Month: December 2008

ARMENIAN OCCUPANTS REFUTE INFORMATION ABOUT WOUNDING OF AZERBAIJANI ARMY SOLDIERS

Today.Az
cs/49679.html
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

The representative of Armenian occupants, dislocated in Nagorno
Karabakh, Senor Asratyan refuted information about wounding of two
servicemen of Azerbaijani army in the Agdam direction.

He called this as "disinformation" and assured that the Armenian side
"observe the ceasefire regime".

It should be noted that as earlier reported two soldiers of Azerbaijani
army, residents of Balaken region Baydarov Revan Islam oghlu and
Baydarov Elvin Telman oghlu were wounded by in the result of ceasefire
violation by Armenians in the direction of the Tezekend village of
Aghdam. They are placed in military hospital.

TURKISH WEBSITE OZUR DILIYORUZ REMOVES THE 13.315 NAMES SIGNATORIES OF THE PETITION APOLOGIZING TO ARMENIANS

De Facto
Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, 19.12.08. DE FACTO. Yesterday, on December 18, after a 3 hours
interruption, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., website özur diliyoruz,
which diffuses the petition of the intellectuals Turks be sorry " to
the Armenians for the Great Catastrophe of 1915", erased the 73 pages,
on which were registered 13 315 signatories names brought together
in 3 days, an independent French journalist Jean Eckian told DE FACTO.

According to Eckian, one cannot prevent oneself from thinking that
the initiative is to be brought closer to the declaration of Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who declared yesterday "I do
not accept nor supports this campaign. We did not commit a crime;
therefore we do not need to present excuses". It thus seems, for this
hour, that the censure fell once more on the freedom expression in
Turkey, unless the authors of the petition considered it necessary to
protect the identity from the thousands of people come to give their
support for the declaration. Probable or not, the Turkish authorities
already had to raise them. Always it is that it is not possible any
more maintaining to join the 250 original signatories. The petition
is blocked on number 13.315.

For answer to the petition of the intellectuals, Turkish nationalists
also launched a similar website "www.ozurdi liyorum.com" with the
following sentence: "there was no genocide was to defend the nation,
we will no excuses." And in Germany, Union of European Turkish
Democrats denounced the "campaign initiated by a group of so-called
intellectuals".

In addition, Azeri Press Agency, reports that, according to Turkish
information, "Member of MHP, parliamentarian, Janan Aritman, dropped
has hint that the president’s mother was Armenian. "We see that the
president supports this campaign. Abdullah Gul should be the president
of the whole Turkish nation, not off his ethnic origin. Investigate
the ethnic origin off the president’s mother, and you will see,"
he said, adding "the organizers of this petition are traitors".

In Eckian’s words, summon claim in Turkey that Abdullah Gul’s mother
was born to year Armenian-origin family from Kayseri and father was
year Arab moved to Kayseri.

To note, that the petition of Turkish intelligentsia aroused a great
interest in the international press.

–Boundary_(ID_pADrtDh7PqkhBBjpVzYZ4w)–

GEOGRAPHY OF VISITORS TO NKR KEEPS ON EXPANDING

De Facto
Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, 19.12.08. DE FACTO. In 2008, tourists from dozens of countries
of the world visited the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

According to the data by the NKR MFA Consular Service, most of them
are the citizens of the USA, France, Canada, Russia, Iran and Great
Britain. As compared with 2007, the number of tourists increased
approximately by 15%.

The geography of the visitors to the NKR keeps on expanding. Tourists
from Pakistan, Singapore and Somali visited Nagorno Karabakh for the
first time this year.

Besides ethnic Armenians, people of various nationalities, in
particular the youth, visit the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. The most
visited places are the historical-architectural monuments and monastic
complexes: Amaras (4-19c.), Dadivank (4-13c.), Gandzasar (13c.), etc.

In 2008, about 70 journalists from 25 countries and a dozen of film
crews visited Nagorno Karabakh to prepare reportages on various
spheres of life of the NKR.

‘FRENCH PRESIDENCY SHOWS EUROPE DOES NOT WANT TO BUILD WALLS’

Today’s Zaman
Dec 19 2008
Turkey

France’s term presidency of the European Union has demonstrated that
Europe seeks to respond to the challenges of globalization with more
involvement rather than detachment and that it would be easier to
do this with Turkey at its side, the foreign policy architect of the
Turkish government has said.

"President [Nicolas] Sarkozy was everywhere. He was active in Syria and
Darfur. He also tried to establish the Union for the Mediterranean,"
said Ahmet Davutoglu, the chief advisor to the prime minister of
Turkey, speaking yesterday at a seminar in Paris held at the French
Senate.

There are only two options in the globalizing world for Europe, he
said, and these are either integrating with neighboring regions or for
Europe to build "an unseen [Great] Wall of China" around it. "Walls
cannot solve problems. In this age of globalism, walls should not be
an option," he said at a seminar titled "Turkey and Europe after the
French Presidency of the EU" organized by the International Relations
Institute of France (Ifri) and the Turkish Economic and Social Studies
Foundation (TESEV).

Davutoglu added that Europe can achieve integration by establishing
geostrategic extensions into neighboring zones, maintaining a dynamic
demographic and creating a multicultural environment. "France has
a multi-dimensional geography. It has Atlantic and Central European
ties with extensions to Africa," he said, adding that there are only
three other European countries with such a character of "natural
extensions": Britain, Germany and Spain. He said Turkey is the only
candidate country with the same attributes, since Turkish ties extend
to the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Europe.

"We have more Albanians living in Turkey than in Albania. We have
more Chechens living in Turkey than in Chechnya. We have more Bosnians
living in Turkey than in Bosnia. We have more Kurds living in Turkey
than in northern Iraq." Davutoglu argued that this character of
Turkey is an asset for Europe if it continues to be involved in the
world scene.

"How is the world going to be in 2050? Where is the European Union
going to be standing? Where is France going to be standing? We have
to develop a common vision to understand that, and for that we need
each other," he stressed.

Likening the Turkish-French relationship to a three-legged table
comprising bilateral relations, relations related to the EU and
relations regarding regional and global issues, Davutoglu said,
"Nobody can expect from Turkey that one leg should be avoided."

French senator: Better with us

French Senator Pierre Fauchon said in his welcoming remarks that he
supports Turkey’s accession to the EU. "The presence of Turks among
us is good. It is better for Turkey to be with us rather than lost
in other challenges," he said.

He also added that he "admired" the Turkish Constitutional Court, which
ruled this year not to close the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) and instead issued a "warning" in the case against the AK
Party for being the "center of anti-secular activities." Most observers
noted that the case had kept the government busy domestically,
diverting efforts to pursue reforms that would accelerate the EU
accession process.

Another senator, Xavier de Villepin, who is also on the Ifri board of
directors, commented on a bill that would make denial of the Armenian
"genocide" a crime. The bill was accepted at a sub-commission in the
French legislature, but it has not yet come up on the Senate agenda.

"The issue could boomerang on us. Others could pass similar regulations
against us. It could create huge diplomatic problems and make
international relations difficult," he said.

Turkey objects to the claims of "genocide," arguing that the Armenian
death toll during World War I at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
has been exaggerated and that most victims died from starvation or
disease. Turkey also argues that many Turks were killed by Armenian
groups allied with the enemy against Turks.

Meanwhile, Mensur Akgun, TESEV’s foreign policy director, mentioned
the stalled state of the Turkish-EU relations, in which only eight
of the 33 negotiation chapters have been opened.

"France alone blocked five chapters, and eight chapters were suspended
due to the Cyprus problem," he added.

Seminar participants included Professor Beril Dedeoglu from Galatasaray
University in İstanbul, Hakan Altınay from the Open Society Institute
in Ä°stanbul, French journalist Marc Semo, Turkish journalist Semih
Ä°diz, Pierre Manent from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Oguz Demiralp from the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

–Boundary_(ID_2ZZLQNOSmSotOebriG8uWA)- –

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT LEAVES FOR KAZAKHSTAN TO PARTICIPATE IN UNOFFICIAL SUMMIT OF HEADS OF CSTO MEMBER STATES

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian president Serzh
Sargsyan on December 19 left for Kazakhstan in order to participate
in an unofficial summit of heads of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) member states. According to the RA presidential
press service, the summit with the participation of the presidents of
Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrghyzstan is being held
in the winter resort of Shuchini-Borovy near the city of Kokchetau.

Prior to the beginning of the summit S. Sargsyan had a short meeting
with the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The sides
expressed a high opinion about the current level of Armenian-Kazakh
relations and the political dialog between the two countries. They
underlined the role of Kazakhstan’s Armenian community in the
strengthening of bilateral friendly links.

S. Sargsyan and N. Nazarbayev attached importance to further
development of economic cooperation, saying that the new routes of the
planned railway communication will help increase the trade turnover.

Then the unofficial summit started its work. Issues related to the
prospects of CSTO’s regulation, cooperation within this organization,
the global financial crisis and the integration processes in the
territory of CIS are on the agenda.

MUSHEGH SHOUSHANIAN AND HIS DEFENCE LAWYERS FILE COMPLAINT TO CRIMINAL APPEAL COURT

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Ara Zakarian, Tigran Atanesian and
Arthur Grigorian – the defence of lawyer Mushegh Shoushanian – filed a
complaint to the Criminal Appeal Court on December 19. They disputed
the decision of the court of general jurisdication of Yerevan’s
Kentron and Nork-Marash communities (Judge Gayane Karakhanian) on
rejection of their petition for appealing to the Constitutional Court
and suspending the case, NT was informed by the press service of the
RA Cassation Court.

To recap, lawyer M. Shoushanian is accused of showing a disrespectful
attitude to the court. According to the charge, while acting as a
defence lawyer in one of the March 1 cases, he left the courtroom
without permission of the presiding judge Arshak Petrosian.

COURT SITTING ON "CASE OF THE SEVEN" POSTPONED UNTIL DECEMBER 23

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. At the court sitting on the
"case of the seven" resumed at 17:00 judge Mnatsakan Martirosian
for the second time rejected defence party’s petition on judge’s
challenge. However, the lawyers submitted the same petition for the
third time. Prosecutor Koryun Piloyan was going to oppose to lawyers’
petition, and the people gathered in the hall made a noise. The court
sitting was postponed until December 23.

It should be mentioned that RA NA deputies Myasnik Malkhasian, Hakob
Hakobian, Sasun Mikayelian, former RA Foreign Minister Alexander
Arzumanian, writer Shant Haroutiunian, as well as Suren Sirunian and
Grigor Voskerchian are accused of organizing mass disorders on March 1.

FENER PATRIARCHATE IS ‘TROJAN HORSE,’ ERENEROL CLAIMS

Today’s Zaman
Dec 19 2008
Turkey

The spokesperson for a group calling itself the Turkish Orthodox
Patriarchate testified yesterday in the trial against Ergenekon, a
clandestine criminal network charged with plotting to overthrow the
government, and claimed that the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate based
in Fener is a Trojan horse silently waiting to attack Turkey.

In her defense testimony at the Ä°stanbul 13th High Criminal Court
yesterday in the 28th hearing of the trial, which started in late
October in the Ä°stanbul township of Silivri, Sevgi Erenerol gave
an account of her organization’s history and progress over time. She
said "the Orthodox" at some point chose Trabzon for a meeting place,
claiming that businessman Rahmi Koc and Greek Orthodox Patriarch
Bartholomew also had plans to attend the meeting. However, the two
were not allowed to get out of their helicopters by local nationalists,
she maintained. She claimed that this had caused problems in Trabzon,
saying this incident was the reason behind some of the scandalous
murders in the county over the past few years, including the killing
of an Italian priest in Trabzon and the murder of Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink in Ä°stanbul, perpetrated by an ultranationalist
youth from Trabzon Also in her defense statement Erenerol criticized
a recent campaign by Turkish intellectuals and academics to apologize
to Armenians for the pain caused by their forced deportation from
Turkish lands in 1915. She also claimed that those who were defending
the country against the attempted destruction of Turkey by Fener
Greek Patriarch Bartholomew were put in jail as terrorists under the
Ergenekon trial.

Erenerol thought to be high-level administrator

The prosecution accuses Erenerol of being one of the top administrators
of the Ergenekon terrorist organization. She was arrested on Jan. 26
on charges of founding and being the leader of an armed organization,
inciting people to armed revolt against the government and illegally
recording private information.

The indictment claims that the church where Erenerol is the
spokesperson is a secret meeting place for Ergenekon.

However, in yesterday’s hearing she denied all charges directed
against her, saying she was not a member of the Ergenekon terrorist
organization and that she had no knowledge of such an organization. She
said all nationalists in the country had been turned into targets
after the armed attack on the Council of Sate in 2006, after which
a retired captain was arrested.

Relation to other Ergenekon suspects

She admitted that she knew Ergenekon suspects Oktay Yıldırım and
Muzaffer Tekin but added that she wasn’t close to them. She said she
really respected Tekin, adding that she was close to his wife. She
told the court that she had also met Mehmet Zekeriya Ozturk during a
program on the National Channel television station. She also said she
knew suspect Ergun Poyraz from the funeral of Necip Hablemitoglu,
a secularist academic killed in an unsolved murder in 2002. "He
is a gift to me from Necip. He stays at our house when he comes to
Ä°stanbul," she said. Ergenekon is also suspected of orchestrating
the Hablemitoglu murder.

–Boundary_(ID_tK79c2EAbmZidB7fTJAWMA)–

PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS OVER TV AIR CONTENTS AND TV ADVERTISEMENTS HELD

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. Parliamentary hearings over TV
air contents and TV advertisements legislative regulation were held
on December 19 at the National Assembly. Representatives of the
Television and Radio National Committee, State Language Inspection,
Public Television of Armenia and private TV companies, advertisement
companies, NGOs, professional unions, and experts were invited to
the hearings.

Hearings’ initiator Armen Ashotian, the Chairman of the NA Standing
Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Youth, and Sports
Affairs, said that a number of bills on electronic media activity,
telecommunication and advertisement spheres are circulated at the
parliament at present. In consideration of many problems in these
spheres and their public resonance, the committee considered it
expedient to hold as wide discussions on the above mentioned subjects
as possible.

A. Ashotian said that a legislative package on advertisement activity
will be discussed at the parliament soon, and the committee is ready
to take into consideration and to involve the hearings participants’
proposals and opinions, as well.

Saying that the issue of membership to the European Convention on
Transborder Television will be discussed at NA next year, the NA
Standing Committee Chairman attached importance to the necessity to
bring Armenia’s legislation in line with European standards in this
sphere. In his words, the committee is going to organize parliamentary
hearings on this issue, as well as the issue of telecommunication
digitalization.

OPPOSITION ACTIVISTS ORGANIZE MARCH DURING "CASE OF THE SEVEN" COURT SITTING BREAK

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 19, NOYAN TAPAN. During the break of the December 19
trial on the case of seven oppositionists the crowd gathered in the
yard of Shengavit general jurisdiction court organized a spontaneous
march. Voicing "Freedom to Political Prisoners!," "Now!," "Free,
Independent Armenia!," "Levon President" people led by Armenian
National Congress Coordinator Levon Zurabian walked by Arshakuniats
Avenue, Grigor Lusavorich street, monument to Alexander Miasnikian,
Republic Square, then returned to the court building, where the trial
on the "case of the seven" was to continue from 17:00.

It should be mentioned that several policemen came up to L. Zurabian
near the monument A. Miasnikian and demanded stopping the action with
the motivation of its being illegal. The ANC Coordinator informed the
policemen that the march is spontaneous and does not need a permission
in advance.