Month: September 2006

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – JOINT STATEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN CIVIL SOCIETY

European Armenian Federation
for Justice & Democracy

Signed by 261 associations throughout Europe

Dear Members of Parliament,

We, European citizens, follow up with a sustained attention the
Union enlargement process and especially the developments relating
to Turkey’s controversial candidature.

We took note of the report on "Turkey’s progress towards accession"
voted on Monday September 4 by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. We
particularly noticed with delight that the European Parliament
"reiterates its call on Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian genocide,
as called for un the previous European Parliament resolutions of 15
December 2004 and 28 September 2005" and "considers such acknowledgment
to be a precondition for European Union accession".

We were also informed about threatening pressures exerted on you
by Turkey and the disinformation campaign in order to remove this
mention. As citizens of the Union, we are absolutely indignant that
a foreign power with radically anti-European values can thus alter
the sovereign appreciation formulated by our European representation
on this issue.

This is why we take the liberty of reminding you the following facts:

1. The call for the Armenian genocide acknowledgment as a precondition
by the European Parliament does not constitute at all an additional
requirement towards Turkey. This requirement was clearly formulated
in almost the same wording, less than a year ago, in the resolution on
"opening the negotiations with Turkey":

"The European Parliament calls on Turkey to recognise the Armenian
genocide; considers this recognition to be a prerequisite for accession
to the European Union" (P6_TA(2005)0350, 28/09/2005);

This formulation is in the political line of those written in the
preceding resolutions of 18 June 1987 and 15 December 2004. To water
down or to remove it would constitute an obvious sign given to Turkey
that the European Parliament is on the point of denying its principles,

2. The fact that such a condition was not formally imposed to
other Candidate States does not constitute an argument proving its
non-admissibility. The application of other States even would not be
taken into consideration. The acknowledgement of its crimes by the
State who perpetrated it is an accession criteria,

3. The calls reiterated by the European Parliament concerning this
issue allowed the beginning of timid debates in Turkey. Weakening
these demands would constitute an objective support to nationalists
who want to eliminate in Turkey some dissident voices on this matter
and to keep Turkey away from our European standards,

4. Turkey, who claims to wish to debate on this question, still has
not answered to the Armenian president proposal which consists in
establishing an intergovernmental commission in order to examine how
to solve all the problems between the two countries and to create
diplomatic relations. On the other hand, Turkey continues to deploy
its denialist strategy in terms of historians committees and opening of
archives in order to extract the genocide question from the political
context of its candidature for the Union,

5. The denial policy of Turkey is not only a permanent offence to our
European values, it is also the mark of an ultranationalist and racial
ideology which constitutes a concrete threat towards our societies
and our children.

Communities throughout Europe which are watching with anxiety the
negotiating process with Turkey will be terribly disappointed seeing
the EP retreat from the very laudable position established by its
Foreign Affairs Committee on such a fundamental principle. We urge
you to come forward with a proud vote upholding the Parliament’s
commitment in this matter."

Consequently, we urge you to maintain in plenary session the clear
and adequate formulation of the paragraph 49 adopted by the Foreign
Affairs Committee.

1.Mechitaristen Kongregation, AUSTRIA

2. Armenische Studentenvereinigung (ASV) und Ostereich-Armenisches
Sportkomitee (OASK) Ararat, AUSTRIA

3. Armenischer Allgemeiner Sport- und Pfadfinder Verein Wien (H.M.E.M)
, AUSTRIA

4. Verein fur die Betreuung von Migranten und Asylanten (HUYS-SPES)
, AUSTRIA

5. Europaische Armenische Foderation fur Justiz und Demokratie in
Osterreich, AUSTRIA

6. Armenisch-Apostolische Kirchengemeinde Osterreichs St. Hripsime
(Kirchengemeinde), AUSTRIA

7. Comite des Armeniens de Belgique, BELGIUM

8. FRA Tashnagtsoutioun, BELGIUM

9. Armenian youth cultural centre, BELGIUM

10. ASSOCIATION DES ARMENIENS DEMOCRATES DE BELGIQUE, BELGIUM

11. Assemblee des Representants Armeniens de Belgique, BELGIUM

12. CCAF Centre-France, FRANCE

13. AACG Grenoble

14. ACA Vienne

15. ACA Lyon

16. ACS Villefranche

17. ADL

18. AMASC

19. ANA Grenoble

20. APECLE

21. Association Culturelle de Kharpert

22. Badanis Decines

23. C 24 Valence

24. CBAF Decines

25. CBAF Grenoble

26. CBAF Lyon-Villeuranne

27. CBAF St Maurice de Beynost

28. CBAF Vienne

29. Comite de Defense de la Cause Armenienne

30. CEDIA

31. Eglise catholique armenienne de Lyon

32. Eglise evangelique armenienne de Decines

33. Eglise evangelique armenienne de Lyon

34. FRA Decines

35. FRA Grenoble

36. FRA Lyon -Villeurbanne

37. FRA Vienne

38. France Karabagh

39. France Armenie

40. MCA Charvieu

41. MCA Chasse-sur-Rhône

42. MCA Decines, MCA Grenoble

43. MCA Vienne

44. MCA Villeurbanne

45. Nor Seround Decines

46. Nor Seround Lyon

47. Radio Armenie

48. Terre et Culture

49. UCFAF

50. Union Des Associations Armeniennes de St-Etienne et St-Chamond

51. UGAB Lyon

52. UGAB Vienne

53. UNEAA Lyon et environs

54. UNEA Pont de Cheruy

55. UMAF

56. CCAF Ile-de France, FRANCE

57. A.A. Ecole TEBROTZASSERE

58. AAAG (Ecole St Mesrop)

59. AAAS

60. ACEERF (Eglise Evangelique)

61. ADL Ramgavar

62. AFAJA

63. AFAV

64. Aide pour l’Armenie

65. ANACRA

66. ARMENIE Villages

67. ASK (Soutien Kharabagh)

68. ASPA

69. Ass Sainte Croix (Eglise Catholique)

70. Association Armenie/Kharabagh

71. AYP FM

72. CBAF

73. CDCA

74. CHENE

75. Collectif VAN

76. COPEA

77. Eglise Apostolique

78. FRA Dachnaktsoutioun

79. FRA Nor Seround

80. G2 IA

81. HAMASKAINE

82. HOMENETMEN

83. JAF

84. MAFP

85. Maison de la Culture de Paris

86. NAZARPEK

87. Nouvelles d’Armenie Magazine

88. SD Hentchakian

89. SFA

90. UCAM (Armeniens de Montreuil)

91. UCFAF

92. UCIA

93. UGAB

94. UMAF

95. CCAF Sud France, FRANCE (25 associations signatrices)

96. Zentralrat der Armenier in Deutschland e.V., GERMANY

97. Armenische Gemeinde zu Berlin e.V. , GERMANY

98. Armenischer Kulturverein Hamburg e.V. , GERMANY

99. Armenische Kirche – Munchen, GERMANY

100. Armenische Landsmannschaft zu Bayern e.V. , GERMANY

101. Armenisches Hilfswerk in Deutschland e.V. , GERMANY

102. Armenisch-Akademischer Verein 1860 e.V. , GERMANY

103. Norserunt-Deutschland, GERMANY

104. German-Armenian Studentsclub Haik, GERMANY

105. Institut fur Armenische Fragen e.V. , GERMANY

106. Armenian National Committee of Greece, GREECE

107. Armenian Prelacy and National Committee of Orthodox in Greece,
GREECE

108. Greek Armenian Forum, GREECE

109. Greek Armenian Friendship League, GREECE

110. Armenia Blue Cross of Greece, GREECE

111. Armenia Youth Federation, GREECE

112. Hamaskaïne Cultural Association, GREECE

113. Homenetmen, GREECE

114. Athletic Scout Organisation, GREECE

115. Armenian Charity Cross of Macedonia and Greece, GREECE

116. Azad Or : Armenian Daily Newspapers, GREECE

117. Djenazian Armenian High School, GREECE

118. Hagopian School, GREECE

119. Zavarian Armenian School, GREECE

120. Italian Civil Society Associations and Personalities, ITALY

121. AZAT

122. Redazione di "La Voce Armena"

123. Communita Armenia

124. Consiglio per la comunita armena di roma

125. Redaction de

126. Redaction de "Akhtamar On Line"

127. Ettore Musco

128. Massimiliano De Sire

129. Gassia Manoukian

130. Tizzi Corrado

131. Mechitarian, Iganzia Maria Lucia

132. Patrizia Manduchi

133. Michelguglielmo Torri

134. Tosatti Marco

135. Aldo Baldini

136. Gloria Ruth Calfayan

137. Norberto Poggio

138. Gloria Calfayan [

139. Norberto Poggio

140. don Riccardo Pane

141. Tiziano Villa

142. rech

143. Flavia Randi

144. Deir Ghazarian

145. H.RIAN

146. flora khaciatrian

147. Rodolfo Caroselli

148. Anais Dilsizian

149. Raffi Kassapian

150. Hovsep Kassapian

151. Clara Kurkdjian

152. Angele Berberian

153. Yervant Berberian

154. Levon Balian

155. May Balian

156. Magda Balian

157. Nubar Kassapian

158. Araxi Kassapian

159. Anias Kassapian

160. Haig Kassapian

161. Yacoub Artine Hayatian

162. Barbara Faes

163. Vahan Shahbazians

164. Marilde Andreano

165. Daniela Chiappetti

166. Rodolfo Caroselli

167. Andrea Cramarossa

168. Canetta Nemo

169. Armen Gurekian

170. Tiziano Villa

171. Storia Libera

172. Pietro Salvatori

173. Dott. Matteo Compareti

174. Massimiliano De Sire

175. Michelguglielmo Torri

176. Avedis Naroyan

177. Enrico Potukian

178. GALEANDRO Angela

179. Marco Rossi

180. Anahid Zerunian

181. Wartanusch Zerunian

182. Paola Della Rosa

183. Sarkis Zerunian

184. Corrado Miceli

185. Marzia Chini

186. Simonetta Pandolfi

187. Luciano Desocio

188. Bruno, Marta

189.

190. Il Presidente Gen. Ennio Reggiani

191. Cristina Gervasi

192. Mary Avakian

193. Manuela Avakian

194. Francesco Castelli

195. Noemi Antranikian

196. Lia Avakian

197. Linda Avakian

198. Umberto Codeleoncini

199. Zekiyan Boghos

200. Nevart Cricorian

201. Ara Zarian

202. Andrea Malavolti

203. Maria Giovanna Stasolla

204. Tchakmichian Karina

205. morelli derberiaviano

206. Guido Grosso

207. Antranik Balian

208. Elisa Giunchi

209. Saro Lerner

210. Khodaveerdi Saro

211. Khodaveerdi Boranian Siranusch

212. Khodaveerdi Savadians Marò

213. Khodaveerdi Gayane

214. Boranian Gedik Alis

215. Beatrice Paccani

216. Paola Barbara Conti

217. Faticato Camillo

218. Mirco Medici

219. Giovannamr Rizzi

220. Lucia Menichelli

221. Gaetano Tursi

222. Emanuele Aliprandi

223. Aldo Ferrari

224. Roberta Aluffi

225. Edoardo De Giovanni

226. Beatrice Paccani

227. Federica Mancinelli

228. Arnaldo Peretta

229. Mildonian Paola

230. Francesca Giovannoni

231. Heratch Abdalian

232. Abdalian Armine

233. Nederlandse Armeense comite voor Rechtvaardigheid en
Democratie(Haytad), NETHERLANDS

234. Armenian Cultural -Sport Union Almelo (Homentmen), NETHERLANDS

235. ANI Cultureel huis, NETHERLANDS

236. ARF Dashnaksoutyoun – Holland, NETHERLANDS

–Boundary_(ID_x2M81gwvUfaKnsRrl+/gRg )–

ARMENIAN CHESS PLAYER HAD A GOOD START

A1+
[12:22 pm] 27 September, 2006

An international chess tournament has started in Britain. Member of
the Armenian national team Grand Master Vladimir Hakobyan participates
in it too. After the forth round Hakobyan occupies in the 5th place
with three points.

Hakobyan has the highest rank among the 87 participants of the
tournament. At present the list is topped by Matheus Bartel from
Poland.

In the fifth round the Armenian Grand Master will play with Eugeny
Postni.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU ADOPTS CRITICAL REPORT ON ANKARA

People’s Daily Online, China
Sept 28 2006

The European Parliament warned Turkey yesterday it must speed up
far-reaching reforms if it wants to join the European Union.

EU lawmakers adopted a highly critical, non-binding report which
accused Ankara of failing to live up to promises it made to win the
green light from EU leaders to start talks last October on joining
the bloc.

"The European Parliament … regrets the slowing down of the reform
process," the report said.

It said Turkey had shown "insufficient progress" on freedom of
expression, religious and minority rights, women’s rights and the
rule of law since the start of accession talks.

It demanded Turkey fulfil its obligation to open its ports and airports
to EU member Cyprus under a customs agreement. Ankara has refused to
do so unless the EU fulfils a pledge to end the economic isolation
of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.

But parliament voted to delete a clause which would have sought
to make recognition by Ankara of the mass killing of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey as "genocide" a precondition for EU membership. The
clause had particularly angered Turkey.

However, parliament said it "reiterates its call on Turkey to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as called for in previous European
parliament resolutions."

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference in
Istanbul that his government was "determined to work with the EU with
a constructive understanding" but would not accept any discrimination
or new criteria for membership.

EU ASSEMBLY ADOPTS CRITICAL REPORT ON TURKEY
By Darren Ennis

REUTERS, UK
Sept 27 2006

STRASBOURG, France, Sept 27 (Reuters) – The European Parliament warned
Turkey on Wednesday that it must speed up far-reaching reforms if it
wants to join the European Union.

EU lawmakers adopted a highly critical, non-binding report which
accused Ankara of failing to live up to promises it made to start
talks last October on joining the bloc.

"The European Parliament … regrets the slowing down of the reform
process," the report said.

It noted Turkey had shown "insufficient progress" in the areas of
freedom of expression, religious and minority rights, women’s rights
and the rule of law since the start accession talks 11 months ago.

It demanded Turkey fulfil its obligation to open its ports and airports
to EU member Cyprus under an extended customs agreement.

Ankara has refused to do so unless the EU fulfils a pledge to end
the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.

But parliament voted to delete a clause which would have sought
to make recognition by Ankara of the mass killing of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey as "genocide" a precondition for EU membership. The
clause had particularly angered Turkey.

However, parliament said it "reiterates its call on Turkey to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as called for in previous European
parliament resolutions".

European Commissioner Louis Michel, speaking on behalf of the EU
executive, warned lawmakers on Tuesday that making this a precondition
for membership would be "moving the goalposts".

"FIRM BUT FAIR"

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference in
Istanbul that his government was "determined to work with the EU with
a constructive understanding" but would not accept any discrimination
or new criteria for membership.

"You cannot change the rules during the match. The rules of play are
clear. The game has begun," Erdogan said.

The report by Dutch lawmaker Camiel Eurlings did not call for a halt
or suspension of talks with Turkey. Eurlings told parliament it was
"fair but tough" and urged Turkey to see it as as "a motivation to
speed up reforms".

Any country wishing to become a member of the 25-member bloc, set to
become 27 when Romania and Bulgaria join on Jan. 1, must receive the
approval of the EU’s directly elected assembly.

Parliament has never sought to veto any past accession, but it has
played a role in pressuring EU hopefuls to speed up reforms in previous
enlargement rounds.

The 80 amendments put forward by different political groups highlighted
deep divisions within the assembly over Turkey’s possible membership.

Many members of the centre-right European People’s Party, the largest
group, are unconvinced about Turkey’s bid to join. The governing
parties of Germany and France, which dominate the group, favour
"privileged partnership" with Turkey rather than full membership.

Some experts fear a possible breakdown in accession talks with the
strategic, Muslim candidate country if it fails to solve the dispute
over Cyprus amid mutual public disenchantment.

The European Commission is due to deliver its next regular progress
report on Turkey on Nov. 8 and has promised to take parliament’s
views into account.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn will visit Ankara next week
to meet Turkish leaders.

EU CHAMBER CENSURES TURKEY ON RIGHTS

United Press International
Sept 27 2006

STRASBOURG, France, Sept. 27 (UPI) — The European Parliament,
meeting in France, approved a report Wednesday criticizing Turkey
for not doing enough to meet European Union membership criteria.

The chamber voted 429-71 in favor of the report, with 125 delegates
abstaining.

The report criticizes Turkey’s human rights shortcomings, but does
not call on Turkey to officially recognize as genocide the forced mass
evacuation and related deaths of Armenians by Ottoman Turks from 1915
to 1917.

Armenians have pushed for such recognition, claiming more than 1.5
million died in what some call the Armenian Holocaust.

Turkey vehemently denies the deaths were genocide.

The report calls on Turkey to increase reforms around freedom of
expression, religious rights, women’s rights, labor unions, minority
rights, cultural rights and judicial independence, the EU Observer
reports.

The report also expresses hope Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit
to Turkey will "contribute to strengthening inter-religious and
intercultural dialogue between the Christian and Muslim world."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONDITION OF GENOCIDE HAS BEEN REMOVED

Sabah, Turkey
Sept 27 2006

European parliament has confirmed controversial Turkey report. It
has removed the pre-condition of Armenian genocide; the request of
‘privileged partnership’ and ‘Pontus and Syrian genocides’ was not
present.

EU commission had caused reactions in Ankara due to the amendments
and additional requirements in the reports. In the report, starting
a good neighborhood and diplomatic relation with Greece and a call
for opening the border gate were included. There were references to
"Pontus and Syrian genocides". It has removed the pre-condition
of Armenian genocide; the request of ‘privileged partnership’ and
‘Pontus and Syrian genocides’ was not present.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND ARMENIAN ISSUE IN THE NETHERLANDS POLITICS
Sedat Laciner

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 27 2006

It is really strange. The Armenian issue has become an issue in the
run up to the Dutch elections. The two leading Dutch parties in the
opinion polls have kicked out prospective Turkish MPs because they
do not accept the Armenian claims are true. The candidates, one from
the opposition Labor Party and two from the biggest coalition party –
the Christian Democrat CDA – are Dutch/Turkish politicians who have
worked for integration of the Turkish and Muslims in the country.

There are strong Armenian communities and lobbies in many countries
including Armenia. Armenians are actually a nation of diaspora. The
diaspora population of the Armenians is higher than the population
of motherland. The diaspora Armenians are very keen on to make all
world governments to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide. The
Armenians believe in that the 1915 Events Under the Ottoman Rule was
a genocide although even the term of ‘genocide’ was unknown at that
time. Turkey has never accepted the Armenian claims and accused the
Armenians of massacring more than 520.000 Muslim Ottoman citizens,
namely Turkish and Kurdish people. Turkey’s so-called ‘deny’ made the
nationalist Armenians crazy and they started a revenge campaign. The
Armenian fanatics murdered many former Ottoman ministers after the
First World War and made great pressure on the parliaments where
they live in against the Turkish interests. In 1970s, the Armenian
reaction against Turkey transformed into Armenian terrorism. ASALA
and other Armenian terrorist organizations assassinated more than 40
Turkish diplomats and civilians. The Armenian terrorists made armed
operations in many countries, including France, Greece, United States,
United Kingdom, Austria, Spain, Iran, Switzerland etc. Many people
were also wounded. The bombs were put in the Turkish bank branches,
airway offices and embassies. The Armenian terrorist organizations
were backed by the Communist intelligence services and Palestinian
terrorist organizations. They were trained in Lebanon and Syria. The
most dramatic fact for Turkey was that the military alliances in
NATO, notably France and Greece, ignored the Armenian terrorists. The
terrorists even found safe haven in Greece and Greek Cyprus.

When the terrorist attacks hit Western targets and killed some
Western citizens, the United States and Western European states
put great pressure on the Armenian groups and the Armenian terrorist
organization strangely vanished. Some of the Turkish academicians argue
that the Armenian groups handed their arms and terrorism facilities
to the Kurdish separatist terrorist organization PKK. The PKK and
ASALA made agreements in London and Beirut. The end of the terrorist
attacks was actually a fresh start for the parliament lobbying for
the Armenian communities. The Armenian Church and Armenian extremist
groups aimed to persuade at least 100 foreign parliaments to recognize
the Armenian historical claims as truth. The Armenian activists never
applied a court for their cause although they claimed that more than
1,5 million Armenians were massacred by the Ottomans. Strangely the
Armenian figure has changed a lot:

Some Armenian books claimed about 750.000 Armenians were killed,
while some others were speaking about 1,5 million. Even some
Armenian activists in Wales argued more than 2,5 million Armenians
were slaughtered by the Turks. According to the Ottoman archives the
total Armenian population was less than 1,5 million.

Armenians started campaigns and lobbied to issue Armenian bills against
Turkey in almost all countries in the world. They focused on the North
American and Western European parliaments. The Armenians hoped that
if the West recognize the Armenian claims, they would force Turkey
recognize the Armenian cause. But they were simply wrong. Turkey has
never been persuaded in any issue like this. How Armenians harmed
Turkish interests abroad, Turkey became more hostile towards the
Armenians. The Armenian attacks abroad made the Turkish people crazy.

Netherlands was not an exception. The Armenian lobbying has always been
strong in this country. Armenian community concentrated in Amsterdam
during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the Armenian Dutch citizens
became very influential despite their relatively small population. The
exact number of Armenians in the country now is unknown, but it is
unofficially estimated that about 4,000 to 6,000 Armenians live in
the Netherlands. However the Armenian influence on Dutch politics is
still strong, particularly on the Turkish issues.

One of the reasons for this is the Armenian global solidarity. The
Armenian lobbying parties in Western Europe unite in each cases and
make lobbies. For example, about 300.000 Armenians live in France
and they have MPs, businessmen, authors etc. in France and all these
strong people join in any lobbying activities in EU countries. Thus
the Armenian cause become strong in the countries where the Armenian
population is really small, like United Kingdom, Netherlands and
Belgium. Second reason is the strong anti-Turkish circles in these
countries. Many in the Netherlands believe that the Turkish people
are not European and Turkey’s EU membership must be prevented. The
EU summits however confirmed that Turkey’s EU membership cannot be
stopped in terms of economic and political criteria. Turkish economy is
better than Bulgaria’s, Romania’s, even some of the EU members right
now. Under these circumstances, the Armenian issue with the Cyprus
issue provide perfect tools to keep the Turks outside. Third, there are
traditional anti-Turkey groups in the Western European countries like
the Greeks, Greek Cypriots, racist and religionist European groups,
Marxist Turks and PKK supporters. All are natural partners for the
Armenian lobbying groups against Turkey. None of these groups lose
any opportunity in damaging Turkish interests in Europe. Thus an
anti-Turkish coalition emerged, and when the Armenians attempted
to push the Dutch or any other parliament to accept the Armenian
claims as truth, all the mentioned anti-Turkey groups unite behind
the Armenians. It was the case when the Dutch Parliament accepted the
Armenian 1915 allegations. The Dutch Parliament adopted a resolution
recognizing the 1915 events as genocide in 2004. According to the
accepted resolution the Dutch government had to push for recognition
of the so-called genocide as part of the negotiations for Turkey’s
desired accession to the EU.

Tineke Huizinga from the Christian explains the official Dutch
position:

"More than one and a half million people were murdered during the
time of World War I by Turkey and this was a genocide and you can
absolutely compare this with the Holocaust."

It is really strange and non-based because there was no country
named Turkey in 1915. Turkey was established in 1923. The country
at that time on Anatolian territory was the Ottoman Empire. Dutch
politicians compare the 1915 Events with the Holocaust but Israel
reject any comparison between Holocaust and 1915 Events. The following
quotation from a Nobel Prize winning Israeli statesman, Shimon Peres,
closes the discussion:

"We reject attempts to create a similarity between the Holocaust and
the Armenian allegations. Nothing similar to the Holocaust occurred.

It is a tragedy what the Armenians went through but not a genocide…

Israel should not determine a historical or philosophical position
on the Armenian issue. If we have to determine a position, it should
be done with great care not to distort the historical realities."

(Peres: Armenian Allegations are Meaningless’, Turkish Daily News, 10
April 2001; Haig Boyadjian, ‘Peres Claims Armenians Did Not Experience
Genocide’, Asbarez, 10 April 2001).

Turkey has rejected all accusations and blamed the Dutch politicians
of undermining Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan call the Armenian side to establish a joint
commission to discuss the historical disputes instead of foreign
involvements. However the Armenians rejected all good will offers
and continued to their anti-Turkish efforts in the Western parliaments.

Strangely Armenia does not recognize Turkey’s eastern borders despite
the written agreements, like Kars Agreement. Second, Armenia has
occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan and about 1 million Azeris have
been refugees since the occupation. The genocide-like massacres
in Hocali town (Azerbaijan) was pictured and documented well by
the Western media. However none of the European or North American
Parliaments mentioned all these issues but discussed the disputes
happened almost a century ago. I personally do not believe that the
Western parliaments love the Armenians and give great importance to
history. If so, they should first recognize the Algerian genocide
committed by France after the Second World War. Genocides committed
by the Belgium, Germans or Russians should have been on the list. If
these parliaments give so importance to the massacres and genocides,
they should have mention the war crimes and massacres committed by
the Armenians during the Ottoman time, after the First World War
and Karabakh War. All of us know that all these things are dirty
politics. The Armenian issue is being abused, and the Armenians are
happy with abused by the Western politicians.

DUTCH POLITICAL PARTIES AND RACIST DISCRIMINATION

Armenians saw the Ducth elections as another opportunity to raise
their arguments and to harm the Turkish interests in this country in
2006. It made the headlines after questions were raised by the Armenian
community in the Netherlands when the names of the candidates were
made public on the party lists for the November elections, and a
heated discussion soon followed.

The Turkish-Dutch candidates in question had clearly stated in the
past that, in their view, the 1915 events were not genocide but
communal calashes. They said the so-called genocide not taken place.

This view is contrary to the official policy of some of the Dutch
political parties.

It was a clash with this position that brought the CDA candidates
Ayhan Tonca, Osman Elamci and Labour Party candidate Erdinc Sacan
into problems with their parties. Ayhan Tonca has constantly denied
the genocide occurred: "The genocide that people talk about never
took place" he said.

Although Mr. Tonca doesn’t deny that hundreds of thousands of people
died, he argues that there needs to be further investigation to see if
the killings were consciously carried out by the Ottoman government at
that time. Many Turkish people and even the current Turkish Government
think in this way. Turkey accepts that thousands of people were killed
and died during the 1915 Relocation. Turkey says that it was difficult
times, and the war circumstances with poor economic conditions caused
epidemics and famines in Anatolia.

According to the Turkish historians many Armenians died due to the
famine, bad weather conditions, epidemics and lack of health etc.

facilities. Turks also accept that many more Armenians were killed by
the armed gangs, mostly Kurdish. The previous Armenian attacks against
the Kurdish tribes caused revenge attacks and some Kurdish gangs also
attacked the Armenian immigrants hoping to get their valuables. What
is obvious that the Ottoman soldiers could not protect the Armenian
civilians and thousands of Armenians were killed or died due to the
‘natural reasons’.

Turkish candidates explanation was not in line with the CDA’s and
Labour Party’s official policy, and events that followed the initial
uproar made things even harder for the CDA to accept. As a matter
of fact that these Turkish candidates do not accept some other
CDA policies, like Turkey’s full EU membership. The Armenian and
anti-Turkey lobbies’ pressure left the CDA with little choice but
to remove them from the list of candidates. The Dutch Labour Party
decided to scrap its candidate from the list after the Turkish-Dutch
candidate refused to stand by the so-called official party policy
recognizing the Armenian claims. According to the candidates removed
from the list, this was unacceptable, because the political parties
are known as the symbol of different ideas and freedom of speech. If
a politician cannot think in different ways in political parties,
where does he/she can do so?

The Netherlands has been known for its liberal laws and political
system. Dutch even allow paedophile group. A Dutch court turned down
a request to ban a political party (the Brotherly Love, Freedom and
Diversity Party, PNVD) with a paedophile agenda. Dutch PNVD seeks
to lower the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12 and legalize child
pornography and sex with animals. "Freedom of expression…including
the freedom to set up a political party can be seen as the basis
for a democratic society," Judge Hofhuis told the journalist after
the verdict.

As a result, you can defend child pornography and sex with animals
in the Netherlands but you cannot have different opinion on Armenian
issue.

If you are Turkish you have to obey what the imposed on you. Shut up,
and accept it!

You have no choice but recognition of what you did not commit.

Thanks God, the Netherlands is a liberal and democratic country.

RECOGNITION OF UNRECOGNIZED: NAGORNO KARABAKH PRESS DIGEST

Regnum, Russia
Sept 27 2006

Will the talks be continued?

"Vardan Oskanyan’s refusal to meet with the Azeri FM means that he is
afraid that his arguments might be weak," 525th Daily (Baku) reports
the Spokesman of the Azeri Foreign Ministry Tair Tagizade as saying.

Tagizade says that the main point is that the talks must be
continued. "All Oskanyan’s statements about Azerbaijan’s activities at
the UN show the real extent of Armenia’s commitment in the regional and
world politics," says Tagizade. He notes that the OSCE MG co-chairs
still believe that the next meeting should be between the Armenian
and Azeri FMs.

The press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry has published the
response of the acting spokesman of the FM Vladimir Karapetyan to
Public Radio’s question:

"In their last few days’ comments some Azeri officials have used
quite new diplomatic vocabulary. Particularly, the spokesman of the
Azeri Foreign Ministry has appeared with a very strange statement
that the Armenian side is "avoiding" the FM meeting because of "the
weakness of its arguments." Do we actually have nothing to say during
the forthcoming meeting?

I am trying to understand what psychic complexes might have forced
my Azeri colleague to make such unbecoming statements about the FMs
meeting. Perhaps, the only thing left for a diplomat of a country who
has lost the war it started itself is to cover his impotence with
senseless arrogance and idle talk. I am really surprised to hear
such a bunch of words from Azeri officials. I say "bunch of words"
because what they are saying makes absolutely no sense, no logic,
nothing one could call a thought. I see absolutely no responsibility
and sense of the moment in their words.

The Armenian side takes the talks very seriously and expects the same
from the opposite side. We have repeatedly said that we approve of the
last proposals of the OSCE MG co-chairs and hope that the talks will
be continued. In the last years Azerbaijan has shown increasingly
strong negation towards the peace talks: in 1998 they rejected the
"common state" scenario, in 2000 they dismissed the Key-West proposals
and, today, they are drawing back from the agreements produced by the
Minsk Group. We would like to say once again that the Minsk Group is
the best format for the Armenian side at the moment.

The transfer of the problem to other instances necessitates the
involvement of Nagorno Karabakh in the talks. Talks are not an end in
itself for us: we are not going to take part in the Azeri games. If
Azerbaijan has no more arguments to give to the MG and hopes to get
some dim profits in a structure where members are not well aware of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, it is playing a dangerous game. If
Azerbaijan got into this game against its will only because it tried
to capitalize on the agendas of other participants, it should have
well estimated the possible consequences of such a policy. Azerbaijan
must realize that we will not solve the problem by imposing scenarios
on each other. We must find the solution ourselves however hard it
might be.

On the other hand, the Azeri authorities may well be trying to use
the "card" of Nagorno Karabakh for their own domestic needs. If
so, this is not a political question. In any case, the Azeri side
will not be able to mislead anybody. They will not be able to deny
that it was they who carried out the first ethnic cleansing in the
former Soviet Union, it was they who first started a large-scale war
against people they consider to be their own citizens, it is they
who are destroying Armenian cultural heritage, it is they who are
showing absolute negation of any contacts with the Armenian side –
contacts that could pave the way for cooperation and could alleviate
the tensions (Noyan Tapan).

"One could expect such a position from Armenia. Armenia believes
that it has won the war, and Azerbaijan must concede during the
talks, but Azerbaijan will not deign to do it," Azeri political
expert Rasim Musabekov says in an interview to APA news agency while
commenting on Armenia’s attempts to evade the talks. Musabekov says
that there is only one way to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem:
"The hegemonic states must bring Yerevan to reason, otherwise, the
talks will give no results, and Armenia will continue pushing forward
its non-constructive position."

Azeri political expert Zardusht Alizade says that, in fact, there
is no negotiating process, it’s just a show: "Neither side wants
to drastically change its position. There is no real ground for
concessions. Armenia says that Nagorno-Karabakh must become independent
and join it, Azerbaijan says that it will not give Armenia a single
inch of its land. Nobody is searching for concessions outside these
principles and appeals to the public and the international law. Both
the sides and the co-chairs approach the problem superficially and
are trying to find a solution that would bring closer the interests
of the sides, but the interests are not coming closer. For the
problem to be resolved, one of the sides must renounce its basic
principles." Alizade says that some powerful forces are trying to
freeze and to prolong the conflict. Now, the sides are in a stalemate
and are just feigning talks.

Meanwhile, political expert Vafa Guluzade calls the Karabakh peace
process "just a nonsense."

168 Zham daily asks Spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir
Karapetyan: "A few months ago Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
that, if the Karabakh talks reach a deadlock, Armenia will recognize
the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Will Armenia actually
do it?"

Karapetyan responds: "You have said yourself – ‘if the talks reach
a deadlock.’ The present situation is not a deadlock."

168 Zham asks: "And what about Armenia’s statements that if Azerbaijan
continues its attempts to transfer the Karabakh problem to the UN,
it will have to negotiate with Nagorno-Karabakh – something Azerbaijan
will never agree to. Isn’t it a deadlock?"

Karapetyan answers: "You can’t be 100% sure it will not, more
precisely, we will learn this during the forthcoming processes." "One
thing is sure, Armenia wants the talks to be continued in one or
another form. The Armenian side will in no way lead the process into
a deadlock."

"The present deadlock in the Karabakh peace process is the result of
Azerbaijan’s illegal territorial claims, the removal of Karabakh – the
most interested party – from the talks and the excessive stupidity and
historical-legal ignorance of various mediators," the first Russian
Ambassador to Armenia Vladimir Stupishin says in an interview to
PanARMENIAN.Net. He says that for the same reasons one should not
expect progress in 2007 and 2008. "That’s exactly why it is hard to
say when Karabakh will come back into the process."

As regards the possibility of military solution, Baku is not calling
for application of force, in fact, it is threatening Armenia
with war. This is inadmissible, even if this is just a bluff,"
says Stupishin. He says that the optimal way now is to preserve the
status quo in all parameters lest the Armenians might be charged with
wrecking the talks: "Talks – however long they might be – are always
better than war." "During the 15 years of their independence the
Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have strengthened
their statehoods, have tried to overcome the problems of blockade
existence, have successfully resisted the aggression of Azeri revenge
seekers. Armenia have preserved friendly, allied relations with
Russia and has cooperated with Moscow in the framework of the CIS,
CSTO and other organizations," says Stupishin.

"Though not recognized formally by any government, Karabakh’s
continued march to secure lasting independence is irreversible,"
says Nagorno-Karabakh’s Representative to the United States, Vardan
Barseghyan.

Referring to DiplomaticTraffic.com, PanARMENIAN.Net reports Barseghyan
as saying: "There is no going back for us." "Just because Stalin gave
Karabakh to Azerbaijan does not mean that the international community
has to reinforce what Stalin did." "What Stalin did at the beginning
of the last century was against the will of our people. And now we
are at the beginning of the 21st Century."

So far, negotiations among the key players since the 1994 ceasefire,
notably through the OSCE’s Minsk Group, have produced a lot of
statements and occasional glimmers of hope, but no concrete progress
on a lasting political solution.

But, clearly, Karabakh is not waiting for others to decide its
future. It has been working to shore up its defenses while steadily
improving its economy and the lot of its 145,000 people. Barseghyan
notes that GDP doubled from 2001 to 2005 (increasing to $114 million
from $53 million), and economic growth last year was 14 percent.

Although Karabakh is still a very poor country in a seemingly
precarious political situation, its people are evidently working hard
to improve their economy and prospects for the future.

Asked about possible recognition of their republic, Barseghyan
says: "There are positive tendencies" in that direction. He said
"governments recognize the fact that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
has been established and functioning as a country, and more and more
contacts look like regular government-to-government contacts."

"However, Washington closely watches the developments in Karabakh
including economic progress and democratization though the US
government tries not to portray these as regular contacts, for obvious
reasons," says Barseghyan.

"I believe the world recognizes that we deserve to be free,
and as a minimum we should avoid another disaster. International
recognition of Karabakh’s independence will discourage another
attack by Azerbaijan. The ceasefire has lasted for 12 years already,
and we believe this is due to the natural balance of forces," says
Barseghyan. He notes that Azerbaijan’s oil revenue has been used in
part to strengthen its armed forces, and Karabakh (and Armenia) stress
to the US Congress and administration that a military balance should
be maintained to prevent a new attack by Azerbaijan," says Barseghyan.

Recognition of unrecognized

Nagorno Karabakh welcomes the conduct of referendums in Transdnestr
and South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh President Arkady Gukasyan says
in an interview with Novosti Armenia news agency. "I believe that
the peoples of Transdnestr and South Ossetia have the right to hold
referendums and to once again confirm the will they expressed long
before," says Gukasyan. "I think it is always wrong and bad to ignore
a nation’s will. Such problems must be solved on the basis of the
right of a nation to self-determination and, naturally, we welcome
these referendums," says Gukasyan.

On Sept 18 Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba received Vice
Chairman of the Commission on International Cooperation and Public
Diplomacy of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Sergey
Markov and Director of the Russian and Asian Programs of International
Security Institute (Washington) NikolaiZlobin.

Caucasian Knot news agency reports the sides to discuss the political
results of the referendum in Transdnestr and to express their support
for the political rights and sovereignty of the Transdnestr people.

The sides also discussed some practical steps to raise the
international authority of the Republic of Abkhazia and security in
the region. If Kosovo’s independence is recognized, the world community
will universally apply this principle in Abkhazia, Transdnestr, South
Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, Markov said after the meeting. He said
that this principle will generate a new wave of independences in the
post-Soviet area.

"We must respect the wish of the residents of Transdnestr to get
independence," Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vladimir
Zhirinovsky said on Sept 20. He said that a hundred of new independent
states will appear on the world map soon and mentioned Karabakh and
other unrecognized states. Zhirinovsky proposed opening a Russian
consulate in Transdnestr. (Analitika.az).

The European Union does not recognize the results of the September
17 referendum in Transdnestr. Before the referendum, EU and OSCE
officials had repeatedly said that it was inexpedient to hold a
referendum in Transdnestr. OSCE President Karel de Gucht said that
the Transdnestr referendum would make the situation in the region
even more complicated, PanARMENIAN.Net reports with reference to the
official representative of the European Commission Pietro Petrucci.

Concerning the referendum in Transdnestr, Deputy Chief Editor of
Kommersant daily (Russia) Azer Mursaliyev says that referendum is a way
to pressure the other conflicting party. "This referendum will have no
legal consequences. It was declared illegal from the very beginning
by all big international organizations. In fact, it was just a way
for Transdnestr to remind of itself. The referendum in South Ossetia
will have the same scenario and outcome," says Mursaliyev. Concerning
Nagorno Karabakh, Mursaliyev says that they have already held several
referendums: "But all this is simply miserable from the legal point of
view. Any referendum is considered recognized if its very conduct is
recognized, if it is observed by experts from specific organizations –
from the UN to the CE; while several foreigners coming to unrecognized
units on their own will or on somebody’s request are not a guarantee
of serious legal consequences" (525th Daily).

The separatist units existing in the post-Soviet area have picked
up the habit of holding referendums. Thereby, they are trying to
"Balcanize" the post-Soviet area and to acquire the Serbian-Montenegrin
and Kosovan experience of ethnic-national self-determination. They
are doing it in different ways: electing "presidents," voting for
"constitutions," imitating "independence referendums." And all
those "countries" forget that the US and the EU have recognized the
Montenegrin and Kosovan cases as unique and not subject to blind
political imitation. (Zerkalo).

The head of the Inter-Ethnic Relations Department of the Institute
of Political and Military Analysis of Russia Sergey Markedonov says
that Azerbaijan’s attempt to transfer the Karabakh peace process to
the UN is not just a coincidence. "Nagorno Karabakh Republic will
shortly join the ‘parade of referendums’ of unrecognized post-Soviet
republics – on December 10 2006 the Karabakh people will vote on draft
Constitution. The key point of the NKR Constitution is not division
of government or distribution of powers among the president, the
parliament and the Cabinet, but the territorial problem: the key
question of the political debates over the draft Constitution is
where the homeland starts and where it ends for the Karabakh people.

They in Stepanakert are sure that in three months they will
institutionalize their republic both territorially and politically.

The last attribute of a fully-fledged state is Constitution and the
adoption of own Constitution will bring NKR closer to international
recognition," says Markedonov.

MAN GETS 26-YEARS-TO-LIFE IN ROAD-RAGE SLAYING

NBC4.TV, CA
Sept 27 2006

34-Year-Old Was Extradicted To US From Armenia For Trial

VAN NUYS, Calif. — The first man to be handed over to U.S. authorities
by Armenia to face criminal charges was sentenced Wednesday to
26 years to life in state prison for the road-rage murder of a
documentary filmmaker.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Kathryne Stoltz rejected the defense’s
request for a new trial for Shahen Eghia Keshishian and refused to
reduce his first-degree murder conviction to second-degree murder.

Keshishian, 34, was also found guilty Aug. 25 of vehicular manslaughter
with gross negligence and leaving the scene of an accident.

Jurors also found true the allegation that Keshishian used his GMC
Suburban as a dangerous and deadly weapon when he ran down Michael
Craven on April 29, 2000, as he stood on the shoulder of the Hollywood
(101) Freeway, south of Barham Boulevard.

The 44-year-old Canoga Park resident had been driving southbound when
someone in the SUV that Keshishian was driving began lobbing eggs at
his Jeep, authorities said.

Both motorists pulled over and Keshishian ran down Craven as he stood
on the shoulder, then sped away.

The filmmaker died at a hospital.

Keshishian was charged with Craven’s slaying on June 23, 2000, and
charged separately by federal authorities that November with unlawful
flight to avoid prosecution.

He was placed on the Los Angeles Police Department’s most wanted list
and named as a fugitive on the FBI’s Web site.

In October 2004, with the help of various agencies in the United
States and in Yerevan, the LAPD’s homicide unit located Keshishian
in Armenia, where he had ties, according to Glendale police.

He was arrested a month later by the Armenian government for
overstaying his visa and subsequently extradited to the United States.

Glendale police said then that it was the first time someone located
in Armenia was handed to U.S. authorities to be returned to face
criminal charges.

EXHIBITION REVIEW – TEXTILES AND TRIBAL ART

The Muslim News, UK
Sept 27 2006

Current events in London illustrate the immense interest in the art
and designs of the Islamic World: the popular 2006 exhibition "World
in the Art" at the British Museum, the refurbished Islamic Galleries
at the V&A.

One such exhibition was the grand and annual show, ‘Textiles and Tribal
Art – The HALI Fair 2006’, which was established almost 10 years ago.

The context and content of the show were absolutely vast: textiles,
rugs and ethnographic works of art, were shown by 75 dealers from
across five different continents.

Those who know me will agree, as a hand woven textile artist, that I
am being biased to focus and highlight the Textiles of the Islamic
World. It is also due to an overall interest and concern regarding
the contemporary issues of textiles in the art and design of the
Islamic World.

Traditional weaving techniques are widely practised in all Muslim
countries. Colour, technique, weight of cloth, design and equipment
vary according to the different continents and the countries
themselves. They are woven by specialist master weavers, who are
usually from established and talented families with a long weaving
tradition. The HALI Fair highlights these extraordinary hand-woven
pieces which deserve to be appreciated as works of Art.

The exhibition was a pleasant surprise, a cultural melting pot,
like the Silk Road. It consisted of a wealth of Ikat weaving from
Uzbekistan, rare fabrics from Algeria, carpets from Turkey and fine
woven fabrics from Mughal India and Africa.

The Nemati Collections of Rugs truly caught my attention – Tousanian
Prayer Rug, Turkey, C.1920 Silk and metal. 132×198.

Tousanian was an Armenian who lived in England and set up a workshop
in Kumpaki, a district inhabited by Armenians. In 1915, Tousanian
began to recreate some of the finest silk woven carpets, modelled
after traditional pieces. This particular piece is rare in design.

The central area illustrates a kingdom of exotic birds and animals,
while the upper mihrab depicts verses of the Qur’an. Tousanian used
traditional Kumpaki carpet techniques of weaving with metallic
threads. The texture of the Prayer Rug is incredibly smooth and
uniquely thin.

I then came across a rare collection of hand-woven fabrics from Lybia
and Tunisia. These amazing pieces of cloth are hand-dyed with natural
dye and spontaneously woven. They are very old and the collector
‘Menzel Galerie NordAfrika’ could not tell me much about the time
they were produced. I found them very contemporary and although they
were traditionally used as a bridal head cover and veil, they all
have the potential to be contemporary interior pieces.

Hand-woven textiles are a central and integral part of Islamic Art and
Design. However, the question that begs to be asked is if the art of
textiles is just part of the historical heritage of the Islamic Art
and Design or if we can revive it within the contemporary Islamic
Art and Design?