20-25 TURKISH JOURNALISTS TO VISIT YEREVAN SHORTLY
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6. ARMINFO. 20-25 Turkish journalists will shortly
pay a “working visit” to Yerevan on the initiative of the Turkish
Foreign Ministry.
The Star newspaper (Turkey) reports that the visit will take place in
the framework of the events preceding the Sept 23-25 Istanbul Armenian
Conference, an event that is to consider alternative opinions on the
Armenian Genocide and to establish contacts for developing ties between
Armenia and Turkey. The contacts will start with the establishment
of in inter-university ties and then will grow into joint political
and economic initiatives. Star reports that performing shortly in
Yerevan will be the Opera and Ballet Company of Turkey. Then the sides
will form a political task force while now the they are developing
a program of exchange between the French University of Armenia and
Galatasaray University.

ARMENIAN DM VISITS LATVIA
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 5. ARMINFO. A delegation of Armenia’s Defence
Ministry led by DM Serzh Sargsyan has left for Latvia today.
Sargsyan’s press secretary, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan says that
the delegates will meet with the Latvian prime minister, DM, chief
of the general staff, parliamentary national security and defence
commissioner. The sides will sign an agreement to develop military
cooperation.

ANKARA REMOVES “BEST AMBASSADOR OF LIBERAL TURKEY” OVER STATEMENTS ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Pan Armenian News
05.09.2005 04:43
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The European community is watching Turkey – an
aspirant to the European family – persecuting well-known Turkish
novelist, who expressed his opinion about the Armenian Genocide, Die
Welt reports. The matter concerns Pamuk’s statements on 1.5 million
Armenians slaughtered in the Ottoman Empire. Pamuk is to stand trial
on December 16, 2005. His words can be interpreted as offence “of
the Turkish national self-consciousness.” In the court Orhan Pamuk
will have to prove that 1.5 million Armenians were really killed. The
persecutions of Pamuk arouse a question. Is it a purposeful action
to remove the “best Ambassador of liberal Turkey” or is it a part of
a political campaign coordinated at the state level?

An article in the Dutch daily newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad on 31
August 2005 about Turkey’s declaration on Cyprus and the petition of
24 April Committee of FAON to the Dutch Parliament asking the
inclusion of Armenian Genocide in the EU negotiation framework with
Turkey.
See English translation below, after the original Dutch text.
Reformatorisch Dagblad
Woensdag, 31 augustus 2005
Redactie politiek
Bot teleurgesteld in verklaring Turkije
DEN HAAG – In politieke zin teleurstellend. Dat is het Nederlandse
oordeel over de verklaring van Turkije dat het Cyprus niet
erkent. Turkije legde die verklaring onlangs af toen Ankara de
douane-unie met tien nieuwe EU-landen, waaronder Cyprus, ondertekende.
Het tekenen van de douane-unie was een voorwaarde van de EU aan
Turkije om op 3 oktober te kunnen beginnen met
toetredingsonderhandelingen.
Nederland vindt de Turkse verklaring in politieke zin teleurstellend,
aldus minister Bot van Buitenlandse Zaken. Tegelijkertijd doet de
verklaring `in formele zin niet af aan de betekenis van de
ondertekening’ van het protocol met de EU. De juridische waarde
daarvan wordt niet aangetast door de verklaring van Turkije, meent de
regering.
De Federatie Armeense Organisaties Nederland (FAON) drong er dinsdag
bij de Tweede Kamer weer op aan dat Turkije de Armeense genocide van
1915 moet erkennen voordat het land kan toetreden tot de EU. De FAON
`luidt de noodklok’, aldus woordvoerster I. Drost. `We zien aankomen
dat het niet goed gaat met de acceptatie door Turkije van zijn
verleden.’
Turkse politici lijken af en toe bereid te spreken over de
volkerenmoord op de Armeniërs, maar in werkelijkheid ontkennen
ze de genocide.
In een petitie roept de FAON de Kamer ertoe op die ontkenningspolitiek
scherp te veroordelen. Als Turkije daar toch mee doorgaat, moet dat
consequenties hebben voor de aanvang van de
toetredingsonderhandelingen tussen de EU en Turkije, vindt de FAON.
De Kamer moet minister Bot dringend verzoeken nakoming te eisen van
alle toetredingscriteria, zoals naleving van mensenrechten, rechten
van minderheden en vrijheid van meningsuiting.
Bot moet op zijn beurt zijn Europese collega’s overtuigen van de
noodzaak van opname van de erkenning van de Armeense genocide als
voorwaarde in het onderhandelingsdocument met Turkije. `Het is nu of
nooit’, zei Drost dinsdag. `Dit is onze laatste poging om de erkenning
opgenomen te krijgen in een Europees document.’
Reformatorisch Dagblad
Dutch daily newspaper
Wednesday, 31 August 2005
Bot is disappointed in Turkey’s declaration
THE HAGUE – The Dutch judgement on Turkey’s declaration not
recognising Cyprus is politically disappointing. Turkey made this
declaration recently when Ankara signed the customs union with ten new
EU countries, among others Cyprus.
Signing of the customs union was a condition of the EU to Turkey to be
able to start accession negotiations on 3 October.
The Netherlands feels that the Turkish declaration is politically
disappointing, according to minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Bot. At
the same time the declaration `does not formally affect the meaning of
the signature” of the protocol with the EU. The government thinks that
legal value of the signature is not damaged by Turkey’s declaration.
The Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON)
insisted on Tuesday at the House of Representatives that Turkey must
recognise the Armenian genocide of 1915 before the country can join
the EU. The FAON “sounds alarm”, according to spokesperson
I. Drost. We predict that Turkey will not easily accept her past.
Turkish politicians seem to be prepared to speak from time to time
about the massacres of the Armenians, but in reality they deny the
Genocide.
In a petition, the FAON calls on the Parliament to sharply condemn the
negationist policy. If Turkey nevertheless continues with it, then it
must have consequences for the start of the accession negotiations
between the EU and Turkey, according to FAON.
The Parliament must request of minister Bot to urgently require comply
with all accession criteria, such as complying with human rights,
rights of minorities and freedom of expression.
Bot must on his part persuade his European colleagues of the need to
include recognition of the Armenian Genocide as a condition in the
negotiation document with Turkey. `It is now or never’, Drost said
Tuesday. `This is our last attempt to get recognition incorporated
into a European document.’
This mail comes to you within the framework of activities by Abovian
Armenian Cultural Association (Armeense Culturele Vereniging Abovian)
in The Hague. If you are not interested in receiving our mail please
let us know and you will be removed from our list. If you know other
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their e-mail address. Please send your reactions to: [email protected].
—
You are invited to discuss this issue at the `Holandahay Forum’
discussion forum at

UEFA.COM
Match report
Van Nistelrooij delights Dutch
Saturday, 3 September 2005
by Khachik Chakhoyan
Ruud van Nistelrooij’s goal midway through the second half saved the
Netherlands’ blushes as they scraped a win in Armenia to strenghten
their place at the head of FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 1.
Stylish finish
Manchester United FC striker Van Nistelrooij was kept quiet for most
of the game by some solid Armenian defending, but it took him only one
shot to decide the game in favour of visitors. On 64 minutes Khalid
Boulahrouz crossed into the area, Philip Cocu won the aerial challenge
and when the ball dropped the ball to Van Nistelrooij, he finished in
style.
Berezovski heroics
Goalkeeper Roman Berezovski was undoubtedly the man of the match for
Armenia as he helped to keep the Dutch at bay for most of the
encounter. On eight minutes he denied Van Nistelrooij from a dangerous
shot, while on 31 minutes Dirk Kuyt’s powerful header from point-blank
range was brilliantly saved. Arsenal FC’s Robin van Persie was also
denied by the goalkeeper in the first half.
Armenia blow
Armenia were dealt a blow when they lost their young star Edgar
Manucharyan, after a bright start, to a 17th-minute injury. Ara
Hakobyan came on to form a duo with his brother Aram and had the home
side’s best chance just three minutes after coming on, just failing to
connect after Cocu misjudged a header back to his own goalkeeper.
Dutch top
On Wednesday the Dutch hope to reinforce their position further when
they play host to the group’s bottom side, Andorra. Armenia,
meanwhile, travel to the Czech Republic with their hopes of
qualification already over.
(C) uefa.com 1998-2005. All rights reserved.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr. Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
HIS HOLINESS EXPRESSES HIS SUPPORT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
In a letter to the president of the United States, George W. Bush, His
Holiness Aram I expressed his support and condolences to the American people
in light of the losses suffered after a hurricane hit the city of New
Orleans in Louisiana.
In his letter His Holiness says: “The tragic images that I see on television
are, indeed, disturbing and heartbreaking. This is, in fact, one of the
biggest natural disasters in the recent memory of the U.S.A. I share the
pain and anxiety of those who have been affected by this disaster.”
The Catholicos also informed the president that he has advised the two
prelates of the Catholicosate of Cilicia in the United States to encourage
the Armenian-American communities to bring their active participation in the
post-hurricane humanitarian efforts.
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

New Laws to Live By: European bodies like draft Constitution changes,
opposition doesn’t
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

After four days of debates the National Assembly has adopted a new
draft of constitutional amendments. The draft of the ruling coalition,
although acceptable for European structures, was not acceptable for
the Armenian opposition.
The opposition stopped its 18-month boycott to take part in the
discussions, but on the next to last day of the discussions left the
hall stating that they would vote against the changes (one wing of the
opposition – the Ardarutyun bloc member Hanrapetutyun party had not
ceased the boycott).
Constitutional amendments have been the most debated political topic
of the last three months, and have been broadcast live on
television. On May 11, the National Assembly adopted a draft of
constitutional amendments in the first reading that was little
different from the existing one (click here to see previous ArmeniaNow
report); the branches of government were not separated, and the
President had unlimited powers.
On May 27, the Council of Europe Press Service disseminated a report
saying that the adopted draft had deeply disappointed the Venice
Commission’s working group and that it needed drastic changes. The
Venice Commission’s working group and representatives of the Armenian
authorities met in Strasbourg on June 23-24 and an agreement was
reached to amend the controversial provisions. As a result, a new
draft of changes was worked out.
Thus, under pressure of European bodies Armenia’s authorities agreed
to make new amendments.
Three key provisions are introduced in the new revised draft:
Yerevan’s mayor is elected (by a council of elders, who are also
elected. Presently, the mayor is appointed by the President). 2. The
President appoints judges according to proposals of the Justice
Council (unlike the previous provision according to which the Chairman
of the Justice Council was appointed by the President, and under the
Constitution currently in force the President is the Chairman of the
Justice Council). The Prime Minister is responsible only to the
National Assembly and the President cannot dismiss him. The President
appoints a Prime Minister enjoying the support of a parliamentary
majority.
Further, half of the members of the Television and Radio Commission
are elected by the National Assembly, and the other half are appointed
by the President. (Currently, all members of the Commission are
appointed by the President. The controversial closure of A1+ TV can be
explained by the dependence of the Commission on the President.)
During the last month ambassadors of European countries to Armenia on
several occasions hailed the new constitutional changes submitted by
the coalition and urged the country’s opposition to participate in the
discussions of these changes.
The opposition admitted that this draft is a positive step compared to
the previous one, but said it still has unacceptable provisions.
The opposition, in particular the Ardarutyun bloc, had submitted five
proposals which were not considered in the changes.
Another major argument for which the opposition is against the draft
is that if the Constitution is adopted now, the changes will be made,
according to the chapter of transitional provisions, in June 2007,
after the new parliamentary elections, and part of them will come into
effect a year later.
The opposition leaders stated that they would vote against the draft,
and Ardarutyan bloc member Shavarsh Kocharyan said that in his opinion
the opposition must remain neutral and let the authorities convince
the people to vote in favor of the changes. He said that this draft is
not a child of the coalition, as it was created under European
pressure and shows how within just three months the same people
presented basically different changes. Neither is it a child of the
opposition, as no proposal of the opposition was included. Coalition
representatives said that the changes from the very outset proceeded
from the opposition’s proposals and were not the result of pressure
from the West.
In political analysts’ opinion, because of the opposition’s stance the
constitutional referendum will either not be held or else the
authorities will rig the results.
Political analyst Vardan Poghosyan, who took an immediate part in the
Strasbourg meeting and had a part in the changes, says that this draft
with all its shortcomings is democratic and it would be better if
these changes worked. But the people will not accept them, as they
were not created in an atmosphere of political accord: `The
Constitution is not only a legal document, it is also a political
document and first of all the result of political agreements,’ he
says. `The authorities were reluctant to reach political
agreement. Besides, if the authorities are proponents of reforms, why
don’t they want the key changed provisions to go into effect soon?
`On the other hand, the opposition could have acted more competently,
stopping its boycott, submitting its constitutional draft and
stressing 10 points intelligibly for the people, and then urge the
people to vote for them if they are included in the changes. But in
any case, the opposition is little to blame. The authorities showed
that they would not stop at anything and would not go to agreement.’
The constitutional changes are likely to be put to a referendum in
November.
BALTIC `YANS’: A VISIT WITH THE ARMENIANS OF LATVIA
By Suren & Irina Musayelyan
Special to ArmeniaNow from Riga, Latvia
Editor’s Note: Staff writer Suren Musayelyan recently visited
relatives in Latvia, where he found a small, but vibrant community of
Armenians . . .
`Ani’, `Ararat’, `Artsakh’, `Erebuni’, `Kert’, the names of Armenian
landmarks might be expected on restaurants in the popular Diaspora
regions such as Glendale, Tehran, Montreal . . . But Riga?
(Latvia is situated in Northern Europe and is one of the three Baltic
states along with Estonia and Lithuania that were occupied by the
Soviet Union in 1940. Latvia regained its independence in 1991. It has
a population of about 2,300,000. The largest national minority is
Russians, about 28 percent).
With an Armenian population of about 2,500 in Riga (3,000 in the
entire country), the capital of Latvia is home to about two dozen
Armenian restaurants – approximately 1 for each 100 Latvian-Armenians.
According to one of the elders of the community, Karlos Shekoyan, this
detail only stresses that `the Armenian community, although not very
large, is very diverse.’
The 84-year-old, a well-known tamada (toast-master) among the Latvian
Armenians, who was brought to Riga by his fate in 1949, says that the
members of the community try to rally around the church.
`We all have families: children, grandchildren, but it is the meetings
in the church that are spiritual communication for us, bringing us
closer to our historical homeland,’ says Shekoyan.
The religious organization of the Armenian Apostolic Church called
St. Gregory the Illuminator Church appeared in Riga in 1993. And the
construction of the church began in late 1997 (the church is situated
in 6 Kayusalas Street). Construction is not complete yet, but
services are already being held. The church is being built exclusively
on the donations of the parishioners.
Father Markos (lay name – Hrachya Hovhannisyan) also emphasizes the
role of the church in the life of the community thousands of miles
away from their historical homeland.
`The Church is the core of our unity. It is heroism for such a small
community like ours to purchase such a large territory for the
construction of a church,’ says Archimandrite Markos, who came to Riga
in November 2002 and was appointed prior of the St. Gregory the
Illuminator Church.
According to Fr. Markos, Armenians in Latvia can be found in
practically all spheres of activities, but there are especially many
Armenians engaged in arts and culture.
According to him, there were Armenians in Latvia before the
sovietization of the republic in 1940, but they were very few and
disorganized. Armenians, who now live in Latvia, mostly came to this
Baltic state during the Soviet times, after 1946.
The first public organization – Latvian-Armenian Cultural Society –
was founded here in 1988.
The Armenian community of Riga was established on the basis of the
Latvian- Armenian Cultural Society in 2001. This community is a member
of the `Commonwealth’ union of public organizations of Latvia’s
national minorities and receives financing from the state.
Its chairman Artur Isakhanov has lived in Riga since 1979. He says
that the community faces lots of challenges in trying to preserve
their identity, including differences within the community itself. But
he says what they have actually achieved inspires him with optimism
for the future.
`It is for the first time in 50 years that only our community here in
the Baltic states has managed to purchase land and build a church
there. It happens very rarely in these parts, practically never,’ says
Isakhanov. `We have already got permission for the privatization of
the land and soon this land will belong to Holy Etchmiadzin.’
The church in Riga is the first Armenian church to have been built in
the Baltic States (which include churches in neighboring Lithuania and
Estonia, which, however, unlike the one in Riga were not built like
Armenian churches but were converted into them).
Isakhanov says that it is important for them to see the community
centered around the church. The local Armenians also plan to build a
cultural center and a school near the church.
The Armenian community in Latvia tries to keep abreast with their
compatriots in other Diaspora communities across the world. They now
have their own newspaper, `Ararat’ (printed in 2,500 copies), close
ties with the Armenian communities of neighboring Estonia and
Lithuania and participate in many international pan-Armenian
conferences and forums.
According to Isakhanov, there is an Armenian lobby in the Latvian
Parliament and among the Armenian lobbyists are even extreme
right-wing deputies, such as Chairwoman of the Seim (the Latvian
Parliament), Ingrida Udre.
In spring, when Armenians across the world commemorated the 90th
anniversary of the Genocide, the Armenian community in Latvia arranged
a whole series of events, including an exhibition on the Genocide at
the Seim of Latvia.
Even though the Armenian lobby failed to push a declaration on the
genocide through the Latvian legislature this spring (only 15 of the
100 deputies supported it, including 11 rightist (Latvians) and four
leftists (Russians)), they are determined to initiate the same
declaration next year. Isakhanov says they will continue to work in
this direction in the future.
`The president of Latvia recently met with our ambassador and said to
him: `Perhaps you shouldn’t remember the past, but should look into
the future,’ to which he replied: `Then why don’t you want to forget
your problems with Russia in the past?” says Isakhanov, calling it a
policy of double standards.
There is a khachkar in the very center of Riga, placed by the Armenian
community in 1989 in memory of the victims of the massacres of
Armenians and the earthquake in Spitak. In 2001, on the occasion of
the 1700th anniversary of Armenia’s conversion to Christianity, the
khachkar was reconstructed and re- consecrated.
Armenians in Latvia, whether they have a citizen’s passport or don’t,
mostly come together at church meetings and other events organized by
the community.
Anahit Sargsyan recently celebrated her 80th birthday with her
compatriots in the church yard. Originally from Tbilisi, Georgia,
Anahit has lived in Latvia since 1953.
`All my friends here are already dead. I have made new friends here in
the community, which is a family for me. I feel very sad when I miss a
single Sunday church service,’ she says.
Preservation of language is another challenge, especially for the
younger generation of Armenians in Latvia.
Tigran Bogoyan, 29, was born and raised in Riga. A graduate of the
Department of Economy at the Latvian University, Tigran runs an
accounting firm. He says he often goes to Yerevan where he has
relatives. He speaks Armenian a little.
`I try to speak Armenian with anyone who speaks Armenian. Although I
was born and lived all my life in Latvia, I feel more at home in
Armenia,’ says Tigran.
There is a Sunday school in Riga available to Armenians who want to
learn the language. The school was established in 1989, but according
to Isakhanov, this school needs more attention both in terms of
financing and interest towards it among the members of the community.
Headmistress of Riga’s Armenian Sunday School Elza Mirzoyan says that
besides the Armenian language they also Armenian history and
culture. But she says they have fewer children attending the school
than they would like to see.
`The Armenian language is spoken less and less by children. Their
parents speak the language, but the children do not. Unfortunately,
this tendency is observed throughout the Diaspora,’ says Mirzoyan.
The Armenian boys and girls attending the school also participate in
various school competitions among Latvia’s national minorities and
their headmistress says that performing under the Armenian tricolor
they feel that their ancient historical homeland is behind them.
`I am sure that our children will grow to become real patriots of the
Armenian nation,’ Mirzoyan concludes.
NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC TURNS 14: SEPTEMBER 2 MARKS HISTORIC DAY FOR NKR
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
On September 2, 1991, the joint session of the regional council of
people’s deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) and
the Shahumyan (village) council of people’s deputies adopted a
declaration `On the Proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic’. The proclamation took place three days after the
`Declaration on State Sovereignty’ adopted by Azerbaijan and in
practice became a response to Baku leadership.
During the following 14 years more than two dozens new states – UN
members – appeared on the political map of the world, however the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has not found its place in this
list. This circumstance in no way influences the position of the
people of Nagorno Karabakh who do not even think about the possibility
of their existence within the Republic of Azerbaijan.
`We had won our independence at the cost of blood as a result of a war
foisted on us by Azerbaijan,’ says 67-year-old farmer from Hadrut,
Avetis Hakobyan. `Now the populations of many former Soviet republics
feel nostalgia for the past which in their minds is associated with
safe life and social security. I don’t want to argue with this,
especially that many of my coevals even in Armenia itself also
remember only the `good past’. However, the people of Nagorno Karabakh
do not feel such nostalgia, for the past in their minds arouses
opposite associations – their endangered and oppressed situation
within Soviet Azerbaijan, economic and demographical
discrimination. The basic difference between the peoples who won
freedom from `above’ and the peoples who gained their right to freedom
from `below’ is that the former still live retrospectively, and the
latter live with perspective.’
`A generation of independent citizens has grown up in the NKR during
the 14 years. Today, they attend senior grades in Armenian schools and
do not imagine their life within Azerbaijan,’ the Republic’s President
Arkady Ghukasyan says as his people celebrate their un-recognized
independence. `The people of Nagorno Karabakh gained their right to
sovereign development not so much in the crucible of the Azeri
military aggression, but also in accordance with international legal
norms.’
For three years, Karabakh and Azerbaijan were at war. For 11 years
there has been a `cease fire’. And for all 14 years, the matter of
Karabakh’s secession from Azerbaijan has been a matter of political
debate and controversy.
The Declaration `On the Proclamation of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’
adopted in Stepanakert on September 2, 1991, with a special point
invokes the USSR Law of April 3, 1990 `On the order of solving issues
connected with the secession of a Soviet republic from the USSR’ which
regulates also the form of secession of an autonomous unit from a
Union republic that declares its independence. It is in accordance
with this law that on August 30, 1991 Azerbaijan declared about its
seceding from the Soviet Union.
`In this case we deal with double standards, as one and the same law
was used differently,’ an Armenian expert on Nagorno Karabakh,
Professor Alexander Manasyan argues. `Nagorno Karabakh successively
complied with all necessary norms, including the organization of a
referendum on December 10, 1991, at the time when it was in a state of
war, in the presence of independent observers.’
There is another nuance that the expert calls special attention to.
The `Declaration on State Sovereignty’ proclaimed by Azerbaijan on
August 30, 1991 stated Baku’s rejection of its Soviet political
heritage and mentioned that the Azerbaijani Republic is a legal
successor of the Azerbaijani Republic that existed in 1918-1920.
`However, Nagorno Karabakh was part of Azerbaijan only during the
Soviet period, and consequently Baku’s official abandonment of the
political heritage of the USSR automatically deprives it of the right
to this territory,’ says the political analyst. `Moreover, declaring
itself as a legal successor of the First Azerbaijani Republic, Baku
also loses any right to possess Karabakh, as this Armenian land never
was within Azerbaijan in 1918-1920. The League of Nations had not
recognized this state exactly because of its aggressive character and
claims on Karabakh. I should mention that the First Armenian Republic
of 1918-1920 was accepted by the League as a full entity of
international law and had its embassies from the United States to
Japan.’
Some Armenian political analysts think that the status of Nagorno
Karabakh should not become a subject for discussion in the negotiating
process between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In particular,
this opinion is shared by Viktor Solakhyan, an expert of the
Department for Refugee Affairs and Migration attached to the Armenian
Government.
`Nagorno Karabakh proclaimed its independence in accordance with
international norms, and it is special international instances that
are to solve this issue of compliance of the choice of the people of
NKR and to legal norms recognized by the world community,’ says Viktor
Solakhyan. `The presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh
can discuss only issues connected with the prospect of the territories
around the NKR controlled by Armenian and Azeri forces. Mutual
concessions are possible here, but they cannot be linked to the issue
of the NKR’s status. Otherwise, a deadlock situation is created,
something that we have witnessed for the past ten years.’
On September 2, 2005, Aram Petrosyan, a boy from the Karabakh village
of Azokh, will mark his 14th birthday. He has no idea what the
negotiating process is and who the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen are. He
has absolutely no idea of how many variants of a peaceful settlement
of the problem were proposed by the negotiators and what their
contents were. He only knows a family legend that when he was a
four-month-old babe in arms, he visited with his parents a polling
station under bullets so that the grown-ups could have time to vote in
the referendum for independence. And he also knows that his birthday
is marked not only by his family, but also by the whole of Karabakh.

POWER PLAY: QUESTIONS ARISE OVER ARMENIAN ELECTRICITY NETWORKS DEAL WITH
RUSSIAN COMPANY
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
An investigation by the Public Services Regulatory Commission of
Armenia has concluded that no laws were broken when, earlier this
summer, the Armenian Electricity Networks engaged in transactions with
a Russian holding company for a share of Armenia’s power grid.
Legality aside, however, the commission’s response is not enough to
allay concerns by some that control of the republic’s energy supply is
being placed in the hands of the Russians.
On June 23, the official website of the Russian (joint stock company)
Unified Energy System State Holding (), reported that
Russian Interenegrgo BV had purchased AEN’s shares from British
Midland Resources Holding Ltd. Corporation, at a cost of $73 million.
Such a transaction would be in violation of Armenia’s agreement with
British Midland, signed in 2002, in which the holding company must
notify the Government of Armenia in advance of any negotiations
involving more than 25 percent of shares.
News of the sale caused concern in Armenia, particularly among
international donor organizations implementing assistance projects
within Armenia’s energy system.
The first to react, in early July, was World Bank Director Roger
Robinson, who expressed his dissatisfaction with the deal being not
transparent.
`Electricity distribution networks are one of the largest and most
profitable sectors of Armenia that has a strategic importance for
every Armenian,’ Robinson said. `I consider it necessary that a public
announcement should be made about the ongoing events – transparently
and officially.’
Robinson’s comments were followed by a statement from the United
States Agency for International Aid in which USAID said that unless
the matter were satisfactorily clarified, USAID would revise its aid
package to Armenia.
After such tough statements, Inter RAO UES Deputy Director Mikhail
Mantrov spoke in a press conference in Yerevan on July 24, giving
explanations to the report published on the website.
`An agreement was signed on June 23 between the owner of AEN, Midland
Resources, and `Interenergo BV’, and the latter will manage AEN for 99
years and will dispose of the whole profit received during the
operation. However, in this case Midland Resources remains an
unchanged owner of AEN’s shares,’ Mantrov said during the press
conference.
The $73 million, Mantrov said, is the amount paid by the Russians to
gain managing rights.That is $33 million more than Midland paid three
years ago for a 100 percent stake. According to Mantrov, such an
overpayment was made for getting the right to purchase shares in the
future.
On August 26, Deputy Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory
Commission Nikolay Grigoryan told ArmeniaNow that AEN had acted
properly according to the requirements of the license.
`According to the documents sent to us, the owner of the AEN is the
same Midland Resources, the composition of the Board of Directors is
unchanged, and the governor remains Eduard Shifrin,’ Grigoryan
said. `Bank accounts were not changed, which is also confirmed by the
document presented from the central depositary.’
The Armenian government still keeps silent about this expensive energy
deal, saying that Midland has given no explanation so far to the
government, although the Ministry of Energy turned to Midland with
such a request.
According to Mantrov, the authorities were not informed because it is
not mentioned in the agreement signed between the Government of
Armenia and Midland Resources that state bodies are to be informed in
advance only in case of getting the right to management.
The latest dealings aside, Russia already owns about 80 percent of
Armenia’s electricity system. Of them are the Hrazdan thermal power
plant, the Nuclear Power Plant, as well as the Sevan-Hrazdan
hydro-power station cascade.
Russia also participates in the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline construction
project, in particular, the Russian side plans to build the fifth unit
of Hrazdan, which, as a compensation of the import of natural gas,
will supply Armenian electricity to Iran.
The transfer of the right to manage AEN to the Russian holding formed
an opinion among the public that there is no longer point in talking
about the concept of the country’s energy security.
Stiopa Safaryan, Director of Research at the Armenian Center for
National and International Studies says that the privatization of
electricity distribution networks to one company already has a
political direction.
`Electricity networks are the most important chain in the country’s
energy system,’ says Safarian. `Many can generate electricity, but
electricity distribution networks have an opportunity to make a
selection as to what price the electricity should be sold. And in this
regard, it is a rather serious instrument of influencing the public.’
And according to Caucasus Media Institute Director and political
analyst Alexander Iskandaryan, the June deal was
predictable. According to him, politically, everything there is very
clear.
`It was simply a variant of handing over electricity distribution
networks to Russia. Legally, perhaps it will be impossible to prove,
but politically it is so,’ Iskandaryan told ArmeniaNow.
According to him, the dissatisfaction within a certain mass of the
public regarding the transfer of AEN’s management to the Russian side
has the following explanation:
`In Armenia, as well as other post-Soviet countries, there is a
certain post- imperial complex. It is a complex of emotional defense
of statehood,’ says Iskandaryan. `If a part of shares of an industrial
company of the republic is purchased by a German, British or American
company, it is regarded as normal, however if the buyer is a Russian
company, then it is considered that it is terribly dangerous, as
Russia is Armenia’s former metropolis.’
`In all cases, the entrance of such countries to Armenia implies that
they come for a reason, and Russia’s entrance into Armenia has enough
reasons,’ says Iskandaryan and adds: `They had promised that they
would not give the electricity distribution networks to the Russians,
but they seem to have given them.’
Safaryan also questions the motives behind the AEN deal with the
Russian company.
Midland is a company registered in an offshore zone, but its manager
is a Russian by nationality. According to some experts, to have
greater guarantees the Russians want AEN to belong to a Russian
state-owned enterprise.
Safarian says that the report on the website was published for a probe
of responses, however certain experts contend that such a giant
company would not place wrong information on its official website.
`In any case, even if there was no change of the owner, then RAO UES
already enjoys all the rights of an owner, as it manages, owns and
uses. To transfer management for a period of 99 years and dispose of
the whole profit is in no way different from the rights of an ordinary
owner,’ Safaryan concludes.
SPORT DIGEST: DON’T BET ON THE HOME TEAM, UNLESS IT’S IN WEIGHTLIFTING . . .
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Football
Dutch test for Armenia’s Dutchman. Armenia will host Holland in a
World Cup 2006 qualifier in Yerevan’s Vazgen Sargsyan `Republican’
Stadium on September 3.
Currently, Armenia is last but one in their group (ahead of Andorra
only), having played nine matches and gaining only four
points. Armenia long ago lost their hopes for qualification or a high
place in the group and in the remaining three games (against Holland,
the Czech Republic and Andorra) will only struggle for the fifth spot
in the group now occupied by Macedonia (with 8 points after 10
matches).
But Armenian football functionaries say these matches have a great
importance for the team, which is in search of its football.
`We are facing a hard trial. We must struggle for a result. Unlike the
Dutch team, we have nothing to lose. The boys feel positive about the
match and can put up a successful performance,’ National Teams
Technical Director Ashot Manukyan said in a press conference in
Yerevan earlier this week.
He informed the media that Andrey Movsisyan, playing for Moskva FC
(Moscow, Russia), had refused to play for his national team, as well
as the young goalkeeper from FC Pyunik Apula Bete. Instead, the
coaches invited another young goalkeeper Georgi Kasparov as the team’s
second goalkeeper.
Artavazd Karamyan, playing for Rapid (Romania) has an injury and his
club’s medical staff and management informed the Football Federation
of Armenia that Karamyan is currently receiving medical treatment and
cannot be available for international duty for the next few
matches. As for his twin brother Arman Karamyan, this time the
national team’s Dutch head coach Henk Wisman did not include him in
the squad.
After a long interval Armenia skipper Harutyun Vardanyan returns to
the team. The experienced defender had been sidelined for about a
year because of an injury and could not help his national team. Young
Banants FC midfielder Samvel Melkonyan was invited by the coach to
enhance the right wing.
But before the match international bookmakers have no doubts that
Holland will beat Armenia. The Dutch team’s victory is evaluated with
a coefficient of 1,08, Armenia’s victory has a coefficient of 16. The
draw also has a high coefficient – 8.
The first match between these two teams in this qualifying campaign in
Eindhoven ended in a convincing victory of the Dutch team – 2-0
followed by the replacement of Armenia’s French coach Bernard Casoni
with Wisman under whom Armenia have lost twice – to Macedonia at home
(1-2) and to Romania away (0-3).
Weightlifting
Armenian junior weightlifters, who successfully performed in the
European junior championships recently held in Bulgaria have earned
monetary awards from Armenian National Olympic Committee Chairman
Gagik Tsarukyan this week.
Armenian male and female weightlifters won a total of 20 medals during
the championships. And Armenia placed second in the team competition.
Talking to A1 Plus, Sport Committee Chairman Ishkhan Zakaryan called
the performances by Armenians in Sofia `a fantastic result’.
The medal winners received up to $500 from the chairman of the
Armenian National Olympic Committee.
Special awards were given to women’s team coach Ogsen Mirzoyan and
junior team coach Ashot Mkhitaryan.
Mkhitaryan promised to improve the results if he was given a chance to
continue to work with the team.
Wrestling
Armenia’s freestyle wrestling national team is holding a training
assembly in Alushta (the Crimea, Ukraine) in preparation for the world
championships due to be held in the Hungarian capital of Budapest from
September 26 to October 3.
According to the head of Armenia’s sport delegation Levon Vardanyan, a
tough selection will be made for places in the national
team. (Armenpress)
Chess
Armenia’s grandmaster Elina Danielyan, gaining 6 points out of the
possible 9, finished 6th in the Rodento memorial tournament that
recently ended in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. The winner of
the tournament, in which 48 female chess-players took part, was
Natalia Zdebskaya of Ukraine with 7.5 points. (Armenpress)
OUTSIDE EYE
By John Hughes
ArmeniaNow reporter
I have a friend who is a teacher. She teaches at one of the most
prestigious universities in Yerevan. Students in fine clothes and
fancy cars with cell phones and suntans from holidays on foreign
beaches returned to the school yesterday to start another year.
She teaches a foreign language there. Her expertise, passed on, is a
ticket for the ones who apply it to get the best jobs in this country
of rare best jobs.
If they care about their financial future, they will not choose the
profession the teacher has chosen.
She is a fulltime university professor and she makes about $70 a
month. She spends about $10 of that each month riding a bus to the
university. She lives in the suburbs. A person with her salary can’t
afford an apartment in the center.
She has a son. Thursday was his first day of school.
Earlier in the week, like thousands of mothers in this city, she went
shopping for school things for the boy.
She dressed him in a new suit. It cost $15
She bought him new shoes. They cost $10
She bought a new shirt, $5. And a new tie, $2.
She took him for a haircut. It cost $1.50.
She bought notebooks, a book bag, pencils, pens. The cost was about
$11.
It cost the teacher nearly a month’s salary to properly send her boy
off for his first school day.
The teacher started her new school year this week too, with eight
groups of 20 students each. 160 students; about 85 cents per student
per month. She will spend 64 hours a month with them. She will make
$1.09 per hour, not including preparation time.
Other teachers in Armenia make even less.
If my friend were a math teacher, I’d ask her to explain to me how
those numbers add up to anything that makes sense.

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SHIP SHAPE: CILICIA COMPLETES SECOND LEG OF ITS HISTORIC JOURNEY AROUND EUROPE
By Tony Halpin
ArmeniaNow editor
The crew of the sailing ship Cilicia returned to Armenia this week
after completing the latest leg of their epic sea voyage.
The replica of a 13th Century Armenian merchant vessel has arrived in
Great Britain, where it will spend the winter.
The Cilicia docked at Portsmouth harbor on the southern English coast
on August 19. The city’s Mayor and around 100 members of Britain’s
Armenian community gathered on the quayside the next day to welcome
Karen Balayan, the captain, and his crew.
Baroness Caroline Cox was also present to greet her friend Zori
Balayan, the writer and Nagorno Karabakh activist who is a member of
the Cilicia’s crew. The flags of the United Kingdom and Nagorno
Karabakh flew beside each other on the ship’s mast.
Cilicia’s arrival in England completed the second stage of its
journey, which had begun in the Italian city of Venice in
April. Cilicia started its voyage from the Georgian port of Poti in
July 2004, tracing the mediaeval trade routes of Armenian merchant
sailors.
The third stage of its journey to 21 countries will resume in 2006
when it leaves Portsmouth for Amsterdam then heads north through the
Baltic Sea to St Petersburg in Russia, the final destination.
Each leg of the trip has cost around $100,000 in sponsorship, but the
ship’s presence in ports throughout Europe has generated considerable
interest in present-day landlocked Armenia. The crew dresses in
Armenian costumes from the period when they arrive in each port,
creating a buzz of curiosity among local residents.
For Balayan, the historical experiment also restores links between
Armenia and countries in Europe more than six centuries after the
decline of the Cilician Kingdom in what is now modern Turkey.
The ship’s voyage is the culmination of a 20-year dream to revive
Armenia’s sea-faring traditions. Balayan founded the Ayas Nautical
Research Club in 1985 and decided with fellow enthusiasts in 1990 to
build an exact replica of an Armenian ship, using the techniques
available at the time to their mediaeval ancestors.
They pursued their dream through the collapse of the Soviet Union and
the economic hardships of Armenia’s early independence. Finally, the
Cilicia, measuring 20 meters in length and 5 meters in width, launched
in Lake Sevan in May 2002 and began its journey in the Black Sea two
years later. (Click here to see previous ArmeniaNow reports of
Cilicia’s history.)
`Many people didn’t believe that it would happen, but we always knew
that the day would come when we would sail,’ recalls Balayan.
Cilicia visited Ayas, the Cilician port after which Balayan named his
club, during its voyage along the Turkish Mediterranean coast.
`The ship came to its motherland after 20 years and for me,
emotionally, it was the most important stop. We all sat on the deck in
silence and tried to understand what we had done,’ he says.
`Ayas was the main harbor of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. We were
the first Armenian boat back in that harbor for hundreds of years.’
During this leg, Balayan and his 14-member crew navigated from Italy
to England via ports in Spain and France. They spent up to seven days
at sea between each stop, relying on the wind to power the Cilicia at
a typical speed of just 4 knots.
They expect to arrive in St Petersburg to coincide with festivities to
mark the year of Armenians in Russia. Balayan says that the ship will
return to the Black Sea via the river waterways of Russia, before
crossing overland from Georgia back to Armenia.
The overland journey from Armenia to the Black Sea in 2002 produced
one of the most unexpected meetings of the expedition. As they moved
the ship along narrow mountain passes, they encountered a replica of a
Viking ship heading in the other direction that a Swedish crew was
bringing to the Caspian Sea.
`I could not believe I was seeing a Viking ship in the mountains of
Georgia and you can only imagine the faces of the Swedish crew when
they saw our ship,’ says Balayan.
Zori Balayan was met in Portsmouth, as he was at a previous stop in
Italy, by police officers acting on an Interpol complaint from
Azerbaijan demanding his arrest. The authorities in Azerbaijan allege
that Balayan was involved in a terrorist bombing of the metro in Baku
in 1994.
The officers left after he showed them a letter signed by the general
secretary of Interpol, which stated that the agency considered the
complaint politically motivated and that it had removed Balayan from
its wanted list as a result.
Balayan says that he is suing Azerbaijan for damages totalling $178
million – one million dollars for each of the 178 countries on
Interpol’s alert network. He says the Azerbaijani authorities are
trying to take revenge for his prominent role in Karabakh’s struggle
for independence.
`Azerbaijan sends a telegram everywhere I go, including this time in
Portsmouth. The police came, looked at the letter and left,’ he said.
TATARSTAN MEETING PRODUCES NOTHING NEW FOR PEACE TALKS: JUNE OPTIMISM
DISAPPEARS IN KAZAN
By Aris Ghazinyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Reported from Kazan and Yerevan
Another meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the
Karabakh settlement took place in Kazan, Russia, on August 27 on the
sidelines of the summit of CIS heads of state held in the capital of
Tatarstan. Earlier, on August 23, the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan met in Moscow to discuss separate details of the
forthcoming negotiations in Kazan.
No specific information on the subject of discussions at the Moscow
meeting were made public, however Armenia’s Minister of Foreign
Affairs Vardan Oskanian is known to have stated that `the
self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh is a priority that should be
shown in the light of the population to decide their fate
independently.’
The position of official Baku also remained constant. It was voiced
immediately after the Moscow negotiations by Minister Elmar
Mamedyarov: `Azerbaijan proceeds from the fact that Nagorno Karabakh
is part of the Azerbaijani Republic and must remain within it.’
The meeting of the presidents in Kazan was preceded by curious events
that deserve a special mention. It had been expected that during this
very meeting a `Working Document’ on the settlement of the conflict
drafted by the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen would be presented to the
presidents. It was frequently spoken about in early July, however by
the end of that month no concrete statements on this account were made
by the mediators.
Considering the fact that today Azerbaijan is on the threshold of
parliamentary elections and Armenia is facing a referendum on
constitutional amendments, many political analysts expressed the
opinion that this meeting could not promise any essential shifts. In
this aspect it was said that Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has much
more problems than his Armenian counterpart.
`President Ilham Aliyev is gradually losing the limit of foreign and
domestic trust to himself saved up by his father,’ political analyst
Rafael Zakharyan says. `The West wishes to see in him a reliable
partner who is in a position to solve problems, including the Karabakh
problem. Washington’s certain concern over Ilham Aliyev’s political
behavior received a new display also during the visit of the former
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to Baku at the end of
July. It was not even excluded that by the moment of the Kazan meeting
with Armenian leader Robert Kocharyan slated for August 27,
Azerbaijan’s leader would have a new team.’
Interestingly, practically immediately after the Albright visit,
several opposition newspapers in Azerbaijan (`Baky Khabar’, `Yeni
Musavat’, `Azadlyg’, and others) published extensive materials
regarding the state of affairs within the country’s law-enforcement
system and corruption of the state authorities.
There is also information that during the meeting with the former U.S.
Secretary of State Azerbaijan’s Aliyev promised to carry out a serious
rotation of his team and dismiss the most influential officials of his
staff. The dates of the `revolution from above’ were mentioned in
separate messages – until August 21.
`During her visit to Baku, the former U.S. Secretary of State denied
the information linked to the press regarding a possible revolution in
Azerbaijan if the outcomes of parliamentary elections are rigged,’
Baku’s `Novoye Vremya’ newspaper wrote in this regard. `But a
trustworthy source also reports that at a dinner with U.S. Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Rino Harnish, Mrs. Albright made a no less sensational
statement telling the ambassador and the guests attending the dinner
about an arrangement with President Alyiev that no later than August
20 he would dismiss the most influential ministers, the head of the
presidential administration Ramiz Mehtiyev and many of the leading
workers of this staff close to him.’
Quoting this newspaper, the REGNUM news agency reported in early
August that the `terms of the U.S. Administration are accepted –
President Aliyev is to carry out a serious rotation of his team until
August 21, something that the Euro-Atlantic politicians have been
expecting him to do for a long time. Then, he will be given the last
chance to develop Azerbaijan in an evolutionary way.’
Albright’s visit was followed by the visit of Azerbaijan’s Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedyarov to Washington that resulted in a
`postponement’ of the rotation of state personal up until the
parliamentary elections. However it became clear that in Kazan, Aliyev
would be least concerned by the Karabakh question.
Kocharyan also went to the capital of Tatarstan with a load of certain
problems connected with the discussion of constitutional amendments at
the National Assembly planned for August 29. Before his visit to Kazan
he gave an interview to Public Television of Armenia regarding this
problem.
In any case, the negotiations between the two leaders took place on
the announced day – August 27. It was also planned that at a certain
stage of bilateral negotiations of the leaders of Armenia and
Azerbaijan in Kazan the talks would be joined by the President of the
Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and also the cochairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group. However, the Russian leader was not present at the
meeting and the negotiators themselves were limited only to the role
of a diplomatic trio meeting and seeing off the presidents.
The first to have arrived to the building of the Kazan town hall was
Aliyev, who, accompanied by the OSCE Minsk Group mediators headed for
the room prepared for the negotiations. Five minutes later, the
motorcade of the Armenian president approached the same building, and
Kocharyan, with the same entourage, came up to Aliyev, greeting him at
the door.
Negotiations between Kocharyan and Aliyev began at noon and lasted
till 2 pm. Soon the media were informed that there would be no
statement of the heads of state.
Two months before this meeting, the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen were
in a more optimistic mood and even did not rule out the possibility of
reaching a settlement of the conflict in the most foreseeable
future. A little bit later, there was not a trace of the former mood
of the mediators, and the degree of June optimism was going down as
the Kazan meeting was drawing closer. It is impossible to say
precisely what happened during these two months. Oskanian did not give
a concise answer to this question, but did not exclude that `the
latest statements by President Aliyev could have served the occasion
for that.’ (The latter did not consider possible any concessions on
the part of Baku).
`In view of the confidentiality of the negotiating process I am not
authorized to report which questions were discussed by the presidents
at the Kazan meeting,’ the minister said. `It is obvious, however,
that there can be no agreement accepted by the world community without
mutual concessions.’
On the whole, the minister positively evaluated the results of the
Kazan negotiations, but the commentary of the Armenian leader was even
more interesting. On board the plane back to Yerevan, he had noted
that `the negotiations passed rather not bad and if they went ahead
that way, then perhaps some end is being seen.’ The Armenian leader
stopped short of making any other commentaries on this account.
THE WOUNDS OF WAITING: FAMILIES OF MISSING IN ACTION SUFFER NOT KNOWING
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Their dresses are black, their faces tired of waiting and
sad. Handkerchiefs are either in bags or in hands. Endless mourning;
longing for news.
On August 30th the Vanadzor Office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly
organized an event in respect to the International Day of Missing
People. At the American University of Armenia business center, about
40 people gathered to remember those who are still missing from the
Karabakh war.
Samara Grigoryan turns the documents she holds, puts in order her
letters and inquires addressed to different people and structures and
her own handwritten papers about the military service of her son,
Vrezh. She takes a small picture of her young son. Her eyes fill with
tears again.
It has been 13 years since she hear from him. He was 20 then. The last
time was in 1992 when Vrezh Grigoryan was fighting in Mardakert region
among the fighters of the `Arabo’ detachment. On June 29th there were
fierce fights and on June 30th the news came that Vrezh was missing.
`As the sun rises we hope our son will be found, as the sun goes down
we are hopeless again,’ tells Samara Grigoryan, age 57. `89 people
were missing from `Arabo’ detachment. My Vrezh was with them, he
volunteered to protect his homeland.’
Samara says everything was confused after Vrezh was lost. The family
sold its apartment to finance their search for the son. Last
September, Vrezh’s father Azat, died. Samara says it was due to the
pain of losing his son.
`No news for 13 years, we couldn’t get any information. We are still
without answers,’ says Samara, `This pain of soul has griped all of us
– those who have lost sons, husbands, brothers.’
In February 2004 the International Committee of Red Cross handed over
the list of the people missing as a result of the conflict to the
authorities of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the de facto authorities of
Nagorno-Karabakh. The updated list at present contains 3,165 names.
`The International Committee of Red Cross continues supporting the
authorities of the two countries in fulfilling their obligations under
the international humanitarian law and to find out the things that
have happened to those people,’ says delegate of the ICRC Catherine
Patronoff. `We try to cooperate with the authorities of the Republic
of Armenia. They will get significant support in this matter from us,
but they should undertake the major operation.’
Representatives of Armenian NGOs that are engaged in the issues of
missing people, assert the state is deficient in that matter.
`When we began the work, we saw how the relatives of the missing
people were desperate, for they had no structure to address to or any
opportunity to get support, and the state does not care for the
problem,’ says the President of the Vanadzor Office of Helsinki Civil
Assembly Arthur Sakunts.
Sakunts says getting information about the issue from state structures
is also difficult.
`Just to get statistics we lost long months, not to speak about the
lists of the missing people that are still not published,’ he says.
According to the data given to Sakunts by the Ministry of Defense the
total number of soldiers missing, taken hostage and prisoners of war
in RA and NKR as of July 29, is 947.
`I know my son is alive, I am sure, but we can’t learn anything; they
seem like to have an arrangement to say one thing and do not want to
say either your son is alive or he is not. I can’t stand it any more,’
says Maxim, father of missing soldier Felix Galstyan.
Maxim says he has tried to find his son by his own means and he has
been told his son is alive. But, aside from that information, the
father does not know anything about his son’s health, place or status.
President of the Community and Right NGO Samvel Lazarian says
independent of whether the victims have been lost in the battlefield,
or as a result of violence, their relatives have the right to know
what has happened to them and the role of the state here is big.
`The state should seriously be engaged,’ says Lazarian. `The NGOs
should support the state in this matter, but it seems to be the
opposite; that is why there is no result.’
Fate, uncertainty and endless expectations…
`My mother is 88,’ tells a mother of a missing son in the film `Hope
Dies Last’, who does not accommodate to the loss. `When you bury your
son, it is a great sorrow. If your son is missing, that is an endless
illness I wouldn’t wish to anyone.’
The film `Hope Dies Last’ shot in 2004 with the support from the Dutch
`Inter- Church Peace Council’ is a collection of small stories about
people missing in different conflicting countries, including Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
`It is planned to show the film on TV channels so that society becomes
aware and closer to this problem,’ says Sakunts. `And maybe that will
also make possible to keep the problems of the missing in the center
of attention.’
President of the Soldier’s Mother NGO Greta Mirzoyan says publishing
the lists of the missing in press will help people get oriented.
`Several years ago we handed the documents of the people killed in the
conflict to the Azerbaijani side collected by one of our soldiers,’
says Mirzoyan. `If our statesmen also publish the lists of the
missing, the problem will somehow be alleviated.’
However before clarifying anything the participants of the event say
they have found themselves in not knowing whom to address and where to
go.
`Each time that we go to Yerablur monument of freedom fighters, every
mother deep in her heart believes the monument has nothing to do with
her son, that her son is alive and will some day return home,’ says
Samara Grigoryan. `And the state bodies either keep silent or say it
is not their business.’
The parents say they have done whatever they could do without the
state interference, but they haven’t reached any results and now they
expect the state support.
`Our sons have gone to fight for their homeland and have been
missing,’ they say. `Years have past but we wait for them, but the
state instead of making efforts to find out information about them and
returning them to the homeland, posthumously honors them with the
Medal of Bravery.’ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian will
visit Strasbourg on September 13th the Press Service of the Armenian
MFA reports. From September 14th-18th Oskanian will take part in the
work of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. September
23rd-24th he is scheduled to visit Venice and Bologna.
OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
will visit Baku on September 6th. Next day Rupel is expected in
Armenia. Within the framework of the visit Rupel intends to get
information about the outcomes of the recent Kazan meeting of the
Armenian and Azeri presidents. In the course of his regional visit the
OSCE head will meet with presidents of both countries. With Azeri
officials Mr. Rupel is expected to discuss the process of preparation
to the parliamentary election in Azerbaijan. While in Armenia, the
matter will concern the coming referendum on introducing changes to
the Constitution of the country.
The Central Electoral Commission of Azerbaijan did not respond to the
application of the Armenian charitable nongovernmental organization
‘Azat Hayk’ to include it in the list of the international
organizations on monitoring over the parliamentary elections in
Azerbaijan, Leader of Azat Hayk Rouben Mnatsakanian informed.
Upon a decree of Armenian President dated August 29th General Mikhail
Grigoryan has been released from his post of Deputy Defense Minister
of Armenia.
Armenia will host the final stage of the 10th annual Russian-Armenian
tactical exercises on September 13th, a spokesman said
Tuesday. Colonel Seiran Shakhsuvaryan, the press secretary to the
Armenian defense minister, said a reinforced mechanized infantry
regiment would represent Armenia, and Russia would field servicemen
from the 102nd military base, which is deployed in Armenia. “The aim
of the exercises is to practice defense interaction,” the spokesman
said. Russian-Armenian military exercises were last held at an
Armenian testing range on August 26th-27th 2004.
Official Yerevan plans to protest the construction of
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway, hoping to prove to the international
community that the project is useless. Vartan Oskanian, RA foreign
minister, stated at the press conference on August 30th that `Georgia
and Azerbaijan have no moral right’ to invest financial sources in the
construction of the railway that bypasses Armenia, as there exists
Kars-Gyumri railway that stopped functioning because Turkey still
keeps Armenia in blockade.
The Committee for Economic Rivalry Protection informs that the
administrative action of ArmenTel to review the fining terms was
partially satisfied. A representative of the company accepted the fact
of providing unqualified telecommunication to the subscribers thus
violating RA laws “On Communication”, “On Consumers’ Rights” and “On
Economic Rivalry”. In view of these violations the Committee did not
call off the fine levied on ArmenTel that amounts to 1 percent of last
year’s profit of the company. ArmenTel has to pay the fine within one
day of receiving the decision of the Committee. In case of refraining
from payment, the state has the right of confiscation.
HARD LESSONS: SOME CHILDREN STAY OUT OF SCHOOL DUE TO LACK OF MONEY
Gayane Abrahamyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
While other children dressed in new clothes and toting flowers for
teachers skipped off to the first day of school yesterday, 9-year old
Alina and 7-year old Serob stayed at home.
`How can they go to school, what should they put on, we don’t have
money even for a copy book,’ says Paytsar Manucharyan, a mother of
four. `I can hardly feed them. Maybe I’ll send them to school next
year . . .’
Paystar’s children, bunched in the ruins of the former Arts College
building in the fourth cul-de-sac of Atsakh Street in Yerevan are not
the only ones who won’t start the school year. Many children living in
this yard have only heard about school and have dreamt about it, and
some have attended only two or three years.
`All of my three children would study well, but they haven’t attended
school since the 4th grade,’ says Zhanna Khachaturova, 48, a resident
in the same yard. `I would have to give 600 drams (about $1.30) every
day only for transportation. But there are days when I don’t have 100
drams for bread, how can I send them to school?’
According to Arsen Adamyan, head of the Education Department at the
municipality of Shengavit community, there are no children in their
community not attending school: `We help everyone, everyone gets
education,’ he says.
Even during the harsh years of the early `90s, school attendance was
at 97 percent. Now, however, according to Human Poverty Study, the
number is only 77 percent. `It is impossible to tell exactly how many
children have left schools before graduating, how many have not
attended school at all,’ says program head of the UNICEF Armenia
office Naira Avetisyan. `These numbers are being distorted like the
mortality toll in previous times,’
According to her the number of children who have left school and are
engaged in work in rural communities has grown, but it is not declared
officially, as those children are registered at school.
`Compared to some countries the index of school engagement in Armenia
is good,’ Avetisyan says. `But it is disturbing that the problem is
not paid serious attention, numbers are hidden, and the tendency of
children leaving schools is growing; if it goes this way the indices
will decrease in several years.’
In an effort to curb the trend, this year the Ministry of Labor and
Social Issues of RA has implemented a new program in which
socially-vulnerable families who have children attending the first
grade can apply for a one time help of 20,000 drams (about $44).
`According to research there are 8-9 year old children who have not
yet gone to school, due to financial problems,’ says the head of the
Social Assistance Department Astghik Minasyan. `According to
preliminary data 6,500-6,700 children from families receiving
allowances in the republic are going to become schoolchildren this
year. The aim of the initiative is to somehow alleviate the problems
of those families. Five thousand have already received the money.’
Among them is Zhanna Mnatsakanyan, a mother of five, who will send her
9-year-old son to the first grade this year, two years later than he
should have started.
`Having three schoolchildren at home is just impossible,’ Mnatsakanyan
says. `My Karlen should already be in the third grade. There was no
money every year to send to school; my poor child is ashamed to sit
with 6-7 year old children.’
She says in the beginning of each academic year she spends at least
$50 for each child for clothes, bookbags, shoes and stationary, and to
purchase textbooks.
`We need to buy 8-11 books for each child. It seems cheap to pay
300-800 drams, but it makes a huge sum for three children,’
Mnatsakanyan says. `With an allowance (from the state) of 27,000 drams
(about $60) how can I cover the expenses and provide food at the same
time?’
According to Nurijan Manukyan, Head of the Public Education
Supervision Department at the Ministry of Education and Science, the
social situation will improve sooner or later, but the problem is that
the attitude towards education changes.
`In the years when I studied there were children who would come to
school totally barefooted and studied well,’ says Manukyan. `The
values have changed today. School has become a place to show off.’
According to Manukyan, children in the age of compulsory education
(age 16) who do not attend school should be the responsibility of the
communities, who should take account of those children and should do
everything to give them education.
ArmeniaNow contacted departments of education in all 10 districts of
Yerevan. None admitted having delinquent Armenian children in their
district (though they did say that those not attending school were
only Kurds or Yezidis).
Zhanna Khachaturova says that during last election campaign, parents
in her neighborhood asked for a van to be provided for children who
couldn’t afford transportation to school. She says there are seven
such children in her building alone and about 20 in her block.
`They only promise, then forget and say there are no such children,’
the mother says.
ZARMANDUKHT’S MEMORIES: FIVE YEAR OLD VICTIM, 95 YEAR OLD SURVIVOR
By Suren Deheryan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Five years short of a century in age, Zarmandukht Khachatryan has no
particular complaints about her health. She says that her appetite is
good, her hearing is sharp, and she used spectacles only until she was
80 years old; after that her eyesight seems to have restored.
She complains of fluctuations of blood pressure or headaches, but not
frequent ones. She feels no lack of sense of humor. As she herself
says laughing, she doesn’t drink coffee – only three cups a day, and
doesn’t eat chocolate at all.
`That’s why I have lived so long,’ she says.
After hiding for some time from the summer heat of Yerevan in a summer
cottage, Zarmandukht returned to the capital a few days ago to the
house built by her husband where she lives with the family of her
youngest son. However, here her everyday life does not essentially
differ from the days spent in the tranquility of her dacha.
During the day she sits in a small yard in front of the house – under
the vine, surrounded by family members, and in the evening she watches
TV.
`And sometimes I serve my daughter-in-law,’ Zarmandukht jokes again.
The memories of her 95 years seem inexhaustible.
`I remember everything as if it happened today, from my early
childhood till today,’ she says. And from her childhood till today
Zarmandukht went a long way, which several times collided at the
crossroads of light and darkness shaping nerves as hard as steel.
Starting in 1914, as victims of genocide, Zarmandukht’s family moved
three times from their village of Panik, in the Surmalu province of
historical Western Armenia (presently situated in Turkey).
Those were the darkest years of her life when a little five-year-old
girl could not perceive the drastic changes brought about by extreme
and horrible events. She had known a village in which everybody seemed
to lead a peaceful life. She grew into a world in which she lost her
father, elder sister and the families of her three uncles – remaining
with her mother alone.
`The village of Panik is about three kilometers away from Igdir (the
administrative center of the Surmalu province). If I go there now, I
will stand on my house, but my son says, why did that house remain for
you to go there and find it?’ says Zarmandukht and adds: `I remember
the house like a dream.’
Using her hands she begins to describe figuratively: `It was two
houses like this with gates, in one my uncle’s family lived, in the
other were ours and my other uncle’s family. Men yoked oxen with carts
and went to the orchards. There were peaches, grapes, grains . . .’
The province of Gavar belonged to the province of Yerevan at the
beginning of last century, it was situated in the Ararat valley – on
the right bank of the river Arax. The province’s administrative center
of Igdir was situated 40 kilometers to the south-west of Yerevan. The
location of Igdir is flat, it is known for its orchards and poplar
trees.
In 1914, Igdir had a population of about 10,000 people. They were
engaged in farming, vineyards, orchards, cotton, crafts and
trade. There were two gymnasiums in Igdir (one for boys and the other
for girls) and three churches.
In the autumn of 1920, during the Armenian-Turkish war, Igdir was
seized by the troops of Karabekir pasha and was never returned. By the
1921 Kars Agreement between the Soviets and the Turks the province of
Surmalu, including Igdir, was handed over to Turkey, to which it had
never belonged. Now it is a Turkish-populated town where the number of
Azeris from Nakhijevan has been growing lately.
`We emigrated three times,’ Zarmandukht continues to tell of her
bitter memories. `They sounded alarm three times, come out, the Turks
are coming. We went out and ran. We crossed the Araz (Arax) and
stopped. Then they would say – the Turks retreated, come back.’
`With a meal on the fire, my mother put a lid on it, put out the fire
and we would run away. My father drove a cart, my mother clutched me
and wrapped me with a blanket so that I would not get frozen in the
cart. That way we would go and come back until 1917. The last time we
came to Echmiadzin and didn’t go back.’
`Still when we were in Panik, the Turks drafted my uncle’s young sons
to the army, then they came and said that the snow on Mount Ararat
melted and they remained under it. We never found them. Their families
also died on the roads of deportation. My uncle’s wife died in the
middle of the road, with her baby in her arms.’
A new life-and-death struggle began in Echmiadzin, where many of the
thousands of deportees who had gathered in the monastery yard could
not stand hunger, cold and diseases and died.
`Children would die under the walls of the monastery and remained
there unburied, they didn’t even have time to collect their dead
bodies. There was a pregnant woman who had lost her husband, she came
and sat on our bags and gave birth to a child.’
Zarmandukht’s 12-year-old sister decided to go to Gyumri’s orphanage
on foot together with her nephew – in search of food and clothes. They
both died on the road.
Zarmandukht and her mother settled down in the village of Yonjlakh and
later 17-year-old Zarmandukht married Aramayis Khachatryan, who was
also a deportee from Igdir. They moved to Yerevan where her husband
occupied high posts until his death.
`The fate of my husband’s family was even worse. He lost his father
and three little children died in the orphanage. And his
seven-year-old sister, Ovsanna, was secretly taken from the orphanage
and transferred to an orphanage in America.’
`My mother-in-law would tell her son every day: write an application
to the monastery, let the monastery get information from America
whether my daughter is alive or not. But who had contacts with America
then?’ says the old woman.
Zarmandukht was the happiest during the years of her marriage when
Aramayis was regional committee secretary (prefect), besides he also
occupied other positions. She says that due to the hard work of her
husband they lived a carefree life, mixed with the families of almost
all high-ranking officials of Soviet Armenia.
In their joint life they had four children, but in 2003 her
63-year-old and 73- year-old sons died within a space of half a year.
`I believed in God, but lately I have lost my faith. How can God take
my two sons from me during one year? And such clever boys,’ she says.
Zarmandukht’s birthplace in her passport is indicated as Turkey,
although in 1910 Panik, Igdir or Surmalu did not historically belong
to Turkey.
Towards the end of the conversation the 95-year-old woman
enthusiastically offers to sing the `Surmalu’ patriotic song. Then she
stops.
`I seem to have forgotten the words . . .’

MONUMENTAL EFFORT: SCOTSMAN WANTS TO PROVE AZERI POLICY OF CULTURAL
DESTRUCTION IN NAKHIJEVAN
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow reporter
A Scotsman, Steven Sim, takes out books about Armenian historical and
cultural monuments from his backpack, as well as maps of contemporary
and historical Armenian territories. He says that he is in love with
Armenian monuments, and this love was born in him 20 years ago when he
visited the ruins of Ani, once Armenia’s capital, and made his first
photograph there.
`During these years I visited Turkey many times and photographed
Armenian monuments. I even photographed the monuments in the waters of
the river Arax that remained under water when the river’s dams were
built,’ says Steven. Armenian monuments are of interest to me by
their original beauty, and because they are not known to the world.’
Currently on one of his visits to Armenia, Sim was just in Nakhijevan,
visiting the famous Armenian cemetery in Nor Jugha, from where he
returned angry and disappointed.
`I was advised to leave the place as soon as possible unless I wanted
trouble,’ Sim says.
Ten years ago Sim was in Iran and saw the Jugha khachkars across the
border. He says that from that moment he had been longing to visit
the place and see the cultural values of world importance.
`Generally, the photographs of the monuments of Nakhijevan were
published in numerous books. I was also advised to go and see them by
the chairman of the Research on Armenian Architecture organization
Armen Hakhnazaryan, with whom I have close ties,’ says Sim.
Sim fulfilled his dream two weeks ago. He went to Turkey, and from
there to Nakhijevan (which is under Azerbaijan rule), then he took a
train to Jugha to see the khachkars of the cemetery on the road, as
the railway directly passes by the cemetery. But he was quickly
spotted as a foreigner. Sim says that controllers strictly prohibited
him from taking photographs or even to look out of the window.
`They did everything to distract my attention, even by treating me to
tea,’ Sim says. `Before reaching Jugha two of the controllers left the
compartment and I had time to look through the window. I was taken
aback, because there was not a single standing khachkar (stone cross)
there. All of them were lying, facing the ground, or
ruined. Meanwhile, 10 years ago I saw from across the border 2,000
standing khachkars.’
The Jugha cemetery situated on a territory of 1,600 sq. meters is
located on the west side of Jugha – on three hills. It is famous for
its khachkars. In 1648, according to the data of traveler Alexander
Rodes, it had 10,000 well- preserved khachkars. In 1903-1904, after
the construction of a railway, along with the destruction of a number
of the town’s monuments also destroyed were part of the cemetery’s
khachkars. During that time there were 5,000 standing and collapsed
khachkars registered. According to the data of 1915 and then 1928-29,
there were up to 3,000 khachkars and a few thousand flat, two-edged,
cap-shaped tombstones. In 1971-1973, only 2,707 were preserved in
Jugha, and in the cemeteries of churches and the All-Savior monastery
and elsewhere there were 250 khachkars, and 1,000 tombstones.
Sim says that a great part of the cemetery situated on a hill next to
Jugha does not exist anymore. The khachkars on the other two hills are
turned upside down.
In 1998-1999, Iranian-Armenian architects photographed evidence that
the Azeris were using bulldozers to destroy the last vestiges of
Armenian culture in the territory across the Arax.
`What I saw was real savageness, but I cannot say that they did not
leave anything, since there are still lying khachkars,’ says Sim.
After Jugha he decided to go to see the current condition of the
churches that he saw in books.
He took a taxi from Nakhijevan to the town of Abrakunis to see Surb
Karapet Church (1381). Sim photographed from the same spot, the same
scene that he saw in the books, but without the church.
`They razed it to the ground, they did not leave even the slightest
thing reminding of the church, it was totally cleared. When I asked
the locals where the village church was, they showed the empty
territory situated near the entrance. The only thing that reminds of
the existence of a church in the past was the pieces of brick buried
in the ground,’ says Sim.
After Abrakunis he went north and visited the villages of Khanega,
Ilandagh (Odzasar) and Khachi Sar. There he also found ruined and
destroyed Armenian monuments and churches. The following day he took a
bus to Ordubad to go to on to Agulis from there. However, the police
prohibited him from going to Agulis. They even prohibited him to
leave the center of the town.
`I did not oppose the ban, as tension was already obvious. Officially
the purpose of my visit there was to see Islamic and Armenian holy
places. In Nakhijevan they treat foreigners with suspicion. It does
not matter whether you are an Armenian or a representative of another
nationality. In Ordubad, too, every Armenian thing was destroyed,’ he
says.
Thereafter, Sim went to one of the remotest regions of Nakhijevan to
see whether such a situation was everywhere. He went to the village of
Shorut. What Sim saw there brought him to one conviction: `It is a
special state policy being implemented throughout Nakhijevan.’
Nothing is left of the churches once situated in Shorut – the churches
of Patriarch Hakob, Grigor Lusavorich, Surb Stepanos, Surb
Astvatsatsin, nor the khachkars dated 924-926. The villagers claim
that there were no Armenian churches there. The oldest of them even
began to speak Armenian with Sim to try to identify his nationality.
Having visited Turkey and Azerbaijan, studying the Armenian monuments
Sim says: `I don’t think that there is a central government program in
Turkey to destroy monuments. There, it is even possible to purchase
travel guides telling about numerous Armenian churches. But a special
state policy of destruction is being implemented in Azerbaijan. In
Turkey, after 90 years of staying empty, there are still standing
churches today, meanwhile in Nakhijevan, all have been destroyed
within just 10 years.’
After Shorut Sim returned to Turkey, and from there came to Armenia.
`I raise my voice of protest and want everybody to listen to me. If
such monuments are being destroyed, then it is an evil deed directed
against all of mankind,’ Sim said on a visit to ArmeniaNow
newsroom. `The khachkars of Jugha are cultural values of international
importance. Once, the problem was raised at UNESCO, however Azerbaijan
did not receive its representatives, which shows that they are hiding
the facts. And the photographs are very, very important. It will be
possible to prove the truth through them.’

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 10) 517 163
Fax: (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
September 3, 2005
His Holiness Karekin II Sends Condolences to President Bush
On September 1, 2005, His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians, responding to the tragic loss of life and
property inflicted on the Gulf Coast of the southern United States by
Hurricane Katrina, sent a letter of condolence to U.S. President George
Bush.
In the letter, His Holiness states, “We learned of the recent devastating
hurricane which struck the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with
a heavy heart, and mourn the deaths of your citizens in cities and towns
near the Gulf of Mexico. From the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we extend
to you, your government and all the people of the United States, the sorrow
and sincere condolences of the Armenian Church and all Armenians throughout
the world.
“The significant loss of life and the great number of missing and wounded
reminds us all of how precious and fragile the gift of life is, and that we
must always be vigilant in its protection and defense. As you are aware,
Armenia was greatly affected by a major earthquake in 1988, which devastated
the northern regions of the country and killed tens of thousands of our
population. Nevertheless, with a steadfast reliance on Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Armenian people are overcoming their difficulties and losses,
and we are confident that through faith and hope, the American people will
triumph over this disaster as well.
“As head of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church, we offer our solemn prayers
for eternal rest for all those who perished in this disaster, and solace and
comfort to their families and friends. We ask the Almighty to grant
recovery to the thousands of afflicted, hurt and homeless families, and
strength to you and your government at this difficult time.”
##
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FEATURE NEWS from COMPASS DIRECT
Global News from the Frontlines

Summary:
ISTANBUL, August 30 (Compass) — Persecution against Christians in
Turkey is becoming more overt. Along with the usual delays in granting
permits to Protestant churches, Christians are seeing signs of open
hostility — both verbal and violent — toward their faith. In a country
where the victims of abuse are sued and plainclothes policemen act like
thugs, it is easy for Christians to get into trouble.

**********
Turkey’s Mistreatment of Christians Becoming More Brazen
Persecution worsening even as the country seeks entry into EU.
by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, August 30 (Compass) — Bektas Erdogan never expected his
Christian faith of 11 years to jeopardize his career as a fashion
designer in Turkey.

Hired five months ago by a designer jeans company in the Beyazit
district of Istanbul, Erdogan was assured by his Muslim boss that he
would be evaluated on the basis of his work, not his religion.

After his first collection sold successfully in Russia, Erdogan thought
the phone call he received earlier this month from his employer —
asking him to come to work on a Sunday afternoon — boded well. Maybe
there was a surprise company dinner.

But that evening at the shop, his supervisor angrily accused him of
“missionary work” and “brainwashing.” With the help of two employees and
a relative, he beat Erdogan for two hours. The men repeatedly struck the
designer’s head and face with their fists and the butt of a pistol.
Three times Erdogan’s boss attempted to shoot him, but the gun failed to
fire.

“He really wanted to kill me. It wasn’t just to scare me,” said Erdogan,
who told Compass that he prayed for help and meditated on Bible verses
while his attackers threatened to murder him and hide his body.

His co-workers released the 32-year-old Erdogan with a swollen and
bloody face around 9 p.m., warning that they would kill him later. Since
then, he has received three anonymous phone calls threatening his life.

Erdogan did not report the August 7 incident to the police, fearing that
his boss’ ties with local officials might make him the target of further
aggression. He also felt that once the authorities learned he was a
Christian, they would be unwilling to help.

He believes that his employer’s anger stemmed from shop employees’
interest in Christianity. During his last three months at the job,
Erdogan said, “Almost every meal [at work] became a question-and-answer
session about my religion.”

Plainclothes Police Brutality
Erdogan is not the only victim of increasingly overt, anti-Christian
sentiment within Turkish society. On the same day that he was attacked,
Istanbul police beat two Protestant converts in their early twenties and
told them they could not be both Turks and Christians.

Umit and Murat-Can, who asked to have their last names withheld, were on
their way to one of Istanbul’s 25 Turkish-speaking Protestant churches
on August 7 when they saw American David Byle and his 3-year-old
daughter surrounded by a small crowd of police and civilians.

Byle had been exercising the legal right to distribute Christian tracts
on Istiklal Caddesi, one of Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfares,
when two plainclothes policemen accosted him. One of them grabbed his
chin and shouted at him for distributing literature, quickly drawing a
crowd of police and passersby.

When the two Christians tried to intervene on behalf of Byle, whom they
recognized as a member of a local church, a scuffle broke out between
Umit and one of the plainclothes policemen. According to Murat-Can,
about 15 policemen forced Umit to the ground, where they kicked and hit
him before handcuffing him and carrying him inside a nearby building.

“That’s when I first realized they were police,” said Umit, whose
plainclothes attacker never identified himself as an officer. The
policemen continued to beat Umit for three minutes before taking him to
a local police station with Murat-Can, who had followed the group
inside.

“They never showed us any ID or read us our rights,” Murat-Can told
Compass as he described the following hour in the police station. After
finding 100 Christian tracts in Murat-Can’s backpack, police accused the
youths of being “missionaries” who were bent on “dividing Turkey.”
Although finally releasing them without filing any formal report, they
told the young men that they could not be both Turks and Christians.

In another incident last month in Eskisehir (120 miles southeast of
Istanbul), three strangers in Kanli Kavak park assaulted Protestant
Salih Kurtbas. They attacked him from behind at 6 p.m. as he waited for
an anonymous caller who had asked to meet and discuss Christianity.

Shortly after arriving home with a bloody nose, split lip, black eyes
and a swollen ear, he received an irate phone call from his attackers.
They accused him of missionary activity and threatened to kill anyone
associated with a local U.S. businessman whom they claimed was spreading
Christian propaganda.

Eskisehir evangelicals have faced constant delays in obtaining legal
permission to start the city’s first Protestant church. “We applied to
the governor and haven’t received an answer, and the city government has
said that the building is not up to earthquake safety standards,”
Kurtbas told Compass. “Everything’s kind of gone downhill.”

Kurtbas didn’t even think of going to the police, explaining, “If they
found out that I was a Christian, nothing good would have come of it.”
Umit also wanted to avoid further problems with authorities, fearing
that legal proceedings might hurt his brother’s chances of entering the
police academy.

Fear of Court
“These sort of attacks are not shocking for me,” admitted Orhan Kemal
Cengiz, legal consultant for Turkey’s Alliance of Protestant Churches
(APC). “I was expecting them . but [Christians] should take this very
seriously.”

With European Union (EU) accession talks looming on October 3, Turkey is
attempting to improve its human rights image. A package of legal reforms
passed in June reasserted freedom of religion, instituting a three-year
prison sentence for anyone obstructing the expression of religious
beliefs.

But the EU has remained skeptical, challenging officially
99-percent-Muslim Turkey to implement these religious freedoms among its
non-Muslim minority communities. Fewer than 100,000 citizens follow the
ancient Christian traditions of the Armenian, Greek and Syrian Othodox
churches, which remain exclusively ethnic congregations.

By contrast, the emerging community of an estimated 3,500 Turkish
Protestants challenges the centuries-old perception that to be a Turk is
to be a Muslim.

Over the last 10 months, violence against Protestant Christians in
Turkey has become publicly visible, prompting former U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey Eric Edelman to make formal inquiries with Ankara officials in
April and again in June regarding 10 incidents.

“Turkey is not aware of the gravity of the problem,” Cengiz said. “Some
officials have good intentions, but I have a strong suspicion that they
don’t really grasp the freedom of religion issues.”

While most Turkish Protestants remain reluctant to open court cases for
fear of further persecution, others feel that the church can gain from
aggressive legal action without undermining its message of love.

“I’m a big fan of opening a court case,” APC spokesperson Isa Karatas
told Compass. “When we look at things from a Christian perspective, of
course we need to be forgiving. But this is not an obstacle for us to
pursue our rights.”

Cengiz, the legal consultant to the APC, also advises that abuse victims
go to court to protect themselves. “If you do not file a case against
the police, you may find yourself before a court or even in jail, in
spite of the fact that you are the victim of police misconduct,” Cengiz
said. Turkish law enforcers often sue abuse victims preemptively, Cengiz
said, in order to shield officers from legal prosecution.

Turkish Protestant church leaders have opened seven libel cases this
year against three TV stations to combat accusations aired nationally.
Statements on the television programs claimed that local Christians spy
for foreign governments that pay Turks to change their religion.

In the face of anti-Christian rhetoric from some government officials
and the latest attacks against Protestants, many Turkish Christians
admit that they are not expecting either the government or society to
change overnight.

“There is a segment of the government that supports anti-Christian
sentiment, but along with this section is a larger segment that opposes
it,” Karatas of APC told Compass. He said that if Christians who
suffered persecution for their faith “would open court cases now, I
believe they would receive support from the government.”

“In theory we have a free environment,” Umit told Compass only 10 days
after being beaten by the police. “I don’t think that there is a problem
with the state. But the Turkish people have not yet understood
democracy. They still see the state as a father. They don’t know that
it’s meant to serve us. Therefore, when people working for the state say
something bad about Christians, the people believe it.”

Despite ongoing death threats, Erdogan has no plans to leave the
country. When asked how he felt about losing his job, enduring a severe
beating and being threatened with death — all in one evening — he
smiled. Even if his situation doesn’t improve, he said, “God tells me to
rejoice, because He can bring glory to His name.”

END

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Copyright 2005 Compass Direct

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