OSCE CHAIRMAN HOLDS TALKS IN BAKU
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2005
Baku, September 5, AssA-Irada
The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh, the upcoming
parliament elections in the country and Azeri-Slovenian relations
were in focus during OSCE chairman-in-office, Slovenian Foreign
Minister Dimitrij Rupel’s meetings in Baku on Monday. Rupel met
with President Ilham Aliyev, foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov,
as well as representatives of political parties and non-governmental
organizations. The OSCE chairman told a news briefing held jointly
with minister Mammadyarov that the results of the recent meeting
of Azeri and Armenian presidents in the Russian Volga river city
of Kazan are being analyzed by the mediating OSCE Minsk Group. “The
positions of the sides should be brought closer stage by stage.” Rupel
noted that talks should continue to achieve this. Touching upon the
parliament elections, the OSCE chairman said international observers
bear a great deal of responsibility in this respect. Over 1,000 OSCE
observers will monitor the poll in November, he said. Rupel also
touched upon future expansion of Azeri-Slovenian ties and steps to
be taken for the Azerbaijani President’s visit to Slovenia.*

OPEN-LETTER TO THE EU FOREIGN MINISTERS
Written by Dr Harry Hagopian
Newropeans Magazine, France
Sept 6 2005
Dear EU Foreign Ministers,
I refer to the EU Gymnich 2005 informal meeting today at the Celtic
Manor Resort near Newport in Wales. One of the key items on your
agenda will be the formal opening of accession talks with Turkey on
3 October 2005.
I have often written or spoken about the inter-woven issues surrounding
Turkey’s accession to the EU, and have also voiced my own support for
such membership so long as its fundamental criteria of admission are
neither overlooked nor overruled for the sake of politically-spun
expediency. Therefore, this Open Letter aspires to represent my
succinct guidebook to some of the topical points addressing Turkey’s
bid to accede to the European Union. I hope you would take it into
consideration as you steer the future of the European Union, and as you
vet new members wishing to join this club in future years or decades.
The talks between the EU & Turkey are open-ended. Therefore, there is
no need for any haste in the decision-making process, as more of your
time should be spent in verifying that Turkey is indeed adhering to
the five criteria of the Copenhagen Summit of 2002. After all, these
criteria, covering political and socio-economic factors, also focus
strongly on democracy, good governance and human & minorities’ rights.
I realise that Turkey recently extended its customs union protocol to
the ten new EU member-states (including the Republic of Cyprus), but
such extension does not include diplomatic recognition of Cyprus. As
the French Prime Minister stated, it is inconceivable let alone
impolitic to envisage a process of negotiation with a candidate
country that does not recognise another EU member-state or grant its
[Cypriot] ships and planes access to Turkish ports and airports under
the customs union.
I have noted that an idea mooted in the EU corridors for some months
now, mainly that of granting Turkey a privileged partnership rather
than full membership, has re-surfaced once more. Germany, in the throes
of an election between the incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD)
and Angela Merkel (CDU), as well as Austria and other EU and non-EU
European countries, are proponents of this Iceland-type approach.
In fact, and unless my reading of the EU compass is totally off-centre,
it is not possible to decide with finality on Turkey’s accession until
2014 anyway – corresponding to the date of the next EU seven-year
budget.
I have also been following the economic strides that Turkey has made
in the last period. There have been noticeable and praiseworthy
improvements in the fields of unemployment, inflationary rates,
banking system, education levels, income & corporate taxes – all
definitively helping strengthen the economy.
However, for the sake of being thorough, let me also add that much
of the optimism over Turkey’s economic roadmap has been over-egged
– possibly for political and PR purposes – and there still remain
serious indicators let alone concerns about the impact of Turkey’s
accession to the EU. For instance:
Subsidies that would go to Turkey alone are estimated to exceed.
[email protected] billion and, according to some predictions, balloon to [email protected]
billion – including vast agricultural subsidies and regional aid;
Rather than providing an educated and sophisticated labour force.
for Europe at large, those leaving Turkey to seek work in the EU
in a post-accession environment will in all likelihood be poor,
uneducated and in large numbers – causing an imbalance in employment
scales within the EU; In the last year, there has been a 134% rise
to $10.4 billion in.
the country’s current account deficit; Turkey is running a massive
debt, and includes $23 billion owed to the IMF as well as billions
borrowed via the international bond markets; Given that the mean
gross public debt is around 40% of gross.
domestic product in the new member-states, it is noteworthy that
Turkey’s gross debt is double that figure at c. 80% of its GDP.
At this stage, I must also raise another issue that is close to my
own heart. As an Armenian, who is also an international legal and
political consultant, I wish to remind you of the Armenian Genocide
of 1915 and link it with some of the rights and values that I cherish
most within the EU – including the fundamental freedom of expression.
Now, I do realise that this 90-year-old issue evokes different
reactions within different EU countries. On the one hand, it is clear
that the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide still
produces a measure of indifference within a few of the twenty-five
countries of our Union. On the other hand, it generates various
degrees of irritable non-support, expedient support or full-fledged
support within most other member-states.
Mind you, I cannot understand the position of our own Government
as it constantly re-iterates its regret about the massacres in
1915 against Armenians but adds that there is no evidence that they
constituted genocide according to the 1948 United Nations Convention
on Genocide. Surely an unethical position, when one thinks of the
litany of eminent British and international historians who have
unequivocally stated that this was indeed genocide.
Not only that, but the Blue Book (The Treatment of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire, 1915-6), which the historian Arnold Toynbee compiled
for Lord Bryce during WWI, is of relevant historical evidence. It
is a written and textual indictment of Ottoman Turkey by eyewitness
accounts that described the atrocities committed against Armenians
during WWI. Turkey has attacked this book, published by Her Majesty’s
Stationery Office, as war propaganda. Yet, when this question was put
to Toynbee in a personal letter, he replied: – It is true that the
British Government’s motive in asking Lord Bryce to compile the Blue
Book was propaganda. But Lord Bryce’s motive in undertaking it, and
mine in working on it for him, was to make the truth known, and the
evidence was good: the witnesses were all American missionaries with
no political axe to grind. So the Blue Book, together with Lepsius’
book {Deutschland und Armenien, 1914-1918}, does give a true account.
Turkey’s reaction to the Armenian Genocide goes well beyond sheer
denial. In order to expunge itself of the burden of mens rea or
its criminal intent, it is now imputing this intent on Armenians
by claiming that they were the ones who perpetrated those genocidal
massacres against Turkey. Such a reaction regrettably reminds me of
the psychology of more recent genocidal chapters in Rwanda or Darfur
when victimisers try to project themselves as victims.
But Turkey is now also muzzling the fundamental freedom of expression
within its territories. Allow me to refer you to one instance. Orhan
Pamuk, perhaps the most acclaimed Turkish author whose books
include My Name is Red and Snow, gave an interview to the Swiss
newspaper Tages-Anzeiger on 6 February 2005 in which he was quoted as
saying that Turkey killed 30,000 Kurds and one million Armenians. A
prosecutor in Istanbul has now indicted Mr Pamuk under Article 301[1]
of the Turkish Penal Code on charges that his remarks amounted to a
‘public denigration’ of Turkish national identity – punishable by up
to three years’ imprisonment.
Dear EU Foreign Ministers, you are surely well aware that the overall
mood within the European Union has altered dramatically in the last
year or two. It can perhaps best be amplified by the volatile discourse
within the whole EU about the Constitution that culminated with
significant rejections in France and the Netherlands. As a European
citizen, I do not believe at all that the EU project is dead. Nor
do I believe that it should be shelved and later transmuted into an
ante factum free-trade market. Much of Europe would still support
the post-war philosophy of Europe and its coherent harmonisation,
so long as its structures are reformed, transparent and accountable,
and that the yawning gap between ruling politicians or bureaucrats and
the overwhelming European population is narrowed down. The tool cannot
become the toolmaker, and the EU needs to listen to its constituents
as it moves forward. After all, you need simply log on the newropeans
magazine web-site to assess the strength of innovative feelings
running within the EU – regardless of dubious political distinctions
made between old and new Europe.
My guidebook highlights those challenges that Turkey as the applicant
country, and the EU as the host body, both face today. I hope you
will not shy away from adopting those constructive decisions that
could ultimately help strengthen the EU. Do not seek discouragingly
paternalistic solutions. Sophistry or cosmetic powder will not dupe
the EU citizens any longer – certainly not at a time when they are
questioning you about their collective futures.
Today, in Wales, it behoves well for Turkey to remember that it cannot
keep using its hackneyed arguments – be it on Cyprus, the necessary
reforms it must undertake, its approach to the human and minorities’
rights of its own citizens or the Armenian Genocide. It is no longer
enough to hide behind arguments of Islam versus secularism, political
chauvinism or even geo-strategic interests.
Indeed, it does not bode well for Turkey’s admission to the EU when
it trashes a Report on minority and cultural rights, prepared by the
Human Rights Advisory Board and chaired by Professor Baskin Oran,
because it does not support the official Turkish thesis. It does
not bode well either when it cancels an academic conference on the
Armenian Genocide [at the Bogazici / Bosphorus University] because
the Turkish Minister of Justice Cemil Cecik believes it is ‘a stab
in the back of the Turkish nation’.
The EU project has taught me that narrow-minded ideological nationalism
no longer sits well anymore with our more freedom-friendly and open
EU today. You should call upon Turkey to move forward, not backslide
at every turn. After all, if I am to welcome Turkey into the European
fold, do you not think I have the right to ask that it uphold those
same Eurocentric principles that I as a European must uphold too?
I wish you success in your deliberations for the overall good of the
larger European Union.
Yours in Europe,
Dr Harry Hagopian, LONDON – 1 September 2005
LL.D- Executive Consultant Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian
Genocide (CRAG) [Committee of the] Armenian Community & Church Council
(ACCC)

ARMENIAN CHILDREN PREPARE FOR LIFE WITHOUT THE MELKONIAN
By Jean Christou
Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
Sept 6 2005
AS SCHOOLS around the island prepare for the new school year, the doors
of the Melkonian Educational Institute were firmly closed yesterday
as Armenian parents gave up an 18-month battle to save the secondary
school from being shut down.
It appears the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), which
administers some 22 Armenian schools worldwide, has won, at least
temporarily, its campaign to shut down the school, founded by the
Melkonian brothers nearly 80 years ago.
The case has now moved to the US courts where the school~Rs future
will ultimately be decided, but this could take a number of years,
by which time the island~Rs Armenian children will have integrated
mainstream schools.
Armenian parents yesterday began registering their children in private
secondary schools. According to Shavasb Bohdjalian, the chairman of
the Melkonian Alumni, most of the Armenian pupils will be going to
the American academy in Nicosia, ~Sbut there are a sizeable amount
at other schools,~T he said.
Bohdjalian said there were no protests planned. ~SThe whole thing
is in the courts now and they are delaying the dates and the judges
are giving new dates,~T he said. ~SWe keep going and coming back. We
just want the children to continue to get whatever education they
can and we are continuing the fight in the courts. Unless we manage
to pull the Melkonian out from under the control of the AGBU, there
is nothing we can do about it.~T
He said the school was just sitting idle at the moment, and that the
AGBU had moved their administration to a side building.
As a, parent Bohdjalian said having to register his child at a
new non-Armenian school had been difficult. ~SToday my wife went
to register my daughter at the American Academy. It was a terrible
feeling and there were so many others from the Melkonian there. It
was terrible after so many years at the Melkonian to have to move
somewhere else,~T he said. ~SThe kids are all unhappy but kids adjust
quickly in life and many of them are still together. They are sad
about it but kids are kids and they will adjust.~T
Bohdjalian said it was the same for the Melkonian teachers. He said
either they were still unemployed or were going to work at other
schools. Sixty of the Institute~Rs 200 or so pupils were from Cyprus
but the Melkonian also catered for Armenian students from Greece,
Lebanon, Syria, the US, Canada, Bulgaria, Romania and Albania,
among others. Around 60-65 per cent of Armenian students in Nicosia
attended the Melkonian, while another 25 per cent attend the English
School and a smaller percentage other private schools.
~SIt~Rs not the end of the world. The fight continues. Our main
objective was to make it to the opening of the school but the
fact that chance has gone now moves the fight to the courtroom,~T
Bohdjalian added.
Earlier this year, Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan, Patriarch of all
Armenians in Turkey, filed suit in Los Angeles against the AGBU in
an attempt to prevent the closure of the MEI.
The action is being co-ordinated and mediated by the California group
on behalf of the Patriarchate, a beneficiary of Garabed Melkonian’s
Deed of assignment. Garabed Melkonian was one of the two sibling
founders of the school, 78 years ago.
The 3,000-strong Armenian community, the school~Rs alumni and other
friends of the Melkonain believe the true motive of the closure is
financial, given that the school is sitting on some £40 million worth
of commercial real estate in the capital.
–Boundary_(ID_Qh4mpMzMKp+g5A8SRV3dtw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EXILED EX-PRESIDENT REGISTERED FOR AZERI POLL
Reuters, UK
Sept 6 2005
BAKU, Sep 5 : Azerbaijan’s exiled ex-president was registered to
run in parliamentary elections due later this year which are seen
as crucial to proving the ex-Soviet state’s progress on democracy,
a political ally said today.
The previous registration of another exiled opposition head, ex-speaker
Rasul Guliyev, was seen by his allies as a concession to foreign
pressure for a fair poll although prosecutors have said both figures
will be arrested if they return home.
Ayaz Mutalibov, who led the oil-rich state from 1990 to 1992 when
it gained independence from Moscow, is charged with failing to
prevent Armenians from seizing control of the breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh. Guliyev is charged with massive corruption.
“Today the electoral commission made out a candidate registration
in the name of Ayaz Mutalibov. We start his political campaign from
September 8,” said Araz Alizade of Mutalibov’s Social-Democratic Party.
“I do not think that Mutalibov can be arrested.” The elections are set
for Nov. 6 and are being closely watched for popular demonstrations
like those that overturned the governments of Georgia and Ukraine.
President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father two years ago in
the former Soviet Union’s first dynastic succession, has said such
a revolution is impossible despite opposition threats to depose him
if the polls are rigged.
International organisations have previously condemned Azeri polls
as well short of international standards, but the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) — the continent’s top
vote-monitoring organisation — praised the country’s progress today.
“The Azerbaijan authorities are taking steps to fulfil the
recommendations of international organisations and can resolve all
outstanding problems by November. Azerbaijan’s democratisation is
ongoing,” said OSCE chairman Dmitrij Rupel.
The polls will not be conducted in Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan
claims but has failed to assert any control over since a conflict
over the territory in the early 1990s. All efforts to resolve the
region’s status have failed.

ZOURABICHVILI CALLS FOR GEORGIA TO BE “REGIONAL LEADER”
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 6 2005
The gathering of representatives of Georgia’s diplomatic corps in
Batumi on September 2-3 was the largest such meeting in the last
9 years. Minister of Foreign Affairs Salome Zourabichvili said the
agenda covered the most important issues for the country’s foreign
policy: European and NATO integration and the necessity of attracting
European investment into the country. However, rousing the most media
interest at the meeting was Zourabichvili’s statement that Georgia
should strive to achieve the position of “regional leader.”
At the conference in Batumi, which brought together Georgian diplomats
accredited in 29 countries, Zourabichvili mentioned that Georgia should
try to gain the position of leader in the South Caucasus. “Being
a leader in the region is the most important issue for us. We need
this in order to be at the top of new movements and directions of
development,” she said, as quoted by the newspaper Akhali Taoba.
Observers think that the fact that such a statement was made by one
of the country’s top leaders is significant in itself, though as
Rezonansi reports, some state that the Minister of Foreign Affairs
should not make such bold pronouncements and that doing so is the
job of only the president or at least the prime minister.
It is clear that the proclamation about regional leadership does
not extend past the South Caucasus, because Georgia’s more distant
regional neighbors include countries such as Turkey, Iran and
Ukraine, to say nothing of Russia. It is fair to question, however,
Georgia’s capabilities to lead even within the small South Caucasus
region. Economics is the most basic precondition for any talk about
leadership. Is Georgia strong enough economically to even think of
being a regional leader?
In 2006 Azerbaijan will receive USD 5 billion in revenues from the
BTC oil pipeline alone. Also, Azerbaijan is twice as big as Georgia
in terms of population. Armenia has a vast and wealthy Diaspora
abroad. Moreover, Georgia is dependent not only on Azerbaijan
for energy resources, but also on Armenia, from which it receives
electricity in winter. In addition, the income per capita is greater
in both Azerbaijan and Armenia, though Georgia could theoretically
make use of the advantages it has given its geopolitical situation
and gain the upper hand, reports Rezonansi.
Others believe the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ statement about
regional leadership refers mainly to democratic reform. Namely,
that Georgia will try to pass reforms earlier than its neighbors. In
addition, Georgia should become a leader in European and Euro-Atlantic
integration issues. “Perhaps those countries supporting Georgia in
its integration into NATO and EU will give the country the role
of regional leader,” one anonymous expert is quoted as saying in
Rezonansi. One international figure encouraging Georgia to take such
a role is the president of PACE Rene van der Linden, who during an
August visit to Tbilisi called on Georgia to take a lead role in the
peaceful resolution of regional conflicts. “Georgia must become an
example for the whole region,” Linden said.
Georgia-Russian relations were another of the major issues on the table
at the Batumi meeting. Minister Zourabichvili stated that normalizing
relations with Russia is a pertinent issue for the foreign policy of
Georgia. The government has taken a lot of important steps to this end,
though according to Zourabichvili, they are not enough. “We are glad
that Russian military bases are leaving Georgia. But we are quite
far from normalizing our relations once and for all. We should all
take effective steps in this area,” said Zourabichvili.
The ministry named the attraction of investments as one of the top
priorities of Georgian ambassadors. “You are not only political,
but also economic ambassadors. We need a strong economy to have
a successful foreign policy. We want a strong economy. Thus the
most important objective of your activities should be attracting
investments,” said Salome Zourabichvili. The ambassadors are now tasked
with disseminating information about Georgia’s economic development
and the privatization processes underway in the country.
The 24 Ambassadors present at the meeting – Ambassadors to the United
States Levan Mikeladze, Russia Irakli Chubinashvili, as well as the
ambassador to Poland were unable to attend – have received their new
agenda for the next year. But for the most ambitious tasks ahead –
attracting foreign investments, promoting Georgia as a regional leader,
and normalizing relations with Russia – they must rely heavily on
officials in Tbilisi to do their job first of all.

OSCE CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE MEET WITH HEAD OF AZERBAIJANI COMMUNITY OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2005
OSCE delegation headed by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel has meet on September 5 with the
head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Azerbaijani community Nizami Bahmanov,
reported AzerTAj.
Speaking in detail of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Nizami Bahmanov said all refugees are concerned with
insolubility of the problem. Though the both Azerbaijani and
Armenian Presidents have recently meet in Kazan, Russia, the Armenian
President’s visit to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh is will negatively
affect the negotiations process, said Bahmanov. He asked the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office to examine this issue during his visit to Armenia.
Dimitrij Rupel has promised to discuss this issue with the Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan and said the question submitted by the
Azerbaijani side on illegal settling of Armenians in the Azerbaijani
territories is considering and will be prepared report on this issue.
In his words, OSCE will achieve by all means the resettlement of
Armenians from these territories.
Mr. Rupel has also in detail informed on the pre-election preparations
of the community of occupying territories and noted that there are
lists of the Azerbaijani citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh the Armenian
nationality.
From: Baghdasarian

ARDEBIL PROVINCE A REFUGE FROM HUE-AND-CRY OF URBAN LIFE
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Sept 6 2005
Ardebil province in northwestern Iran known for its marvelous natural
beauties and memorable historical relics is one of the major national
tourist hubs and a refuge from the hue and cry of urban life, annually
attracting a remarkable number of domestic and foreign tourists.
Favorable climate along with natural wonders of the province such
as Sabalan heights covered with vegetation characterized by its
boiling springs and rare glaciers, Fandoqlu forest in Namin, the
eye-catching Heyran gorge along Ardebil-Namin-Astara route, warm
and cold water springs in the provincial towns of Saraein, Naier,
Givi and Meshkinshahr are some of the attractions of the province.
Moghan tropical plain, gardens and cold highlands in Khalkhal,
Akhar-Bakhar natural park, natural Neur lake on the slopes of Baghru
height, Shourabil lake as well as exquisite historical monuments in
the capital city of Ardebil such as Safyeddin Ardebili’s tomb, Friday
Mosque and ancient bazaar as well as old houses and bath-houses are
of special charm to the visiting tourists.
The province is annually visited by 3.5 million domestic and 30,000
foreign tourists.
According to historians, the history of the province, particularly
its capital city of Ardebil, started before the advent of Islam and
dates back to the rule of Kianian and Sassanid dynasties.
The scientific studies and archaeological excavations conducted by
the former provincial Cultural Heritage Department at Ardebil Friday
Mosque and the hill facing it in 1988 prove that its foundation and
raw mud brick walls date back to Ashkanid era.
Various ceramics and ancient artifacts unearthed during the survey
conducted on historical heights across the province prove that the
history of civilization in the area, in particular the city of Ardebil
or “Artavil”, started about 2000 BC.
On the other hand, Ardebil was the homeland of Sheikh Safi and the
origin of Safavid dynasty which played a significant role in officially
recognizing Shi’ites and contributed to the integration of Iran.
Over 100 historical monuments and ancient sites have so far been
identified and registered across the province, most of which date
back to the post-Islamic period, particularly the Safavid period.
Sheikh Safyeddin Ardebili’s historical tomb situated at Ardebil Aliqapu
Square annually attracting dozens of thousands of tourists from Iran
and the world is one of the top ten national ancient monuments.
This rare building was named after the ancestor of Safavid monarchs,
the famous mystic Sheikh Safyeddin Ardebili. It was built after his
demise in 735 AH by his son Sheikh Sadreddin Mousa.
In addition to Sheikh Safi’s tomb and that of Shah Ismail I, the
mausoleums of other Safavi princes and Qezelbash commanders such as
those martyred during Chaldoran and Shervan wars are situated at the
same complex.
Over the past centuries, many of the valuable objects belonging to
the collection of Sheikh Safi Complex have been smuggled out of the
country in various ways and part of them such as the famous Sheikh
Safi Carpet decorate American, Russian and European museums.
Ardebil Friday Mosque, the second major provincial historical
monument, is located on an ancient hill in central Ardebil. The
archaeologists survey shows that the mosque, dating back to Seljuq
period, was repaired during the 7th-8th centuries AH under the rule
of Bayanderids in Azarbaijan province.
It is said to have been a fire temple before the advent of Islam.
Despite being hit by devastating earthquakes and other natural
disasters and being seriously damaged, the veranda adjacent to the
mosque’s dome is still used by Muslims for praying.
Ardebil bazaar was constructed during the rule of Shah Tahmasb I from
Safavid dynasty and a number of stores were added to it during later
periods. In 1985 it was listed as a national monument.
Church of St. Mary was established in the city of Ardebil in 1876 and
the last religious ceremony was performed there by the Armenian priest,
Vartan Zhamagursian in 1944. Though the monument is only a century old,
its bathroom and school have been completely destroyed.
The provincial Cultural Heritage department was authorized to repair
the church in 1991 to be used in the field of culture and art.
Recently the monument was changed into a sports complex, while its
original architecture was preserved.
Sheikh Heidar tomb located at a green garden in the ancient graveyard
of the provincial town of Meshkinshahr is attributed to Shah Ismail
I’s father, Sheikh Heydar.
As the second highest upright mountain after Damavand, Sabalan, with
its major 4,811-meter peak of Savalan, is situated 40 kms to the west
of the the city of Ardebil.
Alvares ski resort on the slope of Sabalan mountain range is a proper
venue for winter sports, given that it is often covered by snow for
six months.
Heyran gorge located along Ardebil-Astara route at a short distance
from the Caspian Sea coast is another wonderful provincial attraction.
Though the aerial distance between the coastal city of Astara at the
southwesternmost point of the Caspian Sea and the city of Ardebil is
merely 40 kms, on approaching Ardebil one gets refreshed by inhaling
the cool air.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.
PeaceJournalism, Nepal
Sept 6 2005
The Armenian massacres in Turkey started in the 19th century
and continued well after the Armenian genocide of 1915 in which
some 600,000 Armenians perished. The Armenians were also raided by
Kurdish tribesmen on a regular basis. An Ottoman military tribunal,
convened between 1919-21, even convicted for the crimes members of
the administration of the Young Turks, including cabinet ministers.
Many of the perpetrators fled the country only to return, triumphant,
after the establishment of modern Turkey in 1923. The Turkish
government today denies that an organized, premeditated genocide ever
took place and pegs the number of Armenian fatalities at 200-300,000
at the most.
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Armenians formed guerrilla
movements in eastern Van (the Armenakans, in 1885) and in Russia.
Radical nationalist parties were established by Russian-Armenian
emigrants in 1887 (Hunchak or Henchak, “The Bell”) and in 1890 in
Georgia (Dashnak or Dashnaktsutyun, “Union”). Mass demonstrations in
the Turkish capital (in 1890 and 1895) and armed uprisings followed
(in 1894-5). The Dashnaks even invaded Turkey from Russia in 1896 – a
demonstrative act which resulted in the slaughter of 50,000 Armenians.
The suppression of these revolts claimed 200,000 Armenian lives. In
1909, in Adana, more than 23,000 Armenians were massacred as the
warships of the Great Powers stood idly by. In 1912-3 the Great
Powers, led by Russia, pressured Turkey to cease its mistreatment
of the Armenians. This intervention was resented by the Ottoman
authorities. By 1915, Armenian calls for autonomy were deemed a danger
to the disintegrating realm, now at war with Russia.
When the first world war broke, Turkey allied itself with the
Germans. All Armenian men aged 20-45 were conscripted to the army as
soldiers, soon to be disarmed and serve as pack animals or in menial
jobs. When Russian Armenians recruited Turkish Armenians for the
anti-Turkish Russian Army of the Caucasus, in April 1915, the elite
of the Armenian community was arrested and executed. Between May and
June 1915 the Armenian population was deported to Mesopotamia. The
deportation followed mass executions.
Many more died from starvation, exposure, dehydration, abuse and
outright torture. The survivors – less than 300,000 – were subjected
to additional slaughter in Syria. People were beaten with blunt
instruments, burnt alive or drowned forcibly. The massacres were
carried out by military officers with dictatorial powers, aided
by criminals especially released from jails and assigned to their
gruesome duties.
Armed resistance in Van province, Mussa Dagh, Shabin Karahisar
and Urfa – as well as setbacks in the war – prevented the Turks for
deporting the urban Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire’s major
cities. Today there are less than 60,000 Armenians in Turkey compared
to at least 1.8 million in 1910.
Sam Vaknin, Ph.D. is the author of Malignant Self Love – Narcissism
Revisited and After the Rain – How the West Lost the East. He served
as a columnist for Central Europe Review, PopMatters, Bellaonline,
and eBookWeb, a United Press International (UPI) Senior Business
Correspondent, and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe
categories in The Open Directory and Suite101.
Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government
of Macedonia. Sam Vaknin’s Web site is at

STUDY DAY CONFERENCE DEDICATED TO THE 10 YEARS EU PROJECT
Date and time: 7 September, Wednesday, at 10: 00 Venue: Tbilisi State
University, David Sarajishvili Room 1 Chavchavadze Street
Press release written by Tamriko MIKADZE, Delegation of the European
Commission to Georgia and Armenia
Caucaz.com, Georgia
Sept 6 2005
“Establishment of the Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Education
in Southern Caucasus”
Tbilisi, September 6 – The Study Day conference to be held on September
7, at Tbilisi State University, will be dedicated to the 10 years
of successful European Union-funded TEMPUS “Establishment of the
Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Education in Southern Caucasus”
projects in Georgia, and more recently in Azerbaijan and Armenia,
co-ordinated by University College London (UCL, UK) and supported by
the universities in Italy and France.
The conference will be opened by the Rector of the Tbilisi State
University, Rusudan Lordkipanidze and Head of the Delegation of the
European Commission to Georgia and Armenia, Torben Holtze.
Professor Peter Lydyard, project co-ordinator (UK) and Professor Nino
Porakishvili, local and regional co-ordinator (Georgia) will speak
about their work. Participation of the representatives from the UK,
Italian, Fr ench, Armenian and Azeri diplomatic missions, Ministers
of Education and Health is expected. The conference will be attended
by leading academics from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan.

3334 PERSONS’ NAMES INCLUDED INTO THE VOTER’S LIST ON KHANKENDI CONSTITUENCY #122
Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 6 2005
3334 persons’ names have been included into the voter’s list on
Khankendi constituency #122 so far.
APA was informed by chairman of district electoral committee of the
above mentioned constituency Allahverdi Dolukhanov. He informed that
they will include all of the 7 thousand voters into the list within
20 days.
As for the result of the appeal made to the international organizations
for assistance in including the voters of Armenian origin into the
list, A.Dolukhanov said that they have not received any concrete
reply so far.
However, he hoped that the international organization will care
about the matter. A.Dolukhanov also noted that, one of 9 members
of the commission he presides resigned. The representative of Yeni
Azerbaijan Party said this step is related with his personal problems.