New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Nov 19 2004
Armenian president urges Turkey to open border
BERLIN – Armenian President Robert Kocharyan urged Turkey to abandon
its 11-year blockade of the southern Caucasus country, a German paper
reported on Thursday.
Turkey shut its border with the tiny ex-Soviet republic in 1993 to
show solidarity with oil-rich Azerbaijan, which is in a long and
bitter territorial dispute with Armenia.
“Turkey is blockading Armenia, one can only call that harassment,”
the Berlin-based daily Die Welt quoted Kocharyan as saying in an
interview to be published on Friday.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey have long been strained because
Armenia says some 1.5 million of their people were slaughtered by
Ottoman Turks between 1915 and 1923. Turkey denies accusations of
genocide.
Kocharyan told the paper Armenia would not insist Turkey admit to
genocide for talks on normalising relations to proceed.
“For us, the recognition of the genocide of Armenians in 1915 by
Turks is certainly very important, but it will never be a condition
for the development of bilateral relations,” Die Welt quoted him as
saying.
“If Ankara recognised this fact, it would be a significant step
forward in the direction of normalising relations,” he told the
paper.
Armenia does not recognise the 1921 Kars treaty which fixed its
border with Turkey and some Armenian nationalists refer to parts of
eastern Turkey as “western Armenia”.

Zenit News Agency, Italy
Nov 19 2004
No One May Use Religion as Tool of Violence, Says Pope
Meets Muslims, Orthodox and Jews From Azerbaijan
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 18, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II insists that
no one has the right to use religion as an instrument of intolerance
or violence.
The Pope delivered that message today as he greeted in audience a
delegation of Muslim, Orthodox and Jewish religious representatives
from Azerbaijan.
The delegation was in Rome to return the Holy Father’s visit in 2002
to their Caucasus country, which has only about 300 Catholics.
Among the guests today were Allahshyukyur Pashazade, leader of the
Caucasus Muslims; Orthodox Bishop Aleksandr of Baku and the Caspian
region, a member of the Russian Orthodox Church; and the head of the
Caucasus Jewish community.
“May your visit to the Pope of Rome be a symbol for the world,
namely, may it show that tolerance is possible, and is a value of
civilization, which posits the premises for a fuller and more
solidaristic human, civil and social development,” John Paul II said
in his welcome address.
“No one has the right to present or use religions as instrument of
intolerance, as a means of aggression, violence or death,” he
stressed in his address, which he delivered in Russian.
“On the contrary, their reciprocal friendship and esteem, if
supported also by the government leaders’ commitment to tolerance,
constitutes a rich resource of authentic progress and peace,” the
Pope said.
“Together — Muslims, Jews, Christians — we wish to address in the
name of God and of civilization an appeal to humanity to halt
murderous violence and undertake the path of love and justice for
all,” the Holy Father continued.
The Pontiff highlighted the fact that “this is the path of religions”
and expressed the hope “that God will help us to go forward on this
path with perseverance and patience.”
John Paul II also referred to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian enclave in Azerbaijani territory, which triggered a war
between both states in 1991 and ended with the cease-fire of 1994 and
Armenia’s annexation, not only of the disputed territory, but of
other Azerbaijani lands as well.
The Pope expressed his heartfelt hope that “Azerbaijan will return to
the fullness of peace.” He said that this conflict, “as all other
disputes, must be addressed with good will, in the mutual search for
reciprocal openings of understanding and in a spirit of genuine
reconciliation.”
In a statement published after the meeting, Vatican spokesman Joaquín
Navarro Valls revealed that “during the audience the religious
leaders confirmed to the Pope their constant commitment to
collaborate with peace and to promote peaceful coexistence among the
different religions.”
The republic of Azerbaijan, which became independent after the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, has 7.8 million inhabitants,
mostly Muslims.
The Catholic community in Azerbaijan virtually disappeared during
Stalin’s persecutions, and the Catholic church in Baku was destroyed.
On the occasion of the Pope’s visit, then President Heider Aliev made
available a plot of land in the center of Baku to build a Catholic
church.

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Nov 19 2004
PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN ILHAM ALIYEV RECEIVED CREDENTIALS OF
AMBASSADOR OF TURKEY
[November 19, 2004, 19:26:44]
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan has received credentials of
the newly appointed ambassador of Turkey to Azerbaijan, 19 November.
Ambassador Turan Moral presenting his credentials said that he was
pleased with appointing as an ambassador extraordinary and
plenipotentiary to the Republic of Azerbaijan. He expressed deep
gratitude to the Head of Azerbaijan State that has welcomed his
appointment. Then, he presented a letter of credential to the
President of Azerbaijan.
Addressing the Turkish ambassador, President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev congratulated him on the new appointment and wished success in
his future diplomatic activity. `The relations between Turkey and
Azerbaijan are high level and develop intensively. After re-gaining
state independence, Turkey was the first state to recognize
Azerbaijan and since the links between two countries have developed
enough and cover all spheres.
In settlement of the most painful problem for Azerbaijan – the
Armenian-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict, Turkey has always
been near to Azerbaijan. We always feel this support and Turkey
constantly backs fair position of Azerbaijan for peaceful settlement
of the problem in the frame of international law’, President Ilham
Aliyev emphasized.
Further, the Head of State said: `We are connected also by regional
projects. From the point of view of regional cooperation we have good
links and generally, our relations is good example for regional
cooperation. The world-scale project BTC and BTE bring closer our
countries.
And, as you know, national leader of Azerbaijan people Heydar Aliyev
has great contributions in realization of these projects. And it is
not casually that the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline was named
after Heydar Aliyev. In a word, our relations are at high level in
all fields’. Reminding his last visit to Turkey, president Aliyev
said: `The negations we carried out during the visit and signed
documents will bring us closer. I cordially congratulate you with
this appointment’.
***
Head of Azerbaijan State and the Ambassador were taken their photos
in memory.
Then, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Ambassador Turan Moral
had warm conversation.
Head of the foreign relations department of President Administration
Novruz Mammadov attended the credential presentation ceremony.

PROFESSOR HOVHANNISIAN: I WAS IN NATIVE ENVIRONMENT IN IRAN
Azg/arm
18 Nov 04
Hovhannes Hovhannisian, head of Moscow Central Institute of
Traumatology and Orthopaedy, had a two-week visit to Iran on
invitation of the biggest Iranian hospital Milad, the Chair of
Traumatology and Orthopaedy of Tehran University and the Institute of
Scientific Development. He shared his impressions with Azg daily.
– I am in close relations with many Iranian colleagues whom I meet
mainly at international conferences. And now I had the chance of
visiting them in their country to perform demonstrative operations and
deliver lectures.
– Who was watching the operations? Students?
– No, professional doctors were. Milad hospital can compete with any
western hospital with its first-class personnel and technical
equipments. They asked me to use my methods and tools in operating the
patients I knew.
– What does make your methods unique?
– My scientific methods of fracture and joint treatment allow to
perform operation in field conditions, no expensive and stationary
equipment is needed.
– Especial considering Iran’s seismic location.
– That’s true but, besides, number of people who become victims of car
crashes is enormous in Iran too. There are more cars in Tehran than in
hugeMoscow. 5 of 9 patients I treated suffered a car crash.
– What was your language of communication there?
– There are many physicians in Tehran who are graduates of Russian
institutes, including the one I am coming from. They were voluntarily
helping me during operations, lecturing and also in my personal
conversations. As you can guess, I had no difficulty with local
Armenian doctors as regards communication. Iranians are kind,
hospitable people and show wonderful disposition towards Armenians. I
felt myself in a native environment. They offered me a contract for 10
years and I gladly signed it.
– Did you meet the local Armenian community?
– How could I miss the chance? Wherever I go, I always inquire about
the life of local Armenians. In Tehran’s Armenian church I had a warm
talk with the head of Iran diocese archbishop Sepuh Sargsian. Then I
was invited by the Union of Iran’s Armenian doctors. In the center of
Tehran Armenians have a cultural and health complex with a scientific
section, a swimming pool, a tennis-court, a football field and a
concert hall. It merely amazed me. Do you know what I said in my
interview to a Moscow newspaper? I said that Moscow Armenians, though
with greater possibilities, would only dream of such a national
center.
By Ruben Hayrapetian in Moscow

CANADA: LECTURES ON KARABAKH’S INDEPENDENCE
Azg/arm
18 Nov 04
The AGBU Toronto offshoot and Zorian Institute organized lectures
dedicated to the history of Nagorno Karabakh’s independence and its
current state in the aspect of the recent international political
developments. The lectures were held at the AGBU Aleck Manukian
Cultural Center (Canada). Professor George Burnutian (from Antona
Collage) touched upon the Armenian-Azeri conflict, emphasizing that
Nagorno Karabakh is an Armenian territory. While Vartan Barseghian
(NKR Permanent representative to the US) talked of Karabakh’s current
status within the framework of the international law. He explained
that NKR keeps in line with the international criteria for being
declared as an independent state for the effective control of its
territory, by its permanent population, regular armed forces, the
legislative, executive and judicial elected by the people, as well as
the effective foreign policy. “The main precondition of the
negotiations is the establishment of safety and stability in the
region, that can’t be achieved without maintaining stability in each
country,” he said emphasizing that the policy conducted by the Azeri
authorities is aimed to ethnic annihilation of Karabakh’s Armenian
population and distortion of history. This last issue was touched upon
by professor, emphasizing that Azerbaijan and Turkey give many grants
to the Western experts for the violation of the history. “Few
organizations reflect the attack of these phenomenon. The Zorian
Institute,the AGBU and the National Association of Armenian Studies
are among them,” he said.
By Hakob Tsulikian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DAVIS REPORT RETAINS ALL UNACCEPTABLE ARTICLES
Azg/arm
19 Nov 04
Armenian Deputies to PACE Grieving
On November 17 PACE new reporter on Nagorno Karabakh David Atkinson
represented his report at the session of PACE Commission on Political
Issues in Paris. The session was chaired by deputy from Russia
Mikhail Margelov who represented the issue. The session discussed the
changes suggested by the deputies.
Armenian deputy at PACE Tigran Torosian suggested 5 possible changes
only two of which were accepted. A formulation in the 7th article
saying that the International Court of Justice should examine whether
Armenia has violated Azerbaijan’s territorial wholeness was removed.
Terry Davis’ preliminary report’s 7th article read: “In case
negotiations within the Minsk group framework turn futile, thenâ=80¦
Armenia and Azerbaijan may turn to the International Court of Justice
as there is a legalistic argument whether Armenia violated
Azerbaijan’s territorial wholeness for defending the right of
self-identification of Karabakh people or not”.
It’s puzzling why the Armenian side considered this very article a
potentially dangerous one. During last few years Armenia has been
constantly repeating that Karabakh has never been within the
boundaries of independent Azerbaijan and that the League of Nations
did not recognize the Azeri state of 1918-20 because the latter tried
to join the League with Karabakh behind. Yerevan agreed on finding a
legal solution for the issue.
The second change of the Armenian side that was accepted has to do
with the 11th article which deals with spreading hatred by means of
mass media. They suggested to remove the equals sign between Armenian
and Azeri mass media as regards spreading hatred. Now this article
reads: “The Assembly condemns any call for violence by means of
Armenian and Azeri media”.
Three more suggestions of the Armenian side were turned down. “It was
obvious that some representatives’ choice to vote for Azeris was
dictated from above and as result our 3 changes were rejected”,
Torosian said. An “explanation” issued right after the session by the
Department of Contacts with Public ofthe National Assembly of Armenia
does not name the states voted for Azerbaijan.
There were several unacceptable formulations in Davis’ report (we do
not use the term “Atkinson’s report” as Mr. Atkinson has only edited
Davis’ report – T.H.) that still retain. In particular terms like
“ethnic exile” and “appearance of homogeneous ethnic territories”. But
the most unacceptable one was the last sentence in the first article
that the Armenian side could not force to remove. It reads: “A
considerable part of Azerbaijan’s territory isstill occupied by
Armenian armed forces and the separatist forces are still in control
over Nagorno Karabakh”.
The second article repeats that occupation of a CE state’s territory
by another CE state is a violation of CE regulations. In fact, Armenia
is charged with occupation of Azeri lands. Probably the UN General
Assembly will accept a formula about “the present state Azerbaijan’s
occupied territories”.
Neither Atkinson’s report nor UN’s formula have juridical power,
therefore are not forcible but are important from political and
propaganda aspects.
By Tatoul Hakobian

The New Zealand Herald
Saturday November 20, 2004
South African Nick du Toit arrives in court in Malabo. Picture / Reuters
Equatorial Guinea coup suspects claim they were tortured
19.11.2004
12.30pm
MALABO – A South African arms dealer who could face death for plotting to
overthrow the president of Equatorial Guinea told a court on Thursday he and
his comrades had been chained like animals and tortured into confessing.
Equatorial Guinea’s state prosecutor demanded the death penalty for Nick du
Toit and decades in jail for 13 other suspected foreign mercenaries.
However, in a dramatic final day of submissions in a trial that began in
August, the defendants stood up in ankle chains and hand-cuffs to plead
their innocence.
“No weapons, no arms, no explosives were found on us,” du Toit said.
“We have done nothing wrong. Since our arrest, we have been chained like
wild animals … We have been tortured by the police … There hasn’t been
any coup attempt.”
State Prosecutor Jose Olo Obono rejected any allegations of mistreatment,
saying all prisoners’ rights had been respected.
“Any statement to the contrary … is not admissible in this trial,” he told
the court.
He demanded jail terms ranging from 26 to 86 years for seven other South
Africans, six Armenians and two Equatorial Guineans. He dropped charges
against three other Equatorial Guineans.
Until this week, du Toit was the only one of the defendants who admitted
involvement in the plot to oust President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
However, he retracted his confession on Tuesday, saying it was extracted
through torture.
Obono said the men were working for an international web of financiers
aiming to install exiled politician Severo Moto in power in the country,
sub-Saharan Africa’s third-biggest oil producer. Moto, who lives in Spain,
denies involvement.
His name and those of eight members of his self-proclaimed government in
exile were added to the original charge sheet on Tuesday, and the prosecutor
asked for death for Moto and 102 years in jail for the others, to be
convicted in absentia.
Fourteen people, including Mark Thatcher, the son of former British Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher, are also listed in court documents read out by
Obono as financiers of the plot.
Thatcher is accused of providing the alleged plotters with $275,000,
($394,000) while Lebanese oil tycoon Eli Calil is alleged to have
contributed US$750,000. Both deny any involvement.
Lawyers for Equatorial Guinea denied media reports that the country had
charged Thatcher. Equatorial Guinea has yet to say whether it will seek his
extradition from South Africa.
The verdict in the trial will be announced on November 26. Defence lawyers
on Thursday said all the suspects in the courtroom were innocent and should
be acquitted.
The lawyer for the eight South Africans, Fabian Nsue Nguema, said his
clients had suffered physical abuses including beating, trampling and a
torture session in a room with blood-stained walls, and mental torment
including death threats.
Several of the South Africans spoke of torture when given a chance to speak
at the court session’s end. They said their wrists and ankles had been
chained since their arrest in March.
“Please, please remove these handcuffs…We’ve been like this for eight
months 24 hours a day,” Joao Americo Pimentel Riveiro told the presiding
judge.
Equatorial Guinea says the plot was organised by Simon Mann, a former
British special forces officer jailed by Zimbabwe in August on weapons
charges related to the alleged coup.
A number of British businessmen are also named in the list of financiers
handed out in the court, including a J H Archer. He is alleged to have
provided US$240,000 to the coup plotters.
Disgraced British politician and best-selling novelist Jeffrey H Archer, who
spent time behind bars for perjury in a libel case, has denied links to any
coup plot.
“Lord Archer emphatically denies any involvement with the alleged coup in
Equatorial Guinea,” his lawyers said in London.
– REUTERS

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Nov 19 2004
Turkey punishes Armenia: Kocaryan

The Armenia head of state Robert Kocaryan said that they have no pre
conditions for the normalisation of relations with Turkey.

November 19 – Armenia’s President Robert Kocaryan has claimed that
Turkey is keeping its border crossing point with Armenia shut in
order to punish his country.
Speaking in an interview with the German Die Welt newspaper
Kocaryan said that the border gate had been closed in 1993 by Ankara
as a gesture of support for Azerbaijan.
`Turkey keeps Armenia under siege and this can only be counted
as a punishment,’ he told the paper.
Currently, Armenia holds up to 20 percent of Azeri territory
as a result of a more than decade long conflict with the former post
Soviet republics.
Kocaryan went on to say that recognition of the alleged
Armenian genocide by Ankara was very important for Armenians and
would be a great step towards normalising relations but was not a pre
condition on its own.

Pasadena Star News
Article Published: Thursday, October 28, 2004 – 4:30:03 PM PST
South America in Glendale’s Little Armenia
Peruvian, Argentinian and Brazil eateries thrive on large appetites and
impressive servings
It’s easy enough to perceive Glendale as the Little Armenia of Los Angeles.
And for good reason — the city is supposedly home to one of the largest
Armenian populations outside of Armenia. And, as is often the case, there
are sufficiently many Armenian restaurants to act as the proof of the
pudding.
But if you take a good look around, you might also notice that the various
cuisines of South America are exceedingly well represented in Glendale.
Indeed, you’ll find quite a mix of them right on grand Brand Boulevard. If
such were your druthers, you could dine in Brazil, Argentina and Peru… all
in one night.
The Brazilian churrascaria flies in the face of just about every notion held
dear to the nutritionists of America — which is why we like it so much.
It’s an exercise in unlimited amounts of protein, much of which is grilled
and even blackened, and very well salted. Along with the meat, you can stuff
yourself with fried polenta, fried bananas, and an empanada variation called
pastel. There’s a buffet as well of pastas and potatoes, and lots of things
made with cheese. It’s a gutbuster of a meal found at a number of venues
throughout the San Gabriel Valley (like Green Field, Picanha and Roda Viva).
And in Glendale, you’ll find the experience at Gauchos Village –which
recently moved from a small storefront location, to a new, sprawling, rather
grand space, with live music, big crowds and lots of food. Thanks to its new
location, Gauchos Village has become one of the premiere churrascarias in
town. (It’s got a heck of a busy bar as well, called the Carnaval Bar.)
In a room that looks as if it were lifted right off the streets of Rio, with
servers dressed in puffy white gaucho shirts, with bolo ties and brightly
colored sashes, Gauchos Village feels unexpectedly authentic; it actually
comes as a surprise to find they speak English within. There are many long
tables, occupied by large groups, with lots of wood, and a sense of manic
joy that comes from knowing that there’s no end to the amount of beef ribs
you can consume.
The ritual is fairly well-established. You begin your meal with a visit (or
two, or three) to what’s referred to as a “salad bar,” though there’s much
more than salad to be found on it. There are heaping platters of rice done
several ways, long-cooked beans, thickly slathered cheese bread, the
lead-heavy yucca flour dish called farofa (like poi, an acquired taste),
even chicken Stroganoff and chicken Milanese. For those who want to begin
with something a bit less filling, there are a multitude of salads — try
the hearts of palm with cucumber, the artichoke and cucumber, the tabouli,
the garbanzo bean salad — or just a platter of pickles and cherry peppers,
which decidedly gets the juices flowing.
After that, it’s time for the ‘que kids to show up with their skewers and
their knives. (The menu actually calls the place “An Atkins Dieter’s
Paradise.”) To cut you thick shards of beef sirloin, tenderloin, tri-tip,
garlic steak (when they say “garlic,” take them seriously), filet mignon,
ribs (beef and pork), pork sausage (both Polish and Brazilian), and many
chicken parts (including long skewers threaded through a drumline of chicken
hearts).
No matter how much you promise yourself that you won’t go overboard, you
always do. It’s part of the process. I know I’m in trouble — when I go back
for cheese bread… for dessert.
Some years ago, when El Morfi was situated around the corner on California
Avenue, I wrote an article about the place, praising a single dish — the
fugazetta pizza. Which still on the menu, and still awfully good, an
Argentinian take on pizza, that’s a close cousin to the calzone, topped with
loads of onions and garlic, and stuffed with ham, cheese, onions and garlic.
Back then, I described it as, “a messy creation, sort of a pizza meets a
Sloppy Joe sandwich — just terrific.” I stand by that. And by a fair amount
of the food served here as well.
El Morfi is an Argentinian-Italian restaurant, a combination that’s far less
strange than it sounds, for a sizable chunk of the population of Argentina
is Italian. As befits the Argentinian-Italian style of cooking, there’s
plenty of pasta on the menu, heartily seasoned, effusively served —
linguine pescatore piled high with mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops and
calamari in either a red or a white sauce (I prefer the red); cannelloni and
lasagna, filled variously with chicken, beef and spinach; and a variation on
potato gnocchi called “noquis,” flavored with estofado sauce.
As also befits the Argentinian-Italian style, there’s lots of meat on the
menu — Argentinian chefs make wonderful grilled sweetbreads (mollejas) and
black sausage (morcilla). They do a great chicken as well, marinated with
garlic and olive oil, and grilled until the skin crackles.
And by all means, try the appetizer called matambre — “hunger killer” —
rolled flank steak stuffed with eggs, carrots and peppers. For dessert,
there’s very good flan and bread pudding. There’s no tiramisu, a reminder
that this is still Argentinian cuisine.
The El Pollo Inka chain is the best known purveyor of Peruvian food in
SoCal. But it’s not the only one. What used to be El Loco del Pollo
Authentic Peruvian Cuisine changed its name recently to Lola’s. But not much
else has changed, it’s still a fine place to go for Peruvian chicken (pollo
a la brasa), chicken cooked long and slow on a rotisserie until it just
about tumbles from the bone.
When it comes to the chicken — the pollo a la brasa — at Lola’s, the
ritual is simple. You have a choice of a quarter chicken for $6.99, a half
chicken for $8.99 and a whole chicken for $17.99. Since the chicken travels
very well, and tastes great the next day, it’s a good policy to go for the
biggest one you can. The chicken comes with a pair of sauces for dipping,
one very garlicky, one almost as garlicky, though sauce isn’t really needed
— this is chicken that tastes as good as chicken possibly can.
But there’s lots more to Peruvian cooking than chicken (though there are
another eight chicken dishes on the menu, including a fine pollo saltado, in
which the chicken is stir-fried with french fries; it sounds odd, but it
tastes great). Papa huancaina is a boiled potato topped with an addictive
garlic sauce (yes, they do like their garlic here!), one of the best things
anyone does to a spud. (Ocopa is a tasty variation, in which the topping is
a peanut sauce.)
There are sundry ceviches — they did invent the notion of “cooking” fish in
lime juice in the region. And for those who need fish, seafood is ubiquitous
at Lola’s — try the saltado de mariscos — shrimp, calamari and octopus
tossed with french fries; or the arroz chaufa de camarones, which is
essentially Peruvian fried rice (it’s even flavored with soy sauce).
To wash it all down, try one of the Peruvian soft drinks — Chicha Morada,
Maracuya or Inka Cola. They’re very sweet, which is needed to deal with all
that garlic.
– Chop Shop
– Japanese Gourmet
– Savory Shabu Shabu
– Just noodlin’ around
– A work in progress: Cafe Atlantic is on the right path
– Pasta Bar None
– A mouthful of Middle Eastern delights
– For the best Chinese seafood, read the walls
– Noodle-Mania
– A pioneering Panda
– Tastebud heaven
– Ethnically-eclectic classics
– Frills-free food
– Meet The Press
– Pan-Asian fusion at its best
– The ambience of Mandaloun

Azeri, Armenian foreign ministers meet in Berlin
Lider TV, Baku
19 Nov 04

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov has met his Armenian
counterpart, Vardan Oskanyan. At their meeting in Berlin, the
ministers continued discussing the issues which topped the agenda of
their Prague meeting [30 August 2004], the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry press service reported.
Mammadyarov will leave for New York tomorrow to attend discussions of
the situation on Azerbaijan’s occupied territories at the UN General
Assembly on 23 November.