ASBAREZ Online [09-29-2005]

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09/29/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) EU Calls Emergency Talks as Austria Blocks Accord on Turkey 2) Washington-Based Group Accuses Turkey of Abusing Mental Patients, Asks EU to Intervene Pre Negotiations 3) Armenian-US Sides Review Defense Cooperation 4) Georgia's PM Arrives in Armenia 1) EU Calls Emergency Talks as Austria Blocks Accord on Turkey BRUSSELS (AFP)--The EU has called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers to try to end an impasse over Turkey's entry talks, as Austria insisted Ankara be offered less than full EU membership. A 24-1 vote on Thursday meant ambassadors failed to agree on a mandate to start entry negotiations with Ankara. All 25 member states had to back the proposal before entry negotiations could begin. The British EU presidency called the talks for Sunday--the day before the Turkey-EU talks are due to start. "I can confirm that foreign ministers will meet on Sunday," said a British spokesman on Thursday. "Unfortunately it was not possible to agree [on] the negotiating framework today at [an] ambassadorial level, [but] efforts will continue." EU leaders agreed last December to open talks with Turkey on October 3. But the relationship became strained in July when Ankara reaffirmed that it would not recognize member state Cyprus. A dispute over how to respond to that was finally resolved last week, but the negotiating framework row will now be tackled at the emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers, probably over dinner in Luxembourg. One EU official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, explained that "the Austrians maintain their reservations about the negotiating framework." "Their demands involve an alternative or interim solution to membership should the EU be unable to integrate Turkey or should Turkey not fulfill all the criteria," he said. Turkey's parliament speaker Bulent Arinc charged that Turkey was being provoked to walk away from the talks. "It seems as if our patience is being tested. Looking at what is being done to Turkey one shows that there are some who hope to get rid of us by forcing us to walk away from the [negotiating] table," he said in an interview on Turkey's NTV television. Any hold up beyond Monday would be sure to further anger Turkey, which has had ties with the Union for more than 40 years but has seen its efforts to join consistently hampered. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has warned that he will turn his back on the talks if the negotiating framework contains "any formula or suggestion other than full membership." Despite official denials, some diplomats allow that Austria's stance on Turkey could be linked with Croatia's hopes of starting EU talks, which depend on Zagreb's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal. Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel suggested as much in an interview in Thursday's Financial Times newspaper. "If we trust Turkey to make further progress we should trust Croatia too," he said. "It is in Europe's interest to start negotiations with Croatia immediately." Austria has been a strong supporter of Croatia's efforts to join the bloc and four out of five Austrians oppose Turkey joining. The EU official said a special EU task force would meet early on Monday with Carla Del Ponte, the head of the UN war crimes tribunal to discuss Croatia's candidature. That meeting would "probably be followed by a global decision on Turkey and Croatia during the morning," he affirmed. A spokeswoman for the EU's executive commission said the two candidacies were not linked from its point of view, but noted that: "The EU is ready to start accession negotiations with Croatia immediately once it has been established that full cooperation (with the tribunal) is there." The frustration in Brussels was palpable. "Twenty-four member states could accept the agreement," said another EU diplomat. "It is not a question of re-drafting but a political issue ... it's not about a tweak here, a tweak there." 2) Washington-Based Group Accuses Turkey of Abusing Mental Patients, Asks EU to Intervene Pre Negotiations ANKARA (Combined Sources)-- A Washington-based human rights group has accused Turkey of subjecting mental health patients to serious abuses, including electric shock treatment without anesthesia, and is urging the European Union to demand an end to the practices. The report, by Mental Disability Rights International, came after several visits in the past year by the group's investigators to Turkish psychiatric hospitals and was published days before Turkey is scheduled to begin negotiations to join the EU. "As the European Union meets to consider Turkey's human rights record... we ask them to demand action by the government of Turkey to end these human rights violations," the report concluded. According to the report, people with mental or psychiatric disorders are "subjected to treatment practices that are tantamount to torture." The group said electric shock therapy was "massively overused in Turkish psychiatric facilities in cases for which there is no clinically proven justification," and that they were used as a form of punishment. Electric Shock Therapy is normally administered with anesthesia and muscle relaxants. Without them it can be painful, terrifying, and dangerous. Patients can break jaws or crack vertebrae during the induced seizures. The investigators also found that the treatment was used as punishment. The report describes patients being dragged to electroshock therapy in straitjackets and forcibly held down during the procedure. "If we use anesthesia the ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] won't be as effective, because they won't feel punished," the report quotes Musa Tosun, the director of the electroconvulsive therapy center, as saying. Referring to that statement, Eric Rosenthal, the founder of the rights group, said in a telephone interview from Istanbul, "That was one of most horrifying statements I've ever heard in 12 years of doing this work." Much of the documented abuse took place in orphanages and rehabilitation centers for children with developmental or intellectual disabilities. Investigators saw emaciated and neglected children, many of whom had behavioral problems that were likely to have been the result of mistreatment rather than pre-existing illness, Rosenthal said. "We saw children who were essentially abandoned, starving, tied down to their beds," he said, adding that investigators had not been allowed to see the worst wards. Although the center keeps no mortality records, a footnote in the report notes that the large number of admissions without a corresponding number of discharges suggests that many children die at the center. "We believe there's a very high death rate in these facilities," Rosenthal said. Turkish Health Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment. 3) Armenian-US Sides Review Defense Cooperation The fourth annual US-Armenia Bilateral Defense Consultations were held in Yerevan, Armenia, in order to review cooperation during the past year, and formulate a plan for cooperation in 2006. The September 28-29 meetings covered a broad range of issues, including national security, defense reform, peacekeeping operations, military training, military education, and the military's role in disaster response. The US delegation, led by Mr. Scott Schless, Principal Director for Eurasia in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, met with Armenian Ministry of Defense officials. The Armenian delegation was led by General-Major Artur Aghabekyan, Deputy Minister of Defense. Both the Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Serge Sargsian, and the US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans also attended. The Ambassador noted the "broadening and deepening" defense relationship between the two countries. The site of the annual meeting alternates between the US and Armenia. 4) Georgia's PM Arrives in Armenia YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli arrived in Armenia for the 4th session of the Armenian-Georgian inter-governmental commission. Nogaideli met with his Armenian counterpart Andranik Margarian to tackle a variety of issues between the neighboring countries, including the present state of Javakhk, a majority Armenian region in Georgia. Margarian commended the Georgian government's plans to improve socio-economic conditions in the impoverished region, and again confirmed the Armenian government's readiness to cooperate in development programs. The prime ministers also discussed the opening of the ferry line between Kavkaz and Poti, Armenia's support of the re-opening of the Abkhazian section of the Georgian railway, construction of the Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway, the establishment of a Georgian-Armenian university in Georgia, and the possibilites sfor direct flights between Yerevan-Batumi-Kabuleti. Georgia's delegation is composed of the country's energy minister, as well as deputy ministers of foreign affairs, finance, economic development, and health and social security. 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. From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress