Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 22, 2004, Friday
US ABSORBING GUUAM
SOURCE: Zavtra, No 42, October 14 – 20, 2004, p. 2
Political activeness in some parts of the former Soviet Union
(Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova) is confined within
some clearly defined geographic borders. Certain changes in
Washington’s foreign policy along with a major displacement of
American troops in Europe, Asia, and in the East are indicators of
what all of that is about.
Black Sea – a branch of the Atlantic
Information obtained from sources in the West (scientists,
journalists, officials) makes it plain that the West has changed its
tactic and evaluation of the situation on the southern borders of
Russia. It confirms the opinion we featured more than once already
that importance of the Caspian region in the energy sphere is grossly
exaggerated and that the United States’ interest in it is purely
military-political and, to some extent, economic.
The Caspian region cannot be a source of energy resources alternative
to the Arab oil and gas. In other words, we cannot expect the
Americans to spoil their relations with Saudi Arabia, to become
disinterested with regard to Kuwait, or to leave Iran and Iraq alone.
Pressure on Middle East countries loyal to the United States will
continue in the form of a collision of their interests with interests
of the third countries (like Russia). Countries that are too
obstinate will be “reformed” the way Yugoslavia and Iraq have been
treated.
Along with this evaluation of importance of the Caspian basin, there
is also the idea (expressed more and more frequently) that it is
wrong to mix Central Asia and Caucasus. These are two absolutely
different regions. Strategically important as they undoubtedly are,
they can develop and perform their functions independently of each
other. Central Asia (where the Americans are counting on Kazakhstan,
as the latest analysis shows) is an element of a larger region
comprising of the East and South and East Asia. The Caucasus in its
turn is viewed as an integral part of Europe, its outpost on the
southern flank. It makes the entire Black Sea basin a part of Europe
too.
Policy Review (June-July, 2004) featured an article with a catching
headline “Black Sea and Frontiers of Freedom”. Its authors use the
term that is coming into popular use – the Larger Black Sea Region
that comprises Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia,
Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
Black Sea’s western and southern coasts are territories of NATO
countries. It was accomplished through implementation of a staggering
project to integrate Central and East Europe countries under the US
aegis into the European-Atlantic community. Somebody may have
forgotten already that 10 years ago Zbigniew Brzezinski suggested
this project of rearrangement of the East European zone and
establishment of the Baltic – Black Sea alliance of the former Soviet
republics. It was announced then that the alliance should exist
beyond the sphere of Russian influence and serve as a strategic
deterrent factor in the Western direction.
Washington’s active interest in the political lives of Georgia,
Moldova, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan is undeniable
nowadays. These are the countries that comprise what the West calls
the Larger Black Sea Region.
Establishment of a new military-political alliance on the territory
between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, an alliance associated with
NATO, becomes more and more likely. GUUAM was but an experiment. Most
East Europe countries dream of joining European-Atlantic structures.
Some of these countries have already been granted the wish. Others
have not because of various obstacles including regional and border
conflicts.
Western politicians and consultants believe that time has come to get
down to the matter of the Larger Black Sea Region.
Previous waves of NATO and European Union expansion – and Moscow’s
reaction to them – will facilitate the process.
Romania and Bulgaria are NATO neophytes now. Eager to up their clout,
they will certainly do their best to promote problems of the Larger
Black Sea Region into the forefront of the West’s foreign political
priorities.
The situation itself assigns the order of priority to the tasks the
United States will try to settle in the not so distant a future.
The forthcoming presidential election in Ukraine is the task
following the recent successful Revolution of Roses in Georgia (which
was but an operation to replace national leadership with certain
elements of a show aimed to persuade the population that changes are
in fact possible).
After that, more effort will be put in settlement of conflicts in
South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Trans-Dniester region.
Preparations for the parliamentary and presidential elections in
Armenia will take place against this background. Moldova and
Azerbaijan are the next countries marked for installation of new
regimes. Eventually, some countries of the Larger Black Sea Region
will participate in establishment of a military-political alliance
that will enable its members to be integrated into the
“European-Atlantic security framework” without formal membership in
NATO.
Whose tongue will lead one to Kiev?
A lot of articles and materials on the Ukrainian election appear in
the Western media. Public opinion is being brainwashed on a major
scale. The distinction between two candidates is emphasized again and
again: Yuschenko represents democracy and Western values, while
Yanukovich is a businessman from the Donetsk Clan, associated with
Moscow and backed by Leonid Kuchma.
Kuchma himself, after all the quarrels with Russia and advances to
the West, counts on Russia’s support alone and even pretends to be
making steps to meet it halfway.
Emphasizing their sympathies with Russia, the authorities of Ukraine
are still bent on membership in NATO and European structures.
Analysis of statements and actions of politicians in Kiev leaves no
doubts as to their strategic objectives.
Even Yanukovich’s statements generate doubts in Ukraine’s proclaimed
objectives and goals in international matters. When he boarded
frigate Getman Sagaidachny for celebration of the 12th anniversary of
the Ukrainian Navy, Yanukovich said in no uncertain terms that
“reorganization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is directly associated
with the future membership in NATO.”
In other words, membership in NATO remains one of the central
strategic objectives of official Kiev. In fact, official Kiev is
helped along the way by all sorts of non-government organizations.
With the support from the NATO Center of Information and Documents,
NATO bureaus are being established at regional libraries throughout
Ukraine. They will make access to the literature having to do with
NATO – Ukraine partnership, integration, and other international
security issues easier for Ukrainians.
Twenty-seven regional bureaus (including one in Simferopol and
Sevastopol each) have been established by the middle of September,
2004.
According to the US Department of State, Ukraine received about 9% or
$5 million of the funds the United States set aside for the program
of military assistance to former Soviet republic in 2004. This is 11%
higher than what Ukraine ended up with in 2003. Along with everything
else, Ukraine received $1.7 million (11.4% of sum total) within the
framework of the international military education program.
The 2004 international financial military assistance program, does
not stipulate anything for Russia. As for the 2004 international
military education program, Russia received $800,000 or 50% of what
Ukraine got. Why the program is called international when it is
financed by the US Administration is anyone’s guess.
In the meantime, the United States maintains that the presidential
election in Ukraine must be democratic and legitimate. This is but
essentially an open campaign for Yuschenko.
In other words, Kiev’s loyalty to the United States and NATO is
unlikely to become an automatic pass into the Alliance for Ukraine.
Washington and the West apparently regard Ukraine as a partner but
also a potential future rival in geopolitical games on the territory
of the CIS and throughout the world. Ukraine has scored in arms
export. It delivered modern tanks to Pakistan, it is helping
Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Libya. It is a serious rival
for Russia and other arms exporters.
Advancement of relations with Moscow will help Kiev secure a source
of relatively cheap energy resources and other strategic commodities.
And loyalty to NATO will help it create a counterweight to Moscow for
whenever it interferes with advancement of Ukraine’s national
interests.
At the same time, Moscow and Washington will certainly try to force
Kiev to make up its mind. Moscow has a chance to succeed, but
everything will depend on what extent the United States and the West
are determined to drive a wedge between Moscow and Kiev.
Europe’s outlying regions
Honeymoon in the relations between the United States and Georgia is
practically over, about to be replaced with mundane drudgery. The
more energetic “NY lawyer Mikhail Saakashvili” becomes in repelling
the Russian empire, the more practical difficulties Washington
encounters. The problem is that Saakashvili’s undisguised attempts to
take over South Ossetia and Abkhazia by sheer strength of arms force
Moscow to side up with the Ossetians and Abkhazians more and more
firmly. Washington is aware that Moscow knows who actually supports
the young president of Georgia and that awareness and knowledge
aggravate the conflict, affecting all other aspects of the
Russian-American relations. Western analysts do not even rule out a
military clash in the region because NATO has troops on the territory
of Georgia. Military solution to the problem will only make the
regional situation all the more complicated for the United States.
Moreover, it may complicate the state of affairs in Ukraine where
Western analysts hope for a chance to repeat the Revolution of Roses
scenario.
The United States is aware that the peoples of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia have voted to withdraw from Georgia and join Russia.
Washington understands that these problems cannot be solved without
Russia’s participation and consent. All other ways lead to a war and
political fiasco.
Saakashvili is frowned at for his sabre-rattling but immediately
reassured of support.
The US Administration parceled out 21% to Georgia, more than to any
other former Soviet country. The sum amounted to $12 million in the
2004 financial year, a 74% rise compared to 2003. Tbilisi ended up
with $1.3 million of assistance within the framework of the
international military education and training program.
It should be noted that Azerbaijan and Armenia received $2.485
million each this financial year (against $5 million each in 2003).
Perhaps, this “equal distance” is Washington’s contribution to the
Karabakh conflict settlement. It is clear, however, that this is a
message to Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharjan. Both were regularly
criticized by the West, neither answers the requirements to the
region put forth by official Washington. Both leaders are earmarked
for replacement. In Yerevan, the national leader may be replaced
before his time is up.
The US Department of State appointed a new Ambassador to Armenia just
two months ago. He is John Evans, a specialist in early expiry of the
term of office just like US Ambassador Miles in Tbilisi. Evans
studied Russian history at Yale. He worked in Tehran and Prague in
the 1970’s and in Moscow between 1981 and 1983 (the period when the
Soviet-American relations hit bottom, when CIA agents in the Soviet
Union were extremely active). After that Evans served with the
American mission to NATO. In the middle of the 1990’s, he was the US
Consul in St. Petersburg and worked in the OSCE mission in Moldova.
Before his assignment to Armenia, career intelligence officer Evans
headed the Russia and Eurasia analysis directorate at the Department
of State and all of the Russian sector. It is clear that he was sent
to Armenia for a purpose. Evans began studying Armenia in the late
1980’s. He knows Russian leadership well ever since his assignment to
St. Petersburg between 1994 and 1997.
Trans-Dniester thorn
Washington constantly demands – in no uncertain terms – a solution to
the Trans-Dniester problem. The United States needs an integral and
loyal Moldova without alien disseminations like pro-Russian Tiraspol,
a Moldova capable of joining the block of Black Sea states. Now that
the Russian-Moldovan relations are not what they used to be once,
Washington is certainly active in this sphere, and pressure on
Tiraspol is mounting.
Trans-Dniester’s and Abkhazia’s promise to help South Ossetia against
the invasion of Georgian and NATO troops is branded by enemies of
Tiraspol as “international terrorism”. This is an indirect way of
providing an ideological basis for an ultimate solution to the
problems of all these territories. The opinion of the peoples
residing in these regions is of little interest for the
decision-makers.
All of that indicates that the West is out to orchestrate political
cessation of two major regions – Black Sea region with the Caucasus
and Central Asia – from Russia. Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia,
and Azerbaijan united in the Larger Black Sea Region are the first in
line.
The situation being what it is, the authorities of Russia must
concentrate on foreign political solutions to the problem of
advancement of its cooperation with these countries and promotion of
interests of national security of the country. An effective solution
to the problem requires direct involvement of the government of the
Russian Federation. Analysts alone will not do.
ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Australian
October 22, 2004 Friday All-round Country Edition
Ancient Aleppo shows a modern road ahead
by Nicolas Rothwell
Aleppo, Syria
THERE is a thriving city at the heart of the Middle Eastern and Arab
world: it is at once ancient and ultra-modern, traditional and
cosmopolitan, a place of freedoms and Western experiments, and also a
showcase for its nation’s ruling party.
This is Aleppo, the 3 million-strong metropolis in the far north of
Syria, a startling, easygoing melange of styles and cultures, where
street sellers and bazaar traders now compete for business with
freshly opened Western luxury outlets.
The new face of Aleppo is one of the strongest signs of the reformist
spirit sweeping through Syria under the four-year-old reign of Bashar
Al-Assad. The President likes to brand himself the “leader of
development and modernisation” and in Aleppo, more than anywhere, the
claim holds a fair degree of truth.
“The people of Aleppo have always been hard working,” says one bazaar
merchant in the ancient Souk Al-Atarin beside the city’s Great
Mosque.
“For us, being open to Europe and the West is good news. We’re like
Manchester or Manhattan here, not at all like the rest of our
country.”
Aleppo has always vied for pre-eminence with the Syrian capital
Damascus, just 350km down the central highway. Both have a good claim
to be the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.
But these days Aleppo has been designated as the beacon of Syria’s
economic progress. Last week alone, three major trade fairs were
staged here, while the International Photographic Gathering and
exhibition was also unfolding.
Close to the forbidding 12th century citadel of the Ayyubid dynasty,
a large new building, its facade all rose and white marble, is rising
fast. This is the “future Sheraton” — it’s already on the city maps
— viewed by many locals as the final proof of their reintegration
into the outside world.
Internet cafes and jeans outlets crowd the shopfronts, while the
nocturnal scene is equally busy. A soft-porn cinema, specialising in
“films with Syrian and Lebanese girls”, does a roaring trade a few
doors from the state museum.
“Everything’s changing,” explains Ahmed Ghassab, a young
Franco-Syrian.
“I chose to come back here from Paris because of the opportunities.
Look around — the clothes, the cars, the supermarkets, even the
minds inside people’s heads.
“Young Syrians used to spend their time studying politics and
history. Now they’re all playing Counterstrike or Generals in the
computer arcades.”
In the modern district, the shifts are equally palpable. This
prosperous quarter is now dominated by the Pullman Hotel, a stylish,
hard-currency establishment where business deals are done, and
bodyguards and glamorous women lurk.
All these shifts lend Aleppo the crossroads atmosphere the town has
had at countless intervals in its long history. Now it is the meeting
point between European investors eyeing a virgin market and an elite
of well-connected local entrepreneurs.
What makes Aleppo so different from the rest of Syria?
One of its most sympathetic admirers, Ross Burns, a former Australian
ambassador in the Middle East, writes of the city as “a sort of time
continuum in which flashes of the past, rather than dissipating with
time, accumulate in the present”.
And it is a continuum of peoples as well. A large Syrian Christian
community thrives here in the Jdeide quarter, as well as a
substantial population of Armenian origin, whose ancestors fled to
Aleppo from Turkey during World War I.
Arabs from other countries have also long been drawn to the city, and
its new capitalists have close ties to Lebanon, the image and
marketing capital of the Mediterranean Arab world.
Ahmed Akkad, a cotton merchant from one of Aleppo’s big bazaar
dynasties, believes the city is poised for a revival of its
traditional role.
“Syria’s opening its relations with Europe, and we have a high degree
of freedom of information today,” he says.
“Everyone’s obsessed with satellite television and the internet.
These days, at school, children are learning French and English, and
becoming much better informed.
“Before, people didn’t know anything, they were just living like
sheep, locked in and not knowing anything about the world.”
This mood of enthusiasm for the changes under way in Syria’s economy
and society is widespread throughout Aleppo; it’s a new direction
that plays in favour of the city’s old strengths.
“A few decades from now,” says one businessman from Al-Kallaseh
Street, “people in the great capitals of Europe will think of Aleppo
in the same way they viewed us 200 years ago, when we were the bridge
between India and the West, and all the world’s big contracts were
signed right here inside these city walls.”

El Pais
Oct 22, 2004
Turquia obtiene el pleno apoyo de la OCDE en su carrera hacia Europa
JOAQUIN PRIETO
Erdogan: “Nosotros hemos hecho los deberes. A la UE le toca ahora
hacer los suyos”. En su carrera hacia la meta de convertirse en
miembro de la Union Europea, Turquia recibio ayer el empujon del club
de los 30 paises mas desarrollados del mundo, agrupados en la
Organizacion para la Cooperacion y el Desarrollo Economico (OCDE). Un
informe elogioso para la economia turca fue completado por el
secretario general del organismo, Donald Johnston, con un apoyo
expreso de la candidatura de ese pais a la Union Europea.
BODY:
Los parabienes fueron recogidos en Paris por el primer ministro
turco, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, consciente del grado de presion que
implican para la apertura de negociaciones con la UE.
Con menos precauciones de las habituales, el secretario general de la
OCDE afirmo que la adhesion de Turquia a la Union Europea deberia
hacerse “en interes de ambos”. El consejo del organismo internacional
-con base en Paris- aparece antes de la reunion prevista en Berlin
entre Erdogan; el canciller aleman, Gerhard Schroeder, y el
presidente frances, Jacques Chirac, juzgada importante de cara al
Consejo Europeo del 17 de diciembre, que tiene en las manos la patata
caliente de aprobar la fecha de apertura de negociaciones de adhesion
con Turquia.
Erdogan critico ayer la decision de Chirac de someter a referendum el
ingreso de Turquia en la UE, porque “no figura en los criterios de
adhesion” pedidos a otros paises. Las negociaciones entre Ankara y
Bruselas han de comenzar “sin demora” y desembocar en una “adhesion
plena”, sin medias tintas. “Nosotros hemos hecho los deberes”,
puntualizo Erdogan. “Ahora le toca a la Union Europea hacer otro
tanto”.
Erdogan intenta demoler las resistencias de algunos sectores,
principalmente de Francia, donde la mayoria de la opinion publica
rechaza que los turcos puedan convertirse en europeos, tanto por
razones religiosas como por el peso que tendria en la UE un pais mas
poblado que el suyo y la posibilidad de que aumente la fuga de
empresas (y por lo tanto, la perdida de empleos).
Sin embargo, ninguno de estos argumentos forma parte de los criterios
formales exigidos para la adhesion a Europa. La OCDE respalda la idea
de que los criterios economicos solicitados van por el buen camino,
reconociendo, en sustancia, la rapidez con que Turquia moderniza sus
estructuras economicas.
Lo que Erdogan califico de “revolucion silenciosa” se desgrana entre
la frialdad de las estadisticas y analisis publicados por la OCDE,
que atribuyen a Turquia el mayor indice actual de crecimiento de los
30 paises miembros de esta organizacion. Para el ano proximo se preve
un aumento del producto interior bruto (PIB) de un 8%, tras haber
crecido el 6% en 2003 y el 8% en 2002. La inflacion, que era del 54%
en 2001, caera el ano proximo por debajo del 10%, segun las
previsiones.
La OCDE advierte a Turquia de que le queda mucho camino por recorrer
hasta converger con los principales paises. Mas del 50% del empleo
total del pais se encuentra en la economia sumergida, en un pais cuya
productividad apenas rebasa, oficialmente, un tercio de la media de
la OCDE.
Los autores del informe sobre Turquia dicen que este pais se
encuentra en una “encrucijada”, por lo cual le animan a profundizar
en las “ambiciosas” reformas emprendidas, reforzar la confianza y
reformar el gasto publico para orientarlo hacia los servicios
publicos fundamentales, la educacion y la justicia.
Presionado con preguntas sobre el Codigo Penal de su pais y la falta
de reconocimiento del genocidio armenio de 1915, Erdogan intento
restar importancia a todo ello. De paso, confirmo que no retirara sus
tropas de Chipre, puesto que la comunidad “del sur de la isla” (la
grecochipriota, unica reconocida por la comunidad internacional) ha
rechazado en un referendum el plan de reunificacion del secretario
general de la ONU, Kofi Annan, y se ha convertido, “paradojicamente”,
en miembro de pleno derecho de la UE.
Erdogan finalizo su aserto con un vibrante llamamiento a la necesidad
de que la Union Europea llegue a ser un “actor mundial de primera
linea”, para lo cual, en su opinion, le falta Turquia.

El Pais
Oct 22, 2004
L’Alternativa rendira homenaje al director Robert Bresson
TERESA CENDROS
Barcelona
La 11 edicion del Festival de Cine Independiente se celebrara del 12
al 20 de noviembre
El Festival de Cine Independiente de Barcelona, conocido como
L’Alternativa, que se celebrara este ano entre el 12 y el 20 de
noviembre, rendira homenaje a dos grandes cineastas: el director
frances Robert Bresson, fallecido en 1999, de quien se proyectara
practicamente toda su filmografia, y el suizo Alain Tanner. Por lo
demas, el certamen asociado al Centro de Cultura Contemporanea de
Barcelona (CCCB), que llega ya a su 11 edicion, mantiene su
estructura habitual, con sus cuatro secciones oficiales de filmes en
competicion -largometrajes, cortometrajes, documentales y animacion-,
los apartados paralelos y el exitoso Pantalla Hall (cuatro horas
diarias de programacion en el vestibulo del CCCB). En esta ocasion,
L’Alternativa exhibira 394 peliculas procedentes de 35 paises, de las
que 70 optan a premio.
Entre los largometrajes que concursan, seis en total, el festival ha
programado una produccion espanola, Mundo fantastico, de Max Lemcke,
sobre Alicia, una mujer que mientras se desnuda en la cabina erotica
en la que trabaja suena con ser actriz; Los rubios, de la argentina
Albertina Carri, una escalofriante ficcion en la que la directora
reconstruye el secuestro y asesinato de sus padres por la dictadura
militar, y Dealer, del hungaro Benedek Fliegauf, que retrata un dia
en la vida de un traficante de droga.
L’Alternativa ha invitado ademas al cineasta armenio Don Askarian, de
quien exhibira cinco peliculas y mostrara -en el Circulo de Lectores,
uno de los espacios que se suman al festival junto a los cines Renoir
Floridablanca- parte de su obra fotografica.
La organizacion espera superar en esta edicion -cuyo presupuesto
asciende a 359.000 euros- los 30.000 espectadores que acogio el
pasado ano y, una vez consolidado en Barcelona, se plantea como reto
de futuro tener repercusion entre el publico del resto del pais.

The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois)
October 12, 2004 Tuesday
Drama depicts story of genocide survivors
PANTAGRAPH STAFF
NORMAL — Richard Kallnoski’s drama, “Beast on the Moon,” is the new
offering from the Heartland Theatre Company in Normal, opening with a
“pay-what-you-can” preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Regular performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Oct.
22, 23, 29 and 20, with a 2 p.m. matinee Oct. 24.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $6 for students. Call
(309) 452-8709 for reservations.
“Beast on the Moon” depicts the lives of two Armenian genocide
survivors, beginning in 1921 after a portrait photographer meets his
“picture bride” with whom he wants to rebuild or resurrect a small
fraction of his annihilated family and save them from oblivion.
Kallnoski’s 1995 drama has been produced around the world in regional
theaters and is due to open in New York City in March 2005.
The production is directed by Rachel Chaves, Heartland’s Jean
Scharfenberg Award winner, and features Dan Irvin, Katy Lacio and
Greg McGrath.
Also scheduled are two post-performance responses to the play.
The first, on Oct. 23, is a panel discussion featuring Jared Brown,
playwright and retired chair of IWU’s School of Theatre, and Emine
Evered, who has taught courses that concern historical and social
dimensions of the Middle East.
On Oct. 24, a discussion will be led by Mark Wyman, an ISU
distinguished professor emeritus, whose specialty is the immigrant
experience, and Shushan Avagyan, a poet and Armenian citizen doing
graduate work at ISU.
Heartland Theatre is located in the Community Activity Center of One
Normal Plaza, Lincoln and Beech streets, Normal.
GRAPHIC: Greg McGrath, center, studied his face in the mirror he gave
his bride, played by Kathy Lacio, as Dan Irvin looked on in a scene
from “Beast on the Moon” opening Thursday at Heartland Theatre. The
Richard Kallnoski play is being directed by Rachel Chaves.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Crain’s Chicago Business
October 11, 2004, Monday
Dine a world away: Veer off Michigan; Head east of the avenue for
Armenian kebabs, Italian spinach salad
by Anne Moore
There are many reasons to be on North Michigan Avenue, and plenty of
reasons to detour off it, too: fewer pedestrians, tree-lined streets
and scads of restaurants that typically don’t have a line of tourists
spilling from their doors. We tried a few around Streeterville, just
east of Michigan Avenue.
Bice Ristorante
158 E. Ontario St., (312) 664-1474
We’d planned to eat at the very casual Bice Grill but walked next
door to the more formal side, wanting to be pampered. What a wise
choice: Our meal was unusual and excellent and our waiters very
attentive.
I’d brought a friend who lives part of every year in Italy; she
zeroed in on a spinach salad. Theirs, rustica con spinaci ($6.50), is
astonishingly good: delicate spinach leaves dressed with cream,
tossed with beets, potatoes, carrots, fried pancetta and lentils. We
split one serving: I could have stopped right there and been full and
happy.
My friend’s penne all’arrabiata ($11.75) was red-gold and flavorful,
neither too heavy nor too spicy. ”Like a dish you’d get in
Tuscany,” she said. ”Really authentic.” I wavered between lobster
and crabmeat soup ($7.25) and risottino ai frutti di mare ($17.95),
but went for the rice dish and its pleasing variety of seafood
(shrimp, tiny scallops, calamari, clams, mussels).
Ricotta cheesecake ($7.95) tasted more of egg than cheese; we liked
hazelnut and vanilla gelati ($6.95) far more. Finish with a cafe
macchiato ($2.25), espresso with a dollop of steamed-milk foam.
Sayat-Nova 157 E. Ohio St., (312) 644-9159
A friend of Armenian descent heads here when she’s in Chicago because
the food is authentic and consistently good. Take a half-circle
leather booths in the back for a seemingly private meal. The lighting
is dim and fractured; I always feel a world away.
Don’t miss the creamy hummus ($4) or tabbouleh salad ($4.50), and
keep the hummus on the table for slathering on just about anything.
We tried the jajik ($4), chunks of cucumber in yogurt, with garlic
and mint, and found it refreshing.
Lula kebab ($11.95) is more like a hamburger-ground beef and
lamb-tucked into a pita. Chicken kebabs ($12.95) are big, broiled
squares, flavorful and moist. Rice pilaf is fluffy and nicely
seasoned.
Cream-filled knafi ($3.50) was attractive, seemingly topped with spun
gold, but we preferred pistachio baklava ($3.50), a flaky pastry
shell cupping honey and crunchy nuts.
West Egg Cafe
620 N. Fairbanks Court, (312) 280-8366; 66 W. Washington St., (312)
236-3322
Freed from an overly long appointment on Michigan Avenue, I ran into
a friend I hadn’t seen in months. I needed lunch; she needed to pick
up her kids in an hour. We headed to West Egg, knowing we could get
breakfast or lunch without a wait.
Nothing on the vast menu-pancakes, French toast, salads, sandwiches,
roast chicken-is more than $10. Sensing we were overwhelmed, our
patient waitress steered us to ”healthful” offerings-egg-white
omelets, yogurt and granola-which we glanced at, then guffawed. We
wanted to eat.
My friend needed guidance: eggs Benedict ($7.50) or Bleu Bayou
($6.95), a scramble of eggs, blue cheese, spinach, bacon and
tomatoes. She went for the Bleu Bayou, and it was a hit, disappearing
nearly as quickly as it arrived. I needed some kick to my eggs, so I
chose the breakfast burrito with spicy green chilies and cooling sour
cream ($6.95). Fresh fruit and paprika-dusted potatoes made for tasty
sides; orange juice ($1.50) was freshly squeezed.
We both liked the airy room and whimsical paintings of gigantic
coffee cups. Plates clatter-it’s a diner, after all-but noise was
never a problem.
GRAPHIC: “Like a dish you’d get in Tuscany,” my friend said of Bice’s
penne all’arrabiata.

Newsday (New York)
October 14, 2004 Thursday
CITY EDITION
Thirteen charged in cigarette smuggling
BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER
An Asian organized crime group teamed up with a group of Armenian and
Polish immigrants to smuggle millions of dollars worth of counterfeit
Marlboro cigarettes into Brooklyn and Queens from China, federal
prosecutors charged yesterday.
The cigarette smuggling led to cigarette tax losses of more than $1
million to New York State, officials said.
A total of 13 people, including alleged ringleader Azat Oganessian,
33, an Armenian immigrant who has been living in Brooklyn, were
charged yesterday in an indictment filed in federal court in Brooklyn
with conspiracy to smuggle the cigarettes as well as narcotics
trafficking.
The investigation, which involved a special FBI-NYPD task force on
Eurasian crime, lasted 19 months and was sparked by an informant who
had information about suspected cigarette smuggling and narcotics in
the city’s Polish immigrant community, federal law enforcement
officials said. The task force focuses on immigrant groups from the
former Soviet Union and East Asia.
Officials with the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn said more than
$5 million in fake Marlboro cigarettes were made in China and
transported by the Chinese gang to Los Angeles. It was there, the
officials said, that the Oganessian organization picked up more than
800 cases of the cigarettes and trucked them to New Jersey and
Philadelphia. Once on the East Coast, the defendants placed fake New
York State tax stamps on the packages.
Each case of cigarettes contained 50 cartons, amounting to a total of
4,000 cartons shipped as part of the alleged conspiracy, Assistant
U.S. Attorney Scott Morvillo said.
The cigarettes, which the gang acquired for $10 a carton, were
generally sold for $22 to $32 a carton to delis and restaurants in
Brooklyn and Queens, he said.
The indictment also charged Oganessian, who is known as Ozzy, with
conspiring to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine. Six
other defendants also were charged with being part of that drug
conspiracy. Oganessian’s attorney could not be reached for comment
yesterday.
Oganessian, who was already being held without bail on the earlier
case, didn’t appear in court yesterday.

The New York Post
October 14, 2004 Thursday
FEDS SMOKE OUT FAKE-CIG RACKET STINKING UP B’KLYN
KATI CORNELL SMITH
The feds snuffed out an alleged counterfeit-cigarette ring accused of
flooding the streets of Brooklyn with millions of phony Marlboros
imported from China by an L.A. gang, officials said yesterday.
Reputed ringleader Azat “Ozzy” Oganessian, a 33-year-old illegal
immigrant from Armenia, and 13 crew members raked in more than a
million dollars selling bogus smokes over the past two years,
according to court papers filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott
Morvillo.
“This criminal enterprise cheated the state of New York and,
indirectly, New York taxpayers out of more than a million dollars in
tax revenue,” said Pasquale D’Amuro, FBI assistant
director-in-charge.
At least 40,000 cartons of cigarettes manufactured in China – and
packaged to look like Marlboros – were shipped to Chinese gang
members in Los Angeles, law-enforcement sources said.
Oganessian’s Brooklyn-based gang – comprising Polish and Armenian
members – bought the smokes at $10 a carton, or the equivalent of $1
per pack, and trucked them across the country for resale, sources
said.
They affixed New York State tax stamps to the cigarettes and then
tripled the price to between $22 and $32 per carton for sale in delis
and Polish restaurants in Greenpoint and Brighton Beach.
They were purchased by smokers who otherwise would have purchased
approximately $5 million in Marlboros – and generated $1 million in
taxes for the state, the feds estimated.

The Times Union (Albany, NY)
October 16, 2004 Saturday THREE STAR EDITION
Lutheran bishop to talk about state of church
ALBANY
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson of Chicago, presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, will lead a discussion this
afternoon with area clergy and friends about the shape and nature of
the church in the United States and throughout the world. The meeting
with Hanson, who is also president of the Geneva, Switzerland-based
Lutheran World Federation, will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. at First
Lutheran Church, 181 Western Ave. At 10 a.m. Sunday, Hanson will
rededicate the 50-year-old sanctuary of the church. This year marks
the congregation’s 355th year. It is the oldest continuous Lutheran
congregation in North America. Also participating in the
rededication service will be the Rev. Marie Jerge of Syracuse, bishop
of the Ipstate New York Synod, ELCA.Israelis act against Jews who
spit on Christians
JERUSALEM — The Israeli government has vowed to crack down on
religious Jews who insult and spit at Christians. In a stern
statement issued this week, Interior Minister Avraham Poraz condemned
recent incidents in which Jewish seminary students, many of them
Americans studying in Israel, spat at Christian clergy during
processions through the Old City of Jerusalem. Poraz expressed
“revulsion” and called the situation intolerable, vowing to take
action to prevent future incidents.
The latest incident occurred Sunday, when an ultra-Orthodox yeshiva
student studying in the Old City spat at a cross being carried by
Armenian Archbishop Nourhan Manougian as he led a procession near the
community’s church. Jerusalem police said that a scuffle ensued
between the student and Manougian, who slapped the student after the
latter damaged the medallion the archbishop wore around his neck.
Although the practice of spitting is reportedly encouraged — or at
the very least tolerated — at certain ultra-Orthodox seminaries,
mainstream religious leaders abhor the practice. Such conduct is “a
desecration of the Divine Name” and also liable to contribute to
anti-Semitism in the Diaspora,” Rabbi Yisrael Lau, former chief rabbi
of Israel, said in a statement.

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE (Massachusetts)
October 19, 2004 Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
Schaeffer-Duffy plans trip for firsthand look at Sudan
by Kathleen A. Shaw; TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER
Scott Schaeffer-Duffy of the Sts. Francis and Therese Catholic Worker
House will join three other peace activists in late November and
early December for a fact-finding and aid trip to Darfur, Sudan.
Money for the trip, and to buy supplies for the people in the region,
has been donated by actor Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlett
on the television program “The West Wing.”
Mr. Sheen, a Catholic and longtime peace and social justice activist,
has had a long association with the local Catholic Worker House, now
located at 52 Mason St., and has given donations in the past.
Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said Mr. Sheen helped the group financially when
its first house burned down about 18 years ago, and that he has
provided funds for some other peace trips.
The peace activists plan a peace Mass on Nov. 29, the evening before
their departure, at St. Paul’s Cathedral. They will leave Nov. 30
from Boston and expect to be in Sudan at least until Dec. 9.
The other members of the group are Brenda Cussen of South Bend, Ind.,
who, like Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy, is a graduate of the College of the
Holy Cross, and who is associated with the St. Peter Claver Catholic
Worker in South Bend; Christopher Doucot of the St. Martin de Porres
Catholic Worker in Hartford, also a graduate of Holy Cross; and Grace
Ritter of Ithaca, N.Y., a member of the Ithaca Catholic Worker.
Mr. Sheen’s secretary called first to see how much money was needed
to get the group to Sudan, Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said. He said air fare
and immunizations would be about $6,000. Mr. Sheen then called back
personally and said he thought he should send $10,000, Mr.
Schaeffer-Duffy said. The extra money will allow the group to buy
some supplies to bring to people. It has not been decided whether
they need food, medicine or both, he said.
According to a BBC report, 50,000 people have died and 1.4 million
have been made homeless by fighting in that region during the past 18
months, Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said. The Sudan government has said about
7,000 have died.
“We want to do some fact-finding to find out exactly what has
happened,” Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said. He said some of the recent
reports coming out of Sudan indicate that women who leave their
village to collect firewood “are routinely raped.”
Pro-government Arab militias have been attacked by African rebels in
Darfur, which is in Western Sudan. U.S. Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell has referred to these attacks as genocide.
Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said the United States has a long history of
avoiding acting on genocide, going back to the Armenian Genocide in
the early 1900s. “The government does nothing until it is over and
then does something. But by then the people are dead,” he said.
The peace activists have also been told that the rebel militias in
Sudan are not attacking villages where there are “internationals,” he
said. They hope that by going into these villages they can help
stabilize the situation so people will move back and try to get their
lives going more normally.
The people going on this trip are veteran peace activists who have
gone on similar trips to other parts of the world. Mr.
Schaeffer-Duffy has taken part in or led peace campaigns in
Nicaragua, Bosnia, India and Iraq. Mr. Doucot has been involved in
more than 10 peace missions, including trips to Bosnia and Iraq. Ms.
Ritter has been active in the campaign to close the United States
Army School of the Americas, and recently spent a month volunteering
in a refugee camp in Bethlehem.
None of the activists has been to Africa and are “cramming” to learn
the history and geography of the area, Mr. Schaeffer-Duffy said.
The Catholic Workers, a movement started in the 1930s by the late
Dorothy Day and Pierre Maurin, live among poor people and work on
peace and justice issues in this country and around the world.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress