CENN – May 13, 2004 Daily Digest
1. EIA Report of the ” Project on Processing of the Samshvilde Dacite,
Tetritskaro Region” By The “Georgian Geological and Mining National Company”
Ltd
2. CEE Environmental Health conference announcement
3. ANKARA: Gonul: 135 Million Tons Of Oil Were Transported Through
Turkish Straits
4. Ecology Problems Endanger Security Of Armenia
5. Dogs Won’t Be Killed
6. Armenia Tree Project Press Release — US Ambassador’s Roundtable
Participants Plant Evergreen at Tsitsernakaberd
7. AAA: MCC Selects Armenia for Direct Grant Program
8. Armenia, Global Day of Action
9. Growing demand for solar stand-alone systems in developing and
threshold countries
10. Greenpeace challenges Head of the World Bank to expand funding of
renewable energy projects
11. The World’s Largest Democratic Environmental Forum to Assemble in
Thailand in November 2004
1. EIA REPORT of the ” Project on Processing of the Samshvilde
Dacite, Tetritskaro Region” BY THE “Georgian Geological and Mining National
Company” Ltd
Source: “Sakartvelos Respublica” (“Republic of Georgia”), May 11, 2004
In accordance with the Georgian legislation, “Georgian Geological and Mining
National Company” Ltd. submitted EIA report to the Ministry of Environment
of Georgia to obtain an environmental permit for the activity of second
category Project on Processing of the Samshvilde Dacite, Tetritskaro Region.
EIA report is available at the press-center of the Ministry of Environment
(68, Kostava str., VI floor) and at the Department of Environmental Permits
and State Ecological Expertise (87, Paliashvili Str., Tel: 25 02 19).
Interested stakeholders can analyze the document and present their comments
and considerations until June 24, 2004.
Public hearing will be held on June 24, 2004 at 12:00, at the conference
hall of the Ministry of Environment.
2. CEE Environmental Health conference announcement
First Biennial Central and Eastern European Environmental Health Conference
The Central and Eastern European Environmental Health Conference will have
four primary objectives:
a. To gather scientists and students from the U.S. and Central and
Eastern Europe to discuss environmental health issues of common interest;
b. To discuss improved methods for assessing exposure and predicting
dose;
c. To discuss specific health effects associated with exposure to
chemicals at waste sites with a focus on developmental and reproductive
health; and,
d. To explore the latest advances in risk management technologies,
tools, and techniques.
The improvement of Environmental Health in the U.S. and CEE countries is
dependent on education and training of young scientists. Thus, a major focus
of this conference is to encourage collaborations between engineers,
toxicologists, environmental health practitioners, and other disciplines
with their academic counterparts. Scholarships are available.
Key dates
May 15 Abstracts, first round
June 30 Deadline, early registration
July 15 Abstracts, second round
September 30 Deadline, early registration for students
Sponsors include the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR),
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and the World Health
Organization (WHO)
3. ANKARA: Gonul: 135 Million Tons Of Oil Were Transported
Through Turkish Straits
Source: Anadolu Agency, Turkey, May 10, 2004
Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul has said, ”135 million tons
of oil were transported through Turkish Straits last year. This amount is
expected to increase by nearly 50 percent in 2010.”
Speaking at a panel discussion on ”Security in Black Sea Region” under the
21st International Workshop on Global Security Conference in German capital
Berlin, Mr. Gonul highlighted important of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline project, saying that the project would enable them to transport 50
million tons of oil annually.
Expressing Turkey’s satisfaction with co-operation in efforts to provide
peace and stability in the Black Sea region despite ongoing crises in
Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan, Gonul said that trade in the region had
accelerated, stability had been provided and relations between regional
nations had been improved since 1992.
Stressing that Turkey attributed great importance to regional and
international co-operation and solidarity, Gonul recalled that Turkey had
been actively supporting the Balkan Stability Pact, Southeast European
Defense Ministers’ Initiative and the Black Sea Economic Co-operation
(BSEC).
Noting that Turkey had further improved its bilateral relations with the
regional countries after the Cold War era ended, Gonul said that 23 separate
conventions and protocols were signed with the Black Sea littoral countries
to this end.
Recalling that co-operation agreements were signed with Russia and Ukraine,
Gonul noted, ”Turkey’s bilateral relations with Bulgaria, Romania and
Georgia have further improved following the Cold War era. Another
significant security dimension of the Black Sea stems from its strategic
position as a transit corridor for energy resources. Besides Russian oil,
Caspian oil has also been transported through the Black Sea. Meanwhile,
Turkey is seriously concerned over increasing vessel traffic in the Black
Sea and in the Turkish Straits.”
Referring to political problems in the Black Sea region, Gonul said,
”Southern Caucasus has begun gaining more importance due to transportation
of oil, natural gas and foodstuff. Any instability in the region would have
negative impacts not only on the region, but on the whole Europe and
Atlantic.”
Listing autonomous Republic of Adzharia and the Upper Karabakh disputes as
the most important sources of instability in the region, Gonul called on the
regional countries to exert more efforts to resolve these crises.
Gonul added, ”the Black Sea countries should also take some further steps
in fight against international terrorism, organized crimes and weapons of
mass destruction. I believe that improvement of bilateral relations in the
region would make a valuable contribution to efforts to provide peace and
stability in the region.”
4. Ecology Problems Endanger Security Of Armenia
Source: A1 Plus, May 10, 2004
The ecology crisis may abet the political instability. Settlement of
ecological problems helps to lessen the political tension. There are
numerous unsolved issues in the ecology sphere of Armenia, which may
endanger safety of the country.
The members of OSCE and UNEP told this during the discussion over
“Assessment of “Hot Spots” in Ecology and Security Spheres of Armenia”.
The aim of this program is to find the reasons of deterioration of the
environment in South Caucasus states and to apply measures to prevent them.
According to OSCE Economy and Ecology Councilor Gianluca Rampolla, drinking
water pollution, the waste, the old industrial establishments, which may
cause accidents during natural disasters, are the problems endangering
Armenia.
Mr. Gianluca informed that program would be introduced in Azerbaijan the
following week.
5. Dogs Won’t Be Killed
Source: A1 Plus, May 10, 2004
Yerevan Vice-Mayor Arman Sahakyan has today met journalists at a press
conference. He announced there are about 10.000 stray animals in Yerevan.
According to him, the stray dogs won’t be killed. They will be injected,
sterilized, cleansed and released.
“500-1000 animals in Yerevan can be sterilized daily”, Sahakyan says.
Armenian Government has allotted 20 million drams to solve the problem of
stray animals. But Vice-Mayor thinks it is not much.
He also informed that the cemeteries located intolerably near the dwelling
zones of Yerevan will be moved to new areas.
6. Armenia Tree Project Press Release — US Ambassador’s
Roundtable Participants Plant Evergreen at Tsitsernakaberd
Armenia Tree Project
Yerevan 375025, Aygestan 9th Str., #6
Tel./Fax (374 1) 569910
Internet:
E-mail: [email protected]
Press Release
May 10, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
US Ambassador’s Roundtable Participants Plant Evergreen at Tsitsernakaberd
Thursday, May 06 – John Ordway, the US Ambassador to Armenia, presided
during a special tree planting ceremony at Tsitsernakaberd on May 6, 2004 as
part of the Spring 2004 meetings of the semi-annual “U.S. Ambassador’s
Diaspora Roundtable.” After laying flowers in front of the Eternal Flame,
Roundtable participants planted a tree with the Ambassador in the alley of
evergreens. Armenia Tree Project (ATP) arranged the tree planting. Susan
Yacubian Klein, ATP Country Director, who also participated in the
Ambassador’s Diaspora Roundtable, accompanied the Ambassador during this act
of respect.
For further information, please contact Karen Sarkavagyan at the Armenia
Tree Project, phone numbers 569910 and 553069, [email protected]
The Armenia Tree Project was founded in 1994 during Armenia’s darkest and
coldest years with the vision of securing Armenia’s future by protecting
Armenia’s environment. Funded by contributions from Diasporan Armenians, ATP
has planted and rejuvenated over 500,000 trees at more than 450 sites
ranging from Gumri to Goris.
7. AAA: MCC Selects Armenia for Direct Grant Program
Armenian Assembly of America
122 C Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-393-3434
Fax: 202-638-4904
Email: [email protected]
Web:
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2004
Contact: David Zenian
E-mail: [email protected]
MCC SELECTS ARMENIA FOR DIRECT GRANT PROGRAM
Washington, DC – Armenia and 15 other countries were recognized by the
United States as “good partners” who can apply for financial assistance
through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) created by the U.S.
government to help select countries of the world, MCC Chief Executive
Officer Paul V. Applegarth said at a news conference last week.
“Being selected as a country eligible for funding through the MCC’s
Millennium Challenge Account means that the United States considers the
selected country a good partner and that it clearly deserves further
encouragement. But this partnership is based on accountability,” Applegarth
told reporters.
“The Armenian Assembly welcomes the U.S. decision which is yet another
window of opportunity for Armenia to reinforce sound political, economic and
social policies that promote economic growth. We congratulate the
government and people of Armenia for winning this global competition for
additional American support,” Assembly Board of Trustees Chairman Hirair
Hovnanian said.
In making its determination, the Board of Directors of the MCC considered
both the past and current policy performance of the candidate countries in
the areas of “governing justly, investing in their own people and promoting
economic freedom.”
“It is very encouraging to see that Armenia has cleared the first major
hurdle and is now eligible to apply for funding through the billion dollar
MCC aid program set up by the Bush Administration to support policies that
promote good government. Assuming that Armenia’s proposals are ultimately
funded, this will mark the first direct grant from the U.S. to the
government of Armenia,” Hovnanian said.
The other selected countries are: Benin, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Georgia,
Ghana, Honduras, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mali, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua,
Senegal, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu.
Applegarth, who was nominated to the post as MCC Chief Executive Officer,
and confirmed by the Senate this week, said: “Our mission – encouraging and
rewarding good policies that produce sustainable economic growth – holds
profound implications for freedom and security across the globe. Today’s
decision demonstrates the clear commitment of the U.S. to reducing poverty
and human suffering. This is a new approach to foreign aid. We want to
encourage partnership, and we want to promote good government.”
Applegarth said it was now up to the selected countries, including Armenia,
to present their “specific plans and proposals” for further scrutiny and
evaluation before any determination is made on the amount of aid each
country will get.
“Let us not take anything for granted. Being on the list of selected
countries does not mean an automatic qualification for assistance from
Millennium Challenge Account,” he said.
Applegarth said the next and more important step now included a hands-on
evaluation by an MCC technical group to each of the selected countries and
the submission of specific and compact proposals by the countries
themselves.
“The money is in place, and it is up to the selected countries to move fast
and get their specific requests in. But we have to underline one important
factor: We expect accountability and there is no such thing as a perpetual
qualification. Any country could be dropped if it fails to meet
expectations,” Applegarth said.
The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide
organization promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian
issues. It is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.
8. Armenia, Global Day of Action
“Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment” NGO calls environmental
organizations and mass media to celebrate the Stockholm Convention on POPs
entry into force on 17th May.
The world has taken one bigger step today in halting and reversing the
poisoning of global ecosystems and peoples. Armenia is one of more than 50
countries that have agreed to be bound by the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants. This is the first world-wide agreement aimed
at stopping the production and use of some of the world’s most toxic
substances. The convention officially comes into force on May the 17th,
triggering obligations on the part of the countries that belong to the
convention.
It obliges countries to begin working toward ending the production and use
of the twelve chemicals listed under the convention: The list includes
pesticides such as aldrin, cholordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor,
hexachlorobenzene, mirex and toxaphene. Industrial chemicals in the list
include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and unintended byproducts, which
include dioxins, and furans. These POPs are highly toxic, and persist in the
environment, lasting for years or even decades before degrading into less
dangerous forms. They evaporate and travel long distances through the air
and through water, and they accumulate in fatty tissue.
So this is a time to celebrate, secure in the knowledge that better health
and a better environment for all has not been bought at the expense of
poorer nations. However, we celebrate cautiously.
Pesticides usage in Armenia has been always widespread both in agriculture
and in public health. Obsolete and banned pesticides, lack of inventory,
storage and disposal are especially important and urgent issue among
environmental problems in Armenia. Among the POPs problems the stockpile of
obsolete pesticides is one of the major concerns. The situation is
complicated by the fact that the burial place is located just in the
mudflows area on the top of the hill. The major environmental treated
represent PCB, contained in old and out of order equipment, such as
refrigerators, transformers and condensers. Huge number of enterprises in
Soviet Armenia was considered sources of dioxins, furans and biphenyls. Some
of them still exist.
The list has already been started by scientists working in the fields of
health and the environment. Some are older chemicals that should really have
been on the original Stockholm Convention list, such as Lindane. This is a
pesticide that has been showing up at disturbing levels in some parts of the
world. Lindane has a bad effect of peoples’ nervous and immune systems, and
has been identified as a potential cause of cancer.
Researchers are also beginning to see startling levels of some newer
chemicals building up in people and animals. Brominated flame retardants,
chemicals used to make materials more fire-proof, are showing up in the
breast milk of people around the world. More than 200,000 tonnes of this
chemical are produced each year. It is not yet clear what effects these
chemicals have, but they are of concern because they have been shown to
accumulate in the bodies of people and animals.
The process to get these substances, and others, added to the substances
controlled by the Stockholm convention is not very easy. The substances have
first to be proposed for addition by at least one country, which has then to
supply information on the chemical, its properties and effects or likely
effects on the environment and people. There is then a series of reviews of
the information, until finally; all the countries which have ratified the
Convention get to decide on whether or not to include the new chemical in
the Convention. Governments tend to only undertake this sort of action if
they are convinced that it is required by their people.
For the Stockholm Convention to be effective, it must be an active
Convention, continually responding to the challenges of a changing world.
For that to happen our governments must understand that we will continue to
watch, and to push for them to ensure that the good start made by this
convention does not falter.
9. Growing demand for solar stand-alone systems in developing and
threshold countries
Industry Forum Photovoltaics for Rural Electrification
Freiburg, 06.05.2004. Intersolar, Europe’s largest solar technology trade
fair (24 to 26 June 2004), will offer a prestigious platform to
international companies and representatives from the world of research and
science. This year’s programme will feature an English-language industry
forum on Photovoltaics for Rural Electrification, organized by the Club for
Rural Electrification (CLE). Hand in hand with plant connected to the grid,
stand-alone systems are now becoming increasingly important for sustained
energy development, explains Rafael Wiese, Managing Director of CLE. The
event is aimed at international decision-makers in economics and politics,
financial services providers and NGOs.
The electrification of areas not connected to the grid in developing or
threshold countries is essential to the development of infrastructure in
rural zones. Photovoltaic technology is ideal for providing a sustained and
economically viable basic power supply in the sunny regions of developing
and threshold countries. Stand-alone systems generated some 100 MW in 2003.
Experts estimate that around 2 million of these systems are used around the
world to provide a basic supply of electricity for light, radio and TV. In
Europe, stand-alone systems provide a degree of independence from national
grids, and are especially popular for camping and leisure activities.
The Photovoltaics for Rural Electrification industry forum at Intersolar
2004 offers information on export markets with opportunities for
decentralised power supply facilities. The organiser, the Club for Rural
Electrification is an association of companies and institutes which has set
itself the objective of improving the competitive situation for medium-sized
German PV companies and facilitating market access for these operators.
Member companies will be presenting their ideas and products at Intersolar.
Those who attend the forum will be able to swap ideas in one-to-one
discussions with the speakers. All presentations will be in English.
This year’s Intersolar is expected to attract some 11,000 visitors. A
wide-ranging programme featuring over 20 separate events will cover the
entire spectrum of international solar industry operations. Intersolar
fringe events will include a review of the latest product developments in
the solar sector. Excursions around the Freiburg solar region will also be
available.
For the latest information please see or
Further information:
Solar Promotion GmbH
Mr. Horst Dufner
P.O. Box 100 170
D-75101 Pforzheim
Tel.:+49 (0) 7231 / 35 13 80
Fax:+49 (0) 7231 / 35 13 81
[email protected]
10. Greenpeace challenges Head of the World Bank to expand
funding of renewable energy projects
Issued Wednesday 12th May, 2004: Greenpeace is set to challenge James
Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, to establish a new direction for
World Bank lending on energy and to immediately increase lending on
renewable energy projects to equal lending on fossil fuels. Greenpeace would
welcome the opportunity to work with the World Bank to implement clean
energy projects in the developing world if such a re-balancing in its energy
portfolio took place.
It is estimated that 2 billion people in the world currently don’t have
access to electricity. The World Bank, which was set up with the aim of
alleviating poverty and is funded by taxpayers in supporting countries, has
over the past decade spent 18 times more on fossil fuels and the
conventional energy sector than on renewable energy (2).
Greenpeace UK Executive Director Stephen Tindale said, “By shifting funding
to renewable energy the World Bank could dramatically improve the
livelihoods and prospects of billions of people in the developed and
developing worlds while protecting the climate.”
He continued, “Climate change poses the most significant environmental
challenge facing the world today and its impact will be felt
disproportionately by the billion plus people in the developing world who
live on less than a dollar a day. They are the ones who are particularly
vulnerable to extreme weather events, reductions in rainfall and changes in
disease vectors.”
He added “There is an environmental, economic and social imperative to help
the countries in the South develop without compromising their future or
exploiting their resources in an unsustainable way. Renewable energy is one
of the key ways to achieve this.”
The renewable energy industry needs public support from institutions like
the World Bank to ramp up investment significantly and promote its product,
especially in the rapidly growing economies of the developing world.
There is a precedent for a shift in the focus of World Bank lending. In the
1990s, projected demand for refrigeration in the rapidly growing economies
of the developing world – and especially China – demonstrated that the
problem of ozone depletion was set to become much worse.
The World Bank, along with Greenpeace, worked with the Chinese government
and one of the biggest manufacturer of refrigerators in the world to produce
a refrigerator that met the needs of the increasingly prosperous Chinese
population without making a clearly identified environmental problem even
worse.
Backing the Greenpeace proposal Wei Lin of the Chinese Renewable Energy
Industries Association said, “Renewable energy can play an important role in
China’s future. Support from the World Bank for China’s renewable energy
efforts would be a significant boost to the country’s plans. With the World
Bank’s help, China could deliver considerable renewable energy capacity,
foster the industry and develop skills to harness renewables. For example,
for wind energy alone there is the potential to develop 20GW by 2020, the
equivalent of more than 7 nuclear power stations the size of the UK’s
Sizewell B plant”.
The call will be made at the Greenpeace Business lecture (1) in central
London tomorrow (13th May).
The new initiative from Greenpeace comes as the World Bank considers the
results of the Extractive Industries Review (EIR) conducted on behalf of the
World Bank by Professor Emil Salim of Indonesia (2). The EIR found that
funding extractive industry projects was not a suitable use of public money
in the vast majority of cases and does not promote sustainable development.
It recommends that the Bank re-allocate funding towards renewable energy.
Greenpeace is one of 300 organisations that have written to Wolfensohn
calling on him to radically reform the way the World Bank supports oil and
mining industries. Others include Oxfam, Amnesty International, Friends of
the Earth as well as investors representing over $400 billion. Four Nobel
laureates including Archbishop Desmond Tutu have also urged the Bank to
adopt the review’s recommendations.
In the letter to Wolfensohn, Tutu and the other Nobel Laureates said, “War,
poverty, climate change, greed, corruption, and ongoing violations of human
rights…these scourges are linked to the oil and mining industries. Your
efforts to create a world without poverty need not exacerbate these
problems.
“The Review provides you an extraordinary opportunity to direct the
resources of the World Bank Group in a way that is truly oriented towards a
better future for all humanity.”
Editor’s Notes:
For more information contact Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255.
(1) The Greenpeace Business Lecture is taking place at the Royal Society of
Arts, 8 John Adam Street, London WC2 on 13 May 2004. Registration begins at
5.45pm and the lecture starts at 6.30pm prompt. Media spaces are strictly
limited and must be organised in advance. To check if spaces are left
contact Louise Edge, at Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255.
(2) For more information on the EIR, view
11. THE WORLD’S LARGEST DEMOCRATIC ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM TO ASSEMBLE IN
THAILAND IN NOVEMBER 2004
Source: IUCN, May 12, 2004
How can our planet meet the needs of growing populations and expanding
markets without sacrificing nature? This question will be at the heart of
the debate at the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress, which will open on
17 November in Bangkok, Thailand, under the theme: “People and Nature – only
one world”. The Congress is the governing body of IUCN – The World
Conservation Union. It is held every four years and represents the world’s
largest democratic environmental forum where governments and
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) jointly establish conservation
priorities, guide the Union’s policy and approve its Programme. IUCN’s six
specialist Commissions draw on the expertise of some 12,000 of the world’s
leading scientists, practitioners, economists, lawyers, and educators.
CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
Tel: ++995 32 92 39 46
Fax: ++995 32 92 39 47
E-mail: [email protected]
URL:

Former FM says Armenia may join BTE gas project
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 13 2004
A statement made by officials concerning the liberation of seven
occupied districts of Azerbaijan by Armenia following the recent talks,
has sparked various opinions.
Former foreign minister of Azerbaijan Tofig Zulfugarov told AssA-Irada
that a concrete proposal concerning the liberation of seven occupied
districts should be expected after the meeting of the two countries’
ministers scheduled to be held in Strasbourg on May 12.
Commenting on the absence of any reaction to the proposal by Armenia,
Zulfugarov did not rule out the possibility of applying pressure
on Yerevan, and especially on President Kocharian. According
to some sources, the United States has supported the idea of
liberating occupied territories and thus aspires to achieve Armenia’s
participation in the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum (BTE) gas pipeline project.
Giving a positive assessment to the idea, Zulfugarov said that
Armenia’s involvement in the BTE project may divert its attention
from the issue of Garabagh’s status.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Religious Leaders Meet in Mardin for Peace
Zaman, Turkey
May 13 2004
The second International Symposium of Religions and Peace in the
Light of the Common Ancestor (Abraham) (Harran Meetings), organized by
Intercultural Dialogue Platform of Journalists and Authors Foundation
(JAF), begins in Mardin today.
The conference, which is supported by the Ministry of Culture and
Tourism, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Governorship of Mardin
and Mardin Education Foundation (MAREV), will be held in the Qasimiye
(Qasimiyya) Madrasa. Topics such as “Peace in Abraham’s Message”,
“Peace in the Abrahamic Tradition”, “Heroes of Peace in the Three
Heavenly Religions”, “The Place of the Abrahamic Message in the
Future World” will be discussed over four sessions. 28 academics and
11 religious leaders from Germany, the US, Sweden, England, Italy,
France and Turkey will participate in the symposium.
After an opening ceremony at 09:30 by the Intercultural Dialogue
Platform, the Kirklar Church, Mardin Ulu Mosque, Hatuniya Madrasah
-in which the footprint of the Prophet Muhammad exists- and the Tombs
of Sitti Radviye and her son Qutbettin Ilgazi will be visited as part
of the symposium.
The Deyrulzaferan Monastery, and the monasteries of Mor Gabriel in
the Midyat district and Mor Yaqub in the Nusaybin district as well as
Hasankeyf will also be visited. The program in Mardin will conclude
with a visit to the tomb and Mosque of Zeynel Abidin. The participants
will then come to Istanbul to complete the symposium.
Vice-Director of Religious Affairs Muhammet Sevki Aydin, Istanbul
Mufti Dr. Mustafa Cagrici, Istanbul Greek Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomeos, Turkey Armenians Patriarch Mesrob II, Turkey Jewish
Chief Rabbi Rav. Ishak Haleva, Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicar in
Istanbul Monsignor Georges Marovitch, Latin Catholic Congregation
Spiritual Leader Monsignor Louis Pelatre, Assyrian Orthodox Community
Metropolit Filksinos Yusuf Cetin and Assyrian Catholic Community
Patriarchal Vicar Chorbishop Yusuf Sag are expected to participate
in the symposium whose Project Scientific Coordinator is Dr. Bekir
Karliga. The first of the International Symposia of Religions and
Peace in the Light of the Common Ancestor Abraham (Harran Meetings)
were held in the Harran district of Sanliurfa – the place of birth of
the Prophet Abraham- between April 13 and 16, 2000. 44 theologians,
academics and journalists had joined the Abraham Symposium.
13.05.2004
05.13.2004 Mustafa Ozge
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Guardian, UK
May 13 2004
After the revolution
Following the downfall of provincial hardman Aslan Abashidze, Nick
Paton Walsh takes a look inside his regime and examines his legacy
Thursday May 13, 2004
For prisoner David Asanidze, last week’s revolution that ended 13
years of authoritarian rule in the tiny western Georgian province of
Adzharia was a decade late in its coming.
Since 1994 he has languished in a two-man cell without sentencing or
trial, a political prisoner of the former regime. One of his
relatives, Tengiz Asanidze, is a renowned opponent of Abashidze, and
that, it seems, was enough to ensure his imprisonment on charges of
terrorism following a dispute with one of ousted leader’s bodyguards.
Confined to a cell in Adzharia’s security ministry jail and clearly
disturbed by his incarceration, he still awaits a court decision to
free him.
“I was arrested as a terrorist and put here as an example to the rest
of Adzharia. I was tortured with electric shocks. My hands were tied
from the ceiling above my head. A plastic bag was put over my head.
Sometimes they would do it here”, he said, referring to the little
courtyards adjacent to the cell. “Sometimes they would give me to the
interior ministry for a few days.”
Asanidze added that the former security minister, Soso Gogitidze, had
told him that if the revolution came near, he would be taken out into
the yard and shot in the head.
“I understand the president [Mikhail Saakashvili] has promised he
would not pursue that man [Abashidze]. But I cannot forgive. Ten
generations cannot forgive,” he said.
It did not take long for the anger felt towards Abashidze – who is in
Moscow after reportedly spending his first night in exile at the
country home of the city’s mayor Yuri Luzhkov – to rise to the
surface in the Adzharian capital, Batumi. With peaceful revolution
achieved through protest and the diplomatic intervention of Russia,
and the subsequent partying over, the region – which bares ample
evidence of the corruption and largesse of the Abashidze regime –
faces the nightmare task of rectifying more than a decade of misrule.
At Abashidze’s town residence, a large building in the centre of
town, his personal tastes are evident. There are two large ceremonial
swords in the kitchen, laid on the table beside glasses of fine
cognac and his favourite snack – sausages. In the corner lies a box
containing his favourite firearms: a Luther pistol with Nazi
insignia, a Ruger .375 pistol – in a gift box alongside the personal
card of the Armenian president, Robert Kocharian – and three AK47
magazines.
Two women and a man, who refuse to comment, seem anxious to collect
Abashidze’s possessions for him. They scurry around his bedroom,
piling up his CDs and favourite medals, from a Soviet military
veteran’s award to a gift from the National Bank of Yugoslavia. On
his mahogany bedside table lie the books El Prado Erotico and a guide
to China’s forbidden city, and behind endless doors, the guest rooms
drag on, many unfurnished and clearly rarely occupied.
“This stuff belongs to the government now,” said Georgia’s deputy
security minister, Gigi Ugulava, who gave the Guardian a tour of
Abashidze’s Batumi residence. “We will appoint a government here, and
then hold elections. Then the new administration will make use of the
possessions.”
Outside, panic breaks out as gunfire briefly fills the air. Troops
rush in and civilians scuttle to take cover. A group of Abashidze’s
former bodyguards have arrived intent on collecting their wages.
Batumi is still in his thrall.
“People here tell stories of how Giorgi, Abashidze’s son, used to
have the roads closed here so he could race around the town in his
Lambourghini”, Ugulava said. “Property was relative here. If one of
his entourage liked your car, they took it. They owned everything.”
“These are riches greater than we found at [former president Eduard]
Shevardnadze’s residence,” said Georgia’s security minister, Zurab
Adeishvili.
Soon though, Abashidze’s 80 prize-winning exotic dogs, and his
ostriches and peacocks, will have new owners. The government has
announced that it is to auction off his pets, his two Humvee jeeps
and his other riches. “Much more was spent on those dogs than on the
healthcare for Adzharia’s Khelvachauri district,” said Georgia’s
general prosecutor, Irakli Okruashvili.
Abashidze’s two prized Tornado speedboats, one equipped with a
machine gun, now patrol the harbour for the military. Troops line the
streets his son once raced around, hoping to stop his old militia
from regrouping, and President Saakashvili has moved into his huge
country house – one of only two places locally deemed to be secure
for Georgia’s new leader. Two Strelna shoulder-fired missiles
disappeared from the Batumi arsenal recently. The risk of future
unrest is real.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenia, Iran to sign gas pipeline agreement
Interfax
May 13 2004
Yerevan. (Interfax) – Armenia and Iran will sign an agreement
in Yerevan on Thursday on the construction of a gas pipeline,
Artashes Tumanian, who is co-chairman of the Armenian-Iranian
Intergovernmental Economic Commission and head of the Armenian
presidential administration, told the press.
He made the statement after negotiations with Iranian Petroleum
Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh.
The project will upgrade political and economic relations, Tumanian
said. It is also important for the energy security of Armenia.
Tumanian did not say how much Iranian gas would cost, but noted that
the supplies would be repaid with Armenian electricity.
It is planned to build the pipeline within 1.5 years, Tumanian said,
without specifying the project cost or supply amounts. He said that
companies from third countries might be financially or technically
involved in the project.
As for laying a gas pipeline to Europe across Armenia, Tumanian said
the current task is to provide Armenia with natural gas, and further
developments will depend on political factors.

Protest march to Garabagh ends on frontline
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
May 13 2004
On Saturday, about two hundred members of the Garabagh Liberation
Organization (GLO) organized a protest march to the Garabagh region on
the occasion of the 12th anniversary of the occupation of Azerbaijan’s
historic city, Shusha.
According to a correspondent of the AssA-Irada news agency who
also joined the protest, the marchers reached the contact line of
the Azerbaijani and Armenian military troops in Tazakand village of
Aghdam District. However, local police and military didn’t allow the
protesters to pass to the occupied lands. After GLO chairman Akif Naghi
said that the march was successful, the protesters returned to Baku.
Underlining that all political parties in the country, except the
ruling New Azerbaijan Party, have expressed their attitudes towards
the protest action, the GLO chairman said that representatives from
the foreign embassies in Baku did not observe the march. No incidents
were reported during the protest action which attracted one hundred
more people in the regions.
Protest in Moscow The Movement for Azerbaijan (MA) organized a picket
outside the Armenian embassy in Moscow to protest the occupation
of Shusha. Chairman of the MA Ilgar Gasimov told journalists
that during the 2-hour action about 50 protesters demanded
that the Armenian aggressors withdraw from the occupied lands of
Azerbaijan. The picketers also protested against the destruction of
Azerbaijani cultural and historical monuments in Shusha and against the
international organizations’ double standard approach to the issue. A
petition was forwarded to the Armenian embassy. The MA plans to hold
another picket on May 28, Independence Day, to protest against the
Armenian aggression. Azerbaijanis living in Moscow held the first ever
sanctioned protest action outside the Armenian embassy on February 27,
2004 on the occasion of the Khojaly massacre.

Business wire
May 13 2004
Colombo Yogurt – First U.S. Yogurt Brand – Celebrates 75 Years;
Colombo Takes Yogurt from a Small Kitchen in Andover, Mass., to
Kitchens across America
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 13, 2004–Just a glance at the
yogurt case in any grocery store and it’s easy to see how significant
the business of yogurt has become in America. As Colombo Yogurt
celebrates its 75th anniversary this month, Colombo also celebrates
75 years since the introduction of yogurt to America.
Although yogurt had been enjoyed for centuries in the Middle East, it
made its American debut through an immigrant family business on a
small Massachusetts farm in 1929. In the years since, yogurt has
since become a staple in households nationwide. In fact, according to
a recent survey conducted by Colombo Yogurt, nearly three in four
American adults eats yogurt at least once per week.
The introduction of Colombo Yogurt in 1929 gave Americans their first
taste of yogurt and 75 years later, the popularity of yogurt
continues to grow. In the last three years alone, the yogurt category
has grown 31 percent(1) and in 2003, 72 percent of households
purchased yogurt(2).
“In the last few years people have been discovering that yogurt isn’t
just a breakfast food or a snack, it’s a versatile ingredient that
can take a leading or supporting roll in any meal — any time of
day,” said TV celebrity chef and James Beard Award-winning cookbook
author Alton Brown.
The $2.7 billion(3) American yogurt industry started over a
wood-burning stove at the Andover home of Rose and Sarkis
Colombosian. Soon, as Colombo & Sons Creamery, the Colombosians along
with sons Bob and John were hand-filling Rose’s Armenian family
recipe into 8-ounce glass jars and distributing their product
throughout the Northeast in a horse-drawn wagon.
Remaining relatively small until the early 1960s when the health
benefits of yogurt gained a larger following, Colombo & Sons grew
from a family business to a leader in the yogurt industry. Modern
machinery replaced the old wood stove, and a fleet of refrigerated
trucks replaced the horse-drawn wagon. Though changes were made, what
has not changed in 75 years is Colombo Yogurt’s quality, delicious
flavor assortment and 8-ounce serving size.
“For 75 years our loyal customers have confidently shared Colombo
Yogurt with future generations because it has stayed true to its
original quality even when we added new varieties,” said Bob
Colombosian, member of Colombo’s founding family. “I wish my parents
were still around to see the incredible growth of Colombo Yogurt and
what we have achieved in 75 years – I know they would be proud.”
Purchased by General Mills in 1993, Colombo continues to be a leader
in the American yogurt industry.
“We have the utmost respect for the Colombosian family and the rich
heritage of Colombo Yogurt,” said Doug Pritchard, marketing manager
for Colombo Yogurt at General Mills. “Starting in 1929, Colombo set
the standard for what consumers expect from American yogurt and we’re
pleased to mark this exciting milestone to celebrate how far Colombo
has come and what it means to the families that enjoy it.”
Today, Colombo Yogurt comes in two varieties, Colombo Classic and
Colombo Light, a wide range of flavors, and two packaging
configurations, the most popular of which is Colombo’s original
8-ounce container. The recent survey commissioned by Colombo about
yogurt preferences confirmed that the majority of yogurt-buying
consumers prefer Colombo’s 8-ounce serving size rather than the
6-ounce size produced by most yogurt manufacturers.
In honor of its 75th anniversary, Colombo has created new television
advertising featuring Bob Colombosian and his wife, Alice,
spokespeople for the brand since 2001. The ads will run in select
markets in the Northeast starting in June.
About Colombo Yogurt
In 1929, Sarkis and Rose Colombosian made the first batch of Colombo
Yogurt in their Andover kitchen using a family recipe. Soon, they
were selling it across the Northeast, making Colombo the first yogurt
sold in America. Now, 75 years later, Colombo is still selling yogurt
throughout the Northeast and takes pride in its Massachusetts
heritage. Colombo offers both 8-ounce cups and 32-ounce containers
and is owned by Minnesota-based General Mills. Visit
for more information.
Underwritten by Colombo Yogurt, Opinion Research Corporation
conducted the yogurt consumption survey by telephone from March
12-15, 2004, interviewing a national probability sample of 1,024
adults 18 years of age and older, living in private households in the
continental United States. The margin of error is plus or minus three
percentage points for the entire sample and four percentage points
for yogurt consumers.
(1) AC Nielsen, US 2MM+, 2000-2003
(2) AC Nielsen Panel Facts, Total US, 2000-2003
(3) AC Nielsen, US 2MM+, 52 weeks ending 3/27/04, excluding Wal-Mart
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
May 13 2004
CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO DISCUSS IN MOSCOW THE ISSUES OF SETTLEMENT OF
NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT
[May 13, 2004, 18:11:09]
As correspondent of AzerTAj informs, in the weekend, Ms. Condoleezza
Rice, the US President Aide for National Security will make a visit
to Russia and Germany. At the briefing which has been carried out
before the trip, Ms. Rice informed, that the question of settlement
of the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorny Karabakh conflict also would be
in the focus during dialogue between the USA and Russia. Answering
question of the correspondent of AzerTAj, she has emphasized, that
this delayed conflict renders negative influence on political and
economic development of both countries – Azerbaijan and Armenia,
as a whole, creates obstacles to progress of region. C. Rice has
told: “All of us regretted concerning uncertainly of the Nagorny
Karabakh conflict. Some time back we believed, that we are on a way
of settlement. We worked above it much. The meeting has taken place
in Florida. It was visible, that work is carried out in a correct
direction. On negotiations with the Russian side we would like to
carry out discussions how us again to return to the given direction.”
The USA is going to continue serious dialogue with Russia, Ms. Rice
has stated. The summons of negotiations will consist not only of
the questions interesting both sides. Also exchange of opinions
on development of process of peace talks on the Near East, joint
efforts in antiterrorist struggle, construction of democratic Iraq
will be carried out. Despite of presence in the past of disagreements
between us in the question of Iraq, now the basic purpose consists
in achievement of success in this area. Stable and democratic Iraq
is equitable to interests of all.
The most part of dialogue with Russia will be devoted to power
questions. By words of Condoleezza Rice, in the name of the future
of economic it is necessary to think of reliable sources of energy.

49er Online, California State University, Long Beach
May 13 2004
Senate approves Beach Pride resolution
By Gerry Wachovsky
On-line Forty-Niner
The final A.S. Senate meeting of the semester saw an approval of a
resolution authorizing a new agreement on the distribution of student
fees.
Executive director of Associated Students Inc., Richard Haller,
detailed the plan to the Senate and broke down how, exactly, the
funds would be distributed. The sports operating budgets, according
to Haller, were reduced 5 percent, and he also said that A.S.I. will
be responsible for annually auditing the sports, athletics and
recreation department’s agreement with the new terms. Haller said he
believes this will create more student involvement within S.A.R.
In other news, A.S.I. President Danny Vivian, in his weekly report to
the Senate, discussed the deal that Charles Reed, chancellor of the
Cal State University system, California Education Secretary Richard
Riordan and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came to regarding the
budget crisis and its relation to higher education.
According to Vivian, they agreed not to increase the General Fund
this year and they will not cut the Educational Opportunity Program.
Vivian also noted that while undergraduate fees could go up by 14
percent and graduate fees by 20 percent, next Wednesday the board of
trustees would be meeting to vote to further increase the fees.
Vivian urged the Senate body to “Support the legislators that are
[angry] about this,” and to fight to preserve quality higher
education.
While several of the Senate members will be returning next year to
continue representing the students, certain senators will be moving
on in their professional lives. Over the course of the year, the
Senate intent on many conflicts and enacted numerous resolutions that
affect a myriad of students on campus. It also resolved what proved
to be a controversial issue brought forth by the Armenian Student
Association alleging Turkish involvement in the genocide of
Armenians. In the end, the two groups “agreed to disagree” and the
Senate diffused what might have become a sticky situation. In
addition, they debated about issues relating to fees students have to
pay, and fought for campus organizations.
The senators collectively agreed that they accomplished a large
amount this year and a number of members expressed how honored they
are to have served on the Senate.

Palestine Chronicle
May 13 2004
An Evening with Bernard Lewis: Terrorists, Tea and Hatred
“The only solution, Lewis concludes, is the Western recolonization of
the Arab world, starting with Iraq ..”
By Sarah Whalen
The Palestine Chronicle
I wonder.
What is a terrorist?
Saudis, Wahhabis, Muslims who follow the shariah, and suicide
bombers, Orientalist Bernard Lewis told a rapt audience of mostly
Jewish Americans in New Orleans last week.
Lewis, a British Jew who studied law but failed to finish, apparently
hates the sharia only slightly less than he hates Saudi Arabia
generally and Wahhabism specifically. “A lunatic fringe in a marginal
country,” he sneers. The West’s present troubles, Lewis avers, arise
from “an unholy combination of two events:” the creation of the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the discovery of oil there.
The audience titters at the word “unholy.”
Encouraged, Lewis warms to his subject. “Imagine,” he offers, “if the
Ku Klux Klan obtained the oil wells of Texas, and had all that
money…a pale approximation” of what happened with Saudi Arabia.
“Imagine,” Lewis urges, “that the KKK used all this money to
establish a network of well-endowed schools and colleges all over
Christendom, peddling their particular brand of Christianity.”
The audience gasps and shudders at the thought of Christianity being
spread. Or is it a “KKK” brand of Christianity? Or Islam? Lewis is
unclear, but on a roll.
Suicide bombing also has Islamic origins, Lewis insists. He admits
Islam “clearly forbids suicide.” But this doesn’t stop Muslims from
doing it, says Lewis, who shifts to the Assassins, spinning lurid
tales of the dagger-wielding, supposedly hashish-smoking Ismaili
sect’s practices in the 11th and 12th centuries that terrorized
Crusaders and most of “Persia and Palestine.” The Assassins, Lewis
claims, were “eventually suppressed” only to “reappear in the late
19th and early 20th centuries.”
And their heirs, ignoble, modern suicide bombers, Lewis warns, may
soon become a metaphor for the whole Middle East, locked into “a
downward spiral of hate and spite, rage and self-pity, poverty and
oppression.”
The only solution, Lewis concludes, is the Western recolonization of
the Arab world, starting with Iraq.
But why stop there?
An American-Israeli Ottoman empire awaits.
The audience wildly applauds.
Lewis takes questions from lesser beings, all of whom bask in his
genial but insulting answers. Then, the audience storms the table
laden with The Crisis of Islam, and What Went Wrong, manifestos that
made Lewis the Bush Administration’s chief neocon ideologue.
Lewis graciously signs purchases.
I stand in line and wonder: Do these new Lewis fans, many of whom
descend from Holocaust victims and survivors, know that a French
court once fined him for denying the Armenian genocide? Do they know
that today’s date–April 24–marks the Armenian genocide’s 89th
anniversary?
It is my turn: “You claim the Ismaili Assassins are the precursors of
modern Palestinian suicide bombers. I wanted to ask about Masada–”
Lewis jumps, as though poked with a pin. “Masada!” he says
emphatically. “Damn! I meant to say something about that.”
I nod.
“I wonder whether this tradition actually started much earlier in
Palestine with the Jewish tradition of the Sicarii.”
Lewis’s eyes narrow suspiciously. The Sicarii, Lewis knows, were
Jewish Zealot assassins specializing in murder by “sicae,” small
daggers.
During the 66 CE Jewish rebellion, some Sicarii fled to Masada, King
Herod’s fortress, slaughtered the Roman garrison stationed there, and
plundered nearby settlements, including Jewish villages. The Masada
group eventually numbered 960 men, women, and children.
In 72 CE, the Roman governor Silva besieged Masada with the 10th
Legion. Jewish historian Josephus recorded the testimony of two
Jewish women and five Jewish children, the sole survivors of what
happened next, on Passover Eve, 73 CE, when the
Sicarii announced that rather than surrender, the Jewish men would
murder their wives and children, then “cast lots to choose ten men to
dispatch the remainder,” with the lone surviving Jew then running
“his sword entirely through himself.”
This they did.
Lewis glares. “Well,” he says, “Judaism so abhors suicide that there
is not a word about Masada in any Jewish history or rabbinical period
text, only by Josephus.” And he chuckles and remarks that in writing
down the truth, Josephus became a despised Roman collaborator.
I nod. But I ask: “Why do we ignore murder-suicide’s place in ancient
Israeli-Palestinian culture? Modern Israelis made murder-suicide into
a national shrine at Masada. But there’s nothing heroic about
murdering your wives and children and all your male friends, and then
killing yourself, which is what the Sicarii did. So why glorify them,
as Israel does?”
Lewis does not blink.
So I press on.
“Israeli Army recruits take oaths of allegiance at Masada. And since
every Israeli serves some time in the armed forces, they’re all
indoctrinated into this view. Zionist youth groups hike to Masada,
there promising to support the Israeli state unto death. How can you
blame 11th century Ismaili Assassins for inventing suicide bombings,
when the Sicarii predated Islam by hundreds of years?”
“At least,” Lewis snaps, “the Jews only killed themselves at Masada,
and not anyone else.”
But surviving Sicarii groups fled to Alexandria and Thebes. Scholars
say Ismaili fringe traditions originated out of Egypt. And Egypt is
the home of the Muslim Brotherhood. So who taught who how to be a
suicide bomber?
Is recolonizing Israel an option?
Lewis turns away.
I wonder.
From: Baghdasarian