ON THE EDGE OF A NEW FRINGE

Budapest Times, Hungary
March 13 2006

The Budapest Fringe is adding an experimental edge to the end of the
well-known Budapest Spring Festival and perhaps will bring a carnival
atmosphere to the streets. Whilst the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe
drew only eight performers when it was launched in 1947, Budapest’s
fringe has already got off to a sharper start.

Close to 1,000 artists will appear at eight venues between Friday,
March 31 and Sunday, April 2 from noon till 2 am. Some, in true
fringe style, are alternative, while others are not so close to
the edge. According to Spring Festival director Zsofia Zimanyi,
the organisers want to give unknown artists the chance to come face
to face with an international festival audience. “This way street
performers and rock bands, as well as professional groups not in the
main programme of the festival will also be able take part,” she said.

“We were shocked to receive so many applications to perform,” says
Zimanyi. Alongside the many Hungarians, a number of foreigners will
also perform. Most are from neighbouring countries, but France and
Japan will also be represented. According to Zimanyi the festival
will act as a kind of talent show, with the most successful artists
to appear at the main Spring Festival next year.

Well known and unknown

Whilst many of the artists are unknown to Hungarian and international
audiences alike, they will be joined by some well-known names, such
as Ando Drom, known for their mix of authentic Gypsy music and daring
innovations, at the Korona theatre on April 1. David Yengibarjan,
famous for his blend of Armenian folk music, and Argentinian tango,
will play together with the trio of Montreal-based jazz trombonist Tom
Walsh at one of the Fringe’s closing concerts at the Merlin Theatre
on April 2.

“There are no restrictions on the nature of performances and
no artists were turned away,” says Zimanyi. Unlike in Edinburgh,
performers are not expected to pay for the use of stages. Financing
the Fringe will come to around HUF 20-30 million (EUR 78,000-117,000)
from the Spring Festival’s total budget of HUF 1.2 billion (EUR 4.67
million). Performers have been given the choice whether to charge or
not, but most shows will be free.

Other performances include contemporary dance from the L1 experimental
collective, the Hungarian Youth Opera Singers with Mozart’s La
finta giardiniera, Cavalcade fire acrobats and an English-language
performance of Alfred Sutro’s comedy A marriage has been arranged,
as well as an individual take on Debussy and Prokofiev by the Kontars
Improvisation Centre.

Quality and quantity

Whilst only five city-centre venues were planned, more were added
as artists lined up. The event will extend from the Merlin, Orkeny
and Korona theatres, the Godor club, the Pavilion in the town-hall
garden and open-air venues at Vorosmarty ter and Madach ter.

If this year’s Fringe proves to be a success, Zimanyi has hopes
of attracting more international artists, or perhaps extending the
Fringe from three days to a week next year. “This is still a very
early stage for this event and we can’t vouch for what the quality
of the performances will be like, but the main thing is that already
the idea has taken off.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN SIGNALS EASTWARD TILT WITH PRESIDENTIAL VISIT TO JAPAN
By Fariz Ismailzade

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
March 13 2006

President Ilham Aliyev’s official visit to Japan on March 8 marks
another milestone in Azerbaijan’s slow re-orientation toward Asia.

During the visit, he met with Japanese Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, and the head of the
Japanese International Development Agency (ANS TV, March 8).

Aliyev and Koizumi signed several agreements to expand bilateral
cooperation.

Aliyev delivered a keynote speech at the Japanese Institute for
International Relations and attended a business forum that hosted
more than 150 businessmen from both countries (Echo, March 8).

Hosting business forums in conjunction with President Aliyev’s visits
abroad has become a regular event, which shows his strong commitment
to developing economic ties with foreign countries and attracting
new investment to Azerbaijan.

The business agenda for Aliyev’s visit is particularly noteworthy. It
included presidential meetings with the heads of several large Japanese
companies, including Itochu and Inpex, as well as with members of
the Japanese-Azerbaijani Parliamentary Friendship Society.

