Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
June 8 2004
SEMINAR ON “HISTORY OF THE AZERBAIJAN CULTURE” HELD
[June 08, 2004, 22:28:03]
A Republican culturology seminar on the topic ” History of the
Azerbaijan culture”, organized by the International Cultural Center of
Civil Society, the Azerbaijan Society of Culturologists and Association
of Culture of Azerbaijan “Simurg” was held in the “Irshad” Hotel.
President of Association of Culture of Azerbaijan “Simurg “,
academician of the International Academy of Scientific Problems of
Intellectual Development Fuad Mammadov, having welcomed the visitors,
has noted, that the seminar is devoted to one of actual problems –
to the history of the Azerbaijan culture.
The doctor of historical sciences, corresponding member of the National
Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan (ANAS) Farida Mammadova spoke on the
topic “The Caucasian Albania: the history and the present”, in detail
told about the role and place of Albanian people in ethno-genesis of
Azerbaijan people, history of occurrence and falling of the Albanian
church, produced proofs of groundlessness of claims of the Armenians.
The report of the doctor of the art, collaborator of the Institute of
Architecture and Art of ANAS Jamil Hasanzade on the topic “The Tebriz
miniatures in world museums” has caused large interest and discussions.
Reproductions and slides which evidently illustrated the report, led
the visitors to the ÕØ-ÕVI centuries – the period of blossoming of
Tebriz school of miniatures and occurrence of the so-called pathetic
miniature which have made the whole stage in the history of the
Azerbaijan art.
Then, was held a “round table” during which the exchange of opinions
has taken place, discussed was the topic “Culture of Azerbaijan
yesterday, today, tomorrow”. Members of the World Association
of the non-governmental organizations, teachers, businessmen,
representatives of creative and trade unions, municipalities, the
religious organizations, mass media took part in the discussion.

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
June 8 2004
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND CONCERN FOR PEOPLE – PRIORITY
DIRECTIONS OF STATE POLICY IN AZERBAIJAN
SPEECH OF AZERBAIJAN PRESIDENT ILHAM ALIYEV AT CEREMONY OF NAMING
CENTRAL SQUARE AND AVENUE IN THE TOWN OF YEVLAKH AFTER NATION-WIDE
LEADER HEYDAR ALIYEV
[June 08, 2004, 18:21:38]
Dear residents of Yevlakh!
Dear sisters and brothers!
I am cordially greeting you all, and expressing my deep respect and
love to you.
A very remarkable event is taking place today in Yevlakh. These nice
square and avenue are about to be named after nation-wide leader of
our people Heydar Aliyev. On this occasion I extend my sincere
congratulations to all of you.
Nation-wide leader of our people Heydar Aliyev served the Motherland
and nation during all his lifetime. In 1970-80s, the great
constructive work was carried out under his leadership. The country’s
economy was developing leaving behind the rest of the Soviet
Republics. The people in the Soviet Azerbaijan, indeed, felt this:
standard of living increased, new enterprises, hospitals, schools,
scientific and cultural centers were built. It was exactly the period
when powerful economic potential was created in Azerbaijan,
particularly, on oil sector. This potential is serving independent
Azerbaijan even today, and is a great support of the country’s
economy.
After coming back to power in 1993, this time to govern independent
Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev continued to serve his people, and helped
the country out of difficult situation. We all remember well that
after re-gaining independence Azerbaijan appeared to be in the very
difficult situation. On the one hand, Armenian aggression against
Azerbaijan, on the other hand processes taken place within the
country. Chaos and anarchy were ruling the country. At that hard
time, the people appealed again to their nation-wide leader, and
invited him to Baku. After Heydar Aliyev returned to the capital,
stability has been re-established in the country, and favorable
conditions have been created here for further development. Since
then, Azerbaijan has been successfully developed.
Our country has managed to occupy a worthy place in the international
arena. My recent foreign visits have shown again that Azerbaijan has
turned into a very important country in the region. Of course, it, in
the first place, is the result of Heydar Aliyev’s efforts, triumph of
his diplomacy.
Huge investments have been made in our country, and Azerbaijan is a
leading one from this standpoint, as well. Today, a section of the
Baku–Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and large pumping station are being
constructed in Yevlakh. It of course became possible thanks to the
activities of Heydar Aliyev. If the oil strategy were not laid by
Heydar Aliyev in 1994, we would not achieve such successes.
At the same time, social problems are also resolved in Azerbaijan.
Living conditions of refugees and IDPs are improved – new
settlements, schools and hospitals are being constructed for them.
This process will be continued. I stated during my pre-election
campaign that no an encampment would remain in the country. In this
connection, relevant decrees have already been signed, and their
implementation has already started.
In a word, Azerbaijan has been strengthened under the leadership of
Heydar Aliyev for the past decade. Today, our country is looking to
the future with confidence. We have great prospects. The whole world
knows that Azerbaijan will shortly turn into economically powerful
state. To reach this goal, it is first of all necessary to continue
Heydar Aliyev’s policy. Today, taking the opportunity, I want to
express my gratitude to the people of Yevlakh for supporting the
Heydar Aliyev’s policy in the elections. There are no alternatives to
this course. And we will do continue that in all spheres.
Azerbaijan’s positions in the international arena will do
strengthened. My recent visits indicate once again that Azerbaijan is
pursuing very successful policy in this direction. Azerbaijan has
good relations with the world’s most prestigious international
organizations – Council of Europe, European Union and NATO, as well
as with the world’s leading countries.
Azerbaijan’s economy strengthens day by day and intensively develops.
Measures are taken to open new working places. Oil strategy continues
successfully and in early next year the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan MEP will
be put into operation. Social problems are solved. Last year the
pensions and wages have increased. These positive trends will
continue. We shall try to do our best to improve living conditions of
our people.
As you know, we have adopted socio-economic and regional programs
important for future development of Azerbaijan. These programs are
being realized. I am confident that in the coming five years,
realization of them will greatly benefit our Republic. We are
fighting poverty and this will be continued. Opening of new working
places is priority for us and I have several times stated on this.
Today, with a feeling deep pleasure I would like to say that about 30
thousand of working places have been opened after the President
elections. It is also pleased that these working places have been
opened in the regions. This is one of the major factors of our
policy. All regions of Azerbaijan should develop. All the regions and
cities, settlements and villages, all residential areas should
develop. The people should be employed. I am very glad that early
conclusions of this policy have become reality. I am convinced that
these trends will continue and poverty and unemployment will be
abolished.
Today, I am pleased of being in Yevlakh. It was said here that I had
visited Yevlakh before the elections and met the residents of
Yevlakh. I received their support and won at the elections. It is
rather pleased that large-scale works are carried out in Yevlakh. You
know that I have appointed a new head of the executive power in
Yevlakh. In the course of conversation, we have decided that probably
in six months I shall come here to familiarize with the done works. I
am very glad that this was two months. Large works have been done in
Yevlakh during these two months – streets and parks have been paved,
enterprises restored, attention and care for people increased. Should
these factors exist everywhere, Azerbaijan will solve its problems in
a short period. I hope it will be so. If in Yevlakh during two months
such large-scale works have been done, then, I am sure it can be done
on other regions as well. I have a demand for all the executives and
managers in the places – to develop the cities, regions, build and
open new working places, set conditions for entrepreneurs, assist the
farmers, peasants, at the same time attentively treat the people. I
am rather glad that all these are being realized in Yevlakh. I wish
success to the new management, the residents of Yevlakh in this
direction.
The grounds of this policy have been established in 1993. Should this
course of development not be taken in that year, today Azerbaijan
would face more problems. In those years, difficult problems of the
Republic were solved. Restoration of stability, maintenance of order
and rule and at the same time, as an important problem – the process
of strengthening of Azerbaijan statehood was launched. At that time,
the state independence of Azerbaijan was under jeopardy. As a result
of Heydar Aliyev’s gigantic efforts, significant steps were made in
this direction. To say, Azerbaijan, since 1996, has overcome all
these difficulties. Since that time, the country is developing
dynamically.
Today, we are optimist for the coming years. Morrow is bright. The
Country will develop, strengthen, become stronger and our crucial
problem – the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh problem find its
solution. I am confident. Our cause is fair. We support justice, want
to restore territorial integrity of our Country. We try this conflict
to find its solution in the frame of international law and
peacefully. At the same time, we should be ready for all other
happenings. We have no claims on territories of others and will not
give a span of Azerbaijani land to others. We shall liberate our
native lands. We are going to do it in peaceful way. Should it not be
possible, we shall do it by all means.
Heydar Aliyev’s policy should be continued to solve the forthcoming
tasks and problems. Azerbaijan needs this policy today and it will
need it tomorrow. I have stated to adhere to this policy before the
elections and I am devoted to this policy today and will not
backtrack from this. We shall go only forward and to new
accomplishments.
Dear residents of Yevlakh, I once again congratulate you on naming
this Square and Avenue after the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar
Aliyev, wish you new successes, new victories. Thank you.

Eastern promise for outsourcing software
IST Results, Belgium
June 8 2004
With numerous European companies caught in a dilemma of growing
technology demands and shrinking IT budgets, outsourcing software
development to Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS) is an
increasing attractive option.
ADONIS, an IST programme-funded project, is meeting the challenges of
this dilemma by assisting European organisations and businesses to
outsource software development in collaboration with programmers in
Russia and the NIS of the former Soviet Union, primarily Ukraine and
Armenia. This is a win-win endeavour – European companies can offer
their products and services at competitive prices, while opportunity
is created in the participating NIS. Both benefit from rich research
and development collaboration.
The 10-member consortium collaborated to set up and test a pan-European
network of services for outsourcing software tasks. Project partners
have since formed a Brussels-based company, NewAdonis SPRL. Outsourcing
to NIS and Russia holds “very high potential”, according to project
manager and company Director Dr Ruben Vardapetian.
“The results of 16 pilot projects are still being analysed, but the
three countries, including Belarus, have a huge intellectual capital
largely unexploited by Europe and unused by their own countries,”
he explains.
Global software outsourcing is a lucrative, multibillion-euro
business, with the lion’s share going to India. But Russia is among
the rising stars with an annual turnover of €400 million. NIS and
Russia offer rapidly growing economies and large, highly educated
populations willing to work for lower wages than their European
counterparts. Outsourcing is not an entirely new phenomenon in the
region. Vardapetian notes that Armenia was producing both hardware
and software for the Soviet military since the 1950s.
What is new, however, is the growing recognition of companies in
Europe and across the Atlantic of its benefits. Outsourcing is becoming
synonymous with outsmarting, offering companies the ability to reduce
costs, focus on core business activities, compensate for lack of IT
staff and access specialised expertise at a highly competitive price.
Contact: Dr Ruben Vardapetian NewAdonis SPRL Chaussée de Wavre 352
1040 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 -2-2306916 Email: [email protected]
;tpl=article&BrowsingType=Features&ID=65347

VLADIMIR PRYAKHIN HOPES VAGHARSHAK HARUTYUNYAN TO BE RELEASED FROM JAIL SOON
A1 Plus | 21:47:00 | 08-06-2004 | Politics |
Robert Grigoryan, the lawyer of General-Lieutenant and former Armenian
Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutyunyan met with OSCE Ambassador in
Armenia Vladimir Pryakhin on Tuesday.
The meeting was initiated by Vladimir Pryakhin.
Grigoryan told Pryakhin that his client is charged with attempting
a coup, making seditious calls and insulting the authorities. But
actually no exact wrongdoing is mentioned and presumption of innocence
is violated, he said.
“Instead of proving his fault, they want him to prove his innocence”,
Grigoryan said.
Pryakhin get familiar with the case and expressed hope that Vagharshak
Harutyunyan would be freed soon.

PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Network of America, Washington Region
P. O. Box 10423
Arlington, VA 22210-9998
Email: [email protected]
Web:
Washington, DC. The Armenian Network invites you to a presentation
on the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and its implications
for Armenia. A senior representative from the Millennium Challenge
Corporation will explain the various features of MCAs and respond to
questions from the audience. MCAs are unique in that they represent
potential direct transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars and can
be used virtually in all spheres of economic and social development
(schools, hospitals, roads, power plants, private enterprises, among
others). Yet little is known about how funds will be programmed and
projects implemented.
The presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22, 6:30-8:30pm. It
will take place at the World Bank Auditorium J1-050, 701 18th
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433. The auditorium is located between
Pennsylvania Avenue and G Street, one block from the White House.
Representatives of the business community and NGOs are encouraged
to attend. RSVP to [email protected], while not required,
is appreciated.
The Armenian Network of America, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization dedicated to the advancement of the Armenian American
community.

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
June 8, 2004
___________________
TRIBUTE TO DR. THOMAS MATHEWS TO TAKE PLACE AT DIOCESAN CENTER ON JUNE 10
A tribute to Prof. Thomas Mathews, a specialist in Armenian and
Byzantine art, will take place on Thursday evening, June 10, 2004,
at the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) in New
York City.
Cosponsored by the Diocese’s Krikor and Clara Zohrab Resource Center
and the St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, the evening will feature two
keynote speakers — Dr. Helen Evans, curator of medieval art at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Dr. Sylvie Merian, reference librarian
at the Pierpont Morgan Library — who are former students and current
colleagues of Prof. Mathews.
The retiring Prof. Mathews, the John Langeloth Loeb Professor of the
History of Art at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, has
done extensive study on Armenian and Byzantine art and architecture.
The evening is an opportunity to recognize the great contribution he
has made to the field of Armenian studies.
Dr. Mathews is the editor and co-author (with Avedis K. Sanjian) of
“Armenian Gospel Iconography: The Tradition of the Glajor Gospel,” the
first monographic study of a single Armenian manuscript. This work
was a collaborative study on an illustrated Armenian gospel book of
the 14th century which is owned by UCLA. Prof. Mathews also co-wrote
a second volume on this gospel, to accompany the exhibition of the
Gladzor (Glajor) Gospel at the J. Paul Getty Museum.
In the 1980s, Prof. Mathews conceived of an exhibit showcasing Armenian
illumination, book-making, and binding using collections in the United
States. The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York enthusiastically
adopted the idea, and more than 60,000 visitors saw it in 1994 at
both the Morgan Library and the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore.
In conjunction with the exhibit, Prof. Mathews co-edited “Treasures in
Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts,” an introduction to the art
and history of Armenian manuscript painting, and helped to organize
a symposium which resulted in a second volume of papers titled,
“Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Art, Religion, and Society”.
Some of his articles on Armenian themes are assembled in “Art and
Architecture in Byzantium and Armenia: Liturgical and Exegetical
Approaches” (1995), while others appear in “East of Byzantium: Syria
and Armenia in the Formative Period” (1982), which he co-edited.
He is the author of the provocative work, “The Clash of Gods:
A Reinterpretation of Early Christian Art” (1993; revised 1999),
“Byzantium: From Antiquity to the Renaissance” (1998), “The Byzantine
Churches of Istanbul: A Photographic Survey” (1976), “The Early
Churches of Constantinople: Architecture and Liturgy” (1971), and
“Art and Religion: Faith, Form and Reform” (1986).
He is a member of the Association Internationale des Etudes
Armeniennes, as well as the Medieval Academy of America. Among his
many honors are the J. Clawson Mills Fellowship of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art (1996), a National Endowment for the Humanities grant,
(1994), and a Hagop Kevorkian Fund research grant (1991). Dr. Mathews
received his doctorate degree in art history from NYU in 1970.
COLLEAGUES TO PAY TRIBUTE
A scholar of early Christian, Byzantine, and Armenian art, Dr. Helen
Evans has been involved with the Metropolitan Museum since 1986.
She was co-curator of the major exhibition “The Glory of Byzantium”
in 1997, and curator of the current exhibit, “Byzantium: Faith and
Power (1261-1557)”. Her dissertation at NYU was on “Manuscript
Illumination at the Armenian Patriarchate at Hromkla and the West.”
She served as co-curator of the “Treasures in Heaven: Armenian
Illuminated Manuscripts” exhibition.
Dr. Sylvie Merian has extensively researched, published and lectured
on Armenian codicology, binding, and illumination, as well as on the
history of the book. She contributed extensively to the exhibition
“Treasures in Heaven,” and was a co-author of the accompanying
catalogue.
The program and reception on June 10 will take place at 7:30 p.m. in
the formal reception room (Tahlij) of the Eastern Diocese (630
Second Ave., at 34th St., in New York City). The event is free and
open to the public, but reservations are necessary. Please e-mail
[email protected] or call (212) 686-0710, ext. 26.
— 6/8/04
# # #

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
June 8, 2004
___________________
CHURCH GROUP MEETS WITH U.N. CHIEF TO URGE SIGNIFICANT U.N. ROLE IN IRAQ
Church leaders who met with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
on Monday, May 24, 2004, said they are convinced that international
involvement in Iraq is the only way to secure a lasting peace and
provide security. The group of 11 leaders from the National Council of
Churches (NCC) urged the United Nations to take that role.
The NCC delegation included Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and
ecumenical officer of the Eastern Diocese, who serves as secretary of
the NCC executive committee. The group met with the U.N. Secretary
General for 40 minutes, discussing how they could contribute to building
lasting peace in Iraq and other countries.
“The United Nations represents all the nations in the world, so the U.N.
should represent the international community,” Bishop Aykazian said.
“The U.N. can play an important role in the peaceful solution to every
problem in the world, including the problem in Nagorno-Karabagh. There
is no other power in the world that can solve the problem except the
U.N.”
The discussion at U.N. headquarters focused on the importance of
building a culture of tolerance, and to teach peace, dignity, and
respect for human rights. The delegation also shared their view that
weapons of mass destruction and terrorism concerns should not limit
efforts to combat other serious problems, such as poverty, disease, and
environmental degradation.
The church leaders pledged to provide educational resources about the
United Nations to their members and to talk with their own governments
about the importance of multilateral collaboration in Iraq.
“Secretary-General Annan was very much interested in the opinion of
religious leaders,” Bishop Aykazian said. “He thinks the churches
should play this role and even a more important role in world affairs.”
The NCC has 36 member churches, representing a reported 45 million
faithful. The delegation included religious leaders from the United
States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
Though many of the delegation originally opposed the war to liberate
Iraq, Dr. Bob Edgar, general secretary of the NCC said that now “people
who were for the war and people who were against the war need to come
together to find an alternative way out of the current situation.”
— 6/8/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable on the Eastern
Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan meets with 11
leaders from the National Council of Churches (NCC) on Monday, May 24,
2004.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical
officer of the Eastern Diocese, joins a delegation welcomed to the
United Nations headquarters by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a
discussion on the U.N. role in Iraq on Monday, May 24, 2004.
# # #

Spirited return for Armenian brandy
by Kieran Cooke, in Yerevan, Armenia
BBC News
June 8 2004
There is a right time and a wrong time to make foreign investments –
and Pierre Larretche, the French managing director of Armenia’s Yerevan
Brandy Company, thought he had made the biggest mistake of his career.
“A great drink”, says Mr Larretche
In the mid-90s Armenia, which had gained independence from the
old Soviet Union in 1991, embarked on a privatization programme of
state-run enterprises.
Mr Larretche, an executive with Pernod Ricard, the French drinks
conglomerate, was sent here from Paris to assess the potential of the
Yerevan Brandy Company, Armenia’s most prestigious business enterprise.
“On my recommendation Pernod Ricard paid $30m for the company” says
Mr Larretche.
“Immediately afterwards the rouble crisis happened and sales to Russia,
our main market, dropped by 75%. We suddenly had thousands of barrels
of unsold brandy on our hands.”
Revival
Fortunately for the Yerevan Brandy Company, Pernod Ricard and Mr
Larretche, the situation has changed dramatically.
Brandy production has risen from a low of 1.7 million litres in 1998
to 4 million litres last year. The Russian market, which accounts
for about 85% of exports, has revived.
In Armenia, a country of less than three million with few natural
resources and in which per capita annual incomes are less than $600
a year, foreign investors are scarce.
Pernod Ricard’s move into the country is a rare business success
story – but it has been a tough few years.
I wish I could earn more, but at least these days I have enough to
buy food – Hakob Karapetyan, Armenian grape grower
“At the beginning, there was a lot of local resentment about foreigners
gaining control of a company regarded with great pride by Armenians”
says Mr Larretche.
“We had to quickly demonstrate we were here to stay and not here to
simply asset strip the business.”
Court battle
The Yerevan Brandy Company, founded in 1887, had been starved of
investment in the later years of the Soviet period. Its main brand
name – “Ararat” – was being used by other brandy producers, mostly
in Russia.
Pernod Ricard, as the company’s new owners, had to undertake a series
of complex court cases to regain its brand exclusivity.
It also had to assure Armenia’s grape producers – poor farmers
dependent for survival on sales from their vines – that the company
would continue buying their produce.
“Despite the downturn in the market we kept on buying grapes” says
Mr Larretche.
“At one stage, due to ongoing production and lack of sales, we built
up more than 40 years inventory.”
‘A natural gift for business’
As what was once the Soviet market recovered – the Yerevan Brandy
Company sells mostly to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus – capital
investments were made to streamline the business. In 1998 the business
had only one computer – now there are 200.
The firm faced a battle to regain exclusivity over the Ararat brand
“Armenians are loyal workers and extremely capable managers” says
Mr Larretche. “They have a natural gift for business – out of 500
employees here only five are from France.”
Both to ensure the quality of brandy production and to protect local
grape farmers, the government brought in regulations five years ago
stipulating that only Armenian grapes can be used in the production
of Armenian brandy.
“This guarantees our brandy is uniquely Armenian” says Mr Larretche.
“But it has created a problem – now we are faced with a shortage of
grapes and local prices are rising.”
Financial security
Hakob Karapetyan tends grapes on his smallholding in the Ararat Valley,
Armenia’s main vine growing region.
In the early 90s – a time when Armenia was suffering acute economic
problems – Mr Karapetyan was forced to uproot his beloved vines and
plant vegetables so he and his family could survive.
As with many Armenian families, Mr Karapetyan’s two children had to
leave the country in search of jobs.
Life continues to be a struggle but at least Mr Karapetyan feels a
little more financially secure these days.
“In the old days, I had to take my grapes to the factory and accept
whatever price it gave me. Now we have long-term contracts and an
agreed minimum price.
“I wish I could earn more, but at least these days I have enough to
buy food.”
Mr Larretche is confident Armenian brandy can conquer other markets
besides its traditional ones in the old Soviet Union.
“At Yalta at the end of the second world war Churchill was so impressed
with Armenian brandy given to him by Stalin that he asked for several
cases of it to be sent to him each year.
“It’s a great drink – the equal of any in the world.”

The Real War
By Tom Engelhardt
Mother Jones, CA
June 8 2004
We were engulfed this last week by vast waves of media-driven nostalgia
— for a past American war and a past president. The urge to feel good
— a post-Vietnam desire that Ronald Reagan rode to the White House
— is certainly powerful. At least, Reagan promised a new “morning
in America” (whatever he actually delivered). It’s striking that the
Bush administration in its speeches promises only a drumbeat of fear,
terror, and war to eternity. Perhaps that’s why George looked so
generic in Normandy yesterday, his pallid speech buried in stirring
clips of Ronnie speaking there twenty years ago. In fact, it may be
a barometer of the times that, to experience a few good moments,
Americans have had to reach into the relatively distant past —
the landings at Normandy and the Reagan Presidency — and then to
narrow the focus and blur the lens so dramatically. The heroic,
bloody, near-disastrous landings at Normandy now exist in “history”
without so much as a nod toward the larger panorama of the global war
against fascism; and the figure of Ronald Reagan, the genial host,
stands alone on stage with most of his administration out of sight.
(For a wider lens on the Reagan presidency, don’t miss Juan Cole’s
Reagan’s Passing) You might say that blotting out both allies and
history is a distinctly unilateral way of feeling good.
Christopher Endy at the History News Network website suggests that we
might have celebrated the 60th anniversary of D-Day more in the —
gasp — French manner (“French memories of the war are more inclusive
and accurate than our own. Americans have lost sight of the fact that
even World War II’s ‘greatest generation’ could prevail only with
substantial help from its allies, including the Soviets, British,
Canadians, Chinese and many others. When Americans ignore this
lesson, as they have in Iraq, the result is a world that resents,
rather than admires, the United States”); and he reminds us that, to
this day, you can descend into the Paris Metro and travel underground
from Franklin D. Roosevelt station to Stalingrad station and back
again. Mike Davis offers a similarly timely reminder below.
Remembering Bill and Ivan
By Mike Davis
The decisive battle for the liberation of Europe began sixty years
ago this month when a Soviet guerrilla army emerged from the forests
and swamps of Belorussia to launch a bold surprise attack on the
mighty Wehrmacht’s rear. The partisan brigades, including thousands
of Jewish fighters and concentration-camp escapees, devastated the
rail lines linking the German Army Group Center to its bases in
Poland and Eastern Prussia.
Three days later, on 22 June — the third anniversary of Hitler’s
invasion of the Soviet Union — Marshal Zhukov gave the order for the
main assault on German front lines. Twenty-six thousand heavy guns
and rocket launchers pulverized German fortifications in a matter of
minutes. The banshee-like screams of the Katyusha rockets were
punctually followed by the roar of 4000 tanks and the battle cries
(in more than 40 languages!) of 1.6 million Soviet soldiers. Thus
began Operation Bagration, an assault launched over a 500 hundred
mile long front.
But what American has ever heard of Operation Bagration? June 1944
signifies Omaha Beach not the crossing of the Dvina River. Yet the
Soviet summer offensive was almost an entire order of magnitude
larger than Operation Overlord (the invasion of Normandy) in both the
scale of forces engaged and the direct cost to the Germans.
By the end of summer, the Red Army (which included full divisions of
Poles and Czechs) had reached the gates of Warsaw as well as the high
passes of the Carpathians which command the entrance to Slovakia as
well as Hungary. Soviet tanks, in a stunning reverse blitzkrieg, had
caught Army Group Center in steel pincers and destroyed it. The
Germans would lose more than 300,000 men in Belorussia alone. Another
huge German army had been encircled and would soon be annihilated
along the Baltic coast. The road to Berlin had been opened.
Thank Ivan.
It is no disparagement of the brave men who died in the sinister
hedgerows of Normandy or in the cold forests around Bastogne, to
recall that 70% of the Wehrmacht is buried on the Russian steppes not
in French fields. In the struggle against Nazism, approximately forty
“Ivans” died for every “Private Ryan.”
Yet the ordinary Soviet soldier — the tractor mechanic from Samara,
the actor from Orel, the miner from the Donetz, or even the
high-school girl from Leningrad — is invisible in the current
celebration and mythologization of the “Greatest Generation.” It is
as if the “new American century” cannot be fully born without
exorcising the central Soviet role in the epochal victory of the last
century.
Indeed, most Americans are shockingly clueless about the relative
burdens of combat and death in the Second World War. And even the
minority who understand something of the enormity of the Soviet
sacrifice tend to visualize it in terms of crude stereotypes of the
Red Army: a barbarian horde driven by feral revenge and primitive
Russian nationalism. Only G.I. Joe and Tommy are envisioned as truly
fighting for civilized ideals of freedom and democracy.
It is thus all the more important to recall that — despite Stalin,
the NKVD, and the massacre of an entire generation of Bolshevik
leaders — the Red Army still retained powerful elements of
revolutionary fraternity. In its own eyes, and that of the slaves it
freed from Hitler, it was the greatest army of liberation in history.
Moreover, the Red Army of 1944 was still a Soviet Army. The generals
who led the brilliant breakthrough on the Dvina included a Jew
(Chernyakovskii), an Armenian (Bagramyan), and a Pole (Rokossovskii).
In contrast to the class-divided and racially segregated American
forces, command in the Red Army was an open, if ruthless, ladder of
opportunity.
Anyone who doubts the revolutionary élan and rank-and-file humanity
of the Red Army should consult the extraordinary memoirs by Primo
Levi (The Reawakening) and K.S. Karol (Between Two Worlds). Both
hated Stalinism but loved the ordinary Soviet soldier and saw in
her/him the seeds of socialist renewal.
So, as George W. Bush demeans the memory of D-Day to solicit support
for his war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, I’ve decided to hold my
own private commemoration.
I will recall, first, my kindhearted Uncle Bill, the salesman from
Columbus, although it is hard to imagine such a gentle soul as a
hell-for-leather teenage GI in Normandy. Second — as I’m sure my
Uncle Bill would’ve wished — I will remember his comrade Ivan. The
Ivan who drove his tank through the gates of Auschwitz and battled
his way into Hitler’s bunker.
Two ordinary heroes: Bill and Ivan. Obscene to celebrate the first
without also commemorating the second.
Mike Davis is the author of Dead Cities: And Other Tales, Ecology of
Fear, and co-author of Under the Perfect Sun: the San Diego Tourists
Never See, among other books.

NAGORNO KARABAKH PRESIDENT FLEW TO PARIS
PanArmenian News
June 8 2004
STEPANAKERT, 08.06.04. Nagorno Karabakh President Arkadi Ghukasian
flew to Paris today for the participation in the measures dedicated
to the 10-th anniversary of establishment of the cease-fire regime
at the territory of the Karabakh conflict. As reported in the press
office of NKR`s President, the measures are arranged on the initiative
of the Armenian Union of France `In Defense of Karabakh` and with the
assistance of the Coordination Committee of the Armenian Organizations
of France. During the visit Arkadi Ghukasian will visit Marseilles and
Nicå. NKR leader is as well expected to meet with French co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group Anri Jakolen. Meetings with the representatives
of the Armenian Diaspora are also scheduled.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress