Month: June 2005

Agence France Presse
8 juin 2005 mercredi 11:15 AM GMT
Des députés turcs vendredi en Arménie pour passer un “message
d’amitié”
ANKARA 8 juin 2005
Un groupe de parlementaires turcs se rendra vendredi pour une visite
de deux jours en Arménie voisine avec laquelle la Turquie
n’entretient pas de liens diplomatiques pour transmettre un “message
d’amitié”, a indiqué mercredi l’un des députés.
Lors de cette visite non-officielle, les quatre députés membre du
parti au pouvoir et de l’opposition participeront à une conférence à
l’Université d’Etat d’Erevan, a souligné Turan Comez à l’agence de
presse Anatolie.
“Nous allons passer le message que la Turquie, qui est une puissance
régionale, souhaite entretenir des relations d’amitié avec ses
voisins”, a-t-il précisé.
Les députés turcs doivent en outre s’entretenir avec des collègues du
parlement arménien et des représentants de la société civile.
La Turquie a reconnu l’Arménie peu après son indépendance en 1991,
mais n’a jamais établi de relations diplomatiques avec cette ancienne
république soviétique en raison de la controverse sur le génocide
dont les Arméniens estiment avoir été victimes.
La Turquie reconnaît des massacres mais rejette catégoriquement la
thèse d’un génocide.
Ankara soutient que 300.000 Arméniens et au moins autant de Turcs ont
été tués au cours de troubles suscités par le soulèvement des
Arméniens, qui ont fait cause commune avec les armées russes en
guerre contre l’empire ottoman, et lors d’une déportation vers la
province ottomane de la Syrie qui a suivi cette sédition.
La Turquie a fermé sa frontière avec l’Arménie en 1993, par
solidarité avec l’Azerbaïdjan dont la province du Karabakh, à
majorité arménienne, est passée sous contrôle de Erevan.

A1plus
| 18:04:40 | 08-06-2005 | Social |
ACCIDENT IN THE AMIRYAN «SKYSCRAPER»
Today at noon in the Amiryan street an accident took place. 2 people fell
down from a height of 3 meters from the building near the Yerevan National
Security Service. The brigadier of the construction who did not want to
introduce himself informed that they had fallen down from the wooden columns
on which workers stand while working.
According to the brigadier, «it is not serious, they fell down from 3
meters». Now, according to him, the situation is grave, but «they will be
all right». As far as he could tell, one of them was taken to the Norq
hospital, and he had no information about the other. The building which is
constructed by «Avalon» LTD will be the highest building of the capital (18
floors).
By the way, the constructors are prohibited to speak about the accident.
They look into the eyes of the journalists and say that nothing has
happened. The eyewitnesses are the student of the Drama Institute who say
that the constructors have not fallen down, but «about a ton of cement has
fallen down on them». Naturally, the brigadier said nothing of the kind had
happened.

A1plus
| 15:17:14 | 08-06-2005 | Social |
HOW CAN DEPENDENT PRESS BE RESPONSIBLE?
`The press is not free enough’, this was the answer of 500 representatives
of the Yerevan State University – lawyers, sociologists, economists,
historians, and journalists, to the question of the `National Center for ‘
about the reasons of the non-effective highlighting of corruption by Mass
Media.
The surveys found out that when it comes to corruption, the Mass Media pay
more attention to education and health fields. During today’s seminar of the
Monitoring center Education deputy Minister Artak Sahradyan said that he is
seriously concerned by the problems in the educational field. At the same
time he thinks the journalists must be responsible for their materials while
highlighting the problems present in the above mentioned field, `WE have
always had two sacred things – the church and the school, and we must be
able to preserve the most important of them – the schools’, he announced.
As for the Mass Media, RA Social Security Minister Aghvan Vardanyan was not
sure whether the journalists are always objective and responsible for their
materials, especially when there is nothing to hide from them. `But this
presupposes two-party cooperation’, said Mr. Vardanyan.
By the way, Vladimir Pryakhin, head of the OSCE Yerevan office who was
present at the seminar made an interesting note. He said that the OSCE does
not consider the Mass Media as a means of propaganda, but the projects
realize by OSCE `according to the Soviet logics have elements of
propaganda’.

Japan Economic Newswire
June 8, 2005 Wednesday
Japan, Armenia agree to cooperate on U.N. reforms
TOKYO, June 8
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan agreed Wednesday to cooperate in reforms of the
United Nations, Japanese officials said.
Margaryan was quoted as telling Koizumi that his country supports
Japan’s bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council.
Margaryan arrived in Japan on Monday for a four-day stay and visited
the World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, on Tuesday.

Washington Post, DC
June 9 2005
Association Withdraws Award to U.S. Envoy
Ambassador Was to Be Honored for Dissent
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 9, 2005; Page A19
The American Foreign Service Association recently announced that John
M. Evans, the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, was to receive a
prestigious award for “constructive dissent” for characterizing as
genocide the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire in 1915. His comments stirred such a diplomatic
tempest that Evans not only had to retract his remarks but also had
to later clarify his retraction.
Earlier this week, however, the selection committee met again and
decided to withdraw the honor, known as the Christian A. Herter
Award. They decided not to offer any award in the category, reserved
for a senior foreign service officer. Other awards are issued for
officers at lower levels.

The timing of the association’s decision appeared curious, given it
came just before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived
in Washington for a meeting with President Bush to bolster strained
U.S.-Turkish relations. John W. Limbert, president of the
association, said that no one at the organization can remember an
award being withdrawn after it had been announced.
“It is not something we do easily,” he said.
The award is intended to foster creative thinking and intellectual
courage within the State Department bureaucracy, and the secretary of
state usually attends the award ceremony. One of last year’s awards,
for instance, went to a mid-level foreign service officer who sent a
cable challenging the administration’s policy in Iraq. “Dissent is
supposed to be controversial,” Limbert said.
Speaking to an Armenian group in California, Evans referred to the
“Armenian genocide” and said that the U.S. government owes “you, our
fellow citizens, a more frank and honest way of discussing the
problem.” He added that “there is no doubt in my mind what happened”
and it was “unbecoming of us, as Americans, to play word games here.”
Armenian groups hailed his comment, noting Evans was the first U.S.
official since President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to refer to the
Armenian deaths as genocide. But the comments infuriated Turkey.
Evans issued a statement saying U.S. policy, in which the United
States “acknowledges the tragedy” and encourages “scholarly, civil
society and diplomatic discussion” of the event, had not changed.
Evans said he used the term “genocide” in “my personal capacity”
during “informal meetings” and “this was inappropriate.” After more
complaints from Turkey, Evans corrected the statement a day later and
removed a reference to genocide, instead calling it “the Armenian
tragedy.”
Limbert said the committee, made up of current and former State
Department officials, concluded that the award to Evans did not meet
the selection criteria. He declined to comment further, saying State
Department officials would have to explain their concerns.
L. Bruce Laingen, who chaired the selection committee, said “very
serious people from the State Department in particular” expressed
concern about the award to Evans. But he said they did not raise
political issues. Instead, he said, they focused on the fact that the
award criteria specifically says the actions must be taken while
“working in the system”; Evans made his comments in speeches.
“Dissent has to be within the system,” Laingen said. He said the
committee did not focus on that fact until it was reminded by the
State Department.
But when the committee decided to withdraw the award, it was faced
with a dilemma. The committee had received only two nominations, and
it had already concluded the other nominee did not meet the criteria.
So no award could be offered.
Laingen said the committee generally receives few examples of dissent
at senior levels of the agency. “That is regrettable,” he said. “It
does not reflect well on the foreign service broadly at that level
for dissent within the system.”
From: Baghdasarian

Financial Times, UK
June 9 2005
Turkey pulls plug on ‘traitorous’ genocide debate
By Vincent Boland
Published: June 9 2005 03:00 | Last updated: June 9 2005 03:00
While French and Dutch voters were rejecting the European Union
constitution – with opposition to enlargement in the forefront of
their minds – Turkey was handing its army of critics another reason
to object to its membership credentials.

Amid allegations of treason and following an extraordinary
intervention by a senior minister, Bosphorus University in Istanbul
postponed a conference of Turkish historians which was to discuss the
fate of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian inhabitants in 1915 and 1916.
The university’s decision caused an outcry in Turkey and dismayed
diplomats in Ankara, who say the suppression of the views expected to
be aired at the conference raises questions about Turkey’s commitment
to academic freedom and open debate on Turkish history.
The views would have deviated from the official Turkish position on
Armenian claims of genocide during the first world war but would not
necessarily have endorsed those claims, say participating historians.
Armenia claims that in a deliberate act of genocide Ottoman soldiers
killed up to 1.5m Armenian inhabitants of the disintegrating empire.
Turkey denies genocide. It counters that the Armenian death toll was
about 600,000, most of them as a result of civil war, hunger and
deportation, and that the controversy ignores the deaths of hundreds
of thousands of Turks at the same time.
Although the issue has not arisen in its negotiations to join the EU,
scheduled to begin in earnest in October, Turkey will have to address
the controversy, if only because Brussels demands that Turkey
normalise ties with Armenia, with which it has no diplomatic
relations.
France, home to a large part of the Armenian diaspora, has repeatedly
called on Turkey to “reflect” on its historical record.
The EU believes better Turkish-Armenian ties would improve security
in the region and help defuse the dispute over the enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey’s “brother
nation”.
But Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, which believes its oil riches will
eventually give it the muscle to win the territory back, insists that
Turkey keep Armenia isolated.
Opponents of the conference, led by senior officials in the
opposition People’s Republican party (CHP) and at the Turkish
Historical Society and supported by the ruling Justice and
Development party (AKP), had two main objections. One, that it would
not have a speaker to deliver the official Turkish version of the
Armenian controversy; the other, that since Bosphorus University is a
state institution, its decision to host the conference was a betrayal
of the state.
The university buckled when Cemil Cicek, justice minister, attacked
the conference and criticised “traitors . . . preparing to stab
Turkey in the back”.
Mr Cicek, who was red-faced and banged his fist on the podium as he
spoke, stood by his statement. But other ministers, rattled by the
controversy, said he was speaking personally, even though he is the
government spokesman and delivered his comments in the parliament.
A European diplomat said Mr Cicek’s speech was “the worst statement I
have heard in my years here in Turkey”.
Diplomats say the forced postponement of a conference on an issue
that Turkey has struggled to come to terms with may yet cost it
support in the EU, and among Turkish liberals, who may not even be
sensitive to the Armenian case.
“This is a really sad incident,” says Ayhan Aktar, professor of
sociology at Marmara University. “It will make Turkish diplomacy pay
a heavy price.”
The pressure to cancel or postpone the conference was “intolerable”,
he says, after Mr Cicek’s remarks and the prospect that hundreds of
nationalist students from other universities, mobilised by its
opponents, would converge on Bosphorus University to disrupt
proceedings.
Prof Aktar says those who shut the conference down misunderstood, or
perhaps misrepresented, its agenda. “They tried to brand this
conference as one that would support the genocide allegation, which
was absolutely not the case.” Additional reporting by Daniel Dombey
in Brussels
* US President George W. Bush yesterday praised Turkey as an example
of democracy after talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime
minister, that covered the rule of law, terrorism and Cyprus,
Bloomberg reports from Washington.
“Turkey’s democracy is an important example for the people in the
broader Middle East,” Mr Bush said.

