Month: March 2007

PERINCEK DUE TO ZURICH

Turkish Press
March 6 2007

IP CHAIRMAN PERINCEK: -"WE ARE GOING TO SUBVERT THE LAW PUNISHING
THE DENIAL OF THE GENOCIDE LIE"

ISTANBUL – Workers Party(IP) Chairman Dogu Perincek went to Zurich to
attend the trial of the lawsuit filed against him for the remarks he
had uttered rejecting the Armenian genocide allegations in Switzerland.

Speaking to the press at the Ataturk International airport before
leaving for Zurich, Perincek reminded they were being tried for
having said that the Armenian genocide was an international lie and
said their program in Zurich was between March 6th and 9th.

Stating that they were being tried for telling the truth, Perincek
said, "this is an `inquisition trial`. They have resurrected the
"`Middle Age` in Europe. They are on a witch hunt. We are going to
subvert the law punishing the denial of the Armenian genocide lies."

"We have violated the law for the past three years, and the end for
this law is near. Swiss Minister of Justice Blocher has been stating
for six months that the law would be subverted. A commission was
founded in Switzerland to do this," said Perincek.

Perincek indicated that they were getting the fruits of "the right
attitude and a firm stance."

Stating that they were taking along 90 kg of documents in Russian and
Armenian, Perincek said they would submit these documents to the court.

Perincek said these documents were taken from Russian Archives
and included reports and other documents written by Armenian prime
ministers, commanders, historians and statesmen between 1918 and 1950.

Perincek noted that when the authorities read these documents,
Turkey`s righteous claims would prove to be true and said, "in these
documents, Armenian prime ministers and commanders say `we have been a
fool for imperialism and a consequently took up arms. Turkey defended
its country. Carried out the fight for a righteous cause. We have to
bear the consequences."

Perincek said a group of 164 people including academicians, retired
generals, unions` officials and representatives of the NGOs were
travelling to Lausanne in the leadership of the first President
of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas tomorrow to
support him.

TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIANS IN WASHINGTON D.C.

Turkish Press
March 6 2007

WASHINGTON D.C. – Saban Disli , a member of the Turkish parliamentary
delegation which is currently in Washington D.C. so as to express
Turkey`s sensitivity regarding the Armenian resolution submitted to
the U.S. House of Representatives, said that the delegation tried to
explain the consequences of the approval of such a resolution to the
related parties.

Disli, who is an MP of Justice and Development Party (AKP),
held a press conference in Washington D.C., together with other
parliamentarians from the delegation.

Stressing that "a large-scale struggle" was necessary on the matter,
Disli said, "this is a serious issue. It is a black spot trying to
defame our history".

Disli stressed that two separate parliamentary delegations would
visit Washington D.C. within this month as a part of this struggle,
aiming to explain the views of the Turkish society on the issue to
American congressmen.

Upon a question on which measures Turkey would take in case of the
resolution`s approval and whether a resolution condemning the "Indian
genocide" would be adopted at the Turkish parliament, Disli noted,
"We do not want to consider the probability of the approval of the
resolution. We are working for a lasting solution".

Being reminded that the major part of the logistic support to Iraq
was sent from Incirlik base, Disli stressed, "if we talk about a
specific issue, then it will be a threat. We are pointing to our
common benefits, not to threats. We said that our common interests
and in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and concerning Israeli-Palestinian
conflict could be damaged".

Commenting of the Jewish lobby`s stance regarding the Armenian
resolution as well, Disli indicated that the representatives of the
lobby expressed that they watched the issue closely, however they
did not want to affirm which steps they would take on the matter.

OSKANIAN DISCUSSES ARMENIAN POLLS, KARABAKH WITH RICE
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
March 6 2007

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met with U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Monday to discuss Armenia’s upcoming
parliamentary elections, efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, and other issues of mutual interest.

A statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry said Oskanian and Rice
agreed on the importance of the vote’s "conformity with international
standards." No details were reported.

The U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, made no statements
on the meeting during a daily press briefing on Monday.

The U.S. administration is pressing the authorities in Yerevan to
ensure that the elections scheduled for May 12 are more democratic than
the ones held in the past. It has set aside $6 million for various
projects aimed at enhancing the transparency and public oversight of
the electoral process.

U.S. officials have warned that a repeat of electoral fraud would
call into question the disbursement of $235 million in additional
economic assistance to Armenia under the Millennium Challenge Account
(MCA) program. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry statement,
the promised aid was high on the agenda of Oskanian’s talks with
Rice. "The minister presented preparations for the implementation of
the program that have been made until now," it said.

The two officials were also reported to have discussed international
efforts to broker a solution to the Karabakh dispute which are
spearheaded by the United States, Russia, and France. U.S. diplomats
say Armenia and Azerbaijan are close to cutting a framework peace deal
in the months following the Armenian elections. Oskanian is expected
to hold another round of talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar
Mammadyarov next week.

The ministry statement said Oskanian and Rice also discussed U.S.

efforts to help improve the strained Turkish-Armenian relations. It
did not elaborate.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza told RFE/RL last
month that Washington is pressing Ankara to use a rare opportunity
to normalize relations with Yerevan that arose after the January 19
assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Bryza said
Rice is personally "encouraging" a Turkish-Armenian "reconciliation
process" that would address the mass killings and deportations of
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Armenian officials have sounded pessimistic about the success of
those efforts, saying that the Turkish government is sticking to its
preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations and reopening
the border with Armenia.

In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Oskanian said
he specifically spoke with Rice about a draft U.S. congressional
resolution that recognizes the Armenian massacres as genocide. He
expressed concern at high-level Turkish government efforts to scuttle
its widely anticipated passage by the House of Representatives.

"Governments should stay away from meddling in these matters," he
said. "But when topics of interest for Armenia are being discussed,
we cannot remain as a government indifferent, particularly in light
of Turkish lobbying at a government level."

Visiting Washington last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul warned that the resolution, if passed, will harm Turkish-American
relations.

YEREVAN MOVES TO DEPOLITICIZE LAW-ENFORCEMENT, JUDICIARY
By Emil Danielyan

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
March 6 2007

Armenia is embarking on a sweeping structural reform of its
law-enforcement system that is supposed to bring it into greater
conformity with European standards. Under a government bill approved
by parliament on February 26, Armenian prosecutors will be stripped of
their most significant authority: to conduct pre-trial investigations
involving arrests and interrogations of criminal suspects. That will
now become the exclusive prerogative of the police and the National
Security Service, the Armenian successor to the Soviet KGB.

Justice Minister David Harutiunian, the main author of the bill,
said earlier in February that implementation of the reform will
start as early as this June. The functions of Armenia’s Office of
the Prosecutor-General will thus be essentially reduced to defending
criminal charges in courts. The law-enforcement agency has until
now handled the majority of criminal cases, giving it ample powers
and corruption opportunities. Corruption usually takes the form of
bribes paid by suspects for a cover-up of minor or major crimes —
an entrenched practice dating back to the Soviet era.

Not surprisingly, the change has been vigorously resisted by the
influential Prosecutor-General Aghvan Hovsepian whose relationship
with Harutiunian has always been frosty. Tension between the two men
reportedly rose in spring last year, forcing President Robert Kocharian
to hold an emergency meeting of senior prosecutors and Justice
Ministry officials. Kocharian eventually sided with Harutiunian,
his longtime protege.

It was a serious setback for Hovsepian, who has extensive business
interests and a political patronage network. Meeting with officials
from the Council of Europe on February 12, Hovsepian indicated his
continuing objections to the bill in question. The chief prosecutor had
earlier publicly accused police officers of incompetence, saying that
his investigators routinely have to correct their blunders committed
in the initial stages of criminal inquiries.

That Armenian prosecutors and officers of the former KGB are generally
more competent than police detectives is a widely recognized fact. This
raises the question of whether Armenia’s Police Service is able to
shoulder the main burden of investigating and solving crimes from now
on. According to Harutiunian, the police will be reinforced by many
experienced investigators from the Office of the Prosecutor-General and
its territorial divisions to be considerably downsized later this year.

Although still low by Western and ex-Soviet standards, Armenia’s
official crime rate increased by 10 percent last year. Particularly
alarming was a 36% surge in the number of murders reported by
law-enforcement authorities. They have yet to solve the most
high-profile of those crimes, including a September car bombing in
Yerevan that killed a high-ranking tax official.

In all likelihood, the structural overhaul of the procuracy will not
have any bearing on widespread mistreatment of suspects in custody.

Extraction of "confessions" under duress remains commonplace in
Armenia, despite its parliament’s ratification in 2002 of the European
conventions on human rights and the prevention of torture.

The Armenian government has done little to eliminate the illegal
practice.

Justice Minister Harutiunian first unveiled plans for the
re-distribution of law-enforcement powers in July 2006 as part of a
broader reform of Armenia’s security apparatus and judicial system.

Shortly afterwards, the Armenian parliament adopted a Judicial Code
that envisages important changes in the structure and powers of the
country’s notoriously subservient courts. Harutiunian and other senior
officials said this would help to make them more independent of the
government and law-enforcement bodies.

The Armenian judiciary had already undergone a radical structural
reform over the past decade. Nevertheless, local courts still rarely
acquit criminal suspects, investigate torture allegations, or make
other decisions going against the government’s wishes. Corruption
among Armenian judges is also a serious problem. Harutiunian, who
plays a key role in the selection of judges, is believed to exert
considerable undue influence on their rulings.

Far more important for judicial independence are some of the recently
enacted amendments to Armenia’s constitution that significantly curb
the Armenian president’s authority to appoint and dismiss virtually
all judges. More specifically, the future presidents of the republic
will not control, at least by law, a key body that makes mandatory
recommendations for judicial appointments.

There are already some indications that Armenian judges feel
emboldened by this change, even if it will take years to make a
difference. Speaking at an annual meeting of state prosecutors on
February 2, one of Prosecutor-General Hovsepian’s deputies, Gagik
Jahangirian, lambasted courts for handing down "evidently lenient"
verdicts in the course of 2006. "We are not going to put up with that,"
he warned.

The remarks prompted an unusually sharp response from the Union of
Judges of Armenia two weeks later. In a written statement, it said
the judges "will not tolerate" threats to their independence and will
continue to apply "stricter requirements" to prosecutors. "We advise
[prosecutors] to switch from groundless accusations and pointless
threats … to concrete actions that will raise the defense of state
prosecution to a proper professional level," read the statement.

Jahangirian, who previously worked as Armenia’s chief military
prosecutor, was particularly furious with the effective acquittal on
December 22 of three army soldiers accused of murdering two fellow
conscripts. The three young men were unexpectedly set free by Armenia’s
highest appeals court seven months after being sentenced to life
imprisonment on what human rights groups consider to be trumped-up
charges. It was the first known case of an Armenian court rebuffing
military prosecutors.

(Aravot, February 27; Statement by the Union of Judges of Armenia,
February 16; RFE/RL Armenia Report, February 12; Haykakan Zhamanak,
February 3)

REVIEW OF THE ARAB PRESS

United Press International
March 6 2007

[parts omitted]

Oman’s al-Watan also commented on the Israeli documentary, saying
its broadcast had led even ruling party lawmakers in Egypt to end
their silence and demand the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from
Cairo. It asked: "What would have happened if the television screens
broadcast the rest of the hundreds of massacres" by Israelis? The
pro-government daily opined the highest numbers of massacres
committed in recent history were carried out by the Israelis,
starting in Palestine. "The Egyptians are not the only victims of
these massacres…but so have the Lebanese, Syrians and Jordanians
had their share of such crimes that have not stopped until today,"
it said. The paper added it is difficult to forget such incidents in
history and cited the massacres against the Armenians by the Turks.

"History does not have mercy on states or individuals and the memories
of people are naturally filled with vengeance," it remarked.

"Israel will remain an army that created a state and wanted to remain
in a country that doesn’t belong to it, so it resorted to constant
violence to prove its alleged right to stay in the place it resides."

PERINCEK CASE BEGINS IN LAUSANNE

Turkish Press
March 6 2007

LAUSANNE – A Swiss court began to try Dogu Perincek, leader of Turkey’s
Labor Party (IP), today for his remarks rejecting so-called Armenian
genocide.

160 members of Talat Pasha Committee, who have come to Switzerland
to support Perincek, and Turkish journalists were not admitted to
the courtroom. However, several Swiss and foreign journalists and
Armenians living in this country were allowed to join the hearing.

Perincek is expected to hold a press conference after today’s hearing.

The trial is to continue till March 9th.

Perincek was detained in Switzerland on July 24th, 2005 for saying
"Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie" in a press conference. He
was released after being interrogated for more than three hours.

REPORT ON NAGORNO KARABAKH TO BE SUBMITTED TO EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Today, Azerbaijan
March 6 2007

Cem Ozdemir, Member of European Parliament and Bundestag does his
best to draw up a report on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

MP told the APA European Parliament has little information about
Azerbaijan and stressed the importance of informing the members of
the parliament about Azerbaijan.

While I was on visit to Baku I considered it important to draw up
and report about Azerbaijan and submit it to the Parliament. I am
working on it at present, he said.

Ozdemir said that the history of the conflict, state of IDPs and
refugees, ensuring their rights and other problems will be reflected
in the report.

URL:

VIC WON’T CHANGE KNOCKOUT ATTITUDE

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
March 7 2007

VIC Darchinyan said yesterday he would not chang his approach or
attitude to fights despite being saddened by the damage he inflicted
upon Mexican Victor Burgos last weekend.

The IBF and IBO champion returned to Sydney yesterday after his
12th-round stoppage of Burgos, who underwent emergency brain surgery
after being carried from the ring on a stretcher.

On Monday, Burgos awoke from a medically induced coma after surgery
that involved a blood clot being removed from his head. Darchinyan
was heartened to hear about his opponent’s improving condition after
speaking to his own agent in the US shortly after returning to Sydney.

Prior to the fight, Darchinyan predicted a first-round knockout and
yesterday felt that Burgos would have suffered far less if that had
eventuated, rather than the 12 rounds of punishment the 32-year-old
Mexican endured in California.

Asked whether what had happened would trigger a change in his attitude
and renowned attacking approach, Darchinyan said: "I am a professional
fighter with 23 years’ boxing experience, I just can’t change. It’s
boxing, this can happen to anyone."

Darchinyan’s trainer, Billy Hussein, also felt his charge wouldn’t
be adversely affected by the events of last weekend and thought they
would actually make him mentally tougher.

"Vic is pretty strong, mentally very strong and I don’t think this
will stop him, I think it will make him a better fighter," Hussein
said. "In his head he knows he can hurt people – at the end of the
day, unfortunately, that’s boxing. You’ve got to knock your opponent
out and that’s what he loves doing."

However, Hussein noted Darchinyan had still been hit pretty hard
by the events of last weekend, saying: "He is a human being, too;
as much as he likes to knock his opponents out, he’s got a big heart
and soft heart, too."

The undefeated southpaw felt a fight in the super-flyweight division
against his main target, Jorge Arce of Mexico, was 60 per cent likely
to happen later this year. He would also like to move up another couple
of divisions to challenge the winner of the re-match of last weekend’s
main event, in which Rafael Marquez took the WBC super-bantamweight
title from Israel Vazquez.

Darchinyan said he would discuss his options with his American
promoter, Gary Shaw.

"He is very interested in putting me in a big fight in Australia,"
he said. "Also, we have decided after my next fight in America to
travel together to Armenia and meet government people and put on a
big fight in the capital, Yerevan, in [an] 8000-seat stadium."

Former IBF light-flyweight Burgos’s problems in stepping up a division
have made Hussein wary of exposing Darchinyan to power punchers in
higher divisions. "That’s something we’ve got to be careful with when
we fight in the next division up. Obviously, Burgos went up against
a big puncher and I don’t think we will make that same mistake,"
Hussein said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BURGOS IN COMA AFTER BOUT

Shanghai Daily, China
March 7 2007

FORMER IBF junior flyweight champion Victor Burgos remained in critical
condition yesterday after getting pummelled in a title fight with
Vic Darchinyan.

Burgos, a 112-pound flyweight from Mexico, was taken from the ring
on a stretcher after being stopped by Darchin-yan at one minute 27
seconds of the 12th round in Carson, California, on Saturday.

He underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain and to
reduce swelling and was placed in a medically induced coma, said Juan
Gonzalez, a spokesman for Burgos’s promoter, Don King Productions.

Gonzalez said Burgos remained in a coma yet appeared to open his
eyes slightly at one point and move his hands. The hospital refused
comment on the boxer’s condition.

Burgos, 32, became the IBF junior flyweight champion by defeating Alex
Sanchez in Las Vegas in 2003. He moved up to the 112-pound flyweight
limit in 2005 and was challenging Darchinyan for his title.

The Armenian-born Darchinyan, who is now an Australian citizen, knocked
Burgos down in the second round, but the Mexican returned to his feet
and fought gamely until the fight was stopped in the final round.

Burgos has a professional record of 39-15-3.

BORAT MAKES GLORIOUS
By Bruce Kirkland

Winnipeg Sun, Canada
March 6 2007

New disc loaded with hilarious, often disturbing extras and deleted
scenes

Getting naked has fortunes rising for owner of The Dip

The Borat DVD, out today, brilliantly expands on the warped world of
star Sacha Baron Cohen.

HOLLYWOOD — Today should be named national holiday in glorious nation
of Kazakhstan. Reason simple: Borat make more cultural learnings
of America.

The "more learnings" are contained in a savagely brilliant new
DVD hitting the streets today. According to Borat-speak, this is a
"prerecord moviedisc for purpose domestic viewing of moviefilm."

It brings the surprise comedy mega-hit inside people’s homes, where
those too afraid to see Sacha Baron Cohen’s satire in public can now
laugh and learn in private. The extras include eight deleted scenes
that take the already transgressive film even further. Disturbingly
and hilariously further.

"The DVD is awesome," says Los Angeles character actor Ken Davitian.

Who he? Davitian is the 53-year-old Armenian-American who plays
Borat’s sweaty, fat and droll TV producer Azamat Bagatov.

Davitian, who aced his audition for the role by fooling Cohen and
director Larry Charles into thinking he really was like the character
Azamat, teamed with Cohen on what is now a classic comedy sketch:
A stark naked fight that ended in a non-sexual but wildly repugnant
and funny 69 position.

Cohen has refused to talk about Borat as himself; he remains in
character in public, as he did at the Cannes and Toronto filmfests
in 2006 when Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit
Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan made its mark. In contrast, Davitian
is a jovial fellow who does not mind being himself and talking about
Borat the movie and Cohen the star.

Unlike Azamat, Davitian is articulate and thoughtful. The movie,
he tells Sun Media, is an extreme comedy that ridicules Jews, women,
gays and other groups in order to show the stupidity of anti-Semitism,
misogyny, homophobia and other negative attitudes.

"All I keep telling people is that what we wanted you to do is laugh
and think!"

He says he personally knows "many Jews and Christians and Muslims
who have gone to that movie and come back and said: ‘That was funny!’ "

Working on Borat let Davitian in on the real Sacha Baron Cohen, the
35-year-old Englishman who attended Christ’s College, Cambridge, was
inspired by Peter Sellers and is actually a devout Jew who is helping
to convert his Australian fiancee, actress Isla Fisher, to the faith.

"First," says Davitian, "I think he’s got a great sense of humour,
a great sense of timing. He’s very passionate about certain things
that are for the benefit of people. He’s very into being an advocate
of something.

"He’s very, very smart but he’s also funny and he’s a perfectionist.

It has got to be right and that’s the only way he accepts it. But,
as a person, he’s a very quiet guy. He’s quiet and nice.

"Listen, this guy eats only kosher, grew up going in the summer
to a kibbutz in Israel and is very, very religious. But he is very
committed to a lot of things and one of them is his characters — and
his characters allow him the ability to express everything he feels.

I have to tell you, I am just so happy and so thrilled that he allowed
me into his world."

That world is expanded on the DVD in a terrific way, Davitian says.

The 17-minute featurette, Global Propaganda Tour, shows Cohen & Co.

in action at Cannes and Toronto (including at the now infamous
screening when the projector broke down), as well as in other cities.

In addition, you see the clip of Borat trying "to harvest" Conan
O’Brien’s red pubic hairs for the profit. "It could feed an entire
village for two months," Borat says.

Still in character, Borat clowns around on Saturday Night Live and
on Jay Leno. "What do you say to people who say it’s homophobic and
anti-Semitic," Leno asks. "Ah!" answers Borat, "thank you very much!"

But the real treat is the lineup of extra scenes. Among them is a
dog-pound skit that will creep you out as well as the riveting routine
with a U.S. supermarket manager named Dean McCool. He miraculously
keeps his cool as Borat asks about products in the cheese section. See
this routine and scream with laughter — guaranteed.