AZERBAIJAN FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS VATICAN REP IN BAKU
Author: S. Agayeva
TREND Info, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Issues of cooperation between Vatican and Azerbaijan were discussed on
April 17 meeting of Azerbaijani foreign minister, Elmar Mammedyarov
and the Vatican ambassador to Azerbaijan, Claudio Guggeretti, the
ministry press-service told Trend .
Guggeretti announced the intensions of Vatican to expand the bilateral
relations and develop cultural cooperation with Azerbaijan.
The Minister informed his guest about the progress in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict regulation stressing the importance of
solving the conflict on the basis of international principles and
norms.

SYMPOSIUM TO BE ORGANIZED IN ERCIYES UNIVERSITY ON TURKISH – ARMENIAN RELATIONS
Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 17 2006
KAYSERI – Plenary discussion panel on: “The Art of Living Together
in the Ottoman Society: The Case of Turkish-Armenian Relations” will
be organized in Erciyes University (EU) in Central Anatolian city of
Kayseri, it was reported on Sunday.
EU Rector Prof. Cengiz Utas held a news conference and said the
university will host the symposium between April 20 and 22
Utas said 125 scientists from various countries and Turkish Armenians
Patriarch Mesrob II would attend the symposium where social dimensions
of the Turkish-Armenian relations would be examined rather than
political dimensions.
Prof. Metin Hulagu, the Chairman of the Symposium Organization
Committee said they hoped the symposium to be a new start in
Turkish-Armenian relations, stating that issues based on documents
would be discussed.
“We want the symposium to establish a new bridge between Turkey and
Armenia. We hope to organize the second symposium in Armenia. Peace,
tolerance and dialogue between Turks and Armenian will be taken up,”
he noted.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION RETURNS FROM NAKHICHEVAN
Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 17 2006
ARALIK – The ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) deputy Mahmut
Kocak and 14 deputies returned to Turkey on Sunday concluding their
2-day visit to Nakhichevan.
The parliamentary delegation visited Nakhichevan upon the invitation
of Vasif Talibov, chairman of the Nakhichevan Assembly.
Kocak told A.A correspondent that they had the opportunity to see
the economic and social problems of Nakhichevan.
Kocak said both Azerbaijan and Turkey exerted efforts for establishment
of peace in the Caucasus, and stated that intransigent policy of
Armenia was problem in the region.
Kocak said policy of Armenia should be constructive and in line with
the facts of the history and should contribute to the regional peace.

TURKISH PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION IN NAKHICHEVAN
Anatolian Times, Turkey
April 17 2006
NAKHICHEVAN – The ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) deputy
Mahmut Kocak and 14 deputies met Vasif Talibov, chairman of the
Nakhichevan Assembly.
Kocak stated that the Armenian diaspora have increased their activities
recently, noting that Turkish nation never committed genocide. He
added that archives in Turkey were open for everyone in the world.
On the other hand, Talibov stressed that the economy of Nakhichevan was
developing day by day, noting that Turkish companies made investments
in Nakhichevan worth 100 million USD in 2005.
Talibov added if Turkey became a full member of the EU, Nakhichevan
would also be mentioned as a neighbor of an EU member state.

IRANIAN “EASTERNIZATION” IS STRONGER THAN TURKISH “WESTERNIZATION”
Hazem Saghieh Al-Hayat
Dar Al-Hayat, Lebanon
April 17 2006
Lying in the dark shadow of dealing with the US-Iranian issue is the
Turkish issue, and by extension, the Turkish-Kurdish issue.
If Washington and Tehran reach a settlement over Iraq, after a partial
military clash caused by Uranium enrichment, or even without this
enrichment, the issue of Turkish influence and interests in northern
Iraq will be raised. One of the geo-political constants that have
accompanied this region is the preservation of balance between the
Turkish and Iranian roles, whether extending toward Iraq or keeping
distant from it.
Currently, the probable course of this issue joins up with two other
courses, making the problem even more unstable.
With the creeping civil war in Iraq, the Kurds of the North might
survive; they have lived in a state of quasi-independence since
the secure zone was established there in 1992. The situation
was strengthened by the establishment of independent political
institutions, like a Parliament and autonomous government, as well
as the Kurds’ own political parties.
If this is added to what is taking place in terms of infrastructure,
economic development and security arrangements, the “separatist”
form involves a serious amount of content.
Perhaps Washington, if there is a total collapse in Iraq and the
reshaping of the country along communal spheres of influence, will
approach Iraqi Kurdistan as the “share” that it can retain and perhaps
transform into the model that was desired for the entire country.
However, all of this is connected to Turkey, to a great extent,
to the degree that American interests and its own become one. It is
a complex matter, naturally, which complicates the second direction
that further crisis is likely to take, a direction that involves the
relationship between Ankara and its Kurds. It was interesting to see
the situation explode, with no obvious introduction, in a way not seen
since 1994. The violent clashes between Kurdish fighters and Turkish
security forces led to the killing of 20 people in south-east Turkey
as well as Istanbul itself.
In fact, Ankara, under constant pressure from the European Union,
lifted the state of emergency in Kurdish regions and began paying
compensation to Kurds for the destruction of their villages by
the Turkish Army. The government also endorsed some cultural and
linguistic rights for the Kurds. This is of course insufficient,
especially since the economic despair that hovers over the Kurds of
Turkey, the widespread unemployment, low wages and lack of investment,
makes Kurdish anger an event to be anticipated. But the defeat of this
course is another thing altogether, quantitatively and qualitatively
different. In this sense, some observers fear that the recent clashes,
sparked by the funeral of 14 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party,
was the beginning of a wide-scale deterioration, especially since
the KWP two years ago ended a unilateral truce that had lasted for
six years.
If things goes this way, and militarization and oppression return to
the southeast, Turkey’s desire to join the EU will be threatened again;
it is a desire about which doubts of its success are growing.
That said, the possibilities of “easternization” via Iran remain
stronger than the possibilities of “westernization” via Turkey. Even
if the Iraqi Shiite Coalition splits off, this possibility remains
“safer” and easier to travel.
Pure authoritarianism, which characterizes the Iranian state, makes
it a candidate for imperial expansion in a way that does not suit the
current nature of the Turkish state. Turkey has become a complicated
mixture of aspects that are authoritarian, democratic, nationalist and
Islamic, not to speak of civilian and military. In times of crisis,
the decisive entity wins out over the confused entity.
The Turkish stumbling is revealed in its points of contact with
all concerned parties, and all of the issues that concern them. It
reveals that the deadlocks practically represent impossibilities. If
relations with Europe are threatened because of the Kurds, in sympathy
with the Armenian genocide and the rest of the “human rights” agenda,
following the US policy will provoke the majority of people, which
will make the claim of democracy purely that – a claim.
Meanwhile, a just solution of the Kurdish problem will mobilize a
rainbow in Turkey consisting of the military, the nationalists, and
some Islamists; dealing with the matter through repression will weaken
any Turkish role in Iraqi Kurdistan, especially if the Kurdish-Turkoman
conflict there explodes, in parallel to the Kurdish-Arab conflict,
over Kirkuk.
The Iranian authorities appear to be united around Khamenei and
Ahmadinejad, while “opponents” like Rafsanjani and Khatami are out of
the spotlight. However, when these two are in line with the regime,
the Turkish authorities, after the fall of the one-sided Kemalism,
seem closer to coalitions that are made and broken on a daily basis
between the Islamists and the army, and the president of the Republic
and these two groups.
In this situation, it is said that what made democracy fail in Iraq
could make it fail in any part of the country, despite the good
thinking shown by the Kurds ever since their mid-1990s fighting.
However, the Kemalism of Turkey that involved modernization from
above requires some rethinking, about the ways it can be corrected
and the methods used.
If it is true that Turkey went too far in its anti-pluralistic
nationalism, especially regarding the Kurds, its militarism remains
more effective in a region that voted for Ahmadinejad as president.
These are certainly narrow options, and ones likely to provoke
despair. However, they put us face to face with certain questions:
Why, at a stone’s throw away from India, with its different experience,
has no instance of modernization arisen in our region, unless it comes
at the expense of freedom. And when freedom arises, modernization
collapses, while the nation either collapses or is paralyzed. This
question will be increasingly asked in the event of a wide-scale
military confrontation between Tehran and Washington, doing away
with the Khamenei regime or weakening it until it does away with
many of the above-mentioned hypotheses, without doing away with the
question itself.

POLITICAL COORDINATION CENTER LEADS ROUND TABLE ON NK
Today, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Political coordination center of opposition (PCCO) has led a round
table “Influence of new regional situation on Azerbaijan, expected
changes in Karabakh problem” April 17.
Trend reports that state deputies and representative of Azadlyg
political block were partaking at the session.
The session was opened up by Faradj Guliyev PCCO cofounder and leader
of National Renascence Movement. He spoke on influence of the current
regional situation in Karabakh problem. To speed up the resolution
of the problem, Azerbaijan should change the course it adheres to now.
Speaking after him, deputies Nasib Nasibli and Fazil Gazanfarogli said
of tension between the USA and IRI and importance of such situation
for Azerbaijan. In case this conflict turns into a war Azerbaijan
will be in great danger.
The word then was given to Sardar Djalalogli, first deputy chairman
of Democratic party, but Mr. Djalalogli denied. “I haven’t prepared
speech on this issue in public,” – Mr. Djalalogli explained.
At the session the politicians demanded the state inform the public
on the process of conversations on resolution of Karabakh problem.
URL:

… DISCUSSES COOPERATION ON GAS EXPORTS WITH IRAN…
New Europe, Greece
April 17 2006
Russian gas giant Gazprom is negotiating on cooperation with Iran in
the gas export sphere, Gazprom’s press service reported following
the company’s CEO Alexei Miller’s meeting with Iranian Ambassador
to Russia Gholamreza Ansari. The meeting addressed “prospects in
the sphere of exporting Iranian gas to other countries’ markets
and Gazprom’s participation in projects creating Iranian gas export
flows, based on the principle of participating in every stage of the
price chain – from the extraction of carbohydrates to the sale to
consumers,” the statement read. Gazprom negotiated the purchase of
Armrosgazprom from the Armenian government last week, along with a
40-kilometre section of the Iran- Armenia gas pipeline. Armrosgazprom
will also place an order for the construction of 197 kilometres of the
Iran-Armenia pipeline. “Gazprom’s participation in the construction
of the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the refurbishing of one or
two lines at the Southern Pars deposit, to export carbohydrates,
has been recognised as promising,” the statement read.
aynews.asp?id=123492

ARMENIANS STAGE ANTI-TURK MARCH OVER MASSACRE
Middle East Times, Egypt
April 17 2006
ATHENS – Around 300 Greeks of Armenian descent marched on the
Turkish embassy in Athens on April 15 to mark the 91st anniversary
of massacres allegedly committed against their kin by the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. The message warned Ankara that “the gates
of Europe, which it so greatly desires to cross, will remain closed”
if it continues to refuse to recognize the 1915-17 massacre. Turkey
is seeking to join the European Union, of which Greece is a member.

SOUTH CAUCASIAN COUNTRIES ARE TO REACH THE LEADING POSITION IN THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS BY THE FALL OF 2006 – ELMAR HUSEYNOV
Author: R. Abdullayev
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
April 17 2006
Decision about physical pressure on Iran, in spite of what the
definition “pressure” is supposed to mean, will be made no earlier
than fall 2006, after the coordination with such countries as Russia
and Iran. In the given context South Caucasian countries appear in
the leading positions in the international politics, the vice editor
of Russian Newspaper, expert, Elmar Huseynov told Trend , commenting
on the future perspectives of the Iranian nuclear crisis and its
possible effect on the South
Caucasian countries.
“This region is vital for both physical pressure on Iran and for
cutting its international ties,” he said, adding that US will
definitely need to be present in the region in some sense.
Armenian position is also decisive at this point as there are well
developed economic relations between Yerevan and Tehran. “Apparently,
Armenia will finally be forced to join the opposition to Iran,”
he assured, adding that “already this November- December Caucasian
states will be mentioned by Washington in its efforts to solve the
Iranian problem by force.”

GUEST WITH NO FUTURE
by Andrey Semyaninov
Kommersant, Russia
April 17 2006
The first foreign soccer coach in Russia signed his contract on April
14. He is Dutchman Guus Hiddink. Fifteen trainers for the national
teams of seven countries of the former Soviet Union have been hired.
Almost all of them ended up the same.
Photo:
Former Soviet Republics Make Strides in Soccer Independence
Georgia has been the most strident of the former Soviet republics for
soccer independence. It withdrew from the championship of the USSR in
1990, even before the Baltic republics, and hired its first foreign
coach, also from The Netherlands, in 1998. Former Belgian Genk coach
Johan Boskamp was brought in to coach Tbilisi Dynamo. Although he
didn’t speak a word of Georgian or Russian, and the players did not
know any other languages, things went not badly. Boskamp, a protege
of Dutch coach Rinus Michels, believed that discipline was the secret
to success, and with that philosophy, Dynamo became the champion
of Georgia. More accurately, it remained the champion of Georgia,
since it almost always was in any case.
Then the Georgian Football Federation decided to try an experiment,
which it later regretted. Boskamp, while remaining Dynamo coach, was
also made head coach of the national team. Here there were team members
from Western Europe who did speak other languages. When Boskamp began
to berate the stars of Georgian soccer for lateness, missed practices
and drinking, there was a problem. Some of the players were driven off
the team by Boskamp, others refused to play for him. Georgia finished
in last place in the qualifying round for the Europe 2000 championship.
Photo:
Georgia risked taking on another foreign coach in the spring of 2003.
Croat Ivo Susak retraced Boskamp’s path from Dynamo to the national
team. He beat the Russian national team 1:0 in his first match,
for which is became the third foreigner to be awarded the title of
Distinguished Trainer of Georgia (along with French rugby coach Claude
Saurel and Russian figure skating coach Elena Chaikovskaya).
That initial victory over Russia was not repeated at the return game
in Moscow, and Georgia finished last in its group again. President of
the Georgia Football Federation Merab Jordania suggested that Susak
restrict himself to a single team, and he chose Dynamo. For lack of
anyone else, Jordania became the coach of the national team.
The next foreigner to head the Georgian national team was Frenchman
Alain Giresse, who is determined to take the Georgians to the 2006
world championship. In the course of a year under Giresse, the team
made five points in seven games and the Frenchman, who had taken
part in the 1982 world championship, was sent packing. Jordania
couldn’t replace him this time, because he was being held by the
law on suspicion of corruption. In February 2006, another foreign
trainer, German Klaus Toppmoller, who led Bayer to the final of the
League of Champions, came with the promise of taking Georgia to the
2008 European championship.
Armenian also tried making foreigners coach of the country’s best
team and the national team. There are two points to the doubles
appointment. First, the foreigner becomes better acquainted with the
local soccer scene, and he gets two salaries.
Therefore, when Argentine Oscar Lopez arrived in Yerevan in 2002,
he was immediately entrusted with the local Punic club in addition
to the national team. President of the Armenian Football Federation
Ruben Hayrapetyan said at the time that “Lopez is the only person who
can lead Armenia to the next championship of Europe.” The Argentine
also assured Armenian fans that it would only be two years “before
the phoenix arose.” Six months later, Lopez asked for a 150 percent
raise in his two salaries, and the flight of the phoenix was cancelled.
Photo:
Romanian Mihai Stoichita stepped in to earn both of Lopez’s unraised
salaries, and left only good memories behind. He was able to win two
out of the six matches he led (Lopez left at zero for two) then stepped
out again with a polite explanation about family complications. Those
complications turned out to be an invitation from the French club
Bordeaux, but it didn’t hire him any way.
Next Armenia hired two Frenchmen at once, the great player for
Marseille Bernard Casoni as head coach and Bernard Pardo as coach.
Casoni was also known for his role in the corruption case against
Marseille president Bernard Tapie and Pardo for drug smuggling. But
Pardo was of Armenian ancestry. Those are the details that they
are best remembered for. After winning one match and tying another,
they too were fired. In May 2005, Dutchman Henk Wisman was hired in
the two positions. Punic won the championship of Armenia, and the
national team won one match out of eight. The Armenian federation
fired Wisman tow weeks ago.
The closest comparison to Russia’s invitation to Hiddink can be made
in Estonia. They only name Dutchmen coach of their national team in
Estonia. Arno Pijpers worked there from 2000 to 2004, longer than any
other foreign coach in the former Soviet Union. His highest attainment
previous to his Estonian appoint was as assistant to Euro 2000 Dutch
team coach Frank Rijkaard. And he was personally acquainted with
Rinus Michels, of course. Pijpers, who held that “a soccer player
should be taught to work with the ball until age 17, and only then
physically and tactically encumbered,” was simultaneously coach of
the national team and Estonia’s best local club, Flora, which became
the main source of fresh blood for the national team.
Estonia’s has thus been the only post-Soviet team to gain from having
a foreign coach. Nonetheless, the Dutchman’s performance is a source
of conflicting opinion in Estonia. He turned the team around. In the
qualifying round for the 2002 world championship, the team passed
Andorra and Cyprus. But the better adapted Pijpers got to Estonia,
the more scandals came up. By the end of his four-year contract,
Pijpers had spoiled his relations with almost everyone in Estonia. It
was only possible to be picked for the national team from Flora.
Players from other teams were taken on only for Pijpers throw them
out with a bang. Flora and national team members were subject to
an unbearable prohibition of profane language. Pijpers ceaselessly
criticized members of the Estonian Football Association on television
and in the papers. The prickly Pijpers then let it be known that his
salary would have to be raised by a third – if, that is, they wanted
him to sign a new contract.
Guus Hiddink Hopes to Put Russia on the True Path
“He just couldn’t stand it that some damn Estonians had the nerve
to break it of with him,” vice president of the Estonian Football
Association Aivar Pohlak recounted. “There are no two ways about it.
Hiring Pijpers was a big mistake for Estonia.”
The biggest winner from that mistake was Pijper’s assistant and former
Dutch soldier Jelle Goes, who became head coach. They are happy with
Goes, with whom the team has passed Luxembourg, Lichtenstein and,
importantly, Latvia.
Pijpers found work in Kazakhstan. The Dutchman mentioned his training
under Rinus Michels, promised to make the Kazakh national team feared
throughout Europe and was made coach of the national team and local
leader Zhenis at the same time.
The Azeri national team has tried to improve the performance of
its national team with a foreign coach as well. In 2004, Carlos
Alberto, who coached the world champion Brazilian team in 1970, was
hired. But the gulf between Pele and the Azeri players unhinged Alberto
somewhat. In June 2005, when Azerbaijan lost to Poland 3:0 at home,
its fifth loss with only two ties besides in the qualifying round,
Alberto made a gesture that was later described as “shaking his fist”
at the reserve referee. Alberto got a double whammy when he was fired
right in the stadium for the loss, and the FIFA disqualified him and he
could no longer work in Europe. His losing streak continued in Brazil
then, where he led a club into the second league, for which he was
fired, but not before getting in trouble with the local federation
for insulting a referee.
Foreign trainers did not help the national team in Latvia very much
either, although they found a way to put the good qualities of the
foreign specialist to good use there. (The Russian team won’t be able
to do the same with Hiddink.) The Latvian team was led by Englishman
Gary Johnson from 1999 to 2001. His assistant was Alexander Starkov,
who later became head coach of the team, sensationally taking them
to the Championship of Europe in 2004 before moving over to the
Russian Spartak.
The former Watford coach maintained good relations in his homeland,
and six Latvian soccer players found work on English teams while
Johnson coached the Latvian national team. Those players’ careers
depended on Johnson completely. To work in England, a soccer player
has to demonstrate his professional qualifications by paying in no
less than 75 percent of their national team’s matches in a calendar
year. The qualified players in the English premiere league later
fired Johnson when he was unable to beat San Marino at home.
The fashion for foreign coaches even reached Central Asia before
it hit Russia. German Heinz-Jurgen Geode rose through Uzbek soccer
gradually. He started as coach of the national youth team. Then he
became a consultant for the national team when the team was striving
to participate in the 2006 world championship.
Like most of the other foreign coaches in the former USSR, Geode had
worked with a famous coach in the past. He was an assistant to Udo
Lattek on Schalke 04, although he had worked independently only in
the championship of Iran. It was more prestigious and more profitable
to work for Uzbekistan. Just as a consultant for the national team
he earned at least $50,000 a month (according to local rumor). Like
many coaches, consultants and so on working abroad, he brought a
brigade of assistants with him from Germany. According to Geode, they
followed him to Uzbekistan without any expectation of remuneration –
purely for the sake of the rebirth of Uzbek soccer.
Team Members Have Shown More than One Coach that They Can Go Their
Own Way
Geode’s happiness became complete in January 2005, when he was finally
officially appointed coach of the Uzbek national team. But he did
not remain in that post for long. Within two months, Geode and all
his associates were dismissed for “obvious miscalculations.”
Uzbekistan had only tied one match out of three in the final round of
the Asian zone before the championship of the world. Rumor also has
it that they didn’t pay the Germans when they tore up their contract.
Three months later, Geode had been replaced by Englishman Bob Houghton,
who was best known for becoming coach of the Swedish Malmo at age 32
and taking it to the champions’ cup final in 1978/79. In the succeeding
26 years, Houghton’s best job had been with the Saudi Arabian club Al
Ittihad and in China, where was assistant to Boris Milutinovich. At
the time of his appointment, the Uzbek team had lost one match and
tied another.
Not all was lost though. They had to beat Kuwait at home and then
Bahrain and Trinidad and Tobago on aggregate. The Englishman cleared
the first hurdle. He almost made it across the second, but fell victim
to outrageous fate. The hosts won the first Uzbekistan-Bahrain match
1:0 and even made a penalty goal, but the Japanese referee not only
refused, in violation of all the rules, to count it, because of a
technical error, but he refused to allow the team another try. The
Uzbeks appealed to the FIFA, but with fatal results. The FIFA agreed
that the referee’s mistakes were egregious and ordered a rematch,
which ended 1:1. The return game ended 0:0 and Bahrain, even though
it lost 1:3, continued on. Houghton’s contract was not renewed. He
had been considered only a temporary appointment. He was replaced
by Russian Valery Nepomnyashchy. Nepomnyashchy, while not exactly
from distant shores, was as much a cosmopolitan as the rest of the
foreign coaches in the former Soviet Union. In his 20-year career,
he had only worked in Russia for three months.
Hiddink compares well with the other hapless foreign coaches. He has
participated in the final stage of the world championship twice, and
will do so again soon. He led his native Holland to the quarterfinal,
Korea to the semifinal, and in two months he will try to achieve
success with Australia. He has also repeatedly participated in the
League of Champions and has been with Real.
He has somewhere to go back to too. He has been in the PSV Eindhoven
system for more than 20 years. His globetrotting has not been in
search of cushy jobs in exotic locations but at the behest of soccer
headhunters.
Hiddink won’t try to establish himself artificially in this exotic
location. He will work on the Russian national team (as he does
on the Australian) on a rotational basis. There is an upside and a
downside to this approach, but the potential for conflict is greatly
reduced. Local coaches ever like a foreign colleague, and the local
candidates for the post have already made angry denouncements of the
very ideas of a foreign coach on the Russian national team.
Therefore, the farther from the public eye a foreigner remains and
the less he becomes involved in local soccer, the better it will be
for him, the fewer the opportunities will be to get at him.
Hiddink, like the majority of the unsuccessful coaches, does not know
Russia. Nor is it necessarily true that he understands the mentality
of the players. Like his predecessors, he too will be forced to choose
from just 30-40 Russian citizens who are able to play soccer at that
level. That number is continually falling, and the hiring of Guus
Hiddink may be a final attempt to avoid the fate of the Georgian and
Armenians teams.