Armenia This Week - 08/02/2004

From: Emil [mailto:Emil@aaainc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2004 4:46 PM
Subject: Armenia This Week - 08/02/04

ARMENIA THIS WEEK

Monday, August 2, 2004

ARMENIA WARNS BAKU OVER WAR THREATS

In a special statement issued last week, the Armenian Foreign Ministry
warned Azerbaijan that it would face "disastrous consequences" should its
leaders again resort to military force in the Karabakh conflict. The warning
came after President Ilham Aliyev told his diplomatic envoys posted abroad
that should Azerbaijan fail to regain Karabakh through negotiations, it
would "use... the military option." The Armenian statement further
questioned Azerbaijan's commitment to ongoing negotiations, with yet another
summit between Aliyev and Armenia's President Robert Kocharian planned for
September.

Similar threats have been coming from Baku for years and many observers have
began to ignore them. Last week, the Azeri daily Zerkalo cited one unnamed
Western diplomat in Baku as saying "militant calls of your leader are at
odds with the real situation in your army, attitude of your society and
moral parameters of your ruling class." The source added that the threats
are no longer taken seriously in the West.

But Armenian officials chose to react this time since unlike typical war
rhetoric for domestic consumption, the most recent threat came in what was
supposed to be President Aliyev's policy speech to the Azeri diplomatic
corps. It also appears that Azerbaijan is beginning to accelerate its
military preparedness. Last month, Aliyev gave an average of a 50 percent
salary raise to the Azeri military and security forces. Azeri officials have
also indicated plans to begin new weapons purchases in Russia, Ukraine and
Pakistan.

Separately, Azerbaijan is beefing up its border security forces, which
received a $19 million aid package from the U.S. last week. The program,
known as the Caspian Guard, focuses on Azeri ability to defend the Caspian
oil infrastructure and on counter-proliferation. But it does appear to have
special operations and air components that could potentially be used against
Armenia, which would in turn violate U.S. law.

The Azeris have also stepped up provocations along the Line of Contact this
year. The Armenian army reported six deaths from enemy fire so far this
year, with Azeris reporting about a dozen. This week, Karabakh forces began
their annual maneuvers, which this year will also test their
inter-operability with forces from Armenia proper. (Sources: Armenia This
Week 7-19, 26; Ekho 7-20, 29; Arminfo 7-23; Azg 7-23; Zerkalo 7-23; Armenian
Foreign Ministry 7-28; U.S. Department of Defense 7-29; RFE/RL 7-30, 8-2)
ARMENIAN ECONOMY CONTINUES TO TOP GROWTH EXPECTATIONS
Armenia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by more than nine percent in the
first half of 2004, the National Statistics Service reported this week.
While below the record-high 2002-2003 growth of 12 and 14 percent
respectively, the increase was well above the six to seven percent
anticipated by the government and international financial institutions
earlier this year.

Significantly, this year's robust growth comes after completion of
infrastructure projects funded by the U.S.-based Lincy Foundation, as well
as an 11 percent decrease in diamond-processing and jewelry production,
which had been one of the fastest growing sectors in recent years.
Industrial output was up 4.5 percent, driven by growth in generation of
energy (up 17 percent) and mining and metallurgy (up 46 percent). Textiles
production was up 2.2 times, with garment / leather and rubber / plastics
up 1.4 times each. Investments in construction increased by 12 percent, with
agricultural production up 8.5 percent.

In January-June 2004, the volume of Armenian exports grew by over 7 percent
to $340 million and imports by 4 percent to $625 million. Dependence on
outside supplies of energy and fuel, and raw materials imported for
processing in Armenia, kept the trade deficit large. The list of main export
destinations for Armenian goods continued to be topped by Belgium (19
percent of all goods), Israel (12), Russia (11), the United States (10),
Germany (9) and Switzerland (6). Most imports arrived from Russia (18
percent), Belgium (11), the United States (8), Israel (7) and Great Britain
(6).

The Armenian government also reported to be on track with a projected
increase in revenue collection to reach $450 million this year. Combined tax
and customs revenue in the first half of 2004 reached $211 million, up 17
percent year-on-year. Nevertheless, the State Taxation Service chief
estimated that the so-called shadow sector continued to account for 30
percent of economic activity, with an equivalent portion of profits and
incomes remaining officially untaxed. At the end of June 2004 the average
private sector monthly salary was estimated at $100, up 28 percent
year-on-year, while average public sector wages stood at a meager $50,
despite a 46 percent increase. The unemployment rate remained largely
unchanged at 9.3 percent of the adult population. (Sources: Armenia This
Week 2-6, 4-30; Arminfo 7-31, 8-2; Golos Armenii 7-31)

Visit http://www.aaainc.org/ArTW/archive.php to read Armenia This Week
issues since 1997.

Armenian Assembly of America
Research & Information Office
August 2, 2004

ISSUE BRIEF: ARMENIAN COMMUNITY OF IRAQ

On Sunday, August 1, 2004 Iraq's Christian communities were the targets of
unprecedented violence. Five bombs exploded nearly simultaneously at four
churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul. The bombings claimed the lives of at
least seven people and dozens were wounded. Among the churches targeted was
an Armenian Catholic Church in Baghdad.

Christian Assyrians and Arabs make up the largest Christian groups in Iraq.
Since the Saddam Hussein take-over in the 1970s and due to subsequent
oppression and wars with Iran and the U.S. and coalition forces, many Iraqi
Christians have emigrated. Today, their number is estimated at about 500,000
people out of Iraq's twenty seven million.

The Armenian presence in Iraq dates back centuries. But the largest group
arrived during and after the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the then Ottoman
Turkey. Today, the number of Armenians has decreased to under 20,000 people,
but a large community infrastructure remains, including some ten churches.
Most Armenians live in Baghdad, with communities in northern Iraq and Basra
in the south.

Below are the major landmarks sustained by the Armenian community in Iraq:

· Built in 1640, the St. Mary's (Sb. Astvadzadin) Armenian Church is
the oldest in Baghdad. Reconstructed in 1967, it has been closed through
most of last year. It is also known locally as St. Meskenta (Shirin), named
after a 5th century female martyr. During its annual August 15 festival, the
church draws Christians of all denominations.

· Our Lady of the Roses' Armenian Catholic Church, built in 1884 and
located in Baghdad's Karrada district, was one of the targets of the August
1 bombing. As a result, three people were injured and the nearby
headquarters of the Armenian Catholic Church office destroyed. The church
itself sustained comparatively less damage. The Armenian Catholics, who also
maintain the newer St. Mary's Armenian Catholic Church in Baghdad, are led
by His Grace Antoine Atamian.

· The Holy Martyrs' (Sb. Nahadangats) Armenian Apostolic Church is
located at the Armenian cemetery in Baghdad and is used for observance of
last rights during funerals.

· St. Gregory the Illuminator (Sb. Grigor Lusavorich) Armenian
Apostolic Church in downtown Baghdad's Younis al-Sabaawi Square was built in
1956. It also houses the Armenian Church headquarters, headed by the Most
Rev. Archbishop Avak Assadourian. Since 2003, the church has been closed for
services as "unsafe."

· St. Karapet Armenian Apostolic Church, built in 1973 in Baghdad's
Christian Camp Sarah neighborhood has remained open throughout the war and
continues to function attracting some 1,000 Armenian families from
throughout Baghdad.

· Outside Baghdad, there are functioning Armenian Apostolic Churches
in the southern city of Basrah, home to some 300 Armenian families, and
northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, with 300 and 120 families respectively.
The St. Mary and St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Churches serve the largely
Kurdish-speaking Armenian communities in Zakho and the nearby village of
Avzrug, respectively, which comprise over 200 families.

Since 2003, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) and the Eastern
Diocese of the Armenian Church in the United States have provided modest aid
to the Iraqi Armenian community's neediest families. Armenians, along with
other Iraqis, have faced a precarious security situation over the past year
and a half. Dozens have become victims of ongoing violence. Until the August
1 attacks, none of the Armenians were targeted because of their faith or
heritage.

Sources:
The Armenian Assembly of America information 8/2/04
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Press Release 8/2/04
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern) 7/7/04
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty www.rferl.org 7/6/04
Atlas Travel & Tourist Agency (Jordan) www.atlastours.net
A WEEKLY NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY THE ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA
122 C Street, N.W., Suite 350, Washington, D.C. 20001 (202) 393-3434 FAX
(202) 638-4904
E-Mail info@aaainc.org WEB http://www.aaainc.org

Aug 5 Statesmen's Forum: Pres. Mikheil Saakashvili

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia will discuss "Georgia's Security Challenges at Home and Abroad: South Ossetia, Ongoing Reforms, U.S. Relations" at a CSIS Statesmen's Forum at 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, August 5, 1800 K Street, N.W., B-1 conference level.
This will be President Saakashvili's only public appearance in Washington, before traveling to Atlanta to accept the American Bar Association's Central Europe and Eurasian Law Initiative Award for his leadership in legal reform.
The invitation and RSVP form are attached.
Please send acceptances only.
Regards,
Anastasia

Anastasia Handy
Research Assistant
Russia and Eurasia Program
Center for Strategic and International Studies
1800 K Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 775-7322 phone
(202) 775-3199 fax

The Oligarchs shape, not onyl in Russia but also in the U.S. and Israel, Uri Avneri

The Oligarchs
Oligarchs shape politics, not only in Russia but also in the U.S. and Israel Uri Avneri

Uri Avnery

The OligarchsOr: How the Virgin became a Whore

Tikkun.org
July 31, 2004


This is a TV series about Russia. But it could have been about Israel. Or about the United States. It is entitled The Oligarchs and is now being screened on Israeli television.Some of its episodes are simply unbelievable or would have been, if they had not come straight from the horses mouths: the heroes of the story, who gleefully boast about their despicable exploits. The series was produced by Israeli immigrants from Russia.The oligarchs are a tiny group of entrepreneurs who exploited the disintegration of the Soviet system to loot the treasures of the state and to amass plunder amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars. In order to safeguard the perpetuation of their business, they took control of the state. Six out of the seven are Jews.In popular parlance they are called oligarchs from the Greek word meaning rule of the few. In the first years of post-Soviet Russian capitalism they were the bold and nimble ones who knew how to exploit the economic anarchy in order to acquire enormous possessions for a hundredth or a thousandth of their value: oil, natural gas, nickel and other minerals. They used every possible trick, including cheating, bribery and murder. Every one of them had a small private army. In the course of the series they are proud to tell in great detail how they did it. But the most intriguing part of the series recounts the way they took control of the political apparatus. After a period of fighting each other, they decided that it would be more profitable for them to cooperate in order to take over the state.At the time, President Boris Yeltsin was in a steep decline. On the eve of the new elections for the presidency, his rating in public opinion polls stood at 4%. He was an alcoholic with a severe heart disease, working about two hours a day. The state was, in practice, ruled by his bodyguard and his daughter; corruption was the order of the day.The oligarchs decided to take power through him. They had almost unlimited funds, control of all TV channels and most of the other media. They put all these at the disposal of Yeltsins reelection campaign, denying his opponents even one minute of TV time and pouring huge sums of money into the effort. (The series omits an interesting detail: they secretly brought over the most outstanding American election experts and copywriters, who applied methods previously unknown in Russia.)The campaign bore fruit: Yeltsin was indeed reelected. On the very same day he had another heart attack and spent the rest of his term in hospital. In practice, the oligarchs ruled Russia. One of them, Boris Berezovsky, appointed himself Prime Minister. There was a minor scandal when it became known that he (like most of the oligarchs) had acquired Israeli citizenship, but he gave up his Israeli passport and everything was in order again.By the way, Berezovsky boasts that he caused the war in Chechnya, in which tens of thousands have been killed and a whole country devastated. He was interested in the mineral resources and a prospective pipeline there. In order to achieve this he put an end to the peace agreement that gave the country some kind of independence. The oligarchs dismissed and destroyed Alexander Lebed, the popular general who engineered the agreement, and the war has been going on since then.In the end, there was a reaction: Vladimir Putin, the taciturn and tough ex-KGB operative, assumed power, took control of the media, put one of the oligarchs (Mikhail Khodorkovsky) in prison, caused the others to flee (Berezovsky is in England, Vladimir Gusinsky is in Israel, another, Mikhail Chernoy, is assumed to be hiding here.)Since all the exploits of the oligarchs occurred in public, there is a danger that the affair might cause an increase in anti-Semitism in Russia. Indeed, the anti-Semites argue that these doings confirm the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a document fabricated by the Russian secret police a century ago, purporting to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to control the world. Moving from Russia to America the same thing happened, of course, in the US, but more than a hundred years ago. At the time, the great robber barons, Morgan, Rockefeller at al., all of them good Christians, used very similar methods to acquire capital and power on a massive scale. Today, it works in far more refined ways.In the present election campaign, the candidates collect hundreds of millions of dollars. George W. Bush and John Kerry both brag about their talent for raising enormous sums of money. From whom? From pensioners? From the mythical old lady in tennis shoes? Of course not, but from the cabals of billionaires, the giant corporations and powerful lobbies (arms dealers, Jewish organiztions, doctors, lawyers and such). Many of them give money to both candidates just to be on the safe side.All of these expect, of course, to receive a generous bonus when their candidate is elected. There is no such thing as a free lunch, as the right-wing economist Milton Friedman wrote. As in Russia, every dollar (or ruble) invested wisely in an election will yield a ten- or hundred-fold return.The problem is rooted in the fact that presidential candidates (and all other candidates for political office) need ever increasing amounts of money. Elections are mainly fought out on TV and cost huge sums. It is not a coincidence that all the present candidates in the US are multi-millionaires. The Bush family has amassed a fortune from the oil business (helped by its political connections, of course.) Kerry is married to one of the richest women in America, who was once the wife of the ketchup king, Henry John Heinz. Dick Cheney was the chief of a huge corporation that has garnered contracts worth billions in Iraq. John Edwards, candidate for Vice President, has made a fortune as a trial lawyer.From time to time there is talk in America about reforming election finances, but nothing worthwhile ever comes of it. None of the oligarchs has any interest in changing a system that enables them to buy the government of the United States. In Israel, too, talk about Money and Power is now in vogue. Ariel Sharon and one of his two sons have been suspected of accepting bribes from a real estate magnate. An indictment was blocked by the new Attorney General who happened to be appointed by the Sharon government at the height of the affair. Another investigation into Sharon and his sons is still pending. It concerns millions of dollars that reached his election coffers by roundabout routes, crossing three continents.Shimon Peres connections with multi-millionaires are well-known, as are the huge sums poured out by American Jewish multi-millionaires for extreme right-wing causes in Israel. One of the Russian oligarchs is the part-owner of the second biggest Israeli newspaper. A political scandal concerning the Israeli Minister for Infrastructure has mushroomed into an affair involving giant multi-national corporations competing for contracts for supplying natural gas to the Israeli Electricity Company, an affair of billions in which underworld figures, politicians and private investigators play their parts. This disclosure has made it clear to Israelis that here, too, politicians of the highest rank have long ago been acting as mercenaries for powerful financial interests.These facts must alarm everybody who cares about democracy in Israel, Russia, the United States and elsewhere. Oligarchy and democracy are incompatible. As a Russian commentator in the TV series said about the new Russian democracy: They have turned a virgin into a whore.
In popular parlance they are called oligarchs from the Greek word meaning rule of the few. In the first years of post-Soviet Russian capitalism they were the bold and nimble ones who knew how to exploit the economic anarchy in order to acquire enormous possessions for a hundredth or a thousandth of their value: oil, natural gas, nickel and other minerals. They used every possible trick, including cheating, bribery and murder. Every one of them had a small private army. In the course of the series they are proud to tell in great detail how they did it. But the most intriguing part of the series recounts the way they took control of the political apparatus. After a period of fighting each other, they decided that it would be more profitable for them to cooperate in order to take over the state.At the time, President Boris Yeltsin was in a steep decline. On the eve of the new elections for the presidency, his rating in public opinion polls stood at 4%. He was an alcoholic with a severe heart disease, working about two hours a day. The state was, in practice, ruled by his bodyguard and his daughter; corruption was the order of the day.The oligarchs decided to take power through him. They had almost unlimited funds, control of all TV channels and most of the other media. They put all these at the disposal of Yeltsins reelection campaign, denying his opponents even one minute of TV time and pouring huge sums of money into the effort. (The series omits an interesting detail: they secretly brought over the most outstanding American election experts and copywriters, who applied methods previously unknown in Russia.)The campaign bore fruit: Yeltsin was indeed reelected. On the very same day he had another heart attack and spent the rest of his term in hospital. In practice, the oligarchs ruled Russia. One of them, Boris Berezovsky, appointed himself Prime Minister. There was a minor scandal when it became known that he (like most of the oligarchs) had acquired Israeli citizenship, but he gave up his Israeli passport and everything was in order again.By the way, Berezovsky boasts that he caused the war in Chechnya, in which tens of thousands have been killed and a whole country devastated. He was interested in the mineral resources and a prospective pipeline there. In order to achieve this he put an end to the peace agreement that gave the country some kind of independence. The oligarchs dismissed and destroyed Alexander Lebed, the popular general who engineered the agreement, and the war has been going on since then.In the end, there was a reaction: Vladimir Putin, the taciturn and tough ex-KGB operative, assumed power, took control of the media, put one of the oligarchs (Mikhail Khodorkovsky) in prison, caused the others to flee (Berezovsky is in England, Vladimir Gusinsky is in Israel, another, Mikhail Chernoy, is assumed to be hiding here.)Since all the exploits of the oligarchs occurred in public, there is a danger that the affair might cause an increase in anti-Semitism in Russia. Indeed, the anti-Semites argue that these doings confirm the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a document fabricated by the Russian secret police a century ago, purporting to reveal a Jewish conspiracy to control the world. Moving from Russia to America the same thing happened, of course, in the US, but more than a hundred years ago. At the time, the great robber barons, Morgan, Rockefeller at al., all of them good Christians, used very similar methods to acquire capital and power on a massive scale. Today, it works in far more refined ways.In the present election campaign, the candidates collect hundreds of millions of dollars. George W. Bush and John Kerry both brag about their talent for raising enormous sums of money. From whom? From pensioners? From the mythical old lady in tennis shoes? Of course not, but from the cabals of billionaires, the giant corporations and powerful lobbies (arms dealers, Jewish organiztions, doctors, lawyers and such). Many of them give money to both candidates just to be on the safe side.All of these expect, of course, to receive a generous bonus when their candidate is elected. There is no such thing as a free lunch, as the right-wing economist Milton Friedman wrote. As in Russia, every dollar (or ruble) invested wisely in an election will yield a ten- or hundred-fold return.The problem is rooted in the fact that presidential candidates (and all other candidates for political office) need ever increasing amounts of money. Elections are mainly fought out on TV and cost huge sums. It is not a coincidence that all the present candidates in the US are multi-millionaires. The Bush family has amassed a fortune from the oil business (helped by its political connections, of course.) Kerry is married to one of the richest women in America, who was once the wife of the ketchup king, Henry John Heinz. Dick Cheney was the chief of a huge corporation that has garnered contracts worth billions in Iraq. John Edwards, candidate for Vice President, has made a fortune as a trial lawyer.From time to time there is talk in America about reforming election finances, but nothing worthwhile ever comes of it. None of the oligarchs has any interest in changing a system that enables them to buy the government of the United States. In Israel, too, talk about Money and Power is now in vogue. Ariel Sharon and one of his two sons have been suspected of accepting bribes from a real estate magnate. An indictment was blocked by the new Attorney General who happened to be appointed by the Sharon government at the height of the affair. Another investigation into Sharon and his sons is still pending. It concerns millions of dollars that reached his election coffers by roundabout routes, crossing three continents.Shimon Peres connections with multi-millionaires are well-known, as are the huge sums poured out by American Jewish multi-millionaires for extreme right-wing causes in Israel. One of the Russian oligarchs is the part-owner of the second biggest Israeli newspaper. A political scandal concerning the Israeli Minister for Infrastructure has mushroomed into an affair involving giant multi-national corporations competing for contracts for supplying natural gas to the Israeli Electricity Company, an affair of billions in which underworld figures, politicians and private investigators play their parts. This disclosure has made it clear to Israelis that here, too, politicians of the highest rank have long ago been acting as mercenaries for powerful financial interests.These facts must alarm everybody who cares about democracy in Israel, Russia, the United States and elsewhere. Oligarchy and democracy are incompatible. As a Russian commentator in the TV series said about the new Russian democracy: They have turned a virgin into a whore.

2nd International Religious Publications and Broadcastings Conference

2nd INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS PUBLICATIONS & BROADCASTINGS CONFERENCE:
FUTURE OF THE RELIGIOUS BROADCASTINGS

An International Conference on Religious Broadcastings
The Presidency of Religious Affairs (the Diyanet)

November 6-7, 2004, Ankara, Turkey

PROPOSED THEMATIC SESSIONS

This conference aims to consider, past, current and future of religious
broadcastings. The conference will mainly focus on Islamic programs on
TVs and radios, however Christian and Jewish TV and radio programs are
also considered.
Panels will be 20 minutes presentation and 10 minutes discussion each with
approximately 3 papers per session. Proposed thematic sessions include:
- Problems of religious broadcastings on televisions and radios
- Image of Islam on televisions in the globe
- Religious programs on televisions and radios
- Interviews
- Dramas
- Documentary films
- Cartoons
- Program objectives
- Target audience
- Giving message
- Audio-visual issues
- Language use
- Sponsorship and advertisements
Academics or postgraduates and professionals on religious programs
interested in participating in this International Conference on
Religious Broadcasting are kindly requested to submit their abstracts
(250 to 300 words) and a short biodata to the organiser. Conference
registration form at
http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/diniyayinlar.asp
Call for papers deadline: September 15, 2004.
The organiser will meet expenses of paper presenters regarding to
plane ticket, accommodation and meals.
CONTACT and COMMUNICATION
Dr. Ahmet Onay (Organizer)
Head of the Department of Religious Publications & Broadcastings
Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet Isleri Baskanligi)
Ankara, Turkey
Email:
Tel: +90 535 579 2511