Long Island Children’s Museum Calendar of Events
Armenian Mural Painting
Saturday, June 11 at 12:30 and 2:30 p.m.
Come and join us on our imaginary trip to Armenia and explore its people,
folk music and landscapes. Learn about the unique mural paintings in
Armenian historical churches carved deep inside mountains. Help us create
a large mural painting in our LICM’s Learning studio. Age: 6 thru 12.
$2.00 material fee with museum admission.
Armenian Folk Dance and Music – Theater Performance
Saturday, June 11 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Nvair Kadian Beylerian, a third-generation Armenian-American shares her
rich heritage and spirit with children and their families through
story-telling, song and dance. Join us as we travel to Historic Armenia
to explore a culture full of joy and celebration. Age: 4 and up. Free
with museum admission.
for directions and information visit

The Gazette (Montreal)
June 8, 2005 Wednesday
Final Edition
PQ should reach out – Duceppe: New Quebecers must be embraced, he
says
by ELIZABETH THOMPSON, The Gazette
The Parti Quebecois should do more to reach out to new Quebecers and
other members of cultural communities, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles
Duceppe said yesterday.
While Duceppe insists he has not yet decided to seek the
PQ leadership left vacant Saturday by Bernard Landry’s abrupt
resignation, yesterday he staked out his first policy position.
Responding to questions by reporters, Duceppe said the next PQ leader
will have to reach out to Quebecers of various ethnic backgrounds.
“We can all do better,” Duceppe replied when asked whether the PQ
could do more to reach out to new Quebecers. “We can all do better
and the Liberal party and the ADQ as well. It is a question that is
beyond political parties. It touches political parties and it touches
all of our institutions.”
For example, Duceppe said both Quebec and Canada have to address the
“unacceptable” unemployment rate in the black community.
“I think it is part of the challenge of every modern society where
there are people who have come from elsewhere. … It is part of the
Quebec to be built.”
Under Duceppe, the Bloc has invested a lot of time and effort in
recent years in trying to garner support for the party among new
Quebecers and cultural communities – a steadily growing percentage of
Quebec’s population and a group that in the past often gravitated to
federalist parties.
For example, Bloc MPs and candidates have taken up the cause of the
Chinese community seeking redress for the head tax imposed on Chinese
immigrants decades ago, introduced motions in Parliament condemning
the Armenian genocide and helped domestic workers from the
Philippines address problems with their working conditions.
In his speeches, Duceppe has reached out to “Quebecers from
immigration,” making it clear they are included in his definition of
a Quebecer.
Those efforts began to bear fruit in the last election with the Bloc
posting strong showings in a number of Montreal ridings that had been
considered safe for the Liberals and succeeding in electing
candidates from visible minorities such as Cameroon-born actor Maka
Kotto.
With another federal election looming, the Bloc has been reaching out
even more and targetting highly multicultural Montreal area ridings.
It has launched a campaign entitled “Quebecers without exception,”
and at the party’s general council meeting May 28, Duceppe called on
his troops to get more Bloc MPs from cultural communities elected.
As he weighs his options, Duceppe faces a difficult choice.
If he runs, there is no guarantee he will win. Among Quebecers, he
outpolls his nearest rival, Pauline Marois by nearly two to one. But
Marois has deeper roots in the PQ and has had time to build a
campaign machine among the party members who will choose the next
leader.
If he stays, however, Duceppe will be weakened. Liberals already have
said that after years of criticizing the Liberal government, Duceppe
now has the chance to show whether he can form a government himself.
If he remains with the Bloc, his opponents will say he doesn’t have
the “guts” to run a government.
Yesterday, however, Duceppe dismissed the comments.
“When you are eager for an adversary to go, it is usually because
you’re afraid of the adversary.”
Duceppe said he is talking with a lot of people in a bid to make a
decision including Lucien Bouchard, a founder of the Bloc who made
the jump to Quebec City to become premier and leader of the PQ.
“When I said I was going to consult people, it is normal for me to
talk to people,” he joked. “I’m not going to consult myself.”
Duceppe admitted he has also talked with some PQ MNAs.
Today, Duceppe will discuss his future with his caucus – a step he
has said is key to making a decision.

Baltic News Service
June 8, 2005
LITHUANIA’S PARLT CHAIR LEARNS ABOUT RUSSIA’S SUPPORT FOR SEPARATIST
MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
VILNIUS, Jun 08
Lithuania’s parliamentary speaker, currently on an official visit to
South Caucasus countries, has learned about Russia’s support for
separatist movements splitting the region’s countries.
“Both Georgians and Azerbaijanis have unambiguously said that Russia
is a player in South Caucasus and it is not without its influence,
not without its contribution that a majority of separatist movements
have been formed and autonomous regions have been established,”
Paulauskas told the Ziniu Radijas radio on the phone on Wednesday.
“Russia supports the leaders of these autonomous formations and does
not help Georgia and Azerbaijan settle the issues of territorial
integrity of states,” he said.
In Paulauskas’ words, Azerbaijan, which had been at war with Armenia
and Mountain Karabakh, is concerned over the plans to move Russia’s
troops that are being withdrawn from Georgia to Armenia.
The latter, unlike Azerbaijan and Georgia, does not set itself an
objective of EU and NATO integration, but links its future to Russia.
In Paulauskas’ words, Azerbaijan has “very clearly” declared its
orientation towards NATO and has started speaking about
Euro-integration processes, while Georgia has already confirmed its
Euro-Atlantic integration goals by parliamentary resolutions.
The parliamentary speaker noted that on its way to NATO and the EU,
Georgia still has to solve “a number of problems,” but its leaders’
enthusiasm gives hope that this will be done.
“I believe that Georgia will cope with the set tasks,” Paulauskas
said, adding that Georgia could be considered a South Caucasus
“region leader.”
Parliamentary European Affairs Committee Chairman Vydas Gedvilas,
member of the parliamentary speaker-led delegation, has signed a
declaration on cooperation between Lithuania’s parliamentary European
Affairs Committee and Georgia’s parliamentary European Integration
Affairs Committee in Tbilisi.
According to a press release from the Lithuanian parliament, this is
the first declaration of the kind with a country seeking EU
membership.
In the declaration, the committee commits itself to supporting
Georgia in the efforts to promote regional cooperation, create
administrative capabilities and train public officials in European
integration issues, share Lithuania’s reform implementation
experience.
Lithuania became a full-fledged member of the EU and NATO last year.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Racing Post
June 8, 2005, Wednesday
FOOTBALL: ROMANIA COULD CUT LOOSE AGAINST WEAK ARMENIANS
by KEVIN PULLEIN
Romania striker Adrian Mutu (right) could prosper against weak
Armenia in tonight’s World Cup European qualifier
ROMANIA have not enjoyed much luck lately, but they could restore
some morale in this evening’s World Cup Group One qualifier at home
to Armenia.
Buy their supremacy at 2.2 with Sporting.
The Romanians are nowhere near as good now as they were in Euro 2000,
when they justly eliminated England from the competition, but they
still have a reasonable, technically proficient outfit.
In their Euro 2004 qualifying group they finished one point behind
Denmark, who went on to make a good impression in P ortugal, and
level with Norway, who progressed to the play-offs instead of them
because of a superior head-to-head record. In their World Cup 2006
qualifying group they have been drawn with Holland, who have beaten
them home and away, and Czech Republic, who beat them in Prague.
The Romanians have, however, won four of their five other games. The
one exception, it is true, was in Armenia, where they surrendered a
lead to draw 1-1. But more representative results over a longer
period of time suggest Romania are superior to Armenia – and perhaps
by more than 2.2 goals in Constanta.
Romania have won home and away to Macedonia and at home to Finland,
and both those countries are significantly better than Armenia.
As if to illustrate the point, Armenia have already lost by two goals
at home to Finland and three goals away to Macedonia, as well as by
one goal at home.
It is rare, but not completely unknown, for firms to underestimate
the favourite in what is expected to be an international mismatch,
and this may be another occasion when they have done so.
The Fifa world rankings provide a reliable, if not infallible, method
of evaluating the relative strength of international teams. Romania
are currently 89 places and 252 ranking points ahead of Armenia.
Past experience suggests this might entitle them to be considered
more than 2.2-goal favourites at home to Armenia. Recommendation Buy
Romania supremacy 8pts at 2.2 (Sporting)