AZERBAIJANI PSYCHOLOGIST WANT TO PROVE IRRESPONSIBILITY OF
OFFICER-KILLER

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5. ARMINFO. Chief psychologist of Azerbaijan Bilal
Mirzali- oghli Asadov has applied to the Hungarian Court for
participation in a judicial and psychological examination of
Azerbaijani officer Ramil Safarov. A well- informed source in
diplomatic circles told ARMINFO. It is not ruled out that the
psychologist tries to influence on the result of the examination to
prove Safarov’s irresponsibility.

To note, Ramil Safarov, Azeri officer axed his Armenian counterpart
Gurgen Margaryan when sleeping in Hungary Feb 19 2004. Witnesses, a
Lithuanian officer and another Azerbaijani officer, head of the
medical group, are supposed to be interrogated. During the previous
trial, Safarov refused from his testimonies stating that at the moment
of killing Margaryan he was in an “unconscious” state. However,
medical examination showed that he was fully aware of his acts.

As it was report earlier, chairing the trial will be the judge Andrash
Vaskuti, the state prosecutor Margarite Chohayn will support the
prosecution. Armenian and Hungarian lawyers Nazeli Vardanyan and
Gabriela Kaspar will defend the interests of Margaryan’s family and
Hayk Makuchyan, an Armenian officer whom Safarov failed to kill. The
trial will be held in Hungary. Safarov is charged with the Article
No. 166.2 of the Hungarian CC (first-degree murder and attempt on more
than 1 person). Safarov is facing 10-15 or even life in prison.

NATO office to monitor military reform in Georgia

Interfax-AVN military news agency web site, Moscow
4 Feb 05

Excerpt from report in English by Russian news agency Interfax-AVN web
site

Tbilisi, 4 February: Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili held
a meeting today with Robert Simmons, the NATO secretary-general’s
special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, and
Romualdas Razuks, NATO liaison officer in Transcaucasia.

“The meeting addressed Georgia-NATO integration in the light of the
Individual Partnership Action Plan approved in autumn last year,” a
source in the Georgian Defence Ministry told Interfax-Military News
Agency.

“It was decided that the Defence Ministry headquarters will host an
office of the NATO liaison officer for monitoring the reforms in
Georgia’s military sphere,” the source said. Razuks will also
supervise Azerbaijan and Armenia, he added. [Passage omitted]

OSCE mission visiting Azerbaijan’s occupied Lacin District

ANS TV, Baku
5 Feb 05

[Presenter] The OSCE factfinding mission to investigate the settlement
of Armenians in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories is visiting Lacin
today. They will return to Xankandi [Stepanakert] tomorrow and the
mission will complete its work.

[Aleksandr Grigoryan, head of the information department of the
separatist Nagornyy Karabakh regime, speaking in Russian by phone with
Azeri voice-over] They went to Lacin today. They will be in Stepanakert
tomorrow and leave Karabakh on Monday [7 February]. They are being
accompanied by two [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairmen, [Russian
co-chairman Yuriy] Merzlyakov and [French co-chairman Bernard]
Fassier.

The mission is avoiding contacts with those who accompany them. They
are working very surreptitiously and do not want to contact anyone.

[Presenter] The mission visited Zangilan District yesterday. The head
of the information department of the separatist Nagornyy Karabakh
regime, Aleksandr Grigoryan, said that the factfinding mission is
being accompanied by a deputy foreign minister of Armenia,
interpreters and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs from France and
Russia, Bernard Fassier and Yuriy Merzlyakov.

[Passage omitted: quotes from the Armenian newspaper Azg]

On the whole, the monitoring will be completed in about a week. The
mission will spend one day in each of the seven districts. A report
will be drawn up in about 10 days and submitted to the permanent
council and OSCE members in Vienna.

Azeri expert downplays Russia’s efforts to keep CIS alive

Yeni Musavat, Baku
4 Feb 05

Text of Kanan report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 4
February headlined “Putin will not manage to resurrect the CIS” and
“Rasim Musabayov: ‘Azerbaijan’s membership of the Collective Security
Treaty Organization is impossible'”

Putin’s Russia is doing its best to keep the CIS, the only alliance of
post-Soviet countries, alive. The only entity led by that country is
the CIS. But experts predict that the CIS, which is getting weaker
year by year, will no longer be used in the political language soon.

It cannot but worry our northern neighbour. Putin’s Russia is
increasingly concerned, especially after the democratic changes in
Ukraine and Georgia. The Putin administration is using every available
resource to preserve his country’s influence on the neighbouring
states. Our northern neighbour’s activity in the CIS has been
especially intensive after it suffered a setback in Ukraine.

Some observers are saying that Moscow is trying to use Azerbaijan to
compensate for its failure in Ukraine. First, Putin is trying to
incorporate the weak Azerbaijani authorities into his
military-political bloc. The recent visits to Azerbaijan by Russian
officials are said to be related to this fact. Incidentally, Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid an official visit to Baku several
days ago, and [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev is expected to
visit Russia soon. At the same time, there are reports that Putin will
visit Azerbaijan, too. Reports also say that discussions during
Lavrov’s visit were held on the CIS and the prospects of Azerbaijan’s
entry into the Collective Security Treaty Organization [CSTO].

Commenting on these developments, political analyst Rasim Musabayov
noted that Russia is doing its utmost to preserve the exhausted
CIS. Our interviewee is confident that these efforts will be futile.

“The CIS is an entity that Russia is using to save face in the
post-Soviet countries, and therefore, it is trying to preserve it in
any form in order to use it to control the neighbouring countries. But
its efforts have been fruitless for the past five years.”

The analyst said that Azerbaijan’s entry into the CSTO is made
difficult by Armenia, which is waging a war against Azerbaijan. “On
the other side, Azerbaijan has not benefited so far from its
membership of the entity [CIS]. Third, “Azerbaijan’s historic ally,
Turkey, is not a member of the CSTO, and therefore, our membership of
this organization is impossible”.

However, the expert does not believe that any of the member states
will quit the CIS states at the moment, because formal membership of
this “toothless” entity does not hamper the policy of any
state. That’s why, member states do not think it necessary to take
this step.

“The present activity of the CIS is not a burden for member states.
Turkmenistan almost never takes part in CIS meetings. In other words,
it does not matter to any of the republics whether they are members of
this organization or not. At present, the Commonwealth has turned into
an entity whose members meet once a year and talk about this and
that.”

Musabayov believes that the CIS will continue its work for a certain
period of time, but will never become a serious and sustainable
organization. “Because neither Ukraine and Georgia, nor Moldova and
Azerbaijan want the CIS to become a strong organization. Therefore,
Russia cannot strengthen this entity. But it is possible to think up
certain formats in which the CIS can be kept alive. For example,
Great Britain unites several states in the Commonwealth of
Nations. France and Spain also keep similar entities. They meet once a
year and discuss certain issues. It cannot be ruled out that the CIS
may be preserved in that form. But as I said, Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova will be against this. These countries see their
future in integration into Europe and NATO. I do not believe that
Russia will be able to change this reality.”

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Cultural Foundation of Ottawa
P.O. BOX 23153
Ottawa, CANADA, K2A 4E7
Tel: (613) 234-1890
Fax: (613) 234-2568
E-mail: [email protected]

Armenian Genocide on CBC radio ONE on Sunday Feb. 6

Ottawa, Friday, February 04, 2005 – The Armenian Cultural Foundation
in Ottawa has learned from a reliable source, and is pleased to
announce that CBC Radio One, will interview Prof. Taner Akcam on its
weekly program: the Sunday Edition on February 6, 2005.

The interview has been prompted by the publication in “The Literary
Review of Canada (LRC)” of a powerful book review on the Armenian
Genocide and the Turkish Government’s policy of denial. The review,
by David Warner, is of Turkish historian Taner Akcam’s book “From
Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide.”
The review, spreads over two oversized pages, and is titled “History
Denied: A brave Turkish historian calls it the Armenian genocide. Are
his fellow citizens listening?” It is featured prominently on the
Jan/Feb cover of the LRC magazine in form of cover lines and an
illustration.

CBC Radio One program, “The Sunday Edition” will interview Prof. Akcam
on Feb 6, 2005. The Sunday Edition is a lively three-hour program of
conversation, documentaries and music. Michael Enright, an
accomplished and famous Canadian journalist and broadcaster, is the
host and tackles everything from politics to pop culture, in Canada
and around the world. Michael Enright is one of the most respected
journalists in Canada. He thrives on debate and ideas and each program
begins with his own thoughts. He has already interviewed twice, very
favorably, on his program Canadian Soprano, Isabel Bayrakdarian.

The Sunday Edition regularly airs on: CBC Radio One Sundays,
9:11a.m.-12:00 p.m.

“We have learned that the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa made an effort to
block the segment from being aired.” Said Vahe Balabanian, President
of the Armenian Cultural Foundation.

The program on CBC’s internet service is at:

To reach the CBC: E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 416-205-3700 (audience inquiries)
Fax: 416-205-6461
Mail: The Sunday Edition
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1E6

To reach the magazine: e-mail: [email protected]
Ms. Bronwyn Drainie
Editor, Literary Review of Canada
581 Markham Street, Suite 3A
Toronto, Ontario
M6G 2I7
Tel. (416) 531-1483

Format of Karabakh settlement talks distorted – minister

Arminfo, Yerevan
4 Feb 05

YEREVAN

The format of the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is distorted, the foreign minister of the
Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR], Arman Melikyan, said at a press
conference in Stepanakert today.

The minister pointed out that using this, Azerbaijan is trying to
present Armenia as an aggressor that has territorial claims to
Azerbaijan. Speaking about British MP David Atkinson’s report on
Nagornyy Karabakh, Melikyan pointed out that “we should not identify
Atkinson with the whole of Europe. After all, there are very specific
interests – European, American, Azerbaijani or Russian, and these
interests require each country to resolve certain tasks. We also have
our own interests, which should be purposefully defended in the
general contexts of interests. However, everything boils down again to
the distorted format of the negotiations in which the NKR is not
participating,” Melikyan stressed.

The minister stressed that it is very difficult to find a solution
within the framework of such a distorted format. “It is hardly
possible to find any mutually acceptable solution without the
participation of Nagornyy Karabakh in the negotiations. But this
depends not only on our desire – there are international and
Azerbaijani interests, and our task is to make the aims and interests
of Nagornyy Karabakh understandable and acceptable to others,” the
minister said.

VYACHESLAV ZAYTSEV IS SURE THAT MEDIUM STRATUM OF ARMENIA CAN BUY
CLOTHES CUT OUT BY HIM FOR $300-600

YEREVAN, January 25 (Noyan Tapan). The collection of women’s clothes
of classical style cut out by Vyacheslav Zaytsev, Director of Moscow
Fashion House, for the first time will be represented in autumn in
Yerevan. The well-knowm modeller informed about this during the
January 25 press conference. He is in Yerevan on the occasion of
watching of the video-recording of the show of “2005-2006
Autumn-Summer” collection held on January 13 in Paris. The watching
was organized in the “Apollo” shop.

According to V.Zaytsev, mainly black and white colors predominate in
the clothes created by him, which symbolizes purity and harmony. He
assured that they will also interest the Armenian women “as they like
to dress with taste.” V.Zaytsev mentioned that everybody wants to
have good clothes, that’s why his clothes are sold at affordable
prices, for $300-600. For comparison it was mentioned that Valentin
Yudashkin’s clothes are sold for 10-15 thousand euros. Answering a
journalist’s question V.Zaytsev assured that the medium stratum of
Armenia will be able to buy the clothes cut out by him at the
above-mentioned prices.

The Guide: PREVIEWS film: The London Armenian Film Festival LONDON

The Guardian – United Kingdom;
Feb 05, 2005

PHELIM O’NEILL

Apparently the first UK season of Armenian cinema for 25 years, so
there’s clearly a lot of catching up to do. The dark spectre of
genocide still features heavily in their movies, directly or
otherwise. But these are not doomy works – the culture is rich, if
little known here. Ararat and Calendar by Atom Egoyan – the big name
in Armenian cinema – are showing. Recent hit Vodka Lemon provides a
droll look at romance, Komitas tells the story of a traumatised
composer, and the dialogue-free Lovember charts a luckless couple’s
creation of a new god. po’n

Cine Lumiere, Instituit Francais, SW2, Fri 11 to Feb 17

FILM: THE FIVE BEST REVIVALS

The Independent – United Kingdom

Feb 05, 2005

1

Every Little Thing & Nicolas Philibert in conversation (today 6.45pm &
8.45pm NFT1)

The inmates and staff of a French psychiatric institution stage their
annual theatrical experience in this documentary from the much-lauded
director of tre et Avoir, interviewed onstage after the screening.

2

Pierlequin (Fri 8.30pm Lumiere)

The first season of Armenian films in the UK for 25 years kicks off
with this award-winning, low-budget love story about a clown, made by
Tigran Xmalian who will be present at the screening.

3

Chain (Tue 6.40pm Curzon Soho)

This first feature by New York film-maker Jem Cohen, which describes
the world as one corporate shopping mall, was shot in seven countries
and took more than six years to make.

4

Pawel Pawlikowski Quadruple Bill (Sun 2.30pm Riverside)

The poet Yerofeev, a war report in Bosnia, a trip round St Petersburg
with the great-grandson of Dostoevsky, and Russian nationalist
Vladimir Zhirinovsky – all the subjects of documentaries by the
talented, UK-based director.

5

The Minders & The Liberace of Baghdad (Wed 7pm Barbican)

Sean McAllister presents two of his documentaries from Iraq – pre and
post the US-led invasion. The first concerns Saddam’s minders sent to
“look after” journalists; the second an eccentric former
concert-pianist now scratching a living in Iraqi bars.

OIL-FOR-U.N.

Yahoo News
Friday, February 4, 2005

By William F. Buckley Jr.

A wild thought passes through my mind, which is that maybe Benon Sevan
is in fact innocent! Innocent of receiving money directly from his
buddy Fakhry Abdelnour, the Egyptian whose company (AMEP — African
Middle East Petroleum) wanted some Iraqi chits to permit oil purchases.
Benon Sevan was certainly not innocent of using his influence in
behalf of his friends and of failing to blow any whistles when suspect
contractors were designated to oversee the oil-for-food program, a
cover-up for easing the life and enhancing the fortunes of Saddam
Hussein (news – web sites). The U.N. had evolved into a bureaucracy
besotted by people who were contriving to get around the freeze on the
full production and sale of Iraqi oil.

There is one concrete item that Paul Volcker’s commission of inquiry
brought out. During the period being examined, Benon Sevan received
gifts totaling $160,000 from — not Saddam, not Abdelnour, not Amir
Mohammad Rashid, the former Iraqi oil minister. But from an aunt. An
aunt greatly devoted to Sevan, we plausibly assume, though she is dead
and can’t be questioned. She was a photographer who lived in
Cyprus. Now, many transactions can amount to $160,000. For instance,
two transactions, added together, of $80,000 each. But the Volcker
commission focuses on a figure of $160,000, paid by Abdelnour to
Saddam Hussein as an illegal surcharge for oil purchased.

So it’s odd, but there is no evidence that the aunt in Cyprus gave
another $160,000 to Abdelnour. And anyway, those would have been
discrete benefactions. Sevan says he is entirely innocent. High
U.N. officials who worked with him for many years before his
retirement express worry and annoyance that Sevan should have got
himself so embedded in the sticky oil-for-food situation, but it isn’t
likely that he will be yanked from his retirement in Cyprus, deprived
of his diplomatic immunity and charged with grand larceny.

No, the debacle of oil-for-food demonstrates the difficulty in
managing, without leakage, a sum like the extraordinary $64 billion
involved. That is the value of the oil that Iraq (news – web sites)
was permitted to sell in order to raise money to feed hungry Iraqis
and to look after medical and other needs. The component parts of the
operation, which took place under the supervision of the United
Nations (news – web sites), begged for exploitation. There were a
myriad of people eager to get the coupons for that oil, because it was
being merchandised at a price lower than the price of oil in the world
market.

A reporter for The New York Times summarizes the handling of the
matter: “Iraq did not sell oil to just anyone. Under the guidance of
Taha Yassin Ramadan, an Iraqi vice president, and the Revolutionary
Command Council, headed by Mr. Hussein, a large portion of the oil
allocations were handed out to a select group that included
businessmen, politicians, journalists and diplomats who were perceived
to be sympathetic to Iraq.”

The friendly people negotiated the sale of $64 billion in oil. It
beggars the imagination that anything on such a scale, going through
so many hands, could have got safe, hygienic passage from Iraqi oil
wells to bread for kids.

Mr. Volcker’s commission has put off for months the completion of its
investigation. What we can say at this point is that, quoting the news
item, the “United Nations’ largest relief effort was riddled with
political favoritism and mismanagement.”

“I am reluctant to conclude that the U.N. is damaged beyond repair,”
commented Rep. Henry Hyde (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the
House International Relations Committee. “But these revelations
certainly point in this direction.” Sen. Norm Coleman (news, bio,
voting record) of the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigation
wants action taken against Mr. Sevan, just to begin with.

But whatever steps are taken concretely, they aren’t — based on the
evidence of the Volcker commission — going to tell us very much that
we don’t already take for granted, namely the attractions of
larceny. If what happens is the demystification of the United Nations
as a vessel of incorruptibility, then that belated introduction to
reality is welcome. It doesn’t tell us what exactly a renewed
relationship with the U.N. should stress. It doesn’t even tell us what
has happened to all that money Saddam accumulated, some of it with the
connivance of U.N. officials.

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