Britain tells Azerbaijan MPs’ visit to Karabakh private

ANS TV, Baku
22 Oct 04

[Presenter] Baku’s sharp protest against the visit by a British
parliamentary delegation to Nagornyy Karabakh has been conveyed to the
leadership of the United Kingdom.

[Correspondent Afat Telmanqizi over video of news conference] The
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sent appropriate notes to the British
embassy in our country over the fact that Deputy Speaker of the
British House of Lords Baroness Caroline Cox and other MPs visited
Stepanakert without the permission of the Azerbaijani government, head
of the press service of the Foreign Ministry, Matin Mirza, told a news
conference today. Mirza said that Azerbaijan’s dissatisfaction had
been passed on to the British leadership through the embassy. We have
already received an answer.

[Mirza] The Foreign Ministry was told that the visit had been made at
the initiative of pro-Armenian Cox. The embassy said that the British
parliament had been repeatedly asked to put an end to Cox’s
destructive position.

[Passage omitted: the OSCE will be informed about recent truce
violation on the front line with Armenia]

Dallas Morning News , TX
Oct 21 2004

Conserve, clean, repair: Keeping those carpets gorgeous

The Oriental Rug Cleaning Co., founded in 1911 by Hagop Amirkhan and
run for 30 years by his son, noted carpet expert Mirza Amirkhan, is
under the stewardship of granddaughter Ellen Amirkhan. She is a
third-generation expert on cleaning, conservation, restoration and
appraisal with a booming Texas accent. As a member of the
International Society of Appraisers (certified in Orientals), she
travels the country teaching classes on the fine art of rug cleaning
and restoration.

Grandfather Amirkhan fled Turkey during the Armenian genocide. To pay
for his passage, he worked as a rug cleaner for a cousin in
Cincinnati. After a year, he struck out on his own. He chose Dallas
because in 1911, fine rugs were already plentiful and experienced
cleaners were not.

In addition to rug cleaning and repair work, the Amirkhans also sell,
appraise and restore. While almost any rug can be repaired (a rug
with colors that have bled extensively is “a lost cause”), Ms.
Amirkhan is conscientious about what should and should not be done.

Repairs and restoration may mean setting in patches cannibalized from
other rugs, knotting, reweaving or remounting on a second fabric
backing. Proper technique is crucial to re-create, as closely as
possible, the original rug. Expert repair and restoration can
actually increase the value of a fairly battered rug.

To that end, Ellen Amirkhan has trained three women in the art of
knotting. “Such reweaving is charged by the job because more densely
knotted rugs are more difficult to do.” In contrast, a dog-chewed
fringe can be relatively easy to replace (about $12 a linear foot).
How best to maintain a rug? Ms. Amirkhan says that not vacuuming may
be the most damaging myth. “Eighty percent of the soil in rugs is dry
particulate matter. If you don’t vacuum, it’s like walking over
sandpaper and wears the rug out.” She also suggests going easy on
over-the-counter spotting agents: “They leave residue in the rugs.”

Finally she says, don’t think that because a rug has been sitting in
the formal living room and walked on only twice in 20 years that it
doesn’t need cleaning. “Moisture needs to be introduced,” she says,
“and it’s to places where it’s quiet that moths tend to gravitate.”

Barbara Rodriguez

Arutz Sheva, Israel
Oct 21 2004

Lupolianski Deplores Spitting Incident

(IsraelNN.com) The mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski, met yesterday
with the Armenian Orthodox Patriarch, Turkom Manuagian and the
chairman of Archbishops in Jerusalem, Nora Manuagian.

The mayor condemned a recent incident in which an Orthodox resident
of the capital spat at clerics, explaining he was taught to spit at
Catholic priests and leaders of other faiths. Lupolianski condemned
the young man’s actions which he called `despicable acts’.

`On behalf of myself and all the people of Jerusalem I apologize for
the heinous act which I strongly condemn. As a representative of
Jerusalem I’m ashamed and embarrassed by this act,’ said the mayor.

Mr. Lupolianski added, `The spitting wasn’t just meant for you and
the community you represent, it was a spit in the face of all the
people of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, just like its name, is a city of
peace that symbolizes peace and brotherhood between religions and
it’s unfortunate that the wild thorns hurt us all. In the coming days
I’ll appoint a special advisor for Christian Affairs, from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will outline a broad and
comprehensive plan to improve the relationships between religions and
to restore Jerusalem’s status as a city of peace.’

The mayor also announced that he had talks regarding this issue with
rabbi’s, which will condemn the incidents and prepare an educational
plan for synagogues and community centers.

Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Oct 22 2004

Government Pledges To Keep Part Of Famous Yerevan Orchard

By Atom Markarian 22/10/2004 10:59

The government made on Thursday concessions to protesting tenants of
a big fruit grove in the middle of Yerevan, promising to partly
preserve one of the Armenian capital’s few remaining green areas.

The famous Dalma Orchards, which serve as the principal source of
income for some 1,800 families, have been at the center of a
controversy ever since a government decision last May to sell most of
its 530 hectares (1,325 acres) to private real estate developers. The
rest of the land was to be handed over to the Hayantar state forestry
agency.
The tenants reacted to the move angrily, branding it unfair and
vowing to fight back eviction attempts. In recent months, they have
regularly staged protests outside President Robert Kocharian’s
residence and other government buildings in Yerevan. Local
environmentalists have expressed their solidarity with the
protesters, saying that the break-up of the orchards will deal a
further blow to the city’s shrinking green belt.

Speaking to reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting, Yerevan Mayor
Yervand Zakharian said the government decided to preserve 256
hectares of the orchards by allowing tenants to use the land for ten
more years. He indicated that the decision was initiated by
Kocharian.

However, it will affect only 580 families and is therefore certain to
be rejected by most of the other occupants dependent on proceeds from
the sale of fruit grown on the land. They have repeatedly threatened
to resist attempts to deprive them of their main source of revenue.

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 22 2004

Georgia Grants Entry to Armenians Stuck in South Ossetia

22/10/2004 11:22

Georgian authorities gave entry to the dozens of the Armenian
citizens, who have been trapped in breakaway South Ossetia en-route
to Armenia for more than a week already.

A convoy of busses and trucks belonging to the Armenian citizens were
moving from Russia to Armenia via Georgia’s breakaway region of South
Ossetia, as the border checkpoint in Larsi remains closed by the
Russian authorities since early September. The Larsi checkpoint is
the only land border linking Georgia with Russia that is controlled
by the official Tbilisi.
The Georgian authorities blocked the convoy near the village of
Ergneti in the South Ossetian conflict zone and refused to give the
Armenian citizens an entry, as they crossed the border with Georgia
at the Roki Pass, which is out of the Georgia’s control.

Georgian officials say that Tbilisi showed `its good will’ by giving
the Armenian citizens an entry.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
Oct 21 2004

USA SUPPORTS PEACEFUL SETTLEMENT OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN, NAGORNY
KARABAKH CONFLICT
[October 22, 2004, 11:30:05]

Foreign minister of the Azerbaijan Republic Elmar Mammadyarov met US
aide to Secretary of State for Europe and Asia affairs ambassador Ms.
Lora Kennedy, 21 October.

Expressing confidence that the visits of the US representatives will
play positive role in gaining comprehensive knowledge on Azerbaijan,
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated that the US-Azerbaijan relations
are developing successfully in all fields and expressed hope these
relations would acquire higher level due to joint efforts in the
years coming.

Ms. Lora Kennedy said she adheres expansion of relations with
Azerbaijan, which is strategic partner of her country, and these
relations should certainly acquire higher level in future.
Underlining that the United States supports economic projects
promoting development of Azerbaijan and peaceful settlement of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict, said that the OSCE
Minsk Group is keen in solution of this problem. Representative of
the Department of State expressed gratitude for Azerbaijan’s
participation in global combat against terror, saying, the US
government has given high assessment to the role of Azerbaijani
militaries in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized that partnership with
the United States is of great importance for the country and as a
sign of this partnership he named the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and
Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum projects especially stating that the necessary
efforts would be made for realization of transportation of the
Azerbaijani gas to the European markets through the said gas
pipeline. Also noting the necessity of quick resolution to the
Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict threatening economic
and political stability in Azerbaijan, the Minister has called the US
to be more active in this process as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group. The Minister expressed hope that US would hold fair
position related to illegal inhabiting of the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan by Armenia. Elmar Mammadyarov stated that, as a part of
Europe, Azerbaijan would carry out the democratic reforms and
henceforth on the base of international legal norms.

Also were discussed other questions of mutual interest.

The Globe and Mail , Canada
Oct 21 2004

Confessions of a form freak

By GARY MICHAEL DAULT

Although he is known only by his first name, Rupen has two names just
like everyone else: Rupen Kunugus. Born 44 years ago in Istanbul,
he’s Armenian, grew up speaking both Armenian and Turkish, and came
to Canada when he was 9.

Rupen is an artist and director of a gallery space (one of the
smallest in the city) consisting of the two storefront windows of his
house at 506 Adelaide St. W. This mini-conservatory, in which Rupen
installs new exhibitions every month, is efficiently and accurately
called Natural Light Window.

Each of the two window spaces is about three feet deep, giving him,
according to his dependably precise calculations, 72 cubic feet of
exhibition space.

Exact calculation comes naturally to Rupen, whose professional
background is in carpentry and cabinetmaking. He began making art, he
says, because “carpentry didn’t feel like enough. You were always
doing what you were told to do.”

Not with art. But because of his former life, the personal,
passionate objects that constitute Rupen’s art are all exceedingly
well-crafted, which is not at all common in the world of contemporary
art.

“I am a form freak,” he says, as well as being particularly devoted
to monochromatic works, where the colour is a constant and the form
of the object carries the colour wherever it has to. Rupen makes
objects, usually in series, that compress, into deceptively simple
forms, a lot of rumination. One series of wooden wall works (one
hesitates to call them paintings or pictures) was developed from maps
of the railway tracks leading in and out of what Rupen describes as
“the great art cities” — New York, Paris and so forth. Rupen first
projected the patterns on beige-painted squares, routed them out so
that they became line-like fissures in the wood’s surface, and then
filled the fissures with red body filler, after which the surfaces of
the wood panels were sanded flat.

The result? Beautifully clean beige panels with red lines running
this way and that. Now, would you necessarily know these were track
maps? Probably not. But what you’d have instead are abstract pictures
of considerable physical beauty that somehow seem imbued with some
value-added meaning greater than just the pleasures of design or
décor. A lot of conceptual art of this sort is, admittedly, willfully
mute and archly inaccessible. But not Rupen’s.

Take his music-related pieces. Music means a great deal to Rupen and
although he doesn’t play an instrument himself, he is a passionate
listener and has been an avid collector of LPs, 45s and CDs since he
was 16. “I used to visit the Goodwill stores all the time,” he says.
“I’d take the records home and play them all, and then file them
alphabetically, weeding out the ones I wanted to keep and the ones I
didn’t.”

His newest work, called Two Sets of Three and now on exhibit at
Gallery 1313 in Parkdale, consists of two series of wall works, each
made up of three carefully cut-out shapes derived from those little
plastic spindles you had to snap into a 45 in order to play it.

One set, consisting of three, creamy-beige spindle forms — they are
made of primed and painted MDF — is called Instant Coffee With Milk,
for that is the colour they are. The other series is Rock ‘n’ Blue,
after their innocent shade of sky blue. (There is a third series in
his studio, painted a strange Pepto-Bismol pink.)

Some of the spindle shapes, Rupen says, are real; that is, derived
from the authentic shapes of the 45 centres, enlarged so that they
are 50 centimetres in diameter. Others, as in the second and third of
the blue series, are just fanciful, pure forms that simply resemble
the real thing. It is remarkable, in the end, how satisfying they are
as profoundly examinable shapes. Record doohickeys writ large? Yes.
Unforgettable sculptural artifacts hanging eloquently in space?
Again, yes, certainly.

Rupen’s Two Sets of Three is on sale for $800 for three pieces. On
view at Gallery 1313, 1313 Queen St. W., to Oct. 31. 416-536-6778.

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 22 2004

The shameful invisibility of minorities in Georgia

“One Georgian development worker in Tsalka recently commented, ‘They
should all just go to Greece'”

By Mary Ellen Chatwin

Approximately 40 percent of Georgia’s citizens belong to various
minority ethnic groups as defined by their language, religion and
other cultural markers. Although full citizens of the Georgian
nation, they often do not access the same services, institutions and
professional possibilities as their fellow citizens who speak
Georgian from birth, and who attend the better institutions for
education and health care, enter the political and economic
mainstream of the country and continue to participate in the
development of their country. Unfortunately the minority groups have
few voices that speak out to claim better conditions and
possibilities for participating in national institutions, few
representatives in Parliament, and few working in Government to
ensure they receive adequate education and health care.

Most Georgians believe “there is no minority problem” and often
indicate they are sure minorities are taken care of ‘as well as other
citizens’. “Many Georgians are poor” is a frequent comment, which
could also be interpreted as meaning “First put your attention on the
majority and not minorities.” It also takes for granted “minorities
are poorer in general”. Well-meaning citizens often do not realize
that a much lower percentage of minority children finish secondary
school, many minority children have no access to the main language,
many children are not registered at birth (50 percent of certain
minority schools), many women have never had access to reproductive
health care and go through life with debilitating health conditions.
Even though the Georgian norm for girls finishing secondary school is
higher than for boys, in the case of minorities it is lower. Minority
girls and women in Georgia are especially vulnerable to the lack of
access to education, lack of civil rights (birth registration, voting
rights, marriage and family rights), or freedom of choice that other
Georgians take for granted. A much greater percentage of minority
girls finish school under 15 years of age and marry or begin working
before the legal age; they are thus more vulnerable to trafficking
and other illegal practices. This is not, as most prefer to believe,
due to religion or culture-it is due to an invisible discrimination.

Access is not denied outright in Georgia. There is no apartheid
system as was the case in South Africa or the USA until recent
decades. In Georgia, access to equal education, healthcare and social
services is denied through ignorance by the majority government of
the specific circumstances that are attributed to cultural and
religious differences, or even-as in the case of Greek ethnic groups
in Tsalka-to a dwindling population left behind, while many go abroad
for lack of better conditions. One Georgian development worker in
Tsalka recently commented, “They should all just go to Greece”,
although none of the community had ever been to Greece nor do any
speak Greek, but only Russian. Such stunning remarks are common, and
demonstrate the difficulty for minorities to insist on their right
like all Georgian citizens to access the education system, the
political and civil society, and health care services. Majority
Georgian groups exert a cultural pressure in perceiving minorities as
“guests”, even if they have populated whole towns and areas of the
country for centuries, have Georgian passports and have no wish to
live outside of their own country.

Access to equality is also denied when the extra effort for
integration has not been made, for example additional courses in
Georgian language to make children’s educational possibilities equal
to those of the majority. In 2004 the Georgian language courses in
primary and secondary schools have been cut in all schools,
irrespective of the need for minorities to have increased Georgian
lessons in order to integrate. At all governmental levels there is a
“denial system” that blinds government offices, development agencies
and most majority Georgian citizens to the de facto segregation of
minorities from full participation in the development of their
country.

The difference between an active “apartheid system” that collapses
and gives way to democratic and equal access and participation by the
minorities, and the “denial system” as it is found in Georgia, is
that purposeful, constructive, pro-active and systematic measures and
policies were enacted by the governments to include minorities at all
levels when the decision for integration was made in the USA and
South Africa, while in the Georgian “denial system” the problems
remain invisible. No decisions are made; most minorities remain
docile and are told they receive as much as others. They are made to
feel they have less right to be in Georgia than other Georgians. They
cannot read the most important documents or legislation that has been
passed in the fields of health, social welfare and education (for
example, the World Bank Education Reform legislation has been
translated to English, but not to Russian or Azeri so that minorities
would be able to access this important information). They are often
reminded that they are “guests” or else are encouraged to “go
elsewhere” or receive aid from neighboring countries such as Armenia
or Azerbaijan. The Georgian government does not envisage any serious
special measures for integration. If hospitality in Georgia were a
true value, I believe there would be greater concern by the ethnic
majority to find ways and make serious efforts to include their
fellow citizens in the development of the country.

M.E.Chatwin, PhD, is a Policy Advisor and Lecturer in Tbilisi State
University’s Sociology Department, and contributed this article to
The Messenger. She has been living in Georgia for over twelve years

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 22 2004

Electricity imports set for October

By Christina Tashkevich

Georgia will be able to receive imported electricity from Armenia
already this October.

The negotiations on the imports of energy from Armenia are currently
underway, and according to the Minister of Energy Nika Gilauri, these
imports are necessary in order to avoid an energy crisis in the
country.

Talking to reporters on Thursday, he added that imports should have
been started in November but the process was sped up because of the
latest sabotage on the high-voltage line Kartli-2.

“We want to make this winter much better for the population as far as
electricity supplies go,” said the minister. He adds there should not
be any problem of supplying Tbilisi with 24-hour light if not for
some force majeur situation.

On October 9 the Kartli-2 transmission line was knocked out of
operation because of an explosion that officials blame on saboteurs.
To transfer electricity from western Georgia to the east, officials
have been forced to use 200-kilovolt low transmission lines instead
of the 500-kilovolt Kartli-2.

Meanwhile the repairs on the Kartli-2 are underway. According to
Shota Maisuradze, the General Director of SakRusEnergo who is in
charge of the repairs, the line will be operational again in one
week. “One tower of the line is almost repaired, the other is half
repaired,” he told journalists on Thursday.

Gilauri is sure that the energy system needs full rehabilitation.
“There has not been a serious rehabilitation of the system which was
working in force majeur state,” he said adding there has already been
four cases of sabotage on the high voltage line in the last two
months.

Currently the energy sector plans to provide Tbilisi, Kutaisi,
Rustavi and Zugdidi with better energy supply. “We can offer only
eight-hour supply for other regions of Georgia,” says Gilauri.

Meanwhile the government reports the sabotage group which attacked
the Kartli-2 line was eliminated by Georgian special forces. “We will
secure the system so that there is no other sabotage acts in
Georgia,” President Mikheil Saakashvili declared at a Wednesday
briefing after announcing that the group was captured.

Without mentioning where, when or how, President Saakashvili
explained to journalists that “trespassers” were destroyed by
Georgian law-enforcers. “The members of this gang planned to make the
same type of sabotage along other sections of the power line but our
law-enforcers foiled their plans,” Saakashvili said.

According to him, a special forces unit was sent to the whereabouts
of saboteurs, but “the gang members refused to surrender and opened
fire.” As a result of the gunfight, the group was forced to
surrender.

The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 22 2004

Armenian MPs need ethics code

According to the Armenian newspaper Aravot, it is necessary to adopt
immediately a code of ethics for members of parliament. Some Armenian
parliamentarians have reached this conclusion following a scandal in
the Armenian National Meeting, during which one member of parliament
was accusing another of being homosexual, and in response the accused
promised him to solve this problem in the street.
The newspaper says that parliamentarians should resolve differences
within the framework of an ethics code, and not through unprintable
invective – not matter what the political disagreement. Such a code
has been suggested in the past, but never adopted, and only two of
the post-Soviet countries – Georgia and Lithuania – have adopted such
a code.
Georgian MPs have signed their code recently, and the newspaper
reports that the adoption involved a great deal of fun all round,
with famous parliamentarian bullies promising not to fight during
sessions any more, and young MPs swearing that they would never again
chew gum during the sessions and voting.
In response to the initiative of Speaker of Parliament Nino
Burjanadze, members of parliament decided in a friendly fashion to
dress and behave according to ethical norms. Particularly, the
Georgian parliamentarians are obliged not to appear in the hall of
the session in bedroom-slippers and T-shirts.
The newspaper says that in the Armenian parliament, the opposition
conducts itself in a more civil way then others do. “It must be said,
that our opposition, despite being full of criminals and street
thugs, conducts itself more seriously. Unlike the Georgia
parliamentarians, Armenian ones do not try to attend the sessions in
T-shirts and slippers; on the contrary, they always wear suits, but
it is still necessary to remind them that it is impossible to quarrel
using obscene language and to hold fisticuffs in the parliament.”