500 Armenian families settled in occupied territories in 3 years

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 21 2004

40 houses will be built in 2005 for Armenian families being settled
in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, says chairman of the department
on migration and refugees of the self-proclaimed ‘Upper Garabagh
republic’ Amirkhanian. He said that a need has emerged to resolve the
social problems of Armenians being settled in Upper Garabagh.

“Starting in 2005, 30-40 houses will be built every year for those
being settled in Upper Garabagh.”

105 families were moved from Armenia to Upper Garabagh and adjacent
regions occupied by this country in 2002, 165 families in 2003 and
200 this year. Armenia intends to settle 68,000 Armenians in these
territories by 2010.*

Iran seeks to re-open Tabriz-Julfa-Nakhchivan-Iran railway

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 21 2004

Iran is interested in reopening the Tabriz-Julfa-Nakhchivan-Iran
railway, Iranian Deputy Transport Minister Mohammad Seyidnejat told
the Iran News agency last week.

The closure of the railway as a result of the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper Garabagh, which broke out in 1990, caused damage
worth $2 billion to regional countries, he noted.

Seyidnejat said that 3 million tons of cargo had been transported
through the railway by the time it was closed.

“Iran is carrying out certain activities to reopen the railway,
but this is impossible due to the inaction of regional states.”

The Tabriz-Julfa-Nakhchivan-Iran railway was destroyed by Armenia
late in 1989-early in 1990.*

Turkey Leads French Agenda

Zaman Online, Turkey
Dec 21 2004

Ankara is still the focus of the French agenda which has declared
it will organize a referendum on Turkey’s European Union (EU)
membership. The General Assembly of the French Parliament is expected
to discuss Turkey’s EU membership in a forum today. French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier said in a statement on RTL radio, “We will
raise all the issues including the Armenian genocide during the long
and difficult membership negotiations before a decision is made on
Turkey’s membership bid.” Barnier used the expression “Armenian
genocide” for the second time following its use at the National
Parliament last week. The French Foreign Ministry said Barnier did
not use that expression saying, “He just misinterpreted when he was
repeating a question asked by a member of parliament.”

A public opinion poll published in Le Figaro, a French daily newspaper,
revealed that 52 percent of participants support French President
Jacques Chirac’s position on Turkey. The Speaker of the opposing
Socialist Party, Julien Dray, said there is a risk that Turkey’s
membership will be mixed up with the EU Constitution.

True meaning of the holiday is love

Cheboygan Daily Tribune , MI
Dec 21 2004

Christmas is in the air … People are singing … Everyone is talking
about love. I’ve got a story for you about some people who really
knew the meaning of love.

These people never questioned what to do. They, and all the people
like them, are the true saints of this world.

Picture this: It’s Dec. 25, 1935, when scars of the Great Depression
still linger. A 30-year-old woman walks up to the nurse’s station on
the OB/GYN floor and says, “I’m leaving now.”

The nurse says, “Where’s your baby?”

The woman answers, “In the nursery. I didn’t want a girl and besides,
that’s the ugliest baby I ever saw.”

The woman leaves the hospital.

The nurse knows the baby’s uncle; so she telephones him and says,
“Your sister left the hospital without her baby girl. What should we
do? Do you want the baby?”

The uncle says, “We’re having Christmas dinner right now. Is it OK
if we pick her up in about an hour or so?”

The nurse says, “Sure.”

The uncle puts the telephone back in its holder and says to the family
members who are all busy eating a festive dinner, “God has given us
the ultimate Christmas present.”

They all chime in and say, “What?”

“Another mouth to feed,” he announces. “After dinner we’re going to
the hospital to pick up our 5-day-old baby girl.”

It’s been said that on the way to the hospital the baby’s grandmother
is to have whispered, “That baby is only half Armenian. What’s the
other half?”

Whereby her uncle is said to have answered, “Who knows? Who cares?
She’s ours even if her eyes might be blue.”

And, that’s how life began for a baby girl who was lucky enough to
have loving, caring, wonderful grandparents, aunts and uncles who
all pitched in and raised that baby until she married in 1954.

A love that lasts forever, that is the true meaning of Christmas.

This column is dedicated to all the wonderful, loving, caring people
who have dedicated their lives to raising other people’s children as
their own. Shirley and Jerry, Alice, Sharon and John to name a few.

Without people like you, what would happen to us?

The importance of Turkey’s EU bid for Georgia

The Messenger, Georgia
Dec 21 2004

The historical decision made by the EU to start negotiations with
Turkey in regard to the nation’s possible accession into the union
has inspired great interest in the South Caucasus. It is clear that
negotiations will not be finished in the near future, but the beginning
of this process and its result will have a crucial impact on Georgia
and the South Caucasus as a whole.

It will not be easy for the EU to rule on Turkey’s entry into the
organization. As pointed out by the newspaper 24 Saati, Turkey
is a very big, rather poor Muslim country located mostly outside
of Europe. The EU now must determine which result will bring more
problems: allowing Turkey to join or rejecting the country’s bid.

An EU refusal would taint the legacy of early 20th century leader
Kemal Ataturk, who introduced numerous radical reforms in an effort
to Europeanize the country. Turkey’s main strategy over the better
part of the last century has been to strengthen ties with Europe.
Therefore, not admitting Turkey into the EU may to some extent result
in the country’s “returning to the East.” This could subsequently
become a source of instability at the edge of Europe and jeopardize
the EU’s future welfare.

Proponents of Turkey’s accession point out that the nation plays
the role of a bridge between Europe and the Muslim world. It is also
worthy of consideration that Turkey is one of the top allies of the
United States and a member of NATO.

Negotiations regarding Turkey’s entry into the EU will start on
October 5, 2005. Any of the EU’s 25 member states have the right
to veto and many already stand in firm opposition. Turkey will have
to fulfill many demands issued by the union, first and foremost the
official recognition of Cyprus, without which the negotiations will
not be held. Meanwhile, this issue will face serious debates in the
Turkish Parliament.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a statement in
Belgium that Turkey deserves to be considered a European country given
its mentality, geographical location and the westernizing reforms
it has carried out. Nevertheless, there is far from a consensus
within the country itself as many on the Anatolian peninsula are
protesting their government’s westward course due to religious and
cultural differences. This means that eventually Turkey as a whole
has to make a crucial decision itself as to whether it wants to be
accepted as a European nation.

Accepting Turkey into the EU will have a tremendous influence on the
entire South Caucasus. Turkey is not only an “overseas neighbor,” like
new members Romania and Bulgaria, but shares a land border with all
three South Caucasian countries. The issue is of critical importance
for Georgia, which has EU ambitions of its own and considers Turkey’s
entry into the EU as key to its foreign policy interests.

Turkey’s entry into EU will bring benefits for European countries as
well from the point of view of energy supply. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzrum natural gas pipeline will
enable Europe not to rely only on Russian energy suppliers as it
does now. Potential competition for Russia’s hold on the EU energy
has caused much concern in Moscow.

Georgia’s prospects for EU membership are at this point remote. Many
reforms must be carried out, as is the case with Georgia’s neighbors
Armenia and Azerbaijan. It has been remarked many times that the EU
would prefer having a dialogue on the EU entry of all three South
Caucasus countries if and when certain standards are met by these
states. Turkey’s acceptance into the EU will automatically accelerate
Azerbaijan’s drive towards the union and inspire it to move closer
to EU standards. Armenia, on the other hand, has expressed negative
feelings about the prospects of Turkey joining the EU.

Yerevan protesters sent an appeal to the EU leadership to this
effect. Despite being Russia’s strategic partner in the South Caucasus,
Armenia still considers EU entry a top priority. But if Turkey is
accepted, Armenia will withdraw its application.

If Turkey does join the EU, it will further polarize the situation in
the South Caucasus. Georgia and Azerbaijan will be inspired to move
forward, whereas Armenia will fall further under Russian influence.
This, of course, is only speculation based on current trends. History
is full of sudden twists, and therefore it is not out of the question
that events in Armenia will develop in a radically different way.

The long list of necessary reforms issued to Turkey by the EU is
exemplary for Georgia. This shows that the union will be strict
in demanding that all potential partner states fulfill all their
commitments.

ALEXANDER GRIGORIAN STAGES “THE BEAST ON THE MOON” PLAY DEDICATED TO ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE VICTIMS IN MOSCOW

YEREVAN, December 20 (Noyan Tapan). The premiere of the “The beast
on the Moon” play staged by RA People’s Artist Alexander Grigorian,
the Artistic Director of the Yerevan Russian Dramatic Theater after
K. Stanislavsky, was held at the Art Theater after A. Chekov in
Moscow on November 20. According to Alexander Grigorian, American
playwright Ruchard Kalinoskie’s play is dedicated to the memory of the
Armenian Genocide victims. It tells about the two Armenian young men,
who survived the 1915 terror.

According to the Artistic Director, “The beast on the Moon” brought
great recognition to the author: the play was staged in about 50
theaters of the US, it was translated into several languages and
was awarded with the Osborne prize of the American Drama Critics
Association.

The playwright was present at the Moscow premiere of the play, he said:
“This play is a real story of the parents of my first wife.” Russian
People’s Artist Oleg Tobakov, the Artistic Director of the Moscow
Art Theater, mentioned that the Armenian Genocide, which had 1.5 mln
victims, isn’t of less importance for him than Holocost.

According to art critic Margarita Yakhontova, the play is topical
not only for the Armenians. According to him, Russian artists Sergei
Ugryumov and Janina Kolesnichenko’s brilliant play delighted the
Russian spectators.

ISSUES CONNECTED WITH JAVAKHK ROADS AND DRAFT LAW ON GEORGIAN EDUCATION
DISCUSSED IN AKHALKALAKI

AKHALKALAKI, December 20 (Noyan Tapan). Issues connected with the
improvement of Javakhk roads and the draft law “On the Georgian General
Education” were discussed at the Javakhk second forum of the European
Commission on Minorities Issues (ECMI), which was held in Akhalkalaki
on December 15.

According to the “A-Info” Agency, in his report Nodar Inasaridze,
Coordinator on the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of the Department on
Georgian Roads, spoke about the road construction expected in the
region in 2005, in particular, the overhaul of the Tbilisi-Tsalka-
-Akhalkalaki-Kartsakh (the Turkish border) highway. Inasaridze
also mentioned that the repairs of the Akhaltskha-Akhalkalaki,
Ninotsminda-Zhdanovka (the Armenian border) highways will be primary in
2005. As for the roads of local importance, according to Inasaridze,
no essential changes are expected here because of the absence of
money. Participants of the forum expressed dissatisfaction with the
state of internal roads, as well as on the occasion of non-cleaning
of roads in winter. Participants of the forum don’t believe the words
especially regarding the repairs of the roads connecting Georgia
with Armenia.

In her report Seda Melkumian, the Executive of the Committee on
Educational Issues, presented in detail the conclusions of their
committee after the discussion of the draft law “On General Education
of Georgia”. She said once again that according to this draft law,
all the Armenian schools are exposed to danger of closing. Bela
Tsipuria, the Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia,
made a speech then, she said that the reports on the closing of the
non-Georgian schools in Georgia are false rumors, and misundersanting
arouse after the wrong translation of the draft law. But the Deputy
Minister failed to disperse the suspicions of the population of
Javakhk. The written variant of the law is only in Georgian, which
is incomprehensive for almost all the participants of the forum. The
long discussion gave no result in this issue, it only registered that
the approval of such a draft law may have dangerous consequences.

Armenian defence minister, OSCE envoy discuss cooperation

Noyan Tapan news agency
21 Dec 04

Yerevan, 20 December: The head of the OSCE mission in Yerevan,
Vladimir Pryakhin, told Armenian Defence Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
on 20 December about the successful completion of the first stage of
work under the agreement signed on 11 June [2004] between the OSCE’s
Yerevan office and the Armenian Defence Ministry (on monitoring the
situation in the army and on effective cooperation between the OSCE
and the Armenian Defence Ministry).

“We are satisfied with the results of the first stage and the
assistance provided by the Armenian Defence Ministry’s appropriate
bodies,” Pryakhin said.

The sides also touched on the issue of adopting the law “On alternative
ministry service” and the call-up of the first group (20 conscripts
will have alternative labour service and one will have alternative
military service). [as published]

The Armenian Defence Ministry’s press secretary told Noyan Tapan news
agency that Pryakhin had also submitted the results of an opinion
poll on the military service conducted in an army unit jointly with
the public organization Mother of Soldier. He said that work done
yielded had produced the desired results and the organization could
now freely talk to servicemen, elucidate their problems and bring
them to the notice of the Armenian defence minister.

In turn, Sarkisyan said that not only this organization, but also
about nine public organizations which are cooperating with the
Defence Ministry and specific problems might be resolved thanks to
their active mediation effort.

[Passage omitted: cultural organizations also cooperating with the
ministry]

Touching on the Karabakh problem, ambassador Pryakhin said that he
still cannot find any significant textbooks on the history of Nagornyy
Karabakh in the recent period and would love to find one. The defence
minister said that such books are necessary for the military and
patriotic upbringing of the younger generation and Armenian writers
have an obligation in that sense.

[Passage omitted: sides discussing development programme in Armenia’s
Syunik District and hope for more cooperation]

Russian OSCE co-chair tells Azeri TV about visit to Armenia controlled area

Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
20 Dec 04

[Presenter] Baku’s initiative to look into the situation in the
occupied territories is becoming a reality. A special OSCE mission
made up of [the Minsk Group] co-chairs and representatives of several
neutral countries will inspect the territories under the Armenian
control in a month and half. Before the mission starts it work,
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are expected to visit Azerbaijan and
Armenia. The Russian co-chair, Yuriy Merzlyakov, has spoken to ATV
about all this.

[Correspondent over archive footage] The composition and date of the
visit by the OSCE mission to Azerbaijan’s occupied territories have
been determined. Yuriy Merzlyakov has told ATV that the mission
will pay its first visit to the region at the end of January next
year. As to the composition of the group of experts, Merzlyakov said
that representatives of the co-chair countries and four OSCE member
states will join the mission. And the names of those countries are
already known.

[Merzlyakov, over the phone, in Russian with Azeri voice-over] We, the
co-chairs, will not represent the co-chairing countries. Azerbaijan
and Armenia had to choose them from among other countries. The sides
have agreed that German, Italian, Swedish and Finnish representatives
will join the mission.

[Correspondent] As to the fact that Turkey, which is a Minsk Group
member, was not included in the mission, the Russian co-chair said that
Turkey was not included under an agreement reached by the two sides.

[Merzlyakov] The situation with Turkey is like this: There had
been a proposal that the four countries should be chosen from among
those countries whom Armenia and Azerbaijan do not oppose. And the
conflicting sides accepted this proposal. So, Turkey was not included
in the group because of the known reasons.

[Correspondent] Merzlyakov said that the Azerbaijani and Armenian
foreign ministers will meet in the middle of January. He also revealed
the date for the co-chairs’ next visit to the region.

[Merzlyakov] Most probably, we will visit Baku and Yerevan in early
January 2005. But this will only depend on the mission that we will
send to the occupied territories. I mean, we will clarify the details
of the mission’s visit to the occupied territories.

RA PRIME MINISTER ADDRESSES MESSAGE OF CONGRATULATION TO PARTICIPANTS OF
INTERNET CHESS TOURNAMENT

YEREVAN, December 20 (Noyan Tapan). RA Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian addressed the message of congratulation to participants
of the international internet chess tournament dedicated to the 75th
anniversary of Tigran Petrosian.

According to the RA government’s press service, the message, in
particular, reads:

“I congratulate all of you on the occasion of the opening of the
tournament. As far as I know, it is the first international team
internet-tournament held on such a high level, in which the leading
teams and chess-players participate. It is pleasant for us that a
number of arrangements dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Armenian
world legendary champion Tigran Petrosian will continue due to it. The
holding of the tournament with the application of modern techologies of
communication is the progress for us. (…) I welcome the initiators
and main organizers of the tournament: the Armenian Chess Federation
and the Armenian Chess Academy. I also want to mention their activities
in the matter of the organization of tournaments dedicated to the
memory of Tigran Petrosian this year. I wish the tournament successful
start and process, and I wish all the participants every success.

–Boundary_(ID_syojRb4S/pCFNRI1TFePsQ)–