Congress of world Azeris sets ambitious plans for future
Turan news agency
16 Mar 06
Baku, 16 March: The second congress of Azerbaijanis of the world is
over. The congress adopted several documents.
The congress considered it expedient to prepare a concept of the
diaspora’s activities. For a period to the third congress, it was
proposed to pay a special attention to the following issues:
consolidation of Azerbaijani communities abroad; setting up of
congresses of Azerbaijanis in America and Asia; setting up of the
world organization of Azerbaijanis; expansion of representation of
Azerbaijanis in foreign parliaments, state and municipal bodies;
holding a joint forum of Azerbaijani and Turkish diaspora
organizations; intensification of cooperation with the media;
organization of Sunday schools and other education and cultural
facilities; involvement of businessmen in the implementation of
social and economic projects in Azerbaijan.
A decision was taken to hold a congress of Azerbaijanis of the world
every five years. A sitting of the coordination council of
Azerbaijanis of the world will be held every year.
The congress urged that the Azerbaijanis of the world unite. The
congress appealed to international organizations, foreign
parliaments, heads of state and government over the Karabakh
conflict. The document urges them to denounce Armenia’s aggressive
separatism.
The congress sent an appeal to UNESCO, informing the organization
about damage inflicted to Azerbaijan by the Armenian occupation of
Azerbaijani territories.
The congress elected the president of the Azerbaijani National
Academy, Mahmud Karimov, as chairman of the board of the organizing
council.
[Trend news agency, Baku, in Russian 1842 gmt 16 Mar 06 reported that
the congress elected Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev as chairman
of the coordinating council of the Azerbaijanis of the world]

AMD 2MLN TO BE TARGETED FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 17 2006
STEPANAKERT, March 17. /ARKA/. AMD 2mln is to be spent from
Nagorno-Karabakh state budget for tourism development in the republic,
NKR Regional Administration Minister Armo Tsaturyan said Friday in
an interview with Azat Artsakh newspaper. In his words, advertising
system is planned to be created in the republic as part of the program.
Tsaturyan said the ministry started recently cooperating with Armenian
Tourism Development Agency. Besides, Karabakhi agency of development
is working now on creating proper database. M.V. -0–

AZERBAIJAN’S POLITICAL LEADERS RESPONSIBLE FOR FAILED
KOCHARYAN-ALIYEV MEETING, CDU LEADER STATES
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 17 2006
YEREVAN, March 17. /ARKA/. The Azerbaijani political leaders are fully
responsible for the unsuccessful meeting between Robert Kocharyan
and Ilkham Aliyev, Chairman of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU)
Khosrov Harutyunyan told reporters.
According to him, in his public speeches both before and after the
Rambouillet meeting the Azerbaijani leader repeatedly stated that
Azerbaijan is not going to make concessions and does not an alternative
to a military settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“Thus, the full responsibility for the failure in the negotiations
rests with Azerbaijan,” Harutyunyan said.
He stated that, in contrast to Azerbaijan, official Yerevan,
represented by RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, stated its
readiness to continue the negotiations and seek possible ways of
resolving the problem.
On February 10-11, 2006, Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents, Robert
Kocharyan and Ilkham Aliyev held negotiations over the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem in Rambouillet, France. OSCE Minsk Group representatives and
French President Jacque Chirac participated in the negotiations as
well. P.T. -0–

Russia presents Georgia with timetable for removal of military hardware in 2006
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
17 Mar 06
[Presenter] Moscow has presented Georgia with a timetable for the
withdrawal of 358 pieces of hardware from Georgian territory between
12 May and 18 August 2006. One hundred and thirteen tanks will be
removed by sea, while 369 pieces of heavy armour will be relocated
to the Gyumri base in Armenia [figures as heard]. Georgia has even
built a special platform in Tsalka.
Russia has also presented Georgia with a list of items which will be
disposed of on Georgian territory.
[Mamuka Kudava, deputy defence minister] Already by the end of March
they will present us with more detailed information on the hardware
to be removed by the end of 2006 and a precise timetable, which is
very important.
We also hope that the handover to the Ministry of Defence of facilities
not belonging to Russian bases will continue.

ARMENIA SHOULD RETAIN POSITIVE SHIFTS ACHIEVED DURING SUMMIT IN RAMBOUILLET
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
March 17 2006
YEREVAN. March 17. /ARKA/. Armenia should retain the positive shifts
achieved during the summit in Rambouillet, RA Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan stated in an interview to the Second Armenian TV channel.
“The process that began from the moment of the last summit of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in France became a positive
incentive for the further settlement to the Karabakh conflict,”
Oskanyan said.
