Racist Assaults on the Rise After Terror Attacks
By Anatoly Medetsky

The Moscow Times
Monday, September 13, 2004. Page 1.

Staff Writer The recent terrorist attacks caused a spike in assaults
on dark-skinned people from the Caucasus region and elsewhere last
week, human rights activists said.

Decorated former test pilot Magomed Tolboyev said Friday that he was
assaulted by police officers during a document check near the Vykhino
metro station. The officers said he had a Chechen-sounding last name,
he said.

In Yekaterinburg, gangs of young people attacked three Armenian and
Azeri cafes, killing one person and injuring two, police said.

Authorities have blamed the downing of two planes, the explosion
near a Moscow metro station and the Beslan school siege on Chechen,
Ingush and Arab fighters and suicide bombers.

Dark-skinned people have in recent years increasingly been the targets
of racially motivated attacks — attacks that police usually write
off as hooliganism. But the increase over the past week can only be
attributed to the terror attacks, said Alexander Brod, director of
the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.

“Anti-Caucasian sentiments always get stronger after terrorist
acts,” Brod said. “People blame everyone in the Caucasus. This is
the stereotype in people’s minds.

“Unfortunately, the authorities don’t do a good job explaining that
terrorism doesn’t have a nationality,” he said.

Tolboyev, an assistant to State Duma Deputy Viktor Semyonov and a
native of Dagestan, said two police sergeants stopped him to check
his papers Thursday near Vykhino in Moscow’s southern outskirts.

He showed them his Duma ID and told them that he had been decorated
with the title Hero of Russia, which he received for his participation
in the Soviet space shuttle program, Interfax reported.

The officers took the ID. When Tolboyev attempted to get it back,
one of the officers went behind him, put his arm around his neck and
began to strangle him, Tolboyev said.

“My throat still aches, and I haven’t been able to swallow for two
days,” he said, Interfax reported.

Asked by telephone Friday why the officers had confronted him, Tolboyev
said, “I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t like something about me.”

Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin confirmed Sunday that police
had stopped Tolboyev to check his documents. But he said a police
investigation found that Tolboyev had been treated properly considering
his “disobedience, aggression and abuse.” He did not elaborate.

Tolboyev said he was stopped as he was returning from the North
Ossetian administration’s office in Moscow, where he had expressed
his condolences over the school siege.

He said he finally got back his ID.

In the Urals, a group of young people broke furniture in the Azeri
Kaspy cafe in Yekaterinburg on Thursday night and then hurled in
Molotov cocktails, according to news reports. A 52-year-old relative
of the cafe’s owner died in the fire, which gutted the building.

That same night, about 20 young people armed with sticks and chains
broke into an Armenian cafe, Oasis Plus, and beat the Armenian staff,
wounding four. Two were hospitalized with skull and brain injuries,
news reports said.

Attackers tossed Molotov cocktails in another Armenian cafe, the
Shartash, on Thursday night, but the staff was able to douse the
flames before anyone was injured.

In a fourth attack Thursday, unidentified men set fire to the U Davida,
an Armenian cafe in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, a village near Yekaterinburg,
police said. Cafe staff quickly put out the fire.

Yekaterinburg police said they have detained two suspects but dismissed
any possible racial motive in the attacks, calling them hooliganism.

“They are in no way related to Beslan or any ethnic issues,” said
Valery Gorelykh, spokesman for the Sverdlovsk regional police, which
includes the city of Yekaterinburg.

Mikhail Matevosyan, deputy chairman of the regional Armenian
association Ani-Armenia, said he has no doubt that the cafe attacks
were connected to the recent terrorist attacks.

Whenever Chechen rebels score a victory over federal troops in Chechnya
or commit terrorist attacks, groups of young people begin targeting
Caucasus natives, he said.

“They probably think, ‘You hit us there, and we’ll hit you here,'”
he said by telephone from Yekaterinburg.

He ruled out a Armenian-Azeri turf war as a possible reason for
the attacks.

Elsewhere, four young men with close-cropped hair beat to death a North
Korean citizen in Vladivostok the weekend after the school siege ended,
Noviye Izvestia reported. Unidentified assailants painted a swastika
on the gate of a Jewish cemetery in Irkutsk on the night of Sept. 6-7,
the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights said.
From: Baghdasarian

Azerbaijan’s president hopes meeting with Armenian counterpart will clarify
Nagorno-Karabakh process

AP Worldstream
Sep 11, 2004

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev said Saturday that he hopes a meeting
next week with his Armenian counterpart will give indications of
whether the sides are making progress in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute.

Nagorno-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan that has been under
control of ethnic Armenian forces for more than a decade. A cease-fire
was signed in 1994 after Azerbaijani forces were driven out, but
the enclave’s final status has not been resolved and shooting still
breaks out sporadically along the “line of control” that separates
the enclave from the rest of Azerbaijan.

Talks under the auspices of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe have not made visible progress in recent years,
although hopes had risen in 2001 that a settlement was near.

Aliev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian are to meet on Wednesday
at a summit of leaders of former Soviet republics in Kazakhstan’s
capital Astana.

“The meeting in Astana may bring clarity as to what stage we’re at:
coming closer to an agreement or moving in opposite directions,”
Aliev told reporters.

As the Nagorno-Karabakh question drags on, Aliev increasingly has
suggested a resumption of fighting is possible.

“The people should be prepared for freeing the territory by the
military route,” Aliev said Saturday.

OPENING CEREMONY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL NAMED AFTER ZARIFA ALIYEVA IN BARDA
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV ATTENDED THE CEREMONY

Azertag
September 11, 2004

A solemn opening ceremony of the secondary school named after renowned
ophthalmologist, Academician Zarifa Aliyeva was held on September 11
in the city of Barda. President of Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev
attended the ceremony.

Tens of thousands of the Barda residents gathered near the school
building to meet the Head of State. They greeted President Ilham
Aliyev with warm cheers. A monument to Academician Zarifa Aliyeva
sculpted by Peopleâ^À^Ùs painter of Azerbaijan, Academician Omar
Eldarov had been erected in front of the school building. President
Ilham Aliyev unveiled the monument and laid flowers at its pedestal.

Opening remarks were made by Head of Barda Executive Power Elman
Allahverdiyev.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the ceremony as well.

Greeting the citizens of Barda, the Head of State congratulated them
on the occasion of the opening new school. I am especially happy
that the school build in the ancient Karabakh land bears the name of
outstanding scientist, good doctor, Zarifa Aliyeva, the spouse and
friend of our national leader Heydar Aliyev, and my mother, thank
you so much, he said.

The President noted as well that the newly built school meets
modern requirements, and expressed confidence that children would be
prived here with high-level education. Speaking of the development
of education in the country he mentioned that the budget spends 20%
on solving the problems of and develop this sphere. Over 4500 schools
will be equipped with modern computers and provided with the access
to the Internet that will become a revolution in our education as
compared with other countries of the region, the Head of State said..

Touching upon the socio-economic development of Azerbaijan, President
Ilham Aliyev noted that the state budget increases every year, and
its funds would be mainly spent on solving social problems. Our goal
is to provide better life for our citizens, and I donâ^À^Ùt doubt
we will reach the goal, he said.

The President also dwelt on the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. He
emphasized that although a compromise may play an important role in
resolution of any problem, no compromise, however, is possible in
relation to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

We want the problem to be solved peacefully, we want peace, but we
must be ready to liberate our land by military way at any moment,
the Azerbaijani leader said.

In conclusion, President Ilham Aliyev once again congratulated the
Barda citizens on the school opening and wished them good health
and happiness.

Azeri police disperse yet another anti-Armenian protest

Turan news agency
11 Sep 04

Baku, 11 September: Reinforced police units foiled a protest today
against the arrival of Armenian officers in Baku to attend NATO
exercises [on 13-26 September].

The protest was staged by activists of the Karabakh Liberation
Organization and members of other public and political organizations
and was held in the Avenue of Martyrs. After visiting the Avenue
of Martyrs, the protesters moved towards the Cabinet of Ministers
headquarters but were stopped by the police.

The efforts of police chiefs to persuade the protesters to stop their
action did not yield any results. The pickets started a march chanting
“Karabakh or Death!”.

Law-enforcement officers stopped several protesters and took them into
buses ordering the drivers to take them to the nearest metro stations.

Some of the protesters told journalists that they viewed the police’s
actions as a sign of the authorities’ attitude towards the Karabakh
problem.

KARABAKH CONDEMNS TERRORISM IN NORTH OSSETIA

STEPANAKERT, September 9 (Noyan Tapan). Many thousands of Karabakhi
people gathered in the streets of capital Stepanakert for a peaceful
march with candles and flowers thus condemning the act of terrrism that
was carried out in the North Ossetian city of Beslan. The participants
moved from the Renaissance Square to the memorial complex to pay
trubute to the memory of the victims. The humanitarian event was
organized by the NKR Fund of Motherhood.

Iran-Khatami-Tajikistan

Khatami arrives in Tajikistan Dushanbe, Sept 11, IRNA — President
Seyed Mohammad Khatami arrived here in the Tajik capital on Saturday
on the last leg of his three-nation tour of Armenia, Belarus and
Tajikistan. Khatami was officially welcomed on arrival by his Tajik
counterpart Emomali Rakhmonov. The welcoming ceremony began with
the playing of the national anthems of the two countries followed
by the review of a guard of honor by the two presidents. Khatami
is due to hold talks with top Tajik officials on ways of bolstering
Tehran-Dushanbe ties.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERBAIJAN PROTESTS AT RUSSIAN CONCERT ON KARABAKH INDEPENDENCE DAY

ANS TV, Baku
11 Sep 04

Quoting the Foreign Ministry press service, the Trend news agency
has reported that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov
has given a note of protest to the outgoing Russian ambassador to
Azerbaijan, Nikolay Ryabov, complaining about the participation
of Russian musicians in the festivities in the occupied Nagornyy
Karabakh territory.

Meeting the ambassador at the end of his diplomatic mission to
Azerbaijan, the minister expressed his regret about this case.

To recap, Russia’s well-known musicians took part in the festivities
to mark the so-called independence of Nagornyy Karabakh.

Armenian paper questions terms of gas pipeline loan agreement with Iran

Aykakan Zhamanak, Yerevan
11 Sep 04

Two out of three contracts signed during Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami’s two-day official visit to Armenia are related to the
Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. A contract signed by Armenian Energy
Minister Armen Movsisyan and the director of the Export Development
Bank of Iran, Noruz Kohzadi, deals with the financing of construction
of the Megri-Kadzharan section of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. The
second contract was signed by the director of the Yerevan high-voltage
network, Saak Abraamyan, and director of the Iranian company Sanir
Alireza Kadhoda’i to appoint a contractor for the above construction
project under the agreed financing. That is, the bank will give a
credit and Sanir will lay the Megri-Kadzharan section of the gas
pipeline. The credit will be paid off by Armenia.

At first sight, everything seems all right. But one look at the terms
of the loan results in quite a different impression. The bank gives a
30m-dollar loan for a period of seven and half years at an interest
rate of 5 per cent. That is, the sum which should be paid off by
Armenia, is 41m dollars. Is this an expensive loan or not?

During the Armenian prime minister’s visit to Moscow [in mid-July],
where an option of Russian financing for the gas pipeline construction
was also discussed, the proposed terms were much more favourable: an
interest rate of 1 per cent and a payback period of 15 years. These
terms would have been the best. But we did not manage to enter into
a contract with the Russian side.

Quite possibly, the signed contract is a “reward” to the Iranian
side for finally reaching an agreement which had been delayed for 10
years. But in this case, if new financing organizations come forward,
they will undoubtedly take into account the terms which are at the
basis of the contract made with the Iranian bank. However, this is
not the most interesting part.

The point is that after building the Megri-Kadzharan section of
the pipeline, Iranian gas can flow through Armenia’s existing and
functioning network. But in this case only 300m cu.m. of gas will
be able to enter Armenia annually. In order to reach the gas volume
envisaged in the contract – 2.2bn cu.m. annually – it is necessary
to get an additional 90m dollars and to build one more pipeline in
Armenia. A new pipeline is necessary for the efficient use of the
existing one.

In this case our task is becoming more difficult in the sense of
finding cheaper credits. A potential investor would have an extra
trump card on their hands: knowing that for paying off 30m dollars
that are already spent Armenia needs 90m US dollars, naturally the
investor will come up with tougher terms.

Certainly, it is not ruled out that the loan received from the
Iranian bank may be paid off with electricity. This would make the
loan noticeably cheaper. But not as cheaper as an international
tender would have done. Incidentally, some of our officials were
earlier speaking about the need for such a tender. But as we know,
this most fruitful method was not applied in Armenia.

TV questions Azerbaijan’s need for NATO membership

ANS TV, Baku
10 Sep 04

[Presenter] Our next report is about people’s expectations from NATO
and NATO’s failure to meet them.

[Correspondent] The fact that NATO is interested in sending
Armenians to Baku has made us reassess our view of this body. Back
in 1991, Azerbaijan needed support from NATO in order to maintain its
territorial integrity and put up resistance to pressure from the north,
that is from Russia, and from the south, that is from Iran. For the
fear of finding itself in Russia’s zone of influence, Azerbaijan
decided not to join the Collective Security Treaty Organization,
which was set up in Russia, and turned to NATO. In order to strengthen
integration with the West, Azerbaijan sent its servicemen to Kosovo
and Afghanistan within international peacekeeping groups.

Saying that ensuring stability and independence in the
newly-independent states of Europe is one of its main tasks, NATO,
however, has never taken any steps towards respect for Azerbaijan’s
interests over the Karabakh issue. On the contrary, it is trying to
talk officers of the country subjected to aggression into having
a joint exercise with officers of the aggressor country. Ordinary
people, however, are against this.

[An unidentified man speaking into ANS microphone] I have never seen
any help from international organizations over the Karabakh issue. I
do not think it is right to rely on them.

[Another unidentified man] Instead of helping us, they are bringing
the enemies to our country. It is not right.

[Another unidentified man] The blood of our people has not dried yet,
why are they doing that?

[Another man] This is pressure on our country and the government.

[Passage omitted: more criticism from people.]

[Correspondent] Being in need of NATO’s support over the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem, Azerbaijan has had to make every compromise to this
body and turned itself into this organization’s hostage for the sake
of its territorial integrity. NATO, however, sees Azerbaijan only as
a testing ground and is now bringing Armenian servicemen to Baku.

Azerbaijan became independent from Moscow. Did it do so in order to
become dependent from NATO today? It is worth thinking about this.

Zamina Aliyeva, Azad Ibrahimov and Ramin Yaqubov, ANS.

Special plane flies to Beslan to bring 15 injured to Moscow

ITAR-TASS News Agency  
September 11, 2004 Saturday

MOSCOW — A special plane Il-76 of the Russian Emergency Situations
Ministry flew to Beslan from the Moscow Domodedovo airport at 10.40 on
Saturday to bring another group of 15 injured in the Beslan terrorist
attack to the Russian capital. There are both children and adults
in this group.

The same flight will take to North Ossetia a group of specialists from
the federal centre of emergency medicine Zashchita (Protection). Their
task will be to assess the condition of the injured and to accompany
the patients during the flight. The plane with the injured is scheduled
to arrive in Moscow towards Saturday evening.

Besides, it will bring to the North Ossetian town four tonnes of
medicines provided by the Russian Red Cross. “All these medicines are
necessary for treating the injured,” a representative of the Emergency
Situations Ministry said. He stressed that as of September 4, when
the first plane with medical equipment on board from Italy landed
in Beslan, almost 150 tonnes of international humanitarian cargoes,
including donor blood, have been delivered to this North Ossetian
city from Greece and Armenia.

According to the Emergency Situations Ministry, as of September 4,
planes of the Emergency Situations and Defence Ministries have brought
114 people, the majority of who are children, to the Russian capital
from Beslan.