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06/14/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) UNESCO Requests Removal of Documents from Ottoman Exhibit 2) Oskanian and Sarkisian Participate in North Atlantic Council And Armenia Meeting 3) Toronto Banquet Raises $300,000 for Armenia Fund 4) ARF Has New Parliament Member 5) Turkish Press Says Turkey is Cyprus~R ~QToy~R in EU Talks 6) New Minister Alarmed by Declining Education Standards 1) UNESCO Requests Removal of Documents from Ottoman Exhibit ISTANBUL (Combined Sources)Turkey pulled out of a Paris exhibit of Ottoman archives last week, when organizers requested the removal of five questionable submissions made by the Turkish Government. Before the exhibit, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which organized the exhibit, requested that five items be removed and two subject to changes. Turkey initially agreed to the request, but later decided to not partake in the exhibit. One of the documents in question is a letter said to be written by the heads of Armenian organizations praising the Ottoman Government, and especially the Sultan, for its treatment of the Armenian people. The letter, which is dated 1898, also says that its writers pledge their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, despite the actions of [khankarich]s, because of the great pride they have in being Ottoman citizens. UNESCO~Rs request that this and other similar documents be removed from the archival exhibit prompted harsh reaction from nationalist circles in Turkey. Calling the events "a shame," Turkish Institute of History (TTK) President Professor Yusuf Halacoglu said, "Turkey acted in good faith to solve the Armenian genocide. The cases never refer to science or honesty anymore. There are some letters, which Armenians forwarded to the Ottoman Empire from America and Canada, to ask for help. We are face to face with such a big shame." 2) Oskanian and Sarkisian Participate in North Atlantic Council And Armenia Meeting YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian participated Wednesday in the North Atlantic Council and Armenia meeting, during which they discussed Armenia~Rs Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) program with NATO based on the introductory evaluation of NATO delegation. Oskanian and Sarkisian presented reports at the meeting in which they referred to the issues on boosting Armenia-NATO cooperation and implementation of the IPAP. The reports of the ministers were followed by the speeches of ambassadors of North-Atlantic Council~Rs member countries in which they assessed the Armenia~Rs progress in the implementation of the program. Special Representative of NATO~Rs Secretary General to the South Caucasus Robert Simmons said in an interview after the meeting that the introductory report on Armenia~Rs IPAP with NATO is positive. According to him, the complete assessment of Armenia~Rs IPAP with NATO will be given next spring. Sarkisian said he was pleased with the positive results of the report, which detailed the pace of Armenia~Rs Individual Partnership Action Plan implementation. Oskanian described the meeting as useful. 3) Toronto Banquet Raises $300,000 for Armenia Fund Around 500 community members, members of the clergy, local and Canadian officials came together Sunday for a banquet at the AGBU Alec Manougian Center in Toronto, Canada, to raise $300,000 for the Armenia Fund. During Sunday~Rs banquet, Treasurer of the Armenia Fund, Ara Boyadian, presented a report to those present about Armenia Fund~Rs projects in Karabagh~Rs village of Madaghis, which the donated money will help to support. The school in Madaghis, a three story building with eleven classrooms, a computer room, library, and auditorium, will be completed in time for the upcoming school year in September. Boyajian also noted that the Toronto Armenian community has raised 2 million dollars for the Armenia Fund. Representing Prime Minster Stephen Harper, Jason Kenny took the podium to speak about the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the Canadian Government and read a special message from Harper to the Armenia Fund. The keynote speaker of the evening, Baroness Caroline Cox, spoke about the freedom loving spirit of Karabagh~Rs people and its right to self determination. She said that the people of Karabagh have the right to live freely and independently in their homeland. Baroness Cox also brought up the state of Karabagh~Rs dire need of monetary and moral support. In light of her support of Karabagh and its people, the Armenia Fund committee of Toronto decided to name the new school after Baroness Cox, said the Master of Ceremonies Vahan Kololian. 4) ARF Has New Parliament Member YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenia~Rs central election commission registered Wednesday Spartak Seyranian as a new Member of Parliament. Spartak Seyranian, Editor-in-Chief of Yerkir Weekly and member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), replaced Levon Mkrtchian who was appointed education and science minister. 5) Turkish Press Says Turkey is Cyprus~R ~QToy~R in EU Talks ANKARA (AFP)--Turkey has turned into a ~Stoy~T for Cyprus as it strives for European Union membership, the Turkish press has said one day after the stormy start of Ankara's detailed entry talks with the EU. "A rough start," wrote the left-leaning Cumhuriyet, referring to the talks, whose beginning was delayed by objections from the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot Government. Cyprus wanted Turkey to recognize it as a state and open its ports to Cypriot ships and planes--EU demands Ankara has yet to meet--before the talks begin. The EU's Austrian Presidency clinched a last-minute deal at a Foreign Ministers' meeting in Luxembourg, narrowly avoiding a new crisis for the bloc. Several commentators harshly criticized both Cyprus for its stance and Turkey for putting up with it. "Turkey has turned into a toy for a country of a few hundred thousand people," said a commentator Tuesday in the mass-circulation Hurriyet, calling on Ankara to end the "mascarade." Many newspapers stressed that Turkey would continue to face veto threats from the Cypriot Government as the EU votes on the opening and closing of each of the 35 detailed policy chapters to be negotiated, plus a final vote when all the chapters are completed. "At least 69 more crises to go with Europe," headlined the liberal Radikal. "Cyprus will continue to be capricious on the political front until the last minute... [inflicting] Chinese torture" on Ankara, a commentator in Milliyet, another liberal daily, wrote, calling for action from Brussels. "The EU should either stop the Cypriot administration from acting capriciously whenever and wherever it wants, or should change its rule for a unanimous vote in order to get work done," he said. 6) New Minister Alarmed by Declining Education Standards YEREVAN (RFE/RL)--The newly appointed Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian pledged on Tuesday to embark on a sweeping reform of Armenia~Rs education sector to reverse what he described as an alarming post-Soviet decline in education standards. ~SThere is a clear decline in our education sector,~T admitted Mkrtchian. ~SArmenia is gradually losing its high level of education. We used to compare ourselves with European countries but are now being compared to Central Asia.~T ~SIf we continue to move down this path, I am sure that we will lose the remaining quality of our education system,~T he said. Mkrtchian, who had already served as education minister in 1998-1999 and 2001-2003, acknowledged that he has also been responsible for the ongoing erosion of that quality. It is widely attributed to a lack of government funds channeled into education as well as the resulting lack of motivation among schoolteachers and university professors. Bribery and nepotism is also seen as a serious problem facing the sector. Government officials have said that Armenia~Rs ongoing transition to 12-year primary and secondary schooling, supported by Western donors, will help to reverse this trend. But according to Mkrtchian, that reform alone will not improve the situation unless it is accompanied by a ~Sradical revision~T of school curricula. The minister, who is a leading member of the governing Armenian Revolutionary Federation, also pledged to crack down on dozens of private universities where education standards leave much to be desired. 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) 2006 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.