Month: May 2008

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 7 2008

The West Should Unite in Support of Georgia
07.05.08 17:30

Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 May / Trend News/ Ariel Cohen, L.L.B, Ph.D., a
Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation (specially for Trend
News)

Russian actions in Abkhazia have ignited a red light in many European
capitals, as well as Washington, NATO, and EU headquarters. The
question that faces Europe and the U.S. is how to stop Russia’s
violation of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. For
that, Washington needs to secure Western unity in firm opposition to
Russia’s policies and actions.

Western allies should recognize that Russia’s bullying behavior
against its neighbors is against Moscow’s long-term security
interests. A cooperative and rule-abiding Russia already is in part,
and may increasingly evolve more completely into, a security and
business partner for Europe and the United States, as well as its
neighbors.

On the other hand, a Russia that reverts to the old imperialist modes
of operation is nothing but trouble and a source for security concerns
near and far.

America’s European partners, including Germany and France, should take
Russia’s expansionist rhetoric and deeds seriously and oppose them
vigorously. The West should not allow Russia’s violation of Georgia’s
territorial integrity to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its
European allies. The U.S. and its European allies should express full
diplomatic support to Georgia with regard to its territorial integrity
and sovereignty.

The West should heed Georgia’s call to convene emergency meetings at
the U.N. Security Council and the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to discuss Russia’s April 16 decision to
expand its ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The West should
persuade Russia to pull out its soldiers from the peacekeeping
contingents in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and replace them with
U.N. or OSCE-approved peacekeeping forces that could include troops
from, for example, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland as its lead
contingents.

In the last few days, Moscow has beefed up its `peacekeeping force’ in
the breakaway Abkhazia on the Black Sea, claiming it is protecting
Russian citizens, who are the majority population of Abkhazia, Russian
troops are amassing on the de-facto Abkhazia-Georgia border. The
Caucasus may be on the brink of a war. In the meantime, Russia has
accused Georgia of planning to invade Abkhazia. These accusations
sound hollow.

Throughout April, Russia has escalated its political and military
pressure on its neighbor Georgia. At the NATO summit in Bucharest,
President Vladimir Putin reportedly threatened to recognize the
independence of the breakaway autonomous republics of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia if Georgia was granted a Membership Action Plan (MAP)
for eventual accession to NATO. On April 16, despite France and
Germany balking at providing a MAP, and apparently as retribution for
the West’s recognition of Kosovo’s independence, Putin instructed the
Russian Foreign Ministry to upgrade the legal and economic ties
between Russia and the secessionist governments of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, violating Georgian sovereignty.

More recently, on April 20, according to Georgian reports, a Russian
MiG-29 fighter shot down an unmanned Georgian aerial reconnaissance
vehicle in violation of Georgian airspace. Despite some Russian
concessions in its bilateral relations with Tbilisi, Russian hostility
toward Georgia does not seem to be abating.

Unity Against Threat. The question that faces Europe and the U.S. is
how to stop Russia’s violation of Georgia’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity. For that, Washington needs to secure Western
unity in firm opposition to Russia’s irresponsible policies and
actions.

Western allies should recognize that Russia’s bullying behavior
against its neighbors is against Moscow’s long-term security
interests. A cooperative and rule-abiding Russia already is in part,
and may increasingly evolve more completely into, a security and
business partner for Europe and the United States. On the other hand,
a Russia that reverts to the old imperialist modes of operation is
nothing but trouble and a source for security concerns near and far.

America’s European partners, including Germany and France, should take
Russia’s expansionist rhetoric and deeds seriously and oppose them
vigorously. The West should not allow Russia’s violation of Georgia’s
territorial integrity to drive a wedge between the U.S. and its
European allies. The U.S. and its European allies should express full
diplomatic support to Georgia with regard to its territorial integrity
and sovereignty.

The West should heed Georgia’s call to convene emergency meetings at
the U.N. Security Council and the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to discuss Russia’s April 16 decision to
expand its ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The West should
persuade Russia to pull out its soldiers from the peacekeeping
contingents in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and replace them with
U.N. or OSCE-approved peacekeeping forces that could include troops
from, for example, Ukraine, Romania, and Poland as its lead
contingents.

About two weeks after the Bucharest meeting, President Putin
instructed his Foreign Ministry to prepare measures to `create
mechanisms of comprehensive defense of the rights, freedoms and lawful
interests of the Russian citizens living in Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.’ The majority of the Abkhaz and South Ossetians hold Russian
passports and participated in the Russian parliamentary and
presidential elections.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Putin also ordered the
Russian government to work together with the breakaway governments to
`organize cooperation in the trade, economic, social and
techno-scientific fields and in the spheres of information, culture
and education, particularly with the enlistment of Russia’s regions.’

Putin also ordered the Russian government to recognize the legality of
corporate entities registered in these often-lawless regions, and `to
cooperate with Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the framework of legal
assistance in civil, family and criminal matters.’ Russian Foreign
Ministry consular offices would provide consular services for the
enclaves’ residents.

There are at least two reasons for Russia’s heavy-handed policies
toward Georgia. First, Russian diplomats and analysts have repeatedly
declared since at least 2007 that Kosovo’s declaration of independence
and recognition by the U.S. and the major Western powers would lead to
recognition of pro-Russian secessionist regimes, including
Transnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. The second
reason is Russia’s adamant opposition to the U.S.-supported bid by
Georgia to become a NATO member.

A week before the Bucharest summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov declared that `it would be a very dangerous game if they
[Georgia] secure NATO support and solve conflicts in Abkhazia and
South Ossetia by force¦. Abkhazia and South Ossetia can’t even
think about Georgia joining NATO. It’s impermissible to play with
fire.’ During the NATO summit in Bucharest, President Putin warned
President Bush that if Georgia were offered a MAP, Moscow would
establish a buffer zone between Russia and NATO. Putin added that
NATO’s eastward expansion would be a threat to the interests of
Russia, which would be forced to undertake `appropriate
counter-measures.’

Georgia was a colonial dependency of the Russian Empire, and later the
Soviet Union, since the late 18th century. Even after the USSR
collapsed, Moscow continued to bully Tbilisi. In 1992`1993, after
Georgia attempted to prevent secession of Abkhazia by force, Russia
armed and supported the Abkhaz separatists and deployed Chechen
`volunteers’ to fight alongside them. The result was the de-facto
secession of Abkhazia and the ethnic cleansing of over 300,000
Georgians from their homes. The notorious late Islamist warlord Shamil
Basaev, later the military leader of the Chechen rebels, fought in
Abkhazia in the early 1990s as a Russian mercenary. Abkhazia has
turned into a cigarette-smuggling criminal gang heaven.

In March 2006, the Kremlin slapped economic sanctions on Tbilisi,
including restrictions on the importation of Georgian wine, mineral
water, fruits, and vegetables. Georgia used to export 90 percent of
its wine to Russia. In September 2006, after Georgia briefly arrested
four Russian military intelligence officers, the Russian government
imposed a ban on entry visas for Georgians, affecting hundreds of
thousands who work in Russia and support their families back
home. Russia severed all air, rail, and postal communications with
Georgia as part of its punishment. In December 2006, the Russian
energy giant Gazprom more than doubled the price of natural gas,
previously sold to Georgia at a deep discount. And in August 2007, two
Russian Su-24 ground attack jets launched a 1,000 kg precision-guided
missile near a village 50 miles north of Tbilisi.

This month, however, Putin ordered the lifting of visa restrictions,
initiated bilateral talks to discuss the resumption of Georgian
exports to Russia, and reopened a border crossing between the two
countries. He also ordered commercial passenger flights and postal
links reestablished. The relaxation of the visa restrictions and
lifting of the trade ban appear designed to soften the impact of
Moscow’s expansion of ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Washington should not allow Russian opposition to a NATO MAP for
Georgia to become an issue between the U.S. and its European
allies. Instead, NATO countries should show unity in the face of a
Russian assault on Georgia’s territorial integrity. In response to
Moscow’s heavy-handed policies against Georgia, the U.S. and its
European allies should denounce Russian occupation of Abkhazia. US and
the European countries should coordinate a diplomatic response, taking
Russia’s expansionist rhetoric and performance seriously and launch
vigorous protests against them.

The West should heed Georgia’s call to convene emergency meetings at
the U.N. Security Council and the OSCE to discuss Russia’s decision to
expand its ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and express full
support of Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,

Washington and the European capitals should support Georgia’s demand
that Russia pull out its Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
`peacekeeping’ contingents from the two breakaway regions and replace
them with a U.N. and/or OSCE-approved peacekeeping force that could
include Ukrainian, Romanian, and Polish peacekeepers.

Russia’s behavior toward Georgia should serve as a warning to its
neighbors, Europe and the U.S. Georgia may be a new canary in the
geopolitical mine of Eastern Europe and Eurasia. But Moscow may in the
future support the Armenian actions to incorporate Nagorno-Karabakh
into the Armenian state. Thus, it is also a threat to Azerbaijan.

The Kremlin is testing Western resolve to stand up to its ambitions
and to its allies’ appetites in the post-Soviet space. Failure to stop
Russian interventionism in Georgia ` or the Armenian agenda in
Karabakh — could mean opening the floodgates of border revisions and
destabilization, masquerading as `defense of co-ehtnic citizens’ in
the CIS.

This may be a prescription for escalating conflicts in Europe’
neighborhood to the east. Europe, eventually, would not be able to
ignore them. In turn, the U.S. and Europe could offer Russia
incentives if it abandons its attempts to absorb Abkhazia and South
Ossetia into the Russian Federation or to recognize their
independence.

U.S. Daily, CA
May 7 2008

Armenian leader condemns "genocide" before pope

By Philip Pullella

Photo: Pope Benedict XVI (L) greets Supreme Patriarch Catholicos
Karekin II of the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church during a weekly
general audience at the Vatican May 7, 2008. REUTERS/Osservatore
Romano

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Armenia’s Orthodox leader on Wednesday used
the pulpit of the Vatican to condemn the 1915 killing of 1.5 million
ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks, saying the whole world should
recognize it as a genocide.

"We Armenians are a people who have survived genocide, and we know
well the value of love, brotherhood, friendship and a secure life,"
Karekin II said in a public address during Pope Benedict’s general
audience in St Peter’s Square.

"Today, many countries of the world recognize and condemn the genocide
committed against the Armenian people by Ottoman Turkey …" the head
of Armenia’s Apostolic Church added, speaking in English before tens
of thousands of people.

Karekin, who like the pope has the title "His Holiness," said he
wanted to "appeal to all nations and lands to universally condemn all
genocides that have occurred throughout history and those that
continue to the present day …"

Turkey strongly denies Armenian claims, saying that Muslim Turks also
died in inter-ethnic conflict as the Ottoman Empire crumbled during
World War One.

Western historians have backed Armenian claims that the killings
amounted to a genocide.

article.jsp?id=379622

Catholic World News
May 7 2008

Pope, Armenian patriarch committed to Christian unity

Vatican, May. 7, 2008 (CWNews.com) – At his regular weekly public
audience on May 7, Pope Benedict XVI (bio – news) welcomed the head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church to Rome, and spoke about the urgency of
ecumenical work.

In greeting Catholicos Karekin II, the Holy Father said that the
Armenian patriarch’s visit "revives our hope for the full unity of all
Christians." He saluted the "commitment of the Armenian Apostolic
Church to ecumenical dialogue."

As the Christian world prepares to celebrate the feast of Pentecost,
the Pope said, the faithful should pray for a new outpouring of the
Holy Spirit, conscious that the Spirit "renews the earth and creates
unity where before there was division."

"We have the certainty that the Lord Jesus never abandons us in our
search for unity," the Pope said, "because his Spirit is tirelessly at
work to support the efforts we make to overcome all forms of
division." He went on to say that the Spirit creates "the great
community which is the Church in all the world."

Christianity is always in a state of expectation, like the apostles
before the first Pentecost, the Pope continued. The faithful "pray
incessantly to obtain ever-new effusions of the gifts of the holy
Spirit." He added that "we too invoke these gifts on all Christians,"
hoping that the followers of Christ will form a sign of unity visible
to all the world.

Pope Benedict invited Catholicos Karekin to address the audience in
St. Peter’s square, and the Armenian patriarch reaffirmed his
commitment to the cause of restoring Christian unity.

Karekin II also said, during his brief remarks, that the world should
recognize the suffering of the Armenian people in the genocide of the
early 20th century. Earlier Pope Benedict had said that the appearance
of his distinguished guest "serves to remind us of the severe
persecutions suffered by Armenian Christians, especially during the
last century."

ry.cfm?recnum=58275

Religious Intelligence Ltd, UK
May 7 2008

Analysis: trouble brewing in the Caucasus

Wednesday, 7th May 2008. 4:06pm
By: Marcus Papadopoulos.

Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet, once wrote: `I know how to
use a dagger/I was born in the Caucasus’. The outbreak of hostilities
in this volatile region following the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991, namely in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and
Chechnya, demonstrates that Pushkin’s observation of the violent
nature of the Caucasus remains as pertinent today as it was then.

During the 1990s the world was witness to a series of conflicts in
parts of the Caucasus that even some members of the
foreign-policy-making-elite in the West were not well acquainted with.

In the years of the USSR, Soviet power had ensured that historic
animosities between various peoples of the Caucasus inherited from
Tsarist Russia were suppressed by an iron fist and constant vigilance
by the secret police. The existence of a Soviet national identity also
helped bind together these peoples, albeit in a fragile manner.

However, following the coming to power in the Kremlin of Mikhail
Gorbachev and his subsequent policies of Glasnost (political openness)
and Perestroika (economic reform) Soviet control over this restless
area had waned so considerably by the beginning of the 1990s that old
hatreds and feuds began to resurface. And with the death of the Soviet
colossus in 1991, these historic enmities were quickly transformed
into brutal wars which resulted in the deaths and displacements of
tens of thousands of people.

The first conflict which emerged in the dying years of the USSR and
which continued past its death was the contested area of
Nagorno-Karabakh, populated mostly by ethnic Armenians but at the time
a part the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. As a consequence of
Armenian deputies to the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh voting
in 1988 to make this area a part of the Armenian Soviet Socialist
Republic, tension between ethnic Armenians and the authorities in
Baku, the Azeri capital, developed. Full-scale fighting between the
two sides quickly followed suit and a ceasefire only came into play
after a Russian negotiated peace in 1994. Today Nagorno-Karabakh has
de facto independence, although officially it is still a part of
Azerbaijan.

Next to follow down the path of war were two regions in Georgia. In
the early 1920s the Bolshevik government had made South Ossetia an
autonomous region of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, and in
1931 the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin transferred Abkhazia to the
jurisdiction of Georgia. In 1992 violence flared up between Tbilisi
and these two regions when the latter unilaterally declared
independence from Georgia and sought closer ties, including
reunification, with Russia.

Fighting between Georgian and South Ossetia troops ceased in 1992
following the introduction of Russian peacekeeping units and in
Abkhazia after Georgia forces were driven out in 1993. Russian
soldiers have subsequently maintained a frail peace in both regions.

