Caucasus Diary
July 1999

 

By Shai Franklin, Director of Governmental Relations

In July 1999, I participated in a delegation with four representatives from the American Jewish Committee (AJC), visiting the three Caucasus republics: Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan remain in a state of belligerency involving the continued blockade of Armenia and the ultimate disposition of the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding Armenian-held territory in Azerbaijan. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, formerly Soviet Foreign Minister under Mikhail Gorbachev, plays a constructive role in resolving this dispute, has a close personal affinity to Israel and the Jewish community, and is the closest the region has to a democratically-minded leader.

Our July 5-15 trip through these countries was meant to continue dialogue with each government on regional issues, to express support for each country’s growing relationship with the State of Israel and the United States, and to deepen contacts with the Jewish communities in the region. The delegation included AJC Treasurer Ronald Weiner, Ambassador Peter Rosenblatt, AJC Vice President Richard Weinberg, and AJC Assistant Director of Government and International Affairs Barry Jacobs.

ARMENIA

Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian meeting in Yerevan with NCSJ/AJC delegation

In the capital Yerevan, we met with U.S. Ambassador Michael Lemmon and then conducted extensive and substantive meetings with the bulk of Armenia’s senior government leaders: the new Defense Minister, the Speaker of Parliament, the new Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, and President Robert Kocharian. We were able to engage both the Foreign Minister and the President on regional issues and democratization, encourage further Armenian cooperation with Western governments, and address Armenian concerns about American Jewish support for Silk Road legislation.

After our meeting with President Kocharian, we met with 75 members of the Jewish community, learning about communal achievements and hearing their concerns, many of which focused on emigration and aliyah. We later met with congregants of Yerevan’s synagogue, and presented a gift from American Congressional staffers who had visited in late 1998. During two visits to Armenia’s Genocide Memorial and museum, we were able to see powerful images and documentation relating to the tragic events of 1915.

Director of the Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide leads group on tour

On Wednesday, July 7, we visited Nagorno-Karabakh – legally still part of Azerbaijan – where the local ethnic Armenians have declared independence. Standing on the high ground overlooking the capital Stepanakert, from where Azeri forces could fire on Armenian homes ten years ago, we gained an appreciation for the strategic dynamic and the tenacity of the Armenian irregulars who eventually captured the hills. In our meetings with the locally recognized President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Parliament Speaker of Karabakh, it was evident that they were preparing for a negotiated settlement.

Crossing into Nagorno-Karabakh

GEORGIA

After arriving in Tbilisi, we joined Ambassador Kenneth Yalowitz for lunch and then met with Foreign Minister Irakli Menagarishvili, discussing our meetings in Armenia and Karabakh, Georgian-Israeli relations, and the economic and political challenges still facing Georgia. On an issue relating to the return of communal property – a major synagogue seized by the Soviets and now used by a theatre company – the Foreign Minister reported that President Shevardnadze is closely following the issue, particularly since a standing court decision has ordered the building returned to the Jewish community.

(l.-r.) NCSJ's Shai Franklin, and American Jewish Committee's Peter Rosenblatt, Ronald Weiner, Barry Jacobs and Richard Weinberg at the Armenian-Georgian border

Early Friday evening, President Shevardnadze spent 90 minutes meeting with us, even as a government hostage crisis was unfolding in the northwestern republic of Abkhazia. In addition to discussing democratization, Georgia’s Jewish community and Israel, he also reflected on the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute, saying that both leaders seek a peaceful resolution if through different paths, and suggesting that progress in Azerbaijan’s energy development could be a good basis for improving regional relations.

I followed up on two issues we had discussed when the President visited Washington last April. The first item involved the theft of materials from the Jewish cemetery, and I expressed our appreciation for the arrest of the perpetrator, noting that such responsiveness is a worthy example for other former Soviet republics as they attempt to develop rule of law and guarantees for minority-protection. The second item – the court order concerning return of the synagogue – has yet to be enforced, though I thanked him for his direct involvement and for his personal commitment – past and present – to resolving this issue expeditiously.

As the sun set over Tbilisi, we joined the Jewish community for Shabbat services at the "Georgian" synagogue, one of two main synagogues currently in use by the community. Following services, we joined Chief Rabbi Ariel Levin for dinner with members of the community.

On Sunday morning, July 11, we met with Hillel Director Maurice Krikheli and ten student leaders, who told us they seek to connect with other Jews and to "give something back". They are integrated into Hillel’s network across the former Soviet Union, as well as programs such as a Yad Vashem project to identify the names of Holocaust victims. They explained that anti-Semitism in Georgia is never visible, but exists beneath the surface, mostly as a vestige of Soviet society. Maurice and two of the students led us on a tour of Tbilisi, including the synagogue which has been the subject of meetings and court decisions.

AZERBAIJAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two young Azeri refugees

Monday morning, July 12, we flew to Baku aboard a small plane operated by the United Nations World Food Program. Our first afternoon included meetings with U.S. Ambassador Stanley Escudero and Israel’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan. The delegation also visited Azeri refugees from the Azeri-Armenian conflict. Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov accompanied us on this visit, after which we returned for dinner with Ambassador Escudero and several Jewish community leaders at the Ambassador’s residence.

Tuesday, July 13, featured meetings with President Heydar Aliyev’s principal advisers on national minorities and foreign policy. With minorities adviser Hidayat Orujev, in particular, we had a lengthy discussion of regional minority issues as well as Jewish concerns. We also met with Foreign Minister Zulfugarov, who expressed his belief that the United States can support both Armenia and Azerbaijan on the road to peace. Later that evening, the delegation sponsored a dinner with Azeri opposition leaders and journalists, as well as the Baku representative of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

On Wednesday, July 14, we visited the community of Mountain Jews and the regional governor in northern Azerbaijan, and met in Baku with President Aliyev. The Mountain Jews live in a town with the anachronistic name of Krasnaya Sloboda (Red Village), across a wide and shallow river from the city of Kuba. After meeting with some 60 members of the community in one of the main synagogues, we visited a crowded Jewish school and a massive synagogue currently undergoing restoration.

The meeting with President Aliyev gave us the chance to discuss the growing relationship and cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel, and Azerbaijan’s historic protection of and assistance to its Jewish population. Just before we entered the meeting with the President, we were informed that he would depart the next morning for Geneva, to meet one-on-one with Armenian President Kocharian. We conveyed to him our sense that Armenia was ready to move forward, and he in turn expressed his own optimism.

Early the next morning, the AJC delegation departed for Turkey, to meet with the Prime Minister and other government officials in Ankara. I met for breakfast with Lazar Tsukerman, a Jewish leader who informed me of the community’s accomplishments and needs. Before my flight to Moscow, I was able to visit three Jewish institutions. The first stop, with Rabbi Moshe Kishon of Vaad Hatzoloh, was a state-subsidized school for 240 Jewish students within a larger public school complex, where studies include Jewish and secular subjects, and hot kosher meals are served. Next, Rabbi Kishon took me to a Jewish college, where students can study Jewish subjects more intensively in addition to English-language and computer classes.

On my way to the airport, I visited Mr. Tsukerman at the recently opened Jewish community center, built with support from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). I saw the brand-new classrooms, offices and kitchen, and watched elderly Jews receiving their food packages and clinical consultations, as well as.

Beyond the personal opportunity to visit all three Caucasus countries, we were able to reaffirm American Jewish interest to all three governments, to deepen and maintain the connection between American Jews and Jewish communities in the region, and to appreciate firsthand the political, economic and social challenges facing this strategic part of the world.