ASBAREZ ONLINE [12-17-2004]

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12/17/2004
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WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) EU-TURKEY: Europe Capitulates without Immediate Conditions 2) Thousands of European Armenian Demonstrate against Turkey-EU Accession 3) Turks Eye Europe for Jobs 4) Gasparian Strikes Back 5) New York Times Journalist Skews the Truth about the Lives of Young Armenians 6) Former ARS Sponsored Student Gives the ARS a Boost 7) AYF New Jersey "Arsen" Senior Chapter Member Wins Afghanistan's First Marathon 8) ANC Mixer Attracts Community Leaders 9) Knock, Knock, Knockin' on EU's Door 10) Irritants II 11) Armenian Youth Protest at Netherlands Consulate 1) EU-TURKEY: Europe Capitulates without Immediate Conditions "These were not negotiations; this was surrender. The idea of an integrated Europe has been seriously compromised" BRUSSELS--The European Council, in a meeting on Friday in Brussels, voted to open discussions, without any preconditions, on Turkey's future admission to the European Union. The process is set to begin on October 3, 2005. Debates preceding the European Council vote were heated, with Turkey's failure to recognize Cyprus being the primary obstacle. The specific point of contention was the Turkish Prime Minister's refusal to sign a draft Customs Agreement on Friday between Turkey and the ten new members of the European Union. In the end, the European Council yielded to Turkish demands, agreeing to postpone this signature until sometime before next October. The draft EU entry terms Turkey has agreed to dictate the following: Turkey must sign a customs accord extending to all EU members, including Cyprus; the accord must be signed by the start of entry talks, proposed for October 2005; membership talks will be open-ended; there is no guarantee of full membership if conditions are not met; if negotiations do fail, Europe will not turn its back on Turkey; Turkey must continue with political and economic reforms; some safeguards may remain over migration of workers from Turkey. A Turkish official quoted Erdogan as saying at one point: "You are choosing 600,000 Greeks (Cypriots) over 70 million Turks, and I cannot explain this to my people." The Council decided to open talks with Turkey despite the fact that Turkey fell short of meeting the clearly identified expectations of the European Parliament, as adopted in a resolution this past Wednesday. Among these are calls for Turkey's recognition of the Armenian genocide, recognition of an independent Cyprus, progress on the Kurdish question, and human rights concerns. Significantly, European Council members did not even raise the Parliament's recommendations at their meeting. In a dramatic development that lowers the bar for Turkey's eventual acceptance into the Union, the Council abandoned its traditional consensus model, in which one nation could essentially veto Turkey's membership. In its place, they stipulated that fully one third of the EU member states would need to object before negotiations are halted. "These were not negotiations; this was a surrender. The idea of an integrated Europe has been seriously compromised," declared Laurent Leylekian, Executive Director of the European Armenian Federation. "This unfortunate result is due to the weakness of the European Union's political structures and the failure of leadership on the part of European heads of state in standing up to Ankara's inflexibility and outright rejection of European values." "We are, of course, gratified that our efforts over the last several years have successfully placed the Armenian genocide and Turkey's blockade of Armenia on the agenda of the highest levels of discussions concerning Turkey's possible acceptance into the European Union. However, in light of the failure of European leaders to stand up against Turkey's aggressive and denialist government, we call on citizens of the European Union to safeguard Europe's values through the exercise their democratic rights." added Leylekian. 2) Thousands of European Armenian Demonstrate against Turkey-EU Accession BRUSSELS (Combined Sources)--Thousands of Europeans of Armenian origin demonstrated during a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday calling on Turkey to admit to its genocide against Armenians. The protesters, who arrived from throughout 10 European countries specifically for the gathering outside EU headquarters, insisted such an acknowledgment must be a precondition for Turkey to begin talks on joining the EU. "We wish to let the 25 EU countries now gathered know that citizens of Armenian extraction want Turkey to acknowledge genocide as a precondition for opening membership negotiations," said one of the protest organizers. Busloads of demonstrators arrived from Paris, while planes were chartered to ferry in others from around Europe. Speakers addressing the crowd included Garo Hovsepian, mayor of a district of the French Mediterranean city of Marseille. He said a delegation had been received here by the Dutch, who currently preside over the EU. Meanwhile in Armenia, more than 200 young people demonstrated outside the European Union Commission's office in the capital Yerevan. "European countries must not weaken because of false reforms in Turkey and must not integrate into their ranks a country that committed the great crime against humanity, genocide," they declared in a letter to the commission office. "In agreeing to start negotiations, European countries are taking on responsibility for this crime," it added. France, in 2001, became the third European Union nation to pass a measure describing the 1915-1917 Ottoman Empire massacres of Armenians as genocide. The European Parliament, in 1987, adopted a resolution which stated that the "tragic events of 1915-1917 against the Armenians based on Ottoman territory constitute a genocide" according to the United Nations definition. 3) Turks Eye Europe for Jobs (Bloomberg)--Almost half the respondents in a poll of 1,326 Turkish people in 20 Turkish cities said they would like to work in another European Union country should Turkey become a member of the bloc, Stern magazine reported. Twenty percent of the people surveyed between Nov. 8-19 by Nuremberg-based Gesellschaft fuer Konsumforschung said they would like to work in Germany while 29 percent said they would like to work in another EU country. Of those wishing to work in Germany, 71 percent would like to bring their family, the poll showed, Stern said in an e-mailed statement. Seventy-six percent of the respondents said they want Turkey to join the EU, 42 percent said Germans would like Turkey to become a member, and 38 percent said Germans are opposed to Turkey's membership. Stern said the poll is representative of 65 percent of Turkish people living in cities. Its margin of error is 5 percent. 4) Gasparian Strikes Back YEREVAN (Armenpress)--Armenia again stressed that a "package solution" must be sought in resolving the Mountainous Karabagh conflict rather than the "step-by-step approach," singled out by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev last week, while he expressed doubts about Armenia's ability to implement independent policy, saying "Armenia is Russia's advanced post in South Caucasus." "Armenia's position concerning the Karabagh negotiations is clear and hasn't changed. We once again assure that negotiations in Prague were based on the package solution, and we are ready to continue them as we have stated many times," said Armenia's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamlet Gasparian. "If the Azerbaijani side… is confused and doesn't know with whom to hold the negotiations, we will again have to point to Stepanakert. We hope they know where Mountainous Karabagh is situated." While the "package solution" proposes settling key problems, including status, security guarantees, and troop withdrawal, with a single, comprehensive agreement, the "step-by-step" approach calls for Armenia to surrender specific buffer zones to Azerbaijan, in exchange of deployment of international peacekeepers in Mountainous Karabagh. 5) New York Times Journalist Skews the Truth about the Lives of Young Armenians Quite a stir has developed in response to Susan Sach's article, Young Armenians Puzzle over Their Homeland, published in both The New York Times and International Herald Tribune, and was rerun in Asbarez on December 11. It all began with an announcement on an Armenian internet-forum on November 4, about a New York Times journalist who had arrived in Armenia to find out how the Armenian youth live. "She just wishes to communicate in a natural environment," read the posting. For Sachs, the natural environment was apparently a smoky corner of the Red Bull bar, a favorite hangout for university students. The meeting was planned and conducted there. Participants met Sachs, talked about a variety of issues, then forgot about her fairly soon. The peace broke in the December 9 issue of the New York Times, bearing the rather depressing title: "For Young Armenians, A Promised Land without Promise." The article was also reprinted in the International Herald Tribune under the title "Young Armenians Puzzled Over their Homeland." Sachs, incidentally, works as an Istanbul correspondent for The New York Times. Zara Amatuni, 21, one of the students who participated in the forum, is quoted in the article as saying, "We can fit in anywhere…The only place we can't is Armenia." Amatuni, however, surprised when the article hit, said Sachs "omitted all the good that was said and left only what was interesting to her. I said I would do my best to stay here because it is my country. Moreover, a lot of improvements have already taken place. But she did not publish that statement." Amatuni, who has been debating about the article on forum, said the worst part is that Sachs agreed with her on every point, but later convoluted the story and chose to ignore the central topics covered during their discussion. In her attempt to depict totally desperate Armenian youth who are ready to seek a future anywhere but in Armenia, Sachs introduces 22-year-old programmer Viktor Aghababov, who plans to travel to Moscow in search of better luck, revealing that his monthly salary is $650. To the average American or European who has no idea about the cost of living in Armenia, the figure is dismal. In reality, however, a $650 salary in Armenia is more than enough to maintain a relatively high standards of life--especially for a twenty-two year old. Aghababov simply calls the article a "provocation," and questions why Sachs did not report that all the participants particularly expressed that Armenia is developing. The interviewees, who say they did not know their photos and names would be published, say their rights were violated and plan to submit a letter of complaint to the New York Times editorial office. 6) Former ARS Sponsored Student Gives the ARS a Boost --"I will never be able to repay the ARS," said Ajemian. GLENDALE--The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) of Western US Regional Executive received an encouraging boost just in time for the holidays. An exciting office dedication at the ARS regional headquarters in Glendale, along with an elegant luncheon, with over 400 members in attendance, marked a memorable end to a great year. As a former ARS sponsored student, Abraham Ajemian, with his wife Antaram, returned the favor by sponsoring one of the ARS offices. Last May, as Mr. and Mrs. Ajemian accompanied ARS members on a trip to ARS project sites in Armenia and Karabagh, they were inspired to do more for the ARS, in addition to the eight orphans they were already sponsoring through the ARS Sponsor-A-Child program. The ARS General Accountant/Controller of the Western Region, Jasik Jarahian, arranged for the sponsorship of one of the offices located on the second floor of the ARS Western Region headquarters building in Glendale. The generous donation of $20,000 was officially made during a luncheon, with ARS Regional Executive Vice-Chair, Sona Madarian, calling it "a day of celebration." Speaking on behalf of the Regional Executive, Madarian said, "There were, there are, and there will be those who believe in the ARS, because they appreciate the ARS' accomplishments. Our work speaks for itself." Prelate Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, along with parish priest of St. Mary Church in Glendale Rev. Ardag Demirjian, officiated the blessing of the newly refurbished office on December 5. As Vice Chair of the ARS Central Executive Hasmig Derderian, along with Madarian, placed the ARS emblem and tri-color ribbons on the couple, the sponsors cut the ribbon to the office. In attendance were ARF Central Committee representative Karo Khanjian, Chair of the Armenia Fund West Coast Board Maria Mehranian, Hamazkayin Cultural and Educational Association's Regional Executive representative Hrayr Shirikian, representatives of the Homenetmen Ararat Chapter, as well as over 100 former sponsors, current and former members of ARS Regional Executives, and current members of ARS chapter executives. 7) AYF New Jersey "Arsen" Senior Chapter Member Wins Afghanistan's First Marathon US soldier Mike Baskin, a senior member of the AYF NJ "Arsen" Chapter, won Afghanistan's first marathon on December 12. The AYF, along with the rest of the country, is proud both of Mike's accomplishment and duty to his country. TIRIN KOT, Afghanistan (AP)--A US soldier won Afghanistan's first marathon on December 12, battling the country's thin mountain air for more than three hours before crossing the finish line, where he promptly burst into tears remembering four comrades killed in recent fighting. A total of 184 soldiers and civilians working for the US military took part in the race at Firebase Ripley, a remote camp near Tirin Kot in central Uruzgan province, facing high altitude and a bumpy track as well as the threat of attack. Plastic palm trees among the gun stores and bunkers near the course lightened the mood for the runners, who the Afghan National Olympic Committee said were competing in the first marathon in the war-ravaged country's history. But the darker side of their mission resurfaced as the winner labored across the finish line after five long laps of the airstrip to cheers and handshakes in 3 hours, 12 minutes and 15 seconds--an impressive time for the conditions. "I just thought about those four guys when I crossed, that they won't be going home with us, and it kind of hit me," 1st Lt. Mike Baskin, a native of Santiago, California, told an Associated Press reporter. The race, which ended nearly three hours before 20,000 people began the Honolulu marathon, was the idea of members of the US Army's 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, based at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, who didn't want to miss out on the competition. The unit, part of the 25th Infantry Division, is operating in one of Afghanistan's most hostile areas. It suffered its latest casualties when a bomb ripped through a patrol near Deh Rawood, another town in Uruzgan, on Nov. 24, killing two soldiers. A similar attack killed two other soldiers in October. Helicopters flew troops in from across Afghanistan for the race. Before the start, the assembled runners cheered as two military jets thundered low over the base, which lies 4,500 feet above sea level, and into the surrounding mountains. The competitors, shorn of their guns and flak jackets, toiled around the circuit in shorts and T-shirts under cloudy skies and in temperatures of about 13 Celsius (55 Fahrenheit). Some of the course was gravel, but most was covered by fine dust that a rare overnight shower had turned to mud in patches. Its single hill was dubbed Diamond Head for the Honolulu landmark, an extinct volcano. The first woman to finish was Spc. Jill Stevens, a 21-year-old from Utah, whose helicopter battalion is deployed at Bagram Air Base near Kabul. All 153 finishers were presented with the same medals, certificates and black sponsored T-shirts as their Honolulu counterparts, and their times are to be recorded and listed in the same booklet. 8) ANC Mixer Attracts Community Leaders GLENDALE--Over 90 community leaders and elected officials gathered at The Cove Thursday evening for a mixer hosted by the Armenian National Committee, Glendale Chapter. The event provided guests an opportunity to meet the new Executive Director, Alina Azizian, as well as the 2004-2005 board members. Guests included State Senator Jack Scott, representatives from Congressman Adam Schiff's office and Assemblyman Dario Frommer's office, Mayor Bob Yousefian, and Councilmembers Rafi Manoukian, Frank Quintero, and Dave Weaver. Other guests included: Glendale Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Escalante, GUSD Assistant Superintendent Alice Petrossian, Glendale Fire Chief Christopher Gray, Assistant Fire Chief Donald Biggs, Assistant Police Chief Ronald DePompa, City Attorney Scott Howard, City Manager James Starbird, Glendale Teachers Association President Sandra Fink, Armenian National Committee of America Western Region Executive Director Ardashes Kassakhian, Glendale Unified School District Board chairman Greg Krikorian, and board members Chakib Sambar and Pam Ellis, Glendale Community College Board of Trustees members Ara Najarian and Anita Quinonez Gabrielian, and numerous commissioners from the various city commissions. "During the holiday season, it's difficult to get so many busy people in the same room," commented Azizian, "but we had a fantastic turnout. It was great to meet the people that help make this city so wonderful. We have a great coalition of community leaders working together to make this city even better, and I look forward to working with them." Board members also spent the evening informing the community about the five sub-committees within the ANC Glendale Chapter. Board Chairman Pierre Chraghchian noted, "This year we have established five separate committees to handle fundraising, media relations, community relations, elections, and Genocide commemoration." With the busy election season around the corner and a new director to run the operations, the five subcommittees will play a key role in the organization. Alina Azizian was appointed in November as the organization's first Executive Director. The Armenian National Committee, Glendale Chapter, is located at 721 South Glendale Ave. in Glendale. You can reach ANC Glendale at 818.243.3444. To find out more about the subcommittees (or to join), please email [email protected]. 9) Knock, Knock, Knockin' on EU's Door BY SKEPTIK SINIKIAN This last week has been an action packed one vis-à-vis Turkey's attempts to storm the gates of the European Union. The media wishes the public to believe that this is an issue of a Christian Boys Club wanting to admit the Bad Boy Muslim--painting this issue with a brush that is reminiscent of private clubs in America denying African-Americans or women access during the pre-civil rights era. Nothing could be further from the truth. Reporters, like their readership, are like children. They like a good story. If the news isn't interesting, they have to find an angle that is. The media and particularly the American media try to portray this as an issue where Turkey is this poor misunderstood child that has always lived in the neighborhood but the other kids just don't want to play with him. Turkey sits inside his house, staring out the window at the kids playing soccer (or foot boll in Europe) in the park, and when he runs out to join them, he's ridiculed and told to go home. (Cue the violins…wait for it…) Poor, sad Turkey. (wow!) What will Turkey do? All it wants to do is play with the other children. This is the story the media wants you to buy. This is the after school special that wrenches people's hearts. "The must-see political issue of the winter" --European Times. "Turkey's performance as the lonely outcast has EU written all over it"--USA Tomorrow. "This tale of hope and courage is perfect for the Holiday Season and reminds all we need to be more tolerant. Two thumbs up, way up!" --State Department and Ebert. Well, sometimes real life is scarier than anything Stephen King can cook up. Here's the story that you won't hear. You know that kid that lives in that house at the end of the street? Yeah, that kid who just sits there and stares at us from his window and never goes to school? Well, you know why the other kids never let him play with them? Sit down and let me tell you the real story of what happened--the Nightmare on Anatolia Street. Years ago, there was a family that lived in that house. This was before anyone had even moved into this neighborhood and before we had built the bridge across the creek that connects us to them. Well, that house has been there for a long, long time. And actually, that mansion-sized house there was the site of about three or four different houses…at least until they came. Everyone liked the family who lived there. The Armens were a polite family. They were hard working, industrious, always went to church, and never bothered anybody. Then, one day, a new family moved in from across town…way across town. They called themselves the Seljuks or Ossmans or something, but nowadays they go by the name Turk. Well, the Armens didn't want the Turks moving in but these guys were from a rough part of town. In fact, the reason they even moved to Anatolia Street was because they were pushed out by some rough gang called the Mongols. They were pretty pissed off when they moved out here and they took it out on the poor Armens. Pretty soon, they'd moved into the Armen house too and made the Armens into their butlers, maids, chauffeurs, and gardeners. If it wasn't for the Armens, that house would have collapsed. One day, they tried to even move into Mr. Austria's house, but the neighborhood council met and pushed them back to their original property borders. The Turks tried to fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, but the more they tried, the more they stuck out like sore thumbs. There was that one annual block party many years ago when the Turks came over to Balkans house and allegedly tried to kidnap their youngest son or daughter. I'm not sure about the details now. It was so long ago. But the point is that the Turks never quite fit in. Well, over time, because the neighborhood kept growing, there came a point where all of the bad things that the Turks had done to the Armens were forgotten. The poor Armens had become so used to being butlers and gardeners that hardly anyone, except the old timers, even really remembered that the Armens used to own that property. Every now and then one of the Armen's younger kids would move away from the house never to come back. They'd tell us stories of horrible abuse and domestic violence, but no one wanted to rock the boat by going over there and telling the Turks how to live their lives. Then things got really bad. One day, while the garbage man was collecting trash, he saw what he thought was a bloody rag in the trash and it looked like human blood. He decided to call the cops. And so the cops showed up and asked the Turks a bunch of questions. But in the end, there wasn't enough evidence to do anything about. Plus, like I said, this was a quiet neighborhood and everyone had their own problems to deal with. Every now and then, when I'd walk home from school and walk past that house, I'd see ol' Mrs. Armen either watering the lawn or taking out the trash. She had this sad look on her face. And she was always, and I mean ALWAYS bruised. She'd look at me with these eyes that seemed to call out for help, but I was a kid and there's nothing I could have done. But after what happened a few years later, I wish I had. I wish someone had. It was around the time when things were really bad in the neighborhood. The Kërmans weren't getting along with the Francois family and there was always bickering going on between one family or another. The Turks had their own problems. Mr. Turk had lost his job, three of his sons had moved back home from college, and were helping him get his house in order, and the Armens were being beaten worse than before. Then one night, we heard a series of blood curdling screams and everyone was woken from their sleep. The screams went on for a good hour and everyone rushed out of their homes to see what had happened. On the front lawn of the Turk Household was Mr. Armen, Mrs. Armen, and their 9 month old baby sprawled across the lawn, both bodies bruised as usual but unusually bloody and from what we could tell, the entire family lay there lifeless. Mr. Turk stood over them with his hands covered in blood, a look of insane rage in his eyes and kept staring around at everyone. Some say it was only a matter of time before something happened. Others think the Armens were stupid to stick around when all the signs were already there. But can you blame a family for staying in their own household? Wasn't it our fault that we didn't act when we saw all the signs? The cops came by and arrested Mr. Turk. His sons escaped but were hunted down in the following months by vengeful relatives of the Armens. The cops kept Mr. Turk for questioning but somehow he was able to post bail. Over time, the case dragged on and on and after another disaster hit the neighborhood and another after that, no one seemed to even remember what had happened on that tragic night. Or at least no one wanted to remember because what Mr. Turk did was pure evil, but what the rest of us didn't do to stop it was even worse. Some say that the Turk has the rest of the Armen family members still buried in his backyard. No one, not even the cops are willing to go over and reopen the investigation. Every time I walk by that house, I know that a murderer lives there. And even though all the heads of the different households will politely nod their heads in greeting when they see Mr. Turk or his wife or his poor lonely child in the street, at night, when they are home with their own children, and they're tucking them away in their beds, they tell them "Stay away from that Turk house. Those people are murderers. They're not like us." Skeptik Sinikian would like to be your neighbor or roommate. If you don't drink or smoke and keep to yourself, contact him at [email protected] or visit his blog at 10) Irritants II By Garen Yegparian Today we'll hit some more items that leave me peeved! Why don't we hold "louder" remembrances of the Sumgait massacres? I'll bet you can't even remember the month and year they occurred! Such activities would certainly keep Azerbaijan's diplomatic corps and their hirelings occupied with denial instead of being able to act preemptively to Armenia's detriment. Why don't we create more of a fuss over Azerbaijan's disruptions of the ceasefire? This too would keep Azerbaijan's representatives skittering like cockroaches to do damage control. Why didn't we picket or otherwise counteract the Holocaust memorial held in LA last April featuring that despicable, genocide-denying-Holocaust-survivor of a Congressman from the bay area, Rep. Tom Lantos? There were full page ads in the LA Times with that cretin's picture. I shudder as I remember it! Why is the Soviet spelling of our language still in use both in Armenia and diaspora? That divisive, orthographically destructive obscenity should be sent off to join the dinosaurs! Why don't we CELEBRATE, and yes I mean exactly that, the assassination of Talaat Pasha and his ilk? Imagine. We'd be drinking toasts all night to Shiragian, Tehlirian, Torlakian, Yerganian, and the others. It'd be great! Why do we keep purchasing massive quantities of made-in-Turkey products? I know, I know, this is a rerun, but well worth bringing up again because it's so abhorrent! Why are we not cynical about the publication of General Antranig's biography in Turkish earlier? Is the translation true to Chelabian's original? Did the author pre-approve it? How could that happen when Antranig is one of the biggest ogres in Turkish eyes? What's up? Why do we tolerate vermin such as those Armenians who are willing to become willing tools of Turkish and American diplomacy by lending their names to TARC (Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Commission) or anything like it that might come as recently reported by Harut Sassounian. These people are traitors, pure and simple. We ought to shun them completely. The let's see what kind of legitimacy they can bring to such debauched initiatives. Enough, more in a few months. 11) Armenian Youth Protest at Netherlands Consulate LOS ANGELES--Over 100 Armenian American youth protested at the Netherlands Consulate General Offices on Thursday, December 17. The protest was in reaction to the impending European Union accession talks with the Republic of Turkey. The Dutch currently hold the six-month EU presidency. Official representatives of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) met with the Consul General of the Netherlands and expressed their opposition to Turkey's possible membership in the EU. In an official letter, the AYF outlined numerous human rights violations by Turkey and specifically called on European leaders to hold Turkey accountable for perpetrating genocide against Armenians between the years of 1915-23. Spanning across two blocks of Wilshire Blvd. during the afternoon rush hour and holding placards with various slogans such as "No EU for Turkey" and "First Justice, then EU," the protesters joined in the international Armenian effort to voice opposition to Turkish membership in the EU and to bring into the limelight Turkey's gross violations of basic human rights. All subscription inquiries and changes must be made through the proper carrier and not Asbarez Online. ASBAREZ ONLINE does not transmit address changes and subscription requests. (c) 2004 ASBAREZ ONLINE. All Rights Reserved. ASBAREZ provides this news service to ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK members for academic research or personal use only and may not be reproduced in or through mass media outlets. --Boundary_(ID_hWhR9szAvzratFTcGQqKdA)--