Month: March 2007

Tiraspol Times & Weekly Review, Moldova
March 17 2007

Group warns of threat to democracy, security, and long term regional
stability

For nearly a year, a group of unrecognized countries has looked at
ways to enhance democracy and security guarantees. Its
Interparliamentary Assembly is led by a Moldovan. Grigory Marakutsa
says that they will warn the United Nations not to endorse moves that
risk upsetting the region’s fragile stability. By Times staff,
17/Mar/2007

Grigory Marakutsa, ethnic Moldovan and former Speaker of PMR’s
Parliament: Concerned about regional stability (file photo)TIRASPOL
(Tiraspol Times) – Building a common voice for those who have no voice
in the international community. That is the role of the Commonwealth
for Democracy and Rights of Nations, a small grouping of unrecognized
countries whose Interparliamentary Assembly is led by a Moldovan,
Grigory Marakutsa.

Now, says Marakutsa, the Commonwealth will seek to expand its
membership and next month will show the United Nations that peace,
security and stability must not be undermined or weakened.

Democracy requires security, stability and a guarantee of peace.
Conflict situations, bringing violence and risks of instability to the
region, undermine progress and democratic advances.

The Commonwealth for Democracy and Rights of Nations was founded by
the Presidents of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Pridnestrovie – also
known as Transnistria – on 14 July 2006 to work on joint issues
involving social and economic progress of these states and obtaining
international recognition of their independence and sovereignty.
Later that same year, on 30 October, Speakers of the Parliaments of
the three member states met in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, to
establish the Interparliamentary Assembly for Democracy and Rights of
Nations under the auspices of the Commonwealth. The Assembly is open
to participation of parliaments of both recognized as well as
unrecognized states.

Possibility of expansion The Interparliamentary Assembly first met on
18 December 2006, establishing guidance on commissions and approving
the establishment of a secretariat. An official parliamentary
delegation from Nagorno-Karabakh took part in the meeting as
observers.

In December of 2006, the Assembly petitioned the United Nations to
recognize member states of the Assembly as members of the
international community and to declare valid the results of
referendums held in the member states of the Assembly. The
Interparliamentary commission for examining human rights violations by
the Republic of Moldova and Georgia was set up by unanimous
consent. Speaker of South Ossetia Parliament Tarzan Kokoity chaired
the commission. Grigory Marakutsa said, `At that time we scheduled the
next meeting of the Council of the Interparliamentary Assembly in
Sukhumi for March, 2007 to discuss the commission’s report relating to
drafting a statement and resolution on genocide and human rights
violations’.

New countries are likely to join the Commonwealth and its
Interparliamentary Assembly in the future. The group wants to speak
with a common voice in the United Nations and in other international
fora.

` – The full membership of the Parliament of Nagorno Karabakh in the
Assembly as well as the membership of other partially recognized
states is under discussion," said Grigory Marakutsa

" – Another new member would be Western Sahara. It is recognized by
some 60 countries though it is still under Morocco’s occupation and
doesn’t enjoy full sovereignty. The talks on cooperation and possible
membership in the Assembly are underway’.

Strengthening peace and security On the agenda for the Council is a
close eye on peace, and making sure that guarantees for their cease
fires are not undermined. Foremost on everyone’s mind is to prevent a
weakening of security and stability in the region. The three small
states are particularly worried that their larger neighbors will
mislead the United Nations in an attempt to change the existing,
well-functioning peacekeeping measures for a system which they fear
may not work at all.

` – On 15 April 2007, the UN will discuss peacekeeping operations in
different states," said Grigory Marakutsa. Moldova and Georgia filed
an appeal and will try to revoke Russia’s peacekeeping mandate in
Pridnestrovie, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It is our duty to
demonstrate the benefits of this peacekeeping operation to the UN, as
compared to other peacekeeping missions."

" – No serviceman, no civilian has died in Pridnestrovie during a
15-year peacekeeping operation. We don’t understand the motives of
Moldova and Georgia. It’s unclear why these states want to throw the
existing peacekeepers out of these territories. Maybe, they are
disappointed that no person has died here. We’ll debate it on April 10
and we’ll pass appropriate statements and petitions to the UN on
behalf of three states to prevent changes in the current peacekeeping
format’.

Elections in Abkhazia The Interparliamentary Assembly participated
with a commission to monitor the recent parliamentary elections in
Abkhazia. In this respect, the Special Interparliamentary Envoy for
interparliamentary relations said, `The observers of three states
monitored the elections under the aegis of the Interparliamentary
Assembly, we also encouraged observers from other European states to
participate in monitoring of the elections.’

` – The extent of transparency, availability of information and
openness of the elections set a worthy example to all of us. For
instance, the observers of all candidates had the opportunity to count
the voters’.

` – We witnessed no irregularities. Georgia made attempts to
destabilize the situation in the bordering area. The elections were
declared valid almost in all electoral districts except for one where
only one candidate had been nominated. By-elections will take place in
12 constituencies because two candidates received the same number of
votes and entered the second round of voting. Under Abkhazian law,
Parliament should convene and elect the Speaker within a month
following the elections. Parliament will meet to do this on 4 April’,
informed Grigory Marakutsa.

` – It’s often easier to solve problems with the help of
parliamentarians but not executive officials. For instance,
parliamentarians are invited to monitor referendums and elections.
Members of Parliament are public officers who represent their state’,
– Grigory Marakutsa noted.

Grigory Marakutsa (or Grigore Mãrãcuþã, in the Moldovan language) is
an ethnic Moldovan, alongside fellow ethnic Moldovan Alexander
Caraman, is considered one of the founding fathers of PMR, the
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Until 2005, he was Speaker of PMR’s
Parliament. In December of 2005, the opposition won control of
Parliament in that year’s legislative elections and unseated
Marakutsa.

In 2006 Grigory Marakutsa was appointed General Secretary of the
Interparliamentary Assembly of the Community for Democracy and Rights
of Nations, an international grouping of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Pridnestrovie. (With information from vspmr.org)

A1+

`I WANT TO PRIVATIZE MY HOUSE WITHOUT GIVING BRIBE’
[03:35 pm] 16 March, 2007

The events with the Kozern residents taught a good lesson to the
residents of Miasnikyan; they have decided to make documents and
legalize their houses as soon as possible.

The inhabitants fear that they will soon be deprived of their own
places and lands. The residents have applied to the State Cadastre
Committee since 1998 to get a right to property but they have been
refused on groundless motivations.

The resident Norik turned to the cadastre twice in 1998 but he got the
following answer, `The territory is in the red zone. You cannot
privatize the place, as the houses in the zone are illegal and will be
pulled down’.

`Five houses of the district are privatized whereas the other five are
not. These are semi-detached houses. How can we understand their
step?’ wonders Mr. Norik.

The inhabitants demand to recover their violated rights and to mark
their property in accord with the cadastre prices of 1998.

Samvel Lazarian, head of the `Community and Right’ NGO, represents
the interests of the district dwellers. He says that by 2009 the
district had been involved in the zone of alienation, but the RA
President hasn’t ratified it yet.

Everything will be cleared up within 10-15 days. `We are unaware of
their plans and don’t know what they will build instead of our
houses. No matter what they build, they must keep the public informed
of their plans’, says Samvel Lazarian.

To note, a highway will be laid Miasnikyan district. The residents
are ready to vacate the territory provided they receive the
corresponding compensation. But they will arouse an action of protest
in other cases.

Under the decision of the RA Prime Minister an interdepartmental
commission will be set up to deal with the issues of Kozern,
Miasnikyan and to consider the order of privatization and the sum of
compensation.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
March 17 2007

Royal hints at `privileged partnership’ for Turkey

Despite saying that it would be wrong for the European Union to
reject Turkey’s entry just because it is "Turkey," French
presidential contender Ségolène Royal has indicated that she prefers
"a privileged partnership" between Turkey and the European bloc but
not a partnership based on Turkey’s full membership.

"I believe that Turkey hasn’t fulfilled membership conditions as of
today and that a break should be given to the enlargement process to
enable [the mechanism of] Europe to work better," Royal said in an
interview aired late on Thursday on France 2, France’s largest
state-owned television station. She added that the EU should connect
many more countries to humanist values of Europe, in an effort to
explain that she was not categorically against Turkey’s EU bid.

"I would like to remind you of the fact that Turkey is a big, secular
country. … We want countries to be committed to these values even
within the framework of privileged partnerships," Royal said.

Russian Plane Crashes in Samara; 7 Dead

Saturday March 17, 2007 11:31 AM

MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian airliner crash landed in the central Russian city of
Samara on Saturday, killing seven people and injuring 23, emergency
officials said.

It was unclear what caused the incident. Emergency Situations Ministry
spokesman Viktor Beltsov described the accident as a “hard landing.”

Another Ministry representative, Irina Andrianova, said the plane was
landing in heavy fog and grazed the runway with one of its wings. She said there
was no fire after the crash.

The Tu-134 plane, an ageing model, belonged to the Russian airline UTAir and
had 57 people on board, including seven crew members, the company said in a
statement. Two of the crew were among the injured, it said.

Andrianova said seven people were killed, 23 were hospitalized, six of them
in serious condition. Earlier, officials had said 51 people had been injured,
but they revised the figure to 23, explaining that the rest were being
treated for psychological shock.

Some Russian media, citing local emergency officials, reported that the
plane landed on its fuselage after the landing gear failed to come down.

The plane had flown to Samara, about 550 miles southeast of Moscow, from
Surgut, about 1,000 miles to the east.

Authorities were investigating the cause of the incident, transport
officials and prosecutors said.

Tu-134s are widely used in the former Soviet Union. The last major crash of
a Russian airliner was on Aug. 22, when a Tu-154 of Pulkovo Airlines crashed
in Ukraine, killing all 170 people aboard.

In July, an Airbus-310 of S7 airlines went off the runway after landing in
Irkutsk, smashed into adjacent buildings and caught fire, killing 123 of the
203 people aboard. In May, an Armenian Airbus-320 crashed into the Black Sea
while trying to land in the southern Russian city of Sochi, killing all 113
people aboard.

BoxingScene.com, AR
EastsideBoxing.com
March 16 2007

Darchinyan: "Arce Ran Away, Give Me Taylor"

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Undefeated IBF/IBO flyweight champion VIC
"RAGING BULL" DARCHINYAN is looking to move up in weight in search
of a bigger challenge. Actually, Vic is looking to move up 10 WEIGHT
DIVISIONS for that challenge. Specifically, undefeated middleweight
champion JERMAIN TAYLOR.

"Everyone made such a big deal when Roy Jones moved up two weight
classes to challenge heavyweight champion John Ruiz and when Bernard
Hopkins moved up two divisions to fight Antonio Tarver. That’s old
hat. The only way I can prove that I’m boxing’s No. 1
pound-for-pound fighter is to move up pound-by-pound — 48 pounds to
be exact — jumping 10 divisions and challenge Taylor since he has
the same problem I do, finding someone to accept the challenge. I
just fulfilled my mandatory title defense a few weeks ago and since
Jorge Farce (you can’t spell Farce without A-R-C-E) has eaten enough
lollipops to run away from me into another division, and the rest of
the alleged "champions" in my division — Lorenzo Parra (WBA),
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (WBC) and Omar Navarez (WBO) — have refused
to rumble with me in a unification fight, I might as well go for the
only other champion everyone seems to be avoiding — Jermain Taylor."

Promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, Darchinyan (28-0, 22 KOs), a
native of Armenia, now living in Australia, hasn’t gone the distance
in a fight since August 8, 2003 when he won a lopsided 10-round
decision over Alejandro Montiel. His victory by knockout percentage
is over 78.5%. Darchinyan captured the IBF title in 2004, knocking
out undefeated defending champion Irene Pacheco in the 11th round,
ending his four-year reign, and has successfully defended it six
times since.

"Just because I fight at 112 lbs doesn’t mean I can’t punch with the
big boys," continued Darchinyan. "I regularly spar with jr.
welterweights who are 28 pounds heavier than I am, with absolutely no
problem. So tell Jermain to stop fooling with ‘Contenders’ and fight
a fellow world champion…ME! The rules only state that I can’t
exceed 160 lbs to fight for the middleweight title. Heck, even
Secretariat had to carry extra weight just to make it a fair race.
I’m the Secretariat of fighters. If I have to handicap myself to get
the better fights, so be it."

Did somebody say "Post Time?"

EurasiaNet, NY
March 16 2007

BUSH ADMINISTRATION TRIES TO PREVENT POSSIBLE RUPTURE WITH TURKEY
Joshua Kucera 3/16/07

The Bush administration is publicly opposing a resolution pending in
the US Congress that would officially recognize the mass killings of
Armenians during the Ottoman era as genocide. The administration’s
opposition is grounded in concerns that Turkey could retaliate by
refusing to cooperate with the US war in Iraq.

Such resolutions have been routinely proposed in Congress, but one
has never passed. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
This year, however, legislators appear more likely than ever to adopt
a resolution. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, is
on record as supporting passage of the resolution. The murder of
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in January also seems to have
influenced the attitudes of some US representatives. [For background
see the Eurasia Insight archive]. A vote on the resolution could
occur in April.

At a Congressional hearing on March 15, representatives from the US
Department of State and Department of Defense said passage of the
resolution would unnecessarily inflame anti-American sentiment in
Turkey. The resolution "would undercut those voices emerging in
Turkey who call for a truthful exploration of those events in pursuit
of Turkey’s reconciliation with its own past, and with Armenia," said
Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
affairs. "Our fear is that passage of any such resolution would close
minds and harden hearts."

The public backlash in Turkey could be so strong that the Turkish
government would be forced to act, perhaps by closing or restricting
US access to Incirlik Air Base, a key transportation hub for US
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, restricting use of the
Turkey-Iraq land border, or allowing fewer over-flight rights, Fried
said.

A genocide resolution would surely hamper US military operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan, asserted Daniel Fata, deputy assistant
secretary of defense for Europe and NATO. "Passage of the resolution
would inflame nationalist and anti-American sentiment [in Turkey] at
a time when the Turkish public already has a very low opinion of the
United States," he said. "Turkey’s contribution to the global war on
terrorism and US strategic objectives in the region is significant –
it would all be at risk. More broadly, relations with a crucial NATO
ally would suffer a serious and lasting blow, [undermining] our
ability to achieve our near- and longer-term goals in the Middle
East."

Fried and Fata’s comments before the Europe Subcommittee of the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs came shortly after Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent identical
letters to members of Congress opposing the resolution. The letters
noted that Turkey retaliated against France after the French
parliament passed a resolution in October recognizing the Armenian
killings as genocide, cutting all military contacts and withdrawing
from negotiations on defense contracts. [For background see the
Eurasia Insight archive].

In Fata’s written testimony to the subcommittee, he listed various
contracts that US defense-related companies are pursuing with Turkey,
totaling several billions of dollars.

US officials stated that, although Armenia and the large Armenian
diaspora in the United States steadfastly support the adoption of a
resolution, Armenians in Turkey oppose it. "We hear from members of
the 60,000-70,000 strong Armenian-Turkish community that any such
resolution would raise popular emotions so dramatically as to
threaten their personal security," Fried said in his testimony.

The Turkish government, lobbying against the resolution, is making
the same point. Public relations officials for the Turkish Embassy
have circulated newspaper editorials quoting Dink as being against
such resolutions. "The winning of the empathy and compassion of the
Turkish population is far more important than the adoption of
Armenian resolutions in hundreds of parliaments elsewhere," said
Dink, quoted in an editorial in the Baltimore Sun.

Editor’s Note: Joshua Kucera is a Washington, DC,-based freelance
writer who specializes in security issues in Central Asia, the
Caucasus and the Middle East.

NIS News Bulletin, Netherlands
March 16 2007

State Secretary Albayrak May Be Prosecuted In Turkey

THE HAGUE, 17/03/07 – Justice State Secretary Nebahat Albayrak may be
prosecuted in Turkey. A Turkish lawyer, Kemal Kerincsiz, wants to sue
her for insulting the Turkish identity.

Kerincsiz brought a case earlier against writer Orhan Pamuk and
journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in January. In the case
of Dink, the case led to a conviction. An Istanbul court dropped the
case against Pamuk under international pressure.

As a Labour (PvdA) MP, Albayrak supported a motion in 2004 in which
the Lower House unanimously called on the Dutch government to press
for international recognition of the Armenian genocide. In Turkey, it
is forbidden to say that the Turkish regime massacred hundreds of
thousands of Armenians around 1915.

Kerincsiz said on TV programme Een Vandaag that Albayrak committed
treason against the Turkish state by supporting the motion. He
threatened to have her prosecuted for this. Albayrak in fact watered
down her views in 2006 by stating that it was not up to her but to
scientists and lawyers to judge whether genocide can technically be
spoken of.

Albayrak said via her spokesman she would wait and see whether a
complaint will actually follow. As well as Dutch nationality, she has
a Turkish passport. Party for Freedom (PVV) MP Geert Wilders has in
recent weeks cast doubts on her loyalty because she is also subject
to Turkish law. A Lower House majority considered this nonsense.

On Friday, Wilders requested clarification by the government about
the case Kerinsciz threatens to bring. If he does, Premier Jan Peter
Balkenende will have to press Albayrak to give up her Turkish
nationality after all or resign as state secretary, Wilders said in
written questions to the premier.

Home Affairs Minister Guusje ter Horst had repeated Thursday evening
that she considers the debate on dual nationality a "non-issue".
During a meeting in Amersfoort on cultural diversity within the
police, she said Turkish and Moroccan officers are just as loyal as
others. "We do not count passports, we count quality." Ter Horst
presented the 2007 Diversity Prize to the Amsterdam police corps.

ARA PAPIAN: ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER DETERMINED BY WILSON’S ARBITRAL
DECISION DERIVING FROM SEVRES TREATY

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Two mutually excluisive viewpoints on
the Sevres Treaty exist in Armenian reality. According to the first,
this document has no legal basis (this viepoint was most widespread in
the Soviet Armenian literature), while according to the second one,
the borders of Turkey and Armenia are determined by the Sevres
Treaty. Ara Papian, former Armenian ambassador to Canada, historian
and diplomat, said this at the March 16 conference "The Sevres Treaty:
Reality or Eternal Dream?" at Yerevan State University. In his
opinion, in essence neither of the viewpoints is correct because the
Armenian-Turkish border is determined by Wilson’s arbitral decision
deriving from the Sevres Treaty. According to Ara Papian, an arbitral
decision is an international decision which has no time limit and is
not subject to cassation.

"This arbitral decision determines de jure the Armenian-Turkish border
and remains so until today, whereas de facto the border is different,"
the speaker noted. Ara Papian said that so far Armenia has not applied
to international courts regarding the issue of the Sevres Treaty
application for a number of reasons: previously Armenia was not an
independent state – only states as subjects of international law may
apply to international courts. After independnce, Armenia had more
important and urgent problems. Besides, there is another simple and
important circumstance: unawareness of Armenian historians about
international law. "The arbitral decision is one that has legal force
for us and the world. I believe that we should pay more attention to
international law and move our struggle to this plane where we are
much stronger," A. Papian stated. Aghasi Yenokian, political
scientist, YSU lecturer, said that today the situation is infavorable
for raising this issue at an international court. In his opinion, now
Armenia is of little interest to other states so that they initiate
"making an angreement signed at one time a reality." On the other
hand, according to him, "there is circumstance to solve de jure the
problem of Nagorno Karabakh and surrounding territories."

PARUYR HAYRIKIAN NOT DECIDED YET TO HEAD ELECTORAL COORDINATORY BODY
OF OPPOSITION PARTIES

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. "If the opposition parties’ approach
to form an electoral coordinatory body is serious, I am ready with my
experience to contribute to this." Paruyr Hayrikian, Chairman of the
"National Self-Determination" Union who was proposed to head this
body, told this to NT correspondent. According to him, Chairman of the
"New Times" Party Aram Karapetian and Chairman of the "National Unity"
Party Artashes Geghamian are interested in creation of this body. In
response to question if all opposition members are united around this
project, P. Hayrikian said: "Not all opposition members in Armenia are
indeed opposition members." In his words, the people expect that at
least all opposition parties that have an ideology will come to an
agreement and form a united front to participate in the elections,
which may essentially change the social situation in Armenia.

"DIALOG WITHOUT BORDERS" INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD IN
YEREVAN ON MARCH 17

YEREVAN, MARCH 17, NOYAN TAPAN. Within the framework of the British
Council’s program "The Role of Mass Media in Coverage of Government",
the international conference "Dialog without Borders" will be held in
Yerevan on March 17.

Narek Tovmasian, representative of the British Council Armenia Office,
the program head, told reporters on March 16 that the purpose of the
conference held with the assistance of the British government and the
UNDP Yerevan Office is to discuss efficient mechanisms of possible
cooperation with international experts and representatives of state
bodies, mass media and NGOs. According to him, this year, regional
mass media will be provided grants through open competitions by this
program. "Instructive trips of Armenian reporters to European
countries will be organized with the aim of studying experience of
countries which have overcome a transitional period," BC
respresentative noted.