CEREMONY ON OCCASION OF 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE’s INDEPENDENCE
HELD AT UKRAINIAN EMBASSY

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28. ARMINFO. A ceremony on the occasion of the 13th
anniversary of Ukraine’s independence has been held at the Ukrainian
Embassy in Armenia.

RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, who attended the ceremony,
congratulated the Ukrainian people and expressed a hope that
friendship and mutual understanding between Armenia and Ukraine will
be developing to the two people’s benefit. In his turn, Ukrainian
Ambassador to Armenia Vladimir Tyaglo said that Ukraine has marked its
13th anniversary and proved to be a dynamically developing state. The
country is also developing its relations with Armenia. Responding to
journalists’ questions concerning the weak points of bilateral
relations, Tyaglo pointed out that a wide range of issues is currently
being worked out. According to him, Ukraine has not until this year
supplied means of transportation to Armenia. This year, Ukrainian
buses and cars have been supplied to Armenia. The Ukrainian diplomat
added that the bilateral relations are successfully developing in such
spheres as energy, construction, science, and education, the
last-named being exemplary in bilateral relations. Tyaglo said that
this year Armenian children received 17 Ukrainian certificates. Also,
the ancient Armenian epic work “David Sasuntsi” and “Book of Sadness”
by Grigor Narekatsi have been translated into the Ukrainian
language. Tyaglo pointed out that negotiations are currently under way
for intensifying the supply of mixed fodder to Armenia. Although the
transport problem exists and transport expenses exceed all the norms,
the problem will shortly be resolved, the Ambassador said. Tyaglo
also pointed out an increase in the exports of Armenian rubber,
brandy, wines and confectionery to Ukraine. Responding to a question
concerning possible changes in Armenian-Ukrainian relations after the
presidential elections in Ukraine, Tyaglo quoted President Leonid
Kuchma as saying that after the presidential elections there will be
no changes in either domestic or foreign policy of Ukraine.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RA MINISTER OF DEFENSE MEETS WITH NEWLY APPOINTED IRANIAN AMBASSADOR
TO ARMENIA

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28. ARMINFO. RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan has
held a meeting with the newly appointed Iranian Ambassador to Armenia
Alireza Khadighyan.

The press service of the RA Ministry of Defense reports that Minister
Sargsyan congratulated the diplomat on his appointment, expressing a
hope for further development of Armenian-iranian relations during his
diplomatic activities in Armenia. In his turn, Ambassador Khadighyan
conveyed to the Armenian Minister of Defense greetings of the Iranian
President and the Minister of Defense, stressing Sargsyan’s personal
contribution to the development of bilateral relations. The
Armenian-Iranian relations are consolidated by serious achievements in
the political and economic spheres. During the meeting, the sides
pointed out the achievements and mapped out of directions of further
activities.

REVISED DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO RA CONSTITUTION DIRECT WAY TO
DICTATORSHIP: SHAVARSH KOCHARYAN

YEREVAN, AUGUST 28. ARMINFO. Revised draft amendments to the RA
Constitution submitted to a nation-wide referendum are a direct way to
dictatorship, the Parliament member of the opposition bloc “Justice”,
Chairman of the National-Democratic Party (NDP) Shavarsh Kocharyan
told a press conference.

According to him, the draft should be compared not even with the
current Constitution, but with the document that was submitted to a
nation-wide referendum on May 25, 2003, and was voted down. The new
draft has 20 distinctive features, four of them being merits and 16
demerits, Sh. Kocharyan said. According to him, “among the merits are:
the accused right to interrogation in the presence of a lawyer, the
abolition of the right to tapping and control of people’s private
correspondence, as well as the stipulation of the right of the RA
National Assembly to Statements.” On the other hand, “the demerits
are: arbitrary restriction of citizens’ rights and freedoms, legal
stipulation of dependence of the entire judicial system of one person
– the President, permission to Parliament members to run business, the
President’s right to dissolve the Parliament if it does not approve
the Government proposed by the President, etc.” The goal of the draft
is maximal enlargement of the President’s power, which are excessive
as it is and further dictatorship, the parliamentarian said.

The did not rule out the possibility of Robert Kocharian’s running for
the third presidency term. “Robert Kocharian said that he did not wish
to run for the third term, but as his powers expire, a political
force, representatives of the intelligentsia and public will be found
that will persuade him into continuing as President. This is the real
goal of the draft amendments that is being indirectly proposed,”
Sh. Kocharyan said. He stressed that the opposition’s return to
Parliament would only means “playing up to” this process. Despite the
journalists’ numerous questions, the parliamentarian avoided answering
the question concerning the opposition’s further actions in this
situation. However, Sh. Kocharyan is well aware of what the people
must do, namely, “struggle, while we will lead this struggle.”

Russian paper reports Georgian “secret plan” for regaining South Ossetia

Moskovskiy Komsomolets, Moscow
28 Aug 04

A Russian newspaper has said it has obtained a copy of a “secret plan”
by which Georgia will use military force to restore its control over
the breakaway region of South Ossetia. In an article published on 28
August, Moskovskiy Komsomolets said the plan was contained in a
document which was allegedly stolen from the former chief of the
Georgian General Staff, Givi Iukuridze. The paper said the plan
envisages a “military-humanitarian” operation to seize control of
South Ossetia, to be accompanied by the sealing off of Russian
military bases on Georgian territory, which it said would pose a
direct challenge to Russia. The following is excerpted from the
article:

“You want total war,” Dr Goebbels, Reichsminister for propaganda,
shouted, and in response the German people unanimously bayed: “Yes!!!”
Both old men and youngsters marched in orderly columns to sign up for
the Wehrmacht. A similar cry was given out recently by Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili: “It is essential that any enemy that
ventures aggression against the country know that, aside from the
regular army, he will be opposed by thousands of reservists and that
he will encounter a well-organized army of five million!!!” In
addition to the above-mentioned doctor, the leader of the Georgian
revolution has decided, it would seem, to follow the example of
Kerenskiy [provisional government leader in 1917], who is famous for
having formed a women’s battalion, “President Misha” [Saakashvili] has
decided to draft ladies into his invincible host.

So Georgia continues to prepare for war. With the aid of a “black
tights battalion” or without, Saakashvili continues to hope to subdue
South Ossetia by force. Secret documents in the possession of
Moskovskiy Komsomolets testify to this. Moskovskiy Komsomolets has
learned of a secret plan for a Georgian military operation in South
Ossetia. The “pacification of the unruly autonomy” could begin within
the next few days.

On 25 August Zurab Zhvania, prime minister of Georgia, announced that
Maj-Gen Givi Iukuridze had been removed from the post of chief of the
Georgian armed forces General Staff. It is likely that the former CGS
will be appointed military attache to Russia.

Iukuridze is 48 years old, a professional military officer. He was
appointed chief of the Georgian armed forces General Staff this
February. He had until recently been considered the favourite of the
president of Georgia. He often opposed the “hawks”, who have since
this spring been insistently pushing the new leadership of Georgia
into a military solution to the conflict with South Ossetia and
Abkhazia. It was mainly on account of this that he began to lose the
president’s favour. In addition, he had entered into a conflict on a
number of fundamental issues of military organizational development
with Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who is becoming
increasingly influential – on questions of a resolution of the problem
of “pacification of the rebel autonomies” included.

Military circles and the political beau monde of Georgia had been
talking about the imminent removal of Iukuridze from the post of CGS
for several weeks, but the formal ground for the dismissal, evidently,
was his recent loss of a folder of secret documents of particular
importance. The official inquiry conducted in this connection has not
come across the trail of the thieves.

The Ministry of Defence and the Georgian General Staff are continuing
to say all but openly here that the documents could have been stolen
only by an insider with an interest in Iukuridze’s speediest
removal. The organizers of the theft are being called representatives
of some “third force”, which is not only inciting tension in the
Georgian-Ossetian conflict area but is also reshuffling the leadership
of the force entities after its own fashion, moving into the key posts
people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the closest
associates of the minister of internal affairs.

The secret data contained in the documents from the stolen folder and
also certain original documents and their copies have recently begun
to surface both in Georgia itself and abroad.

A piece of tracing paper taken from a map containing the version of a
plan of a military operation to capture Tskhinvali and restore
Georgia’s sovereignty over South Ossetia was recently forwarded to
Moscow from Tbilisi. This tracing paper was conveyed to a
representative of the Georgian diaspora in the Russian capital and
came via him into the possession of Moskovskiy Komsomolets. It is
significant that the “well-wishers” that had sent the tracing paper to
Moscow had prudently, albeit in slapdash fashion, translated the
inscriptions and notations into Russian, thereby facilitating the work
of the journalists and military specialists that do not know
Georgian. We thank them for this.

The newspaper’s military experts, superimposing the tracing paper on
the map and making use of contradictory information concerning
Tbilisi’s military plans that had been published earlier, “read” the
overall concept of the military campaign with a certain degree of
reliability.

It ensues from the plan that it is contemplated to return South
Ossetia to Georgian jurisdiction in the form of a
military-humanitarian operation. This solution, as intended by the
Georgian military, is designed to conceal from the public Tbilisi’s
main emphasis on the military component of the plan and is geared
mainly to use for propaganda purposes.

The concept of the operation appears, as a whole, as follows:

First, to secure with the forces of units of the army’s special forces
and the police with the enlistment of the Georgian volunteer defence
force control of the main transport directions (establish a transport
blockade), concentrating the main efforts on taking full control of
the Roki, Mamison and Krestov passes. Second, in the guise of
transport convoys carrying humanitarian goods for the local citizenry,
Ossetian included, to activate units of the people’s volunteer defence
force, increase their arms and deliver the requisite military
equipment.

Depending on how the situation develops, it is contemplated at the
second stage of the operation to redeploy, by air included, the Davit
and Betta force components and the 16th Mountain-Rifle Brigade from
their staging areas to seal off centres of resistance of units of the
armed forces of the Republic of South Ossetia in the areas of the
localities of Tsinagari, Sunisi and Java.

It is planned that the Koba assault force will be moved out from the
staging area in three directions to seal off the capital of South
Ossetia, depriving units of the armed forces of South Ossetia of the
possibility of manoeuvring forces and assets. The right flank of the
Betta force will be secured by the American adviser-trained 11th
Separate Mechanized Brigade of the armed forces of Georgia. A
calculation based on US economic and military-political support in the
resolution of this problem may be traced, on the whole.

The paper’s military experts believe that all this will be accompanied
also by the simultaneous sealing off of the Russian military bases on
Georgian territory with a view to preventing units of Russian troops
moving out from their permanent basing locations, and this is a direct
challenge to Russia.

Whether Georgia will go ahead with implementing the plan in the form
in which it is contained in the “Iukuridze folder”, the future will
tell. There has already been information to the effect that the
Georgian armed forces General Staff is urgently reworking it for a
report for final approval by President Saakashvili no later than 28
August. Any concealment of war as a military-humanitarian operation is
being jettisoned here. [Passage omitted]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
The Mercury, Australia
Sunday Times, Australia
Advertiser, Australia
Aug 29 2004

1990 – Armenia’s parliament declares emergency rule, bans nationalist
paramilitary group and blocks roads around republic’s capital.

1533 – Spanish conquistadors give Atahuallpa, last emperor of the
Incas, the choice of being burned at the stake or converting to
Christianity. He converts and is garrotted the same day.
1756 – Frederick II of Prussia invades Saxony, marking start of Seven
Years’ War.
1792 – At least 900 die when the British warship Royal George sinks
at Spithead while repairs are being carried out just below the
waterline.
1793 – The French commissioner Leger-Felicite Sonthonax, facing a
slave army and a British invasion, declares all slaves free in Haiti.

1842 – Anglo-Chinese war ends with Treaty of Nanking, confirming the
ceding of Hong Kong to Britain.
1874 – French performer Blondin walks tightrope across Sydney
Harbour.
1882 – English cricketers lose to Australia on English soil for the
first time – a mock obituary in the Sporting Times then declares the
death of English cricket, saying its ashes will be taken to
Australia, the origin of the “Ashes” trophy.
1885 – First motorcycle, built by Gottlied Daimler in Germany, is
patented.
1935 – Queen Astrid of Belgium is killed in car accident in
Switzerland.
1943 – Danish warships are scuttled at Copenhagen in World War II
uprising against Nazis.
1944 – 15,000 American troops march down the Champs Elysees in Paris
as the French capital continues to celebrate its liberation from the
Nazis.
1960 – Jordanian prime minister Hazza El-Majali and 10 others are
assassinated by a time-bomb.
1964 – Roy Orbison releases the song Pretty Woman.
1965 – US astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad make safe
landing in Atlantic after a record eight days of orbiting around
Earth.
1966 – Beatles play their last live concert to a crowd of 25,000 at
Candlestick Park, San Francisco.
1972 – North and South Korean Red Cross officials meet in North Korea
openly for first time to discuss reuniting divided families.
1975 – Death of Eamon de Valera, three times Ireland’s prime minister
and president from 1959-1973.
1987 – Death of Academy Award-winning US actor Lee Marvin, aged 63.
1990 – Armenia’s parliament declares emergency rule, bans nationalist
paramilitary group and blocks roads around republic’s capital.
1991 – Soviet lawmakers suspend Communist Party activities nationwide
and freeze its bank accounts because of party’s role in failed coup
attempt.
1992 – The last Russian diplomats pull out of Kabul, ending a decade
of involvement in Afghanistan.
1995 – Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze survives an assassination
attempt when a car explodes near his motorcade.
1996 – A Russian plane carrying coal miners to work at a remote
arctic island smashes into a mountain top, killing all 41 people
aboard in the worst air disaster on Norwegian soil.
1997 – The Japanese Supreme Court rules the government acted
illegally when it deleted from a history textbook references to
Japan’s deadly experiments on Chinese during World War II.
1998 – A Cuban airplane bursts into flames and crashes during takeoff
from Quito, Ecuador, killing 79 people.
1999 – East Timorese overcome fears of violence to vote in a historic
referendum on independence from Indonesia.
2000 – Six former hostages released after months in captivity in the
Philippines arrive in Libya. The Libyan government took the lead in
negotiations to win their freedom from Muslim rebels.
2001 – A US federal grand jury indicts three executives of a Marin
County electronics firm, based in California, accusing them of
illegally selling equipment to India that could be used to make
nuclear weapons.
2002 – Michael Skakel, a member of America’s politically prominent
Kennedy family, is sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the
1975 murder of neighbour Martha Moxley.
2002 – Marconi finally agrees to hand over the sputtering business to
its creditors, leaving shareholders of the former British industrial
champion with next to nothing.
2003 – A large car bomb explodes outside the Imam Ali Mosque in
Najaf, Iraq. The explosion killed at least 80 people, including
Ayatollah Mohammed Bakir al-Hakim, a top Shiite Muslim cleric.

Noyan Tapan News Agency

The young face of Georgia distorted

By Haroutiun Khachatrian

It looks like that in the future, July-August of 2004 will
be marked as the period of surprising transformation of the
policy of the official Tbilisi toward its breakaway autonomies,
South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This is also a period of
disappointment with the actions of the new Georgian leadership.

The reason is simple. Theoretically, there are several ways
to re-gain Georgian control over the separatist regions. One is
to repeat every other day that the “international law” is on the
side of Tbilisi, or in other words, South Ossetia and Abkhazia
are internationally recognized as parts of Georgia (as if
somebody has forgotten about it), and to hope that external
forces (e.g., Russia, USA, OSCE, EU) will push these regions
back into the Georgian control. The second is war and other
versions of forcible actions. Both these options were applied
by the previous leaders of Georgia, and the results were what we
had earlier this year.

Meanwhile, the only way to have progress in these
deadlocked conflicts is the third option. It is to persuade the
people living in these regions that, if they rejoin Georgia,
they will live at least not less safe than now (and preferably,
better). For this reason, when President Saakashvili addressed
in May to the Ossetians and the Abkhazians, calling them
“brothers,” everybody who was interested in re-establishment of
peace and stability in Georgia and the whole South Caucasus, got
new hope that the new leadership of Georgia had chosen that
option.

Alas! Now, two and a half months after that statement, it
is obvious that no progress will be achieved in the observable
future. The reason is again simple – shootings in the South
Ossetia which were absent for the last ten years, have now
re-started, hence the Ossetians saw once again that they would
feel no safer under the Georgian rule. For this reason, Georgia
will not re-gain its control over South Ossetia, even if Russia
pulls out and NATO establishes its base in Tskhinvali. The
Ossetians do not trust the Georgians, and this is the only
fundamental factor feeding the conflict. The same is true for
Abkhazia.

The Georgians may claim that the provocative actions of
their partners were to be blamed for this escalation. First,
this is not an excuse. When you initiate planting flowers in
January, you should not protest of the treacherous behavior of
Nature, which has sent snow and frost to the flowers. After all,
the instability in Iraq and rocketing of oil prices were caused
by actions of Bush and Blair, rather than of, say, Muqtada
As-Sadr.

Second, the Georgians also have done a lot to worsen their
own positions. Let’s take alone the episode of arresting the
Russian rockets in Ossetia. I have no doubt that the Georgians
were right claiming the import of these rockets illegal. They
stopped an illegal action of Russia. But instead they lost a
much more important thing, namely, the sense of security among
the Ossetians, who, as before, are linking their security with
the Russians only. As for the Russians, they will continue doing
illegal actions both in Georgia and everywhere possible. And
especially in Georgia, as the Georgians failed to keep another
principal precondition, also declared by President Saakashvili:”
“Not to humiliate the Russians” (how can be combined these
obligations with threats to shoot at tourist boats?). And
Georgia will never have enough resources to prevent these
actions.

After the May 26 appeal of Saakashvili a fantastic hope was
born in my head. I thought that, in case of Saakashvili’s success
in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, an Azeri leader may follow his
example and apply to his “Armenian brothers”, thus initiating
reconciliation between the Armenians and Azeris… Alas and
alas! The example is not likely to be a success. The young
leaders of Georgia have displayed no more patience than the
previous ones.

The Noyan Tapan Highlights, August 16, 2004

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Boston Globe, MA
Aug 27 2004

American Jews and dual loyalty
By H.D.S. Greenway

CONSERVATIVE WRITERS David Frum and Richard Perle, in their book “An
End To Evil, How To Win The War On Terror,” spend the better part of
four pages confronting the charges that their agenda seems to many
like a “Zionist cabal.” They say that in interviews around the world
this question always comes up — “with beguiling directness” in the
Far East, “with excruciating awkwardness among Germans,” and with
“elegant sinuosity” from the British. Is there among neoconservatives,
many of whom are Jewish, a hidden motivation to make sure that
American foreign policy is good for Israel? The authors find such
suggestions insulting and anti-Semitic. But Tom Powers, in The New
York Review of Books, suggested: Why not admit openly that of course
the fate of Israel is much on their minds? “Anglophiles of yesteryear
did not apologize for arguing that it was in America’s best interest
to come to the aid of Britain in 1940, and Polish Americans did not
worry in silence about the fate of Lech Walesa. Complex loyalties are
a big part of the American style.”

Powers has a point. “Bundles for Britain” drives were big in American
East Coast cities in the early ’40s, while some Irish-Americans —
one remembers Colonel Robert McCormick’s Chicago Tribune — felt just
as strongly that the British did not deserve our bundles. No one
questions that Polish-Americans feel strongly about the old country,
and none complain about Irish-Americans today involving themselves in
the fate of Northern Ireland. Cuban-American passion for what happens
on their island is legendary, and could dramatically affect yet
another presidential election.

Lawrence Lowenthal of the American Jewish Committee told me that for
“decades and decades American Jews have been apprehensive about
charges of dual loyalty. The Pollard case made us very nervous.”
Jonathan Pollard was an American Jew caught spying for Israel and is
now serving a life sentence. “Pollard stepped over the line,”
Lowenthal said, but then so did Americans who ran guns for Irish
Republican Army.

When his family first came to America from Europe, Lowenthal said,
they wanted to put their past behind them. “Good riddance.” But all
that has changed; today’s Americans are no longer ashamed of ethnic
ties. Many Mexican-Americans are insisting on keeping their language
and culture. French-Canadians in the United States who once turned
their back on their French heritage are picking it up again.

Greek-Americans have a strong political lobby, so do Armenians,
although neither is as powerful as the pro-Israel lobby. The
congressional black caucus made its influence felt in sending the
Marines to Haiti in 1994, and black-Americans had a role in the
anti-apartheid cause in South Africa.

Duel citizenship is on the rise. Israel allows anyone Jewish to
become an Israeli. Ireland allows anyone who can prove he has an
Irish grandparent to apply for Irish citizenship, and “we certainly
experienced an enormous increase in applications over the last 10
years or so, ” says Isolde Moylan, the Irish consul in Boston.

In Perle’s case, much has been made of a paper that he and others,
including the Pentagon’s Douglas Feith, wrote some years ago for
Israel’s right-wing politician, Benjamin Netanyahu, calling for a
“New Strategy For Securing The Realm.” Their advice included getting
the United States to overthrow Saddam Hussein as well as other moves
in the Middle East to increase Israel’s strategic position. But
Americans have written constitutions for foreign countries, soldiered
in foreign armies, and even served in foreign governments. Americans
who identify with a foreign country are not, and should not, be held
suspect. There is nothing un-American about wanting to link this
country’s foreign policy to that of Israel. Nor is it anti-Semitic to
disagree.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Messenger.com.ge, Georgia
Aug 27 2004

Georgian pipelines for sale?
By Messenger staff

Georgia has a very sophisticated network of natural gas pipelines.
The first natural gas pipeline started functioning in Georgia during
Soviet times on December 25, 1959. The first influx of natural gas
came from Azerbaijan. Later this pipeline was extended to the north
towards Russia. Then this pipeline was joined to the Iranian gas
being pumped through Azerbaijan into the north.

Later another pipeline was added for the purpose of pumping Russian
natural gas through Georgia into Armenia. Fortunately today the
country still has this complicated network and has the capacity to
pump natural gas in many different directions, sometimes consuming
the gas itself or for serving as a transit unit.

In couple of years it is planned that, after Tbilisi-Baku-Ceyhan is
ready, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum natural gas pipeline will be finished
as well.

Up until now, the main supplier of natural gas to Georgia has been
Russia. It provides all of the gas used, 10 percent of which Georgia
earns from the pipeline leading to Armenia and Georgia receives this
during transit.

Recently, during his Iranian visit, President Saakashvili raised the
issue of providing Georgia with Iranian gas as an alternative to
Russia. As soon as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzerum, also known as the Shah
Deniz pipeline, starts, Georgia will have a concrete alternative
supply from Russia and therefore, it can always look for better
prices and a reliable partnership.

With the country entirely dependent on Russia, Georgia experiences
discomfort as Russian politicians threaten to cut off the gas supply
and thus weaken Georgia. Even in the recent past they did so, always
excusing their behaviour, hypocritically, as a problem of gas
shortage with various technical explanations. Georgia must also deal
with its significant debts to Russia and lacks an alternative
supplier with to improve its negotiating position.

Complicating the situation, in one of his interviews with the
newspaper Akhali Versia the Minister of Economy Kakha Bendukidze
responded to the question of whether the main natural gas pipeline
should be sold or not and said: “Give me a good buyer who will give
me a good price and I am going to sell it.”

Experts think, however, that at the moment the natural gas pipeline
in the condition that it is in now will need several hundred million
USD for its rehabilitation and few investors will be attracted to buy
this network.

However one possible investment might appear from Russia because it
needs the connection with their Armenian ally as well as Iran. And of
course, as current practice shows, if Russia becomes the owner of
these pipelines, it could exercise its complete influence much
stronger than now and in particular in situations of crisis for
Georgia.

Therefore, the opinion of the Georgian political and economic
analysts is that selling the main natural gas pipelines to investors
and in particular to Russians will be dangerous from the prospect of
Georgia’s energy security and furthermore to Georgia’s state
security.

Messenger.com.ge, Georgia
Aug 27 2004

News in brief

Education ministry selects texts for non-Georgian schools

The Georgian Ministry of Education and Science on Thursday sent
non-Georgian textbooks that comply with Georgian education standards
to the non-Georgian state schools of Kakheti.
Deputy Minister Temur Samadashvili told Prime-News that up to now the
non-Georgian schools of Georgia used to conduct their teaching
process with textbooks from Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan and often
their content did not comply with the teaching plan of the Georgian
education
system.
The textbooks will be delivered to all non-Georgian schools of
Georgia by August 30.
For the first time this year all the 50,000 pupils of Armenian and
Azeri schools will receive textbooks in the Georgian language free of
charge.
The provision of textbooks by the Ministry of Education and Science
is the first step in the program for involving the non-Georgian
population of Georgia; within the framework of the program there are
vacancies in the positions of the teachers of Georgian language.

noticias.info (Comunicados de prensa), Spain
Aug 27 2004

Relations between Azerbaijan and Germany looking good

Germany and Azerbaijan want to continue to expand their mutual trade
relations. This was announced by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Heydar Oglu Aleyev, in
Berlin on Wednesday.

Speaking on August 25 after his meeting with Aleyev, Schröder noted
that relations between Germany and Azerbaijan are very good, adding
that reforms in Azerbaijan have spurred economic growth.

President Aleyev’s efforts to strengthen the rule of law deserve our
respect, Schröder commented. He encouraged German industry to invest
more in Azerbaijan in view of the progress being made there.

Schröder said President Aleyev has made it clear that German
companies are highly welcome. He announced that a conference of
German and Azerbaijani companies will be held in Berlin late this
year or early next year with a view to expanding economic cooperation
between the two countries.

Schröder and Aleyev witnessed the signing of two agreements in the
Chancellery, one on avoidance of double taxation and the other for
the delivery of four Airbus passenger planes to Azerbaijan’s national
airlines, three A 319s and one A 319 Corporate Jet. The order is
worth 169 million dollars.

Schröder noted that the Airbus contract is symbolic of the closer
relations that now exist between Azerbaijan and the European Union.
Resolving the conflict with Armenia peacefully.

In reference to the Nagoro-Karabakh* conflict Schröder assured Aleyev
that Germany supports the Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. They
both stressed that the conflict needs to be resolved politically,
i.e. by peaceful means. Schröder noted that Germany is working to
help achieve a settlement of the conflict in the framework of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

*Nagoro-Karabakh is an enclave in Azerbaijan where the majority of
the population is Armenian. Azerbaijan’s declaration of independence
from the Soviet Union in 1991 was followed by outbreaks of violence
and armed conflict in this region. Armenian insurgents brought parts
of Nagoro-Karabakh and access routes to Armenia under their control.
A ceasefire has been in effect there since 1994.