AMBASSADOR FINLEY OUTLINES U.S. POLICIES ON SOUTH CAUCASUS
US Fed News
September 1, 2005 Thursday 4:54 AM EST
WASHINGTON
The U.S. Department of State’s International Information Programs
issued the following press release:
U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) Julie Finley briefly outlined basic U.S. policies on
several issues relating to the South Caucasus at a meeting of the
OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Austria, September 1.
Among the policies she reiterated U.S. support for:
* Free and fair elections in Azerbaijan;
* Support for the territorial integrity of Georgia and “peaceful
settlement of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflicts in Georgia;”
and
* The work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to facilitate a peaceful,
negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Finley noted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan and “encouraged each president
to make the compromises necessary to reach such a settlement.” (See
related article.)
Finley noted that this was her first Permanent Council intervention
as the new U.S. ambassador to the OSCE.
Following is her statement to the Permanent Council:
(begin text)
United States Mission to the OSCE
STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO AMBASSADOR TALVITIE, EU SPECIAL
REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
As delivered by Ambassador Julie Finley
to the Permanent Council, Vienna
September 1, 2005
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It almost goes without saying that this is my first Permanent Council
intervention as Ambassador of the United States to the OSCE. Allow me
to take a moment to thank you and your colleagues for the very warm
welcome I have received this past ten days. I look forward to meeting
those I have not yet met in person and working together in a spirit
of consultation and cooperation to address the many, many challenges
ahead.
I have long appreciated and valued the important role OSCE plays, and
can play. It is an honor for me to represent my country at this
important time when citizens in so many places are embracing the
principles enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act. In doing so, they
reap the benefits of secure, democratic futures. Still, we have
promises yet to keep, and the OSCE can help to bring bright futures
to places where people still yearn to be free and equal.
I can assure you, my friend President Bush shares my enthusiasm for
what OSCE has done and especially for what OSCE can do.
Mr. Chairman,
The United States warmly welcomes the return of Ambassador Talvitie
to the Permanent Council. We welcome the news that the European Union
extended his mandate for another six-month period, until February
2006. The Ambassador’s extraordinary experiences give him a unique
perspective on this region. We are heartened by his optimistic
report.
The United States is watching the election process in Azerbaijan with
great interest. We appreciate the progress made to date. As we have
stated on many occasions, the United States strongly supports free
and fair elections in Azerbaijan. Secretary of State Rice spoke with
President Aliyev about this just last week. We look for guarantees
that those who campaign will be free of harassment and intimidation.
We look for guarantees that parties and candidates will have equal
access to the media. And we look for guarantees, that in the
post-election period, the voters of Azerbaijan will see the honest
results of their voting – in the cities, towns, and villages.
Mr. Chairman,
We support fully the continuing work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs to
facilitate a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. In her recent phone calls with Armenian President Kocharian
and Azerbaijani President Aliyev, Secretary Rice encouraged each
president to make the compromises necessary to reach such a
settlement. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs have indicated a desire to
brief the full Minsk Group in the near future on the progress of the
negotiation process.
Mr. Chairman,
The United States supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and
continues to support peaceful settlement of the South Ossetia and
Abkhazia conflicts in Georgia. We remain concerned that the situation
in South Ossetia is tense. We call on both sides to fulfill previous
agreements to bring greater stability to the situation on the ground.
We urge both sides to engage in a direct dialogue to restore
confidence and begin discussions toward the resolution of the status
of South Ossetia within Georgia. We believe that economic cooperation
and confidence-building measures have an important role to play and
are encouraged by progress in this regard. We urge the international
community, and particularly the Russian Federation, to lend support
to such efforts.
Thank you.

Armenian parliament approves far-reaching constitution change
Agence France Presse — English
September 1, 2005 Thursday 6:28 PM GMT
YEREVAN Sept 1 — Armenia’s parliament approved constitutional changes
on Thursday that would reduce the president’s powers and increase
the independence of the courts, but which opposition parties see as
a ruse by President Robert Kocharian to stay on in office.
The changes, approved in a second reading and due for a third reading
before going to a referendum, would represent a substantial shake-up
of the former Soviet republic’s political system.
They include giving parliament a greater role in forming governments
and ending the president’s role as head of the government and head
of the Council of Justice.
They would also permit the holding of dual citizenship, a move that
would allow millions of members of the Armenian diaspora living in
the United States and elsewhere to have Armenian citizenship as well
as that of their home country.
Opposition parties refused to vote on Thursday’s proposals, suspecting
that the authorities would use the changing of the constitution as
an opportunity to discount Kocharian’s current second term in office
and let him stand again for election.
“The changes… would allow the president to nominate himself for
a third time,” Aram Sarkisyan, leader of the opposition Democratic
party, said.
Kocharian’s spokesman, Viktor Sogomonyan, denied the charge.
“Neither the current nor a changed constitution would allow the
president to stand for a third term,” Sogomonyan told AFP.
Armenia’s opposition parties had been boycotting parliament since
February last year, accusing Kocharian of rigging his re-election in
2003. But they were persuaded to return for the second reading by the
46-nation Council of Europe, which promotes human rights and democracy.
But they refused to vote on the changes.
In the event of approval in a third reading, the authorities plan a
referendum on the changes in November.

Timoshenko passes sarcastic comments on flamboyant Rssn MP
By Vitaly Matarykin
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 2, 2005 Friday
KIEV, September 2 — Circumstances have pressed Ukrainian Prime
Minister Julia Timoshenko to make comments on issues standing wide
apart from economy or politics.
Friday night, she made explanations to the media about her ethnic
background and aired a sarcastic note on a flamboyant Russian MP who
had initiated the filming of an erotic parody depicting her fictitious
intimacy with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Timoshenko said Transport Minister Yevgeny Chervonenko had released
untrue information about her ethnic roots in connection with the
beating of a student of the Jewish Theological University in Kiev at
the end of August.
Chervonenko accused her of insufficient attention to the incident,
saying she herself had an Armenian father and a Jewish mother.
“My mom was very astonished to hear it, because she’s a hundred percent
Ukrainian as far bask as her roots can be traced,” Timoshenko said.
Her late father descended from an ethnic Latvian family, she said
contrary to media reports that he maiden surname was Grigian, which
clearly suggests an affiliation with the Armenian people.
On the beating of the Jewish religious student, Timoshenko said all
the malefactors had been detained.
“I am well-disposed towards the Jews, I support all the Jewish
organizations and treat that nation very respectfully,” she said
She did not shun the question about the erotic movie, an idea of which
was authored by the Russian Liberal-Democratic MP Alexei Mitrofanov.
“I actually think the people who do such things can only have some
fantasies about sex but are good for nothing when it comes down to the
real thing, so let’s forgive them their trespasses,” Timoshenko said.

ARMENIAN HONEY-CAKE MAKER PLANS HEFTY INVESTMENT ON HIGH DEMAND
Czech News Agency
September 2, 2005
FRYDEK-MISTEK, North Moravia, Sept 2 (CTK) – Miko International,
an Armenian family company producing honey cakes in North Moravia,
said today it plans multi-million investments in production and
hirings owing to high demand.
Gevorg Avetisyan, who founded the company three years ago, told CTK
today the company would start three-shift operation next week.
Miko, employing 64 people formerly registered at the Frydek- Mistek
employment office, is looking for a bigger production facility now.
Avetisyan said the company could not satisfy demand for cakes made
according to an old Armenian recipe.
“Interest is incredible, we already sell to seven countries in Europe,”
he said. Besides the Czech Republic, Miko sells cakes to Austria,
Britain, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland.
Sales director David Grochol said markets overseas had also expressed
interest.
In the first six months of this year, honey-cake sales brought
in Kc11.4 million, beating the amount for full-year 2004 by more
than half.
Gevorg Avetisyan’s sister Hasmik, the owner of the company, started
to make the so-called Marlenka cakes.
The company moved from a small leased facility to a former kitchen of
an old people’s home, which it bought from the town and modernised.
But even its 1,000 square metres are not enough.
“After two months, we found out we need about 3,000 square metres.
Either we will build something new, or we will rebuild an existing
building,” said Avetisyan.
Avetisyan is a university graduate who majored in architecture. His
sister studied philology.
Avetisyan said he was planning to buy a production line and to
abandon manual production. The investment will reach about Kc50
million in total.
Miko has obtained a trademark and three certificates from a hygiene
lab, as well as a certificate proving the product complies with EU
standards. But it has also registered the first attempt at a forged
honey cake.
“About two months ago, a product called Marenka, made by a North
Moravian company, appeared on the market. Our clients could easily make
a mistake, so we will try to reach an agreement with the producer,”
said Grochol.
“If it does not help, we will defend ourselves using all means
available,” he added.
Pavel Osina from the Frydek-Mistek town hall said the town was trying
to help the Armenian business.
“We have sold them one building for quite a good price. The industrial
parks will probably be full, but we could offer them some place in
former army barracks,” he added.
Jarmila Krpcova from the Frydek-Mistek employment office said she
would welcome more such companies.
“They hire not only trained confectioners. We have cooks and women
without education who can do this job,” she told CTK. The unemployment
rate in Frydek-Mistek reaches some 13 percent against the national
average of 8.8 percent.

NEWS YOU CAN AFFORD TO MISS
By Anna Arutunyan
Moscow News (Russia)
August 31, 2005
Siberian Engineer Proves Fermat’s Last Theorem on TV
An engineering professor from Siberia’s Omsk, Alexander Ilyin, proved
the ever-elusive Fermat’s Theorem live before TV cameras. Last week,
NTV aired 15 minutes of the professor proving the theorem. The proof
has yet to stand up to the tests of the Russian Academy of Science,
and if it holds up, it will be published in one of the academy’s
scientific journals. Pierre de Fermat came up with the theorem in
1660. Since then, mathematicians have been struggling to prove it.
Andrew Wiles finally proved the theorem in 1994, basing his proof on
the Shimura-Taniyama-Weil Conjecture. But mathematicians from around
the world are still trying their hand.
Those Russians are always coming up with something. Couple of years
back, folks from Armenia astonished the world with their 100 percent
effective AIDS cure. Oh, wait, Armenians aren’t Russian… Still,
Lenin invented the light bulb, the steam engine, and I’ll bet he
even proved Fermat’s Last Theorem back in grade school. What, like
it’s hard? I never could figure out why Yutaka Taniyama had to get
into elliptic curves just to prove a theorem that would help prove
Fermat’s theorem. He committed suicide, by the way. So the theorem
states that the equation xn+yn=zn has no non-zero integer solutions
for x, y, and z where n > 2. What’s there to prove? Let’s have x=1,
y=2, and z=3. For n=3, you get 1+8 =27. See? That wasn’t so hard. I’d
explain further, there’s just not enough space on page 11.

Turkey must drop preconditions for diplomatic relations – Armenia
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 1, 2005 Thursday
YEREVAN, September 1 — Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic
relations with Turkey without any preliminary terms, the Armenian
president’s press secretary, Viktor Sogomonian said on Thursday.
“Armenia’s stand remains unchanged. We are ready to enter into a
constructive dialogue with Turkey at any time,” he said, adding that
the two leaders discussed these issues in messages they exchanged
lately.
“Yerevan has a very positive vision of the ever-stronger dialogue
between Moscow and Ankara, and of their efforts to enhance cooperation
and security,” Sogomonian said. “Relations between Russia and Armenia
have a strategic dimension to us. We believe that deeper cooperation
between Moscow and Ankara may prove a certain mediatory resource for
addressing our own issues,” he said.
Armenia and Turkey have a 330-kilometer-long common border,
but no diplomatic relations. Ankara says it is ready to normalize
bilateral relations with Yerevan, if it stops demanding international
acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915
and curtails support for Nagorno-Karabakh in the smoldering conflict
with Azerbaijan.

Switzerland bans Flash, Air Van Airlines: official
Agence France Presse — English
September 1, 2005 Thursday 7:17 AM GMT
GENEVA Sept 1 — Swiss airline regulators have banned two companies,
Flash Airlines of Egypt and Air Van Airlines of Armenia, from flying
in Switzerland, an official list of banned airlines showed on Thursday.
The list was published by the Swiss regulating body, the Federal
Office for Civil Aviation, following the publication of lists of
airlines considered unreliable by France and Belgium.

Swiss ban two airlines over safety
The Independent – United Kingdom; Sep 02, 2005
BERN After being criticised for keeping secret the names of banned
airlines, Swiss authorities said they had banned Egypt’s Flash
Airlines and Armenia’s Air Van Airlines from landing in the country.
The ministry of transport said it was due to ‘systematic safety
problems’. The ministry also said it would not allow airlines
restricted in other European countries to reroute flights to
Switzerland.

