Month: October 2006

PRESS SCAN: HURRIYET

Turkish Press
Oct 9 2006

WHAT YOU`RE DOING WAS DONE BY STALIN AND HITLER

Journalist-writer Kenize Murad, citizen of Turkey and France, objected
to French Parliament`s bringing draft on so-called Armenian genocide
onto agenda again. Murad said that French Parliament`s initiative is an
intellectual terrorism, adding that re-writing history for political
interests was earlier done by Stalin and Hitler, and concluded with
a disaster.

FORGET NUCLEAR TENDER TO FRANCE

Turkish FM Abdullah Gul assessed the tense relations with France
to Hurriyet. Gul told French FM Blazy that if draft on so-called
Armenian genocide is adopted at French Parliament on October 12th,
then France shall forget all important tenders especially the one
for nuclear power plant.

UNITED JAVAKH APPEALS TO PRESIDENT SAAKASHVILI

Regnum, Russia
Oct 9 2006

United Javakh Democratic Alliance NGO published its appeal to Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili.

As A-Info reports, the United Javakh called on the state head to
proclaim outcomes of local elections in Akhakalaki area (Georgian
area, populated by ethnic Armenians – REGNUM) to be invalid. The
NGO’s representatives, who joined Industry Will Save Georgia Party,
are sure; elections’ outcomes in Akhalkalaki area have been falsified.

In particular, according to representative of the United Javakh Agasi
Surenyan, voting outcomes in favor of Industry Will Save Georgia
Party were reduced from 70% up to 30% in the majority vote.

Local elections were conducted in Georgia on October 5. According to
preliminary data of Georgian CEC, President Saakashvili’s ruling party
‘United National Movement’ takes first place.

EU ENLARGEMENT CHIEF WARNS ON FRENCH ARMENIA VOTE
By Paul Taylor

Reuters
San Diego Union Tribune, CA
Oct 9 2006

BRUSSELS – France’s parliament could do serious harm to EU-Turkey
relations if it votes to make it a crime to deny Armenians suffered
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks, the EU’s enlargement chief
said on Monday.

Adopting the Socialist opposition bill would also deal a blow to
efforts by Turkish intellectuals to re-examine a painful and sensitive
episode in their country’s history, Enlargement Commissioner Olli
Rehn told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He said he would be in contact with the French government before
Thursday’s vote to point out the consequences.

‘The French law on the Armenian genocide is of course a matter for
French lawmakers, but there is a lot at stake for the European Union
as well, and the decision may have very serious consequences for
EU-Turkey relations,’ said Rehn, who is in charge of Turkey’s EU
membership negotiations.

‘Such a law would have counter-productive consequences because it would
say to the Turks that there is nothing to discuss. Here you have the
final truth and if you happen to deny it you end up in prison in an
EU member state,’ he said.

‘This would put in danger the efforts of all those in Turkey –
intellectuals, historians, academics, authors – who truly want to
develop an open and serious debate without taboos and for the sake
of freedom of expression,’ Rehn added.

Ankara strongly denies estimates that 1.5 million Armenians perished at
the hands of Ottoman Turkey between 1915 and 1921 or that there was a
systematic genocide. It says large numbers of both Christian Armenians
and Muslim Turks died in partisan conflict raging at that time.

HISTORIANS’ COMMISSION

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has proposed that Turkey and
Armenia establish a joint historians’ commission to examine the
evidence, but Armenia has rejected the idea.

Rehn said creating such a commission would be an important step
forward that could help reconciliation and promote an overall political
settlement between Turkey and Armenia.

French President Jacques Chirac suggested on a visit to Yerevan
last month that recognition of the Armenian ‘genocide’ should be a
condition of Turkish EU entry.

The 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora is politically influential in
France ahead of next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Earlier on Monday, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy set three
conditions to avoid adoption of the bill, including a joint historians’
commission, the reopening of Turkey’s closed borders with Armenia
and that Turkey repeal a law used to prosecute people who speak of
an Armenian ‘genocide’.

Sarkozy, conservative front-runner for president and leader of the
ruling Union for a Popular Movement, said he had set the conditions in
a telephone call with Erdogan, who has threatened economic reprisals
against France if the measure passes.

Opinion polls show a majority of voters oppose admitting Turkey to
the EU, so an estrangement with Ankara over the Armenian issue might
not be unwelcome to Paris.

PHOTOS OF TURKISH DIPLOMATS KILLED BY ARMENIAN GANGS DISPLAYED IN IGDIR

Turkish Press
Oct 9 2006

IGDIR – The photographs of Turkish diplomats, who were killed by the
Armenian gangs between 1973 and 1984, were displayed in the Memorial
of Turks killed by the Armenian gangs in eastern city of Igdir,
Igdir City & Tourism Director Ziya Zakir Acar said today.

Acar told A.A correspondent that a section was set up in the memorial
for the diplomats, and the curricula vitae of the diplomats were also
exhibited in this section.

"Those who visit the memorial will see the massacre of Turks by the
Armenians," he added.

TURKISH PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE RESOLUTION ON DENIAL OF ALGERIAN GENOCIDE

Turkish Press
Oct 9 2006

ANKARA – Turkish parliament will discuss resolutions which consider
denial of the genocide France carried out in Algeria as a crime
next week.

An independent MP Mahmut Kocak, Motherland Party MPs Reyhan Balandi
and Ibrahim Ozdogan separately submitted resolutions to the parliament,
making denial of the genocide conducted in Algeria a crime.

The resolutions will be united and discussed by the Parliamentary
Justice Committee on Wednesday (October 11th).

"Turkish-French relations have a historical and cultural background,
and Turkey has always taken this into consideration and attached
importance to its relations with France. But it seems that France has
not been affected with this stance of Turkey," said Koksal Toptan,
the head of the Justice Committee.

Noting that France has insisted on an initiative which will not
contribute to Turkish-Armenian relations, Toptan said, "when the EU is
asking Turkey to do more about freedom of expression, it is launching
an initiative regarding the so-called (Armenian) genocide although
we are calling on everybody to solve the issue. It is impossible for
us to accept such a move."

Toptan added that it is the committee’s decision whether or not to
adopt the resolutions.

PM ERDOGAN WARNS FRANCE OF ECONOMIC RESULTS OF ITS ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL’

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 9 2006

"Turkish people will consider the proposal of France as a hostile act,"
said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan regarding the resolution
which envisions penal sanctions to denial of so-called Armenian
genocide and to be debated at French Parliament.

Erdoðan met in Ýstanbul executives of French companies which have large
operations in Turkey as well as representatives from Turkish-French
Commercial Association, TUSÝAD, TOBB, Foreign Economic Relations Board
(DEÝK) and Turkish-French Chamber of Commerce on Saturday.

Speaking at the meeting, Erdoðan said that Turkey-France relations
should be eliminated from mortgage of third parties.

Erdoðan expressed uneasiness about the draft law to be debated at
French Parliament.

Stressing that the resolution will consider denial of so-called
Armenian genocide as crime, Erdoðan said, "so where is freedom of
thought? Where are Copenhagen political criteria?"

"Our people will consider this draft law as a hostile act of France,"
he added.

"Unfortunately, I think the adoption of this draft law will strike
down our political and commercial relations. Our warning should not
be underestimated," he noted.

Drawing attention to the trade partnership of Turkey and France,
Erdoðan recalled that the two countries are together in organizations
like EU and NATO.

Stressing that this current situation can interrupt the economic
relations between the two countries, Erdoðan asked the French
executives to exert every type of effort to prevent this.

Under the bill, people who contest that there was no Armenian genocide
would risk up to a year in prison and fines of up to ~@45,000.

Armenians claim that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign to force them out of
eastern Turkey, and have pushed for recognition of the killings around
the world as genocide.

Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians died, but says
the overall figure is inflated and that the deaths occurred in the
civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. But Ankara
is facing increasing pressure to fully acknowledge the killings,
particularly as it seeks membership in the European Union.

French companies in Turkey under business risk On the other hand,
French executives expressed their sensitivity about the issue. French
companies represented at the meeting included Carrefour, AXA, Total,
BNP, Danone, Peugeot, Renault and Lafarge.

Members of Turkish-French Commerce Association said that they sent
letters to senators and parliamentarians in France expressing that
the draft law would not be appropriate in many aspects, and would
give permanent harm to the interests of France.

French executives said that even if the draft law is adopted at
parliament, it will probably not adopted at French senate.

–Boundary_(ID_e1Czm09TNkKW9DFQsthTTQ)–

SARKOZY DEMNDS FROM TURKEY TO ABOLISH ARTICLE 301 OF THE PENAL CODE

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 9 2006

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarcozy has promised Turkish
Prime Minister Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan to "block" adoption of the law
criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide on condition that
the latter will exclude Article 301 from the Turkish Penal Code.

Turkish "Milliet" reports that the Interior Minister of France made
this interesting suggestion during the phone talk with the Turkish
Prime Minister, who had called Sarkozy, requesting to undertake
measures for preventing adoption of the bill in the French Parliament.

According to the source, Sarkozy demanded also to open the
Armenian-Turkish border.

TURKISH PM ANXCIOUS ABOUT THE LAW CRIMINALIZING THE DENIAL OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 9 2006

Turkish Prime Minister Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan has threatened France
with economic sanctions in case of adoption of the bill criminalizing
negation of the Armenian Genocide.

The Anatolian News periodical reports that the Turkish Prime Minister
declared during the meeting with members of the Turkish-French Trade
Chamber and representatives of French companies that Turkish people
conceives such initiative of France as a hostile action. Third
countries should not intervene in Turkey-France bilateral relations.

He expressed the opinion that adoption of the bill will considerably
exacerbate the political and trade-economic relations between the
two countries. The Prime Minister called on representatives of French
companies to take efforts to block adoption of the bill criminalizing
the Armenian Genocide.

It should be noted that the draft to be discussed on October 12
envisages 5 years of imprisonment and 45 thousand Euros fine for those
who will deny that Armenians of the Ottoman Empire faced genocide
during World War I.

CELEBRATION OF YEREVAN DAY TO START OCTOBER 13

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 9 2006

Yerevan Day celebrations will start on October 13 with the "Culture
of Ancient Yerevan" exhiition to open in the Yerevan History Museum.

Items representing 4-1st centuries B.C. will be exhibited. The same
day the annual photo exhibition will start in Yerevan City Hall.

The festive opening of the Yerevan’s Day will e held in the State
Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiaryan.

Festive events and concerts will be held in all communities of Yerevan.

The events dedicated to the 2788th anniversary of the capital will
be concluded with a concert at Karen Demirchyan complex, which will
be followed by a salute.

THOSE DENYING THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CANNOT RUN FOR THE DUTCH PARLIAMENT

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 9 2006

The Foreign Minister of Netherlands Bernard Bot has addressed
the Turkish society of the country, asking to keep calm about the
non-permission of Turkish candidates, representing an ethnic minority,
to run for Parliament because of denying the fact of the Armenian
Genocide.

Turkish "Zaman" informs that assessing the created situatiion, the
Dutch Foreign Minister has declared that it is not the Government hat
has made up the problem. According to the current legislation of the
country, Parties denying the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman
Turkey are automatically left out of the election campaign.