Month: October 2006

NKR MOD REFUTES THE INFORMATION ABOUT FIRING AZERI POSITIONS

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 18 2006

Head of the Press Service of NKR MOD Senor Asratyan refuted the
report of the Azeri Ministry of Defense that Karabakh forces have
fired Azeri positions in the direcion of Aghdam and Fizuli.

In an interview with Mediamax agency Senor Asratyan called this
information ~Drecurrent misinformation aimed at defame Nagorno
Karabakh."

He did not rule out that such propagandistic steps are associated
with Azerbaijan’s failure to convince the international community
that Nagorno Karabakh was responsible for the fires on territories
under its control.

TURKS DEPRIVE THEMSELVES OF EATING "DANONE"

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 18 2006

Turkish representation of the world leader of dairy production –
the French "Danone" Company – intends to launch a campaign against
the bill criminalizing the negation of the Armenian Genocide adopted
by the National Assembly of France. To prevent the adoption of a
corresponding law the Turkish representation of the company will send
letters to members of the French Senate.

Head of the Turkish representation of "Danone" Company Serpil Timurey
has declared that all in all 23 thousand people will sign the letter
under the "Danone Turkey Family" mark. IN his words, 700 employees of
the company, representatives of 600 branches of the company, as well
as 15 thousand farmers, from whom the company purchases fresh milk,
are ready to sign under the document.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MONUMENT MAY BE ERECTED IN LAS VEGAS

PanARMENIAN.Net
18.10.2006 17:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish associations in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday
protested the mayor’s allocation of land for the construction
of a monument commemorating victims of the Armenian Genocide. The
Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), an organization that
coordinates Turkish associations in Las Vegas, sent a letter of protest
to Mayor Oscar Goodman, in which they stated that such a monument would
distort historical truths and could only be described as a "lynching"
monument. ATAA head Vural Cengiz asserted that there is no evidence
proving that Turks committed genocide against Armenians. He urged
Goodman to withdraw his approval, reports The New Anatolian.

TOTAL LOSS OF ARMENIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES MORE THAN 26 BILLION DRAMS

Panorama.am
17:06 18/10/06

Central Bank sources told Panorama.am that insurance reserves made up
27.5 billion drams in the running year. The sharp rise of the indicator
is connected with the formation of company Grand which paid money
to the relatives of A -320 airliner crash. Large volumes of reserves
ended up in negative balance of own capital of insurance companies –
20.6 billion drams. Despite of the fact that each insurance company
has gained some profit, they totally demonstrated loss of 26 billion
drams.

DEPUTY SAYS ROBERT KOCHARYAN NOT INTERESTED IN ELECTION FRAUD

Panorama.am
17:13 18/10/06

Viktor Dallakyan, member of parliament, said the upcoming elections are
a good chance of power change by peaceful means. However, he believes
the acting power authorities will try to reproduce themselves in the
face of Republican Party and Serzh Sargsyan.

Dallakyan told a press conference today that if the elections were
free and fair, the authorities in power would gain 3-4 seat in the
parliament. The deputy forecasted the scenario for the peaceful power
change saying there will be a majority with a vote of people, a prime
minister who will represent that majority and a president who will
leave in couple of months.

Dallakyan thinks Robert Kocharyan is not interested in election fraud
in 2007 elections. He said Kocharyan’s term is close to end and he
"will try to leave crowned with laurels as a reformer and a guarantor
of free and fair elections."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FT: NEED FOR CYPRUS SOLUTION MORE URGENT THAN ‘GENOCIDE’ DEBATES

The New Anatolian
Oct 17 2006

The need to find a solution to the Cyprus problem is more urgent than
debates on Armenian genocide claims for Turkey to join the European
Union, said British daily The Financial Times Monday.

In the commentary-analysis entitled "How the Cyprus problem is again a
snag for Europe," authors Vincent Boland and Kerin Hope said, "While a
row between the Turkish and French last week over recognition of the
1915 ‘genocide’ of Armenians has put another formidable obstacle in
the way of Turkey joining the EU;, Cyprus poses a much more immediate
difficulty. It is possible that, by the end of this year, the problem
will derail the admission of Turkey as a member — the EU’s most
ambitious and controversial geo-strategic project."

Describing the failure to find a solution to Cyprus dispute as "risky"
for the EU’s credibility and Turkey’s hopes to join the Union, the
newspaper also quoted Kirsty Hughes, author of a much-noted Friends
of Europe report on the issue last month as saying, "The EU’s overall
foreign policy credibility risks serious damage."

The Financial Times warned that in Turkey a failure in talks could
halt the country’s cultural march westward, which began 80 years ago
under the rule of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic,
and instead empower Islamist and nationalist political forces.

"The continuing separation of Cyprus’ two communities by a
180 kilometer-long ‘Green Line’ — drawn on a map by a British
commander using a green pen — still confounds and preoccupies its
protagonists. A solution to the split is a task for the United Nations,
a fact that is accepted by all parties. But that job has been made
more complicated by the EU, which began membership talks with Turkey
last October, after having admitted [Greek] Cyprus as a member in
2004," the piece said, underlining that many EU diplomats now accept
that it was a mistake to allow Greek Cyprus to join at that stage,
particularly because of the influence the Greek Cypriot administration
has thus gained over negotiations with Turkey.

CONSUMERS UNION: OUR ACTIONS AGAINST FRANCE WILL GO ON

The New Anatolian
EkoTurk News Agency / Istanbul
Oct 17 2006

Consumers Union Chair Bulent Deniz said that the boycott undertaken
by the Union against French goods will go on with the addition of a
new French company every week until the decision to outlaw the denial
of the so-called Armenian genocide allegations is withdrawn.

Deniz said in a written statement that the "A French good every week"
boycott initiated on October 13 upon the passing of the law proposal
to outlaw the denial of the so-called Armenian genocide allegations
proved fruitful very soon.

He stated that in a few hours from the onset of the boycott, French
FR2, Arte, Danish DR television channels and German Berlin radio
performed interviews in Turkey to make news stories on the boycott
initiated by the Consumers Union and broadcast them as the leading
stories on their news bulletins. Deniz also said that the call for
boycott had wide-ranging repercussions in the French, Belgian, Dutch,
Austrian, German and American media.

Deniz asserted that the interest that the European media took in the
boycott actions is a primary indicator of the concern caused by the
boycott on the part of the EU and particularly the French public.

"Moreover, according to the information received from the 25 branches
of the Consumers Union nationwide as well as from independent sources,
the sales figures of Total, the first company against which boycott
action was taken, has indicated a drop of up to 30 percent in sales. On
the first day of the boycott, Total shares lost 0.09 percent value
in the stock markets abroad," Deniz said in his statement.

Deniz argued that the most noteworthy development was French President
Chirac calling Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and saying that he
would do his best to prevent the ratification of the law. All these
developments prove that the Turkish people gave the harshest response
to France, he said.

Deniz informed that the Union will go on with the boycott started
against Total with the addition of a new French company every week
until the decision to criminalize the denial of the so-called Armenian
genocide allegations is withdrawn, and that the second French firm
to be brought under the boycott will be made public on October 19.

–Boundary_(ID_bhD8mWYiKP2jZaXbTwMj5Q)–

OSKANIAN VOWS TURKEY WILL RECOGNIZE ‘GENOCIDE’

The New Anatolian
Oct 17 2006

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian stated on Monday that the
international community will succeed in making Turkey recognize an
Armenian "genocide" by working in cooperation.

Speaking to Armenian state TV, Oskanian said, "The passage of the bill
by the French Parliament gave Turkey a stronger and louder signal. That
country can’t continue to maintain that it is innocent from now on."

Stressing that the decision doesn’t aim at creating obstacles for
Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, Oskanian said, "I hope
the French Parliament’s decision and Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel prize will
push Turkey in the right direction. Turkey has to understand that
Armenia will never humiliate itself. We will succeed in our efforts
for recognition of the Armenian ‘genocide’ by Turkey."

Touching on Pamuk’s Nobel prize, the Armenian foreign minister said,
"We greatly appreciate his success; he’s on the right track."

Last year Pamuk publicly said "one million Armenians" were killed
in Turkey, but never used the word "genocide." He has also come out
against the French bill criminalizing "genocide" denial.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POLL: MAJORITY OF FRENCH OPPOSE ARMENIAN BILL

The New Anatolian
Oct 17 2006

The majority of French people are against the Armenian bill that was
passed by the French Parliament last week introducing prison terms
and fines for those who question the genocide claims, a new public
opinion poll found.

According to an Internet poll, 68 percent of French people oppose the
bill while only 26 percent support it. Just 6 percent of participants
in the poll declined to comment on the controversial measure.

While those opposing the bill thinks it serves Armenian interests,
some stated that it could create danger for Armenians living in Turkey.

THE INDEPENDENT: TURKISH ‘PRIZE SLIPPING AWAY’ FROM EU

The New Anatolian
Oct 18 2006

Turkey is a "prize slipping away" from the hands of the European
Union because of the deadlock over the Cyprus issue and the French
Parliament’s passage of the Armenian bill, warned British daily The
Independent yesterday.

The newspaper, in its leading editorial on Tuesday, said, "Turkey’s
bid to enter the EU received a double blow last week. First came the
parking of talks on Ankara’s membership after objections by Greece and
[Greek] Cyprus.

And then there was the vote by the French Assembly to outlaw the
denial of the Armenian ‘genocide’." The paper added that EU foreign
ministers met on Monday with their Turkish counterpart to repair some
of the damage.

Stressing that the real diplomatic crunch will come next month when a
report is due from the EU’s enlargement minister on Turkey’s progress
in implementing reforms since membership talks began a year ago, The
Independent stated that if the report criticizes Ankara’s refusal to
open Turkish ports to Greek Cypriot ships and planes, as expected, EU
leaders at their next summit may decide to freeze entry negotiations
entirely. "Once frozen, they would be very hard to re-start," the
newspaper warned.

Citing the presence of a general pessimism about the EU enlargement
process, The Independent commented that the remarks by European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso over the weekend are
a reflection of the pessimism about Turkey’s chances to join the
25-nation bloc. The newspaper stated that although previous statements
had indicated that Turkey’s membership talks could last 15 years,
Barroso in his latest remarks predicted that the process would take
20 years.

Concerning the French Parliament’s passage of a bill introducing
prison terms and fines to those who question the Armenian genocide
claims, the newspaper commented that although French President Jacques
Chirac apologized to Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the incident and
said the French government is opposed to the law, the newspaper said,
"However, together with this move the damage has already been done."

Underlining that the French Parliament’s decision served the interests
of nationalist circles in Turkey who oppose the country’s membership
in the Union, the newspaper also stated that Turkish supporters of
EU membership are having a hard time defending the self-sacrifices
for accession.

Describing Turkey as a "prize slipping away," the daily said,
"Whereas the membership of this Muslim country would be an ideological
success for Europe. In this way, values like human rights, freedom
of _expression and a liberal economy will be strengthened in a land
bordering the Middle East.

However, in case of failure to continue political relations between
Turkey and Europe, none of those will materialize."