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12/13/2004
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1) France Wants Turkey to Acknowledge Armenian Genocide
2) IUSY Resolution Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide
3) Turkish Leader Warns of Terror Wave if EU Rejects Membership
4) Javakhk Armenians Discuss Region’s Fate
5) ANCC Speaks out on Escalating Violence against Armenians in Iraq
6) President Lahoud Honors Dr. Haroutune Armenian
7) BRIEFS
1) France Wants Turkey to Acknowledge Armenian Genocide
BRUSSELS (AFP/Reuters)–France wants Turkey to acknowledge the World War I
massacre of Armenians during negotiations on its membership of the European
Union, Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Monday.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Turkey had “a duty to remember.”
Barnier said France did not consider Turkish acknowledgment a condition of EU
entry, but insisted his country would raise the issue once talks opened.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss
plans
to invite Turkey for accession talks, Barnier said, “It is a request that
France will make, to recognize the tragedy from the start of the
century…Turkey must carry out this task as a memorial.”
In addition, France believes that accession talks should not begin before the
second half of 2005, Barnier said. Turkey has pushed for immediate
negotiations.
“I believe that when the time comes, Turkey should come to terms with its
past, be reconciled with its own history, and recognize this tragedy,” Barnier
said.
His comments drew no immediate official response from Turkey, which has
consistently denied orchestrating genocide and the Armenian figures.
A foreign ministry spokesman in the Turkish capital, Ankara, told Reuters
that
Turkey has never and will never recognize “any so-called genocide.”
France’s Armenian community of about 300,000–more than in any other European
country–has vowed to press President Jacques Chirac to prevent
negotiations on
Turkish membership of the European Union until Turkey acknowledged
responsibility for the genocide.
EU leaders are expected to give Turkey a conditional green light at a summit
this week to start membership talks with the bloc, while setting a series of
strict conditions and warning the whole process could take at least a decade.
The Armenian genocide has been a bone of contention for nearly nine decades,
with Turkey consistently refusing to acknowledge that genocide in 1915-1917,
when up to 1.5 million Armenians died.
The French parliament passed legislation in 2001, officially recognizing the
Armenian genocide; relations with Turkey subsequently cooled significantly.
Another 14 nations, including Switzerland, Russia and Argentina, also
classify
the killings as genocide.
2) IUSY Resolution Commemorates 90th Anniversary of Genocide
YEREVAN (Yerkir)Prompted by the efforts of the Armenian Youth Federation, the
International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) adopted a resolution recognizing
the 1915 genocide of the Armenian people during its two-day world congress,
which convened on December 3 in the Chilean capital of Santiago.
The resolution states that the “IUSY and its [member] organizations decide to
pay their respect to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, which is to have
its
90th anniversary on April 24, 2005; IUSY recognizes and condemns the described
acts in order to obtain international recognition of the genocide committed
against the Armenian people; and IUSY calls the European Union to recognize
the
Armenian Genocide.”
The delegates also resolved to discuss the issue of genocide
recognition during its next world congress, to be held in South Africa next
year.
The youth organization of the Socialist International, the IUSY consists of
143 member socialist, social democratic, labor, and student organizations,
representing over 100 countries. The AYF is a full member of the IUSY and was
represented at the congress by a delegate from Argentina.
3) Turkish Leader Warns of Terror Wave if EU Rejects Membership
ANKARA (Times Online)–Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told
European Union leaders that they will pay a heavy price in continued and
escalating violence from Islamic extremists if the EU rejects Turkey as a
member and confirms itself as a Christian club.
“Accepting a country that has brought together Islam and democracy will bring
about harmony between civilizations. If, on the other hand, it is not
welcomed,
the world will have to put up with the present situation,” he said, referring
to terrorism by such groups as al-Qaeda–whose local affiliates hit Turkey
last
year, bombing the British consulate and three other targets in Istanbul.
“That is the very clear and present danger and it is all around us today.
There is nothing we can do if the EU feels that it can live with being
simply a
Christian club…but if these countries burn their bridges with the rest of
the
world, history will not forgive them.”
Erdogan’s powerful warning came just days before the EU summit that will
decide whether to start formal accession talks with Turkey and against a
furious European debate about the effects of incorporating Turkey’s 70
million,
mainly Muslim, population into the Union.
He was speaking before opening Istanbul’s first modern art museum–an
event he
had ordered to be brought forward from early next year to help to project a
modern image of his country ahead of the summit. After knocking on the EU’s
doors for four decades, Turkey is painfully aware that it is viewed abroad
as a
poor and backward country and that, despite its secular constitution, much of
the West is currently afraid of its Muslim tradition.
Erdogan is a declared “conservative democrat,” but his background as an
Islamic firebrand has led to so many questions that his face broke into a “not
again” smile at the mere mention of the problem.
“We are Muslim, we are Turkish, we are democratic, and our country is
secular,” he said, emphasizing every phrase. “Nothing else need be said.”
Nevertheless, he believed that the EU, in trying to add safeguards and get-out
clauses in the draft for the talks, was discriminating against Ankara.
“I am of the opinion that Turkey is being faced with tougher criteria
compared
to other candidate countries,” he said. “No other country had to wait for 41
years at Europe’s door. We have fulfilled all the criteria, but despite this,
Europeans are hesitating.”
Although loath to say so, he feels upset, maybe even betrayed, by suggestions
from some, including France, that Turkey might be offered an alternative form
of association with the EU if talks fail.
“There are 400,000 Turks already living in France…what have we done to make
them so afraid? We find it hard to understand what it is the French do not
understand about us that makes them so wary. There is no such thing in the EU
as privileged partnership. No other country has been offered this and there is
no way that we will accept such an option for Turkey,” he said.
He also rejected suggestions that talks could be open-ended. “At the end of
membership negotiations either there is full membership or there is nothing.
Full membership is not automatic anyway–it may be that we don’t manage to
fulfill our side of the bargain and it all ends in failure. So why hobble the
process from the start?” Conditions other than the existing political and
economic criteria would be unacceptable, he said, especially any permanent
brake on the freedom of movement of Turks, millions of whom were already
economic migrants in Europe.
Turkey’s economy has been transformed after a crisis in 2001, while numerous
reforms, including the abolition of the death penalty, have improved the human
rights situation and reduced the power of the military–an institution that
staged three coups between 1960 and 1980 and effectively wrote the present
constitution. Erdogan acknowledged that the more difficult phase of
implementing all these reforms lay ahead, but he was adamant that Turkey had
done enough so far to begin negotiations.
A former semi-professional football player, he resorted to sporting terms to
describe the situation: “We are not bringing any conditions to this ourselves.
But we are seeing here that new rules are being introduced while the game is
being played. As this is unacceptable in a game of football, it is equally
wrong in a process like this.”
Despite his criticism, he remains optimistic, saying that he expected to be
offered a start date within the next year for talks with the goal of full
membership. “In the last days of the Ottoman Empire, we were then called the
sick man of Europe. Note, of Europe, never the sick man of Asia. You said so
yourself,” he said.
4) Javakhk Armenians Discuss Region’s Fate
AKHALKALAK (Armenpress)Ethnic Armenian non-government organizations in
Georgia’s southern region of Samtskhe Javakheti held their first joint
conference last Saturday to discuss the numerous social, economic, and
cultural
problems that plague the region’s mostly Armenian population.
Although interested in working with the Georgian government to help
alleviate some of the community’s problems, conference participants expressed
concern over the central authorities’ desire to forcefully integrate the
region
with the rest of the population, stripping it of its Armenian character.
The conference outlined the nature of the crisis, its possible solutions, and
moved to create a task force, which will seek to design development plans
together with Georgian officials.
Of those invitedGeorgian parliamentarians, foreign diplomats stationed
in Georgia’s capital city, Armenian government officials, and representatives
of the UN, OSCE, and European Commissiononly the OSCE Tbilisi office
representative joined conference participants. Ethnic Armenian
parliamentarians
who represent the region’s population also failed to attend the meeting.
5) ANCC Speaks out on Escalating Violence against Armenians in Iraq
MONTRÉALIn a statement released on Monday, the Armenian National Committee of
Canada expressed outrage over the December 7 bombings of Kabul’s Armenian and
Chaldean churches.
“The Armenian National Committee of Canada is deeply concerned over an
increasing climate of anarchism in Iraqi cities. From the beginning of the
contested occupation of Iraq, Christians in generalincluding Armenianshave
been
targeted by terrorist groups, and a considerable number have fallen victim. As
reported by various news agencies, the spiritual sanctity of over six Armenian
churches have been violated, and a number of parishioners have fallen
victim to
these aggressions,” read the statement and concluded by calling on the
country’s authorities “to take measures for the security of the centuries old
Armenian minority of Iraq.”
Echoing the language of the statement, ANC-Canada Chairman Dr. Girair
Basmadjian, said, “Some of the oldest Christian monuments of the Middle-East
have been attacked and damaged, if not destroyed. These acts remind us of a
not
so distant past, filled with unspeakable horrors that we most certainly would
not like to see repeated. I call upon all concerned authorities to stop this
disaster from escalating to outright religious conflict.”
6) President Lahoud Honors Dr. Haroutune Armenian
BEIRUT–On the decision of President Emile Lahoud, Dr. Haroutune Armenian was
awarded Lebanon’s Cedar Medal last week during a ceremony that marked the 50th
anniversary of the founding of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the American
University of Beirut (AUB).
In speaking of Dr. Armenian’s accomplishments, the Dean of AUB’s Faculty of
Health Sciences Huda Zurayk, said that his achievements and input in the
medical field internationally, regionally, and locally have brought honor not
only to the school, but to all of Lebanon. “For this reason, President Lahoud
wanted to pay tribute to him.”
Dr. Armenian, a graduate of the Hamazkayin Nshan Palandjian Jemaran, studied
medicine at AUB, specializing in internal medicine. He received his PhD in
Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, and went on to head the School of
Public Health there, as well as at AUB. He is currently the President and Dean
of the American University of Armenia and a Professor of Epidemiology at Johns
Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health.
In detailing Armenian’s accomplishments, associate Dean Iman Nuwayhid said,
“He is truly a bridge between the east and west,” never missing an opportunity
to academically link Armenia, Lebanon, and the United Sates.
In bestowing the honor to Dr. Armenian on behalf of President Lahoud, Health
Minister Karam Karam said, “Dr. Armenian embodies the highest level of
cultural
cooperation.”
After accepting the award, Dr. Armenian shared the honor with his colleagues
at the AUB Faculty of Health Sciences. He thanked President Lahoud and Health
Minister Karam for the privilege, adding that the public health sector
requires
collective efforts, and he has been fortunate to have worked with excellent
coworkers, professors, and students.
As the first independent school of public health in the region, AUB’s Faculty
of Health Sciences has educated over 1700 public health and health sciences
professionals, many of whom have made important contributions to the promotion
of public health in Lebanon, the Arab region, and the world.
7) BRIEFS
Armenia Has Plans for Rail Link with Iran
YEREVAN (AP)–Armenia’s transport minister announced plans for a railroad
linking Armenia with its southern neighbor Iran. The government has drafted
two
alternate plans for the railroad’s route inside Armenia, both leading to the
border town of Meghri, said Andranik Manukian, adding that one would cost $760
million, the other $900 million. Although he did not specify the source of the
funds, a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some
financing could come from Iran and Europe.
Construction began last month on a pipeline that is to bring Iranian natural
gas to Armenia, easing its reliance on supplies from Russia via Georgia.
Georgia Not to Impose Economic Sanctions against Armenia
YEREVAN (Armenpress)–In an interview with Agence France Press agency,
Georgia’s foreign minister Salome Zurabishvili said her government enjoys good
relations with both Azerbaijan and Armenia. On the recent decision by
Azerbaijan to shut down its cargo rail traffic to other Caucasus republics
because it feared that some of the goods were being delivered via Georgia to
Armenia, Zurabishvili said Tbilisi had agreed to prevent transit through its
territory of military goods, but added, “We refuse to take any economic
sanctions against Armenia.”
Commenting on Georgia’s role in the Karabagh conflict, she said that if
Georgia was anything other than neutral in the dispute, “we would enter into a
logic of escalation which would be not only damaging for us and for our
neighbors, but for the whole region.”
US Citizen Wins Court Case against Armenian Prosecutors
YEREVAN (RFE-RL)–A US citizen of Armenian descent won a court case against
Armenian prosecutors whom he accuses of covering up an alleged wholesale
embezzlement of his business assets in Yerevan, his lawyer said on Friday.
George Najarian, who has engaged in extensive charitable work in Armenia and
Karabagh for the last 15 years, sued the Office of Prosecutor-General for its
refusal to press fraud charges against his former local business
representative. The man, Grigor Igitian, is the legal owner of a photo shop
and
two buildings currently constructed in downtown Yerevan. According to
Najarian’s attorney, the court recognized his client as a “victim” and ordered
the Prosecutor-General’s Office to resume the fraud inquiry.
Pope John Paul II Might Help Armenian Pilots in E. Guinea
YEREVAN (RIA Novosti)–Armenian Ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan appealed to Pope
John Paul II to help the Armenian pilots convicted in Equatorial Guinea for
involvement in an alleged attempted coup d’etat. The court in Malabo delivered
its guilty verdict on November 26, sentencing the captain of the Armenian crew
to 24 years in prison and the rest to 14 years each.
According to Alaverdian, the president of Equatorial Guinea will meet with
Pope
John Paul II in the near future.
Lights Down in Majority of Georgian Districts
TBILISI (Itar-Tass)–Lights went down in the majority of Georgian
districts on
Sunday because of an emergency shutdown of several power lines and a unit of
the Inguri hydropower plant. Electricity imports from Armenia stopped late
Saturday night because of the emergency shutdown of the Alaverdi power line,
which supplies 100 megawatts of electricity to Tbilisi and another 60
megawatts
to Georgian areas bordering on Armenia. One of the two units of the Inguri
hydropower plant stopped functioning for several hours Sunday night due to
technical reasons.
Armenian Parliament Tightens Laws on Smoking
YEREVAN (AP)–Armenia’s parliament voted to tighten restrictions on smoking
Friday, approving legislation that will hike fines and outlaw lighting up in
schools and in other public places. The legislation, passed by the National
Assembly, calls for fines of up to 100,000 drams ($200) for violators and also
bans smoking by teenagers under 16. The legislation, which goes into effect in
January, will also prohibit smoking in cultural institutions and at sporting
events. Packs of cigarettes and other tobacco products that do not have
medical
warnings on them about the dangers of smoking will be destroyed. The World
Health Organization estimates that 63.7 percent of Armenian men are
smokers–the highest rate in Europe.
Classical European Film Festival Starts in Yerevan
YEREVAN (Arminfo)–The European Film Festival kicked off on December 13 in
Yerevan’s Moscow theater with a showing of the German film “Good Bye Lenin.”
The festival is organized by EU Mission Offices in Armenia and Georgia, in
cooperation with French, German, Italian, Greek, and Polish embassies, as well
as British Council Office in Armenia. The proceeds from ticket sales will be
used for charitable purposes.
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