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02/07/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) French Parliament Head Raises Genocide, Cyprus Issue During Turkey Visit 2) Rice Holds Talks in Turkey, Gives Assurances over Iraq 3) Azeri Officer's Trial to Begin on February 8 4) Three Men Arrested After Deadly Shootout in Yerevan 5) CBC Radio Provides Platform to Armenian Genocide Deniers, Say Canadian Armenian Leaders 1) French Parliament Head Raises Genocide, Cyprus Issue During Turkey Visit ANKARA (Combined Sources)--Heading a French delegation to Turkey last week, French Parliament Speaker Jean-Louis Debre addressed the Armenian genocide and Cyprus issues during his meetings with Turkish officials. With France's ruling UMP party at odds with its most prominent member--President Jacques Chirac--on the prospect of Turkey's full EU membership, Debre raised the contentious issue of the Armenian genocide during a meeting with Chairman of the EU Commission in the Turkish Parliament Yasar Yakis and other parliamentarians. Debre proposed that an independent international institution conduct research on the Armenian Genocide, stating it would be the only fair way to affirm the facts. An article in Paris's Le Monde addressed the issue, quoting Debre as telling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that "Turkey's attitude to the Armenian genocide" of 1915 "poses a real problem for France." According to Le Monde, Erdogan's response was that he was "disappointed" with "Paris's position" and "did not know that 400,000 (dead) Armenians could decide the referendum" Paris intends to hold on Ankara's membership bid. Turkish authorities, the newspaper reported, expressed willingness to "consider" a proposal which would give an international commission of historians access to its archives. Addressing the Cyprus issue, Debre said although it is impossible to stay indifferent to the request of a country with a population of 71 million to join the EU, questions such as Cyprus and Turkey's human rights record must be solved. During a joint news conference with Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, Debre assured that both the Armenian genocide and the Cyprus problem were discussed with Erdogan. "Everything works more comfortably as long as people are in peace with their own history," Debre said. During his visit, Debre also met with Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Archbishop Mesrob Mutafyan. Archbishop Mutafyan expressed, "Together with all the other non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, our Patriarchal See and the Turkish Armenian community support the accession of Turkey into the European Union." He added that Armenians also support the process in hopes that it might bring the long-awaited peace not only between Turkey and Armenia, but also among all countries in the region. 2) Rice Holds Talks in Turkey, Gives Assurances over Iraq ANKARA (AFP)--US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who held talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara, was quick to assure wary ally Ankara that its concerns over the future of neighboring Iraq are not being ignored. Rice, on a whirlwind tour of eight European capitals, Israel, and the West Bank, met with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and was also to hold talks with her counterpart Abdullah Gul. Rice's visit follows harsh warnings from Ankara that Washington is turning a blind eye to Kurdish moves in northern Iraq aimed at paving the way for future Kurdish independence in the region. The accusations come at a time when the two NATO allies are already struggling to repair their ties in the wake of a severe diplomatic crisis prior to Iraq's invasion in March 2003, when Ankara stunned Washington by denying US troops access to Turkish territory to attack Iraq from the north. "The United States favors a unified Iraq in which the rights of all Iraqis are represented and respected," Rice told NTV television Sunday, with voice-over translation into Turkish. While shaping their post-war nation, the Iraqis have the responsibility to create a country that will live in peace with its neighbors, she said. The prospect of major Kurdish political gains in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk following the January 30 elections has irked Ankara, which suspects that the Kurds want the ethnically mixed city to become the capital of an independent Kurdish state. Such a state, Ankara fears, would fuel moves towards independence among the restive Kurds of adjoining southeast Turkey, sparking regional turmoil. Rice told NTV that it was up to the Iraqis to decide on the future status of Kirkuk, but stressed that the ethnically volatile city, which is also home to Turkish-speaking Turkmens, should be a place where "all Iraqis will live together without fears." She also sought to assure Ankara that Washington was "very determined" to ensure that Turkish Kurd rebels holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq are prevented from using the region as a springboard for violence against Turkey. Ankara has long been frustrated with US reluctance to take military action against the guerrillas, who found refuge in the enclave prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq and who last summer ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with Turkey. She said trilateral security meetings between Turkey, Iraq, and the United States should continue and that the parties should also seek to use non-military measures, such as cutting off sources of finance for the rebels. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), to which the rebels belong, is considered a terrorist organization by Washington. Rice stopped short of pledging military action against the PKK, highlighting the difficult security situation in other parts of Iraq. Bilateral differences over Iraq are believed to have increased anti-US sentiment in Turkey, a strictly secular Muslim nation which Washington has often praised as a model for co-habitation between democracy and Islam. However, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has often led the criticism towards Washington, insisted that Turkish-US ties remained strong. "Our ties continue with the same maturity and in a positive spirit...at the level of strategic partnership. We have confirmed this between ourselves," he told reporters after talks with Rice late Saturday. The toughening US policy towards Iran, another troubled neighbor of Turkey, and efforts to revive the Middle East peace process were also expected to be high on Rice's agenda here. Rice was to hold a news conference with Gul later on Sunday before flying out to Israel, her next point of call. 3) Azeri Officer's Trial to Begin on February 8 BAKU (Combined Sources)--The murder trial of Azeri senior lieutenant Ramil Safarov will begin on February 8 in Budapest, Hungary. Safarov is being tried for the February 19, 2004 slaying of Armenian serviceman Gurgen Margarian. Safarov's attorney, Adil Ismayilov, said that a Hungarian lawyer will join the case during the next two days in order to help fend the charges. Margarian's family will be represented by Nazeli Vardanyan and Gabriela Kaspar. The Armenian serviceman's lawyers will also represent Hayk Makuchyan--a member of the Armenian military who Safarov attempted to murder. The Azeri officer is being charged with Article No. 166.2 of the Hungarian Criminal Court--first-degree murder and attempted murder--for which he could face 10 years to life imprisonment. In an attempt to partially curb Safarov's responsibility, Bilal Mirzalioghli Asadov, Chief Psychologist of Azerbaijan, has asked that the defendant undergo a psychological examination. Safarov told the count during his previous trial that he was in an "unconscious" state during the murder. Medical examinations, however, indicate that he was fully aware of his acts. 4) Three Men Arrested After Deadly Shootout in Yerevan YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Armenian prosecutors announced on Monday the arrest of three unidentified men suspected of taking part in a late-night gunfight in Yerevan that left one person dead and two others seriously wounded. The spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Gurgen Ambarian, refused to identify the suspects and comment on possible reasons for the shootout. The deadly incident occurred late on Friday in the city's southern outskirts mainly occupied by Soviet-era idle factories. Television pictures from the scene showed a bullet-holed car and spent cartridges strewn on the ground. More than a dozen cars were reportedly parked in the deserted area when the gunfire erupted. Police said three young men were rushed to a nearby hospital as a result. One of them, aged 30, died shortly afterward, while the two others were reported to remain in a critical condition on Monday. A spokesman for the national Police Service, Zarzand Gabrielian said that two people who participated in the shootout turned themselves in over the weekend. He said one of the men surrendered a Kalashnikov rifle and a pistol. It was unclear whether they were among the detainees mentioned by the prosecutors' spokesman. Gabrielian revealed that investigators searched the apartment of the murdered man and found an arsenal of firearms and ammunition, including eight Kalashnikovs. He added that law-enforcement authorities have already "established the identity of a number of suspects" and have already begun to "interrogate their relatives." But he declined to give further details of the case. 5) CBC Radio Provides Platform to Armenian Genocide Deniers, Say Canadian Armenian Leaders MONTREAL--The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) demonstrated a lack of judgment when it failed to invite representatives of the Canadian-Armenian community to its Feb. 6, Sunday Edition radio program during which, following discussions of a book on the Armenian genocide, only the Turkish Embassy was allowed to present its side. "It's regrettable that deniers of the Armenian Genocide [Turkish Government] have been provided with a platform while the representatives of the Canadian-Armenian community have not been offered the opportunity to respond to the Turkish Government's propaganda," commented Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) president, Dr. Girair Basmadjian. In a 25-minute segment, host Michael Enright interviewed Prof. Taner Akçam, the author of "From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide." Following the interview, Enright read a lengthy statement by the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa. No such statement, however, was requested from the Armenian Embassy of Ottawa. Akçam is one of many Turkish historians to recognize publicly the mass killings and deportation, in 1915, of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide. His book represents a scholarly attempt to document the Armenian genocide from the perpetrator's, rather than victim's, perspective. In the interview, Akçam stated that he has been refused posts in Turkish universities because of his recognition of the Armenian genocide. "We commend the CBC and thank Michael Enright for their decision to shed light on the Forgotten Genocide of the 20th century, and Prof. Akçam's scholarly research. At the same time we were surprised and disappointed to hear Enright read the Turkish Embassy's statement that was, as usual, full of historical fabrications and misinformation--the usual official stance of successive Turkish governments. To us, it is a sheer error of judgment to confront an honest academician with a baseless political onslaught, without even giving a chance for the author to respond," said Dr. Basmadjian. The Canadian-Armenian community leader said that it was unfortunate the CBC provided an opportunity for such a statement from the Turkish Embassy while not affording Canadian-Armenians the same opportunity. "Moreover, the statement was an outright insult to the author, Dr. Akçam, who did not lack courage to express the historical truth. The Canadians of Armenian origin representing survivors of the said Genocide are commemorating the 90th anniversary this year, are insulted by such statements on a respectable broadcasting corporation such as the CBC," added Dr. Basmadjian. The program also omitted the fact that the Armenian genocide has officially been recognized by the Senate and House of Commons of Canada in 2002 and 2004 respectively, and by the provincial legislatures of Ontario and Quebec dating back to 1980. "Genocide denial out of ignorance or a false sense of "balanced journalism" or "political correctness" is irresponsible and only serves to promote revisionist policies...Do we provide Holocaust deniers with such courtesies or platforms?" asked Dr. Basmadjian. The ANCC is seeking an apology from the CBC to its Armenian listeners and a promise to afford equal time to the Armenian Embassy in Canada. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2005 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. --Boundary_(ID_xIG4LZzrsw3QnSEkr897aw)--