Month: November 2006

PAPAL TRIP TO TURKEY: KEY QUESTIONS TEST BENEDICT’S PONTIFICATE
By John Thavis
Catholic News Service
Nov 21 2006
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI travels to Turkey in late
November, a four-day visit aimed at building bridges with Islam,
reaffirming dialogue with Orthodox Christians and encouraging a tiny
Catholic minority in a Muslim country.
The Nov. 28-Dec. 1 trip was first envisioned as an ecumenical event,
but interreligious issues have taken center stage. The pope’s remarks
about Islam at the University of Regensburg in September upset many
Muslims, and Turkey will offer the pope a platform to explain his
views to the Islamic world.
It will be the pope’s fifth visit outside Italy and his first to a
country with a Muslim majority. He arrives in Ankara for meetings
with government officials, goes to the historic site of Ephesus for
Mass, and closes out his visit with Orthodox and Catholic communities
in Istanbul.
Situated where Asia and Europe meet, Turkey has for centuries been
a place where Islamic cultures met the “Christian” West — often in
conflict, as at the time of the Crusades. In the current climate of
global cultural and religious tensions, that makes the papal visit
all the more significant.
“It’s an extremely important trip,” said Father Justo Lacunza Balda,
an official of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies
in Rome.
“There are so many issues that touch Turkey, including dialogue
with Muslims, cultural and religious identity, the future of Europe,
church-state relations, religious freedom and ecumenism. The pope’s
visit is a sign of respect for the country and a sign that these
issues need to be discussed,” he said.
On several levels, the trip represents a test of Pope Benedict’s
18-month-old pontificate. Vatican officials believe the results will
hinge on answers to some key questions:
— Can the pope begin to heal the recent rift with Islam, while still
engaging Muslims in honest dialogue on crucial issues — including
the question of faith and violence?
— Can the pope get a hearing from the Turkish population and
government hosts when he speaks about the importance of religious
freedom and human rights in a modern democracy?
— When he meets with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople, will the pope simply be keeping up a tradition, or
can he use the encounter to generate ecumenical momentum and direction?
Pope Benedict knows how important this trip is, and he’s showing it by
taking along five top Vatican cardinals, including those responsible
for interreligious and ecumenical dialogue.
The tone of the visit may become clear on the opening day, when
the pope meets with government officials and diplomats in Ankara,
the Turkish capital.
On his way into the city from the airport, the pope will make a brief
but significant stop at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
modern Turkey. The pope is expected to write a sentence or two in the
guest book, and his words may offer a thematic clue to the visit —
especially on the issue of church-state relations.
At the Ankara State Guest House, the pope will be greeted by President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The absence of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
who will be out of the country at a NATO summit, has been seen as
a snub by many observers, but Vatican officials say the scheduling
conflict was known for months.
One of the most interesting encounters of the first day will be the
pope’s meeting with Ali Bardakoglu, the head of Turkey’s directorate
of religious affairs. After the Regensburg speech, Bardakoglu sharply
criticized the pope’s remarks on Islam and said the pontiff should
“rid himself of feelings of hate” and apologize. He later accepted
the pope’s expression of regret.
Both the pope and Bardakoglu will deliver speeches. Church officials
hope it will be an opportunity for mending bridges and looking ahead,
rather than a revival of the recent polemics. Bardakoglu, in fact,
has said he doesn’t intend to bring up the Regensburg speech unless
the pope does.
At the Vatican, sources say they expect the pope to present a strongly
positive message, communicating his respect for Muslim believers and
his appreciation for the values of Turkish society and indicating
common ground in the idea that civil society cannot exclude God.
On Nov. 29 the pope will say Mass at a Marian sanctuary near Ephesus,
a center of early Christianity that St. Paul used as a missionary
base. The shrine, called the House of the Virgin, is believed by
some to be the place where Mary lived at the end of her life and is
visited by some 3 million pilgrims each year — most of them Muslims,
according to church sources.
The pope lands in Istanbul later Nov. 29, and the focus of the visit
turns ecumenical. He will attend a prayer service that evening at
the headquarters of Patriarch Bartholomew and will return there for
a major liturgy to mark the Nov. 30 feast of St. Andrew the Apostle,
the patron saint of the patriarchate. The pope and patriarch will then
sign a joint declaration on the continuing search for Christian unity.
Vatican and Orthodox officials don’t want the ecumenical side of the
Turkey trip to be overlooked.
“We are very unhappy with the fact that people are only talking
about the interreligious aspect. The main purpose of the trip remains
ecumenical, and we hope it will bring a new impetus and enthusiasm
for dialogue with the Orthodox churches,” said Cardinal Walter Kasper,
the Vatican’s top ecumenist.
The pope also will visit the heads of the Syrian Orthodox and Armenian
Orthodox churches in Turkey and will meet privately with Turkey’s
chief rabbi in Istanbul.
In a visit that was rescheduled from a Friday to Thursday in order
not to risk offending Muslims on their day of prayer, the pope will
tour the Hagia Sophia Museum — an architectural masterpiece that
began as an Orthodox church, was transformed into a mosque in the
15th century and became a museum in 1935.
The pope’s final day is dedicated to Turkey’s tiny Catholic
minority, estimated to number about 33,000 — about .05 percent of
the population.
He will say Mass in Istanbul’s small Cathedral of the Holy Spirit;
those who can’t squeeze into the church can watch the liturgy on
screens in the courtyard of the nearby Church of St. Anthony.
Throughout the visit, the pope is likely to highlight the church’s
deep roots in Turkey. Asia Minor was visited by apostles and was home
to church fathers, and every ecumenical council during Christianity’s
first millennium was held on what is now Turkish territory.
At some point, the pope also is expected to remember the sacrifice
of a modern evangelizer: Father Andrea Santoro, an Italian missionary
who was shot and killed by a 16-year-old Muslim last February.
Both Orthodox and Catholic leaders hope the papal visit will boost
their ongoing efforts for recognition of religious rights. Catholic
officials, for example, have been pressing for legal recognition of
the Latin-rite church, which has no juridical status in Turkey.
Turkey’s Constitution protects freedom of conscience, but the
country’s brand of secularism controls all religious activity and
keeps an especially tight rein on religious minorities.
Church leaders are hoping that Turkey’s projected entry into the
European Union will provide leverage for greater protection of their
rights. But that could backfire; European pressure on human rights
is thought to be one reason for a recent decline in support for EU
entry among Turks.
If the pope does address the religious liberty issue, he may choose
to cite Turkey’s own Constitution, rather than ask the country to
meet European standards.

FORMER ARMENIAN PM: IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Nov 21 2006
Former Armenian prime minister Armen Darbinian said here on Tuesday
that Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is to the benefit of the two countries.
He made the remarks at the 11th international symposium on oil and
gas which is underway in Tehran.
He added that the construction of the proposed gas pipeline could not
only meet the energy needs of Armenia but could also be an opportunity
for his country to be considered a fuel transit route.
Noting the European countries interest in Iranian gas, Darbinian
criticized Russia’s Gasprom Company for creating obstacles on the
way of implementing the plan.
Noting that the hike in world gas price has been detrimental to
Armenia, Darbinian described Western countries request for the closure
of the country’s nuclear power plants as illogical.
The former Armenian prime minister also said, “It has been proved
that we can responsibly manage it.”
He stressed the need for Iran-Russia-Armenia cooperation in the
energy sector.

BRITAIN’S HOUSE OF LORDS DISCUSSES ASSYRIAN CASE
Assyrian International News Agency
Nov 21 2006
(AINA) — The following was raised by the Earl of Sandwich during a
debate that convened at the House of Lords yesterday, 20th November
2006:
The Earl of Sandwich: My Lords, the words unusually missing from
this gracious Speech are “poverty reduction” and “international
development”. However, I realise that much humanitarian work is hidden
behind foreign policy and anti-terrorism, especially in conflict
countries. What has happened to poverty reduction in Iraq?
Is DfID still using that terminology, or is it impossible under
these dangerous conditions to target the poorest and the victims
of injustice?
One group that I commend tonight, both in Iraq and the Middle East
as a whole, is the Christian community, which is declining in number
across the whole region. I hesitate to single out Christians, who
often enjoy social and economic advantages which may be resented,
not least because of their connections abroad. Nevertheless, for
whatever reason, the churches in Iraq have unfairly become the
focus of much discrimination, and even hatred, since 2003, and many
Christian families are now reduced to acute material and spiritual
poverty. The plight of the Assyrian Christians and other minorities
has already been discussed. My noble and right reverend friend Lord
Carey has also represented them, and the noble Lord, Lord Hylton,
made a strong case for them in July last year.
The Assyrians, or Nestorians, are the descendants of the people of
Babylon and Nineveh. They were one of the earliest Christian sects.
By the 9th century they had become a worldwide church extending as
far as China and south India. For 12 centuries they lived mainly in
harmony with Muslim Arabs in what we now call Kurdistan, but when
missionaries arrived in northern Iraq, the Assyrians began to be
persecuted. Hundreds of thousands were victims during the terrible
Armenian massacre. Britain defended them against the Turks after
1917, when Assyrian soldiers became trusted allies up to and after
Iraq’s independence in 1932. But at that time, thousands more, seen
as collaborating with us, were killed by the Iraqi army.
Historically, therefore, we are in their debt.
It is hard to estimate the total number of Assyrians now, since so many
have fled from Iraq to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the US, Australia and
this country. Incidentally, the Home Office tried to send some of them
back to Iraq on the absurd grounds that they were quite safe in the
north. There are at least 600,000 to 700,000 left, and they and other
related minorities such as the Chaldeans, the Syrian Orthodox Church,
Catholics, Copts, Armenians and others, deserve much more attention
and, above all, better protection from the Iraqi Government. That,
of course, also means our Government. Thousands were oppressed and
displaced along with the Kurds under Saddam Hussein’s Arabisation
policy, and the Commission for Resolution of Real Property Disputes
is genuinely trying to help them to recover their homes and property,
taken up to April 2003.
Under Iraq’s new human rights legislation, Christians in theory
qualify for protection, but they are obviously not getting it from
the police, the army or the occupying forces. They have no militia to
protect them, like the larger Shia and Sunni factions. Many Christian
communities have been directly targeted. In the past three years, 30
churches and schools have been bombed in Baghdad and northern Iraq,
and small businesses are constantly attacked.
Some of those attacks have been in so-called retaliation for the
Danish cartoons or the Pope’s ill-judged lecture on Islam, for selling
liquor, as they have done for centuries, or, in the case of women,
for not wearing the veil. But in communities already fragmented by
near civil war, the problem runs much deeper than that.
Christian families live in daily fear of death threats. Last month
an abducted priest from the Syriac Orthodox Church, Father Boulos
Iskander, was found in Mosul, beheaded and dismembered soon after his
family had already paid a ransom of $40,000. His kidnappers used the
excuse of the Pope’s remarks the previous month. Several young women
have been killed after threats about the veil. A 14 year-old Christian
Assyrian boy called Ayad Tariq in Baquba was also beheaded last month,
according to the Assyrian news agency.
Not surprisingly, many Christians have left Iraq, among the hundreds
of thousands of refugees. Asylum seekers arriving in OECD countries
doubled during the first six months of this year, and more than 8,000
Iraqis applied to EU countries during that period­a higher figure than
from any other region. The UN estimates that a further 425,000 Iraqis
are displaced inside the country. Among them are urban professionals,
doctors, teachers and technicians, many of them Christians. As one
noble Lord has said, those who are most useful to Iraq in its present
situation have been directly targeted by extremists.
One Christian refugee who personifies the brave and almost hopeless
struggle of minorities isDr Donny George, the former director of the
National Museum in Baghdad, who helped to recover the treasures that
were looted after the US invasion. Having come under increasing
pressure from Shiites and Islamists, he resigned in August as
president of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage. He even had
to close the museum and seal it in concrete to save it. Like other
archaeologists, Dr George has left the country and has moved with
his family to Damascus.
Money to pay the salaries of the special police force that valiantly
defends Iraq’s famous archaeological sites is running out. Again,
we see a vicious minority of extremists determined to destroy their
own culture, coupled with the apparent inability of the coalition
and the Government to help. What can our Government do now to break
this deadlock?
Are the minorities receiving their fair share of the billions of
dollars pledged in Madrid? My noble friend Lord St John raised this
question. During last year’s debate, the noble Baroness, Lady Royall,
told my noble friend Lady Northover:
“The Iraqi transitional Government … have massive international
support: $32 billion was pledged in Madrid … it is of course
up to the Iraqi Government to co-ordinate with the Kurdish
regional government to afford an equitable redistribution of
resources”.­[Official Report, 6/7/05; col. 716.]
Two noble Lords who visited Iraq have told us that this is not
happening. Dr Kim Howells said:
“The Iraqi Constitution contains provisions which guarantee democratic
principles, rights and freedoms of all individuals, including the
freedom of worship. We continue to encourage the Iraqi government
to ensure these are protected”.­[Official Report, Commons, 26/10/06;
col. 2072W.]
What does this “protection” mean in practice? What has happened to the
resettlement programme in the Nineveh plain? Do the Kurdish Regional
Government respect the constitution when they register householders to
prevent terrorist infiltration or are they favouring the Kurds in this
process? This issue came up in the Australian Federal Parliament on 29
May, when Chris Bowen MP asked his Government to support a protected
administrative region for the Assyrians. I do not go as far as my
noble friend in suggesting that the Assyrians should have regional
autonomy, as their own democratic movement proposes. I think that that
is difficult to contemplate at a time when, as we have heard, Kurdish
independence may again be on the cards as a result of a failed Iraqi
state. There is a lot of historic suspicion on the Assyrian websites,
but there is a lot of sense in supporting a protected homeland or
some kind of administrative region for the Assyrians.
The persecution of Christians by Muslims is neither new nor unique.
It is mainly a story of exile that is being told in Iran, Pakistan,
Egypt, Palestine and all over the Middle East. I accept that it is
in part an unforeseen consequence of our own mistaken policies but
that does not excuse us, and so long as we have influence in Iraq we
have the opportunity of ending it.
I will end by urging the Government to return to their position
in 2002­it was advocated again tonight by several noble Lords­when
a large number of states, including Iran, as the noble Lord, Lord
Lamont, pointed out, united in a coalition against terrorism. I will
briefly quote from the late Robin Cook’s resignation speech in March
2003. He said:
“Only a year ago, we and the United States were part of a coalition
against terrorism that was wider and more diverse than I would ever
have imagined possible. History will be astonished at the diplomatic
miscalculations that led so quickly to the disintegration of that
powerful coalition. The US can afford to go it alone, but Britain is
not a superpower. Our interests are best protected not by unilateral
action but by multilateral agreement and a world order governed by
rules”.­[Official Report, Commons, 17/3/03; col. 726.]
The following was the response on behalf of Her Majesty’s government
by The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (Lord Triesman):
On the point of the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, about the Assyrian
and other Christian minorities, we are working hard for the interests
of the Christian minorities in Iraq. We support all minority groups
in Iraq and, where we can, we play a role in facilitating their
participation in society and in the Government. I can confirm that
we are also supporting at a very considerable level, through DfID,
the spending on the reconstruction of the country. We have pledged
a total of £544 million on that goal.
–Boundary_(ID_PpeOgSJiiQdPLlv7LIWTLg)–

OSCE MINSK GROUP COCHAIRMEN VISITING YEREVAN
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Nov 21 2006
YEREVAN, November 21 (Itar-Tass) — The OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen are
preparing another meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents.
The presidents may meet on November 28, on the sideline of the CIS
summit in Minsk.
OSCE Minsk Group Russian Cochairman Yuri Merzlyakov and his French
counterpart Bernard Fassier met with Armenian President Robert
Kocharian and Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian in Yerevan on Tuesday
to discuss the meeting agenda. U.S. Cochairman Matthew Bryza could
not visit Yerevan because of a busy schedule.
The cochairmen and Kocharian discussed “the current phase of the
Karabakh settlement and issues related to a possible meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents at the CIS summit in Minsk,”
the presidential press service said.
The meeting with the Armenian foreign minister focused on the
settlement principles, which were discussed in Brussels on October 14,
a source at the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass.

TURKISH KNOT – TRIP POSES DAUNTING, INTERLOCKING TESTS FOR POPE BENEDICT
By John L. Allen Jr.
National Catholic Reporter ()
Catholic Online, CA
Nov 21 2006
ROME (National Catholic Reporter) – When Pope Benedict XVI travels
to Turkey Nov. 28-Dec. 1, he faces a series of challenges that,
like concentric circles, become larger and more daunting as they’re
arranged around one another. Coupled with the intense media attention
the trip is certain to draw – more than 2,000 journalists are expected
to follow the pope on his first visit to a majority Muslim state –
these complexities make Turkey the trickiest high-wire act of his
pontificate to date.
Advertisement Benedict is scheduled to make stops in Ankara, Ephesus
and Istanbul.
Among the conundrums awaiting him:
– How to reassure Muslims that he’s a friend of Islam, especially in
the wake of his controversial Sept. 12 comments at the University of
Regensburg, quoting a 14th-century Byzantine emperor to the effect that
Muhammad brought things “only evil and inhuman”? Benedict won’t have
to wait long; on the first day of the trip, he meets Ali Bardakoglu,
Turkey’s top religious affairs director, who called the Regensburg
remarks “regrettable and worrying … both for the Christian world
and for the common peace of humanity.”
– How to encourage moderate Muslim voices in Turkey, a country
often seen as the best hope for dialogue with the Islamic world,
without inadvertently reinforcing either of two contrary forces:
on the one hand, a rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism sometimes
linked to nostalgia for the Ottoman Empire; and on the other, the
rigid secularization associated with the modern founder of Turkey,
Kemal Ataturk, who attempted to suppress virtually every public
expression of Islam?
– What, if anything, to say about the dire situation facing Turkey’s
small Christian communities, such as the forced closure of the
seminaries of the patriarchate of Constantinople and the Armenian
Orthodox church? If the pope is perceived as confrontational, it could
further sour relations with Muslims, especially given the bitter
history in Turkey of foreign powers demanding special treatment
for Christians. Yet the original purpose of Benedict’s visit was
to reinforce ecumenical relations with the Orthodox, especially
Bartholomew I, patriarch of Constantinople, and it’s difficult to
imagine that the pope can remain silent on the issue of religious
freedom.
– What, if anything, to say about Turkey’s candidacy for the European
Union – a move which then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had opposed prior
to his election as pope, on the grounds that it would further muddy
Europe’s Christian identity? (Ironically, the more radical Muslim
forces in Turkey, which Benedict wants to discourage, are the most
likely to be Euro-skeptics.)
– What, if anything, to say about the decimation of Turkey’s Armenian
population in the early 20th century, which Armenians recall as
“genocide,” a term bitterly contested by Turks? Especially when
Benedict meets the Armenian patriarch in Turkey, Mesrob II, on Nov.
30, it will be a tough question to avoid.
– What, if anything, to say about the delicate situation on
Cyprus, where an unrecognized Turkish regime controls the northern
portion of the island? On Nov. 10, Benedict met with President
Tassos Papadopoulos, who governs the Greek-dominated (and therefore
predominantly Christian) portion of Cyprus, receiving a collection of
photos from Papadopoulos showing Christian churches in the north that
have been destroyed or converted into mosques, bars and hotels. The
meeting was widely seen in Turkey as a pro-Greek gesture, and it
raised expectations that Benedict may address the Cyprus question
during the trip.
Beyond these challenges, one final unknown hovers in the form of
security considerations. In perhaps the most ominous premonition,
a potboiler novel published in Turkey over the summer titled
Papa’ya suikast (Attack on the Pope) predicted that Benedict will
be assassinated while in Turkey. Written by novelist Yucel Kaya,
the book is subtitled, “Who will kill Benedict XVI in Istanbul?”
Both senior Vatican officials and local organizers say that while the
pope can be protected, it may prove more difficult to secure local
Christian targets – churches, schools and Christian-owned businesses –
against reprisals should public opinion turn against the trip or should
extremist groups want to capitalize on the pope’s presence to lash out.
Turkey thus offers both promise and peril aplenty for Benedict’s effort
to engage Muslims in what he has called a “frank and sincere” dialogue.
Despite Ataturk’s vision in the early 20th century of a modern,
pro-Western Turkey, the Islamic roots of the country are never far
from the surface. Historically, the Ottoman Empire was considered
the great carrier of Islamic civilization from the 16th to the 20th
centuries, and Turkish Muslims have kept that heritage alive despite
several decades of official secularization.
The electoral victory of Islamic-inspired political forces in the
2002 national elections, which brought former Istanbul Mayor Recep
Tayyip Erdogan to power as prime minister, offered a clear reminder
of Turkey’s enduring Muslim identity. (Erdogan will not meet Benedict
in Turkey, opting instead to attend a NATO summit in Latvia.)
A recent national poll conducted by Professors Ali Carkoglu and
Ersin Kalaycioglu from Sabanci and Isik Universities in Istanbul
found that more than 60 percent of Turks would refuse permission
for their daughter to marry a non-Muslim, 60 percent blamed a lack of
religious beliefs for “failure in life,” and 46 percent favored schools
specialized in religious teachings for their children over schools
with secular curriculums. Almost 70 percent said they considered the
country’s ban on headscarves for women to be religious oppression
and supported its repeal.
Further, it’s uniformly believed in Turkey that if the country were to
lurch too far in the direction of an Islamic theocracy along the lines
of neighboring Iran, the Turkish military would intervene and restore
the country’s officially secular orientation. The military toppled
heads of state in 1960, 1971 and 1980, and engineered a bloodless
“postmodern coup” in 1997 that resulted in the forced resignation of
then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who had exploited pro-Islamic
sentiment.
Benedict’s more challenging line on Islam with respect to his
predecessor, John Paul II, has to date revolved around two points:
terrorism and “reciprocity,” meaning the need for Islamic states
to respect Western standards of religious freedom. In that light,
it’s difficult to imagine that Benedict would visit Turkey and not
at least indirectly raise issues of religious freedom, such as the
status of the Halki Seminary of the patriarchate of Constantinople,
shuttered by government edict for 35 years, or the status of Greek
Orthodox churches and other institutions in Cyprus.
Such issues, however, risk inflaming Turkish opinion, potentially
being seen as further proof of an anti-Turkish bias. At least one
local Christian leader, the Armenian patriarch in Turkey, Mesrob II,
has expressed hope that the pope won’t bring up such matters, which
he described as “interfering in the internal affairs of Turkey.”
“It should be dealt with on a different basis, not during an apostolic
visit,” he told National Catholic Reporter in September 2005.
In part, such reluctance reflects historical memories of the long
decline of the Ottoman Empire, when first the French and then other
foreign powers extracted a series of “capitulations” granting special
privileges to Christians. The system began at street level: Christian
women, for example, were allowed to travel first-class on second-class
tickets on the ferries that crisscrossed the Bosphorus.
In fact, when Ataturk declared equality before the law for all Turkish
citizens in the early 20th century, some Christians protested on the
grounds that it would mean giving up a patchwork of special advantages
and perks.
Many Turks associate these capitulations with the gradual undermining
of the Ottoman Empire, so the specter of Western figures demanding
better treatment for Christians today tends to awaken these
historical ghosts. Benedict faces the challenge of phrasing his
defense of Turkey’s Christians, who are generally Greek and Armenian,
as a matter of universal human rights in a way that doesn’t simply
deepen Turkish defensiveness.
That may be especially tricky, given that for many Turkish Muslims,
Benedict XVI doesn’t start with a clean slate. Aside from Regensburg,
he is also known for widely publicized comments prior to his election
as pope opposing Turkey’s European Union candidacy.
In a 2004 interview with the French daily Le Figaro, then-Cardinal
Joseph Ratzinger said that Turkey has always been “in permanent
contrast to Europe,” and that it should look instead to play a
leadership role in a network of Islamic states.
“In the course of history, Turkey has always represented a different
continent,” Ratzinger said, giving as an example the Ottoman
Empire, which once invaded Europe as far as Vienna. “Making the two
continents identical would be a mistake,” he said. “It would mean a
loss of richness, the disappearance of the cultural to the benefit
of economics.”
It’s not clear whether Ratzinger’s private opinion as cardinal will
drive the Vatican’s formal diplomatic stance now that he’s pope. Some
Christian leaders hope not.
“Isn’t it hypocritical to say that a Muslim country at the edge of
Europe, which is much more moderate than many other Islamic nations,
as secular as it can be within its own tradition, can’t enter simply
because it’s Muslim?” said Mesrob, the Armenian patriarch in Turkey,
who studied in Rome at the Dominican-run Angelicum University.
Mesrob gave three reasons why he supports Turkey’s entry:
– “As a citizen on the street, I believe that if Turkey is in the EU,
its whole system of law will have to be upgraded by the standards of
European forms of democracy.”
– As a Christian, I believe that Turkey’s entry will help build a
multicultural society in which Christians have equal opportunities.”
– “As an Armenian, I believe Europe will not allow Turkey to enter
without fixing its problems with Greece, Cyprus and Armenia.”
The Armenian question is itself yet another potential headache.
There are only some 2,000 Greek Orthodox Christians in Turkey, but
almost 100,000 Armenian Orthodox, including 68,000 Turkish Armenians
and 30,000 migrant laborers. Both they and the worldwide Armenian
diaspora, which is especially strong in the United States, will be
waiting to hear Benedict say something about the mass killing of
Armenians in Eastern Anatolia in 1915, and again in 1922 and 1923,
a tragedy that Armenians remember as a genocide, but which Turks
insist involved atrocities on all sides. (Conventional estimates are
that somewhere between 800,000 and 1.5 million Armenians died during
this period.)
When John Paul II in 2001 visited the Tzitzernagaberd Memorial in
Yerevan, capital of the independent republic of Armenia, he did not
himself use the word “genocide,” referring instead in Armenian to the
Metz Yeghern, a phrase that means “great killing.” Yet John Paul and
Armenian Patriarch Karekin II put out a joint statement recalling the
suffering of “what is generally referred to as the first genocide of
the 20th century.”
Given that precedent, it may be especially difficult for Benedict XVI
to avoid the term himself. Yet if he does, it is sure to be taken by
many Turks as another slight, especially in light of a recent dustup
with France over a proposed French law that would make it a crime to
deny the Armenian genocide.
At almost every turn in Turkey, Benedict faces tough choices. His
every utterance will be subjected to microscopic scrutiny both by
the media and by Muslim commentators.
Whatever happens, the world should have a more clear sense by the
evening of Dec. 1, when Benedict’s plane leaves Turkish airspace,
of what kind of dialogue with Islam he may be able to engineer – and,
perhaps, of what kind of pope he hopes to be.
– – –
John L. Allen Jr. is National Catholic Reporter senior correspondent.

BRITISH DEPUTIES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN AGAINST FRENCH ARMENIAN BILL
By Selcuk Gultasli, Brussels
Zaman Online, Turkey
Nov 21 2006
In a written declaration, three British deputies in the European
Parliament have harshly criticized France’s draft Armenian genocide
bill, which was adopted in the parliament on Oct. 12.
For the declaration, a joint initiative by British Labor Party deputies
Michael Cashman and Richard Howitt, and British Liberal Andrew Duff,
to become a resolution, it has to be signed by 367 deputies.
Cashman asserted that the French draft bill was aimed at undermining
Turkey’s EU bid and Howitt noted that the French parliament’s decision
was hypocritical and provocative.
The written declaration states its regret for the French Assembly’s
decision and noted that this contradicted the principle of freedom
of speech, a universal right and one born in French enlightenment.
The declaration said that the genocide bill would impede the efforts
of those who have been working on the amelioration of Turkey’s freedom
of speech record.
Furthermore, it would not make any contributions to relations between
Turkey and Armenia, and called on the French Senate to reject the
draft.
The declaration also called on the EP President to transmit this
document to the French Assembly, French government, European Council
and European Commission.
Duff: The Ottoman State was not Strong Enough to Commit Genocide
Speaking to Zaman, British Liberal EP member Andrew Duff said that
most EP members opposed the French Parliament’s decision, but it was
not clear how much support their declaration would garner.
Asked whether he was hesitant to be labeled by the Armenian lobby
and their supporters a “denier,” Duff recalled that they had already
declared him one.
He said Turks should be able to face with their history: “However,
I do not think this would mean the acceptance of the allegations. At
its dawn, the Ottoman State was not strong enough to commit genocide.
There were massacres; however, genocide is a strong expression to
describe what had happened.”
Duff also said that it was not fair to force Turkey to accept the
existence of an Armenian genocide while most European countries had
a dark history of their own.

12 TURKISH CANDIDATES TO RUN IN NOV. 22 DUTCH ELECTIONS
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman Online, Turkey
Nov 21 2006
Twelve candidates of Turkish origin from seven different parties will
run in the upcoming elections in the Netherlands.
In September, three Turkish candidates had been previously expelled
from their parties because of their refusal to accept recognition of
an Armenian genocide.
The Turkish candidates are running for the Christian Democrats (CDA),
the Labor Party (PvdA), Democrat 66 party (D’66), Liberal Party (VVD)
and several smaller right-wing parties.
Approximately 12 million Dutch will vote for 150 members of the
chamber of deputies on Wednesday.
None of the 26 parties is expected to win a majority of the vote. A
struggle is anticipated between the rightist Christian Democrats
(CDA) and the main opposition Labor Party (PvdA).
The previous expulsion of Turkish candidates has led to speculation
that most Turkish origin voters will opt for Fatma Koser who is
running with D’66.
She might even become a minister if the predictions are true.
More than 250,000 Turkish citizens in the country have double
citizenship and approximately two thirds can vote.
There are already several Turkish MPs in the Dutch parliament.

BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR: BULGARIA MIGHT BACK AZERBAIJANS INTEGRATION TO EU
Author: S. Aghayeva
TREND Informationa, Azerbaijan
Nov 21 2006
Trend’s exclusive interview with Ivan Palchev, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of Bulgaria to Azerbaijan on the threshold of
the visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan
– Georgiy Pirinsky, Bulgaria Speaker is expected to pay an official
visit to Azerbaijan this week. Which issues will be the priority in
the agenda of the forthcoming negotiations with the Azerbaijani party
within the above-mentioned visit?
– Chairman of the Bulgarian People Assembly will arrive in Baku on
November 22 to take part in the sitting of the General Assembly of
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation. During the forthcoming meeting, the chair of
the Organization will be passed to Bulgaria. As soon as the sitting
of the Organization is completed, on November 24-25, the official
visit of the Bulgarian Speaker to Azerbaijan will be commenced.
The Bulgarian Speaker will be accompanied by representative delegation
consisting of members of all fractions of the Bulgarian Parliament
and the Government of the Country. The agenda of the visit includes
meetings with the Azerbaijani Speaker Ogtay Assadov, Foreign Minister
Elmar Mammadyarov, Premier-Minister Artur Rasizadeh, and certainly
with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The Bulgarian Speaker will
also visit the Baku Slavic University, where he will get acquainted
with the activity of the Bulgarian Culture Centre, as well as meet
students and pedagogical staff of the University.
Bulgaria is a parliamentary state. The supreme authority of the
Country is the Parliament. All the other bodies of authority submit
to the Parliament. Being the Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament, Mr.
Pirinsky has wide authorities, and he is about to discuss the wide
spectrum of different issues on both the bilateral and regional
cooperation, as well as cooperation of an international nature with
the Azerbaijani party.
– Bulgaria joins EU starting January 1, 2007. Which role that could
play in Bulgaria bilateral relations with Azerbaijan?
– It is true that Bulgaria will join EU starting from Janury, 2007.
According to EU requirements, all the member-states of the
Organization should unify their legislation in accordance with the
EU requirements. The contract and legal base between Azerbaijan and
Bulgaria today consists of 28 documents which will be reviewed once
more and unified to meet the EU requirements and standards. At the
same time, a new package of agreements of a bilateral nature is being
worked out. It is expected to cover different spheres of cooperation..
Being the Ambassador, I am quite satisfied with the development of
political contacts. For three years of the activity of the Bulgarian
Embassy to Azerbaijan, all possible visits at a level of Ministers
and Chiefs of Bodies, Speakers, and Presidents have been paid.
However, economic relations between our countries do not completely
meet the existing potential of the two countries. The commodity
turnover between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan reached just $6-8 mln. last
year.
I have had a lot contacts with businessmen of the both countries,
invited them, gave them advises, but their interest to business was
of curious tourists. However, that will have its reasons. First of
all, the lack of direct air flights between Baku and Sofia impedes
developing the mutual relations. There are intentions to establish a
new charter air flight – Baku-Varna in the next year, and to attempt
to develop tourism. I hope that the mutual skepticism that is now
connected with Bulgaria joining EU will act in the reverse direction
and make businessmen of the two countries to mutually cooperate.
– How could you estimate perspectives of cooperation between Bulgaria
and Azerbaijan in energy field? Which perspective directions of this
cooperation could you mark?
– For about 12 years, Bulgaria, Russia, and Greece have held
negotiations on constructing oil pipeline “Burgas-Aleksandrupolis”.
Finally, a month ago, the three Presidents met and signed the
corresponding document. Not only Russia oil but also Azerbaijani
one, which is carried via the Russian territory through oil
pipeline “Baku-Novorossiysk” will connect to the pipeline. At
present, a project on transporting gas from Erzurum via route
Turkey-Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria is being worked out. The
construction of a pipeline is expected to be launched in the next
year. And I think that by 2011, the gas will reach Bulgaria.
– What is Bulgaria’s position toward the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
– Bulgaria position toward the Nagorno-Karabakh issue remains
unchanged. The most important in this position is that Bulgaria adheres
the thesis that Nagorno-Karabakh will always be a part of Azerbaijan,
and , as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev have repeatedly stated
this territory may obtain the highest autonomy, but only within the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. And I think the conflicting
parties themselves are gradually trending to this position.

REGULAR EXHIBITION IN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Nov 21 2006
On November 20 the NA Standing Committee on Science, Education,
Culture and Youth and Armenian International Women’s Association NGO
organized an exhibition of children’s works in the National Assembly,
which was dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Independence of Republic
of Armenia.
According to Mrs. Hranush Hakobyan, Chairwoman of the Committee, the
presented works of children of Gavar region Art Schools are singled
out not only by their genre diversity: paintings, sculpture, ceramic
pieces, needlework, but also by the originality of world perception:
directness, clearness, interesting color decisions, conceptions and
their free demonstration.
The MPs and employees of the National Assembly were present at the
exhibition, and they expressed words of admiration toward presented
works. They noted with enthusiasm that the cultural-educational
centres should be focused on; the talented and gifted children should
be discovered and supported, since the tomorrow of our country and
perspective of its development are conditioned by them.

FRANCE STAGING CONFERENCE ON MINORITIES IN TURKEY
NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Nov 21 2006
The conference is likely to set a jarring chord in Turkey, which
recently voiced its disquiet at the lower house of the French
parliament approving legislation that would make it a criminal offence
to deny the so-called Armenian genocide.
Guncelleme: 14:11 TSİ 21 Kasim 2006 SaliPARIS – France will hold
a conference in Versailles on minorities Turkey on November 25 as a
part of activities marking “the Armenian year”.
The theme of the conference focuses on the past and future of the
Armenians, Syriac-Keldani, Greeks and Kurdish minorities and has
been referred to as a joint activity of those destroyed or oppressed
by Turkey.
Some administrators from minority associations and academics will be
participating in the conference.
France had declared September 2006 to July 2007 as the Armenian year,
a step that has been described as a move to win votes of the about
500,000 Armenian’s living in France ahead of the French Presidential
elections in 2007.