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  • ASBAREZ ONLINE [09-30-2004]

    ASBAREZ ONLINE
    TOP STORIES
    09/30/2004
    TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
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    1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly
    2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War
    3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia
    4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq
    5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters

    1) Minister Oskanian Delivers Strong Message to UN General Assembly

    NEW YORK--Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian delivered Armenia's annual message
    at the United Nations on Wednesday, speaking to the 59th Session of the
    General
    Assembly on such issues as UN reform, Millennium Development Goals, and the
    fight against terrorism. At the same time, he addressed the Mountainous
    Karabagh conflict, and Armenia's position on prospects for its resolution.
    He said that Armenia is ready to "compromise and collaborate" with neighbors
    only if they are ready to make history, not rewrite it. "We want to work with
    an Azerbaijan that understands its place in a rule-based international order,
    not one whose policies, practices and statements threaten the fragile peace
    and
    stability of our region."
    Azerbaijan maligns the OSCE Minsk Group, stressed Oskanian, in order to mask
    its refusal to consider proposals.
    "For more than half a decade, it has rejected every proposal placed before it
    from the Common State Proposal in 1998 to the Key West document of 2001,"
    revealing that the same proposals emerged from discussions and negotiations
    that included the participation of Azerbaijan's leadership.
    He concluded saying that though Armenians and Azeris were forcibly linked
    together during the last century, they have, nevertheless, earned the right to
    determine, in the coming century, whether they will live in peace.
    "If we are serious about becoming full, deserving residents of the European
    neighborhood, where borders don't matter, but intentions and tolerance do, we
    will have to come to terms with our past, with our history, with the realities
    that have gripped our region."
    Local students and representatives of Armenian organizations were present to
    hear the statement, and later participated in a short question-and-answer
    period with the Minister.
    The speech came at the conclusion of a three-day visit during which Oskanian
    met with various UN officials, as well as foreign ministers. On Wednesday, the
    Minister met with the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, with
    whom he discussed various UN issues, as well as matters related to Armenia-UN
    cooperation. At the Secretary General's request, the Minister briefed Annan on
    the Mountainous Karabagh peace process.
    Earlier in the day, Oskanian also met with the Secretary General's Special
    Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Juan Mendez. Minister Oskanian held a
    short meeting with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amre
    Moussa, where the two welcomed Armenia's inclusion in the Arab League with
    observer status. Within the margins of the UN, Minister Oskanian conferred
    with
    the foreign ministers of China, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon. He also met with
    the US Undersecretary of State Mark Grossman, the US Co-chair of the Minsk
    Group Ambassador Steven Mann, and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy.


    2) Defense Minister Sargsian Advises Baku to Steer Clear of War

    YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net)--The consequences of renewed hostilities in the
    Mountainous Karabagh region would be extremely grave both for Armenia and
    Azerbaijan, warned Armenia's Minister Serge Sargsian, who is also the
    Secretary
    of the President's Defense Council.
    Speaking on Armenian Public TV on Wednesday, Sargsian emphasized Armenia's
    resoluteness to steer clear of war. "The outcome of any possible war--even the
    most favorable for Armenia, means casualties; we have no desire to be involved
    in military operations."
    It would even be no consolation, said Sargsian, that odds would be in
    Armenia's favor, as was the case in 1992-1994. "There are, after all, huge
    prices to pay for war--delays settling social problems, limitation on
    freedoms.
    . . "
    Sargsian said that Armenia would be forced to pursue war, only if Azerbaijan
    advances the attack.
    "In this case, I assure, we will respond adequately, and the response will be
    one that will, for many years--crush Azerbaijan's desire to fight."


    3) Kokoity Confirms Intentions to Integrate with Russia

    MOSCOW (Interfax)--At a ceremony marking the dispatch of humanitarian aid from
    Moscow to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali on Wednesday, president of
    the breakaway republic Eduard Kokoity, stressed the need for unity between
    north and south Ossetia.
    "It's time to forget the words 'southern' and 'northern.' There is one
    Ossetia, which will be part of Russia," Kokoity said, adding that nearly
    98% of
    residents of South Ossetia are Russian citizens.
    "We are aware of our responsibility before our compatriots in Russia, since
    geographically it is in a place where the future of the Caucasus is being
    decided," he said.
    A united Ossetian people would "do everything possible to rebuff the forces
    that are trying to oust Russia from the Caucasus," he said.
    "We shall work on several economic projects to integrate South Ossetia with
    Russia," he said.
    South Ossetia is legally a province of Georgia, but a conflict in the 1990s
    led to its de-facto independence. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has
    stepped up efforts to restore control over South Ossetia. North Ossetia is a
    constituent territory of the Russian Federation.
    Meanwhile, South Ossetian Interior Minister Robert Guliyev told Interfax by
    phone on Thursday that Georgia has set up two army groups on the border with
    South Ossetia as part of its plans to launch strikes at the republic from the
    direction of Znauri and Tskhinvali.
    "By concentrating their forces in two directions--Tskhinvali and Znauri--the
    Georgian authorities are entrusting the task of surrounding Tskhinvali and
    closing the Trans-Caucasus highway to traffic traveling to [Russia's republic
    of] North Ossetia to these army groups. This will become possible as a result
    of two parallel strikes," Guliyev said.
    "An intelligence report suggests that up to ten T-72 tanks, some of which
    Tbilisi purchased in Romania and some other tanks that were repaired in
    Ukraine, have been deployed in Georgia's Kareli district alone. These tanks
    are
    expected to take part in an invasion of South Ossetia's Znauri district," he
    said.


    4) Armenian Man Kidnapped in Iraq

    BAGHDAD--The Sydney Morning Herald reported that among three Lebanese travel
    agency workers kidnapped in Iraq on September 17, is Armenian Aram Nalbandian.
    The three men and their Iraqi driver were abducted by gunmen on the
    Baghdad-Fallujah highway, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official told The
    Associated Press
    The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the three Lebanese
    worked for a travel agency that has a branch in Baghdad.
    The motive for the kidnapping was not immediately clear.
    Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid has instructed the Lebanese charge
    d'affaires in Iraq, Hassan Hejazi, to contact Iraqi authorities to secure the
    release of the three Lebanese, the official said.


    5) Bush Administration Disappoints Ethnic Voters

    --Visit http://www.ethnicdemocrats.org

    --Multi-Ethnic Review Reveals Deep-Rooted Frustration Across Diverse
    Communities

    WASHINGTON, DC--Community leaders representing millions of ethnic Americans
    are
    fed up with George W. Bush's neglect, opposition, and--all too often--outright
    assault on the issues and values they care about, according to a review
    released recently by the National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council
    (NDELC).
    "Each of the community leaders reached out to in this survey represents a
    different element of our nation's great ethnic diversity, but what they all
    have in common is a profound disappointment with how the Bush Administration
    has misled their communities and mismanaged issues--both domestic and
    international--that hold the most meaning for the ethnic voters they
    represent," said AADLC representative Tsoghig Margossian.
    "Over the past four years, Armenian Americans have suffered setback after
    setback under the Bush Administration's attack on the issues we care about
    as a
    community," added Margossian. "As the NDELC review makes clear, we aren't
    alone
    in our frustration over these disastrous policies, nor do we stand alone in
    our
    efforts to bring about real change this November."
    The National Democratic Ethnic Leadership Council (NDELC) is an ethnic
    constituency based organization encompassing the community of immigrants and
    descendants of immigrants who primarily trace their heritage from Europe and
    the Mediterranean. The groups include, but are not limited to Albanian, Arab,
    Armenian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, German, Finnish, French Canadian, Greek,
    Hungarian, Iranian, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese,
    Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Swedish, and Ukrainian Americans.
    The purpose of NDELC is to continue the work of the 1990s to redefine how the
    Democratic Party communicates with ethnic Americans and to ensure that ethnic
    Democrats continue to be players in American politics.
    For more information about "Armenians for Kerry" and Senator Kerry's
    record on
    Armenian American issues, visit www.ArmeniansforKerry.com
    "Armenians for Kerry" works in partnership with the Armenian American
    Democratic Leadership Council (AADLC), a long-standing ethnic council of the
    Democratic National Committee's National Democratic Ethnic Coordinating
    Committee. The AADLC actively fosters support within the Armenian American
    community for the Democratic Party and national Democratic office holders,
    while promoting the election of Armenian American Democrats to political
    office
    and encouraging participation by Armenian American Democrats at all levels of
    the public policy process.
    The text of the NDELC review is provided below. For more information about
    the
    role that ethnic Americans are playing this election season, visit:
    www.ethnicdemocrats.org

