Aaron

Hi femme333 Don't want to play psychologists at all ... but I feel strong sympathy for you and that's why I'm writing. Your initial message was so honest and true that I felt compelled to express my thoughts. I just want to mention that, unlike what someone wrote up there, the sex of the one suffering doesn't matter. Pain is pain for all. I'm a guy and I've experienced this because of women before. I had the same concerns, trying to avoid affecting school, work and all ... I'll try to be brief! 1) EM's advice is generally very very good. She knows what she's talking about. 2) You will suffer, it's part of life and that's how our hearts are made. Accept it. The fact that you wrote means you have already done so. The fact that you admitted some degree of responsibility is even better. Good! 3) Only if your situation is very bad: Do your best to avoid negative consequences (on school, on your health, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, weight loss, etc). These may be the hardest issues because of the urgency to deal with them. These become real concrete problems that you will have to face with your preservation instinct, without philosophical and psychological considerations, reasons or analysis. You have to survive and that's it! Personal tip, if you can't eat the minimum, force yourself to! If, before, you could finish a sandwich in 5 minutes, you may have to do it in an hour now ... but do it. Don't worry, this critical phase does not last very long. 4) Interact with people and keep busy ... although it is normal to be very sensitive, to read, to feel, to listen to music, to ask existential questions, to be fragile, etc ... and this phase will eventually enrich you, you'll gain from the tough times on the long term; more wisdom, more flexibility, more confidence in life, more peace with yourself, and an ability to deal with trouble with more optimism and less stress than before ... and most importantly you'll know life better. Sorry if some ideas seemed radical but I'm biased because of my experiences, your's may be different, hopefully lighter, maybe you're even over it by now! One thing is 1000 % certain ... things will get easier with time and you'll feel much much better, not to say completely normal (don't hate me for this cliche ... but it's the simple truth)! One last thing. I, personally, would (and did) talk and discuss with the person when the time comes. Nothing is better than a good and honest conversation ... that is if you guys don't talk now or are in bad terms! All the best ... and when the time comes, just add a small post to let us know you're feeling better ... it may be pathetic for some but it's not in my book. A.

Very very very right Gor-Gor I'm a Montreal Armenian. It is well known that Montreal armenians and the rest of North American (NA) Armenians are very different from each other. In Montreal as well as other communities (TO, NYC, Boston, Detroit, LA, etc) many armenians come from the middle east, istanbul, etc. Also, the time of immigration is not much different because all communities have large sections of armenians that arrived in the last 30 years (from Lebanon, Egypt, etc), who knew how to speak armenian and were active in community life back at home. Moreover, the country (Canada, US ... don't know about Mexico) is not a reason either since TO armenians are much less armenian speaking than Montrealers (in general that is). Therefore, the origins of the community, the country in which the community is situated, or its time of formation are not potential reasons differentiating Montreal from the rest of NA communities. The natural question is therefore the following: "What is fundamentally different about Montreal?" The answer is quite simple: The presence of the francophone culture, the fact that there are two cultures, the local french canadian culture and the north american one (since Quebec is surrounded by over 300 million anglophones). It is easier to keep your identity between two big currents than in a single huge one (the anglophone) that does not allow any resistance at all! You can very clearly oberve the same phenomenon with other communities (Lebanese, Greek, Italian, etc). Montreal allows you to keep a stronger identity of origin than any other city in NA. A.

Dear Boghos I agree with most of your message and suggestions, and I do appreciate your constructive criticism. But the last sentence slightly puzzled me: The "apparatchik" part, I understand. He may still have remains of the former regime in his thought process, especially that he is a former communist party member (although everyone back then was). What I don't get from that quote is the purpose of mentioning the president's home region. Perhaps you are implying that you don't expect much from people living in Karabakh because you think they are not capable of achieving much. Perhaps, Like some other "real armenians" (most of them politicians of course), you think that only a decent "yerevantsi" could be expected to do a good job. I will not even bother explaining the flaws of this theory! But I prefer to think that you simply didn't use the right terms to show your disappointment with the current administration and what you really meant to say was, in its most basic form, something like: "Kocharian's government is not doing a good job, but this has nothing to do with the fact that he's from Karabakh. Moreover, I don't agree with categorizing individuals with their place of birth since this is irrelevant and potentially dangerous for national unity, especially for a nation like the Armenians!" A.

Look anywhere on the web for the winner of the literature Nobel prize ... it's Orhan Pamuk from Turkey! A.

Yup! Yerevan's "getron" is developing and getting better day after day. You would be surprised to know which Armenian city comes second to Yerevan in being clean, ordered, having nice roads, and leaving an overall positive impression on the visitor! ... It's Stepanakert! It may even be cleaner than Yerevan. Of course, they are not in the same category and therefore comparisons are useless. A.

I have dealt with "Hyurservice", they are excellent. You can find all the services you need at reasonable prices! A.

Anyone with pics from the military parade, the yerablur ceremony, or the festivities? A.

Davit Bek I think this issue is not about bad management or a series of mistakes. If you read the articles you'll have the strong impression that there is a deliberate policy (at the highest level) of emptying the region of its resettled population. It's not just a case of careless officials or classic corruption. A. PS: Irlandahey, I'm also from Montreal

A major flop! read the articles in this week's "hetq" (September 5, 2006) at http://www.hetq.am/eng/ It is now crystal clear that the government has a policy of "depopulation" towards Lachin and Kelbajar. All their actions and decisions reflect this without the shadow of a doubt. All glorious speeches about creating an inhabited link between Artsakh and Armenia seem to have been BS. The question is why. Do they plan to return those regions? Or is it only about money? Pocketing money from the state budget and donators and not giving a damn for the nation and its poorest elements. It is becoming more and more necessary for the diaspora to have concrete and strong leverage mechanisms on this government, most probably financial and/or diplomatic. That's the only way for democratization. If they are not accountable to the people/nation (in or outside the country) then those in power have no reason to work hard or not to steel. Sadly, that is exactly what is happening today. A.

Read this, gives a clear overview of what is going on right now Mediators Have Declassified the Settlement Principles Kocharyan Makes Unprecedented Concessions on Karabakh but Aliyev Demands More http://www.hetq.am/eng/politics/0607-nkr.html A.

Hi everyone The saga continues and it is now almost certain that 2006 will not see a breakthrough! If anyone of you goes to church sometime soon, it would be a timely idea to light a candle for war not to start! A. Aliev, Kocharian Again Fail To Cut Karabakh Deal By Harry Tamrazian in Bucharest The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan again failed to reach a framework agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh during intensive negotiations in Bucharest on Sunday and Monday, all but dashing hopes for a speedy resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The two men made no statements to the media after they wrapped up their second meeting in the Romanian capital that began in the presence American, French and Russian diplomats spearheading the peace process and continued in tête-à-tête. They spoke fore more than three hours in the same format the previous night. Azerbaijani Foreign Minster Elmar Mammadyarov, who accompanied Aliev admitted, that the two sides remain far apart on some key issues. “There is no change in Azerbaijan’s position and disagreements on how to resolve the conflict remain,” he said. Steven Mann, Washington’s top Karabakh negotiator, sought to put a brave face on the apparent fiasco as he spoke to journalists on behalf of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. He said both Aliev-Kocharian meetings took place in a “good atmosphere” but refused to divulge any of their details. “The co-chairs are now going to meet among themselves to discuss the next steps in our work,” he said. Mann also indicated that the mediators believe that the Karabakh conflict can still be resolved this year. “The co-chairs still believe that 2006 is the window to reach an agreement regarding Karabakh,” he said. Asked whether Aliev and Kocharian made any progress towards a peace deal, the U.S. diplomat replied, “I would only say that we have had very, very detailed discussions.” The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders underscored their lingering disagreements on Karabakh as they addressed a high-level forum of Black Sea nations in Bucharest earlier on Monday. “The people of Nagorno-Karabakh have implemented in practice the right to self-determination,” declared Kocharian. “It was done fully in line with the requirements of international law.” “We believe that there is a need for effective efforts for a full-scale integration of the [Nagorno-Karabakh] Republic into the international community,” he added. “Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is recognized by everyone and can not be a subject of negotiations,” countered Aliev. The previous Armenian-Azerbaijani summit on Karabakh, held at the Rambouillet castle near Paris in February, likewise ended in failure despite unusually upbeat statements made by the co-chairs in the weeks preceding it. The mediators appeared to regard the Bucharest talks as their last chance to broker a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh dispute in the near future. Senior diplomats from France, Russia and the United States sounded cautiously optimistic about peace prospects as they visited Baku and Yerevan late last month. But Kocharian effectively dampened those expectations on Friday, questioning the Azerbaijani leadership’s commitment to Karabakh peace. Speaking to journalists, he pointed to Aliev’s continuing “militaristic statements.” Azerbaijani officials were quick to hit back. "On the one hand, (Kocharian) agreed to such a meeting, but on the other, he is already anticipating no results,” Aliev’s top foreign policy aide, Novruz Mamedov, said, according to the Associated Press. “I think that Kocharian wants to just protect himself."

Transcender, you are concerned because you perceive a threat to Karabakh and Armenia in the future. You don't really like our present situation in a state of relative isolation (economic, transport, etc) but you don't find that catastrophic. Your main fear seems to be the long/average term destruction of Armenia from a war or by the selling of great powers! This is the perception I got by reading your post. Well, of course you have reason to worry! We've discussed this topic extensively under the "artsakh peace process" headline in the same topic, about a year ago or so. Many of us put forth our ideas or stance on future peace deals! From what I see, the situation is as follows: On the ground, what we wanted is ours. We know our claim is legitimate (recognition of Karabakh), the question is whether it is realistic or not. The first "reason" that would compell us to return Artsakh would be the certainty that we will lose it in a war, in which case it would be preferable to return it without a war than with one! In other words, if the force of the enemy makes our long term objective unrealistic we should in turn act accordingly and minimize the damage, be realistic and return everything ... but that force (the enemy's) is not such that it obliges us to reevaluate the feasibility of our project. At least today and in the near future. Our objective is not in the "impossible" category, it is possible and the obstacles in front of us are of course challenging, but can be overcome (as they have already been overcome in the past). Basically, a balance of forces exists presently, it may or may not tilt in the enemy's advantage sometime later (and that would be our mistake), but it isn't so today. The second "reason" to return artsakh would come from the fact that the latter becomes a burden/obstacle in Armenia's path to development! We would be forced to give it up in order to: open borders, have good growth, stop emigration, develope, etc. The Kocharian government showed that Armenia can develope at a very good pace relative to post-communist countries. It still suffers from serious chronic post-soviet problems like a lack of democracy, corruption, etc, but those problems are common to most of its neighboors (that said I don't mean we shouldn't improve in those areas). I am quite busy these days and will not be able to write much, but these were some of my thoughts. I think a lot about this issue, but sometimes I realize I'm just curious and will not really change or decide anything ... and hope our leaders have their heads on their shoulders! A.

I get your point Zareh. But I think you are mistaken in your opinion of Serge Sarkissian. He won't take the Ter petrossian path, he actually helped bring him down. Plus you can know much about his thought process by some of the interviews he's given. There is a very good one on the "Yerkir" website. Take care A.

Zareh If you were an armenian leader what would you say? Would you tell the russians, the americans, the french, the UN and the world to mind their own business? that all liberated territories have been inhabited by armenians a few centuries ago and that since they are now under your control, then you consider them liberated/returned territories and you're not going to return them. And that you don't care about their opinion on this issue. What would you tell the world concerning their 700 000 refugees and the fact that no armenian village existed in those territories when we took them? Sure, the armenians were probably kicked out back in the days, but that does not pass as a valuable argument on the international scene. There is a difference in what we want and what we can achieve! The fact that a claim is legitimate does not necessarily make it realistic. Of course there is a difference between strategic territories (kelbajar, lachin), and tactical ones (all the rest). The strategic territories are essential for our security and should be conserved ... as for the others, Serge and Robert have declared many times that if they can be exchanged for higher security garantees (independence, reunification) than the ones they provide now, then we're ready to cut a deal. A. PS: Serge has also risked his life for the homeland, and as a leader has to make tough decisions that are surely not to everyone's taste.

Haykakan zhamank is an opposition paper that does write interesting articles sometimes, but its policy is as follows: "I am for whatever is against the president and against whatever is good for the president, it's that simple, I don't need to think about the details". Therefore, the journalists of this paper must justify their salaries somehow and try to bash Kocharian at every chance they get ... except that nobody gives a damn anymore. Nobody listens to them anyways since what they write is absurd! A.

forum people It's true that their actions are starting to become really ridiculous, I mean that letter they send to europe was a masterpiece! But Aliev's threats are to be taken seriously. I even have the impression that their leadership may resort to extreme-crazy actions soon. This may eventually threaten the existence of Armenia! We have to be on our guards (just as always) and expect the worse. One more thing: Sasun I'm not azeri but armenian, I've been on this forum for years. The content of my posts should give you an idea of how I think! A.

Ok, let's all relax a little. Azerbaijanis are about 7 million and a big proportion of them are well educated and balanced people. As a matter of fact, the people of the caucasus (azeri, armenian, georgian or others) are very much similar, physically as well as personality wise. What I mean is that an armenian is much closer to an azeri than to a german, a japanese or an indian... and vice versa. Of course each one will think that he is better but the fact is that these nations have lived together for centuries and this obviously reflects in present times. Coming to the core of the issue. The fact that Ramil Safarov is a low gutter criminal is known to all, including the overwhelming majority of azeris, and that's it! I think azeris know this guy is dirty, but there is some sort of sympathy for him at home since he killed an ennemy officer (in sleep). Every azeri that went through hard times during the war may think: "Well, we had a war against the armenians which did a lot of harm to us and this guy actually killed one of their officers. We know what he did is not fair and just, but deep down we're not sad that an enemy officer is killed and the world will see that the actions of the armenians have driven azeris to almost insanity". This is my opinion on the thought process of most azeris concerning safarov. Of course I don't agree with it and could explain why some other time! As for jugha, the wall between armenia and azerbaijan, and Safarov as man of the year the answer is simple: The azeri leadership has serious identity issues which may turn into a pathology if not solved quickly. Jugha has the signature of either Baku authorities or the Nakhichevan leadership or probably both. No regular azeri villager or citizen would go destroy tombstones. This is a fact since many former armenian villages in azerbaijan where azeris now live (coming from armenia) have their former armenian cemeteries preserved. The same is true with armenians from azerbaijan living in former azeri villages of Armenia. I've seen the latter with my eyes! Armenians actually took care of the azeri cemetery, and there is reliable evidence that the opposite is also true. No comments about the wall since it should be in the humour section. Another detail, Safarov was elected man of the year by the ultranationalistic-fanatic party called "grey wolves", not by the government and the people. It is nevertheless true that the azeri elite (newspapers, intellectuals, politicians, etc) is mostly supportive of safarov by scandalously justifying his act. At least, that's what we hear and read in the media! Nobody loudly condemned his act at home! And this is the danger. If the government continues its hysterical anti-armenian propaganda, then very soon there will be no more balanced azeris left with whom we can actually talk. I agree with all the negative stuff being said about the azeri government but not on the azeri people! I also think most members of this forum do make a clear distinction between the latter and the former! And finally, I also feel cheap using the cliché-classic-standard argument of "government is bad not the people", but that's exactly how reality looks to be in azerbaijan and I could not invent some other approach just to be original! These were some of my thoughts Fidan! A.

I would like to read your post Fidan, but I can't understand russian. Could you write in english if possible ... or can anyone translate this message to english in this forum? A.

Here is a link and the related article http://www.168.am/en/articles/1679 Southern Caucasus: Great Armenia February 23, 2006 The main factors of economic rise in this country are not brandy, cement or foreign investments, but rather Armenians themselves. As I was making my business trip to Armenia, I was asking myself a question which may offend the people: “Is there any life in Armenia?” I don’t see any nationalism there. The Republic of Armenia, which was once a part of the former Soviet Union, has gone through so many hardships throughout the past 18 years that no other great power in the world could have survived. The 8 point earthquake that struck in December 1988 demolished Spitak, left the city of Kirovakan (also known as Vanadzor) and Leninakan in ruins. Nearly 50,000 people died and another 500,000 people were left homeless. Reconstruction of the earthquake zone (which makes up 40% of the country) still goes on. As a result of the earthquake, Armenia’s economy declined by a quarter during the years of 1988-1991. The collpase of the Soviet Union was another blow to Armenian economy due to the fact that 90% of the nation’s industry was part of the Soviet Union. For example, Armenia’s lamp factory was the third in the entire Soviet Union. “We received the materials in wagons from Ghrim. We produced sand and lamp and the ready made products could be delivered to Ural,” says the new owner of the factory and representative of “Grand Holding” Arman Vaneskekhyan. “We don’t have that market anymore, but production rates are so high that we can provide Armenia with a one year income in just three working days.” The Karabagh conflict put an end to economic destruction. The Autonomous Region of Soviet Azerbaijan (ARSA) with a large Armenian population freed itself from Azerbaijan after the 1988-1994 war (to this day, Karabagh is not internationally recognized). Armenia was not officially involved in the war with Azerbaijan, but it supported the volunteer soldiers. In response to this, Azerbaijan cut off all transportation ties that Armenia had with Russia, including car and bus roads. Then the long nightmare began-no jobs, no money, no electricity. “I practically raised my children without water and electricity. We were forced to heat our house with some heater called “Burzhuyka”. People used to cut trees off the corner of the street,” says Arman Vaneskekhyan. The energy providing service of Armenia had cut off 40% of electricity even after the Spitak earthquake (electricity was back in 1996). Gas was through Georgia, however, the gas pipelines located in the regions where Azerbaijanis were living were exploding from time to time. As a result, as of 1993, agriculture made up 51% of Armenia’s GDP, when 90% of the country is located 1000 meters above sea level. There have not been and there aren’t any large companies in this field-we are talking about land ownership. In order take care of the citizens, in 1991, the Armenian authorities not only got rid of collective farming, but they also allowed free circulation of agricultural fields (450 thousand hectares), vineyards and wheat fields. There are nearly 350,000 farming economies in Armenia to this day. The most produced foreign product is cognac. Now do you understand why I asked myself if there is any life in Armenia? GDP doubled I got the answer to my question as soon as I made my way from the “Zvartnots” airport to my hotel. I saw casinos everywhere. It is forbidden by law to build casinos in the capital, but the citizens living in the capital want to play and win money. That is why the casinos had to be built outside the capital. During the past 5 years, Armenia’s GDP has doubled-from 1.9 billion dollars to 4.5 billion in 2005 (preliminary statistics). This is not bad; Azerbaijan has the same amount. Yerevan is not too big, nice and clean. There are wide alleys and narrow trade streets. Signs on stores are in Armenian, English and Russian. In general, people here talk in Russian without any difficulty. You can dine in a café for 4000 drams (about 10 dollars and less than 300 rubles) and at the same time eavesdrop on the discussions about the statue of Arno Babajanyan. This statue has a story. This statue was sculpted by Davit Bejenyan and was installed in front of the Opera House in 2002. Many people complained about the statue. They said that it didn’t look anything like Arno-the statue of Arno had short feet, an enormous nose and long hands. After a month, the statue went through reforms. Now citizens can see the “crazy Arno” statue in front of the Opera-he has no feet at all, his hands are pointing to the sky, but the nose is just fine. There are still a lot of complaints. Another topic for discussion is real estate prices. Prices have increased tenfold during the past ten years. Whereas you could buy a 3 bedroom house for 5,000 dollars in Yerevan in the mid-1990s, now you can buy only a 5 square meter of the house with that much money. There is a construction boom in the city and there many skyscrapers in the heart of Yerevan. What is the secret to success? “Armenians survive better in hard conditions. Armenia has always been a small country with not enough resources, without a sea and without transit roads. This land has always been invaded by others. Armenians have always been forced to work and find ways of survival. That is why they are more successul in medium business and other fields which don’t require many resources, such as diamond production, construction, service, trade, etc. These are the fields which have helped increase the country’s level of economy,” said director of the “Troyka Dialog” Russian company Ruben Vartanyan during an interview with “Forbes”. Of course, foreign investments have also helped. The Yerevan Brandy Factory was purchased by the French alcohol company Perno-Ricar. The French signed a long-term contract with 4,500 farmers and currently buy two-thirds of the grapes grown in Armenia. Last year, the company produced 4.4 million liters of brandy worth 50 million dollars. The company has no problem in selling the brandy and 80% of Russians have bought the brandy. The Strongest Owner of the “Multi Group” compan Gagik Tsarukyan loves animals. He has a zoo in his villa in one of Yerevan’s districts where he keeps bears, deers, a tiger and a lion, which is the symbol for “Multi Group”. Tsarukyan has a good physical appearance. He has six children. He has graduated the Institute of Physical Education of Yerevan in 1989 and has worked as a wrestling trainer. In 1996, he has been declared a world champion in arm-wrestling. In 2004, after the Armenian team came back empty-handed from the Olympics in Athens (none of the 18 members received medals), Tsarukyan became head of the National Olympics Committee. Besides all this, Tsarukyan is simply your typical, Armenian businessman. He is an MP and does any profitable business. His “Multi Group” includes a milk factory and the “Kotayk” beer factory, the “MEK” network of furniture stores, “Ararat-Cement”, which is the largest cement factory in Armenia, the “Aviaservice” food factory, the “Multi-Leon” gas station chain and, of course, brandy production. The Yerevan Brandy-Wine-Vodka factory belongs to Tsarukyan and the factory produced approximately 1 million liters of “Noy” brandy just last year. The Yerevan Brandy Factory, located in front of Tsarukyan’s factory and owned by the French Perno-Ricar factory, produced five times more brandy. It appears that the brandy produced by the French company is sold more, but the owner of “Multi Group” is not disappointed in that. “Multi Group” makes 150 million dollars a year and Tsarukyan is one of the top five businessmen of Armenia. The Most Genius Owner of “Mika Limited” Mikhail Baghdasarov was born in Moscow. He has studied in St. Petersburg and has worked in Russia. First, Baghdasarov served for the Internal Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and has made his way up to a general, after which he has started to get involved in the trade of oil products. “In 1997, the Armenian authorities invited me to regulate the field of benzene and aviation kerosene. At the time, Armenia was in a blockade and I was making arrangements with the “LUKOIL” branches in Rumania and Ukraine. I was bringing the benzene and kersosene to the Poti harbor in Georgia and then transporting it to Armenia,” says Baghdasarov. To this day, “Mika Limited” controls one third of the oil field of Armenia. Business made a turn for Baghdasarov in the end of 1990s. He owns the “Armavia” airlines ( he got that last year from “Sibir” airlines), the cement factory, and 30% of ArmEconoBank (one of the largest banks in Armeni with more than 100 branches). He sold his share-holding packet to the Russian “Vneshtorgbank” last year. “I had to have well-known colleagues in order to move forward,” says Baghdasarov. Baghdasarov says that he gets 200 million dollars yearly. As a hobby, Baghdasarov has a soccer team called “Mika” which places second in the Armenian championship and is even included in the UEFA championship cup. “To tell you the truth, the last season was not too good. We were playing with the Germans in Frankfurt. The stadium there is huge and the world soccer championship will take place there. The boys didn’t like the playing field and lost four goals,” says Baghdasarov. Currently, Baghdasarov is construcing a new stadium in Yerevan worth 20 million dollars. The Most Experienced Khachatur Sukiasyan has started his business career at the age of 24 when the Soviet Union had just adopted the law on corporations. In the beginning, Sukiasyan had two jobs. He was the head of a shoe company and a company producing automobile parts for “Jiguli” cars; at the same time he was the owner of the “Sirius” computer company based in the city of Abovyan. In the mid-1990s, Sukiasyan created the first pizza restaurant chain in Yerevan (“Pizza di Roma”) and built the “Sil Plaza” complex. He was the first in Armenia to provide trade spots for rent and became the exclusive distributor for “Phillip Morris” and “L’Oreal” in Armenia. “I have always been the first in everything. I remember how people were amazed to see glass walls with signs on them and that everything could be seen from those walls. When we announced that we are giving trade spots for rent, many thought that I was leaving the country and I am selling everything rapidly,” says Sukiasyan. Then Sukiasyan purchased the “Bjni” mineral water factory, the Yerevan furniture factory, and took “ArmEconomBank” under his control. He also has office buildings measuring 60,000 square meters in surface. The yearly income of all the companies of “SIL” (Sukiasyan International Limited) makes up nearly 100 million dollars in total. However, Sukiasyan is still the electric repairman that he is. “I have modernized the current mineral water factory. I will make everything electronic there, there will be cameras and electronic chips. Information will be provided by telepathic waves and I can control the process. I like doing that,” says the businessman with a smile.

Xankandi (pronounced Khankendi) means "village of the khan" in azerbaijani. Probably because the village is right next to the former karabagh capital Shushi, where the azeri khans lived in the 18th and early 19th century. Stepanakert is a name that came after the bolshevik revolution, in honour of Stepan Shahumyan and the village, that slowly turned into a small city, was officially (as well as in the popluation) called so during the soviet union. When the empire collapsed, Azerbaijan considered Karabagh its own and gave himself the right to assign names to the various cities it thought it controlled. Until today, azeris refer to it as Xankendi. But isn't the name of a city decided by its inhabitants? Hasn't the city been called Stepanakert during soviet times by the will of its people (overwhelmingly armenian)? And isn't the city still being called Stepanakert by the will of its people (now completely armenian)? Hence, there is a natural question that arises: If the rights and will of the people of Karabagh are not respected by Baku for such a banal story concerning a city name, then what sort of autonomy, freedom, or self government can the armenians expect if remaining within Azerbaijan? This is a question azeris should perhaps think about. As for us armenians, we've thought about it and found the answer a long time ago! A.

Here is an english version! Unfortunately, it sounds as if a second round of military operations is now highly probable and a matter of time! A. Armenia, Azerbaijan fail to reach agreement on disputed enclave AP Worldstream; Feb 11, 2006 ANGELA CHARLTON X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 -- ListProcessor™ by CREN The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan failed to reach agreement Saturday after two days of talks on how to end a bloody conflict over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. Hopes have been building in recent months for progress toward settling the 18-year dispute, in which at least 30,000 people have been killed and 1 million made refugees. But international mediators said the presidents made little progress during talks at a chateau in a forest outside Paris. "Despite intensive discussions, the positions of the parties on some difficult principles remained as they have been for some months," U.S., French and Russian mediators said in a statement. Going into the talks, the mediators had called the meetings the most important talks in years on Karabakh. The sticking points were the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh and whether Armenian forces would withdraw from the border region of Kelbajar, said a source close to the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. The mediators, from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's so-called Minsk Group, said the two presidents "highly appreciate the ongoing process" of talks and had instructed their foreign ministers to explore further prospects for a settlement in the future. The mediators will consider the question of more talks when they meet in early March in Washington. Azeri President Ilham Aliev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian met one-on-one for two hours Friday night after broader talks with U.S., French and Russian mediators, according to an official involved in the discussions. The foreign ministers, Armenia's Vartan Oskanian and Azerbaijan's Elmar Mammadyarov, met with the mediators Saturday morning, before the presidents resumed talks, the official said. Armenian television reported that the atmosphere was tense going into Friday's talks. Azerbaijan's Zerkalo newspaper reported that the two presidents were considering a one-page document of principles upon which a future peace accord could be based. A decade of international mediation has failed to end the conflict, which has scared off investors and hobbled peace efforts throughout the strategic and oil-rich Caucasus region. The dispute has dominated both countries' foreign policy since they became independent with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Nagorno-Karabakh is inside Azerbaijan but populated mostly by ethnic Armenians, who have run it since an uneasy 1994 cease-fire ended six years of full-scale war. Sporadic border clashes among heavily armed villagers on either side continue to kill scores of people a year. French President Jacques Chirac, who met separately with both presidents before their talks Friday, had expressed hope that the talks would open "a new perspective for peace."

Everybody Official update on the Rambouillet meeting, near Paris. The following article is in french and reports "total absence of progress from the negotiations" (the title). This is a very bad news! A. PS: Sorry for those who don't understand french. Translations or english equivalents should get on on the web or groong in a few hours! Karabakh: absence totale de progrès dans les négociations (officiel) AFP 11.02.06 | 19h06 Les médiateurs de l'OSCE ont fait part samedi de l'absence totale de progrès lors des négociations qui se sont tenues près de Paris entre les présidents arménien et azerbaïdjanais sur l'enclave disputée du Nagorny Karabakh, renvoyant à un réexamen du dossier début mars à Washington. "Malgré d'intenses discussions, les positions des parties sur certains principes sensibles sont demeurées identiques à ce qu'elles avaient été au cours des derniers mois", indique un communiqué du Groupe de Minsk (Russie, France, Etats-Unis) de l'Organisation pour la coopération et la sécurité en Europe (OSCE). "Cependant les présidents, qui ont hautement apprécié le processus en cours, ont donné instruction à leurs ministres, assistés des coprésidents (du groupe de Minsk), d'explorer de nouvelles voies en vue d'un futur règlement", poursuit le communiqué, sans plus de précisions. Les médiateurs russe, français et américain "se réuniront à Washington début mars pour des consultations entre leurs trois pays, pour examiner les modalités de leurs futures discussions avec les ministres", conclut le communiqué. Les présidents Robert Kotcharian (Arménie) et Ilham Aliev (Azerbaïdjan) se sont retrouvés vendredi et samedi en tête-à-tête et à huis clos au château de Rambouillet (Yvelines) pour tenter de poser les bases d'un futur règlement négocié. Le communiqué ne précise pas si les présidents ont rejeté, totalement ou partiellement, le scénario proposé par l'OSCE. Ce dernier prévoyait un retrait graduel des forces arméniennes des territoires azerbaïdjanais occupés et un vote, dans un avenir indéterminé, sur le statut futur du Nagorny Karabakh. Le Nagorny Karabakh est une enclave arménienne qui a fait sécession de l'Azerbaïdjan à l'issue d'un conflit qui a fait près de 25.000 morts et des centaines de milliers de déplacés, entre 1988 et 1994.

I don't think i'm in the most appropriate section but I'm in a rush so excuse me. Here it is, I found it on Google. Anyone has news from the modern accelerator armenians planned to get (renovate)? A. Siberia, Armenia woo high-tech investment by Nicolas Mokhoff Electronic Engineering Times January 30, 2006 Foreign investment in the independent republics of the former Soviet Union is becoming more commonplace. Last month the Business Information Service for the Newly Independent States, a unit of the U.S. Department of Commerce, reported on one particular special economic zone (SEZ) in Tomsk, a highly developed city in Siberia (a four-hour plane ride from Moscow). It was the only region in Siberia to be considered for technology development; other new sites included St. Petersburg, Zelenograd and Dubna City, the latter two in the Moscow region. All four are listed under a Russian federal government competition to choose regions for new SEZes for development this year. BODY: The SEZ concept eases requirements for economic activity inside the special zones. The SEZes are slated to operate with incentives for 20 years. Granting special-zone status implies certain scientific and industrial specialization in the chosen territories. While Zelenograd specializes in microelectronics, Tomsk focuses on developing technologies related to materials science. Tomsk universities are traditionally rated among the best in Russia. More than 3,500 specialists in electronics, IT, control systems, chemistry, biotechnology, medicine and pharmacy graduate each year, and their skills are available for application within the local high-tech zone, according to the Commerce Department unit. Don't like the cold? Take Armenia instead. Foreign investment has been steadily increasing there, from $70 million in 2001 to $217 million in 2004, according to a report from the U.S. embassy in Yerevan, the capital of this republic in the south of the Russian Federation. Now an independent nation, Armenia has a constitution prohibiting foreign individuals from owning land, but not foreign businesses. The former Soviet republic of 3.2 million people was the electronics center of the U.S.S.R., and today it still aspires to be at the forefront of science. One of its successes is the Cosmic Ray Division located on Mount Aragats, outside Yerevan, and affiliated with the Stanford Linear Acceleration Center. The organization is a world leader in cosmic-ray readings, essential to space satellites and earth-bound electronic equipment. The CRD has also been working with other nations, including the United States, for weather reports and predictions. American high-tech companies that have subsidiaries in Armenia include intellectual-property provider Virage Logic and EDA vendor Ponte Solutions. Both Tomsk in Siberia and Yerevan in Armenia look like good bets. Any takers? Nicolas Mokhoff (nmokhoff@cmp.com), research editor at EE Times http://www.eet.com

Armenia and Russia are related by thousands of ways and the gas issue is definitely not enough to end this relation. It is obvious that russia is not really interested in a strong Armenia, that it could behave better... after all we are allies right? the strengthening of one is also good for the other! Also let's remember that we only hear official news, russia is not so stupid as to disgust armenians totally, I'm sure there are other factors we're not aware of that kocharian has considered. Moreover, we don't really have a choice now. We can't ask them to leave the military base, Turkey would be delighted in that case. We are dependent on Russia and that's that, whether we like it or not. Could we really expect that a landlocked country surrounded by hostile or unstable neighbours with ~85% of its borders closed, going through a transition from communim to liberal economy with all associated consequences and still unofficially at war against a stronger opponent would dictate its will to a G8 country? The question is rhetorical! After all, if you read one of kocharian's interview's in 1995 or 1996 (back when he was in karabagh) he answered a question on the possibility of Russia recognizing karabagh independence. He said something like: "Russia can never recognize karabagh because it has dozens of karabaghs inside its own federetion (look at chechenya), our only hope is on Armenia and the diaspora". Basically, he always knew, and probably still knows, the limit to which Russia can be trusted. A.

I think Armen Sarkisian, a former prime minister under Ter Petrossian, could also be a decent candidate! He lives in the UK. A. PS: stop worrying so much on who will be the next one, gabrenk gdesnenk!