, supplied through Georgia.
In particular, trey report on revealing of anti-human bacteria in
“Zoko’ chocolates.
The Turkish commentators note that on the one hand Armenia calls on
Turkey to opening of borders and development of economic relationships,
while on the other hand bans import of Turkish goods.

NEW USA AMBASSADOR MENTIONS NECESSITY OF PARTLY RESOLVING NK CONFLICT
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006
Azerbaijan plays an important role in the liquidation of the global
energy security threats, the new USA ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne
Derse told on July 3 in Baku, presenting the copy of the credential
to Azeri foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The new ambassador highly assessed the important role of Azerbaijan in
realization of global energy projects. She mentioned the importance of
the cooperation between the USA and Azerbaijan in different sectors
of economy, as well as development of the oil sector in the country,
agriculture, information technologies and agro business. Speaking
about the joint fight with the international terrorism, the diplomat
stressed the necessity of expanding the cooperation in the sphere of
security. Touching on Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
Anne Derse mentioned the need of partly resolving the conflict, release
of Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and returning of refugees and
internally displaces persons to Nagorno-Karabakh.
Mammadyarov congratulated the ambassador on new position and wished
successes. He stressed the importance of the cooperation with the
Euro-Atlantic structures which hold reforms in political, economic
and humanitarian spheres.

BRITISH REPORTER BARRED ENTRY TO RUSSIA
By Oliver Bullough
St.Petersburg Times, Russia
July 4 2006
MOSCOW – Russia has refused a visa to a British journalist well-known
for his coverage of Chechnya and the turbulent Caucasus, citing the
needs of “state security”.
Thomas de Waal, who has previously worked in Moscow for the
English-language Moscow Times, the St. Petersburg Times, the BBC and
the Times, said on Monday he had been due to attend the presentation
of a Russian version of his book on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
But the Federal Migration Service refused him a visa.
The service was not available for comment on Monday but in its letter
refusing the application it cited a 1996 law that says a visa can be
refused “in the aims of securing state security.”
De Waal said he had cooperated with Russian officials in the past
on Nagorno-Karabakh, a South Caucasus region officially part of
Azerbaijan but ruled by Armenians, and did not believe they would
bar him for his views on the conflict.
“This clearly has to be because of the other main thing that I write
about, which is Chechnya,” de Waal, 39, told Reuters by telephone
from London.
Russian officials have been sensitive about Western criticism of the
war in Chechnya, where they have struggled to crush separatism for
more than a decade, and local journalists have been prosecuted for
sympathising with the rebels.
President Vladimir Putin in 2002 said a foreign journalist critical of
Russia’s policy in the region should become a Muslim and be circumcised
“in such a way that nothing grows back.”
Russia barred U.S. channel ABC news from Russia after it ran an
interview with Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev.
Press freedom groups say that Russia tries to intimidate journalists
into only reporting the Kremlin view on Chechnya.
A Russian journalist in February was convicted of provoking racial
hatred after he printed articles by rebel leaders.
De Waal is best known in Russia for appearing as an expert witness for
the defense at the extradition trial of rebel leader Akhmed Zakayev
in London. He said that his involvement in the trial could be behind
his failure to get a visa.
The British court in 2003 declined to extradite Zakayev, giving him
political asylum instead – a move that infuriated Moscow, which calls
Zakayev a terrorist.
“It is possible that the wheels turn rather slowly, or that this is
a cumulative account of things I have done over the last 10 years,”
de Waal said. He last visited Russia in January 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTER RESEIVES ANNE DERSE
Today, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received US new Ambassador to
Azerbaijan Anne Derse.
As APA reports, Mr.Mammadyarov stressed the new ambassador starts
her mission in a period that is important for our states.
The Minister said President Ilham Aliyev’s recent visit to the
United States gave a great gift to the development of cooperation
between the two states adding the ceremony of inauguration of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline will be take place soon and wider
prospects for much closer cooperation between the US and Azerbaijan
will be established.
Mammadyarov said integration into EuroAtlantic structures is one of
the priorities for Azerbaijan.
Touching on the negotiating process for the settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the Azerbaijani Minister stressed the
importance of solving the conflict through stages and liberating the
occupied territories and providing resettlement of the internally
displaced persons before the determination of the future status of
the Nagorno Karabakh.
The newly appointed ambassador pointed out Azerbaijan’s important
role in countering threats to global energy security. She welcomed
Azerbaijan becoming regional power center and its role as key
participant of significant regional energy projects.
Ms.Derse also appreciated Azerbaijan’s participation in fighting
against international terrorism and thanked for the support given in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the end, the Minister received the copy of the Ambassador’s
credentials and wished success in her activity.
URL:

PROSECUTORS SAY WEEKEND ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS ARE HATE CRIMES
MOSNEWS, Russia
July 4 2006
Moscow prosecutors said Monday that they considered the stabbing of
five ethnic minorities a hate crime, following a spate of attacks
on dark-skinned people in Moscow this weekend, The Associated Press
reports.
Four ethnic Armenians and one Azerbaijani were attacked by about 15
assailants at a subway station on Saturday, said Sergei Marchenko, a
spokesman for the Moscow prosecutor’s office. The Moscow prosecutor’s
office initially said only two people were hurt in the attack and
that it was being investigated as “hooliganism,” not a hate crime.
Russia has seen a wave of xenophobia and hate crimes in recent years,
with hundreds of attacks reported, including many on dark-skinned
immigrants from former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains
region.
Rights activists say hate groups are emboldened by authorities’
mild approach to prosecuting hate crimes, and say that neo-Nazi and
extremist literature is sold freely.
In Yerevan, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian on Monday
condemned the attack, and called on Russia to do more to head off a
rising tide of violent xenophobia in the country. “This is a widespread
and continuing phenomenon in Russia,” Oskanian said. “The Russian
authorities need to take serious steps to thwart it, otherwise such
incidents will be a serious threat to Russia itself.”
Meanwhile, three suspects in the Saturday stabbing of a Kazakh citizen
were arrested for a racially motivated crime, the Interfax news
agency reported. Also Saturday, two Uzbek citizens were hospitalized
with multiple stab wounds after being attacked in southwest Moscow,
Interfax said.
Alexander Brod, who heads the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, said that
the surge in attacks might be tied to two high-profile conferences that
opened in the capital on Monday before a summit of the Group of Eight
major industrialized nations that begins next week in St. Petersburg.
“On the eve of two such important events, it’s quite possible that
Moscow’s nationalist radicals demonstrated their aggressiveness to
announce their presence,” Brod told The Associated Press.
Interfax quoted an Armenian community leader, Ara Abramian, as saying
the attacks were “a direct provocation before the G-8 meeting,”
and sharply criticized Moscow law enforcement for failing to prevent
such assaults. “I can’t understand how big groups of skinheads can
walk around the Moscow metro and freely attack people with (knives)
in the center of Moscow in broad daylight,” he said.

OSKANIAN: “NO PRESSURE IS MADE TO THE SIDES RELATED TO REGULATION OF THE CONFLICT”
Today, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006
OSCE Minsk Group American co-chair Matthew Bryza did not say decrease
of democracy rate in Armenia. He has only stated that positive steps
are there in Azerbaijan in this regard.
As APA reports, Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian has told
journalists. He refuted the information on pressure to the sides of
Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
“We do not feel these pressures yet. If in negotiations process an
agreement appears and there were fewer agreed issues, then it might
be possible to feel these pressures.”
Oskanian said that position of Armenia remains being unchanged in
the settlement of the conflict.
“The better part of the proposals satisfies us, and we are sure that,
Azerbaijan will look into its position once again.”
URL:

