FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD
Posted on 06/14/2002 7:44:38 AM PDT by Cagey
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - New York wineries announced plans on Thursday for a wine-tasting party to raise funds to clear mines and restore once-flourishing vineyards in the Fizuli region of the former Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.
The July 2 fund-raiser at United Nations headquarters is being organized by the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, representing over 160 vineyards across New York state, and the nonprofit Humpty Dumpty Institute, which has helped arrange private funding for a number of mine-clearance projects.
The foundation said it was working with the institute -- whose slogan is "Putting the pieces back together again" -- to raise money to clear land mines from areas around the world where wine-making once prospered.
The Fizuli district, an area long dotted with vineyards and orchards, was mined during a fierce civil war between Azerbaijan and breakaway ethnic Armenians that began in 1988 and ended in a shaky cease-fire in 1994.
In that conflict, Armenian troops seized and occupied the mainly ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh as well as vast swaths of Azerbaijani territory surrounding it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.