    George W. Bush is Wrong for Ethnic Americans*

    IRISH AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 44 million Irish Americans by failing to
    engage in the Northern Ireland peace process and standing by while a top
    advisor made reckless comparisons to the war on Al Qaeda."
    --Stella O'Leary, Irish American Democrats


    POLISH AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 10 million Polish Americans by relying on
    Poland's sacrifice in Iraq but continuing to impose burdensome and costly visa
    requirements on Poles coming to the US and by not facilitating bidding by
    Polish firms on post-war contracts in Iraq."
    --Nicholas Rey, Ambassador to Poland 1993-1997


    ARMENIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Armenian Americans by breaking
    his pledge to recognize the Armenian genocide."
    --Aram Hamparian, Armenian National Committee of America


    ARAB AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 3.5 million Arab Americans by tolerating
    anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigotry from members of his Administration and
    allowing an unfettered John Ashcroft to run roughshod over the civil liberties
    of Arab
    immigrants, creating fear and mistrust."
    --Dr. Jim Zogby, Arab American Institute


    GREEK AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 3 million Greek Americans by failing to
    show the required leadership, diplomacy and commitment in resolving the Cyprus
    conflict to help bring peace and stability to the region."
    --Clay Constantinou, former Ambassador, Dean of Whitehead School of Diplomacy
    and International Relation


    UKRAINIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 1.5 million Ukrainian Americans by
    blocking
    legislation condemning Stalin's Famine-Genocide against the Ukrainian nation."
    --Julian Kulas, Ukrainian Americans for Kerry-Edwards


    MUSLIM AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 7 million Muslim Americans by speaking of
    inclusion while creating an atmosphere where law-abiding Muslim Americans are
    afraid of a government they thought was supposed to protect them, not harass
    them." --Isi Siddiqui, Undersecretary of Agriculture during Clinton
    Administration


    ROMANIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Romanian Americans by seeking to
    cut foreign aid, and failing to engage pro-democracy, anti-corruption
    forces in
    Romania." --Prof. Radu Florescu, Romanian American community leader


    ALBANIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Albanian Americans by abdicating
    America's traditional leadership role in resolving Kosovo's final status and
    securing stability in the Balkans."
    --Ilir Zherka, Clinton-Gore '96 Ethnic Outreach Coordinator


    SERBIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Serbian Americans by abandoning
    US efforts to promote regional stability in the Balkans and support for
    democratic forces within Serbia."
    --Obrad Kesic, Serbian American community leader


    HUNGARIAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 2 million Hungarian Americans by ignoring
    the human, civil, and religious rights of Hungarian minorities throughout
    Central Europe."
    --Peter Ujvagi, State Representative, Ohio District 47


    CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPEAN AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 5 million Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian,
    Czech, and Slovak Americans by failing to continue America's traditional
    engagement with pro-democracy forces."
    --Mark Brzezinski, former director Southeast European Affairs, National
    Security Council


    BALTIC AMERICANS:

    "George W. Bush turned his back on 1 million Latvian, Lithuanian, and
    Estonian
    Americans by eliminating VOA and RFE radio broadcasts to the Baltic states."
    --Asta Banionis, Lithuanian American community leader

    *Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only.


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