INTERVIEW WITH RUBEN SAFRASTYAN, PH.D. ON THE CAUCASUS, RUSSIA AND TURKEY
Global Politician, NY
July 4 2006
Q: The statement of Matthew Bryza, OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair
for settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict, caused numerous
comments. What do you think on the occasion?
A: Matthew Bryza’s statement is not a result of lack of experience,
as some Armenian politicians think, but an attempt of the U.S.
Administration to speed up political processes in the region. This is
a sign that the geopolitical situation in the region started changing
and the status quo, which has been sustained for 12 years tends to
change. I mean two processes: the withdrawal of the Russian troops
from Georgia and the completion of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline
building.
The U.S. Administration takes certain steps and the future will show
how the new line will be put into operation. There are attempts
to increase pressure upon Armenia not only as regards the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The attempts to engage Armenia into the NATO sphere
of influence are obvious. It’s known that Georgia is aspired to the
Alliance and it seems to be accepted just to spite Russia.
Armenia’s counteraction should be adequate what can be proved by the
RAMFA’s statement on the possible demand to hold talks immediately
between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan. As for the possibility of
resumption of hostilities, Azerbaijan does not possess sufficient
advantage to start war. the military balance is still being preserved
what cannot be said of the geopolitical situation.
Q: How important is the role of Turkey in the region and can this be
bound with the weakening of Russia’s presence?
A: The role of Turkey is growing. It assumes an active role and in
case with Iran it has a good chance. The strengthening of Turkey’s
influence upon Georgia is also one of the tasks of Turkish diplomacy.
They call it “strategic cooperation” and since Georgia seeks
to join the NATO, Turkey can be a serious support. From the
geopolitical standpoint, the U.S. is interested in normalization
of relations between the two states. The same refers to the
Armenia-Turkey relations. This is one of the fundamental issues of
the American-Turkish consultations. I think normalization of relations
is more profitable for Armenia rather then for Turkey.
As for the Russian-Turkish relations, they can be characterized as
geo-strategic armistice which may result in signing of an agreement.
Presently the situation in the South Caucasus is like that of
December 1917. History proves that when Russia leaves the South
Caucasus Turkey occupies its place immediately. Now the U.S. joined
the process. Using the Iranian factor Turkey will increase influence
with the U.S. assistance. Who will replace Putin? Much depends on
this fact. If a man like him comes to power the priorities will be
preserved. If others come everything will become unclear. I do not
rule out return of oligarchs.
Q: The EU opened talks with Turkey. Unpredictable Greece and Cyprus
have raised their veto. But is there any guarantee that everything
will proceed smoothly?
A: Greece and Turkey have really raised the veto in exchange for some
concessions including Cyprus’s accession to the NATO. It’s obvious
Turkey will not allow this step since it will have to withdraw it
contingent numbering 35-40 thousand military from Northern Cyprus. I
should say that changes take place in Turkey. How much paradoxical
it may sound but the Islamist line pursued by Recep Tayyip leads the
country towards democratization. Islamists wish to limit the role of
the General Staff in the home and foreign policy. The period launched
by the young Turks and Kemal Ataturk comes to an end. The incumbent
government stands for Islam which promotes the process of European
integration. Erdogan can become Turkey’s new president and this will
mean the final end of Kemalists represented by President Ahmed Necet
Sezer. Of course there is a risk. If the positions of the military
weaken we will have to deal with unpredictable Turkey. But it’s
premature to speak of it yet.
D=1922&cid=4&sid=35

MAMMADYAROV: “ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN CONFLICT IS OBSTACLE FOR GLOBAL ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE REGION”
Today, Azerbaijan
July 4 2006
Yesterday Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mammadyarov has received NATO assistant
secretary general for Public Diplomacy, Jan Furne.
According to APA, the guest stated close cooperation of NATO Public
Diplomacy department with Azerbaijan, NATO week held in Baku,
Euroatlantic information center’s opening to be the personification
of the cooperation.
In his turn, foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov brought to the
attention of attaching great importance to cooperation with NATO. He
stated that Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is obstacle to global energy
and other projects implementation in the region.
The Minister speaking of paying attention to the education, stated
the Heydar Aliyev Foundation President Mehriban Aliyeva services,
as well as touched upon the diplomatic academy to be established at
the Ministry.
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress