Month: November 2006

MEMORIAL PLAQUE OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS OPENS IN ROME

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 14:47 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A Memorial Plaque, dedicated to the victims of the
Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915 has opened in Rome. The
Plaque is established with the assistance of Rome City Administration
at the instance of the Armenian community of the Italian capital,
indignant at establishing a monument to Kemal Ataturk. Talks over
establishment of the Plaque were held by Head of the Italian Department
of the Hay Dat European Office Aleko Pezikian since July 2006.

The opening ceremony started in the yard of St. Nikoghos Church with
anthems of Italy and Armenia, followed by a speech by Pezikian, who
thanked the Rome Administration. He also noted that after the Italian
Parliament adopted the resolution, recognizing the Armenian Genocide,
the Rome Administration also passed a respective decision.

In his turn Armenian Ambassador to Italy Ruben Shugaryan noted that
the memory on the Genocide does not have a statute of limitation,
it is not a political question or that of return of lands. "It should
become part of human history, which should be conveyed to generations,"
Shugaryan noted. The Armenian Ambassador also hoped that Armenia will
soon become part of the European community, reports the Azdak.

OLLI REHN: EU-TURKEY TRAIN SLOWED DOWN BUT DID NOT STOP

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 16:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ EU term president Finland has announced that
its attempts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem have ended
unsuccessfully. Yesterday however, EU Commissioner for Expansion,
Olli Rehn, noted that Finland’s efforts had not been wasted, commenting
"We must keep our promises, and carry on with the EU program presented
to Turkey. As far as the commission is concerned, the talks cannot
be stopped.

The train has slowed down, but not stopped." Rehn had originally said
that the diplomatic crisis surrounding Cyprus might be responsible
for a "train wreck" for Turkey in December.

The EU Commission will be able to recommend that, at the most, 6 areas
of Turkish EU talks be stopped. In addition, it is expected that the
EU Commission will call for isolationary measures against Northern
Cyprus be lifted, as well as calling for the United Nations to begin
debates and talks on Cyprus including both sides, reports the Hurriyet.

KOCHARIAN, ALIYEV AND PUTIN WILL PROBABLY AGREE ON NEW MEETING OF SAME FORMAT

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 17:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri leaders over
Nagorno Karabakh is of most interest among bilateral summits in
Minsk, to say nothing of the possible Russia-Georgia meeting. The
Kocharian-Aliyev meeting will be held "under the auspices" of Vladimir
Putin. As the Commersant writes, "Public in Yerevan does not conceal
that Kocharian goes to Minsk for the sake of that meeting." "Public in
Baku say that the meeting may have results, "if Putin puts pressure
on Kocharian." If it is the case, according to Azeri experts, Aliyev
may agree with expected Moscow’s demand of Baku not to assist Georgia
in gas and electricity supplies," the article author believes.

However, in the opinion of the edition, the Azeri President is no
less concerned over Russian Government latest decision to reduce the
number of foreigners in retail trade, which threatens to hundreds
of thousand Azeri traders. "All these problems will probably not be
solved in Minsk today and the three Presidents will most likely agree
over a new meeting of the same format in Moscow," the newspaper writes.

ERDOGAN WELCOMED POPE IN PERSON

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in the Turkish capital
of Ankara on his first visit to a predominantly Muslim country amid
very tight security measures. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, whose party has Islamic origins, welcomed the Pontiff soon
after he disembarked the plane. Erdogan and Pope Benedict then entered
the VIP Hall at the airport and had a brief meeting.

Five archbishops and five cardinals will accompany Benedict XVI during
the papal visit. The four-day visit to Turkey is his first one to
a predominantly Muslim country as Pope. He arrived in Turkey at the
invitation of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Thousands of law-enforcers
and snipers are invited to secure the Pope during his visit. Besides,
the authorities intend to use a false motorcade, which will move
in the city without the Pope. Authorities say nothing will threaten
the Pontiff.

Benedict XVI will be the second Pope visiting a mosque. Besides,
the Pontiff will meet with Muslim and Judaic leaders, as well as
heads of Christian communities of Turkey, reports BBC Russian service.

MOST TURKS AGREE TO RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA UNDER "CERTAIN CONDITIONS"

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The overwhelming majority of Turks have a positive
stance towards establishment of relations with neighboring Armenia, in
case the latter meets "certain conditions," returns of a sociological
survey in Turkey indicate. 82% of respondents out of 8 thousand 714,
questioned by Association for Struggle against Ungrounded Statements
on Genocide have a positive stance over establishment of relations
with Armenia, in case the latter meets "certain conditions." These
include refusal from "statements" on the Genocide, "apologizing to
Turkey for these statements." 53% of respondents listed a whole range
of preconditions, including "Armenians should apologize to Turks for
pogroms during WWI," "demolish" memorial to victims of the Armenian
Genocide in Yerevan, withdraw from Nagorno Karabakh.

16% of those questioned considered "breaking off relations
with the Armenian communities of Europe and US and refusal from
statements on the Genocide" sufficient. 18% of interviewees do
not wish establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey at
all. Meanwhile, the percentage of those willing to establish relations
without preconditions is not mentioned, reports RFE/RL.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN AIR COMPANIES AND LINERS NOT ON ICAO AND EU BLACK-LIST

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian air companies and liners are not on
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and EU black-list,
reported the Press Secretary of the Central Board of Civil Aviation
(CBCA) Gayane Davtyan. According to the ICAO annual list, made public
lately, the condition of Armenian airplanes is satisfactory. The
EU annually publishes the black-list of air companies. According to
the CBCA, at the moment 18 air carriers operate in Armenia, having
registered exploitation certificate, reports IA Regnum.

TALKS OF ARMENIAN AND AZERI PRESIDENTS START IN MINSK

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.11.2006 18:45 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The meeting of Armenian and Azeri Presidents Robert
Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev within the process of settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict opened at the Russian Embassy in Minsk,
Spokesperson of the Russian President Victor Soghomonyan told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel de Gucht,
OSCE MG co-chairs, Russian, Armenian and Azeri FMs Lavrov, Oskanian
and Mammadyarov are also present at the meeting. After the meeting
in wider composition, Kocharian and Aliyev will meet tete-a-tete.

KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING WITHOUT COMMENT
By Aghavni Harutyunian in Minsk

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

As it was expected, RA President Robert Kocharian met yesterday his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev within the framework of the CIS
summit in Minsk. This was the third meeting this year. Kocharian
and Aliyev did not take part in the press conference following
the summit, as they were scheduled to meet at the Russian Embassy
to Belarus. The presidents together with their foreign ministers
Oskanian and Mamedyarov first met OSCE Minsk group co-chairs Yuri
Merzlyakov, Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fassier as well as OSCE
Chairman-in-Office and Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht and
his special representative Andrzej Kasprzyk. Afterwards, in accordance
with general meeting format, Kocharian and Aliyev behind-closed-doors
meeting lasting two and a half hours took place. Kocharian left
for Yerevan right after the meeting yesterday. In essence, it is
impossible to assess in any way the productivity of the presidents’
meeting, as the results of the negotiations remained as covered by
fog as was Minsk yesterday.

OSKANIAN TO VISIT BRUSSELS, STRASBURG, PARIS AND IRAN IN DECEMBER
By Gohar Gevorgian

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

Foreign Ministry’s Press Center informs that Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian will leave for Brussels to be present at the sitting of
the OSCE Foreign Ministers’ Council to be held on 4-5 Dec. It is
foreseen that he will meet EC General Secretary Terry Davis and other
EC high-ranking officials.

The Minister will be back to Brussels on 7th Dec. to meet the NATO
General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

The next day Oskanian will visit Paris and will participate in the
arrangements dedicated to the Armenian General Benevolent Union’s
100th anniversary.

The Minister’s December visit will be concluded by his Iranian visit
on 17th Dec.

82 OF 100 TURKS CONSIDER POSSIBLE STARTING RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
29/11/2006

"82 of 100 Turks consider possible starting relations with Armenia"
– a headline by the Turkish "Milliet" newspaper announced about a
survey organized by the "Union Against Inconsistent Allegations of
Genocide" organization in Istanbul, Ankara and Erzrum. 8714 people
were questioned by the surveyors.

Thus, 16% of the questioned demanded Armenia to stop the relations
with the Armenian Diaspora of Europe and USA and cease demanding
recognition of the Genocide as a precondition for starting relations
with Armenia. 6% found that it would be enough if the Armenians
express their regret about the massacres of the Turkish people in the
Years of the World War I, 5% found necessary to destroy the memorial
of the Genocide in Yerevan and remove the claims of "Turkish people
and Turkish territories" from the Constitution of Armenia. Only 2%
of the questioned considered withdrawal of the Armenian military
forces from the "occupied lands of Karabakh" as a precondition. 568
Turkish citizens, which is 18% of the survey participants said that
no relations must be established with Armenia in any case.

Organizer of the survey, president of the aforementioned union
Dr. Savas Ezilmez concluded that most of the Turks are willing
to establish relations with Armenia under certain preconditions,
in despite of the massacres and terrorism acts perpetrated by the
Armenians. "The survey displayed the historical magnanimity of our
people," he said. "Milliet" also informs that the results of the survey
were represented to the presidents and diplomatic representations of
all countries by the initiative of Mr. Robert Kopcharian, President
of RA.