Month: April 2007

ARMENIANS BLOCKED THE CHANNEL FLOWING THROUGH AZERBAIJAN

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

Military forces of Armenia blocked the channel Mirzabeyli of Agdam
being under occupation. These actions entailed drying up 3 reservoirs
in Garakhanli village of Agjabedi region. Chief of administration of
irrigative system of Agjabedi region, Ali Aliyev, informed about it.

Accordingly to him, relevant structures have been presented information
connected with current situation. Aliyev holds that drilling of
artesian wells may solve the problem of Garakhanli village.

Because of water shortage inmates of Garakhanli village won’t be able
to engage in agriculture.

–Boundary_(ID_BON9AdnvZdtZnPRfZyLs8 w)–

REPRESENTATIVES OF US TURKISH SPEAKING COMMUNITIES HELD PROTEST ACTIONS IN USA

Ïðaâî Âûaîða, Azerbaijan
Democratic Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

Turks living in USA will fight against Armenian propaganda within new
organization – Association of American Turks, fighting against Armenian
lie. On the eve of anniversary of false "genocide of Armenians",
Association held mass protest actions in Washington and New York.

April 21, representatives of Turkish communities of USA gathered
on the Times Square in the center of Manhattan, and April 22 – on
Farragut square in Washington near White House, to protest Congress’s
interference in Turkish-Armenian issue. Compatriots who arrived on
bus from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut joined Turks living
in capital of USA. With demand "To end Armenian lie!" they called to
entrust historians not politicians with disclosure historical truth.

Leaders of Azerbaijani communities were among participants of the
action. President of Azerbaijani Community of America, Tomris Azeri,
while making speech during the action, said that international
community is bothered by false rhetoric of Armenians.

Every day one more member of Congress refuses to support pro-Armenian
resolution after hearing Turks’ testimonies. With these attempts
Armenians try to hide crimes they committed. Over 200 years Armenians
have been attempting to create "great Armenia", attempting to remove
Azerbaijanis from their native lands. The fact that Azerbaijani
territories are occupied, and that over 1 mln. Azerbaijanis turned
to be refugees and internally displaced can’t be denied. President
of Azerbaijani Community of America said that Turkish speaking
communities should cooperate in order to demonstrate real intentions
of Armenians, to spread the truth about Khojali genocide; they should
inform Americans and international community.

President of Association of Turkish Communities of America, Nurtan
Ural, called resolution on "genocide of Armenians" being presently
high on the agenda of the House of Representatives and Senate, as
one-sided document, distorting events that took place during World War
I. He said that the given issue should be solved by joined researches
of Turkish and Armenian historians. Armenia does not accept proposal
of Turkish government on opening of archives and start of Academic
dialog. Such steps of Congress may hold away Armenia from dialog.

–Boundary_(ID_HINtCR18evRV7Md8O+YbMg)–

SARKOZY DISPLAYS HARD STANCE AGAINST TURKISH EU MEMBERSHIP IN LETTER TO ARMENIANS

Hurriyet, Turkey
April 25 2007

Nikolas Sarkozy, the leading candidate for president following the
first round of French presidential elections, has written a letter
to the Armenian community in France, making promises about France’s
committment to recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide, as
well as taking a stong stance against potential Turkish membership
in the EU.

Part of Sarkozy’s letter, which was sent to the Armenian Foundations
Coordination Council, said "France has officially recognized the
Armenian genocide, and this law holds for everyone. France violently
condemns every kind of provocation and discrimination against
ethnicities of any kind……We are a republic which respects the
honor and memory of the Armenians, and as a state, we will never bow
to pressure on this front."

Later in the letter, Sarkozy talks about his views on possible Turkish
membership in the EU: "Let me tell you the truth: I am against Turkish
EU membership. The real problem lies with Turkey; I cannot tell
young French school students that Europe’s borders lie along Syria
and Iraq. If we accept Turkey then, putting aside the Ukraine for a
moment, we have to accept Lebanon, Israel, and the Magrib. If Europe
really wants to give off a sense of security, then its borders must
be defined. We should deepen our relations with Turkey, but not to
the point of EU membership. What we need is an urgent declaration of
‘privileged partnership’ with Turkey……"

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SAAKASHVILI URGED TO RESPOND TO MP’S RACIAL SLUR

Civil Georgia, Georgia
April 25 2007

Public Movement Multinational Georgia and 15 other human rights
watchdogs sent an open letter to Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili and Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze calling for
an appropriate response to MP Beso Jugeli’s disparaging comments on
ethnic minorities living in Georgia.

Two weeks ago Jugeli, a memeber of the National Movement, said, while
defending a new tax scheme for residents of Tbilisi’s Old Town that
the proposal "is not directed against Georgians."

"Mainly Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds and other nationalities live
in these historic districts… There is no necessity for Mikirtich
[an Armenian name] to always live in Sololaki [a district in the old
part of Tbilisi]", Jugeli was quoted as saying in the daily 24 Saati
(24 Hours) on April 12.

Public Movement Multinational Georgia demanded an immediate apology,
but none was forthcoming from the MP.

"This statement insults Tbilisi and Tbilisites, the historical
traditions of friendship, brotherhood, tolerance and diversity. We ask
you to express your position …and take relevant measures… Today
you are responsible for the stability and unity of Georgian society.

We hope that your decision will not be delayed and it will help
Georgia avoid the threat of fascism," the open letter reads.

The president, however, has already commented on the incident.

Speaking with the winners of the National Academic Olympiad on April
18, President Saakashvili said that "everyone’s traditions and ethnic
background are our wealth."

"If any foolish person, even in politics, thinks that this is Georgia’s
weakness, he is bitterly mistaken," the president said.

CAPTURED SOLDIER’S MOTHER WRITES TO HER SON

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

Terane Mammadova, mother of captured Azerbaijani soldier Samir Mammadov
has written a letter to her son who is detained in Armenia.

Soldier’s uncle Vidadi Mammadov told the APA that Mammadova asks her
son to write a latter.

"We are concerned that Samir has not written a letter to us since
March 9. That is why his mother asks him to write to us," he said.

Soldier’s father sent a letter to his son some days ago.

International Committee of the Red Cross Azerbaijani office’s press
service told the APA that Terane Mammadova’s letter was sent to ICRC
office in Armenia yesterday.

Samir Mammadov was captured by Armenian armed forces on December 24,
2006.

THE TROUBLE WITH LIBERAL INTELLECTUALS
Gunduz Aktan, Radikal

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
April 25 2007

What Others Say

"Participants of April 14 meeting are fascists and racists. They
invent fears; they dare to protect the Republic but it is neither
in danger nor under threat. When fears reach the level of paranoia,
some slaughter Christians in Malatya to save the country," etc.

According to such analyses of the individuals who name themselves
as "liberal intellectuals," to defend the Republic and its founding
principles is fascism. In fact, they would call the Chief of General
Staff and the President fascists, but they have cold feet. They
indirectly accuse others who share the same view for fascism.

At the same time, these liberals express proudly that they are not
nationalists, for old-fashioned nationalism creates enemies both
inside and out as it causes society to turn inward. Therefore,
basic characteristics of nationalism such as national identity,
national interest and national honor mean nothing to them. Namely,
entities at stake are worthless for them and that lies under their
being daredevils.

They have no fears if secularism and singularity principles of the
Republic would be damaged. These principles, they think, prevent
integration of religious groups with the system and solution of the
"Kurdish issue" in democracy. These people are in favor of political
organizations of religious and ethnic communities and some sort of
a Kurdish-Turkish federation, in line with multi-cultural liberal
democracy.

Their dream of a Second Republic:

Isn’t this the reason behind their stance for "The Second Republic"?

They think that if Turkey wouldn’t have its foreign dynamics based on
EU, it would fail to stand alone with the presence of internal dynamics
only, let alone its development. For this reason, they even do not
understand why it is feared to accept "all" EU demands. They think
EU does not have racist prejudices, double standards and excessive
demands towards Turkey.

These liberals are not frightened by the formation of a Kurdish
state in north of Iraq. For them, Turkey should not intervene in
northern Iraq in accordance with the U.S. demands. Instead, Turkey
should establish high-level dialogue with Kurdish administrators and
recognize the reality of Kurdistan, issue an amnesty for the Kurdish
Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists and introduce some regional rights
to southeastern part of the country similar to that of northern Iraq.

For them, Cyprus has no strategic value at all. "We" are the guilty
part for the deadlock on the Island anyways. They are not scared
that unilateral approval of the Annan Plan would cause us to lose
the ground. Their encouragement stems from that they do not know
loses as gains in foreign politics occur as a result of incremental
developments in a long period.

They also defend that we should not be afraid to accept unjust Armenian
allegations and that to face up with our history will promote our
democracy.

By not taking into consideration how Far East countries such as Korea
and China rule globalization for their interests, these people side
with opening our economy to all external influences with "no fears"
for the sake of integration with the world economy. The outcome does
not affect their lives anyway.

Their alliance with the AKP:

Unfortunately, everything that they are not scared of is the source
of rightful and legitimate fears in the rest of the society. However,
the real reason affecting the society negatively is not that what
liberals are not frightened, but are frightened.

These liberals are so much in the trajectory of Justice and Development
Party (AKP) that they are even afraid of real democracy where deputies
are elected by the people not the leader and the deputies who are
not under immunities and whom their finances are audited.

However, what they really fear is a Turkey rising on its own, leaning
on the power of the nation only, showing the will to solve problems
on its own and going after an ideal of contemporary independence. In
short, at the center of their fears lies the probability of Turkey
and Turks having a strong national identity.

They quickly accept the differences of others. They are even against
Turkishness being a supra-identity beyond ethnicity. They are trying
to spoof constitutional citizenship as identity.

Those who do not own any national identity think the others are
"fascists". Then, there is possibility that the others might think
of them as "traitors".

TURKEY’S OBJECTIONS TO SO CALLED "ARMENIAN GENOCIDE" YIELDS RESULTS

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
April 25 2007

Turkish objections to "Armenian genocide" yields results

Turkey is not losing its battle against the radical Armenian diaspora
in all front as its latest diplomatic victory shows.

Last week the European Union approved a framework decision aimed at
criminalizing denial of the Holocaust and other genocides following
six years of intense debate. Attempts by the Armenain to qualify
the incidents of 1915 as an act of genocide by the Ottoman Turks was
turned down and were not included in the scope of the law..

The end product was described as a carefully-balanced compromise
by EU diplomats, which allows EU countries to opt out of enforcing
the law if national laws do not prohibit similar conduct. The bill
authorizes a maximum sentence of three years for:

Publicly condoning, denying or grossly trivialising: (1) crimes of
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes…directed against
a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference
to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin, and
(2) crimes defined by the Tribunal of Nuremberg…directed against
a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference
to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.

Thus, the bill only covers incidents that are covered within the
scope of the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, such as the
Holocaust and the 1994 Rwanda genocide, but does not cover events such
as the alleged Armenian genocide or Stalin’s purges and deportations
in Soviet Russia.

The decision allows member states to retain constitutional language
granting freedoms of speech and press. The decision also criminalizes
publicly inciting to violence or hatred , even by dissemination or
distribution of tracts, pictures or other material, directed against
a group of persons or a member of such a group defined by reference
to race, colour, religion, descent or national or ethnic origin.

The International Herald Tribune quoted EU officials as saying the
law was notable for what it omitted.

Fearing that the legislation could be hijacked by groups trying to
right historical wrongs, a majority of EU countries rejected a demand
by the formerly communist Baltic countries that the law criminalize
the denial of atrocities committed by Stalin during Soviet times. As
a political gesture, however, Franco Frattini, the EU’s justice
commissioner, said the EU would organize public hearings on the
"horrible crimes" of the Stalin era in the coming months.

The scope of the law also does not cover other historical events,
like the alleged massacre of Armenians during the First World War by
Ottoman Turks, which Armenians claim a genocide.

France has recognized the Armenian claims and is trying to pass
legislation that makes it a crime to deny the events as a genocide.

US FOUR CONGRESSMEN DECLINE THEIR SIGNATURES TO SUPPORT ‘ARMENIAN GENOCIDE’

Today, Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

Despite stronger efforts by Armenian lobby in US for approval
of Armenian genocide resolution in the Congress, some congressmen
declined their signatures for supporting the resolution.

Four Congress members-Republicans Denis Moor, Phil English, Adam
Purtnam and Democrat David Scot officially declined to support the
genocide resolution.

David Scot told the local press that he was unaware of the essence of
the events of 1915 in Turkey while signing the resolution, APA reports.

"I was unaware of the history and the real essence of those events. I
only signed it at Democrat Adam Shif’s request and I joined the
campaign for recognizing genocide. I have officially denied my
signature after understanding the real essence of the events," the
congressman said.

URL:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MIKHAEL ARUTYUNYAN APPOINTED ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

Armenia’s President Robert Kocharyan issued an executive order on
nomination of new defense minister of the country, APA reports.

Chief of Armenian armed forces staff, General Lieutenant Michael
Arutyunyan, who was acting in this for a month, has been appointed
defense minister.

Arutyunyan’s deputy, General Lieutenant Enriko Apriamov will carry on
the position of Armenian armed forces staff’s chief for a temporary
period. The formation process of Serge Sarksyan’s government was over
with the appointment of Arutyunyan.

GEORGE BUSH DID NOT CALL 1915 EVENTS AS GENOCIDE

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
April 25 2007

On the eve of so called "Armenian genocide" U.S. President George
Bush in his annual April 24 speech did not call 1915- 1923 historical
events as genocide.

The US president called events of that time tragedy again, not using
the word "genocide".

"We commend the individuals in Armenia and Turkey who are working to
normalize the relationship between their two counties. A sincere and
open examination of the historic events of the late-Ottoman period
is an essential part of this process. The United States supports and
encourages those in both countries who are working to build a shared
understanding of history as a basis for a more hopeful future,"
President Bush said.

U.S. President also touching on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict said :
"The United States remains committed to working with Armenia and
Azerbaijan to promote a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict."