Man accused of stalking ex-girlfriend with GPS

Police say woman discovered him under her car attempting to change cell phone battery
By Associated Press

Sunday, September 05, 2004 – GLENDALE — A 32-year-old man has been
charged with stalking for allegedly attaching a cell phone and global
positioning system to his ex-girlfriend’s car to track her whereabouts,
authorities said.

Ara Gabrielyan, of Glendale, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday
on one count of stalking and three counts of making criminal threats.

He was arrested last Sunday and held on $500,000 bail. He faces a
maximum sentence of six years in state prison.

Police said Gabrielyan, who ran a music and video shop, used the
satellite tracking system to follow the unidentified 35-year-old woman
and meet her unexpectedly at a book store, an airport, a cemetery
and dozens of other places after she ended their relationship.

“This is what I would consider stalking of the 21st century,” said
Lt. Jon Perkins of the Glendale Police Department.

The woman finally learned how he was following her when she discovered
him under her car attempting to change the cell phone’s battery,
police said.

Authorities say the phone contained a motion switch that turned
on whenever it moved and transmitted a signal each minute to a
satellite. Information was then sent to a Web site that allowed
Gabrielyan to monitor her location.

Police believe he placed the device on her car Aug. 16, and accuse
him of threatening to kill himself and his ex-girlfriend over a
six-month period.

An attorney for Gabrielyan could not immediately be reached for
comment Saturday morning.

PRESS RELEASE

UCLA ARMENIAN GRADUATE STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
Kerckhoff Hall Room 316
308 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Contact: Gevork Nazaryan

Tel: 310. 206.8512
E-mail: [email protected]

Web:

CALL FOR PAPERS

To be presented at the Third Annual

GRADUATE STUDENT COLLOQUIUM IN ARMENIAN STUDIES

Friday, February 25, 2005

*****

at the University of California, Los Angeles We enthusiastically
invite graduate students and recent post-docs (Ph.D., within the
last two years) in fields associated with Armenian Studies (broadly
defined) to present the results of their recent research. Work in
progress is encouraged. We accept work from a variety of disciplines
and particularly welcome comparative themes and interdisciplinary
approaches. Panel submissions are also welcome.

Applicants must e-mail a one-page (minimum 250-word) abstract and
curriculum vitae by October 1, 2004.

Invited participants will be required to submit a final version
of their full presentation by February 1, 2005. Please note that a
20-minute time limit for presentations will be strictly enforced.

A reception will be held on the Thursday evening prior to the event
to welcome the colloquium speakers. Students will have an opportunity
to meet with faculty and students on campus, tour Armenian Studies
resources, and visit Armenian Studies classes. The colloquium will
conclude with a reception.

Limited travel grants will be available to assist those who would
otherwise be unable to attend. Travel grant applications will be sent
to all invited participants.

Please submit abstracts to the UCLA Armenian Graduate Students
Association at [email protected].

For more information regarding the Graduate Student Colloquium in
Armenian Studies, please visit the organizing committee’s website.

Graduate Student Colloquium in Armenian Studies

Graduate Student Organizing Committee

E-mail: [email protected]

Website:

END

Banning Armenian officers’ visit would not hurt relations with NATO

Baku Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 5 2004

The Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) hosted a roundtable,
“Repressions against those who care for Garabagh and public opinion”,
on Friday.

AssA-Irada/BT — The party chairman Ali Karimli condemned the arrest
of the Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) members and said
that allowing Armenian officers to Azerbaijan represents a policy
of surrender.

Karimli stated that Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan is not
creating any hurdles for this country’s cooperation with NATO, and
that forbidding the visit of Armenian officers to Baku would not hurt
the NATO-Azerbaijan relations either. He demanded the government to
put end to such a policy, not to interact with Armenia in any way
until Azerbaijan’s occupied territories are liberated.

The PFPA chairman also demanded to ban the visit of Armenian officers
to Baku and to release the imprisoned GLO members. He also said it
was important for local media to express a common national position
with regard to the GLO members.

