ASBAREZ Online [10-04-2005]

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10/04/2005
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) France Says Turkey Needs to Change to Join European Union 2) Armenia Hopes EU Membership Process Will Tame Turkey 3) Members of Congress Urge President Bush to Support Karabagh's Aspirations 4) System Of A Down Rally Attracts International Media Attention 1) France Says Turkey Needs to Change to Join European Union BRUSSELS (AP)--French President Jacques Chirac said on Tuesday that Turkey must undergo a `major cultural revolution' before entering the European Union (EU), and reiterated that France would hold a referendum on admitting Ankara to the bloc. Chirac's comments represented the tough road ahead in Turkey's membership in the 25-nation EU. It took last-minute wrangling after two days of arduous talks between EU foreign ministers to overcome Austrian objections to start the negotiations. The entry talks are expected to last for at least 10 years before the EU can absorb Turkey and stretch its borders to the Middle East. There is broad opposition among Europeans to admitting the poor, predominantly Muslim nation of 70 million people. `Will it succeed? I cannot say. I hope so. But I am not at all sure,' Chirac said at a news conference in Paris. It will be `a considerable effort' for Turkey,' he said. `It is a major cultural revolution,' that will take `at minimum 10 to 15 years.' He reiterated that Turkey's membership would need to be approved by the French in a referendum. Austria also plans such a vote, and other countries may also decide to hold one. `The French will have the last word, as it should be in a democracy,' he said. `We will see when the time comes.' In Turkey, the only reaction to Chirac's comments, which aired on Turkish television, was from the Culture Minister Atilla Koc's office saying he was reviewing them. Akif Beki, spokesman for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was not immediately available for comment. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who currently holds the EU presidency, also said negotiations would take a long time, and would mean a `very big change' for the Europe and Turkey. `It will be an issue of controversy for years to come,' he told reporters in London. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Turkey's entry is `neither guaranteed nor automatic.' `Turkey must win the hearts and minds of European citizens. They are the ones who at the end of the day will decide about Turkey's membership,' he said. Although the EU held a middle-of the night ceremony in Luxembourg to formally start the talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, it will take nearly a year before the real technical negotiations get under way. On Octoer 20, EU experts will start a broad `screening' of Turkey's rule policies to see whether they meet minimum requirements to start specific talks in 35 areas--everything from food safety rules to minority rights. Turkey then faces a final review from all EU governments who have to unanimously approve talks to begin in these policy areas. The negotiating mandate says that if the EU finds `a serious and persistent breach... of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights, and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,' the EU may suspend the negotiations. One significant political issue that remains unresolved is Cyprus. Turkey does not recognize EU member Cyprus, and is the only country to recognize a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the divided Mediterranean island. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, appearing at the Paris news conference with Chirac, said shutting the door to Turkey would have been unpardonable--like rejecting a suitor. All EU members had agreed in December to launch entry talks with Turkey on Oct. 3. But last week, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik suggested a `privileged partnership' instead, questioning the EU's ability to absorb Turkey. Ankara furiously threatened to walk away from the EU rather than accept negotiations leading to a lesser partnership. Plassnik eventually accepted language in the EU's terms for membership stating that `the shared objective of the negotiations is (Turkey's) accession.' Although Turkey belongs to NATO, the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, its shaky human rights record and poor economic past have kept it from becoming a full EU member. Ankara recently has introduced key political and economic reforms, and now wants the EU to make good on its promise to bring it into the bloc. 2) Armenia Hopes EU Membership Process Will Tame Turkey YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--Armenia expressed hope late Tuesday that Turkey will be more interested in normalizing relations with Armenia and recognizing the Armenian genocide after the difficult start of its membership talks with the European Union. `Armenia hopes that the start of the EU accession process will prompt [Turkey] to open the border with Armenia as soon as possible and to make real efforts to protect minority rights and uphold freedom of speech and other democratic values and standards in the country,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparian said in a statement. `We also hope that during the process Turkey will recognize the Armenian genocide, something which the European Parliament deemed a precondition for Turkey's membership of the EU in its latest resolution,' said Gasparian. The resolution adopted on September 28 `calls on Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide' and `considers this recognition to be a prerequisite for accession to the European Union.' It also urges Ankara to drop preconditions for improving its strained ties with Yerevan. The demands were rejected by Turkish leaders, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledging to `continue on our way.' Armenia has repeatedly urged the EU make Turkish membership conditional on genocide recognition and the lifting of the Turkish blockade imposed in 1993. 3) Members of Congress Urge President Bush to Support Karabagh's Aspirations On the occasion of the 14th anniversary of Mountainous Karagagh Republic's (MKR) independence, over fifty Members of Congress joined Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), in sending a letter to President Bush. The September 28 letter outlines the difficult road taken by the people of Karabagh to secure freedom, build a democratic and economically viable country, and to establish peace. Citing parallels between the US and Mountainous Karagagh, the letter also says that Karagagh `is a country of proud citizens committed to the values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. We, as Americans cherish and defend these same values at home and internationally.' It also urges the Unites States to `unequivocally support' the right of the people of Mountainous Karagagh to decide their fate. `We thank our congressional friends for defending the values of freedom, democracy, and prosperity,' said MKR Representative in the US Vardan Barseghian. `These universal values are dear to the people of Artsakh [Karabah] as we continue building a rule-of-law, democratic country, contributing meaningfully to peace and stability in the strategic South Caucasus region.' `We call on the United States and other nations to recognize the independence of the Mountainous Karagagh Republic, thereby affirming the right of the people of Artsakh to live in freedom without fear of violence, oppression, and persecution,' stressed Barseghian. The Office of the Mountainous Karagagh Republic in the US is based in Washington, DC and works with the US government, academics, and the public, in representing the official policies and interests of the Mountainous Karagagh Republic. 4) System Of A Down Rally Attracts International Media Attention Multi-Platinum Band Calls for Vote on Armenian Genocide Resolution New York Times, BBC, and MTV Join Local ABC, FOX, and WB stations and Area Newspapers in Covering Event outside the Batavia, Illinois Office of Speaker Dennis Hastert WASHINGTON, DC (ANCA)--The pro-Armenian Genocide Resolution rally last week by System Of A Down outside the Batavia, Illinois office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) received extensive media coverage--both internationally and within the Speaker's local suburban Chicago media market. The September 27 event was organized by the multi-platinum band System Of A Down, along with the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), Axis of Justice, and the Armenian Youth Federation. Over two hundred fans, including a large number of Armenian Americans from Chicago, attended the rally to urge the Speaker to schedule a vote on legislation pending before Congress that would recognize the Armenian Genocide. At the rally, the band delivered a letter asking the Speaker to allow the legislation to move forward. Speaker Hastert pledged to allow the full House to vote on Armenian genocide legislation in August of 2000, but retreated from this promise in October of that year, citing pressure from the White House. On September 15 of this year, the House International Relations Committee overwhelmingly approved legislation recognizing the Armenian Genocide. The highlights of the media coverage included: * Over 560,000 households in the Chicago area watched video from the rally via ABC channel 7 News (Nielsen Audience: 310,980), WGN-WB (Nielsen Audience: 231,385), and WFLD-FOX (Nielsen Audience: 22,726). * The New York Times covered the rally, as did three area newspapers read by Speaker Hastert's constituents: The Beacon News, The Daily Herald, and The Kane County Chronicle. * News of the rally was broadcast on radio internationally via The World (BBC) and locally by Chicago Public Radio. * The rally received excellent coverage in the entertainment media via stories on the websites of MTV (two stories), VH1, Rolling Stone, and a range of other media outlets. Links: --New York Times (September 26, 2005, Arts Section) --ABC channel 7 news l&id=3483619 --WLS-ABC CHICAGO, IL SEP 27 2005 5:00PM CT Nielsen Audience: 310,980 --ABC 7 News at 5, WGN-WB CHICAGO, IL SEP 27 2005 9:00PM CT Nielsen Audience: 231,385 --News at Nine, WFLD-FOX CHICAGO, IL SEP 28 2005 5:00AM CT Nielsen Audience: 22,726 Fox News at 5AM --MTV.com: (Pre-Rally coverage) nes=true --MTV.com: (Post-Rally coverage) /09282005/system_of_a_down.jhtml --VHI ystem_of_a_down.jhtml --TheWorld.org (a radio program in done in co-production with the BBC) --Rolling Stone: /7670574/bobice?pageid=rs.Home&pa geregion=sin gle1 --The Beacon News /top/batchAU28_HASTERT_S1.htm --The Daily Herald ry.asp?id=98941 -Kane County Chronicle: local/330582937821598.php --PR Newswire .pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-26 -2005/0004 131979&EDATE --Los Angeles Daily News --Blabbermouth.com: mouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=42 101 --Yahoo News l In the two weeks since that vote, thousands of System fans have sent free ANCA WebFaxes urging Speaker Hastert to hold a vote on the Armenian Genocide Resolution: All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. 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