Press Advisory
September 1, 2005
Embassy of the Republic of Armenia,
2225 R Street NW,
Washington, DC, 20008
Contact: [email protected]
Tel. 202-319-1976
Fax: 202-319-2982
Armenia Offers Aid, Condolences to Hurricane Katrina’s Victims
Ambassador Tatoul Markarian sent a letter to the US State Department
expressing condolences and offering assistance on behalf of
the Armenian government to those suffered from the devastating
hurricane. In the letter he particularly says:
“The devastation caused by the Hurricane Katrina is heart-rending
for all friends of your country, and especially for Armenians who
have suffered horrors of the Spitak earthquake. Please accept my
condolences to the victims and their families.
The government of Armenia stands ready to provide all possible
assistance and to take a part in the rescue operations. The people
of Armenia sympathize with and offer their prayers and best wishes
to everyone touched by this tragedy.”

CIS finds time for introspection
The Messenger, Georgia
Sept 2 2005
The Kazan CIS summit has concluded, but speculation over the future
of the tenuous alliance continues. The summit showed that despite
negative forecasts, the CIS has not died, though it has become clear
to all that the practice of hiding from problems by postponing measures
to deal with them cannot go on for ever.
More importantly, this type of postponement no longer figures into the
interests of Russia. In the estimation of Russian politicians, Moscow
is fast losing its influence in CIS space and if certain measures
are not taken, the “symbolic union” will become a thing of the past.
Moscow’s concern over the current situation in the CIS was aroused
by the recent wave of “velvet revolutions” in the area. While it
was being founded under Yeltsin, the CIS was construed as a way for
Russia to declare its “sphere of influence,” where no outside force
would stick its nose – not the United States, the European Union, nor
any regional power. Within the alliance itself, integration processes
were to gradually take shape, on the basis of which a single military,
political and economic bloc and perhaps even a united state would
be created. The revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, the continuance
of revolutionary processes in Central Asia and the anticipation of
similar events in Belarus, Armenia and Azerbaijan have made it clear
to Moscow that no one recognizes its exclusive influence on the CIS
any more. These velvet developments are seen by many in Moscow not as
“people’s revolts,” but rather the U.S. achieving its geopolitical
goals in the region by means of “election technologies,” at the expense
of curtailing Russia’s influence and driving it out of regions where
just a few years ago, its dominance could not be disputed.
Prior to the Kazan summit, the Borjomi Declaration signed by Georgian
and Ukrainian Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili and Viktor Yushchenko on
creating a new alliance of democratically oriented countries in the
Black, Caspian and Baltic Sea basins caused a great amount of uproar.
This group is expected to consist of Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan,
and potentially Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Romania.
True, Saakashvili and Yushchenko say they are not considering
withdrawal from the CIS and that the alliance envisaged by the
Borjomi Declaration will be of an informal character, but Moscow
is still highly suspicious about the upcoming meeting to discuss
the creation of the Community for Democratic Choice” scheduled this
month in Ukraine. The Russian newspaper Moskovskie Novosti reports
that Russian President Vladimir Putin received an invitation to
participate in the conference, but refused, as that day he has a
scheduled meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan.
The Russian media characterizes Saakashvili’s and Yushchenko’s
presence at the Kazan summit as that of “strangers,” saying that the
remaining presidents “eyed them with suspicion.” Likewise regarded
as less than entirely trustworthy were the presidents of Moldova and
Kyrgyzstan. Indeed, many problems showed themselves at the summit
– the adoption of several documents required great effort and the
participants failed to elect a new CIS chair. The acting chair, Putin,
was to have been replaced by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev,
but Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov objected, as the former had
apparently said of him that “he’s originally from a village.” Putin
retained his chairmanship.
Interestingly, the next summit of CIS presidents will take place in
Belarus. Many wonder just how the “velvet presidents” will be greeted
in Minsk or how they will be received by Belarussian chief Aleksandr
Lukashenko, who has been labeled “the last dictator in Europe.” But
speculation now is useless, as much time remains before the Minsk
summit and the wave of revolutions has yet to subside.
Moscow, meanwhile, is busy thinking about implementing fundamental
reforms in the CIS. Russians consider that the best way to encourage
these countries to remain loyal to Moscow is to make cooperation
with that country more attractive. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
mentioned that Russia must become more competitive and speed up its
development. But time is necessary in order to achieve this. The
best illustration of the attractiveness of cooperation with Russia
is the low energy prices offered to CIS states. “Whoever is not in
the CIS will not be able to take advantage of the economic benefits”
– such is the essence of Russia’s policy. Being in the CIS, in turn,
will imply active participation in its reformation. It is time for
Georgia to pick a course and stay with it, for ultimately, integration
into NATO and European structures, together with remaining the CIS
will not prove possible.

Armenians to mark 14th anniversary of separatist regime
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2005
Baku, September 1, AssA-Irada — Armenians will mark the 14th
anniversary of the separatist regime of Upper Garabagh, Azerbaijan’s
territory under Armenian occupation, on Friday. The event will be
attended by the Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
According to a program prepared by an Armenian government commission,
the event will start in Shusha. Armenian officials will then visit
the monument complex of the Garabagh war victims in Khankandi.
Armenians even invited Russian music stars to the ‘celebrations’
to add ‘glamour’ to the event. Sports competitions are a part of the
event that will conclude with fireworks.
Chairman of Yurddash Party, MP Mais Safarli has said that the
Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry should adopt a statement over Kocharian’s
visit to the self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic and all
international organizations be informed of this.
“Visiting the self-proclaimed republic at a time the Azeri and Armenian
presidents are in talks on the conflict settlement is hypocrisy”,
he said in parliament on Thursday.
Safarli said that by taking this step, the Armenian president is
delivering a message that he is ‘not interested in achieving peace’.*

Greece’s biggest illegal cigarette ring smashed
Kathimerini, Greece
Sept 2 2005
A criminal ring using immigrants to produce millions of contraband
cigarettes in an underground factory near Thessaloniki has been broken,
police said yesterday after arresting a suspected gang member.
The 35-year-old ethnic Greek from Armenia is thought to be one of at
least 10 members of a ring employing Ukrainian and Moldovan immigrants,
in rotating groups of 20, over the past six months in exchange for
room and board.
He has been charged with forming a criminal organization, money
laundering, forgery and customs violations.
Raids on the illegal factory and on two nearby warehouses unearthed
more than 80 tons of tobacco and 2.3 million packs of contraband
cigarettes, most bearing the forged logo of a well-known Greek brand.
The factory comprised state-of-the-art manufacturing and packaging
machines, underground living quarters for staff and closed-circuit
television, police said.
Officers described the operation as unprecedented in Greece.

Quartet brings Down the house
Live Review: System Of A Down in T.O.
By LIISA LADOUCEUR – Special to the Sun
Canoe.ca, Canada
Toronto Sun
Sept 2 2005
TORONTO – 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.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MEPs put off key vote on Turkey protocol
EurActiv.com, Belgium
Sept 2 2005
In Short:
The political limbo enveloping Turkey’s EU bid continued on 1 September
when the European Parliament decided to postpone a key vote on Ankara’s
revised customs union with the EU.
In light of the MEPs’ decision to postpone the vote, originally
scheduled for next week, it is now up to the Commission and the
Council to find a solution to the Cyprus issue during the month of
September. The MEPs will now vote on the so-called Ankara protocol
during the EP’s session starting on 26 September. “Considering the
unilateral declaration by Turkey [on 29 July] that the extension of
the customs union to Cyprus would not amount to the recognition of
Cyprus under international law, this is the only logical consequence,”
commented German conservative MEP Elmar Brok, chairman of the EP’s
Foreign Affairs Committee. The EP’s vote is needed for the Ankara
protocol to take effect.
Meanwhile, the EU’s foreign ministers are working on a declaration on
the Cyprus issue at their meeting in Newport, Wales, and a compromise
formula is reportedly in the making there which could result in a
unanimous agreement among the EU-25 governments on the objectives
and principles of the pending talks with Turkey.
In a related development, a fresh row over freedom of speech is brewing
in Turkey as authorities are seeking to persecute the internationally
acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk for controversial comments on his
country’s killing of 30,000 Kurds and a million Armenians. Turkey is
sensitive over the issue of the Kurds and Armenians. Pamuk could face
up to three years in prison.

Azerbaijan able to free occupied land – Defense Minister
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2005
Baku, September 1, AssA-Irada — Azerbaijan is able to liberate its
territories from under Armenian occupation and will do so in the
future, Defense Minister Safar Abiyev has said.
“Armenia is an aggressor country. All countries should confirm this and
take steps aimed at freeing Azerbaijani land”, Abiyev said in a meeting
with the British ambassador to Azerbaijan Laurie Bristow and military
advisory and training group commander Hugh Persley on Thursday.
The Minister said that if the problem is not resolved soon, the
Azerbaijani people will ‘make a decision on the conflict settlement
on their own’.
The ambassador said that over two years of his activity in Azerbaijan,
he became well-versed on the gist of the conflict.
“President Ilham Aliyev’s participation in the talks is rational.
Azerbaijan is successfully working to settle the conflict. Great
Britain supports the strategic course pursued by President Aliyev and
believes the conflict should be settled based on international legal
norms. Its fair resolution is in the interests of official London
as well.”*

Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2005
Mats Lindberg held press conference dedicated to fulfillment of CE
Action Plan on parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan
02 September 2005 [14:23] – Today.Az
Special Representative of Council of Europe Secretary General to
our country Mats Lindberg held press conference dedicated to the
fulfillment of the Action Plan about the parliamentary elections in
Azerbaijan confirmed by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.
He reminded that, roundtable on elections was held for the government
and media representatives in July and as the result “Code of
behavior of mass media of Azerbaijan during the election campaigns”
appeared. M. Lindberg noted with regret that no all the mass media
signed the document.
Calling on all the mass media to join the document, M.Lindberg also
added that he will recommend Council of Europe Secretary General Terry
Davis who will be on a visit to Baku next week to draw pro-governmental
media, opposition-minded media and independent media to join to the
code of behavior. He stated on behalf of the organization he represents
that he will do his best to held monitoring of mass media on the
election campaign: “We have not made decision yet, but I suppose
the monitoring will cover 40 printed press bodies. There are enough
professional persons in Azerbaijan to make independent investigation
.As concerns the monitoring of TVs we shall have talks with TV and
Radio Council of Azerbaijan regarding this”.
According to him, Council of Europe experts will give trainings for
the members of CEC, district and precinct electoral committees, and
make recommendations on how to organize the work of the commissions on
7-8 September. CE Venice Commission experts will come to Azerbaijan and
will make recommendations to the CEC on how to work on the applications
of complaint received after the elections. Venice commission experts
will also hold trainings for the judges of Azerbaijan. They will be on
a visit to Baku on 29-30 September and provide trainings on the rules
of looking into the complaints. It is also planned to hold an event
on prevention of corruption. In addition, pre-election trainings will
be given to the police and Interior Forces on how to treat towards
the people in order not to violate their rights and to preserve law
and public tranquility. The Code of behavior of Azerbaijani police
will be prepared in October.
CE Information Office in Baku has published books entitled “Codex
of the best experience on election issues”, “Balanced participation
of women and men in politics and in making important decisions
with regard to the state”, “Women’s rights to individual voting”,
“Media and elections” and distributed them with regard to the
forthcoming elections. The office has prepared advertisement reels
in 3 directions. The goal is to inform the voters about the election
procedure, propagate elections and make explanation of parliament.
Posters are made for this purpose too.
Assessing the current pre-election situation, M.Lindberg noted that,
the process of registration is going on according to the rule and
no one has been rejected yet. Stating that the process of delivering
voter’s cards was delayed a little bit, the CE representative hoped
that these cards will not give opportunity to the voters to vote
several times on the Election Day.
Responding to the question on assistance to the CEC in making the list
of voters of Armenian origin in Khankendi Constituency Election #122,
he said that he received the appeal yesterday: “I must consult with the
headquarters. I have to confess that this is a very difficult process”.
/APA/
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA NA President Artur Baghdasaryan’s Congratulatory Message on the
14th Anniversary of NKR’s Independence
National Assembly of RA (press release), Armenia
Sept 2 2005
RA NA President Artur Baghdasaryan sent congratulatory messages to
NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan, NKR NA President Ashot Ghulyan, NKR
Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan on the 14-th anniversary of the
Nagorno Karabakh’s independence.
To NKR President Arkady Ghukasyan
Dear Mr. Ghukasyan,
I warmly congratulate you and all the Artsakh people on the 14-th
anniversary of the independence.
The past 14 years have proved that the people of Artsakh not only
withstood the tests of war and peaceful life but also created its
strong and stable statehood. I bow before the martyrs of the liberation
struggle and hereafter, I wish Artsakh to live in peace and democracy.
To NKR NA President Ashot Ghulyan
Dear Mr. Ghulyan,
I warmly congratulate you and all NKR National Assembly deputies of
Nagorno Karabakh on the 14-th anniversary of the independence.
The Artsakh people secured their right to a decent life in a liberation
struggle and reiterating their commitment to human values, carry on the
road of constructing the statehood, the role of the National Assembly,
as a legislative body, which is called on to ensure the legislative
bases for the development and progress.
On the occasion of the anniversary I wish you and all the deputies of
the National Assembly success, effective work and I express readiness
of cooperation of the National Assembly of Armenia.
To NKR Prime Minister Anushavan Danielyan Dear Mr. Danielyan,
Accept my warm congratulations to you and the NKR Government members
on the 14-th anniversary of independence.
The past years were tests of war and peace for the Artsakh people
and Artsakh not only passed the tests and proved its viability and
commitment but also created its independent statehood.
A country is strong with its economy, and the economic success
become as basis for the political progress, therefore, I wish you
and the members of the Government success on the way to the economic
strengthening of Artsakh.

