From: dbd@urartu.sdpa.org (David Davidian)
Subject: Re: Turkish Businesmen in the Former Soviet Union
Summary: News from Armenia
Organization: S.D.P.A. Center for Regional Studies
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 22:16:21 GMT

In article <1992Nov5.152145.12956@walter.bellcore.com> cza@troy.uucp (C. 
Akgun) wrote:

[CA] My sentiments exactly.   If you can infer that someone being
[CA] Turkish agent when his/her posting coincides with the program in
[CA] Voice of Turkey, you should have no problem on what I wrote above.
[CA] I was trying to give you the same perspective to make you aware the 
[CA] tilt in that logic.  I am sure you've got my message.  

You have forgotten to include that fact that in May of 1991 when the Turkish
government ordered anti-Armenian propaganda to be suspended (during a period
of time when the Turkish ambassador to the USSR was in Armenia), postings 
under the name Mutlu were also suspended. In addition, we read the text
coinciding with the Radio Turkey anti-Armenian series BEFORE we heard it
on Radio Turkey.

[CA] Wild imagination?  As long as you are being the master
[CA] around here on this, I cannot consider myself even be a prentice.  
[CA] But, "uzum uzume baka baka kararir,"  rough translation goes
[CA] like "grapes get ripe by looking at each other."    Did you
[CA] take your Turkish translators with you when you had this
[CA] trip.  If not, I cannot believe how big progress your Turkish
[CA] had lately, even allowing you to listen in Turkish slang today. 
[CA] About 4 years ago, you were talking with "Midnight Express" version.

What can I say :-), you shouldn't laugh at a Cemiskezek accent!

[CA] Seriously though, you can give the scoop what is going
[CA] on in Armenia since the last time you were there.  
[CA] Leave out the military secrets.  The Turkish merchant affairs 
[CA] in Moscow is old news.  You don't go to Moscow to meet blond Russian 
[CA] beauties anymore.  They do house calls in Turkish cities these days, 
[CA] especially in Black sea region.  As far as deals are
[CA] concerned, I knew a couple of industrialist personally that
[CA] they returned from Russia without empty hands.   However,
[CA] we get enough info about Turks/Azeris. So your observation on Turkish 
[CA] business men is not original stuff to us.  On the other hand, the 
[CA] first-hand Armenian news is hardly come by here.  By the way, Turkish 
[CA] press said the same about Raffi's doomsday.  Biting the feeding hands
[CA] is certainly "NO NO" in the culture existing in those parts of
[CA] the world.  I am talking about the Armenian urgent grain request
[CA] from Turkiye, you know.

So it's news from Armenia that is of interest. Well, as you know Armenia is
being blockaded by Azerbaijan to the east, Georgia is falling apart to the
north of Armenia, and thus loots most anything going through Georgia on its
way to Armenia, Iran looks like a no-no if Armenia is going to deal with
the U.S. (even though Iran is eager for active relations). And of course,
Turkey is being nasty about using its territory to transport European grain
to Armenia. As a result, there is effectively no gas, except for gas-fired 
electric power plants. During early late September/early October the gas was
shut off to facilitate cleaning out the main pipes in Armenia and Georgia.
Such cleaning would allow 1/3 more gas to flow. Of course a week after the
gas was turned on again the Chechens (read Russians) blew up a 100 meter
section of the pipe bringing gas to both Armenia and Georgia. So, for the two
months I was there, Armenia has gas for about 3 weeks. This winter, like last
winter, the gas will be off. Electrical power is down to less than 8 hours
per day per section of the country. If one is lucky, the power is available
to heat water and cook food, if not, one stays cold and eats cold food. At
present the nuclear plant is shut-down as it has been since the 1988 earth-
quake. There are persistent rumors it will be opened, but is has remained 
shutdown. If things get bad this winter with electrical power, perhaps it will
be turned on (much to the dismay of Turkish officials and the Armenian public)
generating plutonium as well as electricity. When all of Armenia's electric
power generating capability was functioning, it sold power to Turkey, but 
those days are long gone. Armenia has a 50% power deficit.

There is some shortage of grain -- grain for brown bread. I found enough 
lavash bread around, made in the villages, but, in general, for some reason 
lavash is not considered "bread enough".

The struggle of the Armenians in Karabagh is, of course, in the news daily.
One always hears rumors about something or another, but contrary to popular
Turkish belief, the role of the Armenian government is really limited to
sending emergency food and other items. One does not see convoys of weapons
on there way to Karabakh. I was always amazed at the ratio of Azeri dead to
Armenian dead, after battles. It was usually from three to ten / one. I am
not so amazed at the Armenians being local fighters, defending their homes,
but I was more shocked at how poorly the Azeris fighters were! I was told,
first hand, how lately the Azeris are not gathering up their dead, but leave
it up to the Armenians to bury, what the Armenians refer to as the unfortunate
18-20 year old Azeri "kids", that are now being sent from Baku to Karabagh to
fight.

The situation in Georgia (or what will be left if it) should be of concern to
Turkey. The situation there is very bad. The Russians have sent over 4,000
Chechens to Abkhazia to fight the Georgians simply because there are not 
enough Abkhazians to fight. There are more Armenians in Abkhazia than 
Abkhazians. In fact, it goes from a high of about 90% Armenians in Akhalkalak
to a low of about 15-20% Armenians by the time one reaches Batum. Ethnic
Georgians are not the majority in these areas.

I could go on, but will not. If you have any specific questions, Cengis, I 
will entertain them. By the way, where is the FM station just over the border
in Turkey that one hears from Yerevan? Is its Kars? They never do say where 
the station is.

-- 
David Davidian dbd@urartu.sdpa.org "It has been ever thus in all things, son, 
SDPA Center for Regional Studies    Whatever we thrash we give to the wind, 
P.O. Box 382761                     We too have been blown by the world's wind
Cambridge, MA 02238                 The chaff is gone but the grain remains." 
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