RIA Novosti, Russia
Jan 9 2005

RUSSIA, GEORGIA TO BE LINKED BY FERRY CROSSING

TBILISI, January 9 (RIA Novosti) – In the framework of Russian
Transport Minister Igor Levitin’s two-day visit to Georgia, an
agreement on railway ferry communication between the Georgian port
Poti and Russian port Kavkaz (on the eastern coast of the Kerch
Strait) will be signed.

RIA Novosti was told in Georgia’s State Chancellery that a railway
train made up of 24 cars would move between the two countries’ ports
with the help of the ferry crossing every three days.

On January 10, Poti will see a symbolic ceremony of opening the ferry
communication. Before the end of the current month, experts are
supposed to coordinate the financial details of the agreement, after
which it will be implemented in practice.

Besides, at Levitin’s meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab
Zhvania, the sides will discuss technical details of creating a
consortium between the Russian Federation, Georgia, Azerbaijan and
Armenia on restoration of a railway on the territory of the
unrecognized republic of Abkhazia. The consortium, to comprise
transport officials of the four states, will have to undertake
financial commitments to carry out repairs of railroads.

Earlier, Poti mayor Vakhtang Alaniya said the existing technical
difficulties had been eliminated. “Earlier, all Armenian cargoes
[Armenia has no outlet to the sea] went through the Ukrainian port
Ilyichevsk [south of Odessa] and further to Poti. So, when the
Kavkaz-Poti ferry crossing is commissioned, the transport component
will be reduced both in terms of time and financially. On the
average, transport expenditures will reduce by 25%,” said Alaniya,
adding that cargoes would be delivered to Armenia by railway from
Poti.

TheDay, CT
Jan 9 2005

Historian’s Contribution Beyond Question

By STEVEN SLOSBERG
Day Staff Columnist

This afternoon at the Shaw Mansion in New London, Nancy Steenburg
will be telling stories about the early 19th century historian and
indefatigably curious reporter, Frances Manwaring Caulkins.

Kin-keeper, perhaps, is a more gentrified synonym for her devotion.
But then, as Steenburg, a Mystic resident and assistant professor of
history at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, allows,
intrepid snoop also works.

After all, Caulkins produced absorbingly researched and perennially
popular histories of Norwich and New London as well as some 35
handwritten books of genealogies of New London families, an
exhaustive collection of local gravestone records, compendiums of
plants she collected throughout her life, abolitionist poems,
numerous Sunday School tracts and scores upon scores of essays,
articles and obituaries for papers of the day, including The
Repository and the Star.

She was born in New London in 1795 and died in New London in 1869.
She is buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery. She never married.

Steenburg, who is to begin her talk at 2 p.m. today as part of the
New London County Historical Society’s Second Sunday programs,
offered a preview last week. A couple of Caulkins tidbits she
discussed speak, as it were, volumes.

One is whether Caulkins was illegitimate. Another suggests that in
that era of missionary fervor, Caulkins’ religious writings soared
the evangelical heights, with well over a million copies in print.

About Caulkins’ birth, Steenburg could find no documented evidence
that her mother and father ever married. Such common-law trysting
might not have been unusual. It’s also possible the parents eloped to
Rhode Island. Caulkins’ father died before she was born – when the
mother, Fanny Manwaring Caulkins, was four months pregnant. The
mother was 19 and had given birth to another child when she was 16.
Several years after Frances was born, Fanny married a shoemaker.

A portrait of Caulkins shows her to be an attractive, petite,
dark-haired woman. She was certainly possessed of forceful
personality, one that might have intimidated men. But the fact that
Caulkins didn’t marry also might be attributed to a social stigma
about her birth.

However, Steenburg countered her own speculation about the
illegitimacy, pointing out that Caulkins eventually ran schools for
young girls in Norwich and New London. Would parents of that time,
Steenburg wondered, entrust their daughters to a woman born out of
wedlock?

What’s more certifiable is Caulkins’ success as the author of Sunday
School primers for the American Tract Society.

In 1834, after emerging as a leader in local abolitionist causes,
Caulkins, possibly as a consequence of her politics, closed her
boarding school for girls in Norwich. She was secretary of the
Norwich Female Anti-Slavery Society. Resistance to the anti-slavery
movement was substantial and exacting. An abolitionist minister was
driven out of Norwich. After closing her school, Caulkins moved to
New York and began writing for the American Tract Society.

This was a religious and missionary publication society and is still
in existence, based since 1977 in Garland, Texas, and listing Billy
Graham and Jerry Falwell among its supporters.

Two `premium tracts’ written by Caulkins – `Do Your Children
Reverence the Sabbath?’ and `The Pequot of a Hundred Years’ – had a
combined printing of 1,058,000 copies, according to Caulkins’
half-brother, Henry Havens, a prominent merchant in New London.
Another of her pamphlets had a run of 950,000, including thousands of
copies in Armenian.

Caulkins returned to New London in 1842 and published her history of
Norwich, which won her honorary membership in the august and all-male
Massachusetts Historical Society. Apparently there was no Connecticut
Historical Society. She then turned to her history of New London,
wrote for local newspapers, and helped found the New London Ladies
Seamen Society to attend to the spiritual and material needs of
sailors and their families. She died in 1869.

She died, said Steenburg, questioning whether she’d done anything
worthwhile with her life. She should listen to Steenburg’s talk
today.

This is the opinion of Steven Slosberg.

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
January 9, 2005 Sunday 12:42 PM Eastern Time

Georgia-Russia railroad ferry line to open in late January

By Tengiz Pachkoria

TBILISI

A railroad ferry line between the Georgian port of Poti and the
Russian port of Kavkaz on the Krasnodar territory will open in the
end of January, a source in the Georgian Railroad Department told
Itar-Tass on Sunday.

At first the line will function once in three days, and each
ferryboat will carry 24 train cars. The traffic may grow busier in
the future. Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central Asia can
use the ferry line.

Georgian and Russian experts have coordinated the text of an
agreement on opening the railroad ferry line. The agreement will be
signed during a Georgian visit of Russian Transport Minister Igor
Levitin on Monday.

Jerusalem Post
January 9, 2005

News in Brief

Yeshiva students freed after priest attack

by Etgar Lefkovits, Janine Zacharia

Four yeshiva students who allegedly assaulted an Armenian Priest in
the Old City of Jerusalem were released on bail on Friday, police
said.

During a remand hearing at the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, three of
the suspects were ordered to stay out of the Old City for 90 days.

Police said that they will issue indictments against all four
suspects, three of whom live outside the city. * Etgar Lefkovits

Protests allowed at civil servants’ homes

In a blow to police, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled Friday
that far-right activists may demonstrate outside the homes of
government workers under certain restrictions, police said.

The decision flies in the face of police requests to keep protesters
away from civil servants’ homes, in keeping with the instructions of
former attorney- general Elyakim Rubinstein.

In the ruling Friday, Judge Shimon Feinberg ordered two far-right
activists arrested Thursday during an illegal anti-disengagement
protest outside the Jerusalem home of the IDF chaplain released on
bail. * Etgar Lefkovits

Zoellick new deputy secretary of state

WASHINGTON – US President George W. Bush on Friday chose Robert
Zoellick, the US Trade Representative, to be deputy secretary of
state. Zoellick, who will replace Richard Armitage as the second
highest ranking US diplomat, will face Senate confirmation.

Zoellick, a long-time diplomat, has been for the past four years the
chief US official negotiating free trade agreements around the world,
including with Middle Eastern countries like Morocco. Zoellick’s
confirmation hearing should take place in the coming weeks.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who Bush has nominated to
replace Colin Powell as Secretary of State, will face Senate
questioning on January 18.

Also on Friday, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, a leading
architect of the Iraq war, said he had been asked to remain in the
Bush administration. “I have been asked to stay and have accepted,”
Wolfowitz told Reuters through a spokesman. * Janine Zacharia

Agence France Presse — English
January 9, 2005 Sunday 3:35 PM GMT

Seven Ukrainian troops, Kazakh dead in Iraqi accident: ministry

KIEV Jan 9

Seven Ukrainian soldiers and one Kazakh died in Iraq Sunday after a
bomb they were about to defuse went off accidentally, Ukraine’s
defense ministry said.

Another seven Ukrainian and four Kazakh troops were injured as a
result of the accident, which occurred at 12:05 pm in Iraq’s central
Wasit region, where Ukrainian and Kazakh troops serve under Polish
control, it said in a statement.

It said the explosion occurred after a team of Kazakh sappers and
their Ukrainian backup had brought back for defusion some 35 aerial
bombs that Iraqi police had found stashed near the central military
base of As Suwayrah.

“After they were loaded off, there occurred an explosion of a large
magnitude, the reasons for which are still being investigated,” the
statement said.

“As a result of the blast, seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and
seven received injuries of varying degrees. One Kazakh soldier was
killed and four Kazakh troops were injured,” it said.

The injured were given first aid in the Ukrainian camp and then
rushed to a military hospital in Baghdad by helicopter, the statement
said.

“The defense ministry expresses its deepest condolences to the
relatives and close ones of the soldiers killed,” it said.

Outgoing President Leonid Kuchma has also sent condolences to the
families of those killed, according to a statement by the presidency.

In Warsaw a Polish military official said the soldiers had died as
they were trying to deactivate a bomb.

“An aerial bomb found during mine-clearing operations in the area
exploded accidentally when the soldiers were about to make it safe,”
Polish military spokesman Colonel Zdzieslaw Gnatowski told AFP.

On the orders of the Polish commander of the multinational division
of which the Ukrainians and Kazakhs are members, General Andrzej
Ekiert, the mine-clearing operation was halted to investigate the
exact causes of the incident, Colonel Gnatowski said.

Polish Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski and Polish chief of staff
General Czeslaw Piatas expressed their sympathy to the families of
the victims as well as to the governments in Kiev and Almaty, an
official statement released in Warsaw said.

More than 1,600 Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 2003
in Iraq’s Wasit region where US-led coalition forces are under Polish
command.

Prior to Sunday’s deaths, Ukraine has lost nine of its troops, with
another 20 injured.

In the heat of Ukraine’s election saga in December, the Kiev
parliament approved a resolution that demanded outgoing President
Leonid Kuchma withdraw Ukrainian soldiers from Iraq.

Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko, who won a rerun presidential
election to succeed Kuchma, has also come out in favor of a quick
withdrawal of Ukrainian troops.

After the January 30 elections in Iraq, the 5,500-strong Polish force
will include troops from 15 countries.

The countries contributing are Armenia, Bulgaria, Denmark,
Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Norway,
Romania, Salvador, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United States.

Poland has lost 13 soldiers and four civilians since the beginning of
the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Providence Journal (Rhode Island)
January 6, 2005 Thursday
All Editions

ART – WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING

For its first show at its new quarters on Providence’s Federal Hill,
Gallery Z is exhibiting the work of Kevork Mourad, an Armenian artist
now based in New York City. The show is about evenly divided between
landscapes and city scenes, both of which Mourad renders in a fluid
semi-abstract style that recalls the work of German Expressionist
artists such as Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger.

BILL VAN SICLEN

The Denver Post
January 7, 2005 Friday
FINAL EDITION

Village, warm movie

by Lisa Kennedy Denver Post Film Critic

“Why is it called Vodka Lemon when it tastes like almonds?” asks a
customer.

“That’s Armenia,” replies Nina, a lovely, 50-year- old bartender at
the Vodka Lemon.

With its ramshackle walls and open-air entrance, the establishment is
more akin to a beach-side refreshment stand. Only the weather is
decidedly brisk – if Nina (Lala Sarkissian) is dropping bottles, it’s
probably because her hands are frozen.

Nina’s customer accepts her answer and walks away, bottle in hand. So
it goes in this part of Russian Armenia, where absurdities are
commonplace.

In writer-director Hiner Saleem’s celebration of a village’s people,
visual non-sequiturs abound and natives of this sub-zero locale don’t
bat an eye.

The first time a horse and its rider canter through the frame, one
easily imagines it as a metaphor for the cavalry coming. But the next
time they gallop through, and the time after that, it becomes clear
that there’s little rescue from the Cold village, warm movie

Armenian leader replaces deputy security chief

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
8 Jan 05

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan signed a decree on 8 January
dismissing Grigoriy Grigoryan from the National Security Service and
from the post of first deputy chief of the National Security Service
of the Armenian government in connection with the expiry of his term
of service.

Under another presidential decree, Hrachya Arutyunyan has been
appointed to the post of first deputy chief of the National Security
Service of the Armenian government.

Azeri Jews welcome US report on anti-Semitism

Ekho, Baku
7 Jan 05

The leaders of Azerbaijan’s Jewish communities have welcomed a US
State Department report on anti-Semitism. In their interview with the
Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho, they said there were no ethnic problems or
anti-Semitism in the country. In turn, Ekho said the US State
Department report proves once again that there is a tolerant attitude
to other religions and ethnic groups in the country. The daily
compared the situation in Azerbaijan with anti-Semitic sentiments in
Armenia. The following is the text of R. Orucov report by Azerbaijani
newspaper Ekho on 7 January headlined “There are no instances of
anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan” and subheaded “This is what the US State
Department report said. The situation is the opposite in
Armenia”. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The US State Department has unveiled a report on cases of
anti-Semitism in the countries which have Jewish communities. The
following is an excerpt from the document which is relevant to
Azerbaijan.

The community of mountain Jews has resided in the country for 2,700
years, while the Ashkenazi Jews (the community of European Jews) have
been present in Azerbaijan for more than 100 years.

Cases of prejudice and discrimination against Jews in the country have
been very limited, and in the few instances of anti-Semitic activity,
the government has been quick to respond. There was only one reported
incident during the period covered by this report. In April, the
Lubavitch community received an anonymous letter containing threats
during the observance of Passover. The police and military responded
by blocking and securing Jewish places of worship to ensure the
peaceful observance of Passover. The subsequent investigation revealed
that the letter had been written by a member of a small radical
Islamic group, which resulted in his conviction and imprisonment.

The government does not condone or tolerate the persecution of Jews by
any party. No laws in Azerbaijan specifically address anti-Semitism.

Comparison with Armenia

As we can see, Azerbaijan has proved once again its tolerant attitude
to other religions and ethnic groups. It is noteworthy that this
assessment does not come from the local bureaucracy – the report has
been prepared by US government officials on the basis of monitoring
conducted by Jewish unions in the countries where they live. Then it
is even more interesting to take a look at the assessment which our
neighbouring country-aggressor has received. It is known that as a
result of the nationalist policy conducted by Armenia’s ruling
circles, over the years of its independence the country has in effect
turned into a mono-ethnic state. Yet there is still a small Jewish
community consisting mainly of women who once married Armenians.

Armenia:

The Jewish community reported several incidents of verbal harassment
during this period. The director of ALM TV frequently made
anti-Semitic remarks on the air, and the Union of Armenian Aryans, a
small ultranationalist group, called for the country to be “cleansed”
of Jews and Yezidis.

On 17 September, offices of the Jewish community in Yerevan received a
message that vandals had damaged the local memorial to the victims of
the Holocaust. Several photographs of the memorial were taken and the
vandalism was immediately reported to the local police, the Ministry
of Religious Affairs [presumably referring to the State Council on
Religious Affairs] and the government-owned television channel. A
television crew arrived at the site together with an official from the
Jewish community in Yerevan and to their surprise discovered that the
memorial had been wiped clean, apparently by the park guard.

In May, Jewish groups complained to several government authorities
about the distribution and importation of hate literature. Each
government agency they contacted responded that the literature was in
apparent violation of the law “On distributing literature inflaming
national hatred” and suggested they try to redress the situation
through pressing formal charges with the Prosecutor-General’s
Office. Jewish leaders have not yet decided whether to press charges.

Jewish leader agrees with US report

On the whole, the head of the community of mountain Jews, Semen
Ikhiilov, agreed with the American report on Azerbaijan: “Throughout
the independence period, there have been only few instances of
anti-Semitism. They were all cases of vandalism. Jewish gravestones
were damaged. When I learnt about that, I immediately reported this to
Heydar Aliyev who was the president then. He took measures straight
away, the state found some of the criminals and the gravestones were
restored. Over the past few years, I cannot remember a single case of
anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan. As for the increased protection of the
places of worship, I would not say that this is being done
purposefully. It is always done on religious holidays. The Interior
Ministry has special dates when they reinforce the guard outside the
synagogues and places of worship, and patrol cars are on watch at
nights.”

Information about the duration of the residence of the mountain Jews
in Azerbaijan is also accurate. “Incidentally, around 95 per cent of
all Jews in Azerbaijan are mountain Jews,” Ikhiilov said.

Anti-Semitism in Armenia

As for the situation with anti-Semitism in Armenia, he accepts that
everything in the report may be true. “I even know the chairman of
their community, Rimma Vardzhapetyan. And there is one rabbi in
Armenia. There is always some bickering going on between them and they
always seem unable to divide something. Various anti-Semitic attacks
may take place in Armenia. Everything is possible there because the
Armenians are unable to stay calm. Had they been able to live calmly
and in peace, they would still be living in peace with their
neighbour, Azerbaijan, which had provided them with shelter for many
years on the land of Karabakh. And they lived here better than anyone
else. We must remember that most of the Armenians who lived in
Azerbaijan occupied high posts – in the city committees [of the
Communist Party], in the Council of Ministers and in the central
committee. They had the best apartments in Baku. What else did they
want? Judging from this experience, I can accept that what the
Americans report may be true.

“On the contrary, there is no anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan, and nothing
like that is expected here. According to my information, there are
currently about 60 Jews in Armenia. They are all women who married
Armenians. Vardzhapetyan’s husband works in the Armenian presidential
administration. Therefore, she always protects Armenian interests at
international forums. I once told her: ‘You are a Jew. How can you
protect the interests of an aggressor? She replied ‘Why do you call us
aggressors?'”

In turn, Gennadiy Zelmanovich, head of the community of the Ashkenazi
Jews, confirmed to Ekho newspaper that “the Lubavitch community
received an anonymous letter in early April, on the eve of Passover,
which said that ‘you will be punished for killing our sheikh’. The
police and the National Security Ministry examined the letter and took
all the necessary measures. I do not think that this incident was
worth mentioning in the State Department report.”

The number of Jews in Armenia

Touching on Armenia, Zelmanovich said that some 100 Jews are living
there. “According to the World Jewish Congress, there were officially
120 Jews in Armenia in 2001. On the other hand, the worldwide Jewish
agency Sokhnut reports that each year 100 Jews from Armenia go to
Israel for permanent residency. Those are people whose mother, father
or grandfather were Jews. This concerns only Israel. I do not have any
information about how many Jews go to Germany or the USA. At various
Jewish congresses and meetings, I have met Vardzhapetyan and she
always states that there are 800 real Jews in Armenia. I have
repeatedly asked her how the figure can remain the same when at least
100 Jews leave the country every year. She says ‘we will always have
800 Jews’.

“We are both members of the General Council of the Eurasian Jewish
Congress. And all Jews can see every year at the sessions that there
is no anti-Semitism in Azerbaijan with its 30,000-strong Jewish
community, whereas anti-Semitism is continuing in Armenia where some
100 Jews remain.

“Vardzhapetyan herself explains the problems of Armenian Jews by
Israel’s unwillingness to recognize the ‘Armenian genocide’. When I
speak, I always state that Jews in Azerbaijan have no ethnic problems
and, as fully-fledged citizens, our only problem is the continuing
occupation of part of our territory by Armenia. Our children also
serve in the army and this means we can never rule out that we may
lose them since Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war.”

Ukraine events to affect ex-Soviet countries soon – Azeri opposition leader

Yeni Musavat, Baku
28 Dec 04

The leader of Azerbaijan’s major opposition Musavat Party, Isa Qambar,
has said the effects of the Ukrainian events are already noticeable in
post-Soviet countries, including Azerbaijan. Qambar told the
opposition Yeni Musavat newspaper that Viktor Yushchenko’s victory in
Ukraine has boosted the activity of democratic forces in post-Soviet
countries, which worries authoritarian regimes. Qambar added that the
effects of the Ukrainian elections will grow day by day and yield
positive results. The following is an excerpt from Konul Samilqizi’s
report by Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 28 December headlined
“The Ukrainian events are already yielding results” and subheaded “Isa
Qambar: ‘This process is going on slowly in Azerbaijan, but one can
already notice it'”. Subheadings have been inserted editorially:

The Ukrainian democrats have won the re-run of the second round of the
presidential elections. As a matter of fact, it would be more correct
to view this as a confirmation of the 31 October and 21 November
victories, which an attempt was made to steal, rather than a new
victory. Because Viktor Yushchenko, leader of the Our Ukraine election
bloc, had clearly won both the first round and the first run of the
second round. But it took him up to two months to confirm his victory,
which became possible after a serious struggle.

The Azerbaijani democrats were among those delighted by this
victory. And the Our Azerbaijan bloc was double happy, because it was
the Our Ukraine bloc, an ally of the Our Azerbaijan bloc, and Viktor
Yushchenko who won the elections. We asked Isa Qambar, leader of the
Our Azerbaijan bloc and Musavat Party, to comment on this important
event.

“Two months not a waste of time”

[Correspondent] It would not be that right to assess the results of
the 26 December re-run of the second round of the elections as a
victory. Because your ally had won the elections far before that. So
we think that this is more a confirmation of the victory rather than a
new victory. How would you comment on this?

[Qambar] You are absolutely right. In fact, Yushchenko was elected
president on 31 October. This victory was confirmed during the
following two months. But these two months cannot be viewed as a waste
of time. On the contrary, it was a very important period. First,
Yushchenko became Ukrainian leader – a more trusted person than a
merely elected president. This trust will enable him to solve
Ukraine’s problems, make strong decisions about the country’s
development and carry out the necessary reforms.

Second, the Ukrainian people proved in these two months that they are
able to meet the requirements of the 21st century and that they can
have their own place in the modern world. And this will help Ukraine
integrate into the European Union and NATO. In principle, these two
months proved once again that even the most ruthless authoritarian
police regimes can turn into a democracy peacefully and one can come
to power in those countries by free and fair elections. On the one
hand, people have to be resolute and selfless to achieve this. On the
other, the international community has to take a fundamental position
and demonstrate loyalty to its own values and ideas. And this was the
case. From this point of view, these two months should be valued
highly.

[Correspondent] This process was particularly important for you, as
the Ukrainian democrats – your allies – emerged victorious. How do you
feel about it?

[Qambar] Of course, the success of people we know, our friends and
very honourable people, cannot but delight us. For us, it is good news
that the leader of the Our Ukraine bloc, which is an ally of the Our
Azerbaijan bloc, came to power in an important country like Ukraine. I
believe that this will help further improve relations between the
democratic forces of Ukraine and Azerbaijan, as well as relations
between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, which are strategic partners.

[Correspondent] How are the democrats, who are in power in Ukraine now
and in opposition in Azerbaijan, going to establish relations? What is
the aim of the agreement signed between the Our Ukraine and Our
Azerbaijan blocs? How will this document work at this moment?

[Qambar] I see no need to fuss about this issue. Of course, we will
continue our meetings and talks. We will also discuss how to continue
our cooperation under these circumstances. But relations between our
peoples and states are more important for us. We think that relations
between these peoples and states should develop no matter who is in
power in Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Effects already noticeable

[Correspondent] As the Ukrainian democrats have confirmed their
victory, I will put this question explicitly: What specific effects
can the victory of democracy in Ukraine have on post-Soviet countries,
including Azerbaijan?

[Qambar] Time will show what kind of direct effects these processes
will have. But in general, they proved once again that passage to
democracy is theoretically possible at this stage.

Second, the plan of some circles in Moscow to establish an alliance
with the surrounding countries based on authoritarian rule has
failed. Ukraine was the most important part of this plan. One can
unequivocally regard this plan as a fiasco since it failed in
Ukraine. And this will have positive effects. The Ukrainian events
have started affecting Azerbaijan and all post-Soviet countries. The
fact that democratic forces have become more resourceful, anxiety
within the authoritarian regimes and the fact that the peoples of
these countries have begun looking at the issue through a different
prism are the results of this direct impact. This impact will grow day
by day and yield results.

[Correspondent] Is the Ukrainian process the only factor that
supplements the resolve of the democratic forces in Azerbaijan and
other post-Soviet countries or are there any specific reports about
this? The talk is about the West’s fundamental decision to turn
Azerbaijan into a democracy. There have been reports that the USA has
decided to turn Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus and Moldova into
democracies.

[Qambar] One should consider the events in a broader context. It would
not be right to take the events out of context. And the Ukrainian
events are a very important reflection of this broader context.

First, Azerbaijani society is gradually recovering from the damage
inflicted by the rigged 2003 presidential elections and repression
against the people. Society is trying to look to the future with hope
again. Positive trends are obvious. Although this process is going on
slowly, one can already notice it. The most difficult year is
over. On the other hand, international processes and the fact that the
international community has begun reconsidering these issues are also
obvious.

I believe that the failure of the Ilham Aliyev project on the one
hand, his failure to conduct reforms in Azerbaijan over the past year,
and on the other, the fact that it has been proved that democratic
changes are possible when the international community is united have
led to changes in the approach of the international community to these
issues. And this is quite obvious. All these factors affect these
issues and will also continue to affect them in the future.

[Passage omitted: Qambar says the main tasks facing Azerbaijan’s
democratic forces will be making changes to the election code,
changing the principles of forming election commissions and helping
boost the people’s trust in democracy]