Azerbaijan lost control over its mainly ethnic-Armenian populated
autonomous region of Nagorno(Daghlig)-Karabakh and also over its
seven administrative districts, Lachin, Kalbejer, Aghdam, Fuzuli,
Jerail, Zengilan and Gubadli in 1992-94 war with Armenia.

The conflict turned to a full-fledged war after the Soviet Union
collapsed in late 1991, forcing around 700,000 Azerbaijanis to leave
their homes in the occupied territories.

Some 300,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis also left their homes in Armenia
and the same number of ethnic-Armenians had to move from Azerbaijan
in 1988-90.

Stamford Advocate, CT
Sept 5 2004

[parts omiited]

The U.S. Open script for Andre Agassi has needed no rewrites thus
far.

The No. 6 seed rolled to his third consecutive economical three-set
victory as he vanquished No. 25 seed Jiri Novak of Czech Republic,
6-4, 6-2, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium in the National Tennis Center.

“Today was important. Novak requires you to put forth a quality
match,” Agassi said. “I had to make good decisions. I served well. I
feel I’ve turned the corner in my game heading into the second week.
Four more matches going three sets would be great. But I enjoy
getting through the first week uneventfully.”

Agassi’s lone trouble yesterday was keeping his tennis sneakers in
one piece. A handy tube of glue in his bag saved the day.

“I burn a lot of tread out there,” Agassi laughed. “I enjoy a good
broken-in pair of tennis shoes. But sometimes you cross the line on
wear rather than rotate them out.”

While the tennis world has its sights set on a quarterfinal round
meeting with Federer, Agassi only has eyes for Sargis Sargsian of
Armenia and Hamden in Monday’s fourth round.

“I haven’t taken anything or any opponent for granted on the tennis
court since my early 20s,” the 34-year-old Agassi said. “Roger
Federer is a problem to worry about at the proper time.”

Agassi will be getting an exhausted Sargsian, who outfought
Paul-Henri Mathieu through five grueling sets over four hours and 41
minutes last night, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

Sargsian made his life much more eventful by cashing in just one of a
possible 10 break points in the fifth set.

“It’s a relief,” said Sargsian of his comeback from two sets down.
“The match was so close. I wanted to win so badly. It’s an amazing
feeling. I feel like I’m in a different world.”

In a marathon that featured 341 total points, Sargsian collected 65
winners to 47 for Mathieu. But he had 69 unforced errors to 56 for
Mathieu.

Sargsian was also a monster at net, successful on 32 of 45 net
approaches (71 percent). To the delight of his Armenian faithful led
by 102-year-old grandfather emeritus Minas Masourian of New Haven.

“He was a tennis champion in Iran and he’s been here every day,”
Sargsian said. “I stayed with his family when I first came to
America.”

In his second round match Thursday, Sargsian outlasted Nicolas Massu
in five sets in a near record-setting five hours and 10 minutes.

And now, he must face fellow Armenian and best friend Andre Agassi.

“I am mentally tired. But I think my legs are going to hang in
there,” said Sargsian. “It’s like a dream to play a legend like Andre
on a court like this. Hopefully it will be a good match and he
doesn’t kill me.

“To me, Andre is like a big brother and unbelievable friend,”
Sargsian continued. “Andre has an amazing heart. And the intensity of
practicing with him is as great as you can find. Andre is my friend
but I want to win. We will both give our best out there.”

Man is accused of stalking by cellphone

Fort Worth Star Telegram , TX
Sept 5 2004

Wire Reports

GLENDALE, Calif. – Police arrested a man who they said tracked his
ex-girlfriend by attaching a cellphone with a global-positioning
system to her car.

Ara Gabrielyan, 32, was arrested Aug. 29 on one count of stalking
and three counts of making criminal threats. He was being held on
$500,000 bail and was to be arraigned Wednesday.

“This is what I would consider stalking of the 21st century,” police
Lt. Jon Perkins said.

Police said Gabrielyan tracked the 35-year-old woman, who was not
identified, after she ended their relationship, showing up unexpectedly
at a bookstore, an airport and dozens of other places she visited.

Police said Gabrielyan attached a cellphone to the woman’s car Aug.
16. The motion of the car activated the phone, which transmitted a
signal each minute to a satellite.

Information was then sent to a Web site that allowed Gabrielyan to
monitor the woman’s location.

That let Gabrielyan, who ran an Armenian CD and video-specialty shop,
arrange apparent chance encounters, even at the woman’s brother’s
grave site, police said.

The woman caught Gabrielyan under her car attempting to change the
cellphone’s battery, police said.

“It was an obsession, an obsession to the point where 24 hours a day
he had to know where she was, what she did, who she met and how she
carried out her daily routine,” Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Police say that over six months, Gabrielyan threatened to kill himself
and the woman.

An attorney for Gabrielyan could not be reached for comment Saturday.

He would face up to six years in prison if convicted.

GPS technology, which in recent years has been used to keep track of
children, the elderly and pets, gave Gabrielyan real-time updates on
the woman’s location every minute.

“The technology was designed with every good intention in the world,
but it was utilized for bad in this case,” Detective Mike Stilton said.

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
(A Division of the Zoryan Institute)
255 Duncan Mill Rd., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, Canada M3B 3H9
Tel: 416-250-9807 Fax: 416-512-1736 E-mail: [email protected]

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: George Shirinian

DATE: August 31, 2004 Tel: 416-250-9807

40 STUDENTS IN US AND CANADA COMPLETE THIRD ANNUAL UNIVERSITY PROGRAM BY
INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR GENOCIDE & HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES

Toronto, Canada – Forty international students attending university
campuses in Minneapolis and Toronto have successfully completed the
two-week, accredited Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP)
for the third year in a row. Operating under a partnership between the
University of Minnesota and the International Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies (A Division of the Zoryan Institute) (IIGHRS), the
program graduated a total of 40 participants this year. This year’s
students were of Armenian, Azeri, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, English,
Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Romanian, Scottish, Turkish, and Vietnamese
descent. Nearly 100 students from eighteen countries have completed the
program thus far.

The faculty, many of whom are foremost experts in their respective fields,
was expanded this year from 12 to 17 instructors between Toronto and
Minneapolis.

“We are very gratified with the results of the program in both cities,”
said Dr. Roger Smith, a Co-Director of the program. “This is a unique
experience for both the students and the faculty. Students have the
opportunity to learn from a number of renowned specialists, and faculty
have the opportunity to team teach and interact with serious students who
come from around the world,” he commented. “Being together in class seven
hours a day, for two weeks straight, makes for a very intense experience,
both intellectually and emotionally. I am pleased that the students in each
location were able to develop into cohesive groups,” he added.

Dr. Stephen Feinstein, the other Co-Director of the program, indicated that
the Minneapolis program, which has been conducted in other forms since
1997, was directed at teachers seeking renewal credits, as well as upper
division undergraduate and graduate students. Several of those in the
Minneapolis program were looking toward careers in human rights law,
political science, history and other subjects with an emphasis on the study
of genocide.

Taner Akçam, who represented the University of Minnesota as the professor
of record for accreditation purposes in Toronto, has been with the program
since its inception. He observed, “This is a comprehensive course that
explores the causes, methods, and effects of genocide through an
examination of four major case studies. It does so through a study of
genocide theory, history, sociology, political science, and even art and
literature. I am proud to see so many highly motivated students come from
far and wide to participate in this program. I admire their idealism and
their commitment. I wish that we could run this program in Turkey one day.”

Among the faculty was Major Brent Beardsley of the Canadian Forces. In
1994, during the genocide in Rwanda, Major Beardsley served as the Personal
Staff Officer to then Major-General Romeo Dallaire, the Force Commander of
the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Major Beardsley
was an eyewitness to the genocide in Rwanda and earlier this year testified
for the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in
Arusha, Tanzania. He had this to say about the program. “Once again the
students attending this course never fail to amaze me. Such a diverse group
from so many backgrounds and locations, but unique, smart, swift and thirsty.”

Participating for the first time this year was Prof. Eric Markusen, Senior
Research Fellow at the Danish Institute of International Studies,
Department for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He enthralled the students
with remarks on his recent trip to Chad, where he was conducting an
investigation on behalf of the American Government into the genocidal acts
in the Darfur region of Sudan. Commenting on his experience at the program,
he wrote the following.

I want to express my thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to
participate as a faculty in this year’s [program]. I thoroughly enjoyed
every minute of it and came away invigorated and encouraged. It was great
to see old friends and wonderful to meet the amazing students from all over
the world. I was very impressed with the range and depth of the material
dealt with, as well as the fine organization…. Now that I have actually
experienced one of your summer [programs], I am more interested than ever
in pursuing … the possibility of holding an Institute here in Copenhagen or
elsewhere in Europe.

It was noted by Program Coordinator Amanda Duncombe that it would be much
easier for students from Europe, the Middle East and the Former Soviet
Union to attend the program in Copenhagen or another city in Europe.

Joyce Apsel is Master Teacher in the General Studies Program at New York
University, where she teaches courses in Great Books and on Genocide and
Human Rights, and is the Past President of the International Association of
Genocide Scholars. She both participated in the course as a faculty member,
and observed it as an auditor. As part of her analysis of the program, she
wrote,

The superb facilitation by Roger Smith as well as Stephen Feinstein created
an extremely positive learning environment which balanced the seriousness
of the topics and detailed information with humor, insight and concern for
students and their particular needs. (Individual projects were an excellent
mechanism to do this). The classroom environment during the sessions I
attended encouraged student input and dialogue.

Many of the students shared their enthusiasm with the faculty, as expressed
in their comments.

“Though I have examined these issues at the graduate level, the in-depth
manner in which each topic was treated enhanced my knowledge greatly of the
finer details of many subjects.”

“Wonderful experience. Learned more in two weeks that I have in a long
time. Particularly benefited from the high quality of both professors and
students.”

“I would like to thank you for the amazing opportunity you gave me in
Toronto with the GHRUP symposium. I learned an incredible amount, met
amazing people, and had the privilege of sitting in on some profound
lectures. I truly appreciate the scholarship you gave me as it allowed me
to have this experience that I will never forget. Not only has my knowledge
base in the subject area of genocide increased, but the program has
inspired me to further pursue this interest of mine in Human Rights and
Genocide in my future academic career.”

K.M. (Greg) Sarkissian, President of the Zoryan Institute, having seen the
reaction of the students, their interest, and the demand for such a course,
along with the increased requests from scholars to expand the program to
universities in other countries expressed the hope “that community leaders,
philanthropic organizations, and government agencies will respond to the
call for supporting the Genocide and Human Rights University Program and
its expansion to Europe.” He added, “To provide such a unique and
high-quality learning experience costs approximately $90,000 per campus,
yet every effort made to raise awareness and ultimately finding ways to
prevent gross human rights violations and the killing of masses of people
is worth every penny we invest.”

The GHRUP examines many facets of genocide, starting with a theoretical
approach to the definition of genocide, an analysis of the development of
the concept of human rights, and the relationship between the two. The
program then examines four cases of genocide, including the Jewish
Holocaust, the Cambodian Genocide, and the Rwandese Genocide. Using the
Armenian Genocide, the archetypal genocide of the 20th Century, as a point
of reference, these case studies, along with others, are analyzed in a
comparative manner. In addition, special themes, such as genocide denial;
women, children and genocide; genocide and its relation to Diasporas;
education and genocide; the possibility of reconciliation between victim
and perpetrator groups; and the prevention of genocide are all explored in
an interdisciplinary manner, using the approaches of history, sociology,
political science, anthropology, and law. The overall objectives of the
program are a) teach students how to define and predict the conditions in
which genocide occurs; b) to thereby make it possible to prevent genocide;
c) to promote reconciliation; and d) to help develop a new generation of
young scholars to pursue advanced studies in this subject. In the process,
the course provides participants with the intellectual framework for
understanding the numerous, complex, and often emotional issues related to
genocide as a universal human experience.

More information about this year’s course, including the entire syllabus,
can be found at Registration for summer 2005 will
begin later this year.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Eurasianet Organization
Sept 5 2004

ARMENIAN MILITARY GEARS UP FOR IRAQ DEPLOYMENT
Armen Zakarian and Emil Danielyan: 9/05/04
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL

Armenia will send a team of military officials to Iraq in September
that will prepare for the deployment of a small Armenian army
contingent in the war-torn country by the end of the year, a senior
official said September 3.

Deputy Defense Minister Artur Aghabekian told RFE/RL that the
delegation comprising commanders of the Armenian army’s special
peace-keeping battalion and U.S.-funded demining center will “take a
close look at the location where our contingent will be stationed and
ascertain on the spot the tasks which it will perform.”

“We expect that after the completion of all formalities the Armenian
contingent will leave for Iraq at the end of the autumn or at the
beginning of the winter to start carrying out its mission,” he said,
confirming that it will be made up of U.S.-trained sappers, doctors
and a company of military truck drivers.

The chief of the army staff, Colonel-General Mikael Harutiunian, said
earlier that a total of about 50 Armenian servicemen will be sent to
Iraq. Aghabekian revealed that the non-combat military personnel will
be based in the central southern region of the country administered
by a Polish-led multinational force. He said Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian will pass a relevant official note to his Polish
counterpart during President Robert Kocharian’s visit to Warsaw which
begins on Sunday.

The Polish government, which has 2,500 troops on the ground, is
facing strong domestic opposition to the military presence in Iraq
and is gradually scaling it back. In August Polish troops handed over
some of the zone they control to U.S. forces, including the restive
province of Najaf. More such handovers are expected next year.

Unlike NATO member Poland, Armenia did not back the U.S. invasion of
Iraq last year. Nonetheless, it decided in principle to join the
U.S.-led occupation force there shortly after the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein’s regime. Official Yerevan has said it is undaunted by
continuing unrest in the embattled country where deadly bombings and
hostage taking are a common occurrence.

Over the past year Iraqi insurgents have kidnapped scores of foreign
nationals in a bid to force their countries to withdraw troops from
Iraq or stop other forms of cooperation with the Americans. At least
25 of them have already been killed by their captors.

Among the victims are three Turkish truck drivers whose bodies were
found on Thursday. Seven other truck drivers from India, Kenya and
Egypt were set free recently after their Kuwaiti employers paid a
$500,000 ransom to the hostage-takers.

The planned Armenian deployment could also put at greater risk the
lives of thousands of ethnic Armenians living in Iraq. Like other
Iraqi Christians, they have been regarded as another potential target
of the Islamist-led insurgency since August’s wave of bomb attacks on
churches in Baghdad and Mosul. An Armenian Catholic church in Baghdad
was among five Christian worship sites hit by the coordinated
bombings that left 11 people dead.

The dispatch of the servicemen to Iraq will mark Armenia’s second
military mission abroad. Thirty-three Armenian soldiers and officers
began the first such mission last February when they joined the
NATO-led peace-keeping force in the breakaway Serbian province of
Kosovo. Aghabekian said they will return home and be replaced by
another platoon of the Armenian peace-keeping battalion in the coming
days.

Armenian President Arrives In Poland After Promising Troops To Iraq

Agence France Presse
Sept 5 2004

WARSAW, Sept 5 (AFP) – The president of Armenia, which is to contribute
troops to the Polish-led multinational force patrolling central and
southern Iraq, arrived in Poland on Sunday for a three-day official
visit.

During the visit by President Robert Kocharian, Armenia and Poland
are expected to sign a bilateral military cooperation agreement.

Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski announced on Friday that
the former Soviet republic of Armenia was to send 50 soldiers to the
6,500-strong multinational force that Poland commands in Iraq.

Armenia is to send “several dozen military personnel, specialists in
logistics, bomb disposal experts and doctors” to Iraq in late November
or early December, Polish deputy chief of staff, General Mieczyslaw
Cieniuch, said on Friday.

The Polish government has been a key US ally in Iraq but it has faced
strong domestic public opposition to the deployment of its troops
in Iraq and is now planning to significantly reduce its 2,500-strong
contingent there.

Kocharian was met in the northern port city of Gdansk on Sunday by
his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasniewski. The two heads of
state visited the historic part of the city before travelling to
Kwasniewski’s residence in Jurata, a resort on the Baltic coast.

Sports Illustrated
Posted: Saturday September 4, 2004 12:16PM; Updated: Saturday September 4,
2004 12:16PM

Singapore tops Indonesia in Tiger Cup warmup

SINGAPORE (AP) — Goals from Noh Alam Shah and Indra Sahdan Daud
gave Singapore a 2-0 win over rivals Indonesia in the Tiger Beer
Challenge trophy as the two Southeast Asian nations began tuning up in
preparation for the Tiger Cup, the region’s premier soccer tournament.

The match was also the first international for Indonesia’s English-born
coach Peter Withe — since he took charge last month from Bulgarian
Ivan Kolev — who left after leading them to the Asian Cup finals in
China that ended in August. Withe made the switch to Indonesia after
leading Thailand for five years and guiding them to the 2002 Tiger Cup.

Played before 3,000 at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Noh Alam, unmarked
on the left, opened scoring for the hosts in the 38th minute through
a header after a good cross from naturalized Nigerian Itimi Dickson.

Indonesia, ranked 92nd in the world, earned a penalty on the stroke
of halftime when Elie Aiboy was fouled just inside the box by the
city-state’s Noh Rahman. But top striker Bambang Pamungkas’ low spot
kick to the bottom right corner was saved by keeper Hassan Sunny for
the final play of the first 45.

Indra scored Singapore’s second in the 49th minute after a neat turn
away from his marker outside the box to fire a crisp, low drive past
Indonesian netminder Hendro Kartiko.

Ranked 121st in the world just behind Armenia and Benin, the win was
Singapore’s first this year.

The Tiger Cup will be co-hosted by Vietnam and Malaysia in December
and also features Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines,
Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia and debutants East Timor.

Singapore and Indonesia play 2006 World Cup qualifiers Wednesday
against Oman and Sri Lanka respectively but neither have much chance of
making the finals in Germany and are focusing instead on the Tiger Cup.

In the Caucasus, another crisis threatens
Neal Ascherson IHT

International Herald Tribune, France
Sept 6 2004

Abkhazia

LONDON — While President Vladimir Putin of Russia struggles to deal
with the fallout from the school siege that killed hundreds last
week in Beslan, across the border, Georgia’s new president, Mikhail
Saakashvili, faces simmering conflicts that may flare up dangerously
if they are mishandled.

The most daunting of them all concerns Abkhazia, a fertile and
beautiful coastal strip between the Caucasus mountains and the Black
Sea whose existence the outside world has all but forgotten.

Since he took power in a bloodless revolution last November,
Saakashvili, 38, has successfully tackled large-scale corruption and
set Georgia on a course toward Western-style democracy. But he has
run into trouble as he tries to “reintegrate” Adzharia, South Ossetia
and Abkhazia, regions that either refused to join independent Georgia
in the 1990s or tried to break away more recently.

In May, Saakashvili overthrew the secessionist regime of Aslan
Abashidze in Adzharia, the Georgian province bordering Turkey. But
this summer he failed to re-establish Georgian authority over South
Ossetia. Troops were sent in, but there was armed resistance from the
Ossetians, leading to more than a dozen deaths and furious protests
from Russia.

The fiasco in South Ossetia has damaged prospects for any settlement
with Abkhazia, the most difficult territorial problem facing
Saakashvili. Abkhazia fought a ferocious war of independence against
Georgian forces in 1993 and 1994, in which atrocities were committed
by both sides. More than 200,000 Georgian civilians fled Abkhazia
and survive as homeless refugees in Georgia.

The Georgians maintain that Abkhaz identity is little more than
a fiction that Russia supports in order to undermine Georgia’s
own independence. The Abkhazians retort that they had never been
an integral part of Georgia, and that they went to war only when
independent Georgia threatened to annex them after the fall of the
Soviet Union.

During the Soviet period, massive settlement of Georgians in Abkhazia
had reduced the Abkhazians to a minority in their own country. On the
eve of the 1993-1994 war, ethnic Abkhazians numbered only 100,000 out
of a population of 500,000. (There were also about 100,000 Armenians,
most of whom supported the cause of Abkhazian independence.)

But independence brought no happy end for Abkhazia. With the best
vacation beaches on the Black Sea, it might have become prosperous.
Instead, it became an unrecognized microstate, blockaded by the
outside world. Road, rail and air links were cut off. Ten years later,
Abkhazia’s government is disillusioned and defensive. There is an
elected Parliament, but democratic reformers have to struggle against
a culture of authoritarian rule and spreading corruption.

Recently Russian tourists have returned to the beaches and a flow
of imports fills the shops. If they apply for Russian passports,
Abkhazians can now travel abroad. But even today, about a third of
buildings in Sukhumi, the capital, remain gutted by war.

Peacekeepers from the Confederation of Independent States – Russian
troops, in other words – occupy the region bordering Georgia, while a
small United Nations force observes the cease-fire zone. But 10 years
of meandering peace talks between Abkhazia and Georgia have produced
no solution.

Observers hoped that Saakashvili’s democratic “revolution” might reduce
tension between Abkhazia and Georgia. But when I visited Abkhazia early
this year, I found that Saakashvili was regarded there as an erratic
Georgian nationalist determined to crush Abkhaz independence. Recently,
Georgian patrol boats fired on a Turkish vessel off the Abkhaz coast,
and Saakashvili has hinted that Russian cruise ships might be prevented
from entering Abkhaz ports.

Saakashvili’s use of force in South Ossetia confirmed the worst
Abkhazian suspicions about him. And yet he is trapped by his own
rhetoric on Abkhazia. He has to do something about it or lose the
confidence of his followers.

On Oct. 3, there will be presidential elections in Abkhazia. The ailing
president, Vladislav Ardzinba, who led the independence war, favors
Raul Khajimba, currently prime minister, as his successor. So does
Putin, it seems; Khajimba, like Putin, has a KGB background. But if
Khajimba wins, he won’t necessarily push Abkhazia toward integration
with Russia. Many Abkhazians are almost as worried about Russian
absorption as they are about Georgian threats.

A deal between Georgia and Abkhazia may still be possible.
Saakashvili’s enormous popularity means that, in theory, he could
afford a compromise: some sort of fudged confederation in which
Abkhazia could associate with

Georgia and yet retain “sovereignty.”

But Saakashvili and the new Abkhaz president will face two obstacles.
One is how to let the refugees return without overbalancing
Abkhazia’s demography. The other is gaining Russian approval. That
is even harder. As American influence in the region grows, with
huge U.S. investments in Caspian oil and trans-Caucasus pipelines,
Russia’s instinct is to hold on to any lever in its grasp – including
the military presence in Abkhazia that gives Moscow a decisive grip
on Georgian policies.

In the end, it is not Georgians or Abkhazians who will solve this
dangerous standoff. Only a global agreement between Russia and the
United States on the future of the Caucasus will end Abkhazia’s
isolation and bring Georgia and Abkhazia to a lasting settlement.

Neal Ascherson, who reported on the collapse of the Soviet Union
for The Observer, is the author of “Black Sea” and, most recently,
“Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress