Month: October 2006

"ARMENIAN BUSINESSWOMAN 2005" EXHIBITION KICKS OFF IN YEREVAN TODAY

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 19 2006

YEREVAN, October 19. /ARKA/. The second exhibition "Armenian
Businesswoman 2006" was opened in Yerevan today. ASME program
coordinator for support to Anahit Bobikyan told reporters Thursday
that 60 women-run companies participate in the exhibition.

She said that particularly food, textile, clothes, wooden and stone
ware, applied arts, leather accessories, souvenirs, handwork carpets,
embroidery, publishing and consultation services were demonstrated
at the exhibition.

The first exhibition was held in May 2005. The second one "Armenian
Businesswoman 2006" will last until October 21. The activity was
organized by the ASME (small and medium enterprises) Program in
association with the Logos EXPO Center exhibition company and funded
by the USAID.

At the exhibition, a meeting of Armenian businesswomen with beginner
representatives of business, a round table of businesswomen and
Armenian students, and also a gala-concert dedicated to Armenian
businesswomen to be participated by well-known musicians and prominent
figures of art. R.O. –0–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Yuri Merzlyakov: Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents’ meeting depends
on Foreign ministers’ talks

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 19 2006

[ 19 Oct. 2006 20:23 ]

Azerbaijani Foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign
minister Vardan Oskanian’s next talks in the frame of Prague Process
will be held on October 24, Yuri Merzlyakov, Russian co-chair of
OSCE Minsk group and coordinator on Garabagh conflict told the APA
exclusively.

The talks will be the continuation of the meeting held on October 6
in Moscow, the ministers will discuss the uncoordinated parts of the
main principles of Nagorno Garabagh conflict regulations. Co-chairs
Yuri Merzlyakov (Russia), Bernard Fasie (France), Matthew Bryza (USA)
and Andrzey Kasprzyk, OCSE Personal Representative will have consulting
a day before the meeting. Merzlyakov said that the co-chairs did not
plan meetings with the ministers.

"Only one meeting will be held with the participation of ministers
and coordinators," he said. Answering the question "Will you discuss
the next meeting of the presidents in the meetings of ministers?" the
Russian diplomat said that they have already suggested it.

"But the meeting of presidents depends on ministers’ talks. If the
ministers need high level meeting, we will begin to the preparations,"
Merzlyakov said.

Merzlyakov also said that if the presidents agree to meet, we will
decide where and when to organize it.

"We do not know the president’s schedules. In a case of agreement we
will find an appropriate time and place," Merzlyakov stated.

Russian co-chair did not rule out the fact that the meeting of the
presidents can take place in the summit of CIS countries’ heads in
Minsk in late November. /APA/

Turkish Press
Oct 19 2006

Press Review

AKSAM

CICEK: "ARTICLE 301 CAN BE CHANGED"

Before a meeting of Parliament’s Justice Commission yesterday,
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek spoke to reporters about possible
changes to controversial Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Article 301, saying
that only four articles of the TCK couldn’t be changed, namely 1,
2, 3, and 174. "Thus, all articles except these can be changed,"
said Cicek. "Article 301 was amended in the past. Article 301 isn’t
off-limits to change." /Aksam/

BAYKAL: "NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ALLEGE TURKEY COMMITTED A GENOCIDE ON ARMENIANS"

Turkish Press
Oct 19 2006

Press Review

AKSAM

Speaking at his party’s group meeting yesterday, main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal commented on the
Armenian bill passed last week by the French Parliament, saying that
no one had the right to say that Turkey had committed a genocide on
Armenians. Stressing that 17 countries had made this false allegation,
Baykal stated that 10 of these were European Union members. Commenting
on the recent dispute between Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar
Buyukanit and opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar,
who suggested that terrorists should be encouraged to come down from
the mountains so they can take part in politics, Baykal criticized
Agar’s suggestion. /Aksam/

Armenian Businessmen Suffer from Russia’s Georgia Embargo

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Oct 19 2006

Armenian businessmen have to redirect import routes as a result of
Russia’s sanctions on Georgia, which increases expenditures from 7%
to 20%, Armenian Trade and Economy Minister Karen Chshmaritian said
on October 19, according to the Novosti-Armenia news agency.

He said that Armenian importers redirect their cargo travelling from
Russia to ports – mainly Varna in Bulgaria and Ilichevsk in Ukraine –
from where it is possible to access Georgia and then Armenia.

Meanwhile, RFE/RL Armenian Service reported on October 17 that Armenian
Parliamentary Chairman Tigran Torosian told visiting group of Russian
parliamentarians in Yerevan that Russia is ignoring the interests of
Armenia while dealing with Georgia.

Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin told the Armenian daily Haykakan Zhamanak
that Yerevan has to make a choice between Russia and Georgia. "If
you don’t do that, you have no moral right to blame Russia for not
taking into account Armenia’s interests in our conflict with Georgia,"
MP Zatulin said in the interview, according to the RFE/RL Armenian
Service.

Turkish Peacekeepers Arrive in Lebanon

NaharNet, Lebanon
Oct 19 2006

Turkish army engineers arrived by boat in Beirut on Friday to join
the enlarged U.N. peacekeeping operation policing a ceasefire between
Israel and Hizbullah, an AFP correspondent reported.

The 95 soldiers, the first batch of 261 Turkish military engineers,
arrived on two warships, with the remaining 165 members of the team
due to fly into the Lebanese capital.

Turkey is the first Muslim country to contribute troops to the
beefed-up U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that will eventually
number 15,000 men. Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar have
also pledged soldiers.

The Turkish contingent, which includes 237 soldiers and 24 civilians,
will be stationed at a small village, lying seven-and-a-half kilometers
(nearly five miles) to the southeast of the port city of Tyre in
southern Lebanon.

They are expected to work mostly on the reconstruction of roads
and bridges.

Turkey is not expected to contribute any more ground troops for the
U.N. force.

A Turkish frigate is already serving in the German-led naval task
force patrolling the Lebanese coast to prevent arms being smuggled
to Hizbullah, and the navy has said it will also send two corvettes
to the war-torn country.

The Turkish government has said it will contribute a total of 681
troops to UNIFIL, including those on board the ships.

The Turkish parliament authorized the deployment of troops to Lebanon
last month despite objections and street protests.(AFP-AP photo shows
a Lebanese Armenian demonstrator holding a banner during a protest
against Turkey’s planned participation in a peacekeeping force in
Lebanon, in the Martyrs’ Square, in downtown Beirut)

Gallic TV faces threat of boycott in Turkey

Variety
Oct 19 2006

Law on murder of Armenians prompts attack on French biz
By ALISON JAMESPARIS

The Turkish broadcasting authority called for a boycott of French
TV programs Thursday as a heated political row between the countries
over the mass killing of Armenians nearly a century ago spilled over
into the TV biz.

The authority "recommended" that Gallic shows stay off the air in
Turkey until France drops draft legislation that would make it a crime
to deny that the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians in 1915-17 amounted
to genocide.

Turkey has accused France and its sizable Armenian-origin population
of trying to scupper Turkey’s bid to join the European Union and
attacking free speech.

If the new law takes effect — it has passed the lower house but must
be voted on by the senate — someone denying the Armenian genocide
would face a one-year prison term and a fine of up to $56,000.

France already has a similar law regarding the Holocaust.

Turkey is not one of French TV exporters’ biggest clients in monetary
terms — the market was worth around E1.8 million ($2.25 million) in
2005 — but Turkish TV channels do air a lot of Gallic programming,
especially cartoons.

Michele Massonat, head of international sales and marketing at
youth programming specialist Dargaud Distribution, said Thursday,
"The prices aren’t very high, but almost everything we produce
or distribute sells to Turkey, which makes it a not insignificant
territory for us. Hopefully this will all settle down soon."

US bureaucrat calls pressurizing Armenia

Regnum, Russia
Oct 19 2006

US Permanent Representative to the OSCE Julie Finley deems
very important inviting OSCE observers to monitor the process of
parliamentary elections 2007 in Armenia. The US functionary expressed
her urge to journalists Oct 19 in Yerevan following an OSCE conference
on trafficking.

Finley said at an informal meeting that pressure should be exerted
upon Armenian government so that it invited the OSCE observers,
for they could not perform monitoring without an invitation. She
says that talking with Armenian officials, she has heard that the
Armenian side intents to hold democratic elections in 2007, and she
so far has no reason not to believe them.

The US Ambassador to OSCE says she regrets that the President of
Armenia, for the reason that his schedule had been too tight, had
not admitted her. She says she wanted to discuss with the president
the future of Armenia.

According to REGNUM information, the US representative to the OSCE did
not appeal in advance to schedule the meeting with the President of
Armenia. Besides, according to the official protocol, an ambassador
of a foreign state to an organization does not belong to the circle
of officials who can be admitted by a head of state.
From: Baghdasarian

Does Armenia’s Liberal Progressive Party assume Karabakh can be returned to Azerbaijan?

Regnum, Russia
Oct 19 2006

"In 2006, there is a chance of moving forward in the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict settlement," leader of Armenia’s Liberal Progressive Party
Hovhannes Hovhannissyan has announced at a news conference on October
19. As a REGNUM correspondent reports, according to the party leader,
Yerevan and Baku have almost agreed on all principal questions, and
only the issue of Kelbajar is not settled yet. "According to the data
I have, the Armenian and Azerbaijani side have already agreed on this
issue too, and it will be fully settled at the upcoming meeting of
Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers," Hovhannes Hovhannissyan
noted adding that both the USA and French President Jacques Chirac
are interested in solving the issue.

The party leader noted also that several months ago the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict was considered to be a part of the Iranian dossier,
and up to now the settlement is seen as a separate process. At the
same time, Hovhannes Hovhannissyan mentioned that in the coming years
terms of Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh presidents will expire, and
they will be trying to maintain the status quo until their terms are
over. "The soonest settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is in
Armenia’s interests," the politician believes.

Speaking on the address of the Abkhaz parliament to the Russian
president and parliament, the Armenian party leader labeled it as
"absurd." According to him, "Russia will never recognize Abkhazia’s
independence, because otherwise world community will recognize
independence of Chechnya." "Abkhazia lost its chance to become a
sovereign state, and such decision was possibly made under dictation of
Russia aimed at further deterioration of the Georgian-Abkhaz relations,
as well as establishment of a reason for the Abkhaz side to force out
Georgian Armed Forces from Kodori Gorge," the Liberal Progressive Party
leader notes adding that international community will never allow that
"a part of one sovereign state joins another sovereign state."

Commenting to a REGNUM correspondent on the statement of the
Armenian politician, expert on South Caucasus Viktor Yakubyan noted:
"It is difficult to say, for what reasons Hovhannissyan deprives
the Abkhaz people of the right for sovereignty. As far as I know,
the Armenian diplomacy is stubbornly trying to prove that the right
of a nation for self-determination (especially, won in a war) is no
less important than the principle of territorial integrity of this
or that sovereign state. Why, following the logic of the politician,
is Abkhazia’s joining Russia (although Abkhazia did not ask for it,
they claim for independence and associate relations with Russia)
impossible, and Nagorno Karabakh’s joining Armenia possible? Well,
maybe Mr. Hovhannissyan meant a different outcome speaking on prospects
of Karabakh settlement? Say, Karabakh people yield to the will of
Azerbaijan? In this case, logic ca the Liberal Progressive Party
leader is clear. Otherwise, it is nothing but application of double
standards, in which it is difficult to suspect him, although he is
a staunch supporter of Atlantism."
From: Baghdasarian

International Herald Tribune, France
Oct 19 2006

Mind your own business, France
Suat Kiniklioglu International Herald Tribune

Published: October 19, 2006

ANKARA Turkey is in an uproar. Turks are reacting bitterly to the
tactlessness of the French National Assembly in passing a bill that
would criminalize "denial" of the Armenian "genocide."

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy of France is right: The vote
is seen as an unfriendly gesture by a vast majority of the Turkish
people. We are dismayed by the ease with which French lawmakers seem
willing to jeopardize relations between France and Turkey dating from
the 16th century.

What puzzles us even more is that of all countries, France – seen by
us as the symbol of civil liberties and free speech – would become
hostage to a small, if influential, lobby that exploits every electoral
opportunity to advance its narrow agenda.

Lawmakers are not historians and their attempt to establish facts about
an extremely sensitive and complicated historic event is misguided
at best. Further, the proposed bill represents a blow to freedom
of expression at a time when European Union member states regularly
lecture Ankara on legislation they view as curtailing free speech.

Both on grounds of substance and process, the National Assembly’s
action is deeply offensive and counterproductive. That is why the EU
enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, and 16 prominent French historians
opposed the bill.

Many Turks interpret the National Assembly’s action as not just an
attempt to appease an active lobby, but also as a populist appeal to
the majority of the French public opposed to Turkish membership in
the European Union.

In the run-up to what promises to be a very competitive presidential
race next spring, both the French left and right seem ill disposed
toward a predominantly Muslim country interested in EU membership.

Bound legally by the EU Council’s decision to start accession
negotiations with Turkey, French lawmakers may hope to provoke an
already unsettled Turkey to quit the negotiations by touching a
sensitive nerve. Whether such irresponsible behavior hinders efforts
to heal the wounds of World War I and the tragedy of Ottoman Armenians
seems to be lost on them.

Ironically, this ill-considered action comes at a time when Turkey’s
domestic debate on the Armenian issue is more open than at any time
in the past. Turks on both sides of the issue are intensely discussing
what happened in 1915-1916 and whether it can be defined as genocide.

Last year, in an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan suggested that Turkey and Armenia set up a joint commission of
historians to determine whether the events of 1915-1916 constituted
genocide. The offer was rejected by Armenia. Turkey also organized
its first international conference on the Armenian issue with Armenian
historians last year. Furthermore, Turkey’s determination to join the
EU provides ongoing impetus for this healthy process of reconciliation
to continue.

Turkish-Armenian reconciliation cannot be facilitated by laws passed
in foreign parliaments. Such moves only help those who thrive on the
continuation of the impasse between Turks and Armenians.

As tempting as gesture politics may be for French politicians, any
genuine effort at reconciliation must be based on the recognition
that both Armenians and Turks suffered immensely during the fateful
years of World War I. To move forward, the focus must be broadened
to include common losses and experiences during this period, rather
than limited to the question of whether the events of 1915-1916 can
be qualified as genocide. Context is critical.

Having Turkey as a member in the EU is both in Europe’s and Armenia’s
interest. Provoking Turkey on a sensitive issue only serves to further
alienate a country whose destiny will have a major impact on the
greater Europe of which Armenia is also part.

As the British Armenian historian Ara Sarafian eloquently noted,
the ultimate irony is that France, which has not faced up to its own
genocidal past, dares to pass legislation on Turkey’s past.

Thankfully our lawmakers are unlikely to follow that path. After all,
we want to remain true to the ideals of Rousseau, Voltaire and the
French encyclopedists who inspired us and the European Enlightenment.

Suat Kiniklioglu is director of the Ankara office of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States.
ANKARA Turkey is in an uproar. Turks are reacting bitterly to the
tactlessness of the French National Assembly in passing a bill that
would criminalize "denial" of the Armenian "genocide."

Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy of France is right: The vote
is seen as an unfriendly gesture by a vast majority of the Turkish
people. We are dismayed by the ease with which French lawmakers seem
willing to jeopardize relations between France and Turkey dating from
the 16th century.

What puzzles us even more is that of all countries, France – seen by
us as the symbol of civil liberties and free speech – would become
hostage to a small, if influential, lobby that exploits every electoral
opportunity to advance its narrow agenda.

Lawmakers are not historians and their attempt to establish facts about
an extremely sensitive and complicated historic event is misguided
at best. Further, the proposed bill represents a blow to freedom
of expression at a time when European Union member states regularly
lecture Ankara on legislation they view as curtailing free speech.

Both on grounds of substance and process, the National Assembly’s
action is deeply offensive and counterproductive. That is why the EU
enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn, and 16 prominent French historians
opposed the bill.

Many Turks interpret the National Assembly’s action as not just an
attempt to appease an active lobby, but also as a populist appeal to
the majority of the French public opposed to Turkish membership in
the European Union.

In the run-up to what promises to be a very competitive presidential
race next spring, both the French left and right seem ill disposed
toward a predominantly Muslim country interested in EU membership.

Bound legally by the EU Council’s decision to start accession
negotiations with Turkey, French lawmakers may hope to provoke an
already unsettled Turkey to quit the negotiations by touching a
sensitive nerve. Whether such irresponsible behavior hinders efforts
to heal the wounds of World War I and the tragedy of Ottoman Armenians
seems to be lost on them.

Ironically, this ill-considered action comes at a time when Turkey’s
domestic debate on the Armenian issue is more open than at any time
in the past. Turks on both sides of the issue are intensely discussing
what happened in 1915-1916 and whether it can be defined as genocide.

Last year, in an unprecedented move, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan suggested that Turkey and Armenia set up a joint commission of
historians to determine whether the events of 1915-1916 constituted
genocide. The offer was rejected by Armenia. Turkey also organized
its first international conference on the Armenian issue with Armenian
historians last year. Furthermore, Turkey’s determination to join the
EU provides ongoing impetus for this healthy process of reconciliation
to continue.

Turkish-Armenian reconciliation cannot be facilitated by laws passed
in foreign parliaments. Such moves only help those who thrive on the
continuation of the impasse between Turks and Armenians.

As tempting as gesture politics may be for French politicians, any
genuine effort at reconciliation must be based on the recognition
that both Armenians and Turks suffered immensely during the fateful
years of World War I. To move forward, the focus must be broadened
to include common losses and experiences during this period, rather
than limited to the question of whether the events of 1915-1916 can
be qualified as genocide. Context is critical.

Having Turkey as a member in the EU is both in Europe’s and Armenia’s
interest. Provoking Turkey on a sensitive issue only serves to further
alienate a country whose destiny will have a major impact on the
greater Europe of which Armenia is also part.

As the British Armenian historian Ara Sarafian eloquently noted,
the ultimate irony is that France, which has not faced up to its own
genocidal past, dares to pass legislation on Turkey’s past.

Thankfully our lawmakers are unlikely to follow that path. After all,
we want to remain true to the ideals of Rousseau, Voltaire and the
French encyclopedists who inspired us and the European Enlightenment.

Suat Kiniklioglu is director of the Ankara office of the German
Marshall Fund of the United States.