The Toronto Sun
September 2, 2005 Friday
FINAL EDITION
THEY’RE IN OUR SYSTEM;
QUARTET BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE
BY LIISA LADOUCEUR, SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO SUN
NEVER underestimate the power of a good musical pummelling.
For who would have believed that System of a Down, four
Armenian-American underdogs playing complex, kooky, uncatchy hard
rock with a communist (or at least very socialist) manifesto could be
stadium superstars.
The California group emerged from the late-90s Ozzfest scene to
become a leading voice for pierced activists and aged headbangers
alike; their influence in the underground has been growing as
steadily as their goatees.
But as they proved last night at the Air Canada Centre in front of
15,000 stoked fans, System of a Down are not actually the kings of nu
metal — they are the new kings of metal.
Emerging onto a stark stage dressed all in black with fancy
aristocratic jackets, they took control of the crowd immediately with
their recent hit BYOB and for almost two hours, never let go.
It’s almost impossible to sing along to their tunes, but leader Serj
Tankian’s mix of rapid-fire speak and operatic singing was like a
tribal war cry and the crowd responded on cue.
Guitarist Daron Malakian was the team spazz, racing about. The
rumbling bass and rapid-fire kick drums had the power and fury of
death metal, but without the relentless pacing and ridiculous lyrics.
Well, “pull the tapeworm out of your a–” is pretty ridiculous and
most of the songs that aren’t political are equally goofy but how
else to turn everyone in the room into a fist-pumping 14-year-old
boy?
Besides, the band’s musicianship is so stunning, so dynamic and
dramatic any juvenile geeking out was forgiven.
This was not Fred Durst-style goofing off. It was utterly intense and
refreshingly playful.
When Serj sat down with an acoustic guitar to play Questions, it was
the heaviest unplugged interlude ever.
The band didn’t say a word to the crowd, and didn’t have to.
Tunes that sound chaotic on radio flowed seamlessly from one to the
next, from Violent Pornography to Mr. Jack to War To Prison Song,
with ferocity and precision.
They even worked in some Neil Young and Dire Straight references.
By the time they got to bombastic hits like Ariel and Toxicity,
System of a Down were playing as good as Metallica in their heyday,
and perhaps better than any other metal bands on the road today.
Two devil saluting thumbs up.
—
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
Air Canada Centre
‘New kings of metal’
— LIISA LADOUCEUR
Sun Rating: 5 out of 5
GRAPHIC: photo by Ernest Doroszuk SINGER SERJ TANKIAN dances to the
beat of his own drum last night at the ACC.

Hard, loud, smart System of a Down mesmerizes live
by Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
The Toronto Star
September 2, 2005 Friday
The success of System of a Down defies all logic, and that’s why it
truly is something to be celebrated.
A pathologically brainy metal band with cabaret leanings spewing
cryptic, leftist rants and Zappa-esque gibberish and flaunting a proud
Middle Eastern heritage while from Los Angeles, all four members are
of Armenian descent is, by all logic, not supposed to be allowed to
exist in 21st-century America, let alone sell 10 million records and
command sold-out arena shows all over its home continent. You’d think
the band would be bound, hooded and handcuffed and on its way to
Guantanamo Bay, not debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.
System’s rise is a true grassroots phenomenon, and one that makes a
hell of a lot more sense when one gets to engage with the quartet in
a live setting.
Make no mistake, the band’s four albums are superb slices of madcap,
dauntingly technical thrash subversion, even if it was only on this
year’s smash Mezmerize that its cartoonish pummelling really began
hardening into substantial songwriting. But onstage…onstage it all
becomes crystal clear why these unlikely geek-boy rock stars have
become unlikely geek-boy rock stars.
At the Air Canada Centre last night, System of a Down headlined
before more than 15,000 fans who somehow seemed to have deciphered
and memorized every single rapid-fire syllable tumbling out of
duelling singers Serj Tankian and guitarist Daron Malakian’s mouths,
and who responded to convoluted, brain-bubbling metal suites such as
“Chop Suey!”, “Needles” and “Deer Dance” as if they were “Freebird.”
It’s the sort of thing that makes a critic want to weep with joy,
because this is a band that sits at the top of the contemporary rock
‘n’ roll heap despite seemingly doing everything in its power to
remain nothing more than a cultish commodity.
System’s unrelenting, speed-metal-derived heaviness is likely the
great unifying thread, as there’s a dearth of bands out there these
days that really hit that meaty, Satan-is-my-co-pilot low end that
made Metallica, Testament, Death Angel and Pantera such forces.
Yet what the operatically inclined Tankian and Malakian, along with the
nimble rhythm section of Slavo Odadjian and John Dolmayan do with that
heaviness – sometimes rubbery, sometimes molasses-thick and menacing,
sometimes galloping along at a pace beyond human comprehension is
entirely original and never boring. This despite the fact their set
list last night only really relented from a hair-raising pace for
the eerie near-hit “Aerials” and Malakian’s surprisingly sensitive
“Lost In Hollywood.” There are few bands on the touring trail today
as disciplined or as poised, yet you’re allowed to have much more
fun at a System of a Down show than you are at a Radiohead gig.
If Mesmerize’s sequel, Hypnotize previewed in a couple of spurts last
night comes anywhere near as hard as its predecessor, this band is
gonna rule the world.