LEADING ARTICLE: THE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE MUST NOT BE LOST: KASHMIR EARTHQUAKE
The Independent (London)
October 10, 2005, Monday
The scale of the devastation caused by the earthquake that struck the
Indian subcontinent defies imagination. More than 30,000 are believed
dead and more than double that injured across three countries.
Yesterday, with the death toll still rising, it was clear that the
region worst afflicted by far was Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Officials described it as the worst-ever disaster to have struck
Pakistan.
None of the countries affected is a stranger to natural disaster.
But, as with the South-east Asian tsunami last Christmas and more
recently with hurricane Katrina, the speed of modern travel and
communications now means that the images of human suffering are
brought into our homes early enough for us to feel that something
can still be done.
And much has been done. International rescue teams arrived in stricken
parts of Pakistan within 24 hours of the disaster. People have been
saved who would otherwise have died. Food, medicine and shelter
have been rushed to the region from dozens of countries, including
Britain. Inevitably there was criticism of lack of co-ordination,
duplicated effort and bureaucratic delays. But this was also a disaster
across vast and difficult terrain.
It would be invidious to draw any direct comparison between the
response to this massive disaster and the aftermath of Katrina in
New Orleans. The two are quite different. But President Musharraf
broadcast an urgent appeal for international assistance as soon as
the extent of the disaster was apparent. Formalities for incoming
aid and rescue teams appear to have been kept to the minimum.
Mutual offers of help between India and Pakistan were an especially
positive development. Natural disasters have provided unheralded
opportunities for human and diplomatic rapprochement in the past. The
Armenian earthquake of 1988 prompted the then Soviet Union to issue an
unprecedented call for international aid and throw open the country
to aid workers and reporters. Greece and Turkey sent rescue teams
and assistance to each other’s country after earthquakes in 1999,
defusing tension in other areas of bilateral relations.
The past two years have witnessed a gradual warming of relations
between India and Pakistan, with attempts to defuse the bitter and
long-running dispute over Kashmir. One of the casualties of Saturday’s
earthquake was the so-called friendship bridge that had recently
facilitated bus and foot traffic across the Line of Control.
The co-operation set in train by the earthquake raises the hope that it
will be the repair of the bridge, rather than its collapse, that will
set the tone for relations between these two neighbours in the future.

ARMENIAN JOURNALIST GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE, FACES FURTHER DEFAMATION CASE
NTV Online website, Turkey
Oct 7 2005
Hrant Dink, the chief editor of the Armenian daily Agos, has been
sentenced to six months in prison. The sentence has been suspended
due to Dink’s good behaviour during the trial.
Dink was on trial for defaming Turks in an article he wrote. At
the trial which was held at the Sisli Second Criminal Court, Kemal
Kerincsiz, a member of the Jurists Union who is known for having
asked for the injunction on the Armenian conference and who attended
Dink’s trial as a complaining party, called for the punishment of
the suspect. The defence lawyers said there was no crime involved
and asked for Dink’s acquittal.
The judge ruled that in his column in Agos on 13 February 2004, Dink
insulted and vilified Turks. The judge sentenced him to six months
in prison. The judge then suspended the sentence on the grounds of
Dink’s good behaviour during the trial and because the judge believed
Dink would not commit another crime.
Dink faces another trial for a speech he delivered at the Global
Security, Terrorism and Human Rights panel meeting held in February
2002. He will stand trial for defamation. The trial is to be held at
the Urfa Third Criminal court on 9 February 2006.
Author Orhan Pamuk, too, will stand trial for defamation at the Sisli
Ninth Criminal Court on 16 December 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI TV ACCUSES TBILISI OF PRO-ARMENIAN BIAS
Lider TV, Azerbaijan
Sept 25 2005
The Azeri TV station Lider has accused the Georgian authorities of
pro-Armenian bias. It said that whereas Tbilisi has been spending money
on improving the infrastructure in the Armenian-populated Javakhetia
region, local Azeris have been denied the right to buy land or study
in their own language. The following is an excerpt from report by
Azerbaijani TV station Lider on 25 September; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:
[Presenter] Our sources in Tbilisi told us an interesting story last
week. They said that two thirds of the 275m-dollar-fund from the
US Millennium Challenge Account [MCA] for Georgia will be spent on
infrastructure and new roads in Javakhetia where ethnic Armenians live.
[Passage omitted: Ethnic Armenians want autonomy from Tbilisi; police
in Akhalkalaki protested against appointment of a new police chief]
Over 3,000 ethnic Azeri officials replaced
However, the Azerbaijani-populated areas have neither a police
chief nor a high-ranking police officer whereas low-ranking officers
have been dismissed from their posts one by one. A total of 3,400
Azerbaijanis in various posts have been replaced by Georgians since
[Georgian President Mikheil] Saakashvili has come to power. The
policy of discrimination against Georgia’s ethnic Azerbaijanis does
not end there.
[Correspondent over video of Azeris in Georgia] Reports on ethnic
Azerbaijanis in Georgia seemed to be an everyday occurrence which
cannot surprise anyone. Surprising though is another thing. Why does
the Georgian government creates artificial problems which can aggravate
the situation? Why is Tbilisi not treating other ethnic minorities,
for example, Armenians similarly?
[Passage omitted: says that Azerbaijanis in Georgia are the only
ethnos who have repeatedly proved their loyalty to Georgia and quotes
Saakashvili’s interview with Lider TV two years ago]
Nevertheless, it is not hard to prove that everything has gone from
bad to worse over the last two years. Let us take the problem of
land. Although the land reform is now under way, this process cannot
be classified as a reform but the seizure of the Azeri-populated
lands. The lands in the Azerbaijani villages are being transferred
to the Georgian-owned companies but taking no heed of the opinions
of locals, people told a Lider TV correspondent in Georgia. Whenever
people protest against this process, kangaroo courts confirm the
decisions by the executive authorities. There is not a single body
for the helpless Azerbaijanis to lodge their complaints with.
[First unidentified man] Under the new law, the Azerbaijanis here have
been deprived of the right to land. I will be prepared to repeat this
to Saakashvili. The Azerbaijanis are being deprived of their lands. Our
village owns 600-700 ha of lands, of which 70-75 ha are possessed by
a dozen of villagers. The rest is owned by top businessmen.
As for another problem, i.e. the problem of language, it has two
aims. One of them is designed for the future and the other one for
the past. The Azerbaijanis were first uprooted when their historic
villages were renamed.
These villages were groundlessly renamed under [former President
Eduard] Shevardnadze and when we told the Azerbaijani presidential
executive staff and the media about that at the time, they asked us
why we had renamed Ganca. Thirty two villages fell victim to that.
Ban on native language has far-reaching aims
[Correspondent] Second, by restricting the use of the mother tongue,
they are trying to rob our compatriots of their future. Under the
newly-adopted law on education, schools for ethnic minorities will
start teaching in Georgian in the next three years. So, in a short
while, everything will be taught in Georgian. An ethnic language will
be taught as a foreign language.
[Second unidentified man] From 2007, when the law comes into force,
history, geography, mathematics, physics, nature and a series of
social subjects will be taught in Georgian at the non-Georgian
speaking schools. We simply cannot understand this. This just shows
that they are closing down the Azerbaijani-language schools. How can
a pupil study in two languages? What is it for? The aim is to make
the non-Georgians illiterate here.

ARMENIAN, AUSTRALIAN FMs DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT OF BILATERAL RELATIONS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan and
Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Alexander Downer
discussed prospects of developing bilateral relations, stressing an
important role of the Armenian community in Australia in intensifying
bilateral economic relations. Minister Oskanyan informed his Australian
counterpart of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and of Armenia’s
relations with its neighbors. The Ministers expressed satisfaction
with bilateral cooperation within international organizations. Minister
Oskanyan invited Minister Downer to visit Armenia.
The RA Foreign Minister also held meetings with other Australian
Government officials, representatives of the Armenian-Australian
Chamber of Commerce. He also visited the Armenian community center
and made a speech.
An Armenian delegation led by RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
paid an official visit to Australia on October 9, 2005.

IGOR LEVITIN TO ARRIVE IN ARMENIA
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. RF Minister of Transport, Co-Chairman
of the Armenian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic
Cooperation Igor Levitin is to arrive for a 2-day official visit
to Armenia on October 12, 2005. Colonel Seyran Shasuvaryan, Press
Secretary to the RA Minister of Defense, reported that the RF Minister
of Transport is to participate in the 7th meeting of the Commission,
after which a protocol will be signed. The levitin-led delegation is
also to hold meetings with Armenia’s officials.

AZERI SOLDIER REPORTEDLY KILLED IN ARMENIAN TRUCE VIOLATION
Lider TV, Azerbaijan
Oct 10 2005
The Armenian armed forces again violated the cease-fire in Agdam
[District] last night, killing an Azerbaijani soldier, Niyamaddin
Ajdar oglu Mammadov.
The enemy was silenced with retaliatory fire. Our correspondent in
Agdam Teymur Zahidoglu reported that Mammadov had been drafted into
the army from the village of Sor Tahnali in Samkir District by the
district’s enlistment office 13 months ago. May he rest in peace.

MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER RE-ELECTED MAYOR OF SMALL ARMENIAN TOWN
The Associated Press
10/10/05 14:00 EDT
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – The mayor of a small Armenian town who is
being held in custody on murder charges has been re-elected to his
post, election officials said Monday.
Armen Keshishian, the mayor of Nor-Achin – about 10 kilometers (6
miles) east of the capital, Yerevan – has been charged with the Sept.
24 killing of Ashot Mkhitarian, the head of a local electric utility.
In the Sunday election, Keshishian won 2,160 votes, compared to 1,840
votes for his opponent, Armenia’s Central Election Committee said.
According to Armenian law, Keshishian will govern his town from
behind bars pending the end of the investigation and the trial. If
he is convicted, he will lose his post and a new election will be held.
Keshishian possessed a pistol, which had been presented to him by Prime
Minister Andranik Markarian. Markarian’s spokeswoman Mary Arutunian
confirmed the investigators’ claim that Mkhitarian was killed with
that gun.
Since becoming prime minister in 2000, Markarian has presented 589
people with guns, which police officials say have been used in three
murders and a number of attempted murders.
Weapons are considered a treasured gift in the Caucasus. Although
their sale is forbidden in Armenia, the president and prime minister
are empowered to present people with weapons. Arutunian said law
enforcement bodies were now checking a number of people whom Markarian
plans to present with guns, to make sure they would not use them for
criminal purposes.

IT TECHNOLOGIES MAY PROMOTE ARMENIA’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. IT technologies may promote Armenia’s
economic development, Chairman of the Union of IT Enterprises
Hovhanes Avoyan told reporters. According to him, it requires a wider
application of IT in other economic sectors. Avoyan pointed out the
necessity of using all the potential of computers, while it is used
at the most primitive level in Armenia. “We mainly use games, and
accountancy programs in business,” he said. According to Avoyan, the
DigiTec 2005 exhibition held in Yerevan aroused keen interest in IT.
Avoyan pointed out that the exhibition displays solutions to computer
problems in various fields, particularly in healthcare.
Director of the Enterprises Incubator Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan
said that this exhibition will occupy its worthy place among other
European and regional exhibitions and will help Armenian consumers
to find their way in diverse IT technologies.
Thirty IT organizations from Armenia and other countries participated
in the DigiTec 2005 exhibition. The exhibition was organized by the
Enterprises Incubator Foundation and Union of IT Enterprises.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO PAY OFFICIAL VISIT TO GREECE IN NOVEMBER, 2005
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will
pay an official visit to Greece in November, 2005, the RA Presidential
Press-Service reported ARKA News Agency. This was stated at Kocharyan’s
meeting with newly appointed Greece Ambassador to Armenia Mrs. Panayota
Mavromichali, who presented credentials to the RA President. The sides
pointed out that this visit will be a new stimulus for development of
the Armenian-Greek relations. Kocharyan gave importance to bilateral
relations with Greece, as well as to cooperation within NATO and
the EU. In the context of Armenia-EU relations importance was given
to the elaboration of Action Plan for Armenia within the policy of
European Neighborhood.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

KOCHARIAN SIGNS DECREE ON DRAFT, DEMOBILIZATION ON OCT. 8, 2005
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2005
YEREVAN, October 10. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan signed
a decree on draft and demobilization on October 8, 2005; the RA
Presidential Press-Service reported ARKA News Agency. According
to the decree the RA citizens over the age of 18 years, as well as
individuals who lost their right for deferment will be called up to
the army. At the same time, citizens who completed their compulsory
military service will be demobilized.