Yuri Merzlyakov: “There are grounds to be pleased with the Kazan meeting”
Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 2 2005
02 September 2005 [13:51] – Today.Az
The co-chairmen of the Minsk Group informed the OSCE chairman-in-office
Dmitrij Rupel about the details of the meeting on regulation of
the nagorno Karabakh conflict conducted between the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan in Kazan on
August 27.
APA was informed about it by the Russian co-chairman of the Minsk
group Yuri Merzlyakov. According to his words, the co-chairmen left
for the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana immediately after the meeting
of the presidents for this.
Y.Merzlyakov sharing his opinions in connection with the last
talks between the presidents called the Kazan meeting very good and
efficient: “The meeting was held in a way the co-chairmen expected.
Detailed discussions were held in the meeting conducted under good
conditions. We have reasons to be pleased with the meeting. I think
that anyone was satisfied with this meeting”. The Russian diplomat
noted that he can not answer the question whether there were new
recommendations or not in the meeting and stressed the importance of
preserving confidentiality for the meeting to yield good results.
Y.Merzlyakov giving an explanation about the date of the new meetings
between the ministers of foreign affairs and presidents of Azerbaijan
and Armenia informed that the co-chairmen will try for the meetings
to be held till the end of the year: “The sides must think over the
questions discussed in the meeting and inform the co-chairmen about
their opinions before this”.
As to the next visit of the co-chairmen to the region, Y.Merzlyakov
informed that they think to visit the region till December.
It should be noted that the OSCE chairman-in-office, minister of
foreign affairs of Slovenia Dmitrij Rupel will also visit Baku and
Yerevan for being familiarized with the results of the Kazan meeting.
URL:
From: Baghdasarian