Month: June 2005

Turkish Press
June 14 2005
Press Scan
MILLIYET
PARTIES MAKE HARSH STATEMENTS AT TURKEY-EU JPC MEETING
The parties made harsh reactions at the 54th meeting of the Turkey-EU
Joint Parliamentary Commission.
The EU wing stated that reforms slowed down in Turkey, criticized
postponement of an Armenian conference and made criticisms that Chief
Negotiator Ali Babacan did not attend the meeting.
The Turkish delegation reacted to such a manner which was described as
“giving lesson”.
Co-President Joost Lagendijk said there were statements that few
progress was recorded in Turkey, noting that, “it seems the momentum
before December 17th has changed. Do you think of maintaining the
reform process?”. As to the Armenian conference, Lagendijk said,
“I was very pleased when I first heard about the conference. I hope
this is not a cancellation but a postponement.”

Turkish Press
June 14 2005
Press Scan
VATAN
ARMENIAN YOUTHS WANT TO ATTEND UNIVERSITIES IN TURKEY
Turhan Comez, a parliamentarian from the ruling Justice & Development
Party (AKP), said that he paid a visit to Armenia with the support of
the government, stating that Armenian students told him that they
wanted to attend universities in Turkey. He added that he would
expend efforts for exchange of Turkish and Armenian students.

Zaman, Turkey
June 14 2005
Unchecked Tourist Guides Harm Turkey’s Image
By Isa Sezen, Fatih Yýlmaz
Published: Tuesday 14, 2005
zaman.com
Turkey is heading for a record in number of tourists, while the
tourist guides create a scandalous introduction to Turkey containing
inaccurate information about the country.
Research conducted by Zaman at Topkapi and Dolmabahce palaces indicates
that the stories told about Ottoman sultans suggest that they were
addicted to women. Unofficial tour guides reportedly use the expression
to darken Turkey’s image regarding the issues of Cyprus, Kurdish, and
Armenian. The Antalya Tourist Guide Association President Osman Ozbuldu
says the organization has received complaints that reveal that even
during organized tours, the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk is introduced as the “God of the Turks”. Professor Semavi Eyice
who teaches history to tour guides emphasizes that professional tour
guides are required to have information on general culture and history.
Statistics about the type of penalties that guides are given as the
result of wrongdoing indicate the control mechanisms of the Ministry
of Culture and Tourism are insufficient. Over the past four years,
92 official tour guides have received disciplinary punishment after
they violated their field of authority and used expired tour guide
identification cards. However, attention is being drawn to the fact
that there is no penalty for defaming the national pride. While 1,450
unofficial guides went through the punishment process, experts see
a solution through the wide spread the use of electronic tour guide
systems.
In order to prevent arbitrary information being disseminated about
history, many historic places in Europe and the US are equipped
with sound systems and giant screens. A tour guide with three
years experience at the Topkapi Palace Harem Department suggests,
“This could be solved in two ways: Either appoint a superior to every
single tour guide or disseminate information using sound and visionary
systems under the control of the Ministry.” Turkey was visited by 17
million tourists last year and this year the target is expected to
reach 20 million. The increasing development of the sector reveals
the importance of the tourist guides and their attitude in presenting
the values and accurate facts of the country with respect.
–Boundary_(ID_EjIN5MT7Ho0YBYLBm3WI3g)–

CBA PLACES GOVERNMENT BONDS IN ARMENIA
YEREVAN, June 13. /ARKA/. Short-term government bonds of the
Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) have for the first time been placed in
Armenia. The CBA press service reports that the first issue of CBA’s
securities totaled 2bln AMD. The CBA issued 91-day government bonds of
the AMCB13129053 series. Bids made up 1,923,000,000 AMD. Government
bonds worth a total of 1,057,000,000 AMD were placed, 54.97% of the
bids and 52.85% of the announced issue volume. Fourteen dealers took
part in the tenders. The average weighted yield of government bonds
made up 4.6460%.
>>From now on, besides the traditional instruments of monetary policy,
the CBA intends to actively apply such instruments for sterilizing
access liquidity as regular issues of its own securities, (CBA’s
government short-term bonds). The CBA experts forecast a considerable
increase in dram liquidity in Armenia’s banking system. The reason
for that is that a new standard of compulsory reservation at the
CBA was enforced in Armenia on June 10, 2005. According to the new
standard, reservation of the funds attracted by Armenia’s commercial
banks will be carried out in terms of the corresponding currency – USD
reservation of USD funds, AMD reservation of AMD funds, EUR reservation
for EUR funds. As regards other currencies, USD reservation will be
carried out.
The minimum standard of compulsory reservation at the CBA is 8% of the
volume of attracted funds against the previous 6%. According to the
CBA’s latest information, on June 6, 2005, the compulsory reservation
volume at the CBA made up 30.2bln AMD, monetary base 141.9bln AMD
($1 – AMD 456.70) P.T. –0-

US daily editors, Turkish PM discuss unpublished advert on Armenian issue
NTV Television, Istanbul
11 June 05
[Announcer] It has emerged that New York Times [NYT] [daily] refused
to publish an advertisement by 36 Turkish nongovernmental organizations
[NGOs] which reject the allegations regarding the Armenian genocide.
The NYT advertisement section wrote a letter to the said Turkish NGOs,
stating: We believe that the Armenian genocide took place. Therefore
we do not find it right to publish your advertisement.
At a meeting with the editorial council of the NYT, Prime Minister
Erdogan expressed his displeasure regarding this issue.
On the last day of his contacts in the United States, Erdogan
held a meeting with the NYT editorial council. At the meeting, the
NYT officials criticized the cancellation of the planned Armenian
conference that was to be held at Bogazici University. Prime Minister
Erdogan said that Justice Minister Cemil Cicek’s remarks on the issue
were his personal views and that there was no legal barrier to hold
the conference.
At this point, Erdogan raised the issue of the NYT’s refusal to
publish the advertisement last April, and criticized the paper for the
decision. Erdogan pointed out that by showing its goodwill Turkey has
opened its archives. Anyone can come and learn the truth from these
official archives, he said.
Given this situation, Erdogan went on, the fact that the NYT refused to
publish the Turkish NGOs advertisement by claiming that it believed in
the Armenian genocide showed that it had had certain ulterior motives.
Akif Beki, the prime minister’s spokesman, related how the NYT editors
responded to the prime minister’s remarks:
[Beki] They merely listened. Then they said that they would study
the said advertisement as well as the refusal by the head of the
advertisement section, and that they would inform us of the results
of their evaluation.

Ex-Soviet states need help too, Putin tells Blair
Patrick Wintour in Moscow
Tuesday June 14, 2005
The Guardian
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, warned Tony Blair yesterday that
former Soviet states such as Georgia and Tajikistan needed as much
help as Africa if they were not to become a battlefield.
Speaking with Mr Blair after talks at the presidential dacha outside
Moscow, Mr Putin also rejected criticism of his increasingly
authoritarian style of government, saying the attacks were an
interference in his country’s domestic policy. He joked that, unlike
Africa, Russia did not settle its disputes by eating its adversaries.
Mr Blair was in Moscow to pursue his agenda for the G8 summit of
leading industrialised countries focusing on climate change and Africa.
He felt forced to open the press conference with an apology for
his failure to attend Russia’s 60th anniversary celebrations of the
victory over Nazi Germany, held in Moscow on May 9. Mr Blair sent his
deputy, John Prescott, who was then dispatched to the back row of world
leaders in what was seen as a sign of Mr Putin’s anger at the British
indifference to the role played by Russia in Europe’s liberation.
Mr Blair said: “I was preoccupied with deciding the new government
and I was unable to attend that commemoration. But I would like to
pay tribute to the courage, heroism and dedication of the Russian
people and Russian armed forces in the way they defeated the Nazis,
and so helped ensure our generation enjoyed freedom.”
Mr Putin said Russia, one of the key energy suppliers of the future,
was close to Britain’s objectives for cutting carbon emissions. He
said the task now was to draw in states that had not signed the treaty,
or had only done so in a formal way.
Mr Blair said: “There is a real prospect of progress on Africa and
climate change.”
Russia takes on the presidency of the G8 next year and Mr Putin
signalled that he would make the fate of the Commonwealth of
Independent States, especially Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan and
Kyrgyzstan, a priority. All four states have suffered revolutions or
insurrections, with often difficult ethnic conflicts or a lack of
democracy creating tensions in neighbouring states. Mr Putin said:
“The situation in the CIS is equally important as that in Africa.”
Some of the 12 CIS states were technically classified as heavily
indebted countries and “need the support of the international
community. We should not turn the CIS space into a battlefield,
rather we should transform this space into a field of cooperation.”
He said the G8 should be assisting these states in developing democracy
and helping enhance their economies.

News From Bangladesh
bangladesh-web.com
Tuesday | June 14, 2005
Political trouble brewing in oil-rich Azerbaijan-another central Asian
Islamic Paradise
A.H. Jaffor Ullah
In the last two years, the world heard earful of news of political
dissensions in several of the ex-Soviet republics. Some of these
nations are located near Euro-Asian border in Caucasus region while
one is in Europe. The protesters wore different colored scarves in
different dissenting nations thus engendering new and catchy names
for each of the revolution.
Take the case of Georgia (Rose Revolution) where in late November
2003 a pro-West politician by the name Mikhail Saakashvili ousted a
tyrannical president Eduard Shevarnadze, an aging ex-communist who
was the foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev.
The second revolution took place in Ukraine in December 2004 to
protest a rigged election in which a pro-Russian presidential hopeful,
Viktor Yanukovych, was declared a winner by a slim margin. For weeks,
protesters jammed the central city square wearing orange scarf. The end
result was the declaration of the rigged election null and void. Within
weeks, a new election put the dissident politician, Viktor Yushchenko,
into power and christening the term the “Orange Revolution.”
In late March 2005, trouble brewed in Kyrgyzstan, a tranquil central
Asian ex-Soviet republic, where the despotic president, Askar Akayev,
who enforced an iron clad rule since the summer of 1991 when Soviet
union imploded due to President Mikhail Gorbachev’s implementation
of perestroika and glasnost.
Ordinary citizens and political dissidents stormed the presidential
palace and government offices in capital city of Bishkek. During
the tumult, the deposed president Askar Akayev fled the country to
neighboring nation of Kazakhstan. The country is now under the control
of pro-west politicians.
On May 13, 2005, a political trouble escalated in Ferghana valley,
which is politically controlled by Uzbekistan. In the eastern-most city
of Andijan (in Ferghana), the government troop fired indiscriminately
killing more than 600 protesters and bystanders. Uzbekistan is ruled
iron-fistedly by a dictator named Islam Karomov who is supported
by Kremlin and tolerated by American Administration. Many Uzbek
dissenters moved into neighboring Kyrgyzstan in the aftermath of May
13 carnage. After the putsch, life seems to be returning to normalcy
in eastern Uzbekistan. Only time will tell if the seed of political
discontent sowed in spring 2005 will amount to anything in the future.
A month could hardly pass when we read in the news that a new trouble
brewed up in the oil-rich nation of Azerbaijan, which is located
to the west of Caspian Sea, and which is also considered an eastern
Transcaucasian nation.
The geo-political significance of Azerbaijan cannot be
underestimated. It sits at the far end of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipelines, situated between the Black
and Caspian seas, containing two, possibly three breakaway provinces,
and borders Iran, Georgia, Armenia, and Russia.
Some background information should come handy to better appreciate
what ails this oil-rich nation inhabited by nearly 8 million people
living in a land about half the size of Bangladesh. Azerbaijanis are
essentially Turkic and Muslim whose nation regained independence
after the collapse of the Soviet Union in summer of 1991. Trouble
brewed in 1994 with the neighboring nation, Armenia, over disputed
region of Nagorno-Karabakh enclave where Armenian people live.
Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict
with Armenia. The country has lost 16% of its territory in the conflict
and must support some 571,000 internally displaced persons because
of the conflict.
The sad part of Azerbaijan story is that corruption is ubiquitous
and the promise of nation building from oil revenues remains largely
unfulfilled.
One parenthetical note about Azerbaijanis is that most of them are
Shiites.
Culturally, they are similar to people who live in Azerbaijan province
of Iran whose capital city is Tabriz.
A personal anecdote about Azerbaijani people and their devotion to
religion Islam. In early 1960s when I was a high school student in
Tejgaon, Dhaka, the Soviet Union sent a soccer team to Pakistan for
friendly matches. The Soviet team happened to be the Baku Oil Mill,
which was one of the best team in the communist paradise. A couple
of my friend befriended a team member who had a Perso-Arabic name. He
told us that he is an Azeri. We wanted to give him a gift as a token
of our friendship. He asked for a prayer mat and a copy of Koran
for his elderly parents. I now gather that during Soviet rule, the
Azerbaijanis were not allowed to practice their religion in public;
however, in private people maintained their faith. The response from
the visiting team member asking for a copy of Koran and prayer mat
speaks in volume for a thriving religion in private.
Coming back to the main story, on June 4, 2005, about 10,000 opposition
Azerbaijanis chanted “Freedom!” and carried pictures of President Bush
as they marched across nation’s capital (Baku), urging the government
of this U.S. ally to step down and allow free parliamentary elections
this year.
The spontaneous rally in Baku was the largest of its kind in which
opposition demonstrators shouted “Freedom.” The last time Azeri people
came out to demonstrate against the government was in October 2003 when
one person died and nearly 200 were injured in clashes between police
and demonstrators protesting vote rigging in the presidential election.
Tensions have been building ever since October 2003 demonstration
in this oil-rich Caspian Sea nation in the run-up to parliamentary
elections set for November 2005. Experts from the region predict
that Azerbaijan could see a massive uprising similar to the ones that
toppled unpopular and autocratic regimes in other ex-Soviet nations
of Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan during the past 18 months.
According to news report, supporters of several opposition parties
shouted “Freedom!” and “Free Elections!” while holding placards with
such slogans as “Down with robber government!” Some even carried a
picture of Bush with the inscription: “We want freedom!” Azerbaijanis
know that America has its eye fixed on this oil-rich nation. Therefore,
carrying Bush’s photo while protesting against the repressive regime
meant asking America’s help to topple the present government.
The U.S. Department of State has given a statement in which it welcomed
granting by the Azerbaijan Government of permit to the meeting of
opposition on June 4, 2005, last Saturday in Baku. State Department
spokesperson, Mr.
Sean McCormack, underlined that the political rally ended
peacefully. On behalf of the Bush Administration, he called on the
government of Azerbaijan to grant permit to further demonstrations
of opposition so that the forthcoming fall parliament elections met
international standards.
Why should America have interest in seeing a pro-West government
installed in Baku a la Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan? The
answer lies in the fact that Azerbaijan sits on a massive oil
reserve. Oil output from Azerbaijan is expected to balloon to more
than 20 million tones in 2005. Furthermore, according to President
Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan, which inaugurated the four-billion-dollar
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline in May 2005, is expected to see
output grow further to 50 million tons per year in 2006 Aliyev said
at an oil and gas conference.
It should be noted here that America had backed the BTC project —
an infrastructure initiative that will allow Caspian Sea producers
to get their oil to Western markets without going through Russia –
that is expected to handle the excess output from the oilfield located
on the Caspian Sea.
America is hoping that the BTC pipeline when fully functional
would allow the West to depend less on OPEC nation to fulfill their
energy demand. After 2010 when Azerbaijan will produce less oil,
then Kazakhstan would commit their crude to the BTC pipeline. These
are the reasons why America and the West would like to see a pro-West
government installed in Baku. The present president, Ilham Aliyev,
while maintains good terms with both Kremlin and Washington but fellow
Azeris considers him an authoritarian ruler because he has the virtual
monopoly to power in Azerbaijan.
Some experts in Baku say that the opening of BTC marked the unofficial
start of the parliamentary election campaign. President Aliyev and
other top officials have offered assurances that the parliamentary
vote will be fair.
Opposition leaders, however, voiced their concerns about such
exaggerated claims, and expressed a desire to intensify the pressure
on the government.
Opposition protesters on June 4, 2005, milled on the streets for
electoral amendments designed to dilute the Aliyev administration’s
influence over election commissions on all levels.
In summary, opposition politicians and their supporters took to the
streets in Baku to demonstrate against the present regime on June 4,
2005. The good thing is that Aliyev regime allowed the demonstration
to go through. The parliamentary election is nearing; therefore, the
restive opposition politicians are agitating on the streets of the
capital. The Aliyev Administration hailed the opening of BTC pipeline
as a monumental achievement; however, the opposition politicians
are using the same venue to tell the world that all is not well in
this oil-rich Muslim nation as far as democracy and free election is
concerned. Stay tuned for more development in the political front. My
take is that Aliyev is a seasoned politician who would be difficult
to remove in the near term. In addition, the Bush Administration is
in good term with him. Therefore, there is no urgency in toppling
Aliyev. We maybe entering a New World Order but America still calls
the shots.
Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New
Orleans, USA

Armenian speaker denies Turkish report about problems with diaspora
Yerkir website, Yerevan
14 Jun 05
Excerpt from report by Armenian newspaper Yerkir website on 14 June
Yerevan, 14 June: The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly,
Artur Bagdasaryan, has denied the report that during his meeting
with a Turkish MP [Turhan Comez], he allegedly said that Armenia has
problems with the Armenian diaspora.
It must be noted that this information was disseminated by the Turkish
newspaper Zaman, but the press centre of the Armenian National Assembly
denied this five days later.
During his press conference, Bagdasaryan not only denied this report,
but also informed journalists that during the meeting, he asked
the Turkish MP why he thought there was an Armenian diaspora of 7
million. The Turkish deputy declined to answer this question.
As for the absence of journalist from the meeting, as a result of
which the Turkish media disseminated disinformation, Bagdasaryan
pointed out that it was an official visit and journalists should not
attend such meetings.
[Passage omitted: about the possible meetings between young Armenians
and Turks]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SPEAKER OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT PROPOSES REFORMS OF CIS
YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Artur
Baghdasaryan has made a proposal for reforming the CIS. Talking to
journalists, Baghdasaryan stated that he made this proposal at the CIS
Interparliamentary Assembly in Saint Petersburg. According to him,
the CIS needs serious reforms, and Armenia intends to be involved
in this process at the level of both legislative and executive
powers. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARF – Movement 88 issues address to people
14.06.2005 17:27
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The Armenian Revolutionary Federation – Movement
88 coalition has issued an address to the people of Karabakh in
connection with the upcoming parliamentary election in the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic. Below is the text of the address.
Dear Compatriots,
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation – “Movement ’88” coalition
appeals to you–our homeland’s faithful , indomitable, and
fearless comrades-in-arms. Once again, our country’s future is
endangered. Certain servants of our ruling authorities–abusing their
official posts, using their levers of power, relying on the wealth
they have amassed through plunder and unlawful means, casting aside
the values of basic human morality, resorting to forcible pressures
and trampling upon the most basic human rights, spreading fear and
terror, everywhere employing dirty tricks and lawless means, using the
temptation of money and bribes–now seek to place in parliamentary
seats pro-government candidates, and through them to prolong an
atmosphere of acquiescence, license, corruption, bribery, power,
authority, etc.
Just as yesterday, when we won our victory through efforts of
solidarity, through the unbreakable will of our young, at the price
of blood shed by our freedom-fighters, today once more let us gather
our forces, rally around the course of democratization, defense of
human rights, and ideology; let us stand up for our rights and our
dignity; let us not be fooled by the empty promises of pro-government
candidates, and with the steadfast stance befitting the people of
Artsakh, let us raise our voice resolutely, and give our votes to the
ARF-“Movement ’88 coalition, both in general and especially through
its candidates, who have gone through the path of war, and who have
been forged in the crucible of battle.
Dear Compatriots,
You, through your voice, and we, through our determination, together
are destined to secure the future dignity of the people of Artsakh.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation – “Movement ’88” Coalition