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07/19/2005
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1) Vandals Desecrate Armenian Monument in Budyonovsk
2) Top Iranian Diplomat Discusses Cooperation with Armenian Officials
3) Germans, French Lead Hostility against Turkey EU Membership
4) Russian Paper Predicts Heightened Tensions in Javakhk
1) Vandals Desecrate Armenian Monument in Budyonovsk
KRASNODAR (Combined Sources)–An Armenian monument in the southern Russian
town
of Budyonovsk was desecrated for the second time in less than six weeks on
July
16, reported Yerkramas, a weekly paper published by the local Armenian
community. The monument, dedicated to the town’s Armenian founders, had first
been vandalized in February 2005. The newspaper reported that lampposts
surrounding the monument and a cross-stone were damaged this time, while a
dead
cat was placed under its arch.
The fence surrounding the church was also set on fire, although it was
quickly
put out. Yerkramas editor Tigran Tavadyan said, “We are indignant at the
inaction of the local police for whom it seems to be easier to find and deport
labor emigrants from Armenia than to catch real criminals.”
The monument was inaugurated on October 17, 2004 as a token of
Armenian-Russian friendship. Budyonovsk was founded in 1799 by Armenians from
Karabagh who were given a charter by Russian Emperor Paul I. The monument
represents a 16-meter cross-topped dome symbolizing the first name of the
town,
Soorp Khatch.
2) Top Iranian Diplomat Discusses Cooperation with Armenian Officials
YEREVAN (Armenpress/IRNA)–Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met with Iran’s
special envoy for Caspian affairs Mehdi Safari on Tuesday to review bilateral
relations, as well as international issues of mutual interest.
Oskanian commended Tehran’s persistence to conduct a balanced policy and
ensure regional stability. While both sides expressed satisfaction with the
development of bilateral relations, they suggested bolstering cooperation in
various areas including small and medium-sized businesses, tourism, education,
and culture.
The Armenian foreign minister also briefed the Iranian diplomat on the
pace of
the Mountainous Karabagh conflict resolution. Safari, who is in Yerevan on a
three day visit, reiterated his government’s intention to continually develop
positive relations with Armenia.
Safari also met with Minister of Energy Armen Movsisyan to discuss the
implementation of joint projects in energy sector. Movsisyan highlighted the
importance of bilateral cooperation with Iran in various energy fields and
expressed satisfaction with growing trend of bilateral cooperation with Iran.
3) Germans, French Lead Hostility against Turkey EU Membership
Austria and Cyprus Pose New Obstacles
BRUSSELS (Reuters)–European Union president Britain fended off Austrian and
Cypriot attempts on Monday to raise new hurdles to Turkey’s bid to open EU
membership talks, while a survey showed a majority of Europeans opposed
Ankara’s entry.
The Eurobarometer survey, published by the EU’s executive European
Commission,
showed 52 percent of people in the 25-nation bloc opposed Turkish membership
and that only 35 percent were in favor.
Hostility was strongest in Western Europe. Only 32 percent in the 15 old West
European member states supported Turkish accession. The Austrians (80
percent),
Germans (74 percent), and the French (70 percent) were the most hostile.
Opposition to Turkey has grown by 24 percentage points in Austria, 20 in
Germany, and six in France since the Eurobarometer survey last asked the
question in 2002.
After EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn briefed the bloc’s 25 foreign
ministers on the proposed draft negotiating mandate for talks with Ankara,
Austria and Cyprus voiced familiar objections, diplomats said.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was not the right moment to discuss the
issue, promising ministers they would have a substantial discussion at an
informal meeting in Wales in early September.
Despite public opinion, EU leaders committed themselves last December, and
again in June, to open membership negotiations with Turkey, and voters would
have their say once there was an accession treaty to ratify, said Straw.
Austria Questions Turkish Bid
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnick said the EU should not rule out
alternatives to full membership and asked why the Commission was planning to
publish its next report on Turkey’s progress only after the talks started.
She also questioned the EU’s capacity to absorb such a large and economically
backward country.
“We have always thought it would be smart to explicitly spell out an
alternative,” Plassnick told a news conference. “We stress the issue of [the
EU’s] absorption capacity accordingly.”
But Plassnick did not endorse the views of Finance Minister Karl-Heinz
Grasser, who said in an interview with Britain’s Financial Times newspaper and
Austria’s Der Standard that the EU should postpone entry talks with Turkey and
consider Balkan membership hopefuls instead.
Grasser, a right-wing maverick, voiced similar views before EU leaders took
the decision last December to open negotiations with Turkey. Nevertheless, the
Austrian government went along with the EU decision.
Cypriot Foreign Minister George Iakovou demanded to know what conditions
Turkey would put on signing a protocol extending its EU customs union to
the 10
new member states which joined last year, including Cyprus.
Ankara is expected to sign the document in the next few weeks but has said it
will make clear the act is not tantamount to recognition of the government of
the Republic of Cyprus.
Turkey has kept 35,000 troops in Northern Cyprus since it invaded the east
Mediterranean island in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup in Nicosia,
engineered by Greece’s then ruling military junta.
Diplomats said that while no foreign minister made an explicit link, some had
said it would be difficult for them if the EU opened negotiations with Turkey
before starting talks with Croatia, whose membership bid has been stymied by
its failure to arrest and hand over a wanted war crimes suspect.
Straw said the two cases were not linked, but he pledged an EU task force
would review Croatia’s record again in September to see whether it had
cooperated sufficiently with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague to
warrant
starting talks.
The Eurobarometer poll of 29,328 voters in the 25 EU member states was
conducted by TNS Opinion and Social between May 9 and June 14, spanning the
period in which France and the Netherlands rejected a planned EU constitution
in referendums.
4) Russian Paper Predicts Heightened Tensions in Javakhk
JAVAKHK (Combined Sources)–A recent conflict between Georgians and ethnic
Armenians living in the mostly Armenian populated region of Javakhk in Georgia
was covered by the Russian newspaper Pravda, which wrote, “While at first
glance the incident appears insignificant, it can potentially become a grave
problem for Georgia.”
The paper writes that until now, stability in the region has been maintained
because of the Russian military base there. “But once the Russian servicemen
leave the region, serious ethnic and economic problems will emerge–which
Georgia is unable–and unwilling to cope.”
According to the Russian newspaper, Ria Novosti, the residents of the
Armenian-populated town of Akhalkalak, in Javakhk, attacked a local branch of
Tbilisi State University on Sunday, shattering windows and breaking furniture.
They also attacked Georgian students, after learning that they had “cleaned up
an abandoned church and surrounding grounds, located in the remote village of
Samsa.”
The chairman of Javakhk’s Virk party, however, said those reports are not
accurate. Tavit Rstakian told Radio Liberty that student and a representative
of the Georgian church in Javakhk entered the church with tools and began to
desecrate Armenian inscriptions by removing stones. Armenian women at the
church began to protest their actions, and were subsequently thrown out by the
students.
A local source was quoted by the Regnum news agency as saying that Armenians
were deeply offended by the developments and rose to defend the church from
being seized by Georgians.
A police investigation has been launched under the law on religious
intolerance.
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