The growing Japanese demand for energy makes Tokyo a reliable and
eager partner of Azerbaijan, which is increasing its oil production
year-by-year. At the same time, the development of infrastructure in
Azerbaijan requires technical assistance from abroad. During the visit,
Azerbaijan and Japan signed an agreement on the provision of technical
assistance to Azerbaijan by the Japanese government (Trend, March 7).

One of the key goals of President Aliyev’s visit was to draw more
Japanese investments into the Azerbaijani economy, particularly
sectors other than oil. Speaking at the Business Forum in Tokyo,
Aliyev said, “We have a very good investment climate. Azerbaijan
highly values direct foreign investments. We have received a great
deal of assistance from Japan in the past. But now, the time for
real, active cooperation has come” (Xalq Qazeti, March 12). During
his meeting with President Aliyev, Prime Minister Koizumi also noted
the friendly nature of bilateral relations and stressed that Japan
was looking for reliable a partner in the region (Sherg, March 11).

Japanese businesses have already invested more than $844 million
in Azerbaijan, primarily in the oil sector. Mitsui and Mitsubishi
provided Azerbaijan with loans up to $274 million for construction of
the “Severnaya” power generation plant in the vicinity of Azerbaijan’s
capital, Baku. The plant came online in early 2003.

Altogether, Japan’s overall assistance to Azerbaijan through various
organizations has reached $694 million, including $74 million in grants
(Turan, March 6).

Japan has been particularly keen on funding the construction and
repair of new public schools in Azerbaijan and providing educational
opportunities for the country’s youth. For his efforts to promote
education in Azerbaijan, former Japanese ambassador to Azerbaijan
Toshiyuki Fujiwara was awarded with the highest state prize ever given
to a foreign ambassador, the Order of Honor, and ANS Media Group
named him “Man of the Year.” Azerbaijan has opened a department of
Japanese language at Baku State University, where more than 40 students
currently study. Aliyev also hopes to draw the Japanese government’s
attention to the plight of internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan,
a population that receives less and less humanitarian assistance each
year. Japan is traditionally one of the largest humanitarian donors
around the world.

With Western countries and organizations pressing Aliyev regarding
democratization, the Azerbaijani president feels much more comfortable
with the less-demanding Eastern partners. Thus, the development of
relations with the Middle Eastern countries as well as with China,
Japan, and Pakistan are seen as priorities. Although Azerbaijani
foreign policy officials continue to claim that the country is pursuing
a balanced foreign policy, a strong bias toward Asia is evident.

Azerbaijan also hopes that Japan will support its case regarding
the ongoing Karabakh conflict with Armenia. Baku is prepared to
support Japan’s nomination to the UN Security Council in exchange
for help with Karabakh. Lider TV reported on March 8 that President
Aliyev had devoted much of his speech at the Japanese Institute for
International Relations to the Karabakh conflict. Koizumi confirmed
Japan’s recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity during his
private talks with Aliyev (Sherg, March 11).

Ties between Japan and Azerbaijan are increasing markedly. First
established in 1992, bilateral relations skyrocketed following former
president Heydar Aliyev’s visit to Japan in 1998. Baku subsequently
negotiated with Japanese companies to secure their involvement in
the Ateshgeh, Mugandeniz, and Yanan Tava Caspian oil fields (Zerkalo,
March 8). Azerbaijan recently opened a new embassy in Tokyo.

At the moment, Azerbaijani-Japanese trade is nearly $70.6 million, yet
much of it ($52.3 million) comes from imports of Japanese products into
Azerbaijan, such as steel pipes, electric appliances, transmissions,
spare parts, and telecommunication materials.

Azerbaijan exports alcohol, carpets, plastic, and textiles.

The visit should open new opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

Novruz Mammadov, head of the International Relations Department within
Aliyev’s office, told Trend News Agency on March 7, “The visit carries
a very important nature, both from the side of inter-governmental
and also inter-parliamentary relations. The purpose of the visit is
to deepen these relations in all spheres.”

