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  • ASBAREZ Online [03-15-2004]

    ASBAREZ ONLINE
    TOP STORIES
    03/15/2004
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    1) Georgia Blockades Ajaria, Presents Ultimatum
    2) Armenian Political Parties Call for Stability in Georgia
    3) Tessa Hoffman Questions Competence of UK Ambassador Abbott-Watt
    4) Soccer-Stadium Clash Leads to Rioting In Syria; 14 Die
    5) Kocharian Congratulates Reelected Putin

    1) Georgia Blockades Ajaria, Presents Ultimatum

    POTI (AFP/Interfax)--Georgia has imposed an economic blockade on its
    autonomous
    region of Ajaria in a bid to make leader Aslan Abashidze recognize the central
    government's authority.
    The move was the latest step in an escalating armed standoff, sparked early
    Sunday when armed supporters of Abashidze barred Georgian President Mikhail
    Saakashvili from entering the coastal territory.
    Tbilisi says unauthorized armed groups are operating on the territory of the
    region on the Black Sea coast, and has vowed to bring Ajaria back under
    central
    control, in time for March 28 parliamentary elections.
    Abashidze charges that Georgia's new leadership will use the election to oust
    him from power.
    Tensions heightened as Russia, which has a military base on Ajarian
    territory,
    warned Georgia of "grave and unpredictable consequences" if Ajaria comes under
    attack.
    Georgian ministers said Monday they had no plans to send the military into
    Ajaria, but there were still fears the crisis could erupt into armed conflict,
    with Ajaria's leader warning that Tbilisi's stance was leading the country
    toward bloodshed.
    Abashidze confirmed that a state of emergency has been declared in the
    autonomous republic, and a curfew introduced.
    Abashidze avoided giving a direct answer to questions about the
    possibility of
    mobilizing the republic's population, but said: "I am not hiding the fact that
    the entire republic is ready to defend its region."
    The situation in the nation has been stable for 13 days, but the Georgian
    president's actions may disrupt the balance, Abashidze said. "One's ambitions
    should not be above the interests of the state," he said.
    The local opposition--supporters of Saakashvili--has been banned from holding
    pre-election rallies in Batumi, Abashidze said.
    "We have warned them and will take the corresponding measures. If they
    try, it
    will end badly," he said
    Saakashvili gave Abashidze a deadline of Monday evening to recognize the
    government's authority over his region or face unspecified consequences.
    Starting on Monday morning, Saakashvili ordered the closure of Ajaria's Black
    Sea port, and its border with Turkey, and cut-off the region's road and rail
    links with the rest of Georgia.
    He added that criminal charges would be brought against Ajaria's leaders, and
    their bank accounts frozen.
    "We are dealing. . . with an attempt to stage a mutiny against Georgia, and
    this is an armed mutiny," Saakashvili told reporters from his crisis center in
    Poti, a coastal town just north of Ajaria.
    "Georgia is facing a clear threat of disintegration.... No major cargo will
    enter or leave (Monday) from the territory of Ajaria."
    But the 36-year-old leader said he still favored a peaceful resolution of the
    crisis, adding that "not all the resources for dialogue have been exhausted."
    The blockade is likely to deal a devastating blow to Ajaria's economy, which
    depends on income from the transit of goods across its territory.


    2) Armenian Political Parties Call for Stability in Georgia

    YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Concerned over recent political tensions in the autonomous
    region of Ajaria, Georgia, representatives of Armenia's political parties
    called for a peaceful dialogue between Georgia's central authorities and
    Adjaria's leaders in resolving the brewing conflict.
    National Assembly Vice-speaker and Armenian Revolutionary Federation leader
    Vahan Hovhannisian, said that although the problem is an internal issue, any
    clash in the region is undesirable. Noting that Armenia's biggest concern is
    Georgia's stability, Hovhannisian expressed worry about the country's ethnic
    Armenians: "The roads connecting central Georgia with Adjaria go through
    Armenian-populated regions; clashes could, therefore, affect Armenian
    communities."


    3) Tessa Hoffman Questions Competence of UK Ambassador Abbott-Watt

    International Law expert, historian, and chairman of Germany's 1915 Genocide
    Recognition Commission, Dr. Tessa Hofmann, responded to UK Ambassador to
    Armenia Thorda Abbott-Watt's recent statement categorically denying the
    Armenian Genocide.
    The Azg newspaper reported that Ambassador Abbott-Watt, during a January 20
    press conference in Armenia, stated: "Great Britain accepts that the events of
    1915 were mass killings [of the Armenian population], the responsible for
    which
    are the Turks. I see no problem calling it brutality. It shouldn't have taken
    place even in the course of war. But, I do not think that recognizing the
    events as genocide would be of much use."
    In the following March 11 letter to UK Secretary of State for Foreign and
    Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw, Hofmann condemns the Ambassador's comments
    and
    questions Abbot-Watt's competence to serve as UK Ambassador to Armenia.
    “It has been brought to our attention that the UK Ambassador to the Republic
    of Armenia, Mrs. Thorda Abbott-Watt has repeatedly denied the genocide of 1.5
    million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the years 1915-16.
    Mrs. Abbott Watt mentioned `mass killings` and `brutality,` but ignored that
    half of the victims died during death marches or exile in desert areas from
    starvation, exhaustion, and epidemics. The UN Convention on Genocide describes
    such circumstances as `deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life
    calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.' (Art.
    2, c)
    Mrs. Abbott Watt is wrong in publicly doubting that the case of the Armenian
    Genocide did not correspond with the definition and categories of the UN
    Genocide Convention. She may not know that the author of this convention, Mr.
    Raphael Lemkin, drafted it on the empirical base of both the Armenian and the
    Jewish Genocide as case studies during WW1 and WW2.
    Mrs. Abbott Watt may also be ignorant of the joint statement of May 27, 1915,
    in which the governments of Britain, France, and Russia warned the Ottoman
    government to hold its members personally responsible for the crimes committed
    on the Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire. In this statement, the
    killings
    of the Armenian population were categorized, under the terms of contemporary
    law, as a crime against humanity and civilization.
    Mrs. Abbott Watt is obviously not qualified as a scholar of genocide
    research.
    Otherwise, she would know that the denial of genocide is considered as an
    integral part of the crime and its final stage. Sadly, Mrs. Abbott Watt
    herself
    contributes to the crime of denial, thus keeping painfully alive the trauma of
    the Armenian nation and upsetting all others, who are aware of the
    consequences
    of genocide denial.
    As an international NGO, which is focusing on the recognition of denied
    genocide crimes, we urge you to re-consider whether it is advisable that Mrs.
    Abbott Watt, who is ignorant of basic facts of legal history and international
    relations and who makes repeated incompetent and offensive statements, may
    continue her diplomatic career in a country where half of the population
    descends from survivors of genocide.”


    4) Soccer-Stadium Clash Leads to Rioting In Syria; 14 Die

    DAMASCUS (Reuters)--About 14 people have died in the northeast Syrian city of
    Kameshli in rioting sparked by fighting at a soccer match on Friday.
    As panicked fans tried to escape, a stampede resulted, injuring and killing
    the victims, witnesses said.
    State-run Syrian Radio reported the deaths as it began live coverage of the
    match, which was quickly called off.
    One witness said visiting fans also shouted slogans that offended Syrian
    Kurdish supporters of Kameshli, a town near the Iraqi border that has a large
    Syrian Kurdish population.
    Police surrounded the stadium and fired shots in the air, but it was not
    clear
    whether they had been able to stop the fighting. Officials were not
    immediately
    available for comment.
    Hospital officials said four of the injured had bullet wounds, including an
    11-year-old boy who had been shot in the stomach.
    Visiting fans threw sticks and stones at the Kameshli supporters, witnesses
    said. "We had nothing to defend ourselves with because we were not expecting
    this, so we had to run and there was a stampede," a witness said.
    The stadium clash led to rioting yesterday by Syrian Kurds living in the
    city.
    About nine people died and up to 40 needed hospital treatment. The rioting
    spread to nearby Amouda, Ras al-Ain, and al-Hassaka, where buildings were also
    damaged.
    Sources close to government said they believed certain Kurdish politicians
    were turning the issue "from a soccer-match riot into an issue of a political
    dimension," a reference to demands by some 200,000 Syrian Kurds who are not
    recognized as citizens.
    The Hairenik weekly newspaper contacted the Armenian Prelacy in Kameshli to
    confirm the status of the Armenian population in the region. The Prelacy
    reported that stability had been fully restored on Monday, and that all
    Armenians there and in sounding areas, are safe.
    Kurds make up some two million of Syria's 17 million large population. But
    Syrian officials avoid reference to Kurds as a distinct minority and stress
    the
    importance of national unity.


    5) Kocharian Congratulates Reelected Putin

    YEREVAN (Reuters)--President Robert Kocharian joined government leaders around
    the world on Monday in congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on his
    widely anticipated landslide reelection in the weekend presidential ballot.
    "On March 14, Russia made a firm choice in favor of stability, democracy, and
    prosperity," Kocharian said in a message to Putin, publicized by his office.
    "Armenia highly appreciates your huge personal contribution to the deepening
    of the allied Russian-Armenian relations. Success has been obvious in the
    whole
    spectrum of bilateral ties. Let me assure you of our readiness to continue
    efforts at stepping up cooperation between Russia and Armenia."
    Kocharian's positive reaction was echoed by his political allies. "Putin's
    reelection means an internal strengthening of Russia, which is definitely good
    for Armenia," said Vahan Hovhannisian, leader of the governing Armenian
    Revolutionary Federation.
    Hovhannisian, at the same time, noted that Yerevan will need to display
    "greater flexibility" in maintaining simultaneously good relations with the
    West and its main strategic ally, which has been more assertive towards its
    former Soviet satellites under Putin.
    Some Armenian opposition representatives expressed concern at the tightening
    of Putin's grip on power. Shavarsh Kocharian, a senior opposition lawmaker,
    deplored "the absence of a real alternative" in the Russian election. "This is
    extremely undesirable for Armenia as well, because Russia has substantial
    influence on Armenia and would naturally, like countries under its influence,
    develop in a similarly authoritarian way," he said.


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