HEAD OF EX-SOVIET STATES’ OBSERVER MISSION CALLS BELARUSIAN ELECTIONS OPEN, TRANSPARENT
Jim Heintz
AP Worldstream
Mar 20, 2006
The head of the observer mission of a grouping of former Soviet states
on Monday called the disputed Belarusian presidential election open
and transparent.
The assessment by Vladimir Rushailo, head of the Commonwealth of
Independent States’ mission, is likely to contrast sharply with an
assessment to be issued later Monday by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’s mission.
Rushailo, in a droning statement that lasted more than a half-hour,
said the CIS mission’s 467 observers concluded that, despite some
technical violations, the Sunday elections took place within the
requirements of Belarusian law.
The OSCE, by contrast, assesses elections in terms of whether they
meet international standards for free and fair democratic elections.
The assessments by the OSCE and CIS missions on elections in
post-Soviet states frequently differ radically.
Rushailo is a former interior minister of Russia. The Kremlin is
closely allied with Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander
Lukashenko, whom official results show winning a third term in
a landslide.
Opposition supporters held a rally of thousands on Sunday night to
protest the results, and have called for another protest on Monday
evening.
The CIS observers “declare the elections free, open and transparent,”
Rushailo said. He later denounced Western countries’ persistent
criticism of Belarus for intimidating and restricting the opposition
ahead of the election.
“Prejudiced statements, harsh announcements, as well warnings from
several countries on the eve of the elections about their readiness
to take various restrictive measures of a political and economic
character against the Republic of Belarus: the CIS observers see
these as attempts to influence the course of the election process in
its final stage,” Rushailo said.
The mission included observers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Notably
absent were observers from Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, all of which
are CIS members that recently have distanced themselves from Moscow
to take a more West-leaning course.

SEPARATIST KARABAKH SEEKS “ENERGY INDEPENDENCE”
Regnum, Moscow
18 Mar 06
18 March: Under a long-term energy programme developed by the
government of Nagornyy Karabakh, this year will see the start of the
construction of a cascade of three hydroelectric power stations on the
River (?Trga) and the Madagis hydroelectric power station, which will
allow Nagornyy Karabakh to meet its domestic demand for electricity,
our Regnum correspondent in Stepanakert quoted the Nagornyy Karabakh
minister for territorial administration and [development of] production
infrastructure, Arnold Abramyan, as saying. Abramyan said that Nagornyy
Karabakh’s water resources have a great energy potential, and that
the implementation of relevant programmes will make it possible to
use them efficiently for both energy and irrigation purposes.
A total of 17 small hydroelectric power stations are to be built,
which will ensure Nagornyy Karabakh’s energy independence. Moreover,
electricity generated will exceed the demands of the population
three-folds.
For the time being, Nagornyy Karabakh’s main energy donor is
the Sarsang hydroelectric power station on the River Tartar which
generates 65m kWh of electricity a year. The rest of electricity that
the republic needs is exported from Armenia.
The territorial administration and production infrastructure minister,
Armo Tsaturyan, said that the republic’s state budget envisages 250m
drams [569,000 dollars] for the development of the energy sphere in
2006, including 40m for the capital – Stepanakert.
However, the minister noted that this amount is clearly not enough
to resolve the complex of problems existing in this sphere.

KARABAKH DISMISSES AZERI TRUCE VIOLATION REPORTS AS “DISINFORMATION”
Arminfo
20 Mar 06
Yerevan, 20 March: In an interview with an Arminfo correspondent the
press service of the Defence Ministry of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
[NKR] has dismissed as not true and open disinformation the Azerbaijani
reports that Karabakh’s armed units fired on Azerbaijani positions in
Agdam, Mardakert and other areas in the period between 14 and 19 March.
The press service noted that the Azerbaijani side has, itself, been
periodically violating the cease-fire regime, using small arms,
including large-calibre machine-guns. “The NKR defence army has
rigorously been observing the cease-fire regime,” the NKR Defence
Ministry press service stressed.
We should note that the Azerbaijani media reported that the Karabakh
side had violated the cease-fire regime on 18 and 19 March as a result
of which two Azerbaijani servicemen were allegedly killed.
However, no names were given by the media. There is no official
confirmation from the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry either.
[Azerbaijani ANS TV said on 19 March that soldiers Huseyn Bandaliyev
and Elcin Bayramov, 19, were killed by Armenian fire]

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS FOR SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT TO MEET IN ISTANBUL
YEREVAN, MARCH 20. ARMINFO. OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmen for settlement
of Karabakh conflict, Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Steven Mann (USA) and
Bernard Fassier (France), are to meet in Istanbul, today, on March 20.
Earlier the Co-chairmen met in Washington. Later US Co-chair Steven
Mann and US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried visited Armenia
and Azerbaijan. The settlement of Karabakh conflict was the major topic
of the negotiations in Yerevan and Baku. In Istanbul the Co-chairs
are assumed to determine the further steps after the fruitless meeting
of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Rambouillet.

“WHAT WILL PUTIN THINK OF US NOW?”: AZERI PRESS DIGEST
Regnum, Russia
March 19 2006
“Democracy export is not working. This should be an evolutionary
process,” Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said at a forum by the Japan
Institute of International Affairs. “If this is our country, we should
decide ourselves how to live in and develop it,” Aliyev said.
He promised that the Azeri authorities will not stay inactive if
anybody tries to influence the internal processes in Azerbaijan.
(Trend)
“The statements by the Azeri leaders that they are ready to start
military actions are blackmail. Even more, these aggressive statements
are meant to cheat the Azeris rather than the Armenians,” well-known
Azeri political expert Zardusht Alizade says to Zerkalo.
“Our army is just a facility like some celebration house, restaurant or
supermarket,” says Alizade. He does not see any difference in structure
between the Armenian and Azeri armies. “The Armenian army is almost the
same, with the same chaos and bullying. True, in Armenia things are a
bit better. But this is just because both army commands are bound to
Russia, and now Russia is more benevolent to Armenia,” says Alizade. He
does not rule out the possibility of a new war by Azerbaijan but
says that this will require skillful command, well-trained personnel
and people believing that “they will be led by experienced and loyal
commanders.” “We have none of the components yet,” says Alizade. As
regards the role of the international community in the Karabakh peace
process, Alizade says that the key actors – Russia and the West –
are acting immorally just to get what they want. But they will hardly
be able to stop the war. “Azerbaijan is an independent state. The
president may order his army to start an offensive to probably see
them moving back soon afterwards. But whatever, one thing is clear:
with its present system and present leader Azerbaijan is not attractive
to the world community,” says Alizade. (Zerkalo)
Mar 8 the US Department of State issued a 2006 Investment Climate
Statement on Azerbaijan, which says that the Armenian-Azeri Nagorno
Karabakh conflict has produced a 800,000-strong army of refugees and
displaced persons, who are a huge deterrent for the country’s economic
development. Nevertheless, due to its active regional development
and poverty reduction policies, Azerbaijan showed high macro-economic
figures in 2005, and if they are continued, will have a 30% GDP growth
in 2006. This year’s launch of BTC may prove generally positive for
the country’s economy. The Azeri authorities give high priority to
direct foreign investments and welcome them in their country.
The law on foreign investment protection specifies where foreigners can
and cannot invest their money. National security- and defense-related
sectors are close to foreign investing. At the same time, the statement
notes that except for oil production sharing, Azerbaijan does not use
any other means to stimulate foreign investing. Corruption remains a
key obstacle for the economy and a key repellent for foreign investors,
especially in non-energy sectors. The anti-corruption acts and decrees
are not used effectively, and the new law enacted in Jan 2005 has
not given tangible results so far. (New Time)
The US Department of State has issued its human rights report on
Azerbaijan 2005, which gives the following facts of human rights
violation in Azerbaijan: restricted ability of people to change
their government peacefully; torture in jail; politically motivated
detentions and arrests; harsh and life threatening prison conditions;
police impunity; lengthy pretrial detention; corruption in courts;
infringed privacy; media pressure; excessive violence against peaceful
demonstrators; social discrimination of women; trafficking in persons;
restricted labor rights. The report says that the Azeri authorities
“did not exercise any control over developments in the territories
occupied by the Armenian forces and little veritable information was
available on the human rights situation there.”
The report also mentions the exposure and arrest of the group of
former high-ranking MIA official Haji Mamedov and the murder of
journalist Elmar Guseynov. The MIA employees who took part in the 2003
post-electoral beatings of demonstrators remained unpunished; prison
conditions remained life threatening, with 107 dead as a result. The
report also mentions the arrested former high-ranking officials:
Akif Muradverdiyev, Ali Insanov, Farhad Aliyev, Fikret Yusifov,
Fikret Sadygov, Rafiq Aliyev and Academician Eldar Salayev.
Concerning the freedom of speech and press, the report says that there
were many pro-government and opposition media, but printed media were
freer than electronic ones, who were mostly pro-governmental. There
were more than 40 independent newspaper and magazines, 23 TV
and 12 radio channels, 10 governmental and 80 municipal and rural
newspapers. Unlike pro-governmental press, independent and opposition
newspapers only sporadically were available in the regions outside
Baku due to limited distribution.
(Zerkalo)
“The territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is not the subject of the
Karabakh peace talks,” Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said in his speech
at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo Mar 9. The
subject is “how to liberate the occupied territories, to repatriate
victims to ethnic cleansing and aggression, to provide Nagorno Karabakh
with high autonomy status within Azerbaijan.” “All this must be in
line with the norms and principles of the international law. We hope
for peaceful settlement. The international community should be more
active in settling the conflict as it continues to be the biggest
obstacle to the development of the whole region,” Aliyev said.
Speaking of oil and gas, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan may be a
fuel source for Europe, who is short of gas and is looking for
alternatives. We are laying pipelines to supply our oil and gas to
the world markets, Aliyev said. (525th Daily)
The law “On Political Parties” can shortly be changed. “First to
raise this issue was the ruling Yeni Azerbaycan party. The other
parties claim that we did it to pressure them. But the fact is that
some parts of the law have gone out of date and need revision. We
just wanted to bring it into line with the constitution. Fortunately,
the number of supporters has grown and the issue may soon find a real
solution,” says the vice speaker of the parliament Bahar Muradova.
The key point of the changes to the law is to ensure the transparency
of party budgets and to allow to authorities to control this process,
says 525th Daily.
“Azerbaijan has failed its CE commitments,” says Director of the
Institute for Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus. When joining the CE
Azerbaijan undertook 21 commitments. Part of them (10 international
conventions, and the agreements to resolve the Karabakh conflict
by peace and to give ICRC access to all prisoners) have been met,
while the rest have not or met just formally. Civil advocate Eldar
Zeynalov says that the present situation in the country may lead to
new political arrests. (New Time)
The 1st anniversary of the death of Aslan Maskhadov, the leader of the
Chechen fighters, was commemorated in Baku Mar 9. New Time reports
Maskhadov’s son Anzor to reappear in Baku after long absence and
to address some tough words to Russia during the service. “We would
hardly comment on his words were they not made in our territory. If
our country is actually a friend to Russia, as our president Ilham
Aliyev said quite recently, then how could we allow such a thing to
happen? We all remember how our leaders begged President Putin to help
Azerbaijan in the Karabakh problem. And now – what will Putin think
of us? Once you blame separatism at home, you should blame its every
form everywhere. A many-year victim to separatism, Russia will hardly
stay indifferent to separatist declarations from our territory. Our
political and cultural figures were and are right when blaming their
Russian colleagues for visiting Nagorno Karabakh. And what now –
how should they in Russia react to a whole political ‘party’ by the
Maskhadov clique in Baku? No, dear gentlemen in power, you can’t
build your politics like that! You can’t have a grudge against your
own friend! Otherwise, you better not complain that nobody supports
you in the world!
Russia is not a weak state – it has enough levers to influence our
region. Alas, our authorities can in no way stop their old habit of
double-dealing, of serving both sides – they call it ‘a complementary
foreign policy.’ But this policy can lead us to a deadlock. God
forbid! This may be OK somewhere in Central Asia, but Azerbaijan is
too sensitive and geo-political important a region to act like that.
So, should our politicians any longer rely on their ability to
balance? They better decide: who we are with and where we are going”
says New Time.
Azerbaijan-Armenia. Karabakh conflict
In the last two years the US has been actively involved in the Karabakh
peace process, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish says Mar
10. Azeri Press reports him as saying that continued deaths along
the front line prove that the conflict is not frozen. Harnish says
once more that the conflict must be resolved by talks. He regrets
the lack of agreement in Rambouillet and notes that the presidents
and FMs should continue their regular meetings. The two FMs and the
co-chairs should step up their efforts to settle the conflict.
Echo says: “The OSCE MG co-chairs are ambiguous about the results
of their Washington meeting.” The co-chairs Steven Mann (US),
Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fassier (France) and the personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk met
in Washington Mar 7-8 to analyze the results of the Armenian-Azeri
presidential meeting in Rambouillet and to outline further steps
in the Karabakh peace process. The meeting lasted for few days. The
co-chairs made no comments but just a statement urging the Armenian
and Azeri authorities to take measures to prepare their people
for peace rather than war and, based on the available principles,
to settle the conflict in 2006. Despite the failure in Rambouillet,
the co-chairs do believe that there are favorable conditions for a
Karabakh agreement in 2006 and urge the Armenian and Azeri authorities
to make relevant efforts to this end.
The co-chairs say that “big progress” was made during their last
year meetings with the sides, but they regret no progress despite
big chance in the last few weeks. Still they are convinced that 2006
is objectively promising for big progress and urge the Armenian and
Azeri authorities to work hard to this end.
“The results of the presidential talks in Rambouillet have forced
the OSCE MG co-chairs to review the positions of the conflicting
parties,” Azeri Deputy FM Araz Azimov says Mar 10. “The situation is
obviously hard, and the co-chairs should obviously refrain from any
statements. They have to – as they don’t want to risk. Any kind of
information by them now can make things worse or change their course,”
says Azimov. (Trend)
Zerkalo says: “Armenia is acting ‘the good boy.’ They openly say
they are ready to sign a peace agreement based on ‘the new Paris
principles,’ while the active opposition of mostly pro-Russian forces
to what the co-chairs propose proves that Russia is not very much
happy at this prospect.”
In fact, the MG-proposed agreement is good for Armenia. First, hardly
anybody in Moscow will now dare to call it “a Russian outpost”
in the South Caucasus. The country will now feel much freer to
go pro-American and get the consequent benefits: open border with
Turkey, multi-million free (unlike Azerbaijan) inflows in the economy,
no more financial responsibility for Karabakh. Financing Karabakh’s
“prosperity” will now be international donors and partly Azerbaijan –
for Russia is certainly not able or willing to do it.
Second, given the steadily worsening Russian-Georgian relations,
Armenia will thereby avoid a full transport blockade in case of a US
attack on Iran. That’s most probably why Armenia is holding top-secret
talks with the US for its involvement in the possible anti-Iranian
coalition, says Zerkalo with reference to reliable diplomatic sources.
What Armenia will have to give is what it can’t keep in any case –
the occupied districts around Nagorno Karabakh. But if viewed in
longer prospect, the “delayed referendum” scenario is not so very
good for Armenia – for it will just change its “master” rather than
become a part of a self-sufficient regional economic unit.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is forced to act “the bad boy” – a fact
indirectly confirmed by Azeri Deputy FM Araz Azimov, when he said that
the co-chairs’ “are restrained.” It is hardly a coincidence that their
first halt in the region will be Baku. This is also an indirect proof
that the Americans have more “problems” with Azerbaijan than with
Armenia. But given the reality of sanctions against Iran – including
military ones – the US may well increase its pressure on Baku…

BUZABOLYAN: CONVERGENCE IS CORE OF ALL MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
March 19 2006
Isfahan
The Archbishop of Armenian Christian Church Nerses Buzabolyan here on
Sunday stressed that the identical origin of all monotheistic faiths
is the element of convergence among all divine religions and said any
insult to the sanctities of each of them would hurt the feelings of
the followers of other faiths as well.
The archbishop made the remark in an interview with IRNA here
Sunday on the sidelines of the “Global Conference on Constructive
Interaction among Divine Religions: A Framework for International
order,” which opened here Saturday with participation of 160 scholars
from 40 countries.
Buzabolyan commented that the spiritual tenets, shared by all the
divine religions, provide them with a common background in that all the
religions, believing in God as the central part of their faith, share
the basic principle that the oneness of God means all human beings are
equipped with wisdom to “feel and see” the presence of God in every
moment of their lives. That, he added, would definitely prevent them
from committing such silly acts as undertaking sacrilegious actions
against any of the divine religions.
He further hailed the ongoing inter-faith dialogue conference as the
first preliminary step towards establishing dialogue among divine
religions because, he said, it would certainly help promote unity
and solidarity among followers of different faiths in a number of
practical ways.
He believed the interaction and exchange of views among scholars
during the event would help them remove walls and barriers and wipe
out many baseless and hollow prejudices.
Archbishop Buzabolyan went on to express hope that the present
gathering would encourage many other similar events in other countries
resulting in establishment of a lasting dialogue among religions.

ARMENIAN PROVOCATION IN SO-CALLED GENOCIDE MONUMENT PROTEST
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Zaman Online, Turkey
March 19 2006
Turks, who marched to protest the Lyon Municipal, which has decided
to build a so- called genocide monument in French Lyon city, came
across Armenian’s provocation.
French police released tear gas to stop Armenian teens from provoking
the immigrants. The teens unsuccessful in their attempt, continued
to aggravate the protesters throughout the march.
Small clashes occurred when Turkish protestors responded to the
provocations. The French Police managed to disperse the crowd again
with tear gas. The Turks walking from Bellecours to Terraux Square
put black garland in front of the Lyon Metropolitan Municipality.
Nearly four thousand people participated in the march in Rhones Alpes
region and folklore demonstrations were organized. The Turks carrying
Turk, French, and European Union flags chanted slogans such as: “We
did not kill, we were killed”, “Build peace monuments not hatred!”,
“Leave history to historians.” Some French environment associations
also opposed the monument that has been included in the World Heritage
list of UNESCO. The monument will be constructed in Lyon’s historical
center.

NEWSPAPER DISTRIBUTION LAW COULD SEVERELY RESTRICT CIRCULATION OF OPPOSITION TITLES IN ARMENIA
Caucaz, Georgia
March 19 2006
Yerevan, 19 March 2006 (Arpi Harutunian for IWPR – website) – Armenian
journalists are sounding the alarm over legislation that requires
newspaper delivery companies for the first time to apply for licenses.
Local activists say that the legislation, introduced by Armenia’s
parliament last year in the form of an amendment to existing laws
on mail service and tax regulations, is in fact a hidden form of
state censorship.
“The journalistic community and public organisations of Armenia are
trying to stop this law,” Boris Navasardian, chairman of the Yerevan
Press Club, told IWPR. “Otherwise, we will have to admit that it is
one more mechanism for secret censorship.”
The legislation stipulates that firms pay 11,000 US dollars per year
in order to receive licenses for the right to deliver newspapers.
This requirement will bankrupt many small independent delivery
companies, say observers, and place the country’s newspaper
distribution service firmly in the hands of two state-connected
enterprises, Haipost, Armenia’s postal service, and Haimamul, the
main kiosk vendor.
Haipost, as a self-financing closed joint-stock company, is nominally
independent. However, since all of its shares belong to the state,
it is considered to be closely linked to the government.
Haimamul for its part is fully independent, though its origins indicate
close state ties. The firm was established in 1939 as Soviet Armenia’s
sole concern handling newspaper subscriptions and delivery.
Today it is the largest single distributor, and with about 400 kiosks
and 7,223 subscribers, one of the few that reaches all the country’s
regions.
Rather than censoring the newspapers outright, say media professionals,
government officials can instead pressure these two companies to
prevent publications with offending content from reaching the public,
especially in rural areas.
“I have the impression that the Armenian government is doing
all it can, and even what it cannot, in order to reduce newspaper
dissemination as much as possible,” said Hakob Avetikian, editor in
chief of the daily Azg. “They want to reduce the amount of undesirable
information to the public.”
The critics point to a number of incidents where Haimaimul failed
to distribute certain publications. In October, 2002, for example,
4,600 copies of the Aravot opposition newspapers disappeared from
Haimamul’s kiosks.
Aravot editors’ say that the incident was tied to an article which
was critical of Hrach Abgarian, former adviser to Armenian prime
minister Andranik Margarian.
Members of the Yerevan Press Club and other public organisations say
the new legislation violates human rights and have sent a letter
to parliament demanding the law be changed. IWPR has learned that
the opposition United Labour Party has thrown its weight behind
the initiative.
Press club officials say that the laws violate Article 10 of European
Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 19 of
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as Article 24 of the
Armenian constitution, guaranteeing the right to free expression.
“If we are members of the Council of Europe and if we speak about
European integration, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press,
then we should reject licensing of the media,” said Armen Davtian,
director of the Blitz independent media distribution company, who
compared the situation with licensing of press distribution in Armenia
to that in authoritarian Belarus.
The new legislation comes into force just as a number of small,
independent companies have sprung up to challenge Haipost and
Haimamul’s near-monopoly over distribution.
Last year, for example, the US-funded Eurasia Foundation and George
Soros’ Open Society Institute awarded grants to five companies under
a programme to support alternative distribution channels and improve
delivery to rural areas.
Eurasia officials say that very few of Armenia’s daily newspapers
reach the country’s villages, where much of the population resides.
Some remote towns do not receive a single newspaper, they say.
“Our aim was to create stable companies that would lead to the
weakening of the monopoly of Haipost and Haimamul and become
alternative companies in the newspaper market,” Alisa Alaverdian,
Eurasia’s external relations coordinator, told IWPR.
Now, however, because of the new legislation, these enterprises are
under threat of closure.
Tax officials have paid several visits to the heads of the Blitz
Media Company, one of the new distributors, demanding that they either
suspend their activities or pay for a license.
“I pay annual 1,500 dollars in income tax, and according to what
I know, other small organisations that work in this sphere pay
approximately the same amount,” said Blitz director Davtian. “There
is no logic in this fixed sum of 11 thousand dollars for the license.”
Haikaz Simikian, head of the Simikian distribution company in
Vanadzor with 700 subscribers, one of the five firms to receive
Eurasia Foundation and OSI’s grants, said it’s likely to close if
they pay the license fee.
“This amount is absurd,” said Simikian. “We won’t have any income
under such conditions.”
Eurasia Foundation officials agree that the law comes at a very
untimely moment. “As a result of [our] programme, the circulation of
some newspapers grew significantly,” said Marina Mkhitarian, Eurasia’s
programme coordinator. “[This continued] until the distribution
companies encountered problems with taxation bodies because of their
lack of licenses.”
Government officials for their part defend the legislation by saying
that it in no way restricts the dissemination of the news. Delivery
is being licensed, not subscription, they say, and the law will
strengthen the distribution system and regulate deliveries, especially
to rural areas.
Tamara Ghalechian, spokesperson for the ministry of transport and
communications, said that the high license fee will help weed out
the field and assure that only companies that can provide the best
services will be involved in newspaper delivery.
“The state is establishing a regulating mechanism for companies which
are responsible for organising subscriptions, Ghalechian told IWPR.
Many do not buy this explanation, however. “What sense is there in
subscription, if there is no delivery?” asked Blitz distribution
company head Davtian.
Haipost officials guarantees that the company’s 904 post offices will
deliver all newspapers in a timely manner, even those to far-flung
regions. “We deliver newspapers to subscribers even in the most remote
villages,” said Haipost spokesperson Astghik Martirosian.
Martirosian supports the new legislation whole-heartedly. “If the state
believes that we need such a law, this means that we indeed need it,”
he said.
Interestingly, despite the benefits that their company will allegedly
reap, Haimamul officials say that they are opposed to the law. “The
number of newspapers is already very small and they do not reach
residents in the regions,” said Haimamul executive director Arshaluis
Manukian.
“Laws like this will lead to the total isolation of rural residents
from any information, since companies with small budgets will be
unable to pay and will have to halt their activities,” he said,
calling the legislation “the product of a morbid imagination”.
Arpi Harutunian is a reporter with weekly in
Yerevan. Seda Muradyan, IWPR’s Armenia coordinator, also contributed
to this article.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SPEAKING TO THE SPEAKER
By Matthew DeFour
Staff writer
Political demonstrations in Batavia have increased since Dennis Hastert
became Speaker of the House and the country went to war in Iraq.
BATAVIA – On the eve of the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq,
an undercurrent of political dissent stirs hundreds of miles from
Washington in the shadows of a sleepy Fox River Valley town.
Empty boots line the streets, crosses and coffins memorialize those
killed in the conflict, and citizens prepare to march with banners
and slogans in opposition to the war.
It’s an unfamiliar scene in most Valley communities, but this
particular town hosts the district office of U.S. Speaker of the
House Dennis Hastert, and increasingly since his ascension to that
position in 1999, the Batavia office has become a lightning rod of
political activism.
Though political demonstrators have been coming to Hastert’s office at
27 N. River St. for more than a decade, the most recent war protests
marked the first weeklong demonstration in the city’s history.
As opposition to the war increases and President Bush’s approval
ratings plummet in the buildup to a pivotal midterm election season,
many have begun to wonder what it takes to turn the political tide.
A political dialogue
Hastert himself doesn’t disguise his distaste for political
demonstrators who he believes target his office in order “to grab a
little press.”
“If a constituent has an issue, they can walk into my office anytime,”
Hastert said. “If people want to catch my ear, they should sit down
and talk with me. When people show up and try to bully their way in,
you have to try extra hard to be appreciative of their point of view.”
Hastert’s staff meets with constituents on a daily basis, which is the
primary purpose for the Batavia office. Sometimes Hastert learns more
about constituent concerns, as was the case last month when he sat
down with 16 local Hispanic leaders to talk about immigration issues.
“Whether a constituent agrees or disagrees with the Congressman’s
position, we feel it is our job to explain why he believes what
he believes and to hear from them the reason for their position,”
Hastert spokesman Brad Hahn said. “Ultimately, Congressman Hastert
does what he believes is right for his constituents and the country.
That does not change because people hold demonstrations.”
In the past, some demonstrators have been invited inside to sit down
with staff and discuss issues. But ever since an anti-war group in
2003 refused to leave the speaker’s office until they were put in
direct contact with the congressman, the office has been wary of
groups that rally with an agenda.
“Our rule of thumb is we want to sit down and exchange information and
ideas with our constituents,” Hahn said. “When the intent is simply
to embarrass the congressman or get publicity for a group or a cause,
we will not participate in that.”
Issue by issue
The degree of wariness tends to wobble, however, depending on the
issue.
Last year, a representative for the office came out to speak about
Aurora Beacon News, IL March 19 2006
specific legislation to a group holding a prayer vigil for Terry
Schiavo, the brain-dead Florida woman who became the focus of a
national right-to-life debate. In 2003, following the invasion of Iraq,
the Speaker issued a written statement to a group that had organized a
“support our troops” rally.
Many demonstrators, however, whether protesting the war or calling
for the recognition of Armenian genocide, are not greeted by anyone
from the office and must deliver letters through a Batavia police
officer standing guard at the front door.
Even those who do gain access feel their viewpoint is heard but not
taken seriously.
“Congressman Hastert is very nonresponsive to anyone who he does not
agree with,” said Mary Shesgreen, chairman of Fox Valley Citizens
for Peace and Justice, which has participated in the last week of
anti-war demonstrations.
“Over all the years that I have been calling and writing Dennis
Hastert’s office, I don’t believe I have ever had any evidence that
my calls or letters or visits to his office made the slightest bit
of difference in the way he votes.”
Mobilizing against the war
Shesgreen, of Elgin, has met with Hastert’s staff as well as
participated in a number of demonstrations throughout the years,
but her most impassioned endeavor has been calling for the troops
in Iraq to come home – a position she believes she shares with the
majority of the American people.
But she hasn’t always represented the popular view. Even before the
Iraq conflict, Shesgreen decried the war in Afghanistan, which even
Democratic leaders have continued to defend while criticizing the
Iraq war as a distraction from the broader war on terror.
In February 2003, as the United States was preparing to invade Iraq,
Shesgreen helped organize hundreds of people to protest the war, but
after the bombs began to fall on March 20, the nation came together
to support the president’s decision, as evidenced by the 150 people
who attended the “support our troops rally” at Hastert’s office,
compared with only a dozen war protesters, including Shesgreen.
“Once the war started, our numbers dwindled because people thought it
was a done deal,” Shesgreen said. “Now the participation is increasing
because they sense the tide turning.”
Shesgreen said the anti-war mood has been strong in downtown Batavia
this past week, with tremendous support from passers-by. Many people
have been waving from their cars and signing a petition to bring the
troops home.
The attitude is markedly different than when military mother-turned-war
protester Cindy Sheehan visited the Fox Valley last year. Shesgreen
said she contacted Hastert’s office about setting up a meeting between
Sheehan and the Speaker or his staff, but the office refused.
The reason Shesgreen continues to rally at Hastert’s office is
because it is the only local representation of power from the
nation’s capital. She also believes political demonstrations have the
potential to effect change, like last year’s demonstration against
the privatization of Social Security.
“President Bush’s attempt to privatize Social Security got squelched
and it got squelched by public opinion across the country,” Shesgreen
said. “The public demonstrations throughout the country against the
privatization of Social Security did succeed, although that fight
isn’t over yet.”
Speaking the truth
The Social Security protest at Hastert’s office was organized by
another veteran of Batavia political demonstrations: William McNary,
president of Citizen Action Illinois and co-director of its national
counterpart USAction.
McNary’s organization has promoted a national progressive agenda
through lobbying, candidate endorsements and demonstrations.
And he considers a demonstration outside Hastert’s office as the
event that catapulted his organization from nearly imploding in 1996
to its current membership of 3 million people in 24 states.
In September 1999, about 40 seniors bused to Batavia from Chicago
chanted slogans like, “Don’t sell seniors down the river,” and “Don’t
push seniors into HMOs,” as they vented their frustrations about
high-price prescription drugs and expensive managed-care premiums.
Two months later, more than 250 demonstrators returned to Hastert’s
Batavia office as part of a USAction conference in Chicago, once
again demanding prescription drug coverage for seniors.
Last year, President Bush passed Medicare reform with provisions for
prescription drug coverage. Though McNary said he still disagrees
with many of the specifics of the Medicare plan, he believes his
organization was instrumental in promoting a national discussion.
“It surely helps to have a disciplined message,” McNary said. “There
are a lot of people that are mad at this administration and are
mad at the Republican leadership. When these people get together,
the message is ‘angry people mad at Republicans.'”
McNary admits that one of the main purposes of the political rallies
is to draw attention to an underrepresented viewpoint, and if the
Speaker of the House isn’t listening, the media and the general public
often are.

A NEW YORK STATE OF GRACE
By Gretchen Fletcher
special correspondent
Sun-Sentinel, Florida
March 19 2006
One woman’s search for faith in the big city.
Granted, New York City is not known as a Mecca for pilgrims. If one
wanted to be a “traveler for religious reasons,” as the dictionary
defines the term, it would make better sense to go to one of the
new megachurches, perhaps in California, Texas, or somewhere in the
southern Bible Belt. But I was going to New York, and wondered if I
could find a place of inspiration and reverence.
My first stop was at MOBiA, the Museum of Bible Art. It occupies the
second floor of the American Bible Society near Columbus Circle.
There was an exhibit of primitive art by southern Christian artists
and one of ancient texts. I walked through the exhibit, “For Glory
and Beauty,” looking at some of the earliest written texts of the
Bible, goatskin scrolls and hand-illuminated manuscripts on vellum,
forerunners of the Gutenberg Bible I had seen the day before on
exhibit at the Public Library.
Leaving the museum, I thought the obvious place to go would be the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which I remembered from a childhood
trip as being awesome in the true sense of the word. The cathedral
wasn’t finished then, and it isn’t finished now. Its facade is still
shrouded in scaffolding, 113 years after its cornerstone was laid.
I had forgotten that shortly after 9-11 we had watched on TV as New
York’s fatigued firefighters struggled to carry hoses through the nave
to put out a fire we hoped was not the next wave of terrorism in the
city. It had actually been started by faulty wiring in the gift shop,
resulting in the fact that there was no gift shop open now, four years
later. Nor was the whole cathedral open to visitors; behind the altar
a blank, dark gray wall sealed off the once-beautiful apse, chancel,
and transept while they are being cleaned of soot and smoke damage.
I walked around what remained to be seen of the chapels in the
side bays, reading the guide sheet. The cathedral, Episcopal
in denomination, has something for everyone in its fervor to be
ecumenical. Hanging from the apex of the stone arches is a circle
of silk streamers (red, yellow, black and white), symbolizing the
races of man. American Indians are represented by a medicine wheel
of elk hide, wood and feathers hanging above the chapel dedicated
to athletes. The bronze statue of a buffalo in that chapel speaks of
strength as well as of the American West. Jews are represented with
a statue memorializing victims of the Holocaust who died at Auschwitz.
It stands in the Missionary Bay with memorials for Armenians,
victims of the Ottoman Empire’s genocide, and for Muslims who died
in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s.
Two of the most touching chapels are the ones housing the Medicine
Bay and the Labor Bay. The former holds a book of remembrance in
which are recorded names of those who have died of AIDS, read every
month in the worship service. The latter holds the Fireman’s Memorial,
which honors 12 firefighters who died in a fire in lower Manhattan in
1966. Of course, since then, grieving visitors have placed mementoes
of the 9-11 firefighters.
All this said, I still viewed the Cathedral, the largest Gothic
structure in the world, as more of a tourist attraction than a place to
“find religion.” The guide told me I could catch a bus on the corner
of Amsterdam and 110th that would take me right to the Cloisters (my
next stop). “Be sure you stop for a torte or coffee at the Hungarian
Pastry Shop across the street,” he said. “It’s been the setting in
several movies, including Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives.”
I admired the baked goods in the cases and ordered a Hungarian coffee,
which I drank while watching students from nearby Columbia University
tapping away on laptops. Then I went out to wait for the bus to the
Cloisters. I knew it would be a long trip, but I wasn’t expecting it
to take an hour.
The trip was worth the $1.50 in quarters, though, as it was an
opportunity to visit what I think of as the best “museum” in the city:
streets and neighborhoods full of people. My fellow passengers on this
summer morning were all young moms and dads escorting tots wearing
backpacks, talking about the day camps they were headed for.
The Cloisters, at the northern tip of Manhattan, is an off-campus
extension of the Metropolitan Museum. On land purchased by John D.
Rockefeller Jr., are reconstructed medieval chapels and monasteries
brought stone by stone from France and Spain. The Gothic and Romanesque
setting includes a room hung with the famous Unicorn tapestries whose
colors seem so vibrant it’s hard to believe they were woven around the
time Columbus was trying to get financing from Ferdinand and Isabella.
Surely I would have found inspiration here among the gardens and
fountains had I not been meeting a friend who broke the peace with
a litany of worries about health, finances and the state of the Union.
“Look,” I said. Across the courtyard from us a young priest in
clerical collar was attempting to lure sparrows to take bread from
his hand stretched out on the stone wall. A modern-day St. Francis,
he restored peace to the place.
The next day I was meeting another friend for lunch on second Avenue
and had just enough time to stop in at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the
corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street. Surely, I would find what I
was looking for there — a moment of inspiration and reverence. But
first, of course, I couldn’t resist running into Saks. Then I picked
my way through the summer crowds on the cathedral steps, tourists with
tired feet and shopkeepers and office workers eating Sabrett hot dogs.
St. Pat’s looked just as I remembered it, even from the days when
my 6-year-old son had sat in a pew there and said, while craning
his neck to look up at the Gothic arches, “Whoever made this must
have been really creative!” Creative, yes. But I guess I was too
familiar with its beauty to feel much inspiration. Plus crowds of
shorts-clad tourists were wandering around with cameras, hardly
creating a reverent atmosphere.
I wished I were going to be in the city on a Sunday, as I had been
the year before when a friend took me to a Lutheran jazz service in
the church beneath the CityCorp Building. There, as her husband’s
trio played Body and Soul during Communion, street people, attracted
by the wailing clarinet, peered down at us through the window behind
the altar.
I walked on toward my appointed lunch, thinking that my visit to the
city was coming to an end and I had not found what I could call a
“religious experience.” On the corner of Park Avenue and 51st I saw
“Cafe St. Bart,” situated next to the Romanesque St. Bartholomew’s
church, with a dome and rose window. A notice board in front said:
SUMMER FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC
SUNDAY AT 11 AM
MASS FOR FOUR VOICES
WILLIAM BYRD
How I wished I could come back to hear that!
I stepped into the dark church. In front of the gilded altar stood a
small group of people wearing shorts and holding open red books. I knew
right away what this was: a rehearsal for the concert! How lucky could
I be? I slid into a hard, straight-backed pew for my own concert under
the Byzantine half-dome filled with a gold leaf and glass mosaic of
the Transfiguration with Christ in the center, arms outstretched. This
was what I been looking for. I had “found religion” in New York City.
Of course, I stopped in the gift shop in the narthex on my way out.
The saleslady said she came into the city every day from New Jersey
just to be in the church she loves so much and is so proud of. When
I asked about the cafe next door, she told me that its revenue helps
to defray the maintenance expenses of the church. She wanted to tell
me all of the church’s history, including the fact that Leopold
Stokowski, who went on to a career as one of the world’s great
conductors, was brought from Europe by St. Bartholomew’s to direct
its choir, establishing the church’s reputation as a place for good
music. Their Summer Festival of Sacred Music features works by Bach,
Bernstein and Byrd as well as Faure, Vierne and Kodaly. I could be
perfectly happy spending my whole summer vacation in their sanctuary,
eating all my meals in their Cafe St. Bart. That being impossible,
of course, I bought a CD of the Byrd Mass the choir had sung just
for me, the best souvenir of a trip I ever bought.
Gretchen Fletcher’s last story for Travel was on Newburyport, Mass.
She lives in Fort Lauderdale.