Month: November 2006

AZERI SCIENTIST ELECTED AS AN ACADEMICIAN OF GEORGIAN NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Author: N.Kirskhalia

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

According to the Decision of the Executive Committee of the
Georgian National Academy of Sciences, the Director of the Human
Rights Institute of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences,
Professor, Rovshan Mustafayev was elected as an academician of this
organization. On November 27, a ceremony of presenting this rank took
place in Tbilisi, and the ceremony was attended by the Azerbaijani
Ambassador to Georgia, Namik Aliyev, Trend Special Correspondent in
Tbilisi reports.

The Azerbaijani scientist was conferred the high scientific rank as
a result of the scientific researches on separatist and terrorist
acts in South Caucasus region. The Director of the Academy, Lado
Ramishvili presented the diploma and certificate to Rovshan Mustafayev.

According to Academician Ramishvili, Caucasus is living in hard
times and the scientific figures should make their contributions to
the regulation of the situation. He awarded the guest with Georgian
dagger. "We live in a peaceful region, but sometimes we need to use
weapons. Let this dagger defend your home and country from enemies,"
he said.

In his turn, Rovshan Mustafayev presented participants with his book
"Virtual Passions", which was recently published in Russian language.

"It is high time to begin dialogue. We established ties with Japan,
Australia, and can not find a common language with our neighbors and
can not understand each other," Azerbaijani scientist said, adding
that it would be better to apply a new flow in the science under the
title "Caucasus Consciousness".

According to him, many interests come into collision in Caucasus
and this may lead to the destabilization in the region. According
to him, Caucasus needs to combat separatism, especially Armenians
who are dangerous not only for Azerbaijan and Georgia, but also for
Armenians themselves.

The Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia Namik Aliyev also informed
on danger of the development of the separatism. According to him,
it worries Azerbaijan and Georgia. "We need to achieve long-term peace.

If the interests of any country are infringed, then the long-term
peace will not exist," the Ambassador said.

VARDAN OSKANIAN: NAGORNO KARABAGH CONFLICT POSES OBSTACLE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND TURKEY

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

Nagorno Karabakh poses a serious obstacle for the normalization of
Turkey-Russia relations," Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
told France-Press agency in his interview, APA reports.

"It is not right to make the same Nagorno Karabagh conflict with North
Cyprus conflict. The first conflict happened in the period of USSR,
but the second happened in the territory of UN states. Armenia and
Northern Cyprus know that there are many obstacles for Turkey to
enter to EU," he said.

DIVISIONS OF ARMENIAN ARMED FORCES BROKE THE CEASEFIRE REGULATION
Author: Sh.Jaliloglu

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

The divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces broke the ceasefire
regulation on the frontline, Trend Regional Correspondent reports. On
November 26 at 22:00, the divisions of the Armenian Armed Forces,
located in the occupied Talish village of Tartar district of
Azerbaijan, shot at the opposite position of the Azerbaijani Armed
Forces for 15-20 minutes, with submachine guns and machine-guns. The
enemy was made silent with response fire. There is no lost.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

POPE ON TENSE TREK TO TURKEY
Matt McAllester

Newsday, NY
Nov 27 2006

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Stretched down the outside of the Saadet Party
headquarters in Istanbul last week was a banner with a slogan that
made clear the views of the men running things inside: "Ignorant and
sly Pope, don’t come."

Inside, the Islamist party’s leader in Istanbul, Osman Yumakogullari,
began a long monologue that started with the Sept. 11 attacks, touched
on his views of President George W. Bush, the bombings in Madrid and
London, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Then he got to his point.

"As if these were not enough," he said, "then the pope went and
made a statement at the German university in Regensburg. … It was
pointless at a time of wars to turn all of the world’s one billion
Muslims against him."

Benedict XVI’s first visit to a Muslim country as pope could barely
be happening under less comfortable circumstances. It comes less than
three months after he enraged much of the Islamic world by making
remarks about Islam at Regensburg, worsening an impression that he
was a pontiff with a particular suspicion of Islam and a documented
hostility toward Turkey joining the predominantly Christian club of
the European Union.

In spite of official protestations that the pope is still welcome
in this nation of 70 million Muslims, it seemed last week as though
few dignitaries were relishing the idea of being photographed with
the pontiff.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan initially said he would
not be in Turkey to greet the pope – he’s due at a NATO meeting in
Latvia – but during the weekend his office indicated he might find
time to meet Benedict at Istanbul airport for an hour. The Armenian
Orthodox patriarch told Newsday he did not plan to discuss anything
important with the pope. And a well-placed source in Turkish political
circles said Turkey’s chief rabbi was also unenthusiastic about being
seen or photographed with Benedict.

"Hopefully, this [visit] will give him a chance to renew his feelings
about the religion that is practiced by the majority of the inhabitants
of this land," Egeman Bagis, Erdogan’s foreign policy adviser,
told Newsday.

Other Turks were less diplomatic about the pope’s visit.

"No good will come of it," said Gokcehan Uzun, 28, a worker in a shop
that sells chicken in the city of Trabzon on the Dead Sea. "After
his speech, we don’t expect much. If he says that kind of thing he
can’t come to a Muslim country and expect anything. If he really
appreciated Muslims he wouldn’t say such things."

Security will be extraordinarily high for the visit. Mindful that it
was a Turk who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II 25 years ago,
the Turkish security services are deploying thousands of police,
bomb disposal experts, snipers, commandos and secret service agents
to make sure nothing happens to Benedict while he is here.

They’ve already had a scare: On Nov. 2, a young Turkish man fired
shots outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul. As he was led away
by police, he shouted: "God willing, this will be a spark, a starter
for Muslims. God willing, he will not come. If he comes, he will see
what will happen to him."

Turkey’s image at stake

In spite of the tensions between the Vatican and Turkey, the government
is keen that the trip goes as smoothly as possible. If Europeans this
week see a Turkey that greets the leader of the Catholic Church with
protests and cold shoulders, then their reluctance to let Turkey ever
join the European Union is likely to grow. The Turkish government is
working hard to pave the way for Turkey’s eventual accession to the EU.

And so by Saturday the government had forced the Saadet Party to
take down the huge banner calling the pope "ignorant and sly" and
to abandon the thousands of other banners with the same slogan the
party had prepared for an anti-pope demonstration yesterday.

That didn’t stop more than 25,000 protesters from making their
feelings clear yesterday afternoon when they gathered in an Istanbul
square. One banner featured an image of a pig with a photograph of
Benedict’s face superimposed on the pig’s head. Benedict had blood
dripping from his mouth.

"Go Home Papa!" read the banner.

Despite the Vatican’s stated opposition to the Iraq war, it was clear
from the crowd that many people in Turkey and the Islamic world have
come to see the pope as part of what they regard as a broad Western
conspiracy to subjugate Muslims in a modern-day crusade.

Some people wore the green headbands of the radical Palestinian
group, Hamas. Some had photographs of dead Palestinian babies taped to
their backs. Other banners and literature mentioned the wars in Iraq,
Afghanistan and Lebanon.

"God Damn Israel," read a woman’s black headband.

"We are here because the pope is trying to poison the people of the
world with feelings of revenge and hatred," said Mehmet Yanik, 53,
who made an 11-hour bus journey from Denizlil to attend the Istanbul
rally yesterday.

AZERBAIJAN NOT KEEN ON RECEIVING FOREIGN ASSISTANCE FROM OUTSIDE, BUT TO DEVELOP NATIONAL ECONOMY INSIDE – SENIOR OFFICER OF FOREIGN MINISTRY
Author: A.Ismayilova

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 27 2006

Tahir Tagizade, the head of the Press and information Department
of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, informed Trend that the
amount indicated in the last report by the Research Center of the
U.S. Congress with respect to the U.S Department of State financial
assistance to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, is not objective.

The figure inquired in assistance for countries differ because every
time the Adminstration inquires little amount for Armenia, while the
pro-Armenian Congressmen increase this assistance, Tagizade said.

"They openly say that this assistance is one of the sources of
existence for Armenia. The figure for 2007 for Azerbaijan and Armenia
are close enough in absolute expression. There is no guarantee that
the pro-Armenian-spirited leadership of relevant committees won’t
increase the amount this time," head of the Department said.

In accordance with the last report by the Research Center of the U.S.
Congress, inquiry from the Department of State for Armenia comprises
$58.14mln, for Azerbaijan – $40.12mln and for Georgia – $75.84mln. In
2006 the assistance for Armenia was $81.7mln, for Azerbaijan –
$47.94mln and for Georgia – $86.01mln. The figure linked with Armenia
and Georgia also includes assistance within the framework of different
Foundations, including Millennium Challenges program.

Tagizade noted that it is necessary to take into consideration the
fact that the figures do not include assistance by the Defense
Ministry, which envisages financing of foreign armed forces and
international military education and training. These are programs
that caused disagreements in Armenia, which further demanded parity
in the delivery of military assistance.

The amount of governmental assistance to Azerbaijan until 1998, when 5
exclusions were confirmed to Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act,
were rather low than assistance rendered to Armenia and Georgia not
only from the per capita calculations, but also from the absolute
figure stand point. After the waiver of Section 907, the amount was
equalized a bit.

The head of the Department noted that financial assistance in terms
of aid is not so principle. "We are not keen on receiving financial
assistance, but develop the national economy. As political accents,
which comprise the financial assistance, it is linked with the
pro-Armenian congressmen activities and is inevitable. In difference
to Azerbaijan, their major argument stipulates that that Armenia
is a country which depends on assistance – either Diaspora or
U.S. Government," Tagizade said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRINCESS DIANA’S 10TH ANNIVERSARY TO BE CELEBRATED BY SONS IN A HUGE CONCERT
By Topi Lyambila And Agencies

Kenya London News, Kenya
sh/article_1716.shtml
Nov 27 2006

Diana, Princess of Wales, is to be honored on the 10th anniversary of
her tragic death with a huge concert. Her two sons, Princes William
and Harry, who are second and third, respectively, in line to the
throne of the United Kingdom, will host the concert.

The gig will be staged at the new Wembley Stadium on July 1 next year,
which would have been Diana’s 46th birthday. It will also be held a
month before the 10th anniversary of her death in a Paris car crash
on August 31, 1997.

An insider told the Sunday Mirror: "The princes wanted to organize
something very special to mark not only the anniversary of their
mother’s death but also her birthday. This will be a spectacular day.

The boys want to show the world that their beloved mother will never
be forgotten." The event is set to be the first concert to be held
at the new £757 million stadium after it opens next May.

William and Harry are expected to host the concert for 90,000 fans,
featuring high profile performers from Britain and the United States,
among them Elton John. The royal brothers wanted it to be an "upbeat,
joyous tribute to her life and work". The concert is expected to be
shown live on television to a worldwide audience of millions with
proceeds going to charity.

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor; born
Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of The
Prince of Wales, eldest son and heir apparent of Elizabeth II.

Diana came from a royal and aristocratic background. On her
mother’s side, Diana was partially American in ancestry; one of her
great-grandmothers was the American heiress Frances Work. On her
father’s side, Diana was also a direct descendant of King Charles II
through two illegitimate sons and King James II through an illegitimate
daughter. And, according to her biographer Lady Colin Campbell, Diana’s
great-great-great-grandmother Eliza Kewark (some sources spell the
surname Kevork or Kevorkian) was a native of Bombay, India and likely
of Indian descent, though family lore identifies Kevork/Kewark as of
Armenian ancestry.

Nearing his mid-thirties, Prince Charles was under increasing
pressure to marry. Legally, the only requirement was that he could
not marry a Roman Catholic, but a member of the Church of England
was preferred. His great-uncle Lord Mountbatten of Burma, who was
assassinated in 1979, had advised him to marry a virginal young woman
who would look up to him. In order to gain the approval of his family
and their advisors, any potential bride was expected to have a royal
or aristocratic background, as well as be Protestant and, preferably,
a virgin. Diana seemed to meet all of these qualifications.

The wedding took place in St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Wednesday,
29 July 1981, before 3,500 invited guests and an estimated 1 billion
television viewers around the world. Among other performers, the
acclaimed New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa sang Handel’s "Let
the Bright Seraphim" during the wedding ceremony, at the request of
Prince Charles.

In the mid-1980s, the marriage of Diana and Charles fell apart, an
event at first suppressed, but then sensationalized, by the world
media. Both the Prince and Princess of Wales allegedly spoke to the
press through friends, each blaming the other for the marriage’s
demise.

The Prince and Princess of Wales were separated on 9 December 1992;
their divorce was finalized on 28 August 1996.

On 31 August 1997 Diana was involved in a car accident in the Pont de
l’Alma road tunnel in Paris, along with Dodi Al-Fayed, and their driver
Henri Paul. Their Mercedes-Benz S280 sedan crashed on the thirteenth
pillar of the tunnel. The two-lane tunnel was built without metal
barriers between the pillars, so a slight change in vehicle direction
could easily result in a head-on collision with the tunnel pillar.

Fayed’s bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones was closest to the point of impact
and yet the only survivor of the crash. He was the only occupant of
the car who was wearing a seatbelt, which is not the normal practice
of bodyguards – who don’t wear seatbelts, so as to have freedom of
movement in case of an assassination attempt – and later claimed that
he had no memory of the crash. Henri Paul and Dodi Fayed were killed
instantly, and Diana – unbelted in the back seat – slid forward during
the impact and "submarined" under the seat in front of her, causing
massive internal bleeding. She was transported to the Pitie-Salpetrière
Hospital where, despite lengthy resuscitation attempts, she died at
4am. Her funeral on 6 September 1997 was broadcast and watched by
over 1 billion people worldwide.

–Boundary_(ID_9DE3pTiUWbJaXbx/taFGpA) —

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GENOCIDE RECOGNITION BY TURKEY IS NOT A PRECONDITION FOR ARMENIA

Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Nov 27 2006

A critical month lies ahead for Turkey as it must show good conduct
during the visit of Pope Benedict XVI a few days before the European
Commission report on Ankara’s progress towards European Union
accession.

Turkey is also being tested on two other issues that could dash its
hopes of joining the European club — its refusal to recognise the
Cyprus Republic and denial of the genocide of 1,5 million Armenians
by the Ottoman rulers.

The policy of denying the historic events of 1915 has stiffened the
stance of some western nations, while relations with France soured
when the lower assembly in Paris passed a law making genocide denial
a civil crime, similar to holocaust denial.

Lobbying for such resolutions is the Armenian diaspora of nearly four
million in Europe and the Americas who are survivors of the genocide.

Standing by their side is the government of Armenia that has genocide
recognition at the core of its foreign policy agenda, ahead of social
and economic reforms, even more importantly than regional alliances
in a turbulent Caucuses region.

But Armenia’s Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian, concluding a three-day
visit to Cyprus with President Robert Kocharyan, told the Financial
Mirror in an interview that "genocide recognition by Turkey is not
a precondition for normalizing relations."

"The purpose of our visit to Cyprus was to activate our economic
ties. We have common issues that we discussed but we never ganged up
against anybody. That should not be a concern to Turkey."

"Genocide recognition is a common issue for all Armenians, whether
they live in the diaspora or in Armenia," he said adding, "it’s the
moral obligation of every Armenian to remember, and also to pursue
recognition because we think that will be the minimum compensation
that needs to be provided after almost a hundred years."

"In terms of getting more countries recognizing [the genocide],
and through them increasing the pressure on Turkey, yes, there are
positive movements. Whether this brings us closer to recognition
by Turkey, the answer is no, because as more countries recognize,
Turkey becomes more aggressive in its state policy of denial."

"The reason we’re seeing developments like in the French parliament to
make denial punishable by law, is a clear reaction to the aggressive
denialist policies of the Turkish government," Oskanian said.

"This shouldn’t affect French-Turkish relations because France is a
sovereign country and its parliament has the sovereign right to take
any decision, just as Turks consider denying the genocide their right,
so they should not be upset and angry.

"Turkey itself has a law which punishes those who simply address and
talk about the events of 1915 and use the term ‘genocide’," he said.

— Erdogan’s smokescreen

Oskanian said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan’s
suggestion a year ago to create a committee of historians to study
the problem was "a smokescreen."

"That suggestion was not taken seriously despite that fact that
President Kocharian responded to that letter and Turks never talk
about that response," he said.

"After that, American scholars, Armenians and Turks, wrote to Erdogan
telling him that this study of the Armenian genocide has been exhausted
and that their conclusions are very clear," he added.

"But when you have a law [301 of the Turkish penal code] that punishes
the use of the term ‘genocide’ how on earth do you expect those
historians that will be appointed to be objective about this topic?"

Oskanian added that there cannot be a commission of historians between
two countries that have no diplomatic ties.

"There has to be at least some normalcy between the two countries,"
he said. "The borders have to open. President Kocharian had said
that only then can we effectively create all sorts of committees to
address all sorts of issues and Armenia is prepared to do it."

"We would like to get there, eventually to live with Turkey in the same
neighbourhood. We cannot simply avoid addressing these issues, but it
can be addressed in a way that those memories can be replaced by new
experiences of interaction between the Turkish and Armenian people".

— US can help with border opening

Oskanian said the United States is an effective power that can have
an influence on Turkey especially on the issue of border opening,
but the U.S. itself has not recognized the genocide for reasons of
strategic interests.

"In the past eight years we have refused to choose between sides. Our
foreign policy is based on complimentarity. We work with everyone
and we seize the opportunities. There are areas where we see more
opportunity with Russia, areas where the U.S. can provide more and
others where the EU can be more effective," he said.

"This is not the Cold war era that we need to choose between East
and West."

As regards maintaining a presence in Iraq or other Middle East
conflicts, Oskanian said, "you can’t simply be a security consumer,
you’ve also got to be a security provider. We have to acknowledge
our role. When we were asked to play a peacekeeping role and play
our part in Iraq we complied."

But when it comes to Iran and his birthplace, Syria, the foreign
minister said Armenia’s influence is not visible, despite historic
ties with both.

"Our approach is engagement rather than confrontation and we think
the world powers also would be more effective by engagement rather
than confrontation."

He said economic development is the main priority for next year.

— Double-digit growth

"We’ve had six years of double-digit growth, we need to sustain this
kind of high growth over the next few years. European integration
is an important direction as is achieving peace and stability in our
region through conflict resolution," he said.

"Nagorno Karabagh is also a major foreign policy issue to continue
our talks to reach a peaceful resolution on the basis of the right
of the people for self-determination," Oskanian said.

"The unequivocal solidarity with Azerbaijan also works against Turkey,
because that undermines their credibility in the Caucuses, as well
as their claim to be a bridge between east and west, between the
Caucuses and the European Union."

"The reason we negotiate on their behalf is that President Kocharian
is from Nagorno Karabagh and the people trust him, but also because
Azeris refuse to talk with Karabagh. In order for the process not to
be stalled, President Kocharian has taken it upon him to negotiate
with the Azeris," the Armenian official explained.

"But the ideal situation would be if the Azeris will agree to talk
with Karabagh and that would be the shortest and most effective way
to reach a peaceful resolution."

"When Karabagh emerged as an independent political entity, that
happened out of the collapse of the Soviet Union, when a whole empire
collapsed. The only period that Karabagh was part of Azerbaijan was
the Soviet period and it was illegal."

Oskanian concluded that economic reforms are the key for Armenia’s
development, which has attracted foreign investments mainly from
France, germany, the U.S., Italy and Russia.

"Since independence (in 1989) we’ve been very aggressive in pursuing
reforms. We’ve got to go to the second generation of economic reforms
so that process will continue. The most recent agreement we signed
with the EU is called the Action Plan of the EU Neighbourhood Policy
which includes a lot of reforms that Armenia is committed to pursuing
in coming weeks.

SOME OF GEORGIA’S PROBLEMS ARE ITS OWN CREATION

The Messenger, Georgia
Nov 27 2006

Friday saw the third anniversary of the Rose Revolution, and the event
was marked in Tbilisi with pomp and circumstance, monuments dedicated,
arias sung and folk dance performed, and the Estonian and Ukrainian
presidents arriving to show support.

However, there were also some unpleasant surprises on November 23,
which is also the Saints day of Georgia’s patron St. George. Berlin
based Transparency International (TI) issued a stinger of a report,
which lambastes the political system established after the revolution,
going so far as to say it "has been likened" with Putin’s Russia,
and even the Central Asian states-none of which are known for being
‘beacons of democracy’. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the International
Crisis Group (ICG), an international conflict prevention organisation
based in Brussels, poured cold water on Georgia’s civil integration
achievements.

The TI report suggests that, rather than becoming a ‘French style’
semi presidential system, with a president and an autonomous prime
minister, it has in effect created a super presidential system. It
says that while everybody welcomed the structural change that put a
prime minister at the head of a cabinet of ministers, in reality there
is no checks to the president’s authority. It must make difficult
reading for the government (who are a major German charm offensive
in anticipation of the upcoming German presidency of the EU), and it
certainly doesn’t mice its words. It even suggests that certain things
might have been better in the bad old days of Shevardnadze-almost
blasphemous in Georgia today. Parliament is said to be "at the mercy"
of the president, even a "presidential body" or a "rubber stamp". It
points out that the constitutional amendments of 2004, which handed
the president the right to veto and introduce legislation, disband
parliament and more, was what Shevardnadze had tried to initiate in
1998, but was prevented from doing by the very young reformers that
now make up much of the government.

The "personalisation" of power is certainly a worrying trend, and we
can only hope decision makers take heed of the conclusions drawn by
TI, but the ICG report makes for equally disconcerting reading. The
ICG say that Tbilisi has "done little" to integrate Georgia’s large
Armenian and Azeri minorities-which constitute over 12 percent of
the population-and that more attention must be paid to address their
grievances if Georgia "is to avoid further conflict".

The figures speak for themselves: in the predominantly Armenian
populated district of Akhalkalaki-due to electoral districts created
in Tbilisi-there is one local government representative for every
670 Georgian inhabitants, and one for every 3382 Armenians. There
are five Armenian and three Azeri MPs, therefore over 12 percent of
the population is represented by just over 3 percent of MPs. There
are no Azeris working in the presidential administration, the highest
ranking Armenian is the deputy energy minister. The ICG is a master of
understatement when it calls Georgia’s ministry for civil integration
"weak", it has a paltry budget of just over USD 100 000.

These reports, taken together, point to some of the fundamental
failures and omissions in the strategy of the new government:
coming to power on a platform of freedom and democracy, it has
created a system where there are fewer checks and balances, and
hobbled parliament. Placing territorial integrity at the core of its
platform, it has done very little to reach out to the two biggest
ethnic minorities in Georgia, who have not made any territorial
demands on Tbilisi.

The successes of the last three years must be underpinned by a
system that is democratic and free enough in its fabric to be able to
withstand potential crises that lie ahead, and Georgia must transform
itself into a nation where ethnicity is no longer the trump card if
it is ever to peacefully return the secessionist territories.

ARMENIA RATIFIES AGREEMENT ON ESTABLISHING CIS HUMANITARIAN COOPERATION FUND

UzReport.com, Uzbekistan
Nov 27 2006

The Parliament of Armenia ratified the Agreement on establishing CIS
intergovernmental fund of humanitarian cooperation.

The agreement was signed by Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz
republic, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan on 25 May 2006 in
Dushanba.

The main goal of this Agreement is development of humanitarian
cooperation between CIS countries. It will facilitate close
collaboration in the sphere of sport, culture, education, tourism,
youth programs implementation, AI Armenia-News informs.

Gegam Garibdjanyan, the deputy Prime Minister of Armenia says:
"According to the Agreement terms and conditions the aim of this fund
is to provide an appropriate financing aid to the events (projects)
in a sphere of humanitarian cooperation. The fund will be formed based
on the voluntary investments from CIS countries. The Agreement also
states the policy of intergovernmental fund of CIS countries."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PKK PROPAGANDA PROGRAMS BROADCASTED ON FRENCH RADIO

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Nov 27 2006

PARIS – France had stopped broadcasting Turkish programs on Radio
France International (RFI) on grounds of financial difficulties, while
it remained silent on pro-PKK broadcasts. The Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union,
which includes France. The United States and many more countries also
consider the PKK as terrorist organization.

Pro-PKK associations are allowed to broadcast on the Frequence Paris
Plurielle, a state radio station allocated to associations by France.

France is known for its anti-Turkey policies in the recent years.

Paris Government strongly supports the Greek Cyprus, Greece and
Armenia against Turkey in many areas.

During the yesterday’s broadcast, PKK supporters were asked to attend a
program that would be organized for the 28th anniversary of the PKK on
Sunday. Terrorism propaganda is banned in France according to the laws.

The announcement was delivered in both in French and Kurdish languages.

A number of Kurdish artists will attend the program. "We celebrate
the 28th anniversary of the PKK," a program ticket reads.

One-third of radio frequencies were allocated to stations during
presidency of Francois Mitterand.

Funded by France, many associations conduct their activities and
organize broadcasts on French radio stations for an allotted time
every week.

* ‘Year of Armenia’ Conference Addresses Turkey

The history of Kurdish, Pontus Greek, Chaldean and Armenian minorities
in Turkey was discussed in a conference held in the Parisian suburb
of Versailles by Armenians.

The conference was held as part of the "Year of Armenia" in France
and attended by Pontus Greek historian Vassia Karkayannis-Karabelias,
head of the Kurdish Institute of Paris Kendal Nezan, Secretary-General
of the International Federation of Human Rights Raffi Kalfayan and
President of the Chaldean Association of France Naman Adlun.

The French Chaldean community asserts Chaldeans were exterminated by
Turkey and built a Chaldean genocide monument in Paris last year.

The monument was received with surprise by Turkish diplomats in Paris,
who have good relations with Chaldeans.

Representatives from the Chaldean community were invited to this
year’s Republic Holiday reception at the Turkish embassy in Paris as
usual despite the genocide monument.

Chaldean priests in Paris attended the reception.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress