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06/20/2006
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP://WWW.ASBAREZ. COM 1) EU Says Turkey Faces `Major Accident' over Membership 2) Petrossian Says MKR Must Participate in Search for Missing And Hostages 3) Head of Armenian Church to Visit Istanbul 4) Commission Approves National Security Strategy Project 5) 56 Mayors Risk Jail in Turkey over Letter to Danish PM 1) EU Says Turkey Faces `Major Accident' over Membership (Bloomberg)-- The European Union's top expansion negotiator said Tuesday Turkey is heading for a "major accident" in its membership bid unless it opens its ports to ships from Cyprus. "If we want to avoid a major problem in the autumn, Turkey needs to stick to its word without hesitation," Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels. "Turkey should open its ports to vessels under the flag of all member states, including the Republic of Cyprus." The talks hit a snag last week only four days after getting under way when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan balked at an EU demand that Turkey end its trade curbs on Cyprus, an EU member since 2004. Turkey's bid to become the EU's first Muslim country is running into grassroots opposition as well, amid a backlash against lower-paid immigrants after the EU's expansion to ex-communist Eastern Europe in 2004. "I am concerned that the reform process has lost its momentum," Rehn told the parliamentary panel today. "While there has been legislative progress on the ground, the implementation of the reforms remains uneven." Turkey has occupied the northern tier of Cyprus since a 1974 invasion in response to a Greek-backed coup, and the Mediterranean island's disputed status has been the biggest barrier to the EU bid. Turkey pledged to end trade restrictions on the southern, Greek Cypriot Government as part of the EU entry process. Erdogan said last week that Turkey wouldn't honor that promise until the EU drops its own curbs on northern Cyprus. "When those who broke their word start to keep it, they'll get an immediate response from us," Erdogan told lawmakers from his party in Ankara. "But if promises aren't kept then nobody should expect our ports or airports." Turkish officials point out that Cyprus remains divided because the Greek Cypriots voted against a United Nations-backed reunification plan that was supported by Turkish Cypriots and by Erdogan's Government. Turkey has per-capita economic production equal to 31 percent of the EU level, triggering fears that Turkish migrants could price western workers out of jobs. EU unemployment is 8.3 percent, compared to 4.7 percent in the US. Some 63 percent of Europeans fear that further expansion would push up unemployment and drive down wages, according to an EU-sponsored poll of 25,000 people conducted between February and March. Referring to the public discontent, European Commission President Jose Barroso told the full Parliament earlier today that "we must make sure that the union does not simply enlarge by default." EU pressure is also mounting on Turkey to end the discrimination of the Kurdish minority, give non-Muslims complete religious freedom, improve media freedoms, crack down on police brutality, and enhance the status of women. A resolution debated by the Parliament committee Tuesday "regrets the slowing down of the reform process" and "deplores the fact that only limited progress has been reported over the least year as regards fundamental rights and freedoms." Turkish legislators Monday delayed until late July debate on a law that would give non-governmental organizations more rights and freedoms, part of the EU's catalogue of demands. The government had sought passage of the law by the end of June. A progress report to be issued by Rehn's department in October or November looms as a key test of Turkey's commitment to reshaping its society along western lines and of the EU's commitment to let Turkey in. 2) Petrossian Says MKR Must Participate in Search for Missing And Hostages YEREVAN (Yerkir)--Mountainous Karabagh Republic (MKR) Foreign Minister Georgi Petrossian met with the delegation of the International Working Group (IWG) for Search for the Missing, Hostages, and Release of Prisoners of War in the zone of the Karabagh conflict to discuss the current state and future of the ongoing search for the missing and their graves. During the meeting, Petrossian noted that the MKR has continuously assisted IWG activities and is always open to cooperation, while Baku constantly refuses to contact the respective MKR state commission. Petrossian said that politicization of the field is unacceptable and that MKR representatives should directly and actively participate in search for the missing, hostages, and the release of prisoners of war. IWG memberswhich include co-chairs Bernhard Klazen (Germany) and Paat Zakareishvili (Georgia)--said they agreed with Petrossian about the openness of the Karabagh party and its assistance to the Group work. Klazen said he regrets that former prisoners of war are still judged and persecuted in Azerbaijan. He said that the IWG will do its best to convince Baku to end that practice. The meeting participants also noted that they support active cooperation of all interested parties in solving problems in that field. 3) Head of Armenian Church to Visit Istanbul (AP/Armenpress)--The head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His Holiness Karekin II, is to begin a weeklong visit to the Armenian community of Istanbul on Tuesday, where he will also meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. During his first Pontifical Visit to Turkey, the Catholicos of All Armenians will visit Armenian churches and holy shrines, extend his pontifical blessings to the Armenian community of Istanbul, and meet with Armenian intellectuals and young men and women. On Sunday, June 25, His Holiness will celebrate a Pontifical Divine Liturgy in the Armenian Patriarchate's Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God. His Holiness will have a number of ecumenical meetings in the Armenian Patriarchate as well. Also planned is a meeting between the Pontiff and the Governor of Istanbul. Turkish nationalist protests during his visit are likely. 4) Commission Approves National Security Strategy Project YEREVAN (Armenpress)The commission in charge of developing Armenia's national security doctrine held a meeting chaired by Defense Minister Serge Sargsian Tuesday to discuss the final version of the project. The final edited version of the document, which takes into account all suggestions made during its development, was approved at the session. Seyran Shahsuvarian, spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry, said that the participants of the session were also presented the draft glossary of the main terms of the National Security Strategy. 5) 56 Mayors Risk Jail in Turkey over Letter to Danish PM DIYARBAKIR (AFP)--Fifty-six Kurdish Mayors risk up to 10 years in jail for signing a letter urging Denmark's Prime Minister to ignore Turkey's calls to ban a Kurdish television station with alleged links to terrorism, judicial sources said Tuesday. In an indictment filed with a court in Diyarbakir, the central city of the mainly Kurdish southeast, the prosecution charged that the December 27 letter to Anders Fogh Rasmussen amounted to "knowingly and willingly supporting" the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey says that Denmark-based Roj TV is a mouthpiece of the PKK--considered to be a terrorist group by Ankara, the European Union, and the United States--and has long urged Copenhagen to take it off the air. The charge sheet says that Roj TV often hosts PKK leaders, carries PKK statements inciting violence, and follows a broadcasting policy "in line with PKK propaganda." It was not immediately clear when the trial will start. Among the 56 accused is Osman Baydemir, one of Turkey's most popular Kurdish politicians and mayor of Diyabakir. The overwhelming majority of the mayors belong to the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the main Kurdish political movement in the country. Kurdish politicians are routinely suspected by Ankara of supporting the PKK and are often prosecuted for alleged links to the group, which has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast since 1984. Two of the mayors, who belong to a small center-left party, have disowned their signatures in the letter, but the prosecution said they should still stand trial. The letter states that silencing Roj TV "would mean the loss of an important vehicle in the struggle for democracy and human rights" in Turkey. The station has become a thorn in the side of Turkish-Danish relations. During a visit to Copenhagen last November, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a joint news conference with Rasmussen after the latter rejected his request that a Roj TV reporter be barred from entry. Danish authorities said last year that Roj TV's programming contained no incitement to hatred of Turkey, and that there was no proof it was linked to the PKK. 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. 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