24-03-2006
Abkhazia: Deeper EU Engagement in South Caucasus Conflicts
The future of the South Caucasus hinges on the sound resolution of its
ethnic conflicts, said the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Europe
and Eurasia on a recent visit to Yerevan.
“The countries will lead a peaceful lifestyle and they will define
their place in the world without any pressure,” said Daniel Freed,
according to Regnum.
But some analysts are less optimistic. It is impossible to resolve the
conflicts in the near future, they say, though the will to do so
should intensify.
Russia has long been the main “peacekeeper” in the South Caucasus. But
with little progress in the past 12 years of negotiations, hopes for a
brighter future have thinned since the 1990s.
Even the West is troubled by the conflicts in the South Caucasus,
perceiving them as a potential threat to regional security and taking
a more active role in their settlement. But the European Union has
been more cautious than the Americans.
In a recent report on “Conflict Resolution in the South Caucasus: The
EU’s Role,” the International Crisis Group (ICG) called for greater
involvement on the part of the European Union, which has an interest
in South Caucasus security, it argues. For an outbreak of war on the
periphery of Europe could spread to involve its core, reports Regnum.
According to Director Sabine Freizer of the ICG Caucasus Program,
Brussels became involved in the South Caucasus conflicts only
recently. The UN is actively engaged in Abkhazia and the OSCE in South
Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
The European Union can do more: not only can it serve as a mediator,
but it can encourage cooperation among the parties by offering deeper
integration into its structures.
“The European Union tries to define its role in new neighborhood where
there is neither peace nor war,” says Director Nicholas Whyte of the
ICG Europe Program. If the EU can’t develop a strategy for South
Caucasus security, argues Director Whyte, then it will lose regional
credibility. Worse still is the possibility of a war breaking out for
which the EU had no effective response.
Why should the EU grow more active in the South Caucasus? For
starters, to ward off the impending threat of conflict. But also, as
several European analysts note, to promote democracy and lasting
political stability.
The EU has other interests in the South Caucasus: access to Caspian
oil and natural gas, reliable communication between Europe and Asia,
and the suppression of drug trafficking, human trafficking and
environmental protection.
While Georgia often tries to distance itself from its South Caucasus
neighbors in its case for joining the EU, European analysts cast doubt
on the accession of any South Caucasus states. Nonetheless, the EU
must recalibrate its approach. It must embrace the action plan of the
European Neighborhood Policy and set out to resolve the South Caucasus
conflicts.
EU strategy should aim to promote a united and strong South
Caucasus. This could lay the groundwork for the peaceful resolution of
South Caucasus conflicts.
While South Caucasus states remain disunited, and local analysts rule
out any future federation, the EU could use the “Stability Pact for
the Caucasus” as the basis of its conflict resolution policy.
Regional cooperation grows more urgent with time – the South Caucasus
cannot escape this.
1991-2006 UNPO – Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization
_Source: The Messenger_
( 5_march_23_2006/opi_1075.htm)

Friday, March 24, 2006 – Last Updated: 6:39 AM
Stop another holocaust

Post and Courier
Chalston.net
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian
X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 — ListProcessor(tm) by CREN
Close to a million people were killed in Rwanda in 1994 when the
dominant Hutus turned against the Tutsis. The slaughter that went
unchecked should have ensured that at the first signs of genocide the
United Nations would act to prevent yet another human tragedy.
Not so. Genocide has been proceeding in the Darfur region of Sudan as
if there had never been a commitment by the international community to
make the vow “Never Again,” after the Jewish Holocaust, mean
something. To date, the United Nations has shrunk from its
responsibility to intervene and the United States, overstretched in
Afghanistan and Iraq, is in no position to act unilaterally.
Over the past three years, during which at least 300,000 people were
killed and two million displaced from their homes, the United States
was at the forefront of diplomacy aimed at persuading the Sudanese
government to rein in its murdering militias, known as the Janjaweed,
and to cease the “ethnic cleansing” of the black Christian population.
Eighteen months ago, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
declared that the Arab government was carrying out a campaign of
genocide against the people of Darfur and was using rape as a
weapon. President Bush has repeated the charge of genocide, as has
Congress.
A campaign mounted by the American Jewish World Service called
“Million Voices for Darfur” calls on people around the world to remind
President Bush that during his first year in the White House, he wrote
in the margins of a report on the Rwandan genocide, “Not on my watch.”
American Jews are organizing a mass rally in Washington on April 30.
Last month, the president called for a mission to Darfur under “NATO
stewardship, planning, facilitating, organizing, probably double the
number of peacekeepers that are there now, in order to start bringing
some sense of security.” The Associated Press reports that after a
visit with President Bush in Washington Monday, NATO Secretary General
Jaap De Hoop Scheffer told reporters: “I am quite sure, as I told the
president, that when the U.N. comes [to ask for help], the NATO allies
will be ready to do more in enabling a United Nations Force in
Darfur.”
The president was quoted as saying the African Union must ask the
Security Council to put its mission in Darfur under a U.N. flag. When
that happens, he said, NATO can move in with U.S. help “to make it
clear to the Sudanese government that we’re intent on providing
security for the people there and intent upon helping work toward a
lasting peace agreement.”
Evidently, President Bush has not forgotten the words, “Not on my
watch,” that he scribbled on the Rwandan genocide report.

PRESS RELEASE
Fund for Armenian Relief
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Edina N. Bobelian
Tel: (212) 889-5150; Fax: (212) 889-4849
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
March 24, 2006
____________________
FUND FOR ARMENIAN RELIEF ORGANIZING 10th ANNUAL YOUNG PROFESSIONALS TRIP TO
ARMENIA
Applications for the June 2006 Trip Available Now
The Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) is organizing its tenth annual Young
Professionals Trip to Armenia. From June 12 to 24, 2006, FAR will take a
group aged from 23 to 40 on a journey to all four corners of Armenia and
into Karabagh.
The group will see many of Armenia’s beautiful landscapes and treasures.
The trip begins with a visit to the pagan temple of Garni and the 13th
century Geghart Monastery carved out of a mountain. Following a tour of
Yerevan, including the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial, the group will
travel north to Gyumri, the second city of Armenia that had been devastated
by the 1988 earthquake.
After spending the night in Gyumri, the FAR Young Professionals will stop at
Haghartsin, the 7th century UNESCO-recognized monastery perched on a
forest-covered mountainside. The Young Professionals will then visit Lake
Sevan, the peninsula and its two chapels dating back to the 12th century.
The top of the peninsula provides a breath-taking vista of the largest
alpine lake in the world whose turquoise shimmers on a clear day.
The next day, the FAR group will take the new Selim Pass highway, stopping
to enjoy the panorama of Armenia’s southern city of Goris on the way to
Karabagh. They will see Shushi, Stepanakert, the 13th century Gandzasar
Monastery, Babig and Dadig (the symbol of Karabagh), and meet with a
Karabagh government representative.
Back in Armenia, the Young Professionals will visit Noravank, tour the Holy
See at Etchmiadzin, and meet with Catholicos Karekin II. As part of
experiencing Armenia’s enduring Christian faith, the Young Professionals
will have the opportunity to climb down into the Khor Virap pit where St.
Gregory the Illuminator was imprisoned for thirteen years.
The FAR journey will also include seeing Mesrob Mashtots’ birthplace,
Oshagan, and a hike up the Amberd fortress atop Mt. Aragats. Throughout the
trip, there will be ample views of the snow-capped Mt. Ararat and Mt.
Aragats.
Participants in FAR’s Young Professionals Trip do more than just see the
country’s sites. They learn about Armenia’s place in the world, her
religious, political and economic heritage, and engage government leaders in
official state visits. On the last day of the two-week adventure in June
2006, the FAR Young Professionals will meet Armenia’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs Vartan Oskanian.
Nightlife in Yerevan is also plentiful. The 2006 Young Professionals Trip
participants may watch an opera, listen to the Yerevan Philharmonic, eat in
gourmet restaurants, or hit the latest bars, cafes and clubs.
While it is important to witness Armenia’s rich cultural heritage, it is
just as critical for the Young Professionals to understand the realities of
life in Armenia and Karabagh today. They will go to various FAR projects,
such as the Ounjian School in Gyumri, the Children’s Center in Yerevan, the
Nursing Home in Vanadzor, and a few sites completed thanks to the $15
million humanitarian assistance contract in Karabagh that USAID awarded FAR.
The total cost of FAR’s 2006 Young Professionals Trip is $2,420 and includes
airfare to and from Armenia (departing from New York), all taxes, double
occupancy at the Armenia Marriott Hotel Yerevan and other superior hotel
accommodations outside of Yerevan, two meals per day in Yerevan, three meals
per day outside of Yerevan, entrance fees, and guided daily sightseeing.
Applications may be downloaded from FAR’s website, , by
clicking on the “Young Professionals” tab. Applicants meeting all
qualifications for participation will be accepted in the order received.
Space is limited for this program.
For more information, please contact Arto Vorperian at FAR, 630 Second
Avenue, New York, NY 10016, or by telephone at (212) 889-5150 and email at
[email protected].
— 3/24/06
# # #

Common Dreams (press release), ME
March 24 2006
MARCH 24, 2006
10:45 AM
CONTACT: Amnesty International

Turkey: In Support of Freedom of Expression Media Information

WASHINGTON – March 24 – From 1-10 April 2006, Amnesty International
groups around the world will be asking members of the public to sign
postcards urging the Turkish authorities to abolish Article 301 of
the Turkish penal code.
Amnesty International believes that Article 301 of the Turkish Penal
Code poses a threat to the fundamental right to freedom of
expression. Individuals including human rights defenders, publishers,
prominent writers, and journalists, are being prosecuted because they
have dared to discuss publicly the “official” version of the
country’s history or the role of the army, or have caricatured state
officials.
The case against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk for comments on the
deaths of Kurds and Armenians in Turkey has been dropped. However,
this is too small a step on the road to freedom of expression.
Amnesty International members are appealing to members of the public
to put pressure on the Turkish authorities to immediately stop
prosecutions against individuals under the article and to abolish it
in its entirety.

RIA Novosti, Russia
March 24 2006
CIS and Baltic press on Russia
ARMENIA
The media see U.S. policies in the South Caucasus as a drive to
squeeze out Russia but warn this could backfire on Washington.
“The United States hopes to remove Moscow from the South Caucasus as
it prepares for a military standoff with Iran… [However,] the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not just a conflict inside the Caucasus:
its scope is well beyond the region because it maintains a balance of
forces inside the Turkey – Russia – Iran triangle. If Washington
tries to topple this balance through its demands to withdraw the
Russian military base from Armenia, this means at least two of three
regional powers – Russia and Iran – could be sent off… Azerbaijan,
on its part, risks being cornered between Russia and Iran if a basic
agreement on Karabakh is in place… U.S.’s drive toward a quick
solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through exerting pressure
on Armenia and Azerbaijan might basically strengthen Russia’s clout
in Yerevan and Baku, rather than weaken it.” (Hayots Ashkhar, March
18.)

Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
March 24 2006
Curbing Armenia’s Death Cult
Parliament steps in to stop people taking up more space than they can
possible use after death.
By Marianna Grigorian and Gayane Mkrtchian in Yerevan (CRS No. 332,
24-Mar-06)
A giant marble statue of a sad-looking man towers above most of the
other gravestones in the town cemetery of Echmiadzin. But it is by no
means the only one – a bust stands on a three-metre pedestal nearby,
for example.
Such showy monuments come in at 60,000 to 80,000 US dollars – a
fabulous sum, especially in a country as poor as Armenia. But they
are part of a growing phenomenon where people spend more on the dead
than on the living.
“Many rich people are competing with each other these days,’ monument
sculptor Sargis Khojoian told IWPR. `They come right up to you and
say, ‘We’re prepared to pay an extra 500 dollars just to make the
headstone for our deceased higher and more luxurious than the rest’.’
It is partly about competition, but often just social pressure to do
the right thing and follow tradition in this ancient Christian
society.
One woman who works as an artist recalls how there was no money to
pay for her mother’s cancer treatment during her final months. But
once she was dead, the family borrowed more than 10,000 dollars for
the funeral and gravestone.
“That money could have helped her live longer and suffer less,’ said
the woman, who asked not to be named. `However, that was not the top
priority for my relatives.’
Now the funeral is over with all the proprieties observed, but the
family will remain burdened with the debt for years to come.
Parliament has become so concerned at the trend that it passed a new
law at the end of February aimed at reducing people’s spending to
more moderate dimensions. It is directed not just at the huge
monumental sculptures, but also at the use of large expanses of land
for one grave.
According to Armenian tradition, the more lavish the funeral
ceremony, the larger the grave and the more splendid the headstone,
the more the deceased person is perceived to have been respected by
relatives.
Vladimir Badalian, the member of parliament who drafted the
legislation, wants to put an end to the “frantic aspiration to buy
large and splendid graves”.
“I have seen a grave that occupies 260 square metres. Is that
normal?” he asked.
According to Razmik Harutiunian, an engineer with a funeral company
called Ritual Services for Citizens, “The official data show that
cemeteries in Yerevan occupy five per cent of the city’s territory.
However, in reality, the figure is at least twice that.’
Harutiunian predicts that if things continue as they are, the
sprawling cemeteries could eventually swallow up half of Yerevan.
That will not happen if Badalian’s law is enforced properly. It
stipulates that each person is allowed 2.5 square metres, while a
family grave for four cannot exceed 12.2 sq m.
The strictly-limited graves will, however, be allocated free of
charge.
Under the old system, buying a grave site is not very expensive, with
the official rates set at 12,000 drams or about 26 dollars.
But because previous legislation does not say exactly how big a grave
needs to be, there has been considerable scope for informal price
setting. A plot measuring five or six square metres in Yerevan
capital can range between 1,000 and 6,000 dollars. Location is
everything – a space near the entrance to the cemetary is reckoned to
be more prestigious.
Outside the main towns, prices are cheaper, with a plot costing 30 to
50 dollars, or nothing at all in remote villages. As a result, some
people choose their burial sites according to what they can afford.
Aida Aghasian, a resident of Echmiadzin, recalled how `an
acquaintance of mine was asked for such a sum that he went to his
[home] village and buried his father in his mother’s grave. Many
people do that”.
Another provision of the law bans the unregulated sale of funeral
items. In Nar-Dos, one of Yerevan’s central streets, coffins in all
sizes and trimmings are on display in the street. Many people skirt
the street if they can possibly avoid it.
“The law forbids selling funeral items all over the place, as it
upsets people. Such things should be sold either out of town or in
special shops with tinted or curtained windows,” said Badalian.
One part of the law that could prove controversial is a requirement
to build a crematorium, which goes against Armenian tradition. The
government has already earmarked funds for its construction.
The idea is that a crematorium could halt the creeping expansion of
cemetaries. “Ten hectares of land and a memorial wall will fully
satisfy the demand for several years. We will not need any more
territory,” said Badalian, who is keen on the scheme.
But the idea that remains should be burned rather than buried has met
with some public hostility, especially from the Armenian Apostolic
Church.
“The church is against cremation,” said Father Hakob Khachtrian,
senior priest at the Church of St Sargis. “Our Lord told us, `Dust
thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return’. When we cremate a dead
body, we interfere in our Lord’s providence.”
Father Hakob believes the way to solve the problem is simply to stop
people building oversized monuments and mausoleums.
Badalian thinks people will eventually come round to the idea, for
the sake of the living rather than the dead, “The orchards in
Yerevan’s Shahumian district were famous for their fruit trees, but
they were turned into a cemetery seven or eight years ago. In 100
years time we will have to walk through this cemetery. But what I
want is more orchards and recreation areas in my city.’
Marianna Grigorian and Gayane Mkrtchian are reporters for the
Armenianow online weekly.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Focus News, Bulgaria
March 24 2006
8 New HIV Cases Registered in Armenia Since Beginning of the Year
24 March 2006 | 17:47 | FOCUS News Agency
Erevan. Eight new HIV cases have been registered in Armenia since the
beginning of the year, the Caucasus Memo reports.
According to the data provided by the Republican Centre for HIV/AIDS
Prevention for the period 1998 – March 1st 2006, there are 390 HIV
cases in Armenia.
The number of the newly infected people in the country in 2005 is 78,
and 75 of them are Armenians.

B.C. Catholic Newspaper, Canada
March 24 2006
Pope encourages unity of Armenian Christians
By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Armenian Orthodox
and Catholics, who trace their origins back to St. Gregory the
Illuminator, to work to restore their unity in one community united
with the pope.
Meeting March 20 with members of the synod of the Armenian Catholic
Church and nearly 200 Armenian Catholic pilgrims, the pope praised
the ecumenical initiatives undertaken by the Armenian Catholic
patriarchate, based in Beirut, Lebanon, and the Armenian Apostolic
Church, an ancient and independent Oriental Orthodox Church that in
recent years has improved its relations with the Vatican.
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the dominant religious denomination
in Armenia, claiming a membership of more than 90 million people.
“I encourage this new-found fraternity and collaboration, hoping that
from it there would arise new initiatives for a common path toward
full unity,” the pope told the group led by Patriarch Nerses Bedros
XIX Tarmouni of Beirut, the Armenian Catholic patriarch.
Pope Benedict praised the faith of Armenian Christians who have
shared the trials Armenians faced throughout the centuries,
“particularly the sufferings endured in the name of the Christian
faith in the years of terrible persecution recorded in history with
the sadly significant name of ‘metz yeghern,'” or “the great
massacre,” in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks in 1915-18.
Armenians, persecuted by the Ottoman Turks and in the former Soviet
Union, ended up fleeing to other countries, which further split the
Christian community.
Pope Benedict said, “If historic events led to the fragmentation of
the Armenian church, divine providence will ensure that one day it
will be united with its hierarchy in fraternal harmony and in full
communion with the bishop of Rome.”
He encouraged Armenians to work and pray for the day when there will
be “one flock under one shepherd.”

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006
Azeri, Armenian officials to hold talks in U.S.
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, and Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian are due to visit Washington shortly, Radio
Liberty reported.
During the visit, Azimov is expected to discuss military and
political issues with American officials.
Oskanian is to meet with the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and attend the ceremony of allocating a $236 million aid package to
Armenia by the United States within the Millennium Challenge program.
The US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, Steven Mann,
has confirmed the report. He stressed, however, that the visits had
been scheduled a long time ago and are not related to the Garabagh
peace talks.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
March 24 2006
Turkish President to Visit Azerbaijan Early April
24/03/2006 21:44
Turkish President Ahmed Necet Sezer is expected to make an official
visit to Baku on April 4, Turkish diplomatic sources told TURAN.
Sezer will arrive in Baku together with the Ministers of Energy and
Natural Resources and Transport, as well as other officials and
Turkish businessmen.
Turkish-Armenian relationships and the Karabakh conflict settlement
will be discussed during bilateral talks. The two countries are
expected to specify their positions to the situation in Iran.
The financial and technical details of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines and construction of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be also discussed.
Sezer planned to visit Baku in January, but the visit was postponed
at the last moment, due to “non-flying weather.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress