ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TO LEAVE FOR STRASBOURG ON JUNE 22-24
ArmenPress
June 21 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
will leave for Strasbourg on June 22 for a three-day working visit.
The president will be accompanied by foreign minister, the permanent
representative of Armenia at the Council of Europe, other high
officials and reporters.
According to presidential press services, the president will address
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) session. He
will then answer the questions of the parliamentarians. Also a press
conference will be held.
The president will also hold a number of meetings, including with PACE
chairman Peter Shrieder, Council of Europe secretary General Walter
Schwimmer, Human Rights European Court chairman Lucius Wildhabber,
Norwegian prime minister Kiel Magne Bodevik. The president will also
attend an exhibition dedicated to Nansen. The Armenian delegation
will return to Yerevan on June 24.

PM TO ATTEND GERMAN-ARMENIAN ECONOMIC COOPERATION CONFERENCE IN BERLIN
ArmenPress
June 21 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian prime minister Andranik
Margarian is leaving fro Germany on June 22 to attend a German-Armenian
Economic Cooperation Conference. The government press office said,
finance and economy minister Vartan Khachatrian, who is also the
co-chairman of a German-Armenian inter-governmental commission on
economic cooperation, trade and economic development minister Karen
Chshmaritian, Central Bank governor Tigran Sarkisian, chief of customs
service Armen Avetisian, the head of the Armenian Development agency,
other officials, more than two dozens of businessmen and reporters
will accompany the prime minister.
In Berlin Margarian will also have meetings with deputy chancellor
and foreign minister Joschka Fischer, chairman of Berlin parliament
Walter Momper, Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereith and other officials.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MEGHRI HIDRO-ELECTRIC POWER STATION TO BE BUILT IN 2005
ArmenPress
June 21 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: Armenian ministry of energy
representative discussed technical matters of hydro-electric power
station with Iran counterparts at the Southern border of Armenia at
the banks of Arax river, just the place where the station is going
to be built.
According to Armenian energy minister Armen Movsisian, the location
of the station is now clear. During the coming 1-2 months, details
will be discussed with Iranian government after which an agreement
will be signed.
A. Movsisian informed that the construction may start some time in
mid 2005. The construction will run 5 years. The station will have
140 megawatt capacity and will produce 841 mln k/watt/hour energy
per year. According to initial estimates, the station will cost 140
mln dollar. The power station will be built by Iranian funds. The
Armenian side will return the money in the form of energy produced
by the same station.
The effectiveness of the power station will be number one both in Iran
and Armenia. The minister said the hydro power of the Arax river is
expected to be used to maximum.
A. Movsisian said there are 30 small hydro-power stations in Armenia
now that produce about 600 mln kwatt/hour energy per year.

PM WISHES SUCCESSFUL VOYAGE TO CILICIA SHIP
ArmenPress
June 21 2004
YEREVAN, JUNE 21, ARMENPRESS: Prime minister Andranik Margarian
received today the crew of a ship replicated from a medieval ship of
Armenian merchants from Cilicia who are going to take it to Georgian
port of Poti, some 650 kilometers from the Lake Sevan where it was
first tested two years ago, to start the voyage through the Black
Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, onto the Atlantic Ocean toward Amsterdam.
The ship took 11 years to build.
Appreciating highly the efforts of the crew , prime minister
Margarian stressed that the ship will be sailing under the flag of
the independent Armenia. At the end of the meeting Margarian wished
a successful voyage to the crew.
The idea of constructing this ship was conceived by members of the
Ayas Nautical Research Club. It is an exact replication of a 13-th
century merchant ship, and was built in accordance with medieval
shipbuilding technologies. The crew will wear 13-th century clothes
and even the ship’s menu will be medieval.
Cilicia ‘s voyage will be navigated by compass, chronometer, astrolabe
and the sailors will orientate themselves by stars, but it is however
equipped by some modern devices. The first leg of the journey is
supposed to end by the end of September. The ship will spend winter
in Venice and sailors will return to Armenia. In May, 2005 they will
continue their voyage to Amsterdam. The crew is composed of a musician,
engineer, doctor, signaler, film director, cameraman. Age of the crew
also varies from 20 to 60.

ARMENIAN CONFERENCE OF PARLIAMENTARIAN FRIENDSHIP
Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
June 21 2004
By the undertaking of the speaker of the National Assembly of RA
Artur Baghdassarian the first meeting of the Armenian Conference of
Parliamentarian Friendship with the participation of 75 representatives
of 25 countries started on June 18. The delegation from NKR was
headed by NKR NA speaker Oleg Yessayan. The aim of the conference
is to bring together the efforts of the National Assembly of the
Republic of Armenia, members of parliament of Armenian nationality
representing the parliaments of different countries of the world and
the groups of parliamentarian friendship with the National Assembly,
and direct at the promotion of democracy in Armenia, working out
ways of settlement of all-Armenian problems together, promotion of
inter-parliamentarian relations, effective use of the international
experience of parliamentarism in the republic. During the discussion
of all-Armenian issues the regulation of the problem of Karabakh
was paid special attention. Each of the speech-makers touching upon
the importance of a fair settlement favouring the Armenian party
mentioned that this conference may have positive influence on this
crucial and urgent problem. The speaker of the NKR National Assembly
mentioned that they will participate actively in these meetings and
said that hopefully one of the future meetings will take place in
Artsakh as well. The speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia
Artur Baghdassarian presenting the significance of the conference
in his address emphasized that it may become important basis and
stimulus for the settlement of numerous issues that the Republic of
Armenia is now facing. Touching upon these issues Artur Baghdassarian
emphasized the settlement of the Karabakh problem. “Armenia has always
supported the settlement of the conflict through peaceful political
negotiations assuming the necessity of compromise. All the political
forces of the parliament of Armenia are unanimous in this question and
made a joint political statement. We think that in the past decade
Nagorni Karabakh proved to the world its accomplishment as a state
and deserved the independent status. The people of Nagorni Karabakh
expressed their will in the referendum and no force can deprive them
of their right for national self-determination. Armenia considers its
duty to back Nagorni Karabakh in all its undertakings. We seek for the
participation of NKR in the negotiations as a separate party for any
achievement of the negotiations must first of all be acceptable for
the people of Karabakh,” said the speaker of the National Assembly
of RA. For known reasons the president of the Republic of Armenia
was not present at the conference, and his message was presented by
Artashess Toumanian. “I am grateful to the friends of Armenia who,
being represented in parliaments of different countries, make their
contribution to progress in Armenia.” Underlying the speeches was the
unity Armenia-Diaspora-Nagorni Karabakh, and as the speaker of the
NKR parliament mentioned, the important thing is maintenance of this
unity. According to the chairman of the World Armenian Congress Ara
Abrahamian, “The problem of Karabakh is extremely important for us, the
fair settlement of which may be a favourable factor for the Republic
of Armenia. And in this framework this conference will also have an
important role.” Anyway, according to the foreign minister of Armenia
Vardan Oskanian, “After the two-day discussions it will become clear
what contribution each of the participants of the conference can make
to the settlement of the problems presented at the conference.” Let
us hope that these discussions will become real actions.
CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN.

SOLUTION IN UNITY
Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
June 21 2004
“Because recently a number of European organizations including the
Minsk Group, of course, pay more attention to the regulation of the
NK question, this conference and the members of parliament who have
arrived from different countries of the world, may essentially favour
the formation of the public opinion on the problem in the international
organizations. This is one of the main ways of favouring the fair
settlement of the problem by the foreign members of parliament
friends of the Armenian nation,” said the speaker of the National
Assembly of NKR to journalists during the Armenian Conference of the
Parliamentarian Friendship. Oleg Yessayan answered a number of other
questions. – Mr. Yessayan, what is your opinion on this undertaking? –
Consistent accomplishment of unity should be a law for a divided
nation. Especially in this stage when Armenia and other young states
face numerous problems therefore further maintenance of unity is
essential to their solution. And one of the main steps to achieve it
is this conference. It is unique in its kind and we hope that this
conference will be accomplished and its further activity will enable
to discuss a number of questions referring Karabakh as well. – In your
opinion can this conference have a positive effect on the favourable
and positive settlement of the Karabakh conflict? – Representatives of
many states which member all the international organizations engaged in
the settlement of the Karabakh issue participate in this conference and
naturally each of them, though imagining the ways of fair settlement
may try to ask the opinion of their colleagues as well. And besides all
the important conditions there is one, no less important problem – the
opinion of the international community. And the members of parliament
of different countries have their big role in its formation. – What
other important steps of the Armenian lobbing can you mention? – I can
mention two important steps. First, we may discuss with our colleagues
from different countries problems concerning further development of the
Karabakh economy. And second, the activity of Armenian parliamentarians
in different international organizations directed at the settlement
of the Karabakh issue within the framework of the political aspect of
the issue. Finally, each of them is member of a different country and
each of them certainly can favour the formation of the approach of the
parliament of his country. – There are rumours that the question of
returning by Karabakh the three adjacent territories to the Republic
of Azerbaijan is discussed. – I have never heard such formulations
and neither participated in such discussions. I do not think that
such discussion ever took place. I also learned about this from
the mass media that allegedly such discussion took place with the
participation of the Karabakh government, but I state officially that
this is disinformation. – And if suppose such a suggestion was made,
I this case what is your position? – If Karabakh considered it absurd
to return five regions for opening of some railroad, why do you think
that it will agree to return three?
CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INCREASING BIRTHRATE IS A PRIORITY
Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
June 21 2004
For countries with small population the growth of the number of the
population is very important. This importance is more apparent for
countries that survived war. Of course, it is not easy to restore the
social and economic state of the population having passed through
war. In the recent decade in Karabakh not only the government but
also different organizations undertook a number of measures for
increasing birthrate. Families having 4 and more children under 18
receive monthly benefits of 2000 drams for each child (by January 1,
2004 there are 1160 such families in Karabakh). Armenian Evangelist
Society also provides aid. About 325 families in the republic receive
food and money once in three months. In 2004 “Karabakh Telecom”
provides 5 thousand drams to each child in socially insecure families
having 4 and more children. The department for problems of family
and children of the NKR Ministry of Social Security informed that
of the 223 families 71 (321 children) have already received their
sums. According to the head of the department Samvel Dadassian,
by the decision N 62 of the government of NKR made on November 26,
2002 for the aim of stimulating birthrate, favouring the growth of
the number of population, improving the material security of the
growing generation at the town and regional branches of “Artsakhbank”
accounts are opened in the name of the child born in the family. For
the third child 700 US dollars, fourth child 1000 US dollars, for
the fifth and the next children 1500 US dollars, for the fifth child
1500 US dollars, for the sixth and seventh child 2000 US dollars,
for the tenth and the next children 3000 US dollars. According to S.
Dadassian, after the birth of fourth and the next children for all
the schoolchildren in the family the payment for the textbooks is
compensated by the government, and in the regions families having
more than 5 children under 18 receive monthly compensation for 60
kW/h of electricity. In the regions after the birth of the tenth
and next children the family receives only once 5000 US dollars.
Generally large families are socially insecure especially when its
members do not work. One of them is the family of Avetis Abrahamian.
Before the Artsakh war they lived in Russia. In 1990 they returned
to Artsakh to defend their native land. By the way, their fourth
child was born here. Now the family Abrahamian has eight children
(4 boys and 4 girls), soon the ninth will be born. “Frankly speaking
we do not know whom to turn to for help. I applied to many places for
work but never received a positive answer. I applied to the City Hall
for the question of repairing the apartment but I was refused for the
reason of the lack of financial means. So far we have been living in
two rooms and the third which serves as a sitting room does not have
floor. After all this I come to the conclusion that the contribution
of the defenders of the fatherland is not appreciated,” says A.
Abrahamian. Nevertheless, the family expects with hope for the new
apartment to be built and improvement of their social conditions. In
reference to the question of providing flats to large families the
head of the department for problems of family and children stated
that houses are being built for families in the regions having 7 and
more children under 18. In 2000-2003 50 houses were built for large
families in the regions. This year it is planned to build 25 houses.
Building of 15 has already started, the others are prepared. As
to the families living in the capital in 2005 houses will be built
for families having 6 and more children. The family Abrahamian is
among them.
ANAHIT DANIELIAN
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ANTI-ARMENIAN IN ALL DIMENSIONS
Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
June 21 2004
Experts state that 1-3 million Azerbaijanis live in and near Moscow,
and 63 percent moved from Azerbaijan in recent years. 40 percent are
young and middle aged men who migrated without their relatives. A
small part arrived with their families. Only 5 percent run their own
business, 43 percent found high-salary jobs. 86 percent consider
they have already got accustomed or will soon get adjusted to the
new life, 45 percent with the assistance of their relatives living
in Moscow. 20 percent want to bring their families. What about those
who did not achieve success? Will they leave the capital of Russia in
the near future? 50 percent do not know, 33 will never leave despite
difficulties. Difficulties for 55 percent is home, for 35 percent
jobs, for 72 percent registration or status of refugee. For most of
them the negative attitude of the people and authorities of Moscow was
an unpleasant surprise. If we add the language factor and feeling of
loneliness the picture will become complete. The Russian newspaper
“Azerbaijani Congress” published since May 2003 is for supporting
and bringing together their compatriots. Recently I got one of the
editions of this monthly newspaper. Of the mentioned edition with
16 coloured pages one may get more information, such as that in the
large region of Primorye the Azerbaijani community is rather large,
whereas in Stavropolie they have only 45 thousand compatriots where
“unfortunately the majority prefers to trade in the market” (perhaps
they would wish to become at least senators, or governor or famous
cultural figures). And the community with 45 thousand members has not
a single Sunday school. The regional department of the All-Russia
Azerbaijani Congress which was registered on February 28, 2000
(soon after which accidentally or not the profane actions of ruining
Armenian cemeteries were launched) has such an aim. Instead they have
managed in other places. For example, in Chuvashia. On February 24 of
this year the statue of Nizami Gyanjiev was opened in Cheboksary. Are
there relations between Nizami Gyanjiev and Cheboksary? No. And why
must there be any relations. They wished to do they did. For it was
not done on the means of the Chuvash people. The deputy chairman of
the AAC Natik Aghamirov paid all the expenses from his pocket. By
the way this is the third statue of the Persian writer in Russia, the
first and the second are in Moscow and Sanct Petersburg. What can they
do? Only in Moscow there are 114 names indicating the contribution and
talent of Armenians in all spheres: memorial, street, a whole living
quarters, theatre, church, cemetery. Perhaps I would not write this
article if I did not read the article by certain Emin Mamedly “The
Khans of Nakhjvan” under the headline “History”. After reading it one
comes to the conclusion that the aim is not so conveying information
about this or that Caucasian Tatar who served in the Russian army
and achieved high ranks as extending to the Russian reader that the
Armenian lands are not Armenian. Mentioning about the fact that the
khanate of Nakhijevan was annexed to Russia by the famous agreement
of Turkemenchay (February 10, 1828) and that Persia once and for
all (the latter expression is taken in inverted commas) yielded –
the Azerbaijani khanates of Yerevan and Nakhjvan to Russia, and by
the Supreme Manifest Tsar Nikolay I named the united area – Armenian
region, which was followed due to the support and aid of the Russian
commanders by the mass resettlement of the Armenian population from
Persia to the mentioned region and the khanate of Karabakh. How is it
possible to name the only subject of the Russian empire in the Caucasus
after a concrete nation, exclaims the author with hysteric pity and
then states with unhidden hatred how the committee of resettlement
was headed by ethnic Armenian Colonel Lazarev and Lieutenant-Colonel
Arghutinski-Dolgorukov and how the former khans were deprived of
their rights. Moreover, by the fourth article of the same agreement
the khans, beks and clergymen of the other Russian provinces were
also deprived of rights and – they were not allowed to settle down
in the Armenian region. The pseudo-historian of our times calls the
fair and regular historical phenomenon “colonization of the region”
by forced resettlement of the Muslims and immigration of Christians,
mainly ethnic Armenians, as well as Russians, Ukrainians and – Germans,
Czechs, Polish (?). “In this situation the only means of preserving
the lands of the historical motherland was devoted service to the
house of Romanov,” writes the author. Here we are – Mamedli did not
hesitate to pour the poison of his heart on the excellent writer
of historical novels Valentin Pikul. He was especially furious with
the interpretation of the character of the Ismail khan (who plays a
dual game) in the film “Bayazet” on the novel of Pikul shown on the
second Russian channel. He labels this excellent film as “immoral
and illiterate”. By the way, one of his mentioned khans Kelbili
khan later fought against Andranik, and his brother, officer of the
division “Savage” Jumshud was at the same time the commander of the
Karabakh cavalry. In such cases it is accepted to say no comment but,
nevertheless, we shall try to comment on this. At the end of the
article the author says, “Allah rahmat eliasin” (Allah give peace to
their souls) and this is not in vain as they have shed the blood of
thousands of Armenian women and children. By the way, the editor of
the newspaper “Azerbaijani congress” is Afrang Dashdamirov not unknown
to the intelligentsia of Artsakh who once occupied the position of
the head of the department of propaganda of the Central Committee of
the Azerbaijani Communist Party under Heidar Aliev and the position
of the secretary of the Central Committee on propaganda under Kyamran
Bagirov. To conclude I will add the following: the propaganda machine
of our enemy is enviably active not only at home but also abroad. In
the brains of the growing generation they must seed the absurd and
brazen idea that there is no Armenian land in the world. And if
at one time a generation captured a greater part of the historical
motherland of the Armenians, the duty of the following generations
is to preserve it at any cost and not to yield back. And for this
sake they will not hesitate even to declare their prophet Mohammed
Christian. What do we oppose to this machine, with what success? But
this is already another subject for study.
NVARD AVAGIAN

St. John’s Telegram (Newfoundland)
June 20, 2004 Sunday Final Edition
Iranians shoot for change
SOURCE: CanWest News Service
by: Michael Petrou
ESFAHAN, Iran
In a coffee shop in Esfahan’s Christian Armenian quarter, four Muslim
men sit at a low table near the bar, smoking cigarettes and drinking
espresso.
The coffee shop’s stereo is playing Green Day’s Time of Your Life.
Several of the young men and women in the cafe and on the sidewalk
outside have bandages on their noses, the result of recent plastic
surgery — a popular trend among young Iranians who can afford it.
Nasser Behruz, a heavyset man with thinning black hair, uses a piece
of chocolate to scoop foam from his small cup of espresso and talks
about change.
Unlike most of the patrons, he’s old enough to remember the Islamic
Revolution of 1979 and has watched the country transform.
“Look at this,” he says, waving his hand at the young men and women
sitting in the cafe with their foreheads inches apart. “Ten years ago,
this would not be possible. … Things are getting better, but slowly,
very slowly. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I hope
the changes continue.”
I order a malt beverage that contains no alcohol, which prompts Behruz
to talk about his favourite alcoholic drinks and the occasional house
parties he throws for his friends.
“Sometimes if I have a party and there is a lot of music and dancing
and my neighbour calls, then the police will come. But it’s not a
problem,” he says, and rubs his thumb and forefinger together to
indicate a bribe.
“I give them something and they go away.”
Behruz invites me to his apartment for a few drinks.
“The government doesn’t like Iranians talking to foreigners,” his
friend says. “If they see us talking to a tourist, we get questioned.
But it’s OK. We thought you were Iranian, and the police will, too.
Let’s go.”
On the outside wall of Behruz’s apartment building, someone has
spray-painted “Down with women who don’t wear the hijab.”
“Must have been some Islamic person who did this,” he says.
We spend the evening drinking a clear and potent moonshine that has
been smuggled into the country from the Kurdish areas of Iraq in
two-litre pop bottles. In Behruz’s kitchen, we mix the alcohol with
Mecca Cola and fruit juice.
Behruz tells me he is an atheist, and we have a long, spirited
conversation about whether God exists.
After a couple of hours, Behruz puts on a video of the Iranian
singer Googoosh performing at Maple Leaf Gardens. The singer had
been banned from performing by Iran’s fundamentalist clerics after
the Islamic Revolution and was only permitted to leave the country
a few years ago. She promptly launched a triumphant world tour to
capacity audiences.
As we work our way through the bottle, Behruz becomes a little more
animated. Like every other Iranian I speak with, he says he doesn’t
want the United States to overthrow Iran’s government. (The only
person I meet in Iran who thinks this would be a good idea is a
visiting businessman from Afghanistan.)
But Behruz is desperate for regime change.
“If the Americans come here, I will shoot them,” he says.
“But they must go, the mullahs. They must go. I don’t know how. Maybe
we will have another people’s revolution. I think our spirit is like
France, and French democracy is best for us.”
Late that night, Behruz and I walk across the lower level of the
exquisite Khaju Bridge spanning Esfahan’s Zayandeh River. A group of
middle-aged men has gathered beneath the bridge’s vaulted archways to
take advantage of the structure’s shower-like acoustics and sing. One
man plays a flute and another earnestly belts out a Googoosh song:
“Of all the men in the world, you’re the one for me …”
I leave Esfahan and travel northwest, across the Iranian plateau
toward the mountainous borders of Iraq and Turkey.
It is a rugged and seductive part of the country, frequented by
nomads and smugglers. Most of the people who live here are Kurds,
Turkic Azaris, and Armenian and Assyrian Christians.
Kurds in Iran have their own distinct language and culture. And
unlike the majority of Iranians who are Shiite Muslims, Iranian Kurds
practise Sunni Islam. However, although heavy fighting raged in 1979
between Kurdish separatists and the country’s new Islamic regime,
few Iranian Kurds today want outright independence from Iran.
Most would prefer greater autonomy, more democracy and the freedom
to practise Islam as they see fit.
Kurdish friends invite me to a wedding. Women wearing beautiful,
brightly coloured dresses and no headscarves dance hand-in-hand
with men while energized musicians sing and play horns and stringed
instruments.
Guests hand the singer wads of cash with their names written on the
bills. The singer reads the names and sings their praises without
missing a beat. The dancers hold hands in a line and move in a
counter-clockwise circle.
The man leading the dance twirls a handkerchief above his head,
knocking blossom petals from an overhanging tree, adding to the riot
of colour.
“The Persians dance with the men and women separate,” one guest says.
“We Kurds dance together. It causes some problems with the Islamic
people, but I don’t care.”
“We Kurds are Muslims, too. But Islam isn’t telling women to cover
their faces. We don’t do that.”
Christianity has existed in Iran since before the advent of Islam.
An Assyrian church in the northwestern city of Tabriz is built on
the ruins of a much older church, believed to have been founded by
one of the three Magi, or wise men, who returned to Persia after
visiting the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem.
Today, about 300,000 Iranians are Christians, mostly ethnic Armenians.
“We don’t feel isolated here,” says Violet, a young Armenian woman in
Esfahan, where the Persian Shah settled a large community of Armenian
Christians during the early 17th century.
Privately some Armenians will admit to “misunderstandings” between
their communities and Iran’s government since the Islamic Revolution.
“Obviously sharia law isn’t natural to Christians,” one man says.
“But our religious rights are respected. We celebrate all our holy
days, even national days commemorating battles between Armenians and
Persians. … And we have our representatives in parliament. They
represent us and help us reclaim our rights.”
But if the older Armenian and Assyrian churches in Iran are at least
officially protected, the regime does not tolerate evangelism.
Muslims who convert are considered apostates and are subject to
harsh punishment. Most evangelical churches in the country have
gone underground.
“Me, personally, I must evangelize privately, in people’s homes,”
says Sharif, 26, an Assyrian man from Tabriz who joined a local
Protestant church as an adult.
“If the government found out, there would be a lot of problems for me.”
Iran is also home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the
Middle East outside of Israel.
Their history here began 2,500 years ago when the Persian ruler Cyrus
the Great captured Babylon and freed the Jewish slaves.
Some elected to stay in Persia rather than return to Palestine,
and subsequent generations of Jews immigrated here to escape the
persecution of Greeks and Romans.
Today, Muslims in the Iranian city of Shiraz speak casually about the
numerous Jewish merchants in the city they do friendly business with.
“They’re Iranian, just like the rest of us,” one man says.
But the attitude of the clerics in the Iranian government is less
benign. In 2000, a revolutionary court convicted 10 Shiraz Jews of
spying for Israel, in a trial widely regarded outside Iran as unfair.
All the convicted men were released within three years, but the
incident exposed the theocracy’s continued intolerance.
Officially, foreigners visiting a synagogue in Iran need permission,
and a guide, from the Ministry of Information and Islamic Guidance.
But I simply ask my taxi driver to take me to the “Jewish church,”
and he does.
The synagogue is located behind unmarked walls about a block away
from a Christian church. Inside, two dozen worshippers are preparing
for prayer. Several men are clearly uneasy about my presence and
continually look over my shoulder to where my driver is parked outside.
One man seems to suggest in broken English that I come back later
when I am alone. But the entire atmosphere is uncomfortable. I leave
quickly and do not return.
It would be misleading, however, to imply that all Iranians are
opposed to the ruling clerics, or that support for the religious
fundamentalists running Iran is limited to an old guard of aging
revolutionaries.
In Shiraz, I visit several madrassas, or Islamic schools, and other
centres of Islamic study that are crowded with young scholars and
new students.
I am guided through the city by Rezvan, a 42-year-old man with a
quiet voice and thick black beard. I assume he supports the religious
clerics because of his beard, a rarity among most Iranians, but we
have barely started walking toward the first madrassa when he says,
“Iran today is like Europe of the Renaissance.”
“We want to become secular,” he continues. “Religion and government
should not go together. Most of us feel this way. But the government
does not want what the people want.”
At the madrassa, we visit with Hussein, a young scholar of 20 who
invites us to his whitewashed room. The walls are lined with religious
books and decorated with a photograph of him when he was about 12
years old.
We sit on the floor, looking out over the madrassa’s courtyard and
drinking tea that Hussein boils on a gas burner in his room. Below
us in the courtyard a young student sits cross-legged on the floor
opposite a cleric with an open copy of the Qur’an between them,
discussing passages from the holy book.
Hussein wants to be sure that I know Muslims respect Jesus, and asks
why Easter is important to Christians. He says he will study Islam
for 12 more years, likely much longer.
“I want to spend my life helping to advertise Islam,” he says. “It
doesn’t matter if it is in a mosque or a school. It is all part of
the same life.”
On our way to a neighbouring Islamic study centre, Rezvan warns me
not to refer to the clerics there as “mullahs.”
“They don’t like to be called mullahs, because they think it makes
them sound like Osama bin Laden,” Rezvan says. He pauses before adding,
“But there really isn’t that much difference.”
All the clerics we talk to at the centre are gracious and polite. One
insists on personally driving us across town to our next appointment,
clutching his robes around his tall frame before folding himself into
his tiny car and plunging into the city’s chaotic traffic.
Another tries to explain the role of religion in Iran’s government.
“The Qur’an gives guidance for all parts of our lives: culture,
family, science,” he says.
Iran is approaching a tipping point. Religious conservatives still
command the loyalty of some. But the gulf between the Iranian people
and their government is deep.
Many Iranians openly disparage the ruling clerics, drink smuggled
alcohol in their homes and at parties, watch MTV on their satellite
televisions and, if they are women, wear their headscarves perched
precariously on the back of their heads.
State-censored newspapers are full of propaganda against Israel and
the United States.
But a private bookstore near Tehran University prominently displays
copies of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights
and Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
For a while it seemed possible that President Mohammed Khatami and
parliamentary reformers might change the system from within.
But the conservative clerics cynically crippled the reform movement
before the last election by banning reformist candidates, and many
Iranians who seek democracy have now turned their backs on Khatami
and his contemporaries.
“We have had the so-called reformers for six years with nothing to
show for it,” one student says. “They think saving the system is more
important than the needs of the people. They are a dead end.”
The clerics will defend their power. And indeed, the death of Zahra
Kazemi, the Canadian photojournalist who was murdered while a prisoner
at Iran’s notorious Evin prison, and the cover-up of her killing betray
both the determination and desperate depravity of Iran’s religious
dictatorship. But a confrontation with Iran’s people is inevitable.
Ottawa Citizen
GRAPHIC: Color Photo: The Associated Press; Iranian President Mohammad
Khatami aims a rifle last week during his visit to Iran’s Defence
Ministry in Tehran. In a letter to the leaders of Britain, Germany and
France, Khatami accused the EU trio of working with Tehran’s arch-foe
Washington to heap pressure on the Islamic Republic. But many Iranians
are beginning to question the country’s form of theocratic government.

AEROFLOT SET TO SPREAD ITS WINGS INTO GEORGIA
by Tracey Boles Transport Editor
The Business
June 20, 2004
Empire building is alive and well in Russia – at least in its aviation
sector. Aeroflot Russian Airlines has opened tentative talks with
Georgian flag carrier Air Zena with a view to purchasing it outright
or taking at least majority control of the airline.
As well as developing its presence outside Russia, Aeroflot is looking
to enhance its domestic services and is courting various Russian
airlines as potential purchases. The national carrier is understood to
be interested in Samara Airlines and Kuban Airlines, with the aim of
establishing new regional bases at Samara and Kransnador. In addition
it has not ruled out an investment in Siberia’s Arkhangelsk Airlines.
Air Zena was formed as a charter airline in 1994 and has established
a strong network into Europe from its base at Tbilisi. Acquiring flag
carrier status in 1999 following the demise of Georgian Airlines,
it has played an important role in developing the country’s economy
and its links with the west. A private airline, it operates three
Boeing 737-500 and two Antonov 2 aircraft on routes connecting Tbilisi
with Moscow, Prague, Paris, Athens, Tel Aviv, Frankfurt, Amsterdam,
Vienna and Kiev.
Aeroflot believes an equity investment in the Georgian carrier will
help expand its activities in the Commonwealth of Independent states
(CIS) and prove a boon to the SkyTeam alliance, which the Russian
airline will join within the next two years.
“We confirm that we are in talks for Air Zena , but this is a
preliminary stage and it is too early to talk about results,” Lev
Koshlyakov, deputy general director of Aeroflot, said. “We have
an interest in the CIS market and we are building up contacts and
relations as this could be our trump card in the SkyTeam alliance.”
If Aeroflot buys up Air Zena, it will be following the example of
Russia’s number two carrier Sibir, which acquired Armenia’s Armavia
airline in 2002. Sibir has used Armavia not only to expand its network,
but also to import Airbus 320 planes duty-free and to gain experience
operating them on the CIS market.
Sibir has already imported four such aircraft and is only required to
pay a small registration fee in Armenia. But the aircraft cannot be
used on the routes of Sibir proper due to government restrictions on
using imported planes; Aeroflot is allowed to operate only 27 foreign
jets in its fleet of 78.
Last month Aeroflot signed a preliminary agreement to join the Air
France-led SkyTeam airline alliance, a deal that could take a year
to be finalised.
Aeroflot intends to increase market share on Russian-US routes
with what it bills as an improved service – supposedly gone is the
unfriendly and unreliable image of Soviet times, to be replaced with
new uniforms and an la carte menu. The first North American office
for frequent fliers opened recently.
But Aeroflot’s ability to revamp its much-maligned fleet is limited
by the measures designed to protect Russia’s aircraft industry;
value-added-tax and import duties that increase the price of
foreign-made jets by up to 40%. As a result, Boeing, which has 500
engineers in Russia and has invested $ 1.3bn (715m, E1bn) into joint
ventures with the country since the early 1990s, sells more planes
to Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
The good news for both manufacturers is that the Russian airline
plans to double its fleet to 150 jets by the end of the decade;
the lack of sufficient Russian aircraft may play straight into their
hands. Of 110 foreign-made jets flown by CIS airlines, 88 are Boeings.