ArmenPress
Oct 22 2004
MINISTER OSKANIAN VISITED MKHITARIAN CONGREGATION OF VENICE
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22, ARMENPRESS: Armenian foreign minister Vartan
Oskanian made a greeting speech at Let’s Save the Book scientific
conference in Saint Lazarus island of Venice. According to foreign
ministry press services, being the joint effort of Mkhitarian
Congregation of Venice and local authorities, the conference hosts
state officials, a representative of Austrian culture and science
ministry, prominent scientists, experts in Armenian identity and
university faculty and students.
The Mkhitarian Congregation was founded by Abbot Mkhitar,
prominent Armenian scholar and theologian, who converted to the Roman
Catholicism. In 1717, Abbot Mkhitar founded the renowned Congregation
of scholar monks in Venice, on St. Lazarus Island. The monastery of
Mkhitar developed a worldwide famous academy.
The purpose of the conference is to present features of Mkhitarian
rich library, recovery projects of unique publications and books and
prospects for opening a new library by the Veneto region.
The “Let’s Save the Book” project has spent $150,000 thus far to
properly preserve about 200,000 books kept in the Mkhitarian library.
Today, minister Oskanian visited also Venice Center for Armenian
Studies and Documentation which is located in Loggia del Temanza
Palazzo, founded in 1777. The center conducts important work in
Armenian medieval history, literature and art studies. Lectures are
organized and works are conducted for the recovery and preservation
of Armenian monuments. Part of this is funded by foreign ministry of
Italy.
Minister Oskanian and the center authorities exchanged ideas on
Armenian studies and protection of cultural values in Venice and
agreed to attract the attention of international community to the
issue.
Armenian foreign minister was hosted also at Murad Rafaelian
College in Venice which was established in 1836 and has been located
in Ka Zenobir famous palace since 50s of the same century. Prominent
figures of Armenian culture, including Daniel Varujan, Petros
Adamian, Vahram Papazian, Edgar Shahin and others studied in this
school.
In the evening, an exhibition dedicated to 300 year long history
of relations between Mkhitarian Congregation and Venice authorities
opened which will run by the end of January, 2005.
These days, Armenian ship Cilicia also reached the coast of Saint
Lazarus island closing the first stage of the journey. Minister
Oskanian visited the ship and talked with the crew handing them
souvenirs and medals of Armenian foreign ministry.
In the course of the whole visit to Italy, minister Oskanian was
accompanies by Italian Ambassador to Armenia Marco Clemente.

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Oct 22 2004
Saakashvili, Kocharian Held Talks
/ Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 2004-10-22 19:32:26
Visiting Armenian President Robert Kocharian said after talks with
his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi on October 22
that they focused `at purely bilateral relations during the talks.’
Mikheil Saakashvili described relation between the two countries as
`brotherly and friendly.’
`We have discussed bilateral economic ties, cooperation in transport
sector… as well as cooperation between the law enforcement agencies,’
Robert Kocharian said.
The two Presidents have also discussed the issue of restoration of
the railway connection in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia, which will
enable landlocked Armenia to restore its railway link with its
strategic partner Russia.
`Restoration of the railway will be favorable not only for us, but
for Georgia as well. But it is Georgia’s prerogative to deal with
this issue,’ the Armenian President added.

Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Oct 22 2004
Theatre groups from 30 nations to take part in monodrama festival

By Tahseen Shaghouri

Staff Reporter

Fujairah: Theatrical groups from more than 30 countries are expected
to take part in the Fujairah International Monodrama Festival in its
second year. Monodrama involves a production where just one performer
takes part and presents a story.
Two local plays prepared by the Dibba Al Fujairah Association for
Arts and Theatre will participate in the cultural festival which is
scheduled to be held from December 8 to 20.
`Celebrities from the region and the wider world will be invited to
attend the festival, to join a number of leading figures from
international festivals and other folkloric musical bands,’ said
Mohammad Saeed Al Danhani, a UAE national playwright and president of
the festival.
He said the successful hosting of the first international theatrical
festival in Fujairah last year had helped establish a strong local
theatrical movement supported by the Fujairah Government.
The Dibba Al Fujairah theatrical group was invited to participate in
several international cultural festivals such as festivals in Italy
and Russia.
`We have also been invited to take part in four major monodrama
festivals in the next four months in India, Russia, Germany and
Romania,’ said Al Danhani. The coming festival will feature plays
from Estonia, Armenia, India, Argentina, the UK and Africa.
The participating plays will be performed on several stages
throughout theatres in the emirate to enable as many people as
possible to attend.

The News International, Pakistan
Oct 22 2004
Caspian and Caucasian regions
Dr Maqsudul Hasan Nuri
The 12th International Conference on “Central Asia and the Caucasus:
Looking into the future of energy systems” was organised by The
Institute for Political and International Studies, Tehran, from
October 12-13, 2004. Inaugurated by the Foreign Minister of Iran Mr
Kamal Karrazi, the moot was attended by 23 countries, including
Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Iran,
Italy, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, UK and
USA. A number of journalists from Germany, Sweden and other countries
were invited to cover the event.
Albeit no consensus emerged from the conference as divergent
viewpoints were aired by countries, problems related to Caspian Sea
resources, geopolitics, energy transportation, regional integration,
trade in electrical energy, and energy systems were some of the major
themes on which opinions were expressed.
Caspian Sea, as the “biggest lake” and an “inland sea,” is endowed
with vast hydrocarbon and marine resources. Oil was discovered as far
back as the 1870s. Under the Bolshevik regime in then Soviet Union
Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan was the main source of oil. In the
Cold war, other players such as US oil company Chevron came into the
Caspian basin to exploit its resources. Hence the so- called “closed
sea” has turned into an “open sea.”
Problems bedevilling the Caspian and Caucasian region range from
radicalised Islam, lack of sustained development, issues of pipeline
routing, Western attempts to divide the regional powers, menace if
political corruption, ethnic divisions, US monopolistic and
self-centred role as sole superpower, drug trafficking,
militarisation of the region, ownership and jurisdictional disputes
over the continental and sea bed resources, and not the least,
pollution and environmental problems.
The question was raised by some Central Asian scholars that if Iran
was already sufficient in energy resources – the third largest
supplier of gas – why it was so serious in seeking nuclear energy. To
this the Iranians responded that in view of energy shortages and
non-renewable nature of oil and gas, diversification had become
necessary. Since it does not have “base load” of enough hydropower
like other CARs, it was added, so acquiring nuclear energy had become
a pressing necessity for future economic development. Hence Iran had
started a programme of alternative energy diversification by
developing coal, thermal and solar energy systems.
US branding of Iran as an “axis of evil” that is “raring to go for
nuclear weaponry,” ignore Iran’s cooperation in dispute-resolution
attempts in Chechnya, Tajikistan. Also, present pragmatic streaks in
its foreign policy are often overlooked.
Regarding questions about fecklessness of ECO and its dismal
performance, it was observed that other organisations in the region
such as GUUAM, Black Sea Cooperation Council, CICA and SCO are
equally slow in producing results. Hence ECO, a 10-member
organisation needs to be bolstered, given its area, population and
size of resources.
Chinese interests in the region were highlighted because of its
“elephant economy” nature like that of India. Since 1997, Xinjiang-
Kazakhistan pipeline project had faced difficulties in finances,
workers, transportation problems and the project was on and off for
quite sometime. After Russo-Japanese agreed to cooperate China got
disillusioned with Russian cooperation. And hence in August 2004 made
major Chinese investment in Kros Neka project – one such instance of
close Chinese-Iranian cooperation.
Landlocked countries such as Armenia, Afghanistan Kazakhstan and
others highlighted their concerns of being left out and had visions
of “corridor states” for transhipment of oil through pipelines. But
for this it was conceded that internal order for safe passage of oil
both in the Caucasus and in Afghanistan must improve.
Azerbaijan is a major supply of oil to the West through the
Baku-Ceyhan pipeline – a portion of which has lately become
operational. It was reasoned that globalisation per se was not a
negative phenomenon but it is its form and nature that is
questionable. Under the US it was taking a form of “take-all” and
“me-only” approach. Suggestions were offered on promoting tendencies
for benign globalisation. There was a need to stop crime syndicates,
oil lobbies, and other non-or anti national groups to mitigate
negative syndromes of globalisation.
Some concerns were raised about militarisation of the region,
notably, military cooperation between US and Azerbaijan. Also, US
forces were getting entrenched in some of the CARs, especially
Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan and Tajikistan. This is being countered by
Russia in Tajikistan. It was asserted that the Caspian Sea belonged
to the littoral states and Iran is not too pleased with outsider’s
intrusions. The security of the region is the primary responsibility
of the littoral states that need to forge collective security.
Georgia emphasised the need for hydroelectric, thermal and other
alternative forms of energies. There were 20 foreign countries
working on different schemes on energy in the country. Georgia could
act as safe corridor for passage of oil between north and south.
Security situation could be helped with the help of Russia and Iran –
former maritime owners of the Caspian Sea before the demise of the
Soviet Union. Problems of landlocked states, lack of connectivity to
the outside, US as main interloper and contender also came under
review. But then it was reasoned that a superpower has to be
dependent on its partners and allies such as Turkey, Georgia,
Uzbekistan and Pakistan in the realisation of its global objectives.
While for pipeline systems, the western route is preferred by the US
and the West, the northern route by Russia, southern by Iran, and the
southern-eastern by Kazakhstan and China. The southeastern route is
the shortest and cheapest but is nagged by unstable Afghanistan.
However a redeeming aspect is that if it matures at some stage and
transits through Afghanistan (conditional on return of normalcy) it
could reach highly populated South Asia – both Pakistan and India. It
would be a “win-win” game for all actors- producers and consumers.
Many scholars in the moot held the opinion that the US wants to
design a “regional order” on the pretext of democracy and development
but instead to ensure its lead and hegemony in the region. As a
superpower, it needs compliant allies: Georgia, Azerbaijan, Pakistan
and others. After the 9/11 events, anti-proliferation, anti-terrorism
and search for alternative sources of oil other than the Persian Gulf
have come out in the open. It wants to induce competition amongst
regional actors and thwart attempts at regional collaboration. Under
the mask of democracy and development, Central Asia and Caucasus, it
is employing ruthless exploitation of their resources in what is
described as the “New Great Game.” Albeit Russia and others are major
stakeholders in the region, they are hampered by requisite managerial
skills, funds and technical expertise. Caspian basin is not expected
to attract the kind of investment as the Persian Gulf did because of
its intrinsic limitations.
Today, the global economy is being increasingly affected by prospects
of energy and menace of violence and terrorism. Countries are either
exporters or importers of oil, a commodity that is going to remain
crucial for the foreseeable future in the absence of any other
alternative energy resource. Iran and Russia are main exporters of
energy but the new CARs pipeline structures are not reliable. The
present rise in oil prices is damaging the economies of many
countries like Japan.
Does the search for energy lead to cooperation or conflict: it is egg
and chicken question dilemma. Generally, conflicts abound where oil
is present – be it in the Caspian, Gulf, West Africa or Sudan. Will
this induce cooperation or conflict in the year’s ahead remains to be
seen?
Will hegemonic policies of the US help or hinder integration amongst
the regional actors? A lot depends upon Europe for it can make a dent
in the uni polar nature of the international system. Heretofore, its
policies towards the Caucasus and Caspian basin are not coherent.
The main suggestions that emerged out of the seminar area were a need
for greater harmonisation of legal and technical systems within the
Caspian basin countries. The Europeans could contribute to gas
supplying and undertaking major investments; besides, power stations
and supply stations need to be built up soon. Also, it is timely to
explore alternative sources of energy to reduce dependence on oil.
Databases have to be updated. Even Caspian Sea data is sometimes
confusing and exaggerated.
Protection of environment must go in tandem with economic
development, keeping in view the experiences of other developing
countries. Also, mismanagement, wastage, and corruption are some
lessons as faced by some oil producing countries need to be avoided.
Joint navigation, security of pipelines, establishing proper
database, and military and technical cooperation are required. There
was a common stance on linking the region through a uniform energy
grid.
Demilitarisation of the region should be done; jurisdictional
conflicts in the Caspian Sea have to be sorted out; safety related
conventions on shipping and fishing need to be legislated and
implemented in unison.
Only then Central Asia and Caucasian regions could realise their true
potential. Contrarily, failure could invite further outside
manipulation and interference that could lead to future intra and
inter- state conflicts and wars.
The writer is Senior Research Fellow IPRI. He recently participated
in the 12th International Conference on Central Asia and the
Caucasus, Tehran, Iran

PanArmenian News
October 21, 2004
`BY DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE TURKEY REJECTS EUROPEAN VALUES`
BRUSSELS, 22.10.04. The First Convention of European Armenians,
organized by the European Armenian Federation on October 18 -19,
2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European
citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The
participants, who included leaders of various organizations and
concerned individuals from sixteen countries, attended the debates
organized within the framework of three sessions dedicated to the
Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the question of the
protection and the development of the Armenian language in the
Diaspora, the relations between the European Union and Armenia, and
the challenges of EU Enlargement. During the second session, the
ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr. Vigen Chitechian,
presented Mr. Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and European
Parliament former member, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the
highest official distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Touching
upon the topic of Turkey`s candidacy to the European Union, Hilda
Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation
declared that `Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the Armenian
people – the very people who represented the values of enlightenment
within the Ottoman Empire – its rejection of European modernity.` She
warned European Union`s leaders against the integration of a State
that persists to express that rejection of European values through
its policy of denial and that through its attitude `threatens the
regional stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian
people.`

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 22, 2004 Friday 3:48 PM Eastern Time
Motor traffic through Georgia-Armenia checkpoints regular
By Tengiz Pachkoria
TBILISI
Motor traffic through checkpoints on the Georgian-Armenian border is
regular, Georgian Border Department Chairman Badri Bitsadze said at a
Friday meeting of the Georgian and Armenian presidents in the border
village of Sadakhlo.
“Armenia and Georgia are interested in motor traffic through the
Russian Verkhny Lars checkpoint [in the North Ossetian sector of the
Russian-Georgian border]: It is the only and vital road to Russia for
Armenia,” Bitsadze said.
Motor traffic through Verkhny Lars was stopped after the Beslan
hostage crisis this September. Hundreds of vehicles en route to and
from Georgia have amassed on both sides of the border.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
October 22, 2004 Friday
Armenian president wants through railroad traffic to Russia
By Tengiz Pachkoria
TBILISI
The absence of through railroad traffic is not beneficial for Georgia
and Armenia, Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said at a Friday
briefing in Tbilisi.
Kocharyan said they did not discuss resumption of through railroad
traffic from Russia to Armenia via the Abkhaz segment of the Georgian
railroad at the Friday meeting with Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili.
“It is a very difficult problem, which Georgia should resolve, but I
think that the more roads we have the better it will be for all of
us,” Kocharyan said.

Agency WPS
The Russian Oil and Gas Report (Russia)
October 22, 2004, Friday
THE US IS AGAINST SALE OF GEORGIAN GAS PIPELINES TO GAZPROM
The US is against the sale of the trunk gas pipeline of Georgia to
Gazprom, which has been demonstrating its interest in privatization
in the country, says energy envoy of the US Department of State to
the Caspian region Stephen Mann.
In 2003, Gazprom signed a framework agreement with the former
Georgian government headed by President Eduard Shevardnadze on close
cooperation and gas supplies to the country. Soon after that Gazprom
managed to oust the international group of companies ITERA, that was
at that time the monopoly gas supplier to Georgia, from the Georgian
market. Several times Gazprom offered the government of Georgia to
sell the trunk gas pipeline through which gas was delivered from
Russia to Georgia and Armenia. Georgian economic experts say that
Gazprom is prepared to pay a few hundreds of millions of dollars to
acquire control over the object strategic for Georgia.
In a few years Georgia plans to receive gas via the pipeline from
Azerbaijan to the Turkish Erzurum and to become less dependent on the
gas supplies from Russia, political relations with which have grown
worse lately. Mann states, “If the trunk gas pipelines are sold to
Gazprom the possibility of gas purchase from Azerbaijan will be lost.
Naturally, Gazprom will try to sell its gas.” Mann believes that if
Georgia sells the gas pipelines to Gazprom it will lose energy
security. Mann concludes, “I call on everyone to look at the
agreement between Gazprom and Georgia. For Georgia it was
unfavorable.”
Source: Vremya Novostey, October 21, 2004
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Los Angeles Times
October 22, 2004 Friday
Home Edition
The World;
Turkey’s Greeks Ponder Their Future, or Possible Lack Thereof;
The key minority faces extinction amid a flight of members and red
tape that stunts its growth.
by Tracy Wilkinson, Times Staff Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey
As a biologist, Dositeos Anagnostopulos knows a species near
extinction when he sees it.
Anagnostopulos has watched the once-thriving Greek community in this
nation dwindle to a tiny fraction of its former strength. When he
graduated from high school here more than 40 years ago, there were
150,000 ethnic Greeks living in Turkey. They were one of the
country’s largest minorities, with roots that predated Christianity.
Today only about 2,000, maybe 2,500, Greeks remain in this
predominantly Muslim country. Roughly half of them are more than 65
years old.
This is how Greeks chronicle their history in numbers: Schools that
no longer exist. Newspaper circulation that has dropped into
oblivion. Families that have vanished into exile.
The question is less one of whether the community is fading — it
clearly is — but rather whether it has any future at all.
Istanbul, Turkey’s most cosmopolitan city, looks to its diverse
population to reflect its multilayered history and to embody its
multicultural character and charm. Straddling two continents,
Istanbul was always a magnet for a wide range of groups and
communities.
Until the Ottoman conquest of 1453, this city was also the revered
center of the Orthodox Church. One of Istanbul’s most treasured
architectural gems is Hagia Sophia, a 6th century Byzantine cathedral
that was converted under Ottoman rule into a mosque but retains many
of its Christian features.
Perhaps more important for ethnic Greeks, Turkey is feverishly
pursuing a bid to join the European Union, and therein may lie hope
for the community’s revival. One requirement for EU membership is the
just treatment of minorities. The death of one of the country’s
principal Christian minorities would represent a black mark on the
application.
“If Turkey does begin the process of joining the EU and Orthodox
Christians begin to come back, then there may be hope for our
community,” Anagnostopulos said. “I’d like to believe that Istanbul’s
cultural wealth will succeed in bringing people back and attracting
new people.”
Like many ethnic Greeks in Turkey, Anagnostopulos, 62, left to make a
life abroad. He moved to Germany in the late 1960s, worked for a
pharmaceutical firm, had two daughters and retired. Unlike most of
his brethren, however, he decided to return to Istanbul.
He became a priest last year and now works in the Ecumenical
Patriarchate of Constantinople, founded 1,700 years ago and the
nominal head of millions of Orthodox Christians worldwide.
None of Anagnostopulos’ siblings live in Turkey anymore, however, and
his daughters have no interest in moving here.
The Greek community in Turkey has declined steadily since World War
II, when the pro-Nazi government imposed a “wealth tax” that
disproportionately penalized Turkey’s three constitutionally
recognized minorities: Greeks, Jews and Armenians. Many Greeks were
bankrupted and fled. Bloody riots in 1955 that targeted Greek
businesses, the 1964 cancellation of a law that allowed ethnic Greeks
to hold dual citizenship, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 —
all fed a steady exodus.
Today, Greeks say Turkish authorities use bureaucracy to control the
community and stunt its growth. Onerous red tape blocks Greek
institutions such as the Orthodox Church from buying or selling
property. The patriarchate — the eastern-rite equivalent of the
Vatican — can employ only Greeks with Turkish citizenship, limiting
the pool of potential priests.
The few remaining Greek schools, all of them hundreds of years old,
teach roughly half their curriculum in Turkish. Yani Demircioglu,
headmaster at one high school, said he has 49 pupils in six grades,
down from nearly 700 in 1962. He said 97% of the school’s alumni have
left, mostly for Greece.
Despite notable improvements — inter-religious dialogue programs are
flourishing, the government has taken initial steps to reform
property rules, and hostilities between Greece and Turkey have eased
in recent years — many Greeks say they are viewed with suspicion or
as a fifth column.
“Ninety-five percent of the minority are loyal and doing what it
takes to be a loyal citizen: We are well integrated, we speak
Turkish,” said Laki Vingas, an ethnic Greek businessman in Istanbul.
“But I’m sorry to say, with some officials, there is still a gap in
confidence.”
At one of Istanbul’s two surviving Greek-language newspapers, Yani
Theodolou, 70, tracks the decline of the community in circulation
figures. “Down, down, down,” he said.
“Every day we publish an obituary,” he said, but not too many baptism
notices.
Theodolou and editor-in-chief Andrea Rombopulous run the newspaper,
Echo, virtually single-handedly. Most younger Greeks no longer know
the language well enough to write in it, they say. Theodolou is
convinced the papers will die out eventually, with no one left to
read them.
The two men work in Echo’s cluttered offices in a building that
housed, in more bountiful times, an array of sports and social clubs.
Seated in his office, at a large glass-top table that rests on faux
Ionic columns, Rombopulous, 38, recalled that when he graduated from
high school, there were 250 ethnic Greeks in Istanbul his age. It was
not difficult to find a wife within the community and to go on to
university.
The prospects for his 5-year-old son are quite different. There are
only three other Greek children his age.
Still, Rombopulous is a rare voice of cautious optimism. He notes
that Greeks almost disappeared following the Ottoman conquest, and
the community only began to grow again in the 1700s, when the sultan
invited shipbuilders and other professionals to live in the empire.
At least 50 Greek-owned businesses operate in Turkey, he noted, up
from just three or four a decade ago. Each business brings a new
Greek family, and if the EU admits Turkey, the firms are poised to
expand and capitalize on all the legal guarantees and ethical
practices that the union’s standards suggest.
“All signs now indicate we will die out,” Rombopulous said. “But I am
not a pessimist. There were times our community was even smaller than
it is today. I know of many Greek businesses just waiting for Turkey
to join the EU. Investments, more families. I believe things may
improve and change.”
GRAPHIC: PHOTO: IN ISTANBUL: Yani Theodolou of Echo, a Greek
newspaper, tracks the community’s decline in falling circulation
figures. PHOTOGRAPHER: Aris Chatzistefanou For The Times

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 22, 2004, Friday
KYRGYZSTAN NEEDS SECOND-HAND WEAPONS
SOURCE: Kommersant, October 20, 2004, p. 11
by Dmitry Glumskov, Konstantin Lantratov
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer held negotiations with
President Askar Akayev of Kyrgyzstan and the speakers of both houses
of the parliament in Bishkek on October 19. (…)
Mr. Scheffer stated that NATO intends to intensify cooperation with
Kyrgyzstan. He stated at a meeting with the president of Kyrgyzstan:
“We’ll have to solve common tasks in combating international
terrorism and countering other challenges.” Mr. Scheffer said that
NATO intends to strengthen its influence in Western districts of
Afghanistan, and needs transport and telecommunication support in
Central-Asian republics. NATO intends to sign a transit agreement
with these republics. Kyrgyzstan let the US and European nations use
its airdromes for transit of military and humanitarian cargo to
Afghanistan in 2001. experts state that this decision brought in
around $250 million to the republican budget in 2002.
Askar Akayev promised that Kyrgyzstan will join NATO’s programs at a
higher level, which includes analysis and planning.
Mr. Akayev said that the main effort will be aimed at strengthening
the border and intensifying control. The president of Kyrgyzstan
said: “The center of Alpine rescue-workers, which we want to
transform into a center for training peacekeepers, is the main unit
in this program.”
Kyrgyzstan asked NATO to pass over weapons, which new members of the
alliance will write off as a result of modernization of their armies,
to the republic. This request was announced by Altai Borubayev,
speaker of the house of representatives of the parliament of
Kyrgyzstan. Mr. Borubayev noted that new members of the alliance
rearm their armies according to NATO’s standards, and have a lot of
weapons and military hardware, which could become a substantial
contribution to the combat against terrorism. Mr. Scheffer did not
comment on this proposal but did not rule out that NATO will discuss
this issue later.
It should be noted that Russia is the major supplier of weapons to
Kyrgyzstan. However, Bishkek also receives weapons from the US,
China, Turkey, France and India. At the same time, Bishkek exports
Soviet weapons. In particular, Kyrgyzstan supplied armored personnel
carriers, infantry weapons and ammunition to Afghanistan in October
2001. In addition, Kyrgyzstan was involved in supplying obsolete
weapons to conflict zones. In particular, Kyrgyzstan was rumored to
send weapons to Armenia during an armed conflict in Nagorny Karabakh.
In addition, experts of the UN Security Council stated in November
2001 that Kyrgyzstan violated UN sanctions and supplied aircraft
spare parts to Liberia. It’s not ruled out that if NATO considers the
prospects of supplying obsolete weapons to Kyrgyzstan it will demand
additional guarantees that Bishkek will not re-export them to other countries.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress