Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
May 7 2004
“Broadcasting to Hotspots: RFE/RL Today”
Woodrow Wilson Center
Thomas A. Dine President, RFE/RL, Inc.
There’s a Washington conversation that I have over and over again.
Someone asks me what I do. I say, “I’m the head of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty.” The person then says one of two things: “I
didn’t know Radio Free Europe still existed,” or “But isn’t Europe
already free?” Today I want to address these misconceptions about
RFE/RL: that Europe is free; that RFE/RL focuses solely on Europe; in
short, that RFE/RL is a Cold War relic and not relevant to today’s
world.
To start, though, let me give you a brief overview of who we are.
RFE/RL broadcasts to 19 countries in 28 languages, none of which is
English. 19 of our 28 language services are directed at
majority-Muslim populations. We have bureaus in every one of our
countries but Iran and Turkmenistan.
We are a “surrogate broadcaster,” which means that our mission,
unlike that of Voice of America, is to broadcast news and information
about the individual countries listening to us, not about the United
States-unless the news from Washington involves one or more of our
countries. In addition to radio, RFE/RL is very prominent on the
Internet-nearly all of our broadcast services operate top-notch
local-language websites, and our main website averages about 6
million page views a month. We are also on television in a handful of
countries.
Let me now address the first question, “Isn’t Europe already free?”
People often forget that the eastern border of Europe is not Warsaw
or Bucharest or even St. Petersburg-it’s the Ural Mountains, two time
zones east of Moscow. To put it another way-the geographic center of
Europe isn’t Germany or Austria. It’s Ukraine. We can divide our
European countries into two groups: the former Yugoslavia and the
former Soviet Union.
It is a mistake to believe that the arrest of Milosevic marked the
end of the turmoil in the former Yugoslavia. Most of it is
politically and economically crippled; the odds of further ethnic
bloodshed are high; corruption is pervasive; and the emergence of a
free press has been stunted.
In Serbia, the euphoria that greeted the ouster of Milosevic has
given way to a prevailing attitude that can best be described as a
noxious brew of nationalism and self-pity. The strongest party is now
the ultra-nationalistic Serbian Radical Party, and vestiges of
Milosevic’s criminal regime survive nearly intact-the assassination
of Prime Minister Djindjic last year was merely the most tragic
example of its continuing influence. Meanwhile, the economy is a
shambles, and since foreign investors want little to do with Serbia,
there is no improvement in sight.
Furthermore, Serbia’s territorial integrity is anything but certain.
In Montenegro, about half the people want to secede from the
federation with Serbia, while the other half want to stay. And in
Kosovo, the worst ethnic violence since NATO’s military action
erupted in March of this year. Analysts say that, far from being an
isolated incident, this latest outbreak of hostilities was the tip of
the iceberg. When you consider that unemployment in Kosovo is between
60% and 70%, and that a majority of the population lives in poverty,
it’s hard to be hopeful that tolerance will prevail. If ethnic
violence does recur in Kosovo, it will certainly destabilize another
of our broadcast countries-Macedonia-where 25% of the population is
ethnic Albanian.
Finally, Bosnia and Herzegovina has also been unable to move beyond
nationality-based infighting. Local government bodies are strictly
loyal to members of their own nationality, and the nationalistic
ruling parties resist market reforms because they fear they will lose
their grip on power. For the politicians in power in Bosnia, the war
is not over, but merely in remission.
The reason RFE/RL plays such a critical role in the Balkans is that
it is the only local-language media outlet that speaks to, and for,
all the ethnic groups; the rest of the media have come to serve as
inflammatory voices of intolerance. The uniqueness of our programming
is reflected in our outstanding ratings-our numbers in the former
Yugoslavia are consistently among the highest in our broadcast
portfolio.
The second group of our European countries is, as I mentioned, the
former Soviet Union, and, if I haven’t depressed you enough already,
I have to tell you that the former Soviet Union makes the former
Yugoslavia look like Switzerland. Everyone in this room remembers the
sense of hope we felt when the U.S.S.R. collapsed. Fifteen nations
had been freed from Moscow’s control, and each of them would pursue
its own path not only towards an independent national identity, but
towards freedom and democracy. Alas, with the exception of the three
Baltic republics, the freedom-and-democracy part hasn’t proven true.
Let’s begin with the three countries of the Caucasus, where our
weekly listenership ratings are very high, close to 20%. When the
Soviet Union collapsed, Armenia was certainly considered one of the
republics likeliest to succeed. It was a Christian country with close
ties to the West, a highly educated populace, and a cohesive,
talented diaspora. But, after an initial period of reform, Armenia
has regressed into a corrupt oligarchy. No wonder it has lost nearly
a third of its population to emigration since 1992.
Azerbaijan, too, seemed promising, mainly because western investors
were flocking there for its oil. However, it, too, has succumbed to
oligarchy, and in fact last year, Azerbaijan earned the dubious
distinction of becoming the first former Soviet republic in which
power was transferred from father to son.
To complete the Caucasian triumvirate: Georgia experienced happy news
at the end of last year, when a peaceful protest movement led to the
collapse of Eduard Shevardnadze’s corrupt government, and the
election of a true democrat, Mikhail Saakashvili, to the presidency.
Unfortunately, President Saakashvili has inherited a mess. Two
provinces want to secede from Georgia and unite with Russia; a third
region, Adjaria, has demanded more independence from Tbilisi; its
infrastructure is decimated; and corruption is endemic among its
workforce.
In the early hours of this morning, the Adjaria crisis came to an end
when its warlord was persuaded by Minister Ivanov of Russia to step
down and seek asylum in Moscow. Our Georgian Service broadcast all
last night and this morning, live.
The next country in RFE/RL’s European portfolio, Moldova, is the
poorest nation in Europe. In 2001, Moldova became the first former
Soviet state to elect an unreformed Communist president; every year,
President Voronin pays his respects at the monument to Lenin in the
capital. To visit Moldova is to take a trip to a Twilight Zone in
which there are lots of old people, lots of children, and almost no
one in between-they’ve all left to go find work in other countries.
Over the last our years, our Moldovan Service has doubled its
listenership.
Further north, we have Belarus, Europe’s most repressive nation.
Belarus is run by a psychopath named Alexander Lukashenka, who openly
admires Stalin and who did business with Saddam Hussein. Needless to
say, Lukashenka isn’t very fond of RFE/RL, which is probably why this
year our Minsk bureau has been burglarized, threatened with eviction,
and visited by the tax police.
Russia is one of the great underreported stories in the world today.
Here we have a former superpower that, having experimented with
democracy, has reverted to autocracy. My Moscow colleagues tell me
that they have not felt such a climate of enforced orthodoxy since
the 1970s. Putin is so powerful, and so feared, that no one in the
Russian government arrives at work before noon, and no one leaves
before 10 p.m.-because that is the schedule that Putin keeps. The
last time the Kremlin observed this ominous practice was during the
rule of Stalin.
Just this week, the Committee to Protect Journalists named Russia one
of the ten worst places in the world to be a journalist, citing
President Putin’s use of sham lawsuits and corporate maneuvers to
virtually eliminate independent media. Television and radio are now
little more than an arm of the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Putin continues to
go to great lengths to obstruct coverage of the war in Chechnya,
something we at RFE/RL experienced in 2000, when our reporter Andrei
Babitsky was kidnapped in Chechnya by Russian FSB, disappeared for
over 5 weeks, and finally dumped out of the trunk of a car in
Mahashkala, Dagestan one cold February day.
We complete this survey of our European broadcast area with the
biggest disappointment of all: Ukraine. With a well-educated
population of 48 million, Ukraine had the potential to become one of
the great nations of Europe. Instead, under the corrupt rule of
President Leonid Kuchma, Ukraine has become an embarrassment. It has
forged commercial relationships with Iran, Syria, Libya, and Iraq.
The Kuchma administration has also aggressively subverted the
democratic process, employing an array of dirty tricks and brutal
tactics. It is no wonder that “Ukraine fatigue” has become a term of
art in the State Department and at the EU.
Ukraine will elect a new president in October. But Kuchma is so
determined to keep his cronies in power that he has unleashed a
severe crackdown on independent media-and his main target is RFE/RL.
In February, our most important affiliate network in Ukraine, after
being taken over by supporters of Kuchma, kicked us off the air. In
March, a Kyiv station that had begun to air RFE/RL programming two
days earlier was raided and closed by the authorities. And on that
very same day, the director of another station was killed in a car
accident while on his way to a meeting with an RFE/RL representative.
With an election just months away, Kuchma feels he cannot afford to
have RFE/RL around.
I give you this tour of Eastern Europe not only to show that Europe
is not free, but because something very important is at stake here.
Right now, the United States is engaged in a massive effort to
promote democracy in the Middle East. But I worry that by focusing on
the Middle East, we are neglecting to finish the job much closer to
home, in Eastern Europe. We suffer from a sort of “political
attention deficit disorder”; we pay attention whenever missiles are
launched, but once the bombs stop falling, we stop watching. Most
Americans think that Europe has been taken care of, and we can now
move on to the Middle East. But, as I have just described, a large
part of Europe has not been taken care of.
Furthermore, experts agree that one of the pillars of Putin’s
political identity going forward will be an increasingly assertive
foreign policy in places that used to report to Moscow. Since the
former republics of the Soviet Union have such shoddy governments
now, and are in such dire straits economically, I am very
apprehensive about what Eastern Europe may look like in the near
future. We cannot discount the possibility that not one but several
dictatorships will be reborn in the heart of Europe.
***
To address the second widespread misconception about RFE/RL, that we
are solely engaged with Europe: the facts are otherwise. About half
of the countries to which we broadcast are in Asia. And they, too,
desperately need what RFE/RL offers.
Let’s start with Iran, because this has been a depressing talk so
far, and Iran is a country I have high hopes for-an exciting
crucible. Iran may be run by religious fanatics, but its population
is young, pro-West, and pro-democracy. 70% of the Iranian population
is under the age of 30. The regime is doomed, as a simple matter of
demographics.
Because of the extraordinarily youthful skew of Iran’s population, we
decided to try something a little different with Iran. In December of
2002, we launched a joint venture with our sister entity, Voice of
America, called Radio Farda. Radio Farda is a 24-hours-a-day,
7-days-a-week station that combines, in a fast-paced format, eight
hours of serious news coverage each day with a mix of Western and
Iranian pop music.
The response has been extraordinary: over 20% of Iranians between the
ages of 18 and 29 listen to Radio Farda at least once a week. Over
40,000 visitors a day use the Farda website to listen to the station
over the Internet. Thousands of messages a week pour into Farda’s
telephone call-in service. And 76% of the Iranian people consider it
a reliable source of news and information. So much for the Great
Satan. The theocrats are obviously scared, and last year they started
jamming Farda’s broadcast signal, blocking access to its website, and
incarcerating our correspondents.
Another Asian hotspot is Afghanistan. In the wake of the 9/11
terrorist attacks, members of the House of Representatives asked us
to create a broadcast service to Afghanistan. Four months after the
attacks, Radio Free Afghanistan was up and running, broadcasting 12
hours a day in Dari and Pashto to that beleaguered country.
Reminiscent of scenes in movies when someone who’s been crawling
through the desert for days finally finds water and gulps it down
with tremendous intensity, the response to our broadcasts in
Afghanistan has been overwhelming. This is because under the Taliban,
the people weren’t just denied objective news and information-they
were denied radios. In Kabul now, 54% of Afghans listen to us weekly,
and in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif that figure climbs to 68%.
Nothing in my job makes me happier than reading the messages we get
from our listeners, male and female. Radio Free Afghanistan has made
an immediate difference in the lives of the newly free Afghan people.
But recall the “political A.D.D.” that I mentioned earlier. I am
worried that the United States and its allies are not following
through on their promise to rebuild the country. Afghanistan today
does not have functioning institutions. Outside Kabul, security is
worse than it was under the Taliban. Aid workers are being murdered
at an alarming rate, and as a result relief organizations are
drastically scaling back operations. The capital barely has contact
with, let alone control over, the rest of the country, which is run
by regional warlords. And our correspondents believe the Taliban is
regrouping. Obviously, Afghanistan will remain one of our most
important broadcast targets for years to come.
I’m going to skip over Iraq, where we broadcast in Arabic and
Kurdish, for two reasons. First, I think it’s safe to say that
everyone in this room is well aware of what’s going on there. Second,
to my enormous regret, the Administration’s FY05 budget calls for the
termination of Radio Free Iraq at the end of this fiscal year. It is
now up to Congress to decide whether to acquiesce or continue funding
it to the tune of $2.2 million a year. Whatever the outcome, I am
delighted with what RFI has accomplished in its five years; the
latest research shows that a whopping 34.4% of Iraqis listen to us
each week.
I’ll conclude this tour of our Asian broadcast area with the five
Central Asian former republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The most benign of the bunch are Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, where
reporters do operate with relative autonomy, provided that they don’t
make any trouble for the people in power. Unfortunately, that’s as
good as it gets in Central Asia today. Each of the other three states
has, since obtaining independence from Moscow, morphed into a
post-Soviet version of The Sopranos, where one crime family rules
through intimidation and violence.
In Kazakhstan, it’s the Nazarbayev family, and they don’t like it
when journalists stick their noses in their business. In the last
three years, newspapers have been burglarized, their employees
beaten, and their offices burned to the ground. Three independent TV
stations were shut down in 2002 alone. Journalists who dare
investigate the corrupt business practices of the Nazarbayev family
are sent to jail. Soon RFE/RL may be the only independent media
outlet operating in Kazakhstan-the rest are all controlled by the
President’s daughter, Darigha.
Uzbekistan is run by the Karimov family, and conditions there are
worse than they are in Kazakhstan. Journalists who report on the
crime, corruption, and poverty plaguing Uzbekistan are routinely
fired-and they’re the lucky ones; many have been arrested, injured,
and jailed. In many cases, it is publicity by RFE/RL that saves these
brave journalists from lengthier prison sentences. I myself felt a
surge of intense contempt for the Uzbek regime last year, when a
group of 20 thugs, no doubt working for the government, surrounded
one of our correspondents as he reported on an incident at Tashkent’s
central market, beat him, and stole his equipment.
The final Mafia state in Central Asia is Turkmenistan, and, though it
may be hard to believe after the foregoing discussion, Turkmenistan
is the worst of all of them. The dictator of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat
Niyazov, has constructed a cult of personality there that would have
made Romania’s Ceausescu blush. Every newspaper lists Niyazov as its
founder. All editors are personally appointed by Niyazov. Censorship
is total. The most important news story, every day, is the
magnificence of Niyazov.
We have correspondents in Turkmenistan, but they must work in secret,
using pseudonyms. Unfortunately, they do not always succeed in
remaining anonymous. In the past year alone, several of our reporters
in Turkmenistan have been abducted, beaten, and jailed. And our
stringer in Moscow was savagely beaten just last week. That these
brave men and women are willing to risk their lives so that their
compatriots can at least hear a little bit of truth every day never
fails to move me. They are true heroes.
As you can see, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has as much to do
with Asia as it does with Europe. In fact, since we are funded by the
government, our priorities as an organization largely track its
priorities, and right now the biggest priority of the government is
combating terrorism. That’s why I always have to laugh when people
claim that RFE/RL is a relic-especially since 19 of our 28 broadcast
languages are directed at predominantly-Muslim populations.
In fact, as part of the War on Terror, RFE/RL hopes to redouble its
radio, television, and Internet efforts to the five Central Asian
states over the next 12 months. Although these former Soviet states
may seem to have little to do with Islamist terrorism, we at RFE/RL
believe that Central Asia could well be the next front in the global
War on Terror. Already, at least two terrorist organizations are
operating within these countries, seeking to establish Islamic
theocracy. Most importantly, these Central Asian nations are exactly
the kind of places that can become breeding grounds for terrorism.
Remember that almost all of the terrorists of 9/11 came not from
Muslim countries whose governments professed hatred of the United
States (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan) but from Muslim countries whose
governments are friendly with the United States: Saudi Arabia and
Egypt. The same is true of these Central Asian states, where
west-friendly autocrats rule over Muslim populations, and where the
U.S. government has made alliances of necessity while pursuing the
larger goal of toppling the Taliban and Saddam Hussein.
As the people living under these regimes become more and more bitter
about the hopelessness of their lives, they are drawn to more radical
belief systems. The best way to combat the growth of such radicalism
is not to make society less free, as these Central Asian dictators
have done, but to make it more free. RFE/RL looks forward to
intensifying the fight to make Central Asia a freer, and therefore
safer, place.
***
I hope that I have succeeded today in getting my message across.
RFE/RL is not a Cold War relic, but a modern media organization
communicating to the world’s most unstable hotspots. Today we cannot
know what the next Afghanistan will be-just as we can’t know where
the next Srebrenica massacre will occur, or where the next militant
Islamic revolution will erupt. But the likelihood is that many people
there are listening to RFE/RL, and they are grateful that we have not
stopped fighting for our shared values: the free flow of information,
human rights, freedom and democracy.

BBC News, UK
May 7 2004
Press digests Ajaria aftermath

Ajaria’s drama has met with mixed interpretations
The defusing of the crisis in the Georgian province of Ajaria
following the departure of rebel leader Aslan Abashidze is greeted in
the region’s press with cautious relief.
In Georgia, papers are grateful to Russia for its mediation. A sense
of satisfaction is echoed in the other Caucasian republics of Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
But in Russia the press is full of misgivings. It sees America as the
overall winner and warns of problems ahead.
Georgia
The pro-government 24 Saati notes the Georgian foreign minister’s
satisfaction that “the burden of Abashidze has been handed over to
Russia”.
Another pro-government paper, Sakartvelos Respublika, carries on its
front page Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s comment that
“Russia has played a positive role”.
The swan song of the Ajarian lion shows Washington and Moscow are
working on a new map of the South Caucasus
Ayasatani Anrapetutyun
The independent Akhali 7 Dge in turn believes that the elimination of
the pro-Russian regime in Georgia was possible only thanks to Western
support. And it expresses the hope that, with that support, “Russia’s
negative role in Georgian politics will diminish”.
The same paper carries an interview with MP Davit Zurabishvili on the
possibility of spreading the “rose revolution” to Georgia’s other
troublesome regions.
He says the peaceful end of the conflict in Ajaria is a “message sent
in two directions”, to the West as well as to Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.
In both cases the message is the same: Georgia is “determined to use
only peaceful means” to settle its remaining conflicts.
And interviewed in another independent paper, Rezonansi, the leader
of the opposition New Right party, Davit Gamqrelidze, says the
integration of Ajaria into Georgia will “definitely have a favourable
influence” on settling the Abkhaz conflict.
Armenia
Elsewhere in the Caucasus, papers are likewise reassured.
Armenia’s Ayasatani Anrapetutyun says the “swan-song of the Ajarian
lion” shows Washington and Moscow are working on a “new map of the
South Caucasus, and have even come to an agreement on some matters”.
New faces will govern Ajaria from now on – of course, looking back
to Tbilisi
Xalq Qazeti
Aravot in turn is full of praise for Mr Saakashvili, noting that his
actions have “nothing in common with political adventure”. This, it
says, was best seen in his enlisting Russia as “an authoritative
mediator”.
Ayots Ashkar also believes developments bode well for the future.
“This creates favourable conditions to overcome a certain coldness in
the Armenian-Georgian relations,” it says.
Azerbaijan
The pro-government Azerbaijani daily Xalq Qazeti says the conflict
has ended with a clear victory for Georgia.
“The Georgian people are happy. The international community is also
pleased with the fact that the conflict ended without bloodshed. New
faces will govern Ajaria from now on – of course, looking back to
Tbilisi,” it says.
Other papers, however, are less positive.
In the Caucasus, Washington it has managed to pull off its latest
geopolitical triumph
Moskovskiy Komsomolets
The opposition Azadliq has harsh words for the Azerbaijani leadership
over its position on the Ajarian issue.
“The Ajarian dictator has been banished… The Azerbaijani government
should feel sad because the Abashidze regime was its only partner in
corruption,” it says.
And the independent Russian-language daily Zerkalo focuses on
Russia’s reduced influence in the Caucasus.
“The northern neighbour has lost a rather serious ally and a
strategic base in the Caucasus,” it comments.
Russia
Russian papers are generally unhappy with the turn of events. Some
view developments as something of a coup for US President George W
Bush.
Abashidze was literally hounded into resigning
Pravda
“While Washington is getting itself mired more and more deeply in
Iraq, in the Caucasus it has managed to pull off its latest
geopolitical triumph,” says the mass-circulation Moskovskiy
Komsomolets.
This, it says, is the only way to interpret the victory of “American
placeman” Mr Saakashvili over Abashidze, who was close to Russia.
Another popular Moscow daily, Moskovskaya Pravda, agrees.
“The events,” it insists, “were not a victory for Saakashvili over
Abashidze, but for America over Russia. The USA is effectively
continuing a carve-up of the Caucasus using its puppets in the
region.”
The Russian Communist Party newspaper Pravda in turn takes the
Kremlin to task.
“Abashidze was literally hounded into resigning. And, strange as it
may seem, Secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council Igor
Ivanov took a direct part in this shameful and unlawful affair.”
While the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta has a word of warning
for the Georgian president.
“Even at Georgia’s most difficult periods, ‘feudal’ Abashidze
maintained peace and stability,” it says. “The ‘democrat’ Saakashvili
is still only at the start of a difficult journey.”
While he seems well-intentioned enough, “we all remember that the
road to hell is paved with good intentions”, the paper adds.

The Daily Telegraph, UK
May 7 2004
Hooligan movies are all the rage
(Filed: 07/05/2004)
We’re about to witness a rash of films about football violence – and
one of them stars Elijah Wood. By Matt Munday
Remember how Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels spawned a rash of
identikit Brit gangster flicks? And how there are only so many
wise-cracking spivs, cocked-up capers and Vinnie Jones temper
tantrums we can endure before the fun wears off? We may be about to
witness a similar boom-bust cycle. But instead of East End wise guys,
this time it’s football hooligans.

Firm stance: The Football Factory
No fewer than four films about the darker side of terrace culture are
due in the coming year. The one with the highest profile is likely to
be The Yank, a big-bucks Hollywood movie in which Elijah Wood – Frodo
in the Lord of the Rings trilogy – plays a Harvard drop-out who moves
to London and develops a taste for match-day madness. It has just
finished filming and will be released in January next year.
Then will come Irvine Welsh’s portrait of Cardiff City FC’s notorious
fighting gang, the Soul Crew, which is filming this summer. Then an
adaptation of reformed hooligan Cass Pennant’s autobiography,
Congratulations, You Have Just Met the ICF (an acronym for West Ham
United’s real-life fighting element, the Inter-City Firm).
But first out of the traps comes The Football Factory, directed by
Nick Love, whose 2001 debut, Goodbye Charlie Bright, won acclaim for
its gritty realism. That’s a quality also in evidence in his new
film, notably during The Football Factory’s shocking climax – a mass
brawl on a patch of south London waste ground between rival gangs
from Chelsea and Millwall. A bone-crunchingly accurate and
unflinching depiction of soccer violence, it ends with hapless lead
character Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) being kicked half to death. And
its authenticity derives in part from the fact that the majority of
the brawlers are the real thing.
“Previous films about football violence [the most recent of which was
1995’s risible ID] have never worked because of the lack of attention
to detail, the implausibility of the characters, and the ridiculous
way that the actual violence is handled,” says Love, in a heavy south
London accent.
“And there’s nothing worse than watching a film and thinking, ‘I
don’t believe this’. So we roped in thugs from most of the big London
‘firms’ – though we were terrified of local rivalries spilling over
into actual fighting. But the astonishing thing was, at the end of a
take, they all started clapping and bowing to each other.”
The Football Factory depicts four generations of white working-class
Londoners, all except the oldest – Bill Farrell, a Second World War
hero – trapped in a culture of brutal violence, moral apathy and
aspirational fashion (as in real life, the football hooligans are not
Dr Martens-wearing skinheads, but smartly dressed “casuals” clad in
upmarket brand names: Burberry, Stone Island and Aquascutum).
Thus, the bitter fortysomething Billy Bright (Lock, Stock’s Frank
Harper) mercilessly bullies the teenage wannabe Zeberdee (Roland
Manookian), who then metes out similar abuse to youngsters half his
age. True, throughout the film, twentysomething Tommy Johnson
questions whether the casual lifestyle is “worth it”, but he fails,
even after nearly losing his life, to choose another path.
So is The Football Factory a validation of the thug lifestyle, or is
it trying to pull off something more complex and challenging? When
the fight sequences are accompanied by an adrenaline-stoking
soundtrack from the likes of Primal Scream and The Streets, it is
easy to see how Love might be accused of the former – especially as
public apprehension increases in the run-up to Euro 2004.

‘We roped in thugs from most of the big London firms’
“All films should ask questions,” he says, “so I decided during
editing to sacrifice labouring any point. The criticism has already
started: people have said that it is hard to empathise with some of
the characters because of all the swearing and violence – but my
predicament was that I had to be truthful about them. At the same
time, I ensured there is less than five minutes of actual violence in
the whole film – I didn’t want to alienate the public.”
“Because football violence is such a hot potato,” says Manookian,
“it’s easy to overlook how balanced the film is.” His character,
Zeberdee, racially abuses an Asian family on a bus, to the disgust of
Bill Farrell. “The older character, Bill, actually fought against
far-Right extremists in the war, and that point is explicitly made in
the film,” says Manookian, who is of Armenian descent and endured
racist abuse himself while growing up in Bermondsey. “And I don’t
seriously think that any film has the power to affect English
hooliganism one way or another: if people are going to cause trouble
at Euro 2004, they’ll do it regardless.”
Neither Love, Manookian nor Harper had to do much research. “I’ve
been around people like that all my life,” says Harper. “It was just
part and parcel of where I grew up [near Catford, south London]. I’ve
never been involved in football violence – my dad would have disowned
me. And I’m one of a lucky minority that has found an outlet in the
arts. But there are generations out there who feel really lost – and
they are the most un-PC group in the country: white, working-class
heterosexuals. The people New Labour hate. They feel they’ve got no
place in their own country any more. And they are expressing their
frustration through drinking and violence.”
“This film has nothing to do with race,” insists Love. “It’s purely
an indictment of all that New Labour rubbish about England being a
classless society.”
So far, so grim. But has Love’s foray into hooligan culture afforded
any insight as to how society should tackle it? “It has got to come
from parenting and schooling,” he says, in a trice. “We should be
looking towards the one-year-olds and the unborns – because their
paths aren’t determined yet – and working out how to make their lives
better.”
‘The Football Factory’ is released next Friday

International Journalist’s Network
May 7 2004
Armenian news directors to learn new computer program
A seminar for Armenian TV news directors and editors is aimed at
teaching them how to use News Factory – software that can help them
organize their newsrooms.
Internews-Armenia has scheduled the seminar for May 24 at its offices
in Yerevan. No more than one representative from each participating
TV company may attend.
Trainers Konstantin Naumov and Denis Shchevchenko of Internews-Russia
will lead the seminar. They will present the News Factory program,
which facilitates the organization of newsroom work for TV stations.
Internews-Russia created the software to help regional stations
automate their news production, while creating computerized archives
of their local news reports. According to an October 2003 release
from Internews, more than 300 stations across Russia are using the
software.
For more information about the software, visit

For information about the course, contact David Aslanyan at
[email protected], telephone +374 1 58-36-20. Internews-Armenia:

Turkish Press
May 7 2004
The Azerbaijanis And Cyprus
BYEGM: 5/7/2004
BY ERDAL GUVEN
RADIKAL- The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) declared its
independence on November 15, 1983 and was recognized by Turkey the
very same day. But for the next 21 years, no other country extended
recognition. How could this be? After the TRNC was founded, the UN
Security Council adopted Resolution 541 condemning the TRNC’s
self-declared founding and calling on all UN members not to recognize
any Cypriot state besides the `Republic of Cyprus’ (that is, Greek
Cyprus). Therefore only Ankara recognized the TRNC and even if Turkey
turned its nose up, the whole rest of the world recognizes the
`Republic of Cyprus’ as the sole legal representative of the island.
The issue also carries a geopolitical aspect. The TRNC is a concrete
form of separation in the context of international relations and was
formed unilaterally as a result of military intervention by Turkey.
However, today’s geopolitics frowns on separatism, micro-nationalism
and political formations based on ethnicity excepting where there is
mutual consent. On the contrary, today’s geopolitics favors
integration based upon democracy, political equality and economic
sharing. This is another political reason why the TRNC is not
recognized. The interests and policies of countries faced with splits
or threatened by separation are in line with this geopolitics. One of
those countries is Azerbaijan, with its problem of upper Karabakh.
The serious problem faced by Baku is that 20% of its land is
currently occupied by Armenia and the upper Karabakh separatist
movement. Therefore, the Azerbaijani representatives in the European
Council’s Parliament were leaning towards not recognizing the TRNC.
`The Parliament vote would mean recognizing the TRNC,’ said one
Azerbaijani official. `This would set a risky precedent for the
future recognition of the administration in upper Karabakh.’ This
development should remind Turkey that in international relations
there is no friendship or brotherhood, but only interests.

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS
AND INFORMATION
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Anadolu Agency
May 7 2004
Erdogan: Aegean Sea Should Be Made A Sea Of Peace
ATHENS – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that
problems regarding Aegean Sea should be solved one by one and Aegean
Sea should be made a sea of peace.
Sources noted on Friday that Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis
said that there should be political will, good will and mutual will
for further development of relations between the two countries in the
meeting between delegations under the chairmanship of Erdogan and
Caramanlis.
Stating that the two countries should move with firm steps in
economy, tourism, trade sectors and joint investments, Caramanlis
added that it would be a good model for the region.
Caramanlis said that they considered Turkey’s European Union (EU)
membership an issue which had strategic importance for Greece and
that’s why they supported Turkey’s accession to the EU. He noted that
they would continue to support Turkey on its path to EU and stated
that they were watching steps that Turkey took and reforms that the
country fulfilled for its EU membership with appreciation. Stating
that implementation of those reforms was also very important,
Caramanlis said that those reforms would be put into practice under
the leadership of Erdogan.
Caramanlis added that he expected Greek Cypriot side not to cause any
difficulties in Turkey’s EU membership.
Erdogan said that he was the first Turkish prime minister to visit
Greece after 16 years.
Recalling that he earlier visited Greece twice prior to Copenhagen
Summit in 2002 and after quake in Greece, he stated that those visits
would make great contribution to relations between the two countries.
Stating that dialogue process which started between the two countries
continued, Erdogan said that they attached great importance to
committees which were set up within this scope.
Erdogan said that problems regarding the Aegean Sea should be solved
one by one and stressed that Aegean Sea should be made a sea of
peace.
Noting that total trade volume between the two countries amounted 1
billion 325 million U.S. dollars, he said that further improvement of
trade volume would contribute to solution of political problems of
the two countries.
Erdogan underlined that the two countries should launch joint
initiatives for the third countries.
Erdogan stated that Turkey also was ready to make contribution to
Olympic Games that Greece would host this year.
The number of border gates between the two countries should be
increased, he stated. Noting that Turkish and Greek contractors could
make business in the Middle East, Balkans, Central Asia and Caucasia,
Erdogan said that visa problem that Turkish tourists and
entrepreneurs faced when they entered Greece should be solved.
Caramanlis said that problems on this issue stemmed from Schengen
visa and stated that talks on this issue continued with EU.
Erdogan expressed his uneasiness about a Greek minister’s speech in a
meeting on April 25, 2004 in which so-called Armenian genocide
allegations were mentioned.
Stating that people should leave such issues to historians, Erdogan
said that this issue should not be used as a political tool. Erdogan
said that Turkey took a step on this issue and started to exclude
expressions which might harm relations with its neighbors from school
books and added that he expected Turkey’s neighbor countries to
assume a similar attitude.
Erdogan said that protocol on illegal migration between Turkey and
Greece was implemented wrongly and wanted Greek officials for border
to be warned on this issue.
Erdogan said that Turkey took steps for peace and a progress was
recorded with Syria on this issue and added that Israel’s latest
actions made difficult Turkey’s initiatives on this issue.

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christopher Walker
(212) 514-8040 x19
FREEDOM HOUSE APPLAUDS TODAY’S U.S. DECISION TO INCREASE AID TO POOR
DEMOCRACIES
Millennium Challenge Corporation Decision Rewards Large Number of Developing
Countries with Good Democracy and Rights Records
NEW YORK, MAY 6, 2004: Freedom House today applauded the Millennium
Challenge Corporation’s selection of 16 developing countries eligible for
enhanced U.S. foreign assistance. The selection was based on a number of
criteria set out by the Administration, including commitments by those
nations’ governments to “ruling justly.”
“It is particularly heartening to see the U.S. government encouraging such a
large number of African countries that are adhering to basic democratic
practices,” said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor.
“The use of strict criteria in the allocation of new development aid will
mainly reward poor countries that adhere to basic human rights and
democratic practices. It will also avoid bolstering despotic regimes in
developing states with long records of human rights violations,” Windsor
added.
Freedom House has been a strong champion of the Millennium Challenge Account
concept, believing that it can help create incentives for improved
governance and democratic practices among the broad array of developing
countries. Initially, the list of eligible countries included such human
rights violators as Vietnam and Mauritania, and Freedom House is pleased
that the most problematic candidate countries have been dropped from this
new list.
Freedom House rankings are among the selection criteria applied in the
allocation of over $1 billion in foreign aid funding under the program.
Eight of the selected countries are rated Free, with a good record of
respect for basic rights, while the other eight eligible for funding are
Partly Free, with some adherence of basic rights practices, according to
Freedom House.
“As a first step, the MCC effort is to be applauded and the Administration
is to be congratulated for an important and innovative approach to foreign
aid,” Windsor added.
A full listing of MCA eligible countries and their political rights and
civil liberties ratings and categories follow. A rating of 1 represents the
highest adherence to human rights standards and democratic practices and 7
the poorest adherence to such standards, according to Freedom House’s annual
survey Freedom in the World 2004. Freedom in the World ratings are presented
below in the following order: Country (Political Rights Numerical Rating;
Civil Liberties Numerical Rating; Freedom Status of Free, Partly Free or Not
Free).
Armenia (4,4 Partly Free), Benin (2,2 Free), Bolivia (3,3 Partly Free), Cape
Verde (1,1, Free), Georgia (4,4 Partly Free), Ghana (2,2 Free), Honduras
(3,3 Partly Free), Lesotho (2,3 Free), Madagascar (3,3 Partly Free), Mali
(2,2 Free), Mongolia (2,2 Free), Mozambique (3,4 Partly Free), Nicaragua
(3,3 Partly Free), Senegal (2,3 Free), Sri Lanka (3,3 Partly Free), and
Vanuatu (2,2 Free).
—

BBC Sport, UK
May 7 2004
Harrison bout delayed again

Harrison does not want to take any risks with his fitness
Scott Harrison’s WBO world featherweight title fight with US-based
Armenian William Abelyan has been postponed for a second time.
The Cambuslang fighter injured an arm in training, forcing the bout
to be put back to 19 June from 29 May.
The fight was originally due to take place in March but on that
occasion Abelyan pulled out through injury.
“This is a blow but these things happen. I’ll have to be patient
until I can get Abelyan,” said Harrison.
“I learnt from my first fight with Manuel Medina that you should not
enter the ring if you are not 100% fit.
“I’m currently seeing a sports injury specialist and they are
confident that the injury will heal and I can resume training
shortly.
“Until the injury happened my training was going great, probably the
best it has ever been. ”
Promoter Frank Warren added: “The Abelyan fight is the toughest of
Scott’s career and he has to be 100% ready for him.
“It’s a great shame that he got injured with the fight date closing
in but I do not want to see him go into the ring under-prepared or
with any injuries.
“He has had one set back when he lost the title and we do not want
that to happen again.”

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
May 7, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
SENATOR McCONNELL URGES STRENGTHENING U.S.-ARMENIA RELATIONS
DURING NATIONAL PAN-ARMENIAN CONFERENCE
Washington, DC – Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as the
featured luncheon speaker at a major non-partisan, pan-Armenian conference
April 19, pledged to work towards increasing Armenia’s funding level above
the Bush Administration request of $62 million for FY 2005. McConnell, a
well-known advocate of Armenian issues, also said he supports current
legislation granting permanent normal trade relations to Armenia.
The Conference, a three-day advocacy push led by the community’s major
non-partisan organizations – the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Eastern and Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church, brought hundreds of activists to the nation’s capital for
this first-ever gathering.
McConnell, who holds the second most powerful position in the United States
Senate, was introduced by Armenian Assembly Board of Directors Chairman
Anthony Barsamian, who hailed the Senator as, “an extraordinary friend of
our community.”
Below is the full text of Senator McConnell’s speech:
“Well, thank you very much. It’s great to see all of you again. I see some
old friends that I’ve been involved in a few wars with. Hirair Hovnanian,
thank you for being here. I’m proud of the work that you do on the East
coast and of course one of my best friends and buddies – the guy you just
described as being in charge of me – Albert Boyajian and his wife Tove. I
had the opportunity to go to Armenia with them a few years ago. If you are
not Armenian, there is nothing like going to Armenia with somebody who is
Armenian because it really adds a lot to the experience while you’re there
and Albert I thank you for teaching me about Armenia and for being my friend
and always being there when I need you. I think he does an extraordinary job
of making sure all of us who are not of Armenian decent understand the
history of Armenia and the importance of the U.S./Armenia relationship which
is, of course, what I’d like to talk about today.”
“I visited Nagorno Karabakh. I’ve been to Azerbaijan as well and I’ve had a
chance to spend some time with President Kocharian and others, none of which
I would argue makes me an expert but I suppose I know a little bit more
about Armenia than most Americans. I must say that I think it has enormous
potential in large measure because of the Armenian-American community and I
want to thank all you for what you’re doing for the place from which you all
came at one point or another. Without you, the story of Armenia simply
would not be told in America.”
“I also want to encourage you to lobby Armenia to continue to move in the
direction of a closer relationship with the United States. It’s no secret
when I tell you that the Azeris work very hard to cultivate a good
relationship with the United States. They have been very cooperative in the
war on terror and as you all know, since 9/11, a lot of U.S. foreign policy
tends to be viewed through the prism of how committed are you to the war on
terror and how much are you helping us on the war on terror and I know we
have representatives from the Armenian government today and I want to
encourage you to be – to work with us as closely as you possibly can in the
war on terror because I think it is pretty apparent after 9/11 and the other
attacks that have occurred around the world. This is not just something that
happened to the United States – that this is the central challenge of the
21st century. This level of radicalism is a threat to the civilized world
and we simply must stand up to it.”
“Now there are sort of two schools of thought here in the United States.
There are some that think this is kind of a law enforcement problem. You
know, maybe what you ought to do is try to arrest somebody and maybe give
them Johnny Cochran’s card so they’ll be properly represented. There are
others who view it as clearly a wartime issue. So let’s go back to 9/11. I
am a little bit exasperated with the 9/11 commission because they’re
spending an awful lot of time, it seems to me, formerly prominent politicos
enjoying being interviewed and telling us what we already know which is that
Al-Qaeda did it. We know that. We knew it on the day of the attack. These
absurd suggestions by the media and the press that the president should
apologize – I don’t recall FDR being asked to apologize for Pearl Harbor.
What does the president need to apologize for? There’s no question that
during the eight years of the Clinton Administration and the 200 and some
odd days of the Bush Administration, we were not on a war footing with
Al-Qaeda. Monday morning quarterbacks always call the best plays and
hindsight is always 20-20. I think we can all agree that if we’d been on a
war footing against the terrorists before 9/11, we might have had a chance
of preventing it. Although, Richard Clarke, the president’s most persistent
critic, when asked the question – if President Bush had done everything you
asked him to when he was sworn in, would the attack have been prevented? –
he said no. He said no.”
“So I think more important is where do we go from here? The president
believed that it was an act of war, not a law enforcement matter, although
law enforcement is certainly a part of conducting the war on terror. And the
president felt we needed to get on offense. Since many of you are basketball
fans – I know that Albert [Boyajian] tries never to miss a Lakers home game
if he can avoid doing that – let me offer another analogy. In order to have
a good team, you’ve got to have an offense and a defense. But I think we can
all stipulate that it’s easier to score on offense. We have been working to
improve our defense. We passed the Patriot Act which broke down the barriers
between the FBI and the CIA so they could communicate with each other, made
it possible for us to update such things as the inability to get a warrant
to tap a cell phone. That’s how old the laws were. That’s been fixed. We
created the Department of Homeland Security which is all about defense,
having a better defense here at home in trying to protect us from attacks.
It’s easier to score on offense and so the president called out the military
and we went into Afghanistan and we liberated Afghanistan – something the
British had a hard time with and something the Soviets had an extremely hard
time with. Your military here in the United States did a superb job.
Afghanistan has a new constitution, it’s going to have elections next
summer, little girls are back in school after 6 years of being denied the
opportunity to be educated and Afghanistan has a chance of realizing its
aspirations to be a normal, civilized country.”
“And then next on the list, if you want to drain the swamp of the
terrorists, you couldn’t ignore Iraq – a country that had used weapons of
mass destruction twice, that had started two wars, one with the Iranians and
one with the Kuwaitis – a war we had to end by liberating Kuwait led by a
man who tried to assassinate former President Bush and in general was
looking for a way to do us harm again. Some of the critics are now saying
you acted too soon. Scratch your head a minute and think about 9/11.
President Bush is being criticized for acting too late on 9/11 and being
criticized for acting too soon on Iraq. When is the best time to deal with a
terrorist state, before or after they attack you? I rest my case. It’s
before. And so we knew the problem with Iraq was coming and the president
concluded it’s better to deal with it beforehand rather than afterwards and
the same people who are criticizing him for going too soon in Iraq, believe
me, would have been criticizing him for going too late in Iraq had he waited
until after something happened. I was in Iraq in October and Afghanistan in
October and my wife who is a member of the president’s cabinet, was in Iraq
in February and I can tell you that a lot more is going right there than you
think. Unfortunately they teach them in journalism school that only bad
news is news. This reminds me of the story of President Bush out fishing
with the Pope. A strong wind came along and blew the Pope’s hat off and
President Bush stepped out of the boat, walked across the water, picked up
the Pope’s hat, brought it back to him and the Pope put it back on his head.
And the next day the headline in the New York Times was “Bush can’t swim.”
You get my drift. The interest of the media in Iraq is only writing bad
things and certainly we do have a security problem.”
“There is no denying that and there are some remnants of the old Bathist
regime that certainly don’t want to go easily and it’s a challenging
situation. On the other hand, when I was there in October, some six months
ago, we’d already rebuilt 1500 schools – we’ve done many more than that now.
The head of the 101st division, airborne division, the famous 101st
airborne, which happens to be headquartered in my state, they were up in the
northern part of the country, did a marvelous job and they’ve already had
local elections up there. They’ve now come home but their leader, General
Petraeus, is going back to head up the development of the Iraqi military.
The reason I’m spending a good deal of time on the war on terror is because
it seems to me that the key to the U.S./Armenia relationship is cooperation
on the war on terror and I want to encourage again, those of you who are
activists on behalf of Armenia and who go there frequently and the Armenian
government representatives who are here today, look for ways to help us win
this battle because Armenia will not be exempt. No civilized country will be
exempt in the future from this kind of outrageous effort to try to move us
back to the middle ages. And I think particularly, I say to you women in
the audience, if the terrorists had their way, you would have no rights at
all – none. You would not be seen and you would not be heard. They really
want to go back to the middle ages. This kind of fanaticism needs to be
stood up to. It’s the only way to deal with it and I hope that Armenia will
move in that direction.
As was indicated, I tried to make sure Armenia had adequate foreign
assistance from the United States. The request in the present budget this
year was $62 million. I’ll be trying to increase that amount. Armenia
received $75 million last year and that is considerably more than
Azerbaijan, an imbalance that I don’t apologize for, and we will try to
achieve such an imbalance again this year. (applause) But let me reiterate
that I think it really is the key to the U.S./Armenia relationship -really
is cooperation in the war on terror.
With regard to permanent trade status for Armenia, let me just say that
right now, with all of this talk about out sourcing going on in the United
States – we can discuss whether that’s a real or an imaginary issue – free
trade agreements are not moving much this year because of the political
environment. Having said that, I’m not running away from free trade
positions. I think free trade agreements are good, both for the United
States and for the country entering into it with us and I hope that we’ll be
able to move this legislation although I must say I don’t think we’ll be
able to move it this calendar year but I hope we’ll be able to move this
legislation in the near future.”
“Finally, let me just say in conclusion how much I thank all of you for what
you’re doing for this country. America is a country of immigrants. As some
of you know, my wife came to this country as many of you did. She came at
age eight, didn’t speak a word of English and there are all kinds of
interesting stories about her early life in Queens, New York in a little
apartment with her sisters and her parents. One of my favorite ones is when
there was a knock on the door one night and they opened the door and there
are these sort of medium sized to small people dressed up in these costumes
with bags. They thought they were being robbed and they were so frightened,
they gave all the food in the refrigerator to them in order to get them to
go away. So I’ve heard scores of these coming to America stories from my
Chinese-American in-laws but of course many of you have had similar
experiences coming here. Immigration renews and invigorates America and as I
go around the country in the course of my work, it seems to me, and this is
just anecdotal, I can’t prove it by any survey or anything – anecdotally,
that the people that got here the most recent seem to be the most gung-ho,
you know the most excited about the opportunities in America. I think other
countries look at us – and many of them don’t like us because it’s purely a
case of envy – we’ve done very well but there are people in America from
almost every country in the world who’ve come here and realized the American
dream.”
“Now why is that? Why is that? It’s because of the system. The system. And
it is constantly renewed and reinvigorated by people who come here from
abroad and who haven’t gotten accustomed to it like many of us who’ve been
here many generations have – haven’t gotten accustomed to it, really
appreciate it and enthusiastically and vigorously pursue the American dream
and then the pattern is, as these new arrivals of second generation folks do
better and better here in America, they want to help the country that they
came from or that their ancestors came from and I find that exciting. I
know that many of you have spent a good deal of time every single day trying
to do something, not only for America but for Armenia because you love it
and you want it to realize its dreams and you want it to become a country
like America. I assure you, with your energetic participation, some day,
that’s going to happen and some day they are going to be everything you hope
they will be and you’ll be the reason for it. Those of you who’ve gone back
there, who’ve invested there, who’ve employed people there, who’ve done so
much, will have a lot to be proud of in the coming years. So thank you for
what you’re doing, not only for America, but for Armenia. It’s a privilege
to be with you today and I look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Thank you.
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.
NR#2004-042

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
May 7, 2004
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: [email protected]
SENATOR SARBANES URGES ARMENIAN COMMUNITY TO CONTINUE FIGHT FOR GENOCIDE
AFFIRMATION
Washington, DC – Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) stressed the importance of the
Armenian-American community working together with Washington policymakers to
secure affirmation of the Armenia Genocide in a speech April 19 to
participants of the Armenian Assembly’s National Banquet.
Sarbanes, as the banquet’s keynote speaker, also highlighted the importance
of the event sponsors – the Armenian Assembly of American, the Armenian
General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Eastern and Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church, uniting for the betterment of the community for the
first-ever National Conference and Banquet, held April 18-20 in Washington,
DC.
Below is the full-text of Senator Sarbanes’ remarks:
It is a pleasure to be here tonight with such good friends on this important
occasion. It is a great honor to be in the company of His Eminence
Archbishop Barsamian and His Eminence Archbishop Derderian and I want to
particularly acknowledge the wonderful work they do and the leadership they
provide to the church. I know how important the church is to the community
and how much of an organizing principle for the community it is. I speak
from the perspective of my own community in this regard, and I just wanted
to say how appreciative we are to have both of the Eminences here.
I also want to thank Berge Setrakian, the President of the Armenian General
Benevolent Union, for joining tonight with the Assembly for this event. In
my first campaign for the U.S. Senate, Alex Manoogian, the driving force of
the AGBU and for many, many years its president, took me under his wing, so
to speak, when I went to Detroit. He was a very strong supporter of mine in
that first effort to the United States Senate, and we remained close friends
until his death. The AGBU has done wonderful work. The “benevolent” in the
union’s name is really reflected in the benevolence of its work including,
in my view, the especially strong support for education, making sure the
young people in the community have an opportunity to gain a top-notch
education and move forward.
I want to thank Ambassador Kirakossian for the work that he does. We work
closely with him on the Hill, and know how effectively he represents the
Republic of Armenia.
I would like to honor two other people: Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg
who serve as co-chairs of the Armenian Caucus in the House of
Representatives. I know their commitment to this cause and how effective
they’ve been. We have been privileged to work across the aisle and across
the Capitol with them. They work together across the aisle, just as I do
with Mitch McConnell, whom you heard from at lunch. We have been able to
join together in a partnership on issues that are of such concern to all of
us.
And finally, I want to thank the leadership of the Armenian Assembly –
Hirair Hovnanian, Anthony Barsamian, the Executive Director Ross Vartian and
of course Annie Totah whose vision and commitment and plain hard work have
made this conference possible.
Now let me tell you something about Annie Totah. Of course, you know all
about her. She’s not only a vice chair but she was the first woman chair of
the organization in its 32-years existence and, of course, she is always a
steady voice on the issues of concern to the Armenian-American community,
and many other issues as well. She is both thoughtful and passionate in her
convictions. Annie and her husband Sami are residents of Maryland. They’re
constituents and very dear and close friends of mine, and they represent the
best of informed and responsible citizens. These are the sort of people,
just as so many others in this room, who make American democracy work.
Tomorrow you will be meeting with your representatives in the Congress of
the United States. You have important issues to put before them and I urge
you, as Frank Pallone said, to make your voices heard as never before.
Although you are a relatively small community among the many that make up
our nation, you enrich our national life out of all proportion to your
numbers–in the arts and sciences, in medicine, and law and business, in the
daily life of our communities across the nation. Perhaps your family came to
this country as refugees fleeing the persecutions and the genocide of the
Ottoman Empire, or perhaps your family sought out this country for its
democratic institutions and its economic opportunities. Whatever the
circumstances, each generation has prospered. You have raised your children
to participate fully in American life while continuing to honor their
Armenian heritage and traditions. The newly independent Republic of Armenia
to which you have contributed in so many ways has helped to strengthen these
ties. This is in the best American tradition.
I make this observation from first-hand experience. My parents came from
Greece and settled on Maryland’s Eastern Shore where I grew up and went to
school. They ran a restaurant. Interestingly enough, on this occasion, it
was named the Mayflower Grill. Thank you for bringing us to the Mayflower
Hotel.
I learned from my parents what it meant to be an American-to live in a
democratic society and to assume the responsibilities of citizenship while
at the same time, taking pride in my family’s Greek heritage. This is how,
in group after group across our country, we have built this nation and this
is what diversity means. We should be proud of our diversity and what it
stands for and the strength it has brought to America.
The Armenian Assembly exemplifies this spirit. Since its founding in 1972,
the Assembly has marshaled the talents of the Armenian-American community to
speak to the nation’s leadership. The Assembly is today one of our country’s
most effective advocacy groups. Let me just mention the internship program,
which I regard as a major achievement, as many of you who have participated
in it know first hand. Each year I meet with a new group of interns. We have
very interesting sessions. One member of my staff, Greg Aftandilian, who
serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff, first came to
Washington in 1977 to participate in this internship program. Dean
Shahinian, another senior staff member, who works with me on the Banking
Committee, ought to be considered an honorary member of that program. In
2001, Dean helped to organize the visit to Washington of the Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of all Armenians, His Holiness, Karekin II. In
fact, Dean has been a lay delegate who has gone to Etchmiadzin to
participate in the assembly which elected His Holiness. I was gratified to
play a small part in arranging for His Holiness to deliver the Senate’s
morning prayer during his visit to this country, and a number of you that I
see here were present on that occasion.
Another great achievement is the Assembly’s advocacy program, which is what
brings us here tonight, and I want to emphasize how important that is. Just
think of the urgent issues before us: parity and U.S. military assistance to
Armenia and Azerbaijan, Section 907 and the issue of assistance to
Azerbaijan; Nagorno Karabakh; non-military assistance to Armenia; permanent
normal trade relations for Armenia and acknowledgement and commemoration of
the Armenian Genocide. We shall turn to these issues in order.
The Administration’s budget request this fiscal year disregards what I
consider to be a good faith understanding between the Administration and the
Congress for maintaining parity in military assistance to Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The budget sets the assistance levels at $2.75 million and $8.75
million, respectively. In my judgment, this is not acceptable. The
Administration actually sought to tip the balance last summer, using a
congressional notification procedure to add $2 million in assistance to
Azerbaijan beyond the initial budget request. We held up that notification,
and eventually the Administration agreed to add the same amount for Armenia,
and parity was restored.
This year the challenge is greater, first because the gap in the budget
request is much greater – $8.75 million as against $2.75 million – and
second because the request cannot simply be held up by a few members’
objections, but will be put to a vote. A critical vote will probably be
taking place in the Foreign Operations Subcommittees of the two
appropriations committees in the House and the Senate and, therefore, it is
extremely important that you make your views known to the Subcommittee
members. This policy of imbalance, in my judgment, will contribute to the
destabilization in the South Caucasus and make more difficult, not less
difficult, the war against terrorism.
Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act must be upheld.
That Section restricts U.S. government assistance to Azerbaijan in response
to the Azerbaijani blockade of Armenia. In the wake of 9/11, the
Administration obtained a waiver for Section 907. As approved by Congress,
however, the waiver specifies that any assistance shall not “undermine or
hamper” the Nagorno Karabakh peace process or be used for offensive purposes
against Armenia or Armenian communities in the South Caucasus. It is in our
national interest to adhere to the letter and spirit of Section 907.
The Nagorno Karabakh peace process must have our active support.
The prospect for real progress in the negotiations which seemed to be
opening up at the Key West talks in April of 2001 between Presidents
Kocharian and Aliyev unfortunately did not materialize. President Aliyev
went back to Azerbaijan and shifted his position markedly from what seemed
to be developing in Key West, much to our great regret. This, in fact, is
another reason to maintain parity in U.S. military assistance. Tipping
toward Azerbaijan will only give that country less reason, not more reason,
to negotiate in good faith over Nagorno Karabakh.
Now let me turn to non-military assistance for Armenia which is essential of
course to building democratic institutions and strengthening the economy.
The administration’s continuing efforts to cut assistance are short-sighted.
For the current fiscal year, the Administration had requested $50 million.
Through hard work in the Congress, through your friends, again, on both
sides of the aisle, both Republicans and Democrats, we were able to raise
that figure by 50% to $75 million dollars. For the next fiscal year, the
budget now before us, the Administration has asked for about $62 million. I
can assure you that efforts to ensure a higher funding level will continue,
and again, you need to raise this funding issue with your representatives in
Congress.
You should remind your representatives that the Azerbaijani and Turkish
blockades of Armenia raise the cost of doing business there by at least 30%
and constitute an obstacle to the economic development Armenia seeks and
needs, and it constitutes a rationale for raising this assistance level.
We have been focused for quite some time on the effort to extend permanent
normal trade relations – PNTR – to Armenia. Both countries would benefit
from normalizing the trade relationship. Last year on the Senate side,
Senator McConnell and I joined together with Senator Boxer in introducing
legislation for this purpose, as did Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg in
the House of Representatives. It was encouraging to learn that earlier
today, appearing here at your sessions, Beth Jones, the Assistant Secretary
of State for Europe committed the Administration to support PNTR for
Armenia. This is, of course, good news for all of us but now, we must
continue to press the Administration and the relevant committees in the
Congress to expedite this important issue and carry through on this
proposal.
Finally, I want to speak to you about the need for us to continue to work
together to secure at last the acknowledgement and commemoration of the
Armenian Genocide.
You have had some encouraging developments. Plans for the Armenian Genocide
Museum in Washington are moving forward, which, of course, means it will
serve an important educational function right here in the nation’s capital.
In Europe, a number of governments have formally recognized the Armenian
Genocide – France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Greece, Russia,
Cyprus, as well as the European Parliament.
Through your efforts, an increasing number of states in our own country are
passing resolutions recognizing the Armenian Genocide, and I want to
acknowledge the presence here tonight of my former chief of staff Peter
Marudas who, many of you know, played a very instrumental role as the
Maryland legislature was considering this resolution and was able to dismiss
from the scene some arguments that were being raised, arguments that were
entirely spurious.
Furthermore, a new spirit of inquiry is beginning to appear in some Turkish
academic circles. According to a New York Times feature report on March 6th,
Professor Taner Ackam at the University of Minnesota has called the Turkish
government’s continuing denial “a misrepresentation that has to be
confronted.” Another Turkish historian, Fikret Adanir of the Ruhr University
in Germany, has said, “we have to deal with history, like the Germans after
the war. It’s important for the health of the democracy, for civil society.”
Both of these academics are outside of Turkey but it may be the beginning of
important new thinking about this question because, in my view, Turkey’s
interests and its prospects for the future are not served by the
government’s refusal to face the facts, and our task is to help set the
historical record straight.
Every year I join with many of my colleagues to commemorate the great human
tragedy that was the first genocide of the 20th century. Our resolutions are
routinely met by arguments about the alleged “strategic interests” of our
foreign policy. But any strategy based on a denial of the truth has a
dubious foundation, particularly the truth involving basic human rights.
Your voices can make the difference. In 2001, as I indicated, the active
support of the Armenian Assembly and other Armenian organizations was
critical to the passage in the Maryland legislature of a resolution on the
Genocide in the face of vigorous opposition. Evidence of the Armenian
Genocide is available in our own National Archives. In addition to
Ambassador Morgenthau’s dispatches, the Archives include reports from other
U.S. officials stationed throughout the Ottoman Empire at the time. I have
read those reports myself.
In his recent history, the Burning Tigris, the Armenian Genocide and
America’s Response, Peter Balakian has done a masterful job of bringing the
documentary evidence together. As he observes, “The breadth and intensity of
American engagement… is an important chapter in American history and one
that has been lost.” Professor Balakian is correct. This chapter is
important to Armenian history and it is important to American history.
As you make your rounds, you may hear the familiar arguments that your
concerns reflect only narrow, ethnic interests and disregard the broader
needs of an effective U.S. foreign policy. Do not let that deter you. We
have a national interest – an American national interest – in seeing that
our foreign policy is grounded in the same principles on which this nation
was founded-respect for the truth, the rule of law and democratic
institutions.
As you make these rounds and you do your advocacy in a thoughtful and
well-informed and courteous way, remember that an American foreign policy
worthy of the support of the American people should be based on principles
and values. In making your arguments on these issues that I have
enumerated, you are speaking out as American citizens for an American policy
true to our values and principles. So do not be hesitant in taking this
message to your representatives. You have my best wishes as you set out in
that endeavor.
Thank you.
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.
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