The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

Western Secret Services Plotted Chechnya’s Separation

The western secret services plotted in 1990s Chechnya’s separation from Russia. Ichkeria’s passports were printed in France and the weapons were delivered to Chechnya via Georgia, according to The Caucasus Plan documentary that Russia’s First Channel showed late Tuesday. One of protagonists of the film is Abubakar, Turkey’s resident of Chechnya’s origin, who has been living under the assumed name of Berkan Yashar for 40 years. Yashar said he got that name after inking a contract with the U.S. Department of State. In the documentary, Yashar narrated how he had been building up a political platform for Chechnya’s separation in early 1990s. The project was funded by different states. The passports for unrecognized Ichkeria were printed in France, the money was minted in Germany, Yashar said. Then Chechnya’s President Johar Dudaev appointed Yashar deputy foreign minister in 1992. Yashar simultaneously held different offices in Turkish government. He was the so-called power behind the throne in 1990s in Chechnya, controlling all more or less significant financial transactions of the North Caucasus militants, the filmmakers said. He was one of the masterminds of the diamond trafficking operation. Rough diamonds from northern Russia were illegally exported by using the charter flights. Representatives of Turkey and officials of Azerbaijan's government were involved in negotiations aimed at arranging the flights. The profit was spent to buy mines to explode combat vehicles, Abubakar told the camera crew. Theoretically, the aircraft flights were banned from Grozny, but the airport got the permission somehow. The plane first flew to Baku, Azerbaijan, and then to Turkey as an Azeri airliner. But that channel was closed in a few years and they had to establish a new link, via Georgia, through Pankiss Gorge, Yashar said. Boris Berezovsky took over the diamond business in part and in whole, according to Yashar. I knew practically nothing about that man, who later on has completely grabbed that business and is in it, I’m sure at 100 percent, up to today, Yashar said.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-12402/Chechnya_separation/

Russia reveals US plans to capture Caucasus

Russian Channel 1 presents a documentary ‘Plan Caucasus’ about the plan of western intelligence service to make Caucasus the battlefield between the Western world and Russia. The reporter states that the first point was the ignition of Nagorny Karabakh conflict and then in other places of Caucasus via the nationalistic moods strengthening. A Chechen man Abu Bakar, a news analyst of the German radio station «Freedom” in the 60s, who worked under the pseudonym Berkan Yashar, reveals the secret plans of the US Foggy Bottom. Baker was enrolled by the USA, and even after he left ‘Freedom’ and headed for Turkey, where he became a powerful authority, Abu remained a “grey eminence”, through whom the West controlled the situation in Caucasus and financed separatists’ tribes. He said that the plan of Chechnya annexation was backed by Germany, France, Great Britain, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. His words were proved with pictures of money, printed in Germany that might still be in the Munich factory, and fake passports, printed in France. His words are confirmed by some other people. Thus, Shamseddin Yusef, the Foreign Secretary in Dudaev’s government, says: “CIA people even took us to London. Then the war in Iraq started. They planned to take over Chechnya after the victory in Iraq, but that war didn’t finish as soon as they predicted. Neither does Richard Perl, the ex- US Ministry of Defense counselor and one of the key strategists of the war in Iraq, conceal the fact that America tried to give spiritual and financial support to Dudaev. The reporter also states, that Western powers pursued in Caucasus not only political, but financial interest as well. Since 1992 with Jokhar Dudaev’s help there operated a contraband canal that exported to the West Russian diamonds and gold. For the right to drive it through Chechnya Dubaev got a quarter of the profit received from diamonds’ gem-cutting and selling. After the airport in Groznyy was shut in 1994, Berkan changed the scheme of diamonds transportation and started to put them across Pankiyskoe clove to Turkey. Akhmed, one of Dudaev’s mates, states that the bloody story of Chechen diamonds goes on even now. The money, saved between the First and Second Chechen Wars, was put in the diamond mines of Africa. The input of money into these mines gives enormous profits to Akhmed Zakaev and Whice Akhmadov, the man, whose name was mentioned in relation to Badri Patarkacishvili’s death.

Source: http://english.pravda.ru/world/ameri...ure_caucasus-0

Turkish building company denies funding Chechen militants

Turkish building company ENKA Wednesday rejected claims, made in a documentary program broadcast Tuesday on Russia's Channel One TV, that it had provided financing in the 1990s to Chechen militants. "We state that all information regarding our company broadcast April 22 in the Plan Caucasus TV program on Channel One is totally groundless and untrue," ENKA said. "We deny all such accusations." ENKA is one of Turkey's largest construction companies working in Russia. The claims were made against ENKA in the TV program by Sultan Kekhursayev, now living in Istanbul. He said he had been "[now dead Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar] Dudayev's army brigadier general." Kekhursayev said large Turkish companies working in Russia, including ENKA, funded the seizure of Chechnya's capital Grozny in the summer 1996, adding that they "had done much" to assist militants. Sporadic terrorist attacks and militant clashes are common in Chechnya, although the active phase of the Kremlin campaign to fight separatists and terrorists is over. Violence often spills over into neighboring North Caucasus republics, including Ingushetia and Daghestan.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20080423/105751390.html

[jgk3]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I'm a bit skeptical towards these claims put out by Russia because they've probably known all this, if it were accurate, ever since 1990, yet only now do they choose to release it into the press, as it fits into context with their overgrowing rift with the west.

But if you're intention with these last posts was merely to illustrate the kind of psychological climate Russia is trying to set up, then I have to say, good to know

[crusader1492]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I'm a bit skeptical towards these claims put out by Russia because they've probably known all this, if it were accurate, ever since 1990, yet only now do they choose to release it into the press, as it fits into context with their overgrowing rift with the west.

But if you're intention with these last posts was merely to illustrate the kind of psychological climate Russia is trying to set up, then I have to say, good to know

It is without a doubt that Russia always knew the West was behind the Chechen uprising. Russia did not complain about it then because since there was nothing they could do about it, they chose to keep quiet about the West's meddling rather than look weak.

Russia is probably making this known now because it is much stronger state than it was in the mid-late 90s. Essentially, this 'revelation' is a warning to the West that they won't be pushed around anymore.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

I'm a bit skeptical towards these claims put out by Russia because they've probably known all this, if it were accurate, ever since 1990, yet only now do they choose to release it into the press, as it fits into context with their overgrowing rift with the west. But if you're intention with these last posts was merely to illustrate the kind of psychological climate Russia is trying to set up, then I have to say, good to know

No need to be "skeptical" about these claims. Western, as well as Israeli, Pakistani, Saudi Arabian, Turkish, Azeri and Georgian support for Chechen terrorists is well known and documented, especially in Russia. This is not the first time Moscow is releasing this type of information, nor will it be the last. They have done so periodically. However, during the Yeltsin years, essentially the 90s, this kind of information was not officially discussed in Russia for obvious reasons. Why did "they" support the Chechens? For two fundamental geostrategic reasons: Control of Central Asian and Caspian Sea oil/gas distribution networks and the undermining of the Russian Federation. Needless to say, times have changed, so have geopolitical formulations, political climate and public sentiments. It's not Yeltsin's Russia anymore. That is why you will see more and more information like this made public. Naturally, such information also serves to unite Russians around their national banner and foster further suspicion towards the West. I am sure there was a sound reason why several Russian news agencies exhibited these types of reports yesterday. Don't be surprised if its to remind the citizenry of Yeltsin's legacy on the first anniversary of his death and remind them that those that first attempted to undermine Russian via Chechnya in the 90s are now attempting to do so via Georgia.

Armenian

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Washington Assures Support Of Georgia's Sovereignty

The Bush administration on Wednesday conveyed its commitment in supporting Georgia's sovereignty in the light of fresh tension between Georgia and Russia over the shooting down of a spy plane in the region recently. The commitment was made U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who met with Georgia's foreign minister David Bakradze. She said Washington was "very concerned" over Russia's move to forge closer ties with two breakaway regions in Georgia that threatens its sovereignty. The United Nation Security Council is set to disclose tension between Russia and Georgia at a closed-door session. "Our commitment to Georgia and to its territorial integrity is firm," Rice told reporters in Washington after emerging from a meeting with Bakradze. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said his government would forge closer ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway regions in Georgia. On Monday, Georgia accused Russia of launching a MiG 29 fighter jet to shoot down its spy plane over Abkhazia. Georgia described the action as an "open aggression," and called on the U.N. and the international community for support. But Russia denies involvement in the shooting down of the plane saying Abkhan rebels shot down the drone.

Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010744675

Georgia: U.S. Exercises and Russian Strength

Summary

A large U.S. force reportedly will be a prominent feature in an international military exercise in Georgia in July. While Moscow is sure to notice this, the exercises could have the most effect on how Russian power is perceived farther afield.

Analysis

U.S. and Georgian forces will participate in a joint military exercise outside Tbilisi in July, according to an April 15 RIA Novosti report, citing the Georgian Defense Ministry. Dubbed “Immediate Response 2008” (previous iterations were held in Poland and Bulgaria), the exercise reportedly will amass some 2,000 personnel from the United States, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine in the former Soviet republic. At this point, the exercise appears to be the largest-ever deployment of U.S. troops to Georgian territory. Militarily, this is only the next step in a progression of training and military cooperation between the United States and Georgia. Tbilisi sustains two battalions in Iraq and has cycled through more than 3,000 of its own troops already. Since 2000, when a few U.S. Army doctors conducted mass casualty exercises with Georgian doctors (a fairly innocuous evolution, even from Russia’s perspective), there has been a systematic series of training efforts and military exercises:

* The Georgia Train and Equip Program in 2002-2004;
* Georgia Security and Stability Operations in 2005-2006;
* Naval exercises in the Black Sea in 2005;
* “Cooperative Archer,” a multilateral exercise in 2007 that included several NATO members; and
* Bilateral exercises with the United States in 2007.

Most of these exercises involved maybe 100 U.S. Green Berets or other military personnel. The 2005 naval exercises involved several hundred U.S. sailors, but took place offshore. The 2007 bilateral exercise was reportedly undertaken at the battalion level. The 2008 exercises are set to involve at least one U.S. battalion and possibly two; that announcement has not yet been made. While the history of U.S. military support and training logically builds toward an exercise of this larger scale, it is taking place on Georgian territory — and it is hard to find a corner of the former Soviet Union that Moscow is more sensitive about. Furthermore, the exercise comes on the heels of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, which Russia adamantly opposed. So even though the Pentagon has slowly cultivated a relationship with Tbilisi and nurtured the Georgian military for more than half a decade and Immediate Response 2008 is the next logical step in that relationship, something far more significant is under way.

The Kremlin’s opposition to Kosovar independence — and the recognition thereof — was a very clear line in the sand, yet Moscow has not launched any major, hard-hitting retaliation. A late-breaking White House push for Georgian and Ukrainian admittance into the NATO Membership Action Plan (even if only symbolic) was another slap in the face. And Washington is now poised to conduct what looks to be its largest exercises yet on Georgian territory. Whatever the finer points of reality are, a series of events — Immediate Response 2008 will be the third such event this year — is building, representing overt challenges to what Russia has repeatedly publicly identified as its core national interests. Should this trend continue (the next logical step would be pushing against Moscow in Ukraine or Kazakhstan), the perception of Russian power in the wider international community will begin to shift.

Each time Moscow draws a line in the sand and then makes itself appear powerless by not responding as the West shuffles across said line, the perception of Russia’s ability to respond erodes. And that perception is absolutely essential to Russia’s foreign policy in general — and the maintenance of its influence in its peripheral states in particular. Those states contain a mixture of pro-Western sentiment and pro-Russian sentiment. Every time the West moves and Russia fails to react, those who are pro-Western are emboldened, and those who are pro-Russian are forced to contemplate jumping ship in order to protect their own interests. Further complicating matters for the Russians is the fact that they might well be unable to act right now. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attempting to manage an internal transition of power, and the associated changes have enticed various Kremlin factions to make grabs for power and assets with a fury that rivals Russia’s oligarchic wars of the 1990s. Bogged down in internal struggles, Russia seems to be limited to little more than bellicose rhetoric and half-measures as the West nibbles away at Russia’s periphery. Russia’s responses are exactly the sort of weak actions that only encourage that periphery to crumble all the more.

Source: http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/geo...ssian_strength

[crusader1492]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

The Bush administration on Wednesday conveyed its commitment in supporting Georgia's sovereignty in the light of fresh tension between Georgia and Russia over the shooting down of a spy plane in the region recently. The commitment was made U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who met with Georgia's foreign minister David Bakradze. She said Washington was "very concerned" over Russia's move to forge closer ties with two breakaway regions in Georgia that threatens its sovereignty. The United Nation Security Council is set to disclose tension between Russia and Georgia at a closed-door session. "Our commitment to Georgia and to its territorial integrity is firm," Rice told reporters in Washington after emerging from a meeting with Bakradze. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week said his government would forge closer ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two breakaway regions in Georgia. On Monday, Georgia accused Russia of launching a MiG 29 fighter jet to shoot down its spy plane over Abkhazia. Georgia described the action as an "open aggression," and called on the U.N. and the international community for support. But Russia denies involvement in the shooting down of the plane saying Abkhan rebels shot down the drone.

Source: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010744675

It seem that Russia is itching for a fight with NATO through upping the tensions in Georgia. Would you agree that they are doing this in order to bring the situation to a head so that Russia can assert (and then cement) its authority in the Caucuses once and for all?

[jgk3]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

alright, makes a bit more sense now, thanks for explaining.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

An interesting article (see below) about the resurgence of Christian Orthodoxy in Russia and the persecution of Protestant sects made the front page of the Jew York Times today. Interestingly, this topic was also discussed on the "Glenn Beck" show tonight on MSNBC where Russia was basically compared to the biblical Gog and Magog which according to biblical prophesy would endanger the Jewish nation by making alliances with Israel's enemies. Jew York Times and the Glenn Beck show - in one day? It's obvious that this anti-Russia/anti-Christian Orthodoxy slander campaign is being orchestrated by top level media executives. What are they trying hard to convey to the public? Basically, the evils of Russia, the evils of Christian Orthodoxy and of course the persecution of Protestants in Russia which, if true, is very long overdue.

Armenian

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At Expense of All Others, Putin Picks a Church

It was not long after a Methodist church put down roots here that the troubles began. First came visits from agents of the F.S.B., a successor to the K.G.B., who evidently saw a threat in a few dozen searching souls who liked to huddle in cramped apartments to read the Bible and, perhaps, drink a little tea. Local officials then labeled the church a “sect.” Finally, last month, they shut it down. There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir V. Putin.

Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia. This close alliance between the government and the Russian Orthodox Church has become a defining characteristic of Mr. Putin’s tenure, a mutually reinforcing choreography that is usually described here as working “in symphony.”

Mr. Putin makes frequent appearances with the church’s leader, Patriarch Aleksei II, on the Kremlin-controlled national television networks. Last week, Mr. Putin was shown prominently accepting an invitation from Aleksei II to attend services for Russian Orthodox Easter, which is this Sunday. The relationship is grounded in part in a common nationalistic ideology dedicated to restoring Russia’s might after the disarray that followed the end of the Soviet Union. The church’s hostility toward Protestant groups, many of which are based in the United States or have large followings there, is tinged with the same anti-Western sentiment often voiced by Mr. Putin and other senior officials. The government’s antipathy also seems to stem in part from the Kremlin’s wariness toward independent organizations that are not allied with the government.

Here in Stary Oskol, 300 miles south of Moscow, the police evicted a Seventh-day Adventist congregation from its meeting hall, forcing it to hold services in a ramshackle home next to a construction site. Evangelical Baptists were barred from renting a theater for a Christian music festival, and were not even allowed to hand out toys at an orphanage. A Lutheran minister said he moved away for a few years because he feared for his life. He has returned, but keeps a low profile. On local television last month, the city’s chief Russian Orthodox priest, who is a confidant of the region’s most powerful politicians, gave a sermon that was repeated every few hours. His theme: Protestant heretics. “We deplore those who are led astray — those Jehovah’s Witnesses, Baptists, evangelicals, Pentecostals and many others who cut Christ’s robes like bandits, who are like the soldiers who crucified Christ, who ripped apart Christ’s holy coat,” declared the priest, the Rev. Aleksei D. Zorin.

[...]

Religious Intolerance

The limits on Russia’s Protestants — roughly 2 million in a total population of 142 million — have by no means reached those that existed under the officially atheistic Soviet Union, which brutally suppressed religion. And churches in some regions say they have not experienced major difficulties. The Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, and Mr. Putin has often spoken against discrimination. “In modern Russia, tolerance and tolerance for other beliefs are the foundation for civil peace, and an important factor for social progress,” he said at a meeting of religious leaders in 2006.

Mr. Putin has also denounced anti-Semitism. While many xxxs have emigrated over the past two decades, the xxxish population — now a few hundred thousand people — is experiencing something of a rebirth here. Anti-Semitism has not disappeared. But in some regions it seems to have been supplanted by anti-Protestantism and, to a lesser extent, anti-Catholicism. Mikhail I. Odintsov, a senior aide in the office of Russia’s human rights commissioner, who was nominated by Mr. Putin, said most of the complaints his office received about religion involved Protestants. Mr. Odintsov listed the issues: “Registration, reregistration, problems with property illegally taken away, problems with construction of church buildings, problems with renovations, problems with ministers coming from abroad, problems with law enforcement, usually with the police. Problems, problems, problems and more problems.”

“In Russia,” he said, “there isn’t any significant, influential political force, party or any form of organization that upholds and protects the principle of freedom of religion.”

This absence looms especially large at the regional level. At the request of a Russian Orthodox bishop, prosecutors in the western region of Smolensk shut down a Methodist church last month, supposedly for running a tiny Sunday school without an educational license. The church’s defenders noted that many churches and other religious groups in Russia ran religious schools without licenses and had never been prosecuted.

The F.S.B. has been waging a battle across Russia against Jehovah’s Witnesses. In Nizhny Novgorod, in the nation’s center, the local Jehovah’s Witnesses have had to cancel religious events at least a dozen times in the last few months after the F.S.B. threatened owners of meeting halls, the church’s members said. In February, some officials in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia’s third largest, proposed creating a commission to combat what it called “totalitarian sects.” The governor of the Tula region, near Moscow, charged that American military intelligence was using Protestant “sects” to infiltrate Russia. Officials do not say precisely which groups they are referring to, but Protestant ministers say the epithet is so widespread that most Russians assume the speakers mean all Protestants. The term has clearly seeped into the public’s consciousness. “As a Russian Orthodox believer, I am against the sects,” said Valeriya Gubareva, a retired teacher, who was asked about Protestants as she was leaving a Russian Orthodox church here. “Our Russian Orthodox religion is inviolable, and it should not be shaken.” Like other parishioners interviewed, Ms. Gubareva said she supported freedom of religion.

A New Identity

While church attendance in Russia is very low, polls show that Russians are embracing Russian Orthodoxy as part of their identity. In one recent poll, 71 percent of respondents described themselves as Russian Orthodox, up from 59 percent in 2003. There are a few hundred thousand Roman Catholics in Russia, and the Russian Orthodox Church has had tense relations with the Vatican, accusing Catholic missionaries of trying to convert Russians. The Vatican says it seeks only to reach out to existing Catholics. The Russian government has often refused visas for foreign Catholic priests, whom the Vatican has sent because there are few Russian ones. Russia has far more Muslims than Protestants or Catholics — anywhere from 7 million to 20 million, depending on how religious observance is measured. But the Russian Orthodox Church regards Islam as far less likely to lure converts. There have been considerable numbers of Protestants in Russia since the second half of the 18th century. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Protestant faiths in the West saw Russia as fertile territory and spent heavily to send missionaries to help the existing worshipers and to convert others.

But the Russian Orthodox Church, which was widely persecuted under Communism, was rebuilding and worried about losing adherents. A backlash ensued. In 1997, under President Boris N. Yeltsin, the first major federal law was enacted restricting Protestant churches and missionaries, requiring many of them to register with the government. But Mr. Yeltsin had a far more ambivalent relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church than does Mr. Putin, and in the chaos of the times the laws were not always enforced. Under Mr. Putin, who has worn a cross and talked publicly about his faith, the government has added regulations, and laws have often been enforced more stringently or, some Protestants say, capriciously.

For its part, the church, with its links to the czars, has conferred legitimacy on Mr. Putin by championing his rule as he has consolidated power and battered the opposition. In December, after Mr. Putin selected his close aide, Dmitri A. Medvedev, as his successor as president, Aleksei II extolled the decision on national television. Mr. Medvedev, who takes office on May 7, easily won election last month. Aleksandr Fedichkin, a leader of the Russian Evangelical Alliance, which represents many Protestant churches, said governors, who are appointed by Mr. Putin, regularly deferred to Russian Orthodox bishops. “Many times, officials say to us, ‘Please, you must ask the Orthodox bishop about your activity, and if he agrees, then you can work here,’ ” Mr. Fedichkin said.

[...]

The Grip of Orthodoxy

Here in southwestern Russia, the Belgorod region, traditionally a stronghold of Russian Orthodoxy, has been at the forefront of the anti-Protestant campaign. In 2001, during Mr. Putin’s first term, the region enacted a law to drastically restrict Protestant proselytizing. More recently, it mandated that all public school children take what is essentially a Russian Orthodox religion course. A guide for teachers of young children recommends that schools have religious rooms with portraits of Jesus Christ, Russian Orthodox icons and other sacred items. The regional governor, Yevgeny Savchenko, who calls himself a Russian Orthodox governor, declined to be interviewed for this article.

Archbishop Ioann, the chief Russian Orthodox priest in the Belgorod region, said Russians had a deep connection to Orthodoxy that the government should nurture. “In essence, we have begun to live through a period that is like the second Baptism of Russia, just as there was before the Baptism of ancient Russia,” he said, referring to Russia’s adoption of Christianity in the year 988. He said the church wanted warm ties with other faiths, though it was hard to overlook the foreign connections of Protestants. “You know, what else alarms me, the majority of them are born — I must apologize, but I will tell the truth — from the West’s money,” he said. “Naturally, they need to play the role of the offended ones who need protection.” The archbishop denied that the church disparaged Protestants. “In our sermons, you will never hear us trying to condemn them or say that they do anything wrong,” he said.

In fact, on the day the archbishop was being interviewed, local television was repeatedly showing the sermon of his deputy, Father Zorin, likening Protestants to those who killed Jesus Christ. The Protestant churches here say they are left alone by the authorities only if they keep their activities behind closed doors. And so it was that on a recent weekend, clusters of Protestants made their way to whatever gathering spots they could find. The Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Sergei Matyukh, held a service in a small apartment with his Methodist colleague, Mr. Pakhomov, as a show of support. Many at the service said that what most bothered them was that the officials who harassed them once professed loyalty to Communism, and had switched to Russian Orthodoxy.

“The power holders, they are, as a rule, atheists,” said Gennadi Safonov, who works in marketing. “They have adopted a fashion or a trend.”

One of the few Protestant groups with a permanent base is the Evangelical Baptists, who in the relative freedom of the early 1990s were able to obtain a sturdy building that seats several hundred people. They have been allowed to stay, though they say they would not be permitted to find other space. Protestants here must receive official permission before doing anything remotely like proselytizing. The Rev. Vladimir Kotenyov, a Baptist minister, said his church had given up asking. “Naturally, it will be perceived as propaganda directed at our population,” Mr. Kotenyov said. “ ‘What kind of propaganda are you preaching?’ they would ask. ‘An American faith?’ ” “This is how they think: If you are a Russian person, it means that you have to be Russian Orthodox.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/wo...tml?ref=europe

[Angessa]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

That is the most insulting and vile thing to post on holy week. How dare they do this slander so close to easter. Protestant a religion of greed and money, they have no business in Russia. Do we go to american and try and convert them yet they feel need to do us. How about the orthodox in Alaska who were forced to attend Protestant schools. It interesting that don't even mention Islam or Buddhism which is striving and mosques could be found right next to orthodox church's. I have no problem with Muslims and Buddhism they respect are religion and we do the same for them. But the protestants do not they think we are godless vile people whey there ones lead by greed and processions.So an orthodox nation cant even be orthodox. I am sorry for not making much sense this is very insulting to my very core. I spit on you New York times you cowardly vile honor less scum spreading lies for the masses to consume. This comment about this piece best describes how i feel."Protestants come to my country and colonize indigienous villages like the catholics did 500 hundred years ago.
They forbid people to dance and sing their traditional music.
They shame their clothing and language.
They call any practice of their ancient religion satanic.
They come to the jungle and practice exorcism on 13 year old girls.
They burn books and have control over the water well.
They actually kidnapped indigenous tribes and forced to convert just 30 years ago (look up the Summer Institute of linguistics)
They tell kids that they are going to go hell if they are not baptized and fill their head with nightmares.
They tell them that their way is the only way.

Now the new york times makes an article which shows them as victims? Come on....! How much money do this American organizations have? Doesn't history show that the best way to colonize a country is to change their religion? In this case to American forms of Protestanism.

The new york times should be praising russian's decision to try to maintain some sort of cultural identity. In fact Russia should even go further to try to defend other religions in their country. There are many traditions and languages in Russia (outside of moscow) which will be threatened by the invasion of protestant. Thousands of years of tradition and culture are at risk.

of course this only makes sense if you are welll... eh.. not protestant ....""

I hope all my Armenian brothers and sisters have a wonderful easter with your friends and family. I wish the best for your great nation may it grow strong and you gain your access to the sea which your great nation surely deserves.

[Armenian]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

RUSSIA AND ITS ALLIES CONDUCT EURASIAN AIR DEFENSE DRILL

NATO’s eastwards expansion plan, articulated earlier this month at a summit in Bucharest, has firmed up Kremlin opposition to the alliance’s interest in former Soviet republics, particularly Georgia and the Ukraine, which over the last year has taken the form of military power projections beyond Russia’s frontiers.

Last August Russia revived its practice of sending out strategic bombers on long-range patrols, and in February two Russian bombers over-flew the USS Nimitz carrier while it was on maneuvers in the Pacific, the first time that such an incident had occurred in four years. On February 8, in a nationally televised speech to the State Council, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his audience that NATO’s aggressive tactics were threatening to unleash a new arms race and that "In effect, we are forced to retaliate, to make corresponding decisions. Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new challenges”.

On April 22 eight member nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States’ (CIS) Joint Air Defense Force conducted a massive Air Defense System (PVO) exercise involving 110 aircraft and helicopters across the breadth of the participating nations, with more than 10 missile, air defense, anti-aircraft, and electronic warfare units involved in training exercises to protect Moscow and the Central Federal District’s air space alone.

Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force Lieutenant-General Vadim Volkovitskii said, "Over 20 scenarios will be rehearsed, designed at strengthening the air space of CIS countries--Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan" (RIA-Novosti, April 22). The head of the Russian Air Force’s information and public relations department Colonel Aleksandr Drobyshevskii said, "Over 110 aircraft and helicopters--MiG-29 (NATO designation “Fulcrum”), MiG-31 (“Foxhound”), and Sukhoi Su-27 fighters (“Flanker”), Sukhoi Su–24 bombers (“Fencer”), Tupolev Tu-22 (“Blinder”), and Tupolev-95 (“Bear”) strategic bombers, Beriev A-50 Shmel (“Mainstay”) AWACS planes, as well as Mil Mi-8 (“Hip”) and Mil Mi-24 (“Hind”) helicopters are involved in the exercise". Russian Air Force Commander Colonel-General Aleksandr Zelin directed the exercise from the central command post of the Russian Air Force.

The breadth of the exercise is striking, as it ranges from Central Europe to the border with China and includes aircraft from Ukraine, a NATO aspirant whose potential membership particularly infuriates the Kremlin. The exercise involved a series of bilateral exercises. Russian and Kazakh MiG-31 interceptors operated from Kazakhstan’s Karaganda airfield, coordinating aerial interception operations with Russian fighters operating from airstrips in Tolmachevo and Bolshoe Savino. Farther west, more than 25 Belarusian and Russian Su-24 and Su-27 aircraft operating from Belarus facilities at Siverskiy and Russia’s Ross airfield conducted joint exercises. According to Drobyshevskii, aircraft from the Russian Kant air base in Kyrgyzstan also participated. Besides aircraft, Armenia contributed personnel to the PVO command staff exercise training.

The exercise took place two days after a Georgian reconnaissance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was shot down over the secessionist territory of Abkhazia, reportedly by a Russian Air Force fighter. Moscow strongly denies the charge. Georgia's air force commander subsequently played footage for reporters that allegedly shows a Russian aircraft downing the Georgian drone. The operation is reminiscent of one held in April 2004, when 100 CIS aircraft participated in a similar PVO exercise. U.S. aircraft from the nearby American base in Manas, Kyrgyzstan, shadowed the participating Russian fighters based in Kant. The 2004 exercise was directed against a simulated terrorist attack, but with tension rising between Russia and NATO, the recent exercise had a rather different emphasis.

Despite the public relations reports that the CIS PVO exercise went swimmingly, there are nevertheless indications that Russia’s Central Asian military presence creates local unrest in a similar way as the U.S. airbase in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. On December 6, 2006, a U.S. soldier there shot and killed a Kyrgyz citizen, leading to calls in Parliament to expel American forces from the base. In a fracas similar to the Manas incident, an encounter between Kyrgyz Interior Ministry (MVD) forces and Russian soldiers based at Kant resulted on April 20 in Lieutenant Maxim Zotov being shot after a jeep carrying troops sped through a stoplight. Zotov was wounded and sent to hospital with two broken ribs and bullet wounds to his lung and spleen. Seeking to quell the media reports about the incident, the MVD noted that “unfounded heightened speculation does not contribute to strengthening the collegial and allied relations of Kyrgyzstan with the Russian Federation against the background of the increasingly positive image of Russia in the world and in CIS countries."

If the American pressure to expand NATO eastwards does not abate, then one can expect to see additional CIS PVO exercises and, should Russia wish to burnish its “increasingly positive image” with its neighbors, similar operations with its Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) partners as well.

Source: http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2373004

[skhara]

Re: The Rise of the Russian Empire: Russo-Armenian Relations

And with this news, it looks like the Kremlin has drawn an official line in the sand.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/509856.html

Russia sounds warning to Georgia over breakaway regions

MOSCOW --
Russia said Friday it may use military force if conflict breaks out between Georgia and its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, voicing concern about the presence of Georgian troops in the area.

Foreign Ministry official Valery Kenyaikin also was critical of the U.S. role in helping to resolve the dispute, which threatens to destabilize the entire strategic South Caucasus.

His comments were Moscow's sharpest warning yet to Georgia in its standoff with the two breakaway regions.

"We don't plan anything of a military character, but should military conflicts break out on one side or another, then the initiator of these conflicts should be assured that Russia will take all possible measures in order to defend the interests of its countrymen and its citizens," he said in televised comments.

He alleged Georgia was building up military forces along the administrative border that separates it from Abkhazia, echoing accusations made earlier in the day by Abkhazian officials.

The buildup "can only mean preparations for military action ... possibly in the nearest future. This can't be ruled out," he was quoted as saying.

In Tbilisi, Georgian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Nana Intskirveli confirmed that additional forces were in regions near Abkhazia but said they were part of a scheduled training exercise.

There was no immediate comment from Georgia's Foreign Ministry, but lawmakers reacted harshly to Kenyaikin's comments.

"This ... without a doubt is a direct threat to Georgia," said Givi Targamadze, chairman of parliament's defense and security committee. "The international community should understand how serious this threat is, how aggressive Russia is, how Russia is prepared to take these steps."

Kenyaikin, who is in charge of relations with former Soviet states, also said he has "no confidence" that Washington is working in any way to resolve the standoff between Georgia and the two breakaway regions.

The United States has taken on a growing, though largely behind-the-scenes role in the dispute as Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has turned to Washington as a counterbalance to Russia's influence in the region.

Saakashvili has pushed for membership in NATO - a step Russia vehemently opposes.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia have had de-facto independence since breaking away from Georgian government control in wars in the early 1990s. Russia has long provided support to the two regions, including granting residents passports. Moscow recently lifted trade restrictions for businesses trying to trade with the regions.

Saakashvili has repeatedly vowed to bring Abkhazia and South Ossetia back under government control.

Kenyaikin warned that Georgia shouldn't expect to get help from NATO or other countries if it decides to abandon on-again, off-again talks with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Interfax and RIA-Novosti reported.

"If someone doesn't want any negotiations or if someone wants to rely on NATO forces to the point that NATO soldiers will be fighting (in Abkhazia or South Ossetia), then we will have an answer for them," Kenyaikin was quoted by Interfax and ITAR-Tass as saying.

Already tense relations between Moscow and Tbilisi took a turn for the worse last weekend, when a Georgian unmanned spy plane was shot down while flying over Abkhazia. Georgian air force officials say a video shows a Russian fighter jet was responsible, an accusation Moscow denies.

Georgia brought its case to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday to press for international support.