The most bloody and most destructive war to engulf the former Soviet
Union, however, was in Chechnya from 1994 onwards. Annexed by the
Russian Empire during the Caucasian War of 1817-1864, this
predominantly Muslim populated area has remained a thorn in the side
of successive Russian regimes since. Stalin’s deportation of the
entire Chechen population (one million people in all) to Central Asia
in 1944 on the unfounded accusations of it having collaborated with
the Wehrmacht during the Second World War left deeply ingrained
resentment towards Moscow in the minds of many Chechens and a desire
for revenge against the Russians.

With the demise of the USSR, Chechnya, under the presidency of former
Soviet Air Force general Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared independence from
the Russian Federation following a controversial referendum. After
unsuccessful attempts by the Kremlin to overthrow Dudayev by employing
Chechen forces loyal to the Russian state in a string of battles, the
late president Boris Yeltsin in December 1994 deployed the Russian
army into Chechnya to bring the rebellious republic to heel. A bloody
conflict subsequently developed between Russian forces and Chechen
militants, and with large casualties incurred by both sides.

The fighting ended humiliatingly for the Russians following the
Khasavyurt Accord in August 1996 which afforded Chechnya de facto
independence. In common with Afghanistan before the American-led
invasion, Chechnya was a staging post for home-grown and foreign
Islamist terrorists in the period 1994-1999.

In September 1999 Vladimir Putin, who at the time was Yeltsin’s prime
minister, ordered the Russian army back into Chechnya to curb the
growing Islamist threat there and to help preserve the territorial
integrity of the Russian Federation. Today Chechnya is relatively
stable. With the Russian army having won the conventional war against
Chechen militants and through the use of effective counter-insurgency
measures by Russian special forces and Chechen special forces loyal to
the Kremlin, together with Moscow having installed a pro-Russian
Chechen hard man to run the republic, President Ramzan Kadyrov,
militant resistance is now largely confined to sporadic, low-level
attacks on federal forces and policeman in Chechnya.

Nonetheless, the danger of the conflict reigniting remains ever
present for the Russian government. The conflict in Chechnya spilled
into the neighbouring Muslim republics of Dagestan and
Ingushetiya. Moscow is having to devote considerable amounts of its
forces and funds from the federal budget to the Caucasus to counter
the Islamist threat still present and to ensure it does not spread to
Russia’s other Muslin regions: Adygeya, Karachaevo-Cherkessiya,
Kabarbino-Balkariya, Baskortostan and Tatarstan.

However, a new conflict is potentially brewing elsewhere in the
Caucasus as a result of unsettled disputes and great power rivalry.

The spotlight is now on Russia and Georgia. Since the ascension to
power of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili, relations between
Moscow and Tbilisi have deteriorated rapidly. The US-trained lawyer
has set himself three objectives: firstly, bringing South Ossetia and
Abkhazia back under Tbilisi’s jurisdiction; secondly, joining the
European Union; and thirdly, joining NATO.

With Washington courting Georgia as an ally (demonstrated by
significant levels of economic and military assistance) Saakashvili is
brimming with confidence in his dispute with Russia. However, both he
and his backers in the US could help ignite a major war in the
Caucasus which could see not only a resumption of fighting in
Tbilisi’s two secessionist regions but also Georgia becoming embroiled
in a major war with its giant neighbour to the north-Russia.

During the 1990s Moscow issued Russian passports to practically any
citizen of South Ossetia and Abkhazia who wanted one. Today nearly
ninety per cent of these populations are Russian citizens. The Kremlin
can argue, in accordance with its constitution, that any threat posed
to South Ossetia and Abkhazia compels the Russian government to take
immediate counter measures to defend its citizens in these regions.

President Putin recently reaffirmed this commitment by ordering his
government to construct and implement plans which would help the
populations of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Fearing that NATO (which
recently affirmed its desire to see Georgia admitted as a member) is
attempting to place a cordon sanitaire around a resurgent Russia, the
Kremlin is prepared to use its military muscle to defend the
strategically important regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from
Georgian clutches. By doing Moscow is sending a clear message to
Tbilisi that Russia is the dominant force in the Caucasus. The Russian
government is also letting Washington that it will not hesitate to use
force to safeguard what it regards as vital interests.

There are increasing signs to suggest that Russia and Georgia could be
on the brink of war. The Georgian authorities have provided dramatic
footage of the shooting down of one of its unmanned spy planes over
Abkhazia by what appeared to be a MiG-29 from the Russian Air
Force. Russia has accused Georgia of amassing approximately 1,500 of
its troops, supported by tanks and armoured personnel carriers, in the
Kodori Gorge, the area which separates Abkhazia from Georgia proper.

An unnamed source in the Russian Defence Ministry has commented that a
Georgian invasion of Abkhazia is imminent. In response to Tbilisi’s
moves, the Russians have deployed more soldiers (including an airborne
unit), together with extra hardware, to Abkhazia, strengthening its
overall military presence there to 2,500 troops. It is clear that any
act of aggression by the Georgians will be met with force by the
Kremlin.

The Russian-Georgian standoff took a turn for the worse over the past
weekend by the alleged shooting down of two more Georgian spy drones
over Abkhazia, and by Tbilisi withdrawing from a bilateral air defence
treaty with Moscow.

Moscow is incensed by NATO’s eastward expansion to the western borders
of the Russian Federation and by Washington’s plans to install a
missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic which the
Russians claim would upset the balance of nuclear deterrence in Europe
in NATO’s favour. Further to this, the Russian official psyche is
still scarred by the loss of Russia’s superpower status following the
collapse of the Soviet Union and the humiliations which followed on
the international stage when Moscow was sidelined by America and its
opinion discarded by policy-makers in Washington, for instance during
the Kosovo war.

Now that Russia is starting to regain much of its lost superpower
status (a senior American official recently stated that `Russia is
once again indisputably the number two military power in the world,
second only to the United States.’), the Kremlin is determined to
demonstrate this by imposing its will in areas it considers as its
sphere of influence (or what the Russians officially call `the near
abroad’).

Both Washington and Tbilisi need to exercise caution when pursuing
policies which will inevitably lead to a clash with Moscow. And
President Saakashvili should remember that in the event of a war
between Russia and Georgia, which the latter could never hope to win,
his American sponsors will not come to his aid, apart from supporting
him at the United Nations.

The Caucasus could therefore provide the scene for yet another brutal
conflict. But on this occasion the dimensions are different because of
the presence of great power rivalries. And so the blood-soaked lands
of one of the world’s most volatile of regions remains an ever potent
threat to peace.

ID=1964

Religious Intelligence Ltd, UK
May 7 2008

Turkey told to return ancient church
Wednesday, 7th May 2008. 4:40pm

By: George Conger.

ROMAN CATHOLIC leaders will support mosque building in Germany, if the
Turkish government returns the Church of St Paul in Tarsus to church
control and permits the construction of a pilgrimage centre.

Writing in his diocesan newspaper, the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal
Joachim Meisner, said he had written to Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan urging his government return the church, built on the site of
St Paul’s birthplace, as a gesture of European cooperation.

Confiscated by the Turkish government following the expulsion of
Christians from Asia Minor in the 1920s, the Church of St Paul was
used as an army warehouse for 70 years, until it was turned into a
museum. Originally an Armenian Church, it became a Byzantine church in
the early Middle Ages.

No native Christians live in Tarsus, the Turkish government reports,
though a Christian presence is maintained by three Italian sisters of
the Roman Catholic order of the Daughters of the Church, and from
airmen at a nearby US military base. Worship at the church may take
place only after a licence has been granted by the local authority
upon payment of a fee.

Germany’s Catholic bishops have not opposed mosque building for the
country’s Turkish immigrant population, however they believe Turkey
must modify its harsh treatment of Christians. The Roman Catholic
Church has also been skeptical of Turkish membership in the EU.

Returning the church would be an `extremely important symbol,’ the
head of inter-religious dialogue for the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop
Hans-Jochen Jaschke of Hamburg told Der Spiegel. "It would be very
helpful towards the acceptance of Turks in Germany if a sign of
acceptance of Christians were to be seen in Turkey."

During a March visit to Cologne, President Erdogan told a press
conference that `as soon as the Church makes this request of me, I
will make a statement in support, even if it goes against the
opposition.’

Christian pilgrims are expected to visit Tarsus, located close to
Turkey’s border with Syria, to celebrate the anniversary of Paul’s
birth in June.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the President of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting Christian Unity will lead worship at the church to mark the
anniversary.

In 1920 Christians comprised almost 20 per cent of Turkey’s
population. Today they comprise less than 0.1 per cent. The Turkish
government extends official recognition to the Armenian, Catholic and
Orthodox minorities, and tolerates Anglican and other churches that
serve the expatriate community. However Turkey’s estimated 5,000
native Protestants, converts from Islam, operate in a legal limbo as
without government approval, no religious community may exist in
Turkey.

Muslim clerics are also kept on a short leash and must submit their
sermons to state authorities. The founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa
Kemal Atatürk instituted this rule to keep Islam under state
control and preserve the secular government.

British Christian leaders have been skeptical of Turkish membership in
the EU also. Following the controversy sparked by Pope Benedict XVI’s
comments on Islam in 2006, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor told the
Times, `I think the question is for Europe: will the admission of
Turkey to the European Union be something that benefits a proper
dialogue or integration of a very large, predominantly Islamic country
in a continent that, fundamentally, is Christian?’

The former archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey told the Today
programme that `Surely a European community has to be more than
economic? It has to have common values.’

In a 2005 address to the European Policy Centre in Brussels,
Archbishop Rowan Williams said the debate about admitting Turkey to
the EU had exposed concerns about Europe’s historic Christian
identity. "Europe is what it is because of its Christian history,’ he
argued, warning that if the Church were excluded from public debate,
liberal modernity would be transformed into another pseudo-religion
centered round `a vague set of nostrums about democracy and
tolerance.’

http://www.religiousintelligence. co.uk/news/?NewsID=1970

Catholic News Agency, CO
May 7 2008

Prayer and the gifts of the Holy Spirit bring Christian unity, Pope
says

Vatican City, May 7, 2008 / 09:46 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict greeted His
Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of
All Armenians, during his weekly general audience on Wednesday
morning. In his remarks, the Pope emphasized that ecumenical dialogue
is fuelled by the Holy Spirit and prayer.

"It is my great joy today to greet His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II,
Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, and the
distinguished delegation accompanying him. Your Holiness, I pray that
the light of the Holy Spirit will illumine your pilgrimage to the
tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the important meetings you will
have here, and particularly our personal conversations. I ask all who
are present today to pray for God’s blessing upon this visit.’

The Holy Father also thanked Karekin II for his `personal commitment
to the growing friendship between the Armenian Apostolic Church and
the Catholic Church.’ Recalling the string of visits between John
Paul II and the patriarch, Pope Benedict said that, `I am sure that
this spirit of friendship will be further deepened during the coming
days.’

In an external niche of Saint Peter’s Basilica, there is a fine statue
of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Church. It
serves to remind us of the severe persecutions suffered by Armenian
Christians, especially during the last century. Armenia’s many
martyrs are a sign of the power of the Holy Spirit working in times of
darkness, and a pledge of hope for Christians everywhere.

Your Holiness, dear Bishops and dear friends, together with you I
implore Almighty God, through the intercession of Saint Gregory the
Illuminator, to help us grow in unity, in one holy bond of Christian
faith, hope and love."

As the Church prepares to celebrate Pentecost, Benedict XVI said that
these days should `renew our hope in the help of the Holy Spirit to
advance along the path of ecumenism. We have the certainty that the
Lord Jesus never abandons us in our search for unity, because His
Spirit is tirelessly at work to support the efforts we make to
overcome all forms of division."

"Since the first moment of her existence the Church, thanks to the
power of the Holy Spirit, has spoken in all tongues and lived in all
cultures. She destroys nothing of their history and gifts, but assumes
them all in a great and new unity, which reconciles unity with the
multiplicity of forms. With its power, the Holy Spirit … unites
divided man in divine charity and thus creates … the great community
which is the Church in all the world."

While some may think of Pentecost as a one-time event in the life of
the Church, the Holy Father said, "the Church is always, so to say, in
a state of Pentecost. Gathered in the Cenacle, she prays incessantly
to obtain ever new effusions of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, … and
is not afraid to announce the Gospel to the furthest confines of the
earth. This is why, faced with difficulties and divisions, Christians
cannot resign themselves or give way to discouragement.

"This is what Christ asks of Christians: to persevere in prayer in
order to keep alive the flame of faith, hope and charity, and the
longing for full unity", the Pope encouraged. Referencing his speech
to ecumenical leaders at St. Joseph’s Church in New York, Benedict XVI
said that prayer is central to the ecumenical movement. `In this
period of globalization and, at the same time, of fragmentation,
‘without prayer ecumenical structures, institutions and programs would
be deprived of their heart and soul’," he said.

At the end of the audience, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in
several languages. Among the English speaking pilgrims, he greeted
delegates taking part in the in the Annual Conference of the Canon Law
Society of Great Britain and Ireland, as well as pilgrims from Our
Lady of the Rosary Church in Qatar.

"Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from
England, Scotland, Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Canada, Guam
and the United States, I cordially invoke Almighty God’s abundant
blessings of joy and peace."

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Der Spiegel Online, Germany
May 7 2008

POLITICAL TREMORS IN ISTANBUL
The Rise of Turkey’s New Left

By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul

In the wake of the May riots in Turkey, another group has now entered
the power struggle in Istanbul. In addition to pro-secularism
Kemalists and conservative Muslims, workers and the left are now
making their voices heard.

Istanbul and Ankara are like antipodes. Although the cosmopolitan city
on the Bosporus is not the capital, it is Turkey’s shimmering
showcase. Ankara, in the heart of the country’s rural highlands, is
the capital, but despite some modernization it is far from a worldly
metropolis. Rarely have the differences between these two cities been
as obvious as they were on May 1, the day of labor and red flags.

FROM THE MAGAZINE
Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your
publication. While downtown Istanbul became immersed in clouds of tear
gas, Ankara celebrated the glorious past. In Istanbul, police armed
with water canons and batons clashed with thousands of
demonstrators. Meanwhile, in Ankara, a delegation from the national
television network laid a wreath in devout silence before the
mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.

Helicopters circled loudly over Taksim Square in Istanbul, while
soldiers were on parade and the sound of trumpets filled the air under
a clear blue sky 350 kilometers (219 miles) to the east.

It was no accident that Turkey’s two faces were so clearly in evidence
on this particular day. The ostentatious memorial to Atatürk, in
downtown Ankara, was the perfect place to repress and forget Turkey’s
turbulent day-to-day political life, if only for a short while. That
turbulence, in turn, was all the more obvious in wild Istanbul, which
saw one of the most violent street battles in recent years.

What’s wrong with Turkey? For weeks, an ominous petition to ban the
governing party, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and
Development Party (AKP), has paralyzed political life. Supporters of
the conservative Islamic AKP and secular Kemalists in the judiciary
and the military are apparently irreconcilably at odds.

In addition, the army is still waging a war against the militia units
of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). Now that the PKK has
withdrawn from northern Iraq, the focus of that conflict has shifted
to Turkey’s interior, amid growing dissatisfaction within the Kurdish
population.

To make matters worse, protests by angry workers against the Erdogan
government have intensified, and not just since the May Day riots last
Thursday. The government’s decision to enact austere social cuts has
triggered growing frustration among workers and civil servants. "I am
afraid," said the notoriously good-humored television host Mehmet Ali
Birand, mirroring the mood of his millions of viewers. "I believe for
the first time that Turkey is truly in danger of splitting apart."

It is no longer merely an issue of two diametrically opposed
worldviews, one of them strictly secular and the other deeply
religious. The two camps are also at odds economically: The Kemalist
establishment, fearful of losing its privileges, and those
conservative Muslims who have acquired wealth without the help of the
government and are now demanding a larger share of power.

The intensity of the May riots indicates that a third camp is taking
shape: the disappointed working class, together with the
almost-forgotten Turkish left. For Tufan Türenç, a columnist with the
Turkish national daily Hürriyet, this is a positive development. In
fact, Türenç believes, it could even be a stroke of luck for democracy
in Turkey. "Large segments of the unions were still loyal to the AKP
in the last elections. But social disparities have worsened,
especially under Erdogan’s pro-business agenda." The liberals and the
left, says Türenç, could "bring new excitement to the political
competition."

What these groups lack, however, is leadership — the left has no
charismatic leaders. As a result, the Kemalist Republican People’s
Party (CHP) has so far been relatively successful at representing the
interests of workers. That party was founded in 1923 by none other
than Turkish über-father-figure Atatürk.

"Defending the Republic and Secular Values"

Only a week ago, Deniz Baykal, a 69-year-old lawyer, was reelected as
chairman of CHP. Alternately described by the press as colorless and
populist, Baykal focused his last campaign on the supposed threat of a
theocracy and the gradual Islamicization of Turkey.

Social policy, equal opportunity in education and other leftist issues
are almost completely absent from CHP’s agenda. "The party is elected
for historic and cultural reasons," says Sencer Ayata, a social
scientist. "It is the most credible in defending the republic and
secular values."

Nevertheless, CHP is still a member of the Socialist International, a
worldwide umbrella group for social democratic and labor parties that
includes Britain’s Labour Party, Germany’s Social Democratic Party and
France’s Socialists among others. It defines itself as "naturally
social democratic" — and, most of all, as the most European of all
Turkish parties.

"We were the ones who paved the way to the West," says Onur Öymen, 67,
the CHP’s deputy chairman. "Does a man like Erdogan represent European
values? Someone who believes that a murderer, under Islamic law, could
be pardoned by the family of the victim?" Öymen says that he never
tires of explaining to his friends in Europe how important secularism
is at their doorstep. Besides, he adds, "moderate Islamists" do not
exist. "Those who believe in the Koran don’t believe in it halfway,
but in its entirety."

The CHP leader is troubled by the fact that the European Union sees
things a little differently and considers Erdogan’s experiment —
reconciling religious society and the secular state — a
success. Besides, relations between Brussels and Turkey’s traditional
Islamic party are already on shaky ground.

EU Tensions

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has already threatened to
terminate accession talks in the event of a court-ordered ban on the
AKP, which the secular faction would welcome. Besides, European
confidence in Turkey wasn’t exactly bolstered when the Kemalists
fought tooth and nail to prevent an amendment to the notorious
paragraph 301 of Turkey’s criminal code, which makes "insulting
Turkishness" a crime. After years of criticism from Brussels, the
Erdogan government finally watered down the law (more…) last
week. In the past, journalists and writers, in particular, have
repeatedly been hauled before courts for addressing such taboo
subjects as the persecution of Armenians and Kurds. They have included
Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, and
Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in Istanbul
in 2007.

In the future, disparagement of the "Turkish nation" will still be an
offence, but the maximum prison sentence will be reduced from three to
two years. While human rights activists consider the amendment little
more than window dressing, the nationalist opposition parties see it
as the beginning of Turkey’s demise. The move, say members of
parliament in the CHP and its ultra-right allies, opens the floodgates
to insulting the Turkish state.

However, it remains to be seen just how far the clearly reawakened
left will manage to insert itself into ordinary political life.

The fact that Istanbul was under a state of emergency on May 1, and
that tourists had the nightmarish feeling of being caught in the
middle of a "war," attest to a disappointment and frustration that the
established parties may not be able to channel much longer, especially
not with bans or with violence.

The three trade union umbrella organizations, Disk, Türk Is and Kesk,
were barred from staging demonstrations on May Day in Istanbul. A
strong police presence frustrated their attempts to launch
demonstrations despite the ban. Using tear gas, the police even
advanced into a union building.

That was too much, even for the CHP, which is not exactly
pro-union. Ali Özpolat, a CHP member of parliament, was outraged:
"People can’t be treated this way."

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan.

Box text
EU CRITICIZES TURKEY OVER TREATMENT OF PROTESTERS
The European Union on Tuesday accused Turkish police of using
excessive force against protesters during the May Day rally. European
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn described the use of force as
"disproportionate" and deplorable during a visit to Ankara. "We
reiterated our call for the Turkish authorities to act within European
law and practice, and to respect trade union rights in line with EU
standards," Rehn said. Meanwhile, Turkish opposition parties are
calling for a government investigation and an apology from Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a speech given to members of his
party, Erdogan admitted "mistakes" had been made, but he also
lambasted the "extremists" amongst the protesters who he claimed
attacked security forces and showed their "animosity towards the
police." Turkey is currently in negotiations to become a future EU
member.

rld/0,1518,551996,00.html

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CITY A.M., UK
May 7 2008

Rocking all over the world
07/05/2008

LOTS of businesses these days pride themselves on their
internationalism, but surely there are few which reach across the
world like Avakian’s. Founded by a man of Armenian heritage in
Bulgaria and with shops in Geneva, Beirut, London, Moscow and Los
Angeles, the brand caters for the jewellery needs of the global rich.

Haig Avakian ‘ the Sevenoaks School and UCL-educated son of the
founder, Edmond ‘ is equally at home in the family’s store in Sloane
Street as he is in Geneva (where he spent much of his youth) or LA,
where the business recently set up a new store and where he now spends
half his time.

EXCLUSIVE

As well as English, Avakian Jr also speaks Italian, Armenian, Spanish
and French, all of which help him in the job of selling his exclusive
jewellery which is manufactured in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. `We
have lots of Middle-Eastern clients ‘ Saudi royals and people from the
Gulf ‘ who like to spend two months of the year in London, in the
summer,’ he says.

Much of the business’s income comes from special commissions, a lot of
it `for kings and governments, when they have to give gifts’ and other
people forwhom the downturn is `not an issue’.

Avakian describes the pieces he sells as `unique and fun’. Many of
them have an engineering-inspired twist ‘ his father is a civil
engineer.

The tops of rings swivel and the jewels screw out of earrings, so that
they can be mixed and matched. Expansion is on the cards: Avakian says
he plans to set up a store in the French ski resort of Courchevel and
another in its Swiss equivalent, St Moritz. Avakian’s best-selling
jewellery is the Riviera collection, because it `appeals to all the
markets’, while others tend to be more popular with people from
certain backgrounds.

Russians like the extravagant Galaxy collection while the muted
Tzarina is popular in the UK and the US. Avakian is the exclusive
seller of Swiss watch brands Jaquet Droz and Bovet ‘ and launches his
own next year, in an edition of 30, starting at £15,000. For
now, though, the most lucrative part of the business is the bespoke
items.

`We also get requests for gold toothpicks and champagne holders with
diamonds,’ says Avakian.

The most unusual commission? `One lady in Moscow asked us to make some
handcuffs with one black diamond and one white. If she likes it she
will get some more, this time with pink diamonds.’

2971

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 7 2008

Elmar Mammadyarov: `Definition of Nagorno-Karabakh’s status will be
possible only after its reintegration into Azerbaijan’

[ 07 May 2008 16:45 ]

Baku. Lachin Sultanova-APA. The 118th session of the Council of Europe
Committee of Ministers was held in Strasbourg on May 7. Azerbaijani
Foreign Ministry’s Press Service told APA that Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov had addressed the session.

He said that in the contemporary world intercultural and
interreligious dialogue had become one of the most topical issues and
drawn the interest and attention of the international community.
The minister mentioned that on December, 2008 Baku will host the
Informal Conference of the European Ministers of Culture with
representatives from the Council of Europe, ISESCO, and ALECSO, which
will focus on intercultural dialogue of civilizations.
Elmar Mammadyarov said at the Warsaw Summit of the Council of Europe,
the Heads of State and Government expressed their concern over the
unresolved conflicts that still affect certain parts of the European
continent.
The minister noted that the conflicts continued to endanger human
security, sustainable development and normal relations between the
countries of the affected regions and it was crucially important to
commit ourselves on achieving lasting solutions to these disputes.
`The position of Azerbaijan with regard to the solution of the
conflict with Armenia is simple: withdrawal of Armenian armed forces
from all occupied territories, reintegration of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region into the political, economic, legal and social systems of the
Republic of Azerbaijan, rehabilitation of the conflict-affected
territories, return of the displaced population to their places of
origin, re-establishment of favorable environment for peaceful
co-existence of both Armenian and Azerbaijani communities living in
peace and harmony, side-by-side within the Nagorno-Karabakh region of
the Republic of Azerbaijan’, the minister said.
Elmar Mammadyarov said that all these could create necessary
conditions for the definition of the status of self-rule of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region within the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
May 7 2008

Ankara has two terms for establishing relations with Armenia, Turkish
Ambassador says

[ 07 May 2008 12:54 ]

Baku. Ulviyya Aliyeva – APA. `Cooperation is out of discussion unless
there is improvement in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict’, Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan Hulusi Kilich told
journalists, APA reports.

He said that Turkey had two terms for establishing diplomatic
relations with Armenia. First of all, progress should be obtained in
the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and secondly, Armenia
should give up attempts for the recognition of 1915 events as Armenian
genocide.