COMMISSION TO BE RENEWED
Lragir.am
17 April 06
During the April meetings of the PACE the delegates of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met with Lord Russell Johnston, Chair of the CoE Ad-hoc
Committee on Nagorno Karabakh.
The committee deals with control over recommendations of the
resolution. The parties agreed on reviewing the staff of the
committee. There are already arrangements, and the committee will
finally be ready in summer. There is a preliminary agreement on
setting up the committee by the following principle: two persons from
each party – the head of the delegation and a representative of the
opposition, two reporters for each country and “the representatives
of the groups to be invited.”
The old committee with its new staff will visit the region in October,
and will meet in the June session of the PACE.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARF NIKOL AGHBALIAN STUDENT UNION HOLDS CEREMONY IN MEMORY OF SHAHEN MEGHRIAN
Yerkir
17.04.2006 17:46
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Today marks the 13th anniversary of the death
of Artsakh Liberation war hero Shahen Meghrian and Nikol Aghbalian
Student Union member Grigor Grigorian.
An inauguration ceremony for 11 new ARF members was held by the
NASU to mark that date. The ceremony was attended by Maghrian’s
relatives, officials and students who were visiting the hero’s grave
tomb. Speaking to the present, Naitonal Assembly Vice speaker and
ARF Bureau member Vahan Hovannisian, who was the godfather of the
ceremony, said the new members were taking oath at the grave of one
of the loved heroes of the ARF who, if alive, could held a top post
at the Defense Ministry. Eleven students took their inauguration
oaths with their hands on the ARF charter, program and a weapon.
Hovannisian gave this explanation, “We swear on the charter since it
unites us for our work, we swear on the program because it unites us
for our ideas, and we swear on weapon which symbolizes not only war
but also struggle, freedom and with the help of weapons we defend
our country.”

ANCA ACTIVIST CHOSEN TO SERVE ON COMMISSION’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Yerkir
17.04.2006 17:29
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti
has appointed Raffe Deirmenjian to serve on the city’s Human Relations
Commission Advisory Committee that strives to promote positive race
and human relation in the increasingly complex and multicultural county
of Los Angeles, reported the Armenian National Committee of America –
Western Region (ANCA-WR).
Deirmenjian, a member of the West San Fernando Valley ANCA, has worked
diligently to have the Armenian Genocide included in the Los Angeles
Unified School District’s curriculum.

HITTING A NERVE (PBS Documentary “The Armenian Genocide”)
Matt Zoller Seitz
The Star Ledger, NJ
April 17 2006
“The Armenian Genocide” arrives on PBS tonight (10 p.m., Channel 13)
preceded by a wave of controversy. The public broadcaster is accused
of nothing less than a form of holocaust denial.
Some back story first. This documentary recounts the extermination
of 1 million Armenians in eastern Turkey by the Ottoman Empire. The
systemic nature of the extermination, which has been confirmed by
the International Association of Genocide Scholars, is taken as a
given by this documentary. The program also points out that the Turks
killed another 200,000 people in historic Armenia and Constantinople
(now Istanbul).
PBS ran afoul of Armenian-Americans by adding a post-screening
panel discussion that included two scholars who said that not all
of the victims died as a direct result of Turkish violence — that a
percentage of them were lost to disease, starvation and other causes
that affected all of Turkish society, not just Armenians.
This genocidal caveat was considered a slap in the face to
Armenian-American groups, who argued that most legitimate scholars
agree that the mass deaths qualified as genocide, and that PBS would
follow a documentary about the World War II genocide against the Jews
with a panel that tried to qualify or explain away the horror.
PBS responded that the panel wasn’t meant to cast doubt on the
“genocide” label — that it was just an attempt to explore a
contentious issue and be as inclusive as possible — but this has
only inflamed Armenian outrage. (There’s even a petition circulating
online that condemns the panel discussion.)
It’s unfortunate that PBS blundered into this morass in the first
place, because the documentary is a serious, literate and ultimately
heartbreaking work — a historical primer on an event few Americans
even know about. (For a dramatic take on the same subject, rent
“Ararat,” by Atom Egoyan, a Canadian director of Armenian heritage.)
Moving through the end of the 19th century, the documentary explains
how things just kept getting worse for the Armenians, a people who
existed peacefully within the Muslim-ruled Ottoman Empire despite
having adopted Christianity as the state religion back during Roman
times.
As historians point out, the Sultan of the Ottoman empire designated
individual non-Muslim peoples — Greeks, Armenians, Jews — as
“infidels.” But for practical reasons, he still tried to stay out of
their business as much as possible. The empire’s subjects were given
the limited ability to rule themselves as long as they paid their
taxes, obeyed the Sultan’s rules and didn’t try to rebel.
‘Discriminatory, unequal, hierarchical,” the University of Chicago
professor Ron Suny tells the filmmakers. “But if you obeyed, you could
get along, and Armenians did rather well for centuries, actually.”
Then Armenians began agitating not necessarily for equal rights, but
simply to have their unequal treatment explained and justified. This
led to increasingly brutal government crackdowns, and eventually to
a Turk-centric re-education campaign, carried out by a radical new
Otttoman government run by religious and political extremists.
Genocide soon followed.
Armenians contend that the Turks tried to exterminate them to suppress
an Armenian uprising and destroy any chance that the Armenians might
give aid to an invading Russian army. The Turkish government continues
to deny that Armenian deaths were anything other than an unfortunate
byproduct of national misery.
Most legitimate historians favor the former interpretation, and the
documentary says so. Given the intelligence and precision of this
documentary — whose main fault is brevity — it’s depressing that
PBS managed to turn it into a rallying cry for the oppressed, more
perhaps through ignorance than malice. And the network’s attempts to
fix the situation only made it worse.
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ROBERT FISK GIVES TALK BEFORE PACKED HOUSE IN NYC; DISCUSSES WAR, IMPERIALISM, AND THE MEDIA
By Lucine Kasbarian
NYC Independent Media Center, NY
April 17 2006
Coverage of Robert Fisk’s passionate speech in New Year on war,
politics and journalism.
In his nearly three-hour presentation, Fisk spoke frankly, expressively
and with sardonic wit about Western intervention in the Middle East,
war as enterprise, the horrors of war, the dearth of US journalists
willing to question authority, and the challenges of war reporting
in an age when official news reports are orchestrated by the US
government.
On Friday, April 7, Robert Fisk¬ — the award-winning, chief Middle
East correspondent for the British newspaper, the Independent —
flew in from Lebanon to address a crowd of more than one thousand
on the topic of War, the Middle East, and Journalism at New York
City’s Ethical Culture Society auditorium. Fisk was invited by the
Nation Institute and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to kick
off a weekend conference called Armenians & the Left, and to discuss
his latest book, The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the
Middle East (Knopf).
This intrepid investigative journalist, who, in his more than 30 years
of war reporting, has seen enough carnage to last several lifetimes,
addressed global issues such as U.S. imperialism in the Mid-East and
Transcaucasus, and the implications for small, struggling nations
like Armenia. As his publishers rightly describe, Fisk has earned the
reputation for “being passionate in his concerns about the Middle East,
and relentless in his pursuit of the truth — traits that have enabled
him to enter the world of the Middle East and the lives of its people
as few other journalists have.” He is a seven-time recipient of the
British Press Awards’ International Journalist of the Year Award and
the author of Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon (Nation Books).
In his introductory remarks, Antranig Kasbarian of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation called Fisk “a man of integrity who has
put himself in the line of fire in countless wars and invasions,
including those in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq.” The capacity crowd
gave Fisk a standing ovation as they were told that Fisk “deserves
our appreciation — even before he utters a word — for continuing to
show a high level of courage in his factual, unflinching war reportage
at a time when it is considered unfashionable, if not prohibiting,
to criticize U.S. foreign policy.”
In his nearly three-hour presentation, Fisk spoke frankly, expressively
and with sardonic wit about Western intervention in the Middle East,
war as enterprise, the horrors of war, the dearth of US journalists
willing to question authority, and the challenges of war reporting
in an age when official news reports are orchestrated by the US
government. Known for injecting historical context and trenchant
analysis into his reporting and for advocating that it is the duty
of war correspondents to report from the perspective of the victims,
Fisk recommended that journalists and officials alike carry history
books with them to better understand the regions they are assigned to
cover; perhaps as a statement about collective ignorance and amnesia
toward empires who tend to repeat odious crimes of the past.
As a young man, Fisk was inspired to become a foreign correspondent
after watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie by the same name. “This sounds
like a bloody good job,” he said at the time. He got at least one
adjective right. In describing his mission as a reporter, Fisk quoted
Israeli journalist Amira Haas, who said it is “to monitor power and the
centers of power.” By contrast and to underscore the repressive climate
in which today’s American journalists work, Fisk spoke of how those
writers with the temerity to report truthfully about the facts on the
ground are painted as unpatriotic and therefore subversive. He charged
that mainstream newspapers such as the NY Times should be re-dubbed
“American Officials Say,” as a nod to the unfair and unbalanced way
in which today’s journalists rely upon state-sponsored sources to
convey information to the masses.
Fisk underscored how war correspondents do more than deliver the news
when he described how the longer journalists stay in regions embroiled
in war, the fewer civilians invaders can exterminate. He recalled how
military occupiers evacuated journalists from West Beirut so that the
reporters could not speak of the horrors they would have witnessed,
and saw this technique repeat itself in Iraq.
Fisk is one of few journalists who covered the Iraq war from the
field. He is a harsh critic of embedded journalism, which he calls
“hotel journalism,” to explain a manner of isolation and skittishness
with which correspondents report from confined quarters. Charging that
journalists who are embedded do the profession a great disservice,
Fisk questioned the purpose of war reporting in Iraq: “Reporting
for what story?” he asked. “When journalists report from within the
heavily-guarded Green Zone, they may as well be filing from Minnesota,”
he said.
Fisk spoke frequently and forcefully about the Armenian Genocide
of 1915 — a premeditated, governmental campaign to annihilate
the Armenian people and drive them from their ancestral lands,
now within the borders of Turkey. He expressed disgust that the
Armenian Genocide is today denied by not only the descendants of
the perpetrating regime in Turkey, but by the United States and
Israel, as well. Nevertheless, Fisk expressed certainty that Genocide
recognition is on the horizon. And to emphasize his hope for future
reconciliation, Fisk read passages from his book about an Armenian
Genocide survivor he’d met who, in his twilight years, prayed for
Turks who suffered in the recent Turkish earthquake. Fisk observed
how progressive Turkish intellectuals such as Orhan Pamuk and Elif
Shafak are struggling to unsheathe the long-suppressed truth about
the Armenian Genocide, and said that today more than ever before,
“the door is open…if Armenians can walk through it and encourage
the Turkish people to walk through it, as well.”
One comment by Fisk that was questioned by this writer pertains
to Fisk’s remarks that there were do-gooders during World War I,
such as missionaries, who campaigned for indigenous rights and even
a unified Arab confederacy. What Fisk failed to mention was that
even missionaries are not without motive, considering that they are
often brought in by colonial occupiers to provide the only sources
of food, shelter and education and hence, be in a position to subdue
and indoctrinate native populations.
Fisk’s talk at the Ethical Culture Society auditorium was conceived as
an opener for the Armenians & the Left Conference — which brought
together scholars, activists and opinion makers to examine how
progressive activists could build coalitions with other dispossessed
groups and progressive movements, explore strategies beyond the
dominant, conventional ones currently pursued by Armenian-American
organizations, and seek alternative ways of understanding Armenia’s
predicament besides the usual state-centered approaches. The Armenians
& the Left Conference, held at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan,
featured panels about Globalization and the Politics of Empire;
Reparations as Justice; Human Rights in the Caucasus; Armeno-Turkish
Dialogue; Women & Political Power; and Armenian Political Identity. The
NYC-leg of the conference culminated with a plenary lecture on War,
Media and Propaganda which featured Fisk, Alternative Radio’s David
Barsamian and moderator Dr. Levon Chorbajian, Prof. of Sociology at
UMass Lowell. Fisk then traveled to Boston where he and leading critic
of U.S. foreign policy, Prof. Noam Chomsky spoke of War, Geopolitics
and History: Conflict in the Middle East to a spillover crowd at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
To hear Fisk and Chomsky online, visit:
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GREEK OFFICIALS LEND SUPPORT TO ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS
Turkish Press
April 17 2006
Press Review
Greek Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopulos has sent a written message
to the Armenian National Commission saying that so-called Armenian
genocide was deeply etched in the memory of the Greek nation. He added
that hopefully, the international community would correctly evaluate
the so-called genocide. In related news, speaking at a gathering in
Athens, Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Teodoros Kasimis urged Turkey
to accept the Armenian allegations.

AZERBAIJANI YOUTH ACTIVISTS TRIAL PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Khadija Ismailova and Shahin Abbasov
EurasiaNet, NY
April 17 2006
With just over a week before Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
meets with US President George W Bush, the closed-door trial of three
Azerbaijani youth movement leaders charged with plotting to overthrow
the government has sparked a sharp condemnation of Azerbaijan’s human
rights practices.
The three Yeni Fikir (New Thinking) activists — Ruslan Bashirli,
leader of the organization, and deputies Ramin Tagiyev and Said Nuri
— have been charged with preparing a government coup and “illegal
entrepreneurship,” or tax evasion. The prosecution has dropped a
previous accusation that the three were spying for Armenia.
Judge Tofiq Pashayev, one of three judges hearing the case against
the Yeni Fikir group, ruled on April 7 that media and the public
would be barred from the courtroom for “national security concerns.”
In response, the three men have refused to testify and to have legal
representation in court. Three court-appointed defense lawyers have
since been assigned to the trio, however.
The Baku mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE), local human rights activists and the opposition Azadlig
alliance have protested the court decision to conduct the hearings
behind closed doors. “We were surprised to learn about the decision
since the main evidence of the prosecution had been shown on state and
private TV channels before the investigation started,” Maurizio Pavesi,
head of the OSCE mission, said in an April 6 statement. The decision
does little to increase public trust in Azerbaijan’s judiciary system,
Pavesi argued, and makes it impossible for OSCE observers to assess
the fairness of the trial and whether it meets international standards.
In an April 13 interview with Radio Liberty’s Azeri-language service,
a spokesperson for the US State Department Bureau for European and
Asian Affairs echoed those concerns. “Conducting these proceedings
behind closed doors and restricting the defendants’ access to the
evidence against them are inconsistent with international norms and
basic rule of law” said Linda Hartley, Turan news service reported.
International human rights organizations have also expressed skepticism
about the chances for a fair trial. “Azerbaijan’s government is known
for pressing charges against opposition figures for what appear to
be political reasons, and the Yeni Fikir case fits this pattern,”
Human Rights Watch Europe and Central Asia Division Executive Director
Holly Cartner said in a March 31 statement. “We are deeply concerned
that the three men will not get a fair trial.”
Police are keeping careful watch on the courthouse, located in
downtown Baku, where the trial is being held, with police cars
stationed throughout the neighborhood to prevent protests.
Yeni Fikir leader Ruslan Bashirli, 27, was arrested in late July 2005
after returning from a conference in Tbilisi, where he allegedly was
paid by Armenian agents to organize a coup against President Ilham
Aliyev. Bashirli’s associate, Osman Alimuradov, who accompanied
him to Tbilisi, became the main source for the allegations against
Bashirli and provided a videotape that supposedly substantiated his
claims. Alimuradov, also a Yeni Fikir member, testified that he had
tried to convince Bashirli to refuse the money offered for the coup,
but had failed. Two of Bashirli’s deputies, Said Nuri and Ramin
Tagiyev, were later detained on similar charges.
At the time of the group’s arrests last summer, many independent
observers and opposition members had argued that the detentions were
related to Azerbaijan’s contentious parliamentary elections campaign.
[For background, see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Yeni Fikir had a
loose affiliation with the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA),
one of the country’s leading opposition parties, and a founding member
of the opposition election alliance Azadlig (Freedom). In a statement
from the prosecutor general’s office, PFPA Chairman Ali Kerimli was
accused of being associated with the alleged Armenian-backed coup
attempt, but was never formally charged.
Though the Yeni Fikir case attracted considerable initial media
attention last summer during the parliamentary campaign, local
television stations are now largely ignoring the trial, leaving the
bulk of coverage to independent and opposition print media.
Government representatives to date have refrained from any comment
about the trial.
Ironically, defendant Said Nuri, currently under house arrest,
has served as the key press conduit for information about the
proceedings. His role has prompted repeated warnings from the state
prosecutor and Pashayev that he will be arrested if he does not stop
issuing “disinformation” about the proceedings.
According to Nuri, the prosecution’s two main witnesses — Osman
Alimuradov and Merab Jibutia, a Georgian citizen who prosecutors claim
was one of the alleged Armenian agents paying Bashirli – have already
been questioned. Jibutia was arrested in autumn 2005, while crossing
the Georgian-Azerbaijani border carrying a false passport and Armenian
currency. Opposition media have alleged that both Alimuradov and
Jibutia were acting at the behest of the Azerbaijani special services.
“Jibutia, their [the prosecution’s] own agent, put the authorities
in a spot. The prosecutor asked four times whether [PFPA leader]
Ali Kerimli asked for any help with organizing a coup attempt and
was very angry to get the answer ‘No’ each time . . .[Jibutia]
gives contradictory answers and they [the prosecution] repeat their
questions if they have not received the desired answer,” claimed Nuri.
The video tape supplied by Alimuradov that shows Bashirli allegedly
signing a receipt for $2,000 and drinking cognac with two men
identified by state prosecutors as Armenian agents has not been
submitted as evidence, Nuri said. The film had earlier been broadcast
regularly on pro-government television channels and public video
displays.
Nuri also stated that no medical examination has yet been scheduled
to confirm the defense charge that investigators tortured Ruslan
Bashirli. “In the preliminary hearing on March 31, the judge agreed
to begin preparations for this. But no medical examination has been
conducted.”
The defendants believe that the charges against them are “made up by
the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan,” and will not testify in
their own defense. The group expects to receive the maximum punishment
for the charges brought against them, Nuri continued.
Under Azerbaijan’s criminal code, “preparing a government coup”
is punishable by a 10-15-year prison sentence.
“There is no justice in an Azerbaijani court. We will be the next
political prisoners. What can we do? We only hope that society
understands the real meaning of things,” Nuri said.
Editor’s Note: Khadija Ismayilova and Shain Abbasov are freelance
journalists based in Baku.

THERE IS NO OPPOSITION LOYAL TO GEORGIA IN ABKHAZIA, ABKHAZIAN JOURNALIST SAYS
Prime News Agency, Georgia
April 17 2006
Tbilisi. April 17 (Prime-News) – Marta Ardashelia, Prime-News reporter
interviewed Beslan Kmuzov, journalist from the breakaway Abkhazia.
Beslan Kmuzov, 1975, graduated from the secondary school in Sokhumi.
During the Georgian-Abkhazian hostilities he left for Cherkessia
and got enrolled in the Karachay-Cherkessia State University in
1993. In 1997 he continued his instruction by correspondence in the
Pyatigorsk Linguistic University. In 1997-1999 he was working in
the newspaper of the town of Cherkassy, in 2000-2001 – in the Exo
Abkhazia newspaper. In 2001-2002 served in the de facto armed forces
of Abkhazia. 2002-2004 was working as a marshal arts instructor in the
Sokhumi police academy. In 2004 he was working in the press service
of Sergey Baghapsh, Abkhazian Foreign Minister. In 2005 entered GIPA
(Zurab Zhvania Georgian Institute of Public Affairs). Presently he
is an editor of Abkhazia.info Internet edition.
It is difficult to say exact origin of this two-meter tall guy
immediately at the first sight. But even short conversation is enough
to make sure that he is Abkhazian – only residents of Sokhumi are
able to speak such Russian, combining slang with phraseological
expressions. One may even wonder how he can write his articles in
quite good Russian.
Beslan Kmuzov has been living in Tbilisi and studying in the
magistrates of GIPA for almost one year and a half. He is satisfied
with education, but says that he is too busy to continue his work
in journalism.
Beslan Kmuzov is one of few journalists who are well aware of the
situation in both parties in conflict. And what is more important he
is able to speak frankly about it.
According to him, the present situation in Abkhazia is simply another
struggle for redistribution of assets, as it happens in all parts of
the world. Only 10% of the local population is engaged in political
developments. They generate ideology and account for brainwashing.
Those most crafty residents of the breakaway region are only looking
for as much profits as possible.
“The authority in Abkhazia is close to people; Baghapsh (de facto
president) visits Akop’s coffee shop every day. But both the president
and the government depend on many institutions in Abkhazia, as well as
abroad. Baghapsh and Ankvab, de facto Prime Minister have been meeting
the representatives of different organizations in their offices for
three months. Leonid Lakerbaia, Chairman of the de facto Parliament
still puzzles over healthcare and pensions. But there are some criminal
factions that make everything worse in Abkhazia. They seized some
industrial units, including recreation houses and restaurants. They do
nothing to them and prevent others from business too. The government
is incapable to deal with them – they have power and money. This is
a transient period”, Beslan Kmuzov says.
According to him, there is no opposition loyal to Georgia in Abkhazia.
“There are opposition forces in Abkhazia but none of them speaks for
return within the Georgian borders. The main problem is redistribution
of assets. Despite of the fact that everyone declares about his
commitment to Russia, their only intention is to be in the driving
seat in Abkhazia, without interference of Russian”, Beslan Kmuzov says.
But the local elections are to be held in the breakaway region soon.
Amtsakhara, public political movement of veterans and Aytayra will
run in the elections against the ruling United Abkhazia party.
According to Beslan Kmuzov, the government will easily negotiate with
its contenders.
“Sergey Baghapsh was a common candidate of Amtsakhara, Aytayra and
United Abkhazia. Besides, headquarter of Baghapsh is located in
the office of Amtsakhara. It’s quite another matter that Amtsakhara
sometimes forwards certain claims against the government – one can’t
always get what one is looking for. So if they face serious rivals,
part of Amtsakhara is likely to join the ruling party”, Beslan says.
Abkhazia makes slow progress with regard to media diversity – all
Abkhazian web sites feature the same news, as if dictated.
“The Abkhazian mass media does not feature any opposition opinions
on the policy of the government of Abkhazia. The guiding light
is independence and that’s all. But there are many debates on
privatization, pensions, and protection of ethnic minorities, including
the residents of the Gali District in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict
zone. The information war has been raging in Abkhazia for one year. The
Nujnaia newspaper drove Vladislav Ardzinba (former de facto president)
up a tree. Means to the end are another subject of discussion. In fact
there is no uninterrupted flow of news, everyone features news without
profound knowledge of background story, rule of Five W is completely
denied. Experienced professionals are leaving”, Beslan Kmuzov says.
Migration in Abkhazia is intensive. Russians are not too willing to
go to Abkhazia owing to harsh living conditions. According to the
de facto State Committee, there are 60 000 Georgians in the Gali
District only. Besides, Georgians live in Ochamchire and Tkvarcheli
districts. The least number of Georgians lives in Sockhumi, Capital
City. But Armenians still account for the largest part of the
foreigners arriving in Abkhazia.
The issue of migration is the most urgent before the forthcoming
presidential elections. Alexander Ankvab, de facto Prime Minister
demands immediate address to the problem of illegal registration of
Armenians in Abkhazia, in defiance of the residential qualification,
as those registrations are used in application for the Abkhazian and
later for Russian passports.
“I think that there are more Armenians than Abkhazians there. By the
way, even Georgians population prevails, however they are not allowed
to take any offices. Abkhazians are the only part of the population
that lives in freedom. It’s quite another matter that rate of Armenian
migration to Abkhazia is growing above other ethnic groups.
Their presence in Abkhazia becomes more and more evident”, Beslan
Kmuzov says.
When asked what Abkhazia is looking n from Russia, Beslan Kmuzov
shrugs shoulders.
“It is strange; we kind of have gained independence, now we want to
be bound to some other party. But in fact this is the only choice for
us. 2004 presidential elections was successful test for determination
of the Abkhazians. But murder of one of the most powerful relatives
of the former president in Moscow came of surprise. If he has not
he been murdered he would probably become a president and leave all
other contenders far behind”, Beslan Kmuzov said.
But as the popular saying goes, new it is well forgotten old.
Therefore I remind him of Ubykhs that used to live in Sochi and now
there are none of them.
“No, the Ubykhs must blame themselves. They had to make up their
minds in time. To fight with Russia means to fight indeed. To live in
peace means to live in peace. Englishmen deceived them, they promised
to support and betrayed in the decisive moment. As for Abkhazians,
they do not count on anyone’s help”, Beslan Kmuzov claims.
But here is another question – what about the fraternal Caucasian
nations and their help?
“The representatives of the ethnic groups of Adygh origin express
their sympathy with Abkhazia. But they also suffer lack of unbiased
information. They do not even exactly know what happened in Abkhazia
before 1992 and are not well aware of the present developments too.
The local vendible politicos do not let Cherkesians, Adyghs and
Kabardians unite to be able to deny political course dictated by
Russia. They also hinder economic development of the region. This is
the core problem of the North Caucasus. But saying that those nations
will join hostilities in Abkhazia once again is contradictory –
Russia will simply step aside to let those nations mangle each other.
We have already experienced it during the Georgian-Abkhazian
hostilities in 1992”, he says
The Abkhazian journalist also does not like the recent developments
in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.
“I have spoken to Mikheil Makharadze, Chairman of Parliament of the
Autonomous Republic. It is evident that the local regional authority
of the autonomous republic is formal. They are not able to make any
decisions without prior agreement with the center”, Beslan Kmuzov
says in disappointment.
The conversation with Beslan Kmuzov makes the lamentable state of the
Abkhazian people evident – they might take their crave for independence
to extreme edge. However Beslan Kmuzov is optimistic over the future.
“Time will cross all “t’s” and dot all “i’s”, he says.
Let’s wait and see.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FM MAMMADYAROV MEETS VATICAN’S AMBASSADOR
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic Elmar
Mammadyarov on 17 April met with the ambassador of the State of Vatican
Apostolic Nuncio Claudio Gujerotti also accredited in Azerbaijan.
Ambassador Gujerotti said he is pleased from the visit to Azerbaijan,
expressing his deep impressions on the country’s development, the
accomplishments reached in numerous fields.
Speaking of the negotiations carried out for settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Minister Mammadyarov
said solution of the problem is possible only in the frame of
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, international legal principles
and norms, and according to the Constitution of the Republic.
Ambassador Gujerotti emphasized necessity of establishment of closer
ties between the two countries, development of mutual exchange in
the field of education and culture.
Minister Mammadyarov informed about the Academy of Diplomacy to be
established in Azerbaijan and expressed wish to cooperate in the
said area.
The sides exchanged views on a range of issues of mutual interest.

ELMAR MAMMADYAROV RECEIVES VATICAN AMBASSADOR CLAUDIO GUGEROTTI
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov received accredited
ambassador of Vatican in Azerbaijan Claudio Gugerott, the Foreign
Ministry’s press center told APA.
Expressing his gratitude for the cordial welcome, ambassador Gugerotti
said it gives him pleasure to be in Azerbaijan.
Touching on the Nagorno Garabagh conflict and its settlement, Mr.
Mammadyarov stressed the importance of solving the conflict in the
framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, within international
law norms and principles and in accordance with the Constitution
of our country. The Minister also informed about the Academy of
Diplomacy which will function in Azerbaijan, stressing the importance
of expanding exchange between our states in educational field as well
as developing cooperation relations between the two sides. The sides
also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest.