Month: October 2006

KARABAKH DENIES AZERI REPORT OF TRUCE VIOLATION

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Oct 18 2006

Yerevan, 18 October: The head of the press centre of the Karabakh
defence army, Lt-Col Senor Asratyan, today denied the report of the
Azerbaijani Defence Ministry that the Karabakh forces allegedly fired
at Azerbaijani positions in Fuzuli and Agdam districts on 16 October.

In an interview with Mediamax, Asratyan described these reports as
"another piece of disinformation aimed at discrediting the Nagornyy
Karabakh republic [NKR]".

He did not rule out that such propaganda steps are being taken because
Azerbaijan’s attempts to get the international community to accuse
Nagornyy Karabakh of deliberate arson on the territories controlled
by the NKR "have failed".

OSCE PRESS FREEDOM WATCHDOG URGES FRENCH SENATE TO REJECT ARMENIA GENOCIDE BILL

Associated Press Worldstream
October 17, 2006 Tuesday 5:46 PM GMT

The press freedom watchdog at a key European security organization
on Tuesday urged the French Senate to reject a bill that would make
it a crime to deny that mass killings of Armenians in Turkey in the
World War I-era amounted to genocide, a statement said.

Miklos Haraszti, media freedom representative at the Vienna-based
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, made his plea in
a letter sent to Christian Poncelet, president of the French Senate,
according to the statement.

"I acknowledge the humanitarian intentions of those members of
the Assembly who support this proposal. However, the adoption of
the amendment raises serious concerns with regard to international
standards of freedom of expression," Haraszti wrote.

The bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower house last week,
but still needs approval by the French Senate and President Jacques
Chirac to become law. Turkey has said the decision has badly damaged
relations with France.

"Both the fact of criminalization of statements, and the severity
of the sanctions would infringe upon editorial freedom in France,"
Haraszti wrote. "The adoption of the amendment by France, a nation
with a long-standing tradition of freedom of expression, could set
a dangerous precedent for other nations of the OSCE."

The Armenia genocide issue has become intertwined with ongoing debate
in France and across Europe about whether to admit mostly Muslim Turkey
into the European Union. France is home to hundreds of thousands of
people whose families came from Armenia.

ARMENIAN SOLDIER DIES AFTER BEING WOUNDED BY AZERBAIJANI FIRE, OFFICIALS SAY

Associated Press Worldstream
October 18, 2006 Wednesday 7:22 PM GMT

An Armenian soldier has died after being wounded by Azerbaijani
fire near the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, officials said
Wednesday.

The Armenian Defense Ministry said the soldier died in a hospital
after he had been wounded in his chest by an Azerbaijani sniper near
the so-called line of control separating Azerbaijani and Armenian
forces. It didn’t say when the incident occurred.

There was no immediate comment from the Azerbaijani side.

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan, but
it has been controlled along with some surrounding areas by Karabakh
and Armenian forces since 1994. A shaky cease-fire in 1994 ended the
six-year conflict, in which 30,000 people were killed and about 1
million driven from their homes.

Attempts to resolve the conflict have failed.

OSCE OFFICIAL CRITICISES FRENCH BILL ON ARMENIA GENOCIDE

Agence France Presse — English
October 18, 2006 Wednesday 7:55 PM GMT

An official at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in
Europe on Wednesday criticised a French bill making it a crime to
deny Ottoman Turks committed genocide against Armenians.

Miklos Haraszti, an OSCE representative for freedom of media, asked
Senate members to reject the amendment when it reaches the second
French chamber, saying it was an attack on freedom of expression.

"I acknowledge the humanitarian intentions of those members of
the assembly who support this proposal. However, the adoption of
the amendment raises serious concerns with regard to international
standards of freedom of expression," Haraszti wrote.

"It is in the name of these same standards that I continue to call upon
Turkey to remove Article 301 of the Penal Code, ‘Insulting Turkish
identity’, which prosecutors in Turkey repeatedly use in the context
of the Armenian genocide debate."

The 56-member OSCE, originally set up as a point of contact between
NATO and Warsaw Pact countries, has evolved since the end of the Cold
War into an organisation mainly concerned with safeguarding human
rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe.

The bill, which needs to be approved by the French senate and president
to become a law, provides for a year in jail for anyone who denies
that the World War I massacres of Armenians amounted to genocide.

It was voted by the lower house of the French parliament last week.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, arguing that
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
when Armenians rose for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.

A PRIZE SLIPPING AWAY

The Independent (London)
October 17, 2006 Tuesday
Fourth Edition

Turkey’s bid to enter the European Union received a double blow last
week. First came the parking of talks on Ankara’s membership after
objections by Greece and Cyprus. And then there was the vote by the
French Assembly to outlaw the denial of the Armenian genocide by the
troops of the Ottoman Empire some 90 years ago.

EU foreign ministers met yesterday with their Turkish counterpart to
repair some of the damage. But 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. If the report criticises Ankara’s refusal to open
Turkish ports to 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.

Pessimism over future enlargement is widespread. At the weekend
the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso,
gave the most downbeat official assessment yet of Turkey’s chances
of membership. He argued that it could be up to two decades before
Turkey is in a position to join. In the past the official line has
been that the process would take 15 years at most.

We learn that the French President, Jacques Chirac, has apologised to
the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for the provocatively
timed vote on the Armenian genocide by French deputies hostile to
Turkey’s bid. And with the ruling party against the bill, it is highly
unlikely to become law. But the damage has been largely done.

The French vote has played into the hands of Turkish nationalists
who argue that Europe does not really want Turkey in its cosy club.

Pro-European Turks are finding it increasingly difficult to argue
that "concessions" over Cyprus, Kurdish rights, and stronger ties
with Armenia are worth it. The Turkish government will now find it
impossible to recognise Cyprus before elections next year, for fear
of looking weak. A great prize could be slipping away. It would be
a great boost for Europe – ideologically and materially – if it were
to incorporate a predominantly Muslim country within its borders. And
in the meantime, Europe has a valuable opportunity to promote human
rights, free speech and a liberal economy in a land that borders
the Middle East. If Turkey is not politically engaged with Europe,
none of this can take place.

The rejectionists, both in Europe and Turkey, are in the ascendancy.

That spells trouble, not just for Turkey’s ambitions, but for Europe’s
future as a progressive and inclusive political force.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT DEBATES TROUBLED TIES WITH FRANCE

Agence France Presse — English
October 17, 2006 Tuesday

The Turkish parliament began a debate Tuesday to discuss relations
with France after a French bill making it a crime to deny Ottoman
Turks commited genocide against Armenians caused uproar in Turkey
and prompted threats of retaliatory measures.

The MPs were expected to adopt a declaration condemning the bill,
which foresees one year in jail for anyone who denies that the World
War I massacres amounted to genocide and was voted by the lower house
of the French parliament Thursday, parliamentary sources said.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul was scheduled to make a speech.

The French bill is widely seen here as a punch below the belt by
opponents of Turkey’s European Union membership that will fan
anti-Western sentiment among Turks and make it harder for the
government to push ahead with painful EU-demanded reforms.

Ankara, facing mounting EU warnings to respect freedom of speech,
charges that the French move is an example of double standards, arguing
that the bill — if approved also by the Senate and the president —
will block free debate on a historical subject.

The EU is pressing Ankara to either scrap or amend the infamous Article
301 of its penal code, which has landed a string of intellectuals in
the courts for "insulting Turkishness."

Most defendants, among them novelist Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel
Literature Prize laureate, stood trial for remarks contesting the
official line on the Armenian massacres, which Ankara fiercely rejects
amounted to genocide.

But even Pamuk condemned the French bill, saying that it flouted
France’s "tradition of liberal and critical thinking."

Ankara had warned ahead of the vote that French companies would be
barred from major economic projects in Turkey, including a nuclear
power plant whose tender process is expected to soon begin, if the
bill was adopted.

Officials, however, have sought to calm down widespread calls for a
boycott of French goods on the grounds that French companies based
in Turkey and employing Turks could be harmed.

"What are we going to earn or lose by boycotting goods?… We should
consider this carefully," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
last week.

"We will act calmly," he said. "The steps that need to be taken will be
taken by the government on all political platforms at home and abroad."

Hospitalized for hypoglycemia Tuesday, Erdogan will miss the debate
in parliament.

France already passed in 2001 a resolution recognizing the massacres
of Armenians as genocide, prompting Ankara to retaliate by sidelining
French companies from public tenders and canceling several projects
awarded to French firms.

The killings are one of most controversial episodes in Turkish history
and open debate on the issue has only recently begun in Turkey,
often sending nationalist sentiment into frenzy.

Critics of the bill say it will also deal a blow to tentative efforts
for reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.

Ankara has declined to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan over
its campaign for international recognition of the genocide.

In 1993, it sealed its border with its eastern neighbor, a move
which was also a gesture of solidarity with close ally Azerbaijan,
which was then at war with Armenia.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, arguing that
300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife
when Armenians rose for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIANS CONCERNED ABOUT COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS OF ARMENIA

ARMINFO News Agency
October 17, 2006 Tuesday

Today, at a press-conference on the results of the session of
the Armenian-Russian inter- parliamentary commission for economic
cooperation in Yerevan, Russian co-chairman, member of the Federation
Council Nikolay Ryzhkov said that the problem of communications has
been worrying Armenia and Russia for 16 years, and the mechanisms of
its efficient solution are not found yet.

Nevetheless, he pointed out three ways of solving Armenias’
communication problems. The first way is the ferry service. Of course,
there are some difficulties here, e.g. prohibition of crossing the
excisable commodities, but they entrusted Igor Chernyshenko, a State
Duma member, with initiating the corresponding legislative amendments
to allow the ferry service of excisable commodities. The co-chairman
also expressed discontent with the activity of the Armenian and
Russian sides in cargo formation, and emphasized that he had taken
up this issue but didn’t see the return initiative of the Armenian
side. Yet, he said that he will actively examine this problem again,
but the Armenian side should also do something.

The second way is the one through Iran. Ryzhkov said that it is not
the best variant, but the most realistic one at the moment. However,
the most efficient solution of the communication problems of the
region would be the opening of the Abkhazian railroad which requires
money and time. According to various estimations, the resumption of
the Abkhazian railroad will require some $100-200 mln, he noted.

Ryzhkov stressed that the exploitation of the railroad is not an
economical but a political problem. The Georgian authorities have
politicized this problem, and if the political forces come to a
consensus, the problem will be solved, he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN SOLDIER SHOT DEAD

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 18 2006

At 12:30 October 16 Armenian serviceman Alexander Papakhchyan, born
in 1987, died in "Erebuni" medical center from the injury received
in the result of the fire opened from the Azerbaijani side.

Investigation is underway, Press Service of RA Defense Ministry
informs.

MOSCOW AND YEREVAN DISCUSS CHANGING THE BUSINESS LINE OF ARMENIAN ENTERPRISES PASSED TO RUSSIA

ARMINFO News Agency
October 17, 2006 Tuesday

Today, at a press-conference on the results of the session of the
Armenian-Russian interparliamentary commission for cooperation, Vice
Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Vahan Hovhannisyan said that at the
moment, Yerevan and Moscow are discussing the issue of changing the
business line of the Armenian enterprises passed to Russia against
the state dept of Armenia. In his turn, Russian co-chairman of the
commission, member of the Federation Council Nikolay Ryzhkov said that
the launch of the Armenian enterprises will be discussed at the next
session of the commission to be held in Moscow at the beginning of
March. He established the fact that such a profitable enterprise as
"Mars", unfortunately, operates not so efficiently.

Ryzhkov added that the forthcoming session in Moscow will also discuss
the issue of bilateral scientific and technical cooperation.

For this purpose a temporary commission will be created to work
out specific programs on cooperation. As regards today’s session,
Ryzhkov said that the meeting passed in an ingenuous atmosphere, and
the sides sometimes asked not so pleasant questions to one another. It
is quite natural as they come here to solve problems, he said.

Hovhannisyan added that the session discussed the issue of timely
notification of the two countries’ parliaments about the Armenian
and Russian economic laws and decisions as they affect the activity
of the economic entities of the countries. Otherwise the economic
entities are the last to learn about these decisions and they find
themselves in a difficult situation. To prove this, he brought the
example of closing of the "Upper Lars" check-point by Russia. As a
result, Armenian cargoes had to stay on the Russian-Georgian border
for several months. Hovhannisyan said that Armenian economic entities
would be able to find alternative markets for our commodities if Russia
had informed Armenia about the closing of the "Upper Lars" timely.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT SLAMS FRENCH BILL ON MASS KILLINGS OF ARMENIANS STRONGLY WARNS AGAINST LEGISLATION

Associated Press Worldstream
October 17, 2006 Tuesday 3:13 PM GMT

Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday condemned a French bill making it a
crime to deny that the World War I-era killing of Armenians in Turkey
was genocide, warning the law would permanently damage ties.

The bill was approved by lawmakers in France’s lower house last week,
but still needs approval by the French Senate and President Jacques
Chirac to become law. Turkey has said the decision has badly damaged
relations with France.

The Turkish parliament condemned the bill in a statement, calling
it an "unfriendly" move aimed at domestic politics and said it
was "surprising to see France as a decision maker when it comes
to historical incidents related to Turkey, while defending it to
leave to the historians when it comes to its actions that led to the
killings of more than 1 million innocent people in Algeria, Indo China,
Madagascar and some African countries," where it ruled.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told parliament that the government
would consider every measure including legal action to prevent the
legislation of the bill.

"From now on, it won’t be Turkey that loses but France," Gul warned
against legislation of the bill.

Chirac’s government is thought to be unlikely to forward the bill
for passage by the Senate.

"It is obvious that legislation of this bill will lead to irreparable
wounds in political, economic and military ties between Turkey and
France," the parliament said in a statement.

The parliament reiterated Turkey’s call to Armenia to respond to a
Turkish proposal to jointly research the incidents, warning that
"Armenia’s use of lobby efforts in France and in other countries
and its hostile policies against the rights and pride of the Turkish
nation will cost dearly to them."

The European Union on Friday criticized the French bill, saying it was
unhelpful at a critical stage in the Muslim country’s EU entry talks.

France, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people whose families
came from Armenia, has already recognized the 1915-1919 killings of
up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turks as genocide.

Under the bill, those who contest it was genocide would risk up to
a year in prison and fines of up to US$56,000 (euro44,750).

Turkey acknowledges that great numbers of Armenians were killed
in fighting and mass expulsions, but vehemently rejects the label
of genocide.