On February 10-11 negotiations between Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev over the Karabakh settlement were held in
the Paris suburb Rambouillet. R.O. -0–

EDITORIAL AMERICANS MUST SPEAK UP TO STOP DARFUR GENOCIDE
by Trudy Rubin
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News – The Olympian
March 16, 2006 Thursday
PHILADELPHIA — Can an individual do anything to stop a genocide?
Let’s hope so, because governments certainly aren’t doing much. Two
years after Sudan began a genocidal slaughter in Darfur province, the
killing of black African Muslims by black Arab Muslims continues. No
government seems willing or able to force Sudan to stop.
The Bush administration calls this killing by its rightful name —
genocide — but has yet to use the kind of political muscle that
might stop it. So it is left to ordinary individuals to act. Think
you can’t do anything? Former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle thinks you
must. He photographed Darfur’s horrors, and the images are driving
him crazy. He wants a million Americans to write to President Bush
and urge him to ensure that a strong multinational force is sent to
Darfur. Steidle, 29, was one of three U.S. military observers
assigned to the African Union, which has a toothless force of 7,000
monitors in Darfur. The monitors are permitted only to observe a
nonexistent cease-fire. Steidle went to this killing field in
September 2004 armed only with a pen, pad and camera; he took more
than 1,000 photos. The ex-Marine had no doubt who was to blame for
the carnage, which has killed about 180,000 in the past three years
and driven 2 million Darfurians from their homes. The Sudanese
government, in an effort to crush Darfur rebels, sent in its army
along with an Arab militia known as the janjaweed. Their goal: to
“cleanse” Darfur of its ethnic African population. But Steidle’s
reports to the AU disappeared down a black hole. So he quit in
February 2005, went home, met the media and found sympathetic
legislators who displayed his photos. He even met senior Bush
officials. “But I couldn’t get the administration to listen,” he
says. So he decided to approach the public directly. He wants you to
lobby for a U.N. force that would protect civilians in Darfur. He is
touring 22 cities in a campaign backed by Jewish, Armenian,
mainstream Protestant, evangelical and other groups that will
culminate in an anti-genocide demonstration April 30 in Washington,
D.C. The goal: to get 1 million Americans to send this message to the
White House: “Dear President Bush: During your first year in the
White House, you wrote in the margins of a report on the Rwandan
genocide, ‘Not on my watch.’ I urge you to live up to those words by
using the power of your office to support a stronger multinational
force to protect the civilians of Darfur.” (You can send the message
via e-mail or order preprinted postcards at )
Sudan is lobbying the Security Council to block a U.N. force. China,
which buys Sudanese oil, is opposed, as are Russia and Qatar, the
current Arab representative on the council. Steidle believes that a
U.N. force can be achieved but that “it would take a lot of
leadership from the United States.” The White House has yet to show
that leadership, despite the President’s fine words. What’s needed
now is grassroots pressure on the White House. One million postcards
and 1 million people in the Capitol on April 30 might motivate the
Bush team to lean harder on the AU, Sudan, China and Russia to
approve a U.N. force. Such pressure would also demonstrate that there
are people who refuse to tolerate genocide, even if most of the world
ignores it. Brian Steidle wants to show that one person can make a
difference. But he can succeed only if, one by one, other Americans
join in.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANCIENT MEDICAL PRACTICE OPENS WORLD OF CULTURE
China daily.China
March 17, 2006 Friday
Seven years ago, Gayane Tsaturyan came to Beijing from Armenia hoping
to fulfil her childhood dream of helping others through medicine. She
is moving closer to her dream as her graduation from Beijing University
of Chinese Medicine is coming up in August. In the meantime, the
22-year-old student is working as an intern at Dongzhimen Hospital
in Beijing’s Dongcheng District.
>>From the first day she worked at the outpatient wards last November,
she attracted the attention of curious patients as well as many funny
incidents, she told China Daily.
“They took me as a foreigner at first sight, but later on they would
rather believe I was an Uygur from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region, Northwest China,” said Tsaturyan.
In the mind of those patients, she explained, they don’t believe
that a foreigner can serve as a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
doctor in a Chinese hospital.
This gives her supervisor extra work to explain several times a
day that the quasi-Xinjiang woman is actually an intern student
from Armenia.
“However, they didn’t expect that I could understand nearly every
word they said about me, like my big nose, fair skin and deep eyes,”
said Tsaturyan with a laugh. “They chatted in public with each other
while I was walking by. I picked up Chinese because I wanted to
study TCM.” Language course To learn TCM, she said people must study
Chinese language well. It is through TCM that the world of culture
and language opened up for her, allowing her to know China and its
people more intimately along with the ancient traditional medical
practice. Tsaturyan came to China in 1999 at the age of 16 and entered
the Beijing Language and Culture University to undergo two years’
intensive Chinese language training. Unlike many foreigners who fear
Chinese, Tsaturyan said she enjoys it.
“The Chinese characters look very beautiful,” she said. “Writing
characters is just like drawing pictures.” To enrich her understanding
of Chinese characters, she signed up for a calligraphy course,
learning how to use the soft brush and black ink to write Chinese
characters and strictly following the traditional routine.
“Calligraphy helps me deepen my understanding of the basic the
structure of Chinese characters, like different dots and strokes,”
said Tsaturyan. “The more complicated structure a character has, the
more beautiful it looks.” In her eyes, the classic Chinese characters
look prettier than the simplified ones. She dislikes memorizing a
new word by rote, however. So, she tries to catch it in contexts. She
owed this good habit to her Chinese teachers.
“They taught me Chinese simply in a pure Chinese environment,” she
recalled. “Though they could speak English, they never used it in
teaching Chinese. They use gestures to help us understand meanings.”
She still remembers her teacher’s gestures at her first Chinese class.
“My teacher acted as if throwing something out, to let us understand
the word of xiake (dismissal when class is over), and then we realized
that we could leave,” she said. “Gesturers are way more important than
anything else in the initial phase.” Rich body language, accompanied
with several commonly-used Chinese words like zhege (this), nage
(that) and duoshaoqian (How much it costs), she recalled, helped her
handle routines in Beijing.
However, she had trouble making out the right tones of the Chinese
characters with the same pronunciation.
“Taxi drivers drove me to the wrong place, simply because I couldn’t
utter the right tone as perfectly as Chinese,” she said.
To get more interaction with the Chinese, she went out of the small
campus and registered in a salsa dancing course at a club named Latino
Fly. Now she has been learning salsa for almost a year.
“In this dancing course, I meet with people of different ages and
jobs,” said Tsaturyan.
Besides dancing together, she said she may chat with them during the
break and even travel with them during holidays.
Medical studies She began to study TCM in the fall of 2001. For
Tsaturyan, Chinese language learning is much easier than TCM study.
“Though I could use Chinese in my daily life after two years study,
I understood almost nothing when I took the first medicine course,”
she said. “Chinese in the field of TCM is much more complicated than
the daily Chinese.” Courses like Fundamentals of TCM and Ancient
Literature in Medicine are filled with jargon like yin and yang
(the negative and the positive in nature), wuxing (the earth’s five
fundamental elements), and qi (vital energy), said Tsaturyan.
To tackle these abstruse words, Tsaturyan bought dictionaries
specialized in TCM and looked up those new words one by one.
“The dictionary is a treasure full of knowledge,” said Tsaturyan.
“With the help of the dictionary, I can improve my understanding of
Chinese as well as Chinese medicine by myself.” The language difficulty
also lies in names of Chinese herbal medicines. “There are too many
herbal medicines in awkward-sounding Chinese characters,” she said.
“We must memorize the medical function of each one, and combine them
into a subscription for patients in the manner of TCM like feeling the
pulse, watching colours of the upper side of the tongue, and asking
about the previously-contracted disease of patients.” She added that
foreigners may encounter the language barrier along with the great
difference in beliefs.
“To study TCM well, I have to change many things that I had believed
before I came to China,” she explained. “The philosophy in religion
and biology that I accepted as truth are in sharp contrast with the
fundamental ideas promoted by TCM.” Six and a half years of living
in China, she said, has made her feel that she has already turned
from a foreigner into a native Beijinger. “I am afraid that I may
miss China very much after I go back to Armenia,” she revealed.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 17, 2006 Friday
PEACE IS FORCED ON BAKU AND YEREVAN
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, March 15, 2006, p. 4
Washington needs a bridgehead of stability in the southern part of
the Caucasus to deal with Iran
by Sokhbet Magomedov
AMERICA’S INSISTENCE ON A SETTLEMENT OF THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
IN 2006 HAS AN EXPLANATION; Washington insists on a solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem this year already.
The visit of US Undersecretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Daniel
Freed and Stephen Mann, American chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group for
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, to Baku ended yesterday. The
Americans met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov and
were granted an audience with President Ilham Aliyev. Nothing is
reported on what transpired at the meetings and talks. Mann only said
that the sides discussed continuation of talks over the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
The guests left Azerbaijan for Baku. They also intend to visit
Armenia. The American diplomats’ visits to Baku and Yerevan take
place when the Karabakh talks are in a cul-de-sac and when presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan threaten to resume the hostilities.
The cease-fire regime is broken practically every day, both
servicemen and noncombatants die and that does not make the whole
mess any easier to sort out. Needless to say, this state of affairs
worries OSCE intermediaries who spare neither time nor effort to keep
Baku and Yerevan from escalation of the hostilities.
Commenting on the highly volatile situation, US Ambassador in
Azerbaijan Rino Harnisch told journalists that “deaths occurring on
the front line show that the conflict is anything but over.” The
American diplomat said quite emphatically that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict “should be settled by negotiations only.” Wishing that the
recent meeting between presidents Aliyev and Robert Kocharjan in
France had been more productive, Harnisch emphasized the necessity of
regular negotiations between the leaders of the two states and
activization of intermediaries.
The American diplomat’s categorical tone matched the statement made
by intermediaries in the wake of the March 7-8 meeting in Washington.
Most Azerbaijani analysts believe that the insistence of world powers
and first and foremost the United States on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement in 2006 exactly, has an ulterior motive. Political
scientist Anar Safikhanov is convinced that “the matter concerns the
mounting tension over the Iranian nuclear program.” “It is this
factor precisely that is making international intermediaries and
first and foremost the United States frantic. Now that things are
rapidly progressing to isolation of the “obstinate” Iran, the United
States needs peace and stability in the southern part of the
Caucasus. The Americans view the republics here and particularly
Azerbaijan as a bridgehead – either for isolation of Tehran or for
actual military strikes at this country,” Safikhanov said.
Effectiveness of Freed’s and Mann’s mission will depend on what
Washington intends to offer to Yerevan and Baku. The Americans will
be discussing the same matter with the Armenian leadership later this
week.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 17, 2006 Friday
GYUMRUI: WE CAME TO STAY
Source: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 10, March 15 – 21, 2006, p. 4
Translated by A. Ignatkin
Arms and military hardware withdrawn from Georgia will go to the
102nd Military Base
by Oleeg Falichev
THE RUSSIAN-ARMENIAN MILITARY COOPERATION IS FRUITFUL; An update on
Armenia, Russia’s strategic partner beyond the Caucasus Range.
There is a country beyond the Caucasus Range that unlike Georgia is a
bona fide strategic partner of Russia. This is Armenia. Russia and
Armenia signed Treaty on friendship, cooperation, and mutual
assistance (August 29, 1997). Both countries are signatories of the
Collective Security Treaty. The 102nd Russian Military Base is
quartered in Armenia and the border with Turkey and Iran is manned by
Russian border guards. President Vladimir Putin and Robert Kocharjan
proclaimed 2006, the Year of Armenia in Russia.
Armenian historians and politicians are out to have the international
community and first and foremost Turkey recognize genocide of the
Armenians in 1915.
Turkey convened several international conferences on genocide of the
Armenians in the Osmanian Empire not long ago. It indicates
recognition in Turkey of the fact that the process acknowledgement of
the genocide even by the countries like Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia
that do not boast of large Armenian diasporas cannot be stopped
anymore. Moreover, normal relations with all neighbors is one of the
requirements for membership in the European Union Ankara has coveted.
All the same, Turkey’s stand on the matter remains unchanged. It does
not even intend to open the border with Armenia, a fact that cannot
help affecting the situation in the region.
The situation on the border with Iran is much better. On the other
hand, the international situation Iran is in nowadays may
automatically generate problems for Armenia should the United States
decide to strike at Iran. It is therefore necessary to understand
Armenia’s interests. It does not appear however, that the Armenian
leadership is giving any thought to the matter even though a great
deal will depend on Armenia’s position in escalation of the
American-Iranian conflict. After all, Armenia is the territory that
may be used for the strike at Iran. No wonder the Americans are
discussing the use of the territory of Azerbaijan with official Baku.
As a matter of fact, neither is it possible nowadays to predict all
consequences of appearance of peacekeepers in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict area. In short, there are lots of reasons that might turn
Armenia into an arena of regional wars – not to mention possibility
of a war in Nagorno-Karabakh itself where battalions stand poised and
ready…
Tension is rapidly mounting in yet another area close to Armenia. The
matter concerns Djavakhetia in Georgia, a region with an ethnic
Armenian population, Russian troops are leaving nowadays. The
Armenian are forced to leave too. There will be no jobs to be found
in Akhalkalaki once the Russians are gone. Ashot Melkonjan, Director
of the Institute of History, is convinced that the security concept
of the Republic of Armenia must account for the problem of
Djavakhetia too.
The Armenian population of Samtskhe-Djavakhetia regularly brought up
the matter of the status of autonomy after 1992, and inevitably
encountered all sorts of difficulties and obstacles. As for the
Russian base in Akhalkalaki (a district center in Djavakhetia) it is
about to be withdrawn. NATO troops will probably move in once the
Russian military is gone and they may include a Turkish contingent.
Deputy Premier and Defense Minister, Sergei Ivanov, visited Yerevan
in early 2006. Russian contracts for enterprises in Armenia turned
over to Russia for debts were discussed.
Ivanov visited the 102nd Military Base as well and said that
everything possible was done to improve combat readiness of the
Russian-Armenian army group within the framework of the bilateral
military cooperation. “Military-technical cooperation is successful
as well,” Ivanov said.
Armenian officers and trainees are being trained in Russian military
academies and colleges free of charge as of January 1, 2005. They
number almost 500 men nowadays. Now that Russia is withdrawing
military hardware from Georgia, it is common knowledge that some of
them will be moved to the 102nd Military Base. It does not mean that
all of that will remain in Armenia for good. The assumption that
Russia is arming its ally is incorrect. After all, blockade of
railroads has a disruptive effect on supplies to the Russian base in
Armenia and therefore on combat training. Munitions are at high
premium, saved whenever possible even in the course of live fire
practice.
The 1997 Treaty, between Russia and Armenia was followed by 45
military treaties between our countries (15 international, 20
treaties between governments and 10 between ministries and
departments). Six documents were ratified: Treaty on friendship,
cooperation, and mutual assistance; Treaty on the Russian military
base in Armenia; Agreement of the use of arms by servicemen of the
Russian base beyond its territory; Agreement on joint planning of
forces (means) in the interests of collective security; Agreement on
legal aspects of existence of the Russian military base and on mutual
legal assistance; Protocol No 4 on amendment to the Treaty on the
Russian military base in Armenia.
Negotiations between military delegations and meetings of defense
ministers are planned and regular. Chief of the General Staff,
General of the Army Yuri Baluyevsky, visited Armenia in 2005. Major
General S. Bainetov, Chief of the Flights Security Service of the
Russian Air Force, and Armenian Deputy Defense Minister Lieutenant
General A. Mirzabekjan met in Yerevan and signed an accord on
security of flights. Armenia is the only country in the Caucasus that
possesses sophisticated S-300s.
An important meeting of the Russian-Armenian working group took place
in Yerevan in August 2005, when financial aspects of the Russian
military presence in the Republic of Armenia were discussed and
decided on. It is common knowledge that Russian servicemen do not pay
for communal services and for the land they are using as shooting
ranges and testing sites. No other Russian military base abroad
enjoys this treatment.
Meeting of the CIS Council of Defense Ministers took place in Moscow
on November 30, 2005. Defense ministers of Russia and Armenia signed
a protocol between the governments of our countries on amendments of
the Accord on sites of the Russian military base in Armenia and
procedures of allocation of land plots. Working meetings of groups
for military and military-technical cooperation took place in Moscow
and Yerevan. Experts of foreign ministries of Russia and Armenia met
to discuss foreign political plans.
Joint actions should be commented on as well. The matter concerns
regular exercises for the command of the United Army Group, joint
exercises (on maps) with the United Command of the United Army Group,
conferences with senior officers of the Armed Forces of Armenia,
joint field exercises…
Generally speaking. The Russian-Armenian military cooperation is
fruitful. It will continue and advance. All of that proves that
Armenia had been and remains Russia’s outpost in the Caucasus.

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 17, 2006 Friday
ROBERT KOCHARYAN AND NIKOLAY BORDYUZHA HAVE NOGOTIATIONS
Yesterday Armenia President Robert Kocharyan had a meeting with
Collective Security Agreement Organization General Secretary Nikolay
Bordyuzha, where he discussed missions and perspectives of the
Agreement named, as well as the agenda for the coming session of
Collective Security Council in June in Minsk, the Collective Security
Agreement countries, including Zakavkazye. Mister Bordyuzha is paying
a business call in Armenia’s capital. He had negotiations with
Republic’s Ministry of Internal Affairs Head Vartan Oskanyan,
discussed with Minister of Defense and Security Council Serzh
Sarkisyan the questions for the session Secutiry Council Committee of
Collective Security Agreement Organization member-countries, which
will be opened on March 22. Nikolay Bordyuzha’s visit to Erevan is
done to proceed his business trip, meant for gathering information
for the countries about Collective Security Agreement Organization
activities. In February Bordyuzha visited Kirgiziya, and Byelorussia
and Tadzhikistan at the beginning of March.
Source: Kommersant, March 15, 2006, p. 9