MANN: “I DISCUSSED GARABAGH AND SOME OTHER ISSUES WITH ELMAR MAMMADYAROV”

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
March 13 2006

The US Department of State special envoy for conflicts in Europe and
Asia, OSCE Minsk Group American co-chair met with foreign minister
Elmar Mammadyarov today (APA). After the talks, Steven Mann told
journalists that it was a good meeting.

“We exchanged views on Garabagh and some other issues”.

American diplomat said that he will give information to Daniel Fried,
Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, who visited
Azerbaijan today. Elmar Mammadyarov will also receive Mr. Fried today.

DEPUTY US SECRETARY TO VISIT SOUTH CAUCASUS

Prime News Agency, Georgia
March 13 2006

Tbilisi. March 13 (Prime-News) – Daniel Fried, US State Assistant
Secretary for Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs is to visit
Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and Turkey on March 13-17, Trend says.

According to it, Steven Mann, Senior Advisor of Caspian Basin Energy
Diplomacy and US co-chairman of the Minks Group for Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict resolution will be accompanying him.

Daniel Fried is to conduct negotiations to discuss the issues on
development of bilateral relations, democracy and resolution of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Baku on March 13-14. He will also meet
the representatives of the civil society and businessmen.

Daniel Fried is to meet the high-ranking Georgian officials to discuss
the issues on the US assistance to the democratic reforms in Georgia,
peaceful resolution of territorial conflicts and cooperation of
Georgia with the Euro Atlantic agencies on March 14-15.

Daniel Fried is to hold several meeting in Yerevan on March 15-16. He
will meet the Armenian governmental officials to discuss the issues on
bilateral relations, democracy and resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict.

TURKISH GROUPS UNITING AGAINST FRANCE’S ‘GENOCIDE’ RECOGNITION

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 13 2006

Turkish groups in France are set to join forces in Paris today to
work to overturn the French Parliament’s recognition of the so-called
Armenian genocide.

For the first meeting of an umbrella committee spearheaded by
local offices of the Anatolian Culture Centers and Kemalist Thought
Association, some 300 Turkish associations in France were invited.

Today’s meeting is going to be held to exchange ideas for the goals
and work of the committee. A public statement after the meeting
is planned to announce how the committee will campaign against the
legislative recognition.

At a press conference last week, the groups organizing the committee
meeting demanded that Parliament’s recognition of the “genocide” in
2001 be reversed, saying that judging history was up to the historians,
not lawmakers.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

US STATE DEPT’S FRIED TO VISIT TURKEY THIS WEEK

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 13 2006

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Daniel Fried will visit
Turkey this week to discuss recent developments in the Caucasus.

The State Department has announced that Fried will come to Ankara on
Thursday, following his talks in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

Fried will be in Baku today and will discuss bilateral and regional
issues and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. He is also expected to urge
Baku to move forward with democratic reforms. The U.S. envoy will visit
Georgia tomorrow and will head to neighboring Armenia on Wednesday.

The U.S. diplomat will conclude his regional tour with his meetings
in Ankara on Friday.

DIYARBAKIR MAYOR: KURDISH ISSUE ISN’T JUST TERROR PROBLEM

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 13 2006

The Kurdish problem is not solely an economic, security or terror
problem, Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir yesterday told a Kurdish
conference at Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

The controversial two-day conference on the Kurdish problem organized
by the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (hCa) was held at Istanbul’s Bilgi
University over the weekend.

The conference, entitled “Looking for Civil and Democratic Solutions
I: Turkey’s Kurdish Problem” brought together academics, writers,
journalists, former deputies, and lawyers to discuss the Kurdish
problem in Turkey.

Addressing a panel on identity rights, social and cultural dimensions
of the meeting, Baydemir said that the Kurdish problem is an economic,
social, political and cultural problem.

“In order to solve the problem, a civilian project, a roadmap
which will include all these details should be developed,” said the
southeastern city mayor.

Author Muhsin Kizilkaya told the same panel that being a Kurd is a
somewhat dangerous issue in Turkey, while French Rouen University’s
Assistant Professor Salih Akin suggested to the panelists that Kurdish
should be accepted as a second official language in Turkey.

Ankara University’s Prof. Baskin Oran said that Kurds reject minority
concept but demand minority rights in Turkey. Oran underlined that
Kurds are not a minority in Turkey but a fundamental and founder
element.

Nationalists protested Saturday at the opening of the conference.

Small groups of demonstrators greeted participants with banners
reading: “The Turkish Republic is a whole – it cannot be divided”
and “No imperialist plot can separate our Kurdish brothers from us.”

Nationalist protesters said the conference was one-sided and
antidemocratic.

The Kurdish problem is still largely a taboo subject for public debate
in Turkey.

On Saturday, panelists called on the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) to lay down its arms. The most well-received speech on Saturday
came from Democratic Society Party (DTP) Co-Chairman Ahmet Turk.

Turk said that he believed the Kurdish problem can be solved within
the unitary state structure through a democratic political project.

Turk also urged a political pardon, suggesting that it’s not enough
to just call for people to give up their arms.

Bilgi University, in Istanbul, last year also hosted a conference on
so-called Armenian genocide — another controversial topic in Turkey.

MANN: “SPRING OF 2006 IS IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN RESOLUTION OF NK CONFLICT”

Today, Azerbaijan
URL:
March 13 2006

“Spring of 2006 is an important milestone in the resolution of Nagorno
Karabakh conflict,” Steven Mann, the US Department of State Senior
Advisor for Eurasia Steven Mann, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair.

“We think we will achieve considerable results in 2006,” Mann stated
in Baku to local television channel ATV, Trend informs. During the
two-day visit to Baku he is scheduled to have meetings with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

The discussions will focus on the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. He is also scheduled to hold meetings with the
representatives of civil society and entrepreneurs.

Mann is accompanied by Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried will travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia,
and Turkey.

On March 14-15, Assistant Secretary Fried will meet with senior
Georgian, March 15-16, Assistant Secretary Fried will hold meetings
in Yerevan with senior government officials to discuss our bilateral
relationship, democracy, and Nagorno Karabakh. On March 16, Assistant
Secretary Fried will depart for Ankara, Turkey, and will return to
the United States on Friday, March 17.

PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE
by Emil Danielyan

Transitions Online, Czech Republic
March 13 2006

Young men refusing to serve in the armed forces for religious reasons
are again being prosecuted in Armenia, despite the introduction
nearly two years ago of a legal alternative to compulsory military
service. Conscientious objectors, mainly Jehovah’s Witnesses, are
refusing to enlist for alternative civilian service on the grounds
that it is controlled by the Armenian military. About 50 of them are
currently in jail or are awaiting trial.

Local and international human rights organizations have long criticized
the authorities in Yerevan for jailing conscientious objectors. In
2001, the Council of Europe made elimination of the practice a key
condition for admitting Armenia as a member. However, an Armenian
law on alternative service that came into force in July 2004 has so
far failed to address the problem. Council of Europe officials say
it does not fully meet European standards and should be amended.

The law gave male citizens who refuse mandatory military service
two options: to perform noncombat duties inside army bases for three
years or to spend three and a half years at civilian institutions.

After the law came into force, 22 Jehovah’s Witnesses opted for
the latter option and were assigned to special civilian hospitals,
including Armenia’s largest psychiatric clinic. But they soon
discovered that these facilities are essentially under military
control – the workers were regularly checked on by military police
officers, confined to the medical institutions for 24 hours a day,
and even fed by the army.

‘NOT AN OPTION’

“For young Jehovah’s Witnesses, to be attached to the military in any
form is impossible because that means cooperating with the military,”
said Andre Carbonneau, a Canadian lawyer representing the Jehovah’s
Witnesses in Armenia. That, he added, would run counter to one of
the main tenets of the U.S.-based Christian sect.

That also explains why all 22 men abandoned their places of service
before being arrested in August. Thirteen of the objectors were
tried and controversially sentenced to between two and three years’
imprisonment under articles of the Armenian Criminal Code that deal
with desertion from military units. The court sentences occurred before
the authorities enacted a law in January that declared abandonment
of civilian service a crime punishable by imprisonment.

According to Carbonneau, this constitutes a retroactive enforcement
of the law, illegal under Armenia’s constitution. Acting on the
attorney’s complaint, an Armenian appeals court recently overturned
virtually all of the Jehovah’s Witness convictions by lower courts.

However, it stopped short of ordering the release of the conscientious
objectors, only sending their cases back to prosecutors. The latter
are refusing to set the men free, pending another trial.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have responded by lodging an appeal to
the European Court of Human Rights, which they hope will order the
release of the men, the only Armenians to date to perform alternative
service. But Carbonneau admitted that there is little they can do about
nearly 30 other Jehovah’s Witnesses who refused outright to perform
military-controlled civilian duty after the alternative service law
came into force. They are now being kept in pretrial detention. “The
law on alternative service is not an option for any conscientious
objector,” he said.

Council of Europe bodies monitoring Armenia’s compliance with the
country’s membership obligations appear to share this view. “The
Council of Europe and its monitoring mechanisms consider that the
commitments in this area have not fully been met with the current
legislation,” the head of the Strasbourg-based organization’s Yerevan
office, Bojana Urumova, told EurasiaNet. Urumova said it should be
amended “in a way which will meet European standards and resolve
this issue definitely.” Armenian authorities have to come up with a
“genuine civilian alternative to military service,” she added.

OBJECTS OF SUSPICION

The Armenian government, meanwhile, has drafted amendments to the law
on alternative service that will be debated by parliament later this
year. With government officials refusing to disclose the amendments’
content for the moment, it is not clear whether they will satisfy the
Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Armenian military has always feared that
alternative service could serve as a legal loophole for mass draft
evasion; hence, its desire to strictly regulate the process. In
a December 2004 directive, the chief of the Armenian army staff,
Col.-Gen. Mikael Harutiunian, ordered military officials to regularly
report to him about civilian compliance with regulations that, among
other things, require them to stay in their place of service 24 hours
a day and take leaves of absence only with official permission.

Jehovah’s Witnesses have long been viewed with suspicion by the
authorities and a large part of Armenia’s population, primarily due to
their strong opposition to military service. Many Armenian politicians
and ordinary people alike consider their pacifist doctrine a serious
threat to the national security of a country locked in a bitter
territorial conflict with one of its neighbors, Azerbaijan. The sect
had for years been denied official registration for that reason.

The government formally legalized it only in October 2004, in a move
that was condemned by the Armenian Apostolic Church. “The activities of
totalitarian religious organizations, including Jehovah’s Witnesses,
run counter to our national and state interests and aspirations,”
the church, to which over 90 percent of Armenians around the world
nominally belong, said in a statement issued at the time.

In the words of Tigran Harutiunian, a Jehovah’s Witness spokesman in
Armenia, apart from the renewed prosecution of its young male members,
the religious group has faced no government restrictions since then
and currently boasts more than 20,000 Armenian adherents.

“We are happy to be able to freely talk about our faith,” he said.

OSKANYAN: ARMENIA ALREADY MADE COMPROMISES ON ITS PART IN NK ISSUE

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
March 13 2006

The Nagorno Karabakh people’s right to self-determination is the key
issue of the Nagorno Karabakh settlement, and it is irreversible,
stated RA FM Vardan Oskanyan in an interview with Armenian Shant TV
Company. In his words, Baku will touch upon the problem, “as it is
an issue of the agenda, and Azerbaijan is being turned the heat on in
this connection”. Vardan Oskanyan added connection between the right
to self-determination and the moment of settlement of all the aspects
of the conflict should be determined. “If we manage to formulate the
connection correctly and come to a compromise decision, there will
be advance in the process; otherwise it will imply that Azerbaijan
remains on maximalist positions and there will be no shifts in the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement”, RA FM said. He stressed Armenia
had already made concessions on its part, which had not been easy. “I
do not know how our nation will perceive it”, noted V. Oskanyan.