ON THIS DAY
1979: Kurdish revolt grows in Iran
Kurds in Iran have ousted government troops from a large area near
the Iraqi border.
However, they have full control of only one town, Mahabad, the centre
of Iranian Kurdistan in the north-west of the country.
The revolt began last week when Kurdish tribesmen overpowered Iranian
soldiers in the nearby town of Paveh.
The fighting later spread to the towns of Divan Darreh, Saqqez and
Mahabad which was briefly the capital of an independent Kurdish
republic from 1946-7.
Iran’s four million Kurds have been disappointed the ousting of the
Shah and the setting up of an Islamic state has not brought them more
autonomy.
Hiding
Many of the 15 million Kurds inhabiting the mountainous area where
Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria and the Soviet republic of Armenia meet
want it to be declared an independent state.
But Turkey and Iraq in particular have always resisted giving up
sovereignty over their portions of Kurdistan.
Earlier this year Kurdish leaders met Iran’s spiritual leader,
Ayatollah Khomeini, who warned them against trying to break away from
Iran.
Many Kurdish leaders have now gone into hiding after Ayatollah
Khomeini ordered their arrest.
In spite of the current fighting, Iran’s Kurds say they do not want
to sever the territory from the rest of the country.
“If we cut ourselves off we would have only the mountains and the
goats. We would die from hunger,” said one Kurdish leader.
Iranian newspaper reports have put the number killed so far at about
600.
Traditionally, Iran’s Kurds have been less strident in their demands
for independence and have rarely resorted to violence.
They have more in common with the majority population who are
Persians than Kurds in Turkey and Iraq have with the majority Arabs
there.

Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
Aug 23 2005
Chess battle hots up
By A Correspondent
ABU DHABI – Grandmasters Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus, Anastasian
Ashot of Armenia and Alexander Goloshchapov of Ukraine shared the
lead with 5.5 points in the Masters section at the end of the seventh
round of Abu Dhabi Chess Festival here at the Khalidia Palace Hotel
on Monday night.
Shahriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Uzbek Saidali Iuldachev, Alexei
Fedorov of Belarus, Russians Mikhail Kobalia and Vladmir Potkin –
with 5 points apiece – were in the second spot.
Hussain Khouri, manager of the Chess Festival said: ‘The event is an
eye opener for the talented juniors of UAE. We have invited
youngsters to play in the Masters section to provide them with
international exposure.’
Dmitry Bocharov lost to Aleksandrov in an unusual variation of the
nimzo Indian defence. Bochorov’s choice of a dubious variation led to
a catastrophe as Alexandrov dominated the proceedings by creating a
powerful outpost on d3.
Bochorov lost castling rights and was unable to combine his pieces.
Alexandrov initiated the winning sequence with an exchange sacrifice
and clinched the game. The chief arbiter Zuhair Ahmad said: `The
tournament is heading to a close finish and technical scores as per
Fide regulations will be used in case of a tie.’
Ulvi Bajarani of Azerbaijan and Dhruv Hingorani of India share the
lead with 5.5 points each at the end of the sixth and penultimate
round in children’s section. Azad Bakhsh Farshid and Khalaji Hanyeh
of Iran are in the second place with 5 points.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep
Aug 23 2005
Kocharian in `Informal’ Talks With Georgian Leader
President Robert Kocharian was meeting with his visiting Georgian
counterpart Mikhail Saakashvili in a popular Armenian resort on
Monday for talks few details of which were made public.
Sources in the Armenian presidential administration told RFE/RL that
Saakashvili arrived in Yerevan by plane on Sunday and joined
Kocharian at his summer retreat on the shore of Lake Sevan. They said
Saakashvili was later joined by his Defense Minister Irakli
Okruashvili who arrived from Tbilisi by car.
The sources said Kocharian’s office did not release any statements
because of the `informal’ character of the talks.
The previous meeting of the two leaders took place at a Georgian ski
resort last April. They discussed at the time tensions in Georgia’s
Armenian-populated Javakheti region which followed Tbilisi’s demands
for the closure of a Russian military base stationed there. According
to a Russian news agency, the situation in Javakheti was high on the
agenda of the Sevan talks as well.
The Armenian and Georgian prime minister paid a joint visit to the
impoverished and restive region late last month, promising joint
efforts to alleviate its socioeconomic problems. The Georgian
premier, Zurab Noghaideli, announced that his government will use
additional U.S. assistance that will be provided to Georgia to
rebuild the local roads and other infrastructure.
Speaking to a group of Armenian journalists last week, Saakashvili
called for the establishment of closer economic times between the two
neighboring countries. `Developing without each other would not be
rational, natural or right,’ he said.

CSTO antiaircraft manoeuvres held in Astrakhan region

Kazakhstan today
The third phase of the joint exercise “Military Commonwealth-2005”
held as a part of the CIS Common Antiaircraft System commenced
yesterday, August 22, at Ashuluk testing ground, Astrakhan region,
Russia, CSTO secretariat has advised KZ-today.
Aircraft and antiaircraft forces of Armenia, Belarus, Russia, and
Tajikistan will participate in the most active concluding phase.
The CSTO secretariat reminded that the CSTO Antiaircraft System had
been created by the presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan in 2004 who had adopted “General
lines of CTSO military construction until 2010 and in further
perspective.” The joint activities are based on the integration of
CSTO antiaircraft forces in the CIS Common Antiaircraft System with
further improvement on the basis of common military and technical
policies.
“The most important step in this direction was a decision on further
improvement of the antiaircraft forces adopted by the CSTO heads of
state in June, 2005,” – Valery Semerikov, CSTO deputy secretary
general said. In accordance with this document the CSTO carries out
antiaircraft defence on the territory of collective security by joint
usage of troops, forces, and means in the airspace of regions per
common plans. Also centralised command of troops, forces, and means
of the CSTO antiaircraft forces is provided.

New Iraq constitution must protect Christians
ALDA BENJAMEN
The fate of millions of Iraqis hangs in the balance as politicians
appear poised to introduce a new constitution for the country.
This constitution represents freedom for the Iraqi people from more
than 30 years of oppression and injustice under the Ba’ath Party and
marks the birth of a new society based on equality.
The constitution is not merely words on paper. Rather, its
application is what will truly define it and will make Iraq a free
and democratic country, a rarity in the Middle East.
Its success will be measured not in the amount of time it takes to
finish, not in the number of votes it receives, and not in the
successful party who adopts its principles, but in its application.
It is when the human rights of an individual, regardless of religion
or ethnic background, are protected by this constitution that we can
declare it successful and democratic.
It is when an Assyrian (also known as Chaldean or Syriac) woman
living in her homeland in northern Iraq is free to wear a Christian
cross around her neck and knows that she has just as much right to
life as the Shiite woman who wears the Islamic veil.
For it is the Assyrians, the indigenous Christian people of Iraq, who
most need this constitution to be successful.
It is they who have been butchered, not only under Saddam Hussein’s
rule, but also by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey and the Kurds for
generations, simply because of their separate religious and ethnic
identity.
It is they who, to this day, are singled out and treated as less than
human; when their churches are destroyed, their women forced to wear
the Islamic veil, their villages uprooted and their businesses
targeted by extremists.
Amnesty International has noted many of these injustices, which also
include assassinations of political leaders and the slaying of nuns
and priests. This constitution will not only be necessary to secure
the basic human rights of the Assyrians but is essential for their
survival in the country.
As the indigenous people of Iraq, we have suffered from the forced
Arabization drives of Saddam’s regime. Further back in time, our
people were killed alongside the Armenians and Greeks during the
1915-1918 genocide by the Turkish and Kurdish forces of the Ottoman
Empire, the first recorded genocide of the 20th century.
Close to 750,000 Assyrians, or two-thirds of our population at that
time, were slaughtered in what is internationally recognized as the
Armenian genocide.
Yet again, more than 3,000 villagers were massacred in 1933 in
Simile, north of Iraq by the Iraqi army. Attacks targeting our people
are still being carried out today.
Between August and October of 2004, more than nine churches were
bombed in two separate incidents. Many parishioners were killed and
others injured during these terrorist attacks.
Because of these attacks and constant threats, rapes and abductions,
more than 40,000 Assyrian Christians have fled Iraq for Syria.
It is now obvious why this is such a crucial time for the Assyrians
of Iraq.
Will the constitution acknowledge people who suffered under the
former Iraqi regime, other than the Kurds and Shiites? Will it
guarantee seats for our people in the National Assembly and give us
appropriate representation?
Will it ensure that we no longer remain a voiceless community that
has been forcibly kept as an under-represented part of the Iraqi
population?
Given the magnitude of the brutality against Assyrians, it is crucial
that our rights to practise our religion and teach our Syriac
language be guaranteed. It is also necessary that the Assyrians
secure an administrative region in Iraq as stated in the Transitional
Administrative Law, Article 53(D). This law guarantees the
administrative, cultural and political rights of our people and other
minority groups in Iraq.
Assyrians now stand at the crossroads. We do not want history to
repeat itself. We need to remind ourselves that although it is the
majority that rules in a democracy the voices of the minority cannot
be ignored.
Alda Benjamen is a member of the Assyrian Chaldean Syriac Student
Union of Canada.

Foreign Minister Leaves for Moscow
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has left for Moscow to attend a
meeting of the CIS foreign ministers due on Tuesday.
Mammadyarov will meet with his Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanian
in the Russian capital on Wednesday.
During the meeting to be attended by the co-chairs of the mediating
OSCE Minsk Group, the two ministers will exchange views on the
unresolved issues and preparations for the August 26 meeting of Azeri
and Armenian presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian in Kazan,
Russia on the sidelines of the CIS summit.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 23 2005

Aliyev Receives PACE President
President Ilham Aliyev, receiving the visiting President of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rene van Der
Linden on Monday, spoke of the extensive work done in Azerbaijan to
promote civil democratization.
He expressed confidence that Linden’s visit to Baku will allow him to
become closely familiar with the development processes ongoing in the
country.
Linden said the Council of Europe hails the reforms underway in
Azerbaijan.
Touching upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh,
the number one problem for the country, Linden praised the steps
taken toward its peaceful resolution. He said that he discussed the
issue with Armenian officials during his visit to the country. The
PACE President also voiced a hope for a speedy conflict settlement.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 23 2005

PACE President Cites `Favorable Conditions’ for Conflict Settlement
Favorable conditions have been created to settle the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, president of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rene van Der
Linden has said.
`We should take advantage of this and find a way to resolve the
conflict,’ the PACE president, who arrived in Baku on Monday as part
of his tour of the South Caucasus region, told journalists upon
arrival. The visit is aimed at getting familiar with the situation in
the region.
Linden said he held broad discussions on the Karabakh conflict during
his visit to Armenia.
The PACE president said that Azerbaijan’s November parliament
elections will be discussed. Asked whether the Council of Europe will
reconsider the mandate of the Azerbaijani delegation if it is not
satisfied with the results of the forthcoming poll, Linden said he
will reply to the question in conclusion of his visit.
Linden met with President Ilham Aliyev, Chief-of-Staff of the
President’s Office Ramiz Mehdiyev, representatives of the Azadlig and
New Policy election blocs as well as media and NGO representatives on
the same day. On Tuesday, he is to meet Parliament Speaker Murtuz
Alasgarov and Interior Minister Ramil Usubov.

Iraq’s mosaic of ethnic groups
August 23, 2005
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s majority Shias and the Kurds, over the objections
of the Sunni Arabs, flexed their newfound muscle to present a draft
constitution to parliament on Monday.
The following are short profiles of the main groups in Iraq’s mosaic
of ethnic groups:
Shias
The Shias, who faced decades of repression dating back to the Ottoman
period, make up around 60 percent of Iraq’s population and are
concentrated in the south of the country and the capital.
Their religious leaders, especially spiritual chief Grand Ayatollah
Ali Al Sistani, have encouraged Shias to seize the initiative on the
political front.
The Shias have been the target of devastating attacks by Sunni
insurgents determined to bring down the new order:
At least 83 people, including top cleric Mohammed Baker Hakim, were
killed in Najaf in August 2003, and more than 170 died in March 2,
2003, attacks in Karbala and Baghdad during the Ashura religious
holiday.
Last December 19, 66 people were killed in further bomb attacks in
Najaf and Karbala, the homes of the two holiest sites of Shia Islam.
In modern Iraqi history the Shias during the 1950s made up the
rank-and-file of the Baath and communist parties, before being
sidelined after the rise to power of Saddam Hussein’s Sunni clan from
Tikrit in the 1970s.
Some Shia religious events such as the public display of grief for
Ashura were banned and a bloody repression targeted Shia leaders,
including Ayatollah Mohammed Baker Sadr, who was executed in 1980.
Brutal force was used to put down a Shia uprising in the aftermath of
Iraq’s ouster from Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War.
Sunnis
The Sunnis, although the majority sect in the Arab world, account for
only 20 to 25 percent of the Iraqi population.
Under Saddam’s regime they occupied the top posts in the army and
police as well as the ruling Baath party. But since the invasion they
have been overshadowed by the Shias and Kurds, and they mostly
boycotted elections in January.
Most of the bloodiest attacks and bombings since the United States
declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003,
have taken place in Sunni areas.
Kurds
In a milestone on the road to autonomy, the non-Arab Kurds of
northern Iraq took part in two simultaneous elections in January: for
a transitional National Assembly in Baghdad and for their own
111-member parliament.
They are estimated to number some 4 million to 5 million in Iraq, or
between 15 and 20 percent of the population.
In the early 1970s the Iraqi authorities forcibly displaced the Kurds
as part of an “Arabization” policy of strategic areas such as the
oil-rich center of Kirkuk, launching two decades of repression.
After a Kurdish uprising in the aftermath of the 1991 war over
Kuwait, hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians were driven across
the mountains into Turkey and Iran.
Under a Western security umbrella the Kurds returned and held the
first elections in their history, resulting in the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) sharing
power.
But fighting erupted between the two factions in 1994 leaving some
3,000 dead and paralyzing fledgling Kurdish institutions.
They buried the hatchet on the eve of the US-led invasion to
overthrow Saddam, fighting alongside American troops in the north of
the country. The peshmergas (guerrillas) entered Kirkuk in April
2003.
The Kurds insist on an historical claim to Kirkuk and a federated
Iraq.
Turcomans
The Turcoman minority, who originated in Central Asia and moved to
Mesopotamia in the eleventh century, represent between 1 and 2
percent of the population, with most of them living in northern Iraq.
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 the British occupiers of
Iraq launched a campaign to assimilate the Turcomans with the Arab
and Kurdish communities.
They were the victims of several massacres between 1924 and 1959,
straddling independence in 1932.
Like the Kurds the Turcomans were driven out of Kirkuk during the
1970s to be replaced by Arabs. The two ethnic groups have clashed
since Saddam’s fall and are now in dispute over who was in the
majority before the expulsions.
Ankara has pledged to protect the interests of the Turcomans and,
fearful of unrest among its own sizable Kurdish minority, opposes too
high a level of autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq.
Christians
The Christian community stood at 1.4 million people according to a
1987 census but has since shrunk to 700,000 – out of a total
population of 25 million – during a turbulent period of war and years
of crippling sanctions.
They have been heavily targeted in the unrest that has swept
post-Saddam Iraq.
At the start of August 2004 four attacks against Christian targets in
Baghdad and two others in Mosul left 10 people dead and 50 injured,
sending tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians into exile.
Liquor stores, owned by Christians, have been blown up by Islamic
militants. And Christian families, many considered wealthy by Iraqi
standards, have been targeted by kidnappers for huge ransoms.
The Chaldeans, whose 600,000 people represent most Christians in
Iraq, are an oriental rite Catholic community. Iraq also has Assyrian
Christians, Catholic and Orthodox Syriacs, and Catholic and Orthodox
Armenians.

From: “Katia M. Peltekian”
Subject: TBILISI: Saakashvili: No Political Problems with Armenia
Civil Georgia, Georgia
Aug 23 2005
Saakashvili: No Political Problems with Armenia
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said after talks with his
Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian on August 22 that the two
presidents discussed opportunities for deepening economic
cooperation, adding that the two countries `have no political
problems’ in bilateral relations.
President Saakashvili paid a two-day informal visit to Armenia on
August 21-22 and met with Robert Kocharian at the latter’s summer
residence on the shore of Lake Sevan. The Georgian President was
accompanied by Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili.
`We are developing close cooperation with Armenia and we can say for
sure that there are no political problems in the relations between
our countries… We can not live separately from each other, hence
economic integration is necessary,’ Saakashvili said at a joint news
conference with the Armenian President.
Robert Kocharian said that the current state of affairs with Georgia
`is a positive signal.’
`Mutual trust between the two presidents is a precondition for
building relations between the two countries,’ President Kocharian
said, adding that these relations should not be a source of concern
for Russia.
`As far as I know [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin, with whom I
also have mutually trustful relations, also attributes great
importance to personal contacts [between leaders],’ the Armenian
President said.