NKR PRESIDENT MEETS WITH OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. President of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic (NKR) Arkady Ghukasyan has held a meeting with OSACE
Chairman-in-Office Dimitry Rupel, Acting Press Secretary to the
NKR President Eduard Atanesyan told ARKA. During his visit the NKR
President is to hold meetings with Armenia’s officials as well. P.T.
-0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ARMENIA AGAINST KARS-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 5 2005
The proposed Kars-Akhalkalaki railway link designed to connect the
Georgian, Azeri and Turkish railways is still on the drawing board
but neighboring Armenia is already expressing concern over the project.
During a press conference last week Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Armenia Vartan Oskanian stated that Georgia and Azerbaijan have no
moral right provide funds for the railway, in part because they are
both heavily dependent on international financial assistance. In
addition, Oskanian labeled the project economically senseless.
“We have the Kars-Gyumri railway which does not function because
of Turkey’s wrong policy. We think that every investment in the
construction of the railway that is bypassing the already existing
railway is pointless. We will struggle against it,” Oskanian said as
quoted by AZG Armenian Daily.
The foreign minister said that the event the link is built, it would
be made redundant once the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is settled.
Oskanian added that Armenia will fight against the project with all
possible means in order to prove to the international community the
economic “senselessness” of Kars-Akhalkalaki.
Georgia has offered its support for the project and sent
representatives to preliminary talks on the project. The Tbilisi
government has yet, however, to address the delicate diplomatic issues
of the railway.
The paper Akhali Taoba reports MP David Bakradze, Chairman of the
parliamentary committee for Euro-Atlantic integration as saying it is
clear that threading the railway through Akhalkalaki will facilitate
the economic development of a region which largely populated by
Georgians of Armenian origin.
Bakradze goes on to say that Tbilisi believes the Kars-Akhalkalaki
railway will be profitable for Armenia as well. Considering the
tense relations between Armenia and Turkey, he says, the railway
line between Georgia and Turkey would provide one needed outlet for
Armenia to send its goods to the west.
In Azerbaijan, however, there is an opinion that the Kars-Akhalkalaki
railway will further increase Armenia’s regional isolation and Yerevan
itself is to be blamed for this. The Azeri newspaper Zerkalo writes
“the idea of great Armenia has infected the minds of the leaders of
this country” so much that they cannot notice how gradually they are
falling into regional isolation.
The construction of the 98 km Kars-Akhalkalaki railway and the
rehabilitation of the existing Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki route is expected
to need over USD 400 million.
Legislation proposed by U.S. congressmen could possibly block any
U.S. funding of the project. As for the U.S. government itself,
there has been very few comments. As the paper Armenian Daily writes,
“America’s decision to support or not in Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi
railway construction will help us understand US policy in regard to
Armenia. This project cannot be pointed against Russia, as it does
not limit its influence in Caucasus in essence. Therefore, the United
State’s assistance to Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway construction
will mean, as in case of the Caspian oil pipeline, that Armenia’s
isolation does not bother the Americans by the highest standards.
Moreover, cut off Armenia will have no other choice but remain stuck
to Russia, something that the US seemed not to approve.”
MINISTER OF DEFENSE TO LEAVE FOR LATVIA FOR AN OFFICIAL VISIT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. The Armenian delegation headed by the
Secretary of the National Security Council at the RA President,
Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan will leave for Latvia for an
official visit. According to the public Relations Department of
the RA Ministry of Defense, in the framework of the visit meetings
with the Latvian Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Head of the
Main Headquarter of the Armed Forces, as well as with the Chairman
of the parliamentary commission on national security and defense
are expected. In the framework of the visit it’s planned to sign an
agreement on military cooperation between the Ministries of Defense
of Armenia and Latvia. A.H.–0–
ARMENIA ESTABLISHES MILITARY COOPERATION WITH LATVIA
DeFacto, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
Today the Secretary of the Security Council under the RA President,
the RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan has left for the Republic of
Latvia on an official visit.
According to the information DE FACTO got at the RA Defense Minister’s
press secretary Colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan, Serge Sargsyan is
to meet Prime Minister of Latvia, Defense Minister, Chief of the
Central Staff, as well as the Head of the Parliamentary Commission
on Security and Defense. The parties are to sign an agreement “About
Military Cooperation Between Defense Ministry of Republic of Armenia
and Defense Ministry of Republic of Latvia”.
According to Regnum with reference to Latvian Defense Ministry,
Minister of Defense of Latvia Einar Repse is to render assistance in
military education. Having become a member of NATO, the Republic of
Latvia has been rendering assistance to the South Caucasus in security
amendments: in the current year the Ministry has been cooperating
with Georgia, so the Latvian department is to develop cooperation
with other South Caucasian countries.
On September 7 – 9 RA delegation headed by Defense Minister is to
visit Estonia to sign a Memorandum on mutual understanding in military
cooperation between Armenian and Estonian Defense Ministries.
AREXIMBANK (ARMENIA) ANNOUNCES ABOUT CHANGES IN CONDITIONS RELATED TO SEASONAL DEPOSIT “AUTUMN”
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. The Areximbank (Armenia) announced
about changes in conditions related to the seasonal deposit “Autumn”,
press-service of the Areximbank reported ARKA News Agency. From
September 15 to October 15, 2005 the bank accepts USD deposits for
1-12 months at 8% interest rate (previously for 6-12 months at 9%
interest rate). According to press-release, the interests are paid
immediately after the registration of the deposit. All depositors,
if they wish, are given Visa Electron plastic cards for free if the
deposits amount to USD 10,000-USD 50,000; Visa Classic if the deposits
are up to USD 50,000, and Visa Gold if the deposits exceed USD 50,000.
Areximbank CJSC was registered on June 3, 1998 to support business
and servicing of the financial flows between Armenia and Russia.
Total assets of the Areximbank made AMD 10.8bln by June 30, 2005, the
bank’s credit portfolio made about AMD 4.7bln. Total capital of the
bank made AMD 2.8bln by June 30, 2005 and the profit in January-June,
2005 made AMD 95.3mln. ($1 = AMD 463.27). A.A. –0-
SYSTEM OF A DOWN URGES FANS TO WORK FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION ADOPTION
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 5 2005
YEREVAN, September 5. /ARKA/. System of a Down, a well-known American
rock band made up of Armenian musicians, continues its campaign
aimed at Armenian Genocide fact recognition by the U.S. Congress,
Washington Office of Armenian National Committee of America reports.
At the concerts staged this summer, the musicians urged their
fans to work for the resolution adoption. At their invitation,
ANCA, Amnesty International and Axis of Justice are distributing
files among their concerts, collecting signatures and organizing
discussions over Turkey’s policy of denying the fact of the Genocide.
This work is already carried out in San-Diego, Miami, Atlanta, Houston
and Philadelphia by ANCA in association with Dashnaktsutyun party.
ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said “the band has educated
literally millions about the Armenian Genocide increasing awareness
of this crime and helping generate the political will we will need
to defeat Turkey’s campaign to deny justice to the Armenian people”.
In May this year, Mezmerize, the first half of the band’s two-part
album Mezmerize/Hypnotize, debuted as the number-one selling CD in
the United States. On April 24 of this year, System held a sold-out
Souls benefit concert for the ANCA and other groups working to prevent
genocide and counter genocide denial. The band has sold nearly 10
million CDs worldwide. M.V. -0—
INTERVIEW: RUSSIA NEEDS TO INVOLVE DIASPORAS TO RESOLVE
RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 5 2005
Nagorny-Karabakh – political scientist
15:49 | 05/ 09/ 2005
MOSCOW, September 5 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Malyshkin) – A prominent
political scientist said Monday that Russia had to take a new
approach in its efforts to resolve the Nagorny Karabakh conflict,
one of the bloodiest territorial and ethnic disputes to affect the
former Soviet Union.
Sergei Markedonov, the deputy head of the department of international
relations at the Institute for Political and Military Analysis,
said Russia must involve its Armenian and Azerbaijani Diasporas to
increase trust between the two sides in the conflict.
“The main problem in the resolution of the Nagorny Karabakh issue
is the restoration of trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he
said. He added the problem could not be decided by the mediators in
the conflict: Russia, the United States, Turkey or the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group.
The expert said Azerbaijan wanted Armenia first to withdraw its
troops from Nagorny Karabakh, UN-recognized Azerbaijani territory
with an Armenian majority, and then decide on the status of the
disputed territory.
“Armenia in its turn doubts that Azerbaijan will honor its promises and
that Nagorny Karabakh will not become a province within Azerbaijan,”
Markedonov said.
The expert said new models were needed to resolve the conflict,
which reached its height in the early 1990s.
Speaking about potential initiatives from Russia, the expert said,
“There must be a clear-cut Caucasus strategy, which we do not have
currently, to make such statements.”
“There is no perception that Armenia and Azerbaijan need Russia,”
he added.
He said, taking into account the large Armenian and Azerbaijani
Diasporas, Russia could establish contacts between their
representatives and make them regular. After that Russia could
“relay” the experience onto Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the
South Caucasus.
“I would put the accent on the Diasporas,” the expert added. “This
is a very rich resource in all senses and Russia needs to organize
contacts within its borders. With the huge financial and political
influence of Diasporas on Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia could use
it as a resource for informal reconciliation.”
ARMENIAN CHURCH CELEBRATES
By Patricia Norris
The Republican, MA
Sept 5 2005
SPRINGFIELD – St. Mark Armenian Church’s Festival was a little taste
of home for Irina Tumasyan.
Tumasyan, her husband and their children spent the day at the church
festival on Wilbraham Road, visiting, eating and dancing. She and
her family came to the area from Armenia six years ago, she said.
“We enjoy it. We meet other Armenians here,” she said as she watched
a group of women perform an ethnic dance called kochary.
“The dance is a tradition from Lebanon or places like Iran,”
Tumasyan said, two of the countries that absorbed Armenians during
the Diaspora resettlement from the Ottoman Empire at the beginning
of the 20th century.
Armenia is considered the first country to have officially embraced
Christianity as its religion, around 300 A.D.
At all food and drink tables, large glass jars were set up to collect
donations for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Money raised went to
the National Council of Churches Humanitarian Relief Effort.
People tossed change into the jars as they bought traditional breads,
sweets and foods like kufta – stuffed meatballs.
Eleanor Demirjian of Longmeadow, who organized the bake sale, said
she and other volunteers began preparing food a month before the
festival, freezing what they could and then working many hours last
week on the fresh items.
For many people it is a treat to try some of the foods, as many of
the traditional dishes are time consuming to make, Demirjian said.
She said there was no best-seller at her table, but many people seemed
partial to the cheese-filled pastries and the difficult-to-make
meat pies called lahmajoon that the church brought to the festival
from Boston.
“It’s a good reason to get together,” she said, “to share food,
family and camaraderie.”
It was also a time to let non-Armenians learn about their culture
and traditions.
Suren Tumasyan bragged about the fine brandy being served.
“Everyone says it is the best cognac in the world,” he said.
KREMLIN LOSING WAR FOR NORTH CAUCASUS
Mikhail Zygar
MosNews, Russia
Sept 5 2005
Kommersant.ru
The tragedy in Beslan happened four months after the start of Putin’s
second term. In fact, he began with this tragedy, and not with his
inauguration. Beslan has become a landmark that separates Putin-1
policy from Putin-2.
The Russian authorities learned several lessons after Beslan which
Vladimir Putin pointed out in his famous mourning speech. The Kremlin
decided not to change just its attitude towards security – it changed
all its policies. And it was successful in doing so.
The most important promise Putin made was to adopt “the complex of
measures that would unite the country.” He meant to replace elected
governors with appointed ones. This step made it impossible for the
regions to argue with the federal center. The heads of the local
administrations become more compliant, and the ones that didn’t left
their posts.
Another important goal for the authorities after Beslan became the
“mobilization of the nation in the face of a common threat.”
“Terrorists receive the most effective response when they encounter
not only a powerful state but also a united civil society,” the
president said.
This goal was also reached. Opposition in Russia disappeared. Not
a single opposition party reacted to Beslan. There was no kind of
independent commission created.
Moreover, the opposition totally missed Beslan. The past year proved
that the opposition is extinct. Neither the communists, nor the
liberals reacted to further political crises like the monetization
of welfare benefits, the events in Blagoveshchensk and the North
Caucasus. The opposition became a marginal body with the “face”
of Eduard Limonov.
One more element illustrating “the organization and unification of
civil society” was the final victory over television. Right after
Beslan the news in fact died. There were no discussions after Beslan.
Beslan changed Russia not only politically but psychologically as
well. Russians started to think that there cannot be democracy and
order at the same time. And to get the latter the people should be
ready to give up the first. In October of last year, a month after
Beslan, according to a poll by the Levada Center, 60 percent of
Russians were ready to sacrifice temporarily “some constitutional
freedoms” and 59 percent agreed with the closure of media that
questioned presidential policy. However, 79 percent recognized that
the authorities could not protect them from terrorism.
Beslan did not noticeably lower the rating of the president. However,
if the population supports the president, it does not necessarily mean
that it is happy with the current situation. According to the polls,
in May of this year 43 percent saw around them increased disorder,
chaos and anarchy. In other words, the authorities do not enforce
order enough.
The year after Beslan was very successful for the authorities. The
Kremlin got everything it wanted. However, it came with some losses.
The main problem, which led to Beslan was left unresolved – terrorism
in the Caucasus. Before Beslan all the troubling news was coming
from Chechnya and rarely from Ingushetia. After Beslan the war spread
across the entire North Caucasus.
Last September, the people of Beslan went into the streets to
demand the resignation of President Dzasokhov. Moscow refused. The
authorities thought if the Ossetians were able to remove their
president by street protests, tomorrow other Caucasus people would
follow their example. And they were right. A month later the crowd
seized the Government House in Karachaevo-Cherkesia and demanded the
resignation of the president. However, Moscow said “no” again. The
Kremlin was afraid that if it gave in, all the authorities in the
North Caucasus would be swept away.
It does not mean that the Kremlin trusts the local Caucasus rulers.
The now famous secret report of the presidential envoy to the North
Caucasus, Dmitry Kozak, describes a pretty bleak picture in the region.
“The authorities of the North Caucasus republics are detached from
society and turned into an enclosed class. The corporate society
that was formed in the power structures monopolized the political
and economical resources, which serves only their own interests. All
the high positions in the republics are occupied by relatives,” the
envoy told the president. In other words, the Kremlin knows what is
going on but cannot change anything.
By doing nothing Moscow ran itself into a dead end. So far, the main
struggle in the region is going against the local authorities. By
going against their local presidents and governments, the people of
the Caucasus are asking Moscow for help. They hope that President
Putin’s involvement will change the situation. However, if Moscow were
to replace those hated leaders and exchange them for similar ones,
the people would start struggling against Moscow.
The power crisis in the region has already created a local civil war.
News of conflicts is now coming not only from Chechnya and
Ingushetia, but also from Dagetsan, Karachaevo-Cherkessk, and
Kabardino-Balkaria. Tanks and heavy artillery are attacking houses
in the towns of Kaspiysk, Makhachkala, Nalchik and Nazran.
Law-enforcement officers are being killed almost every week.
In his “Beslan speech,” Vladimir Putin said that he won’t let “millions
of people submerge into a chain of bloody conflicts like in Karabakh,
Pri-Dnestrovie and other tragic places.”
However, it looks like the North Caucasus is sinking more and more
into conflict.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
AZERBAIJANI EX-PRESIDENT ALLOWED TO SEEK DEPUTY SEAT
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty, Czech Republic
Sept 5 2005
5 September 2005 (RFE/RL) — Election officials in Azerbaijan’s
capital today authorized former President Ayaz Mutalibov to run as
a candidate in the 6 November parliamentary elections.
Mutalibov, who is wanted in Azerbaijan for his alleged failure
to prevent the loss of territory to Armenian forces during the
Nagorno-Karabakh war, has been living in Russia since his resignation
in 1992.
Another prominent political exile, former parliamentary speaker Rasul
Quliyev, was registered as a candidate last month.
The Council of Europe, of which Azerbaijan is a member, has long
demanded that both Quliyev and Mutalibov be allowed to take part in
Azerbaijan’s political life.
But the Prosecutor-General’s Office has warned that both men would
be arrested as soon as they come back to the country.
The secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Terry Davis, who is
on a visit to Baku, today insisted that the upcoming parliamentary
polls should be free and fair.