Author: Antonian Lara

Agence France Presse
26 mai 2005 jeudi 10:48 AM GMT
Ankara critiqué pour avoir empêché une conférence sur la question
arménienne (PAPIER D’ANGLE)
Par Sibel UTKU-BILA
ANKARA 26 mai 2005
Le gouvernement turc a suscité de nombreuses critiques en empêchant
la tenue d’une conférence qui devait questionner la position
officielle de la Turquie quant aux massacres d’Arméniens sous
l’empire ottoman, des diplomates européens évoquant un coup sérieux
au crédo réformateur d’Ankara.
Le prestigieuse université stambouliote de Bogazici, qui devait
accueillir cette rencontre inédite entre académiciens et
intellectuels turcs “critiques” de mercredi à vendredi, l’a repoussée
à une date non précisée après que le ministre de la Justice Cemil
Cicek eut accusé ses participants de “trahison”.
M. Cicek a qualifié l’initiative de “coup de couteau dans le dos de
la nation turque” et a affirmé que les organisateurs s’exposaient à
des poursuites judiciaires.
Les massacres d’Arméniens survenus entre 1915 et 1917 en Anatolie,
l’un des épisodes les plus controversés de l’histoire ottomane, sont
rarement évoqués dans le système scolaire turc et cette conférence
aurait été la première en Turquie à jeter un regard critique sur la
position officielle quant à ces événements.
Plusieurs pays ont reconnu le caractère génocidaire de ces massacres
-une approche catégoriquement rejetée par Ankara-, l’Union européenne
enjoignant pour sa part la Turquie de faire face à son passé et
d’étendre la liberté d’expression.
“Les remarques du ministre de la Justice sont inacceptables. C’est
une approche autoritaire qui soulève des questions quant au processus
de réformes en Turquie”, a déclaré à l’AFP, sous le couvert de
l’anonymat, un diplomate d’un pays membre de l’UE.
“Il s’agit maintenant d’un moment crucial. Nous espérons que le
gouvernement agisse pour rectifier les remarques de M. Cicek”, a-t-il
poursuivi.
Estimant qu’il incombait à Ankara de prendre une décision, le
diplomate a précisé que “ne rien faire est aussi un choix, mais
certainement pas favorable aux perspectives turques d’adhésion à
l’UE”.
Cet incident intervient après la répression brutale d’une
manifestation de femmes à Istanbul en mars, qui avait déjà suscité
l’indignation de Bruxelles alors que le projet d’intégration de la
Turquie dans le bloc européen soulève de fortes oppositions dans de
nombreux pays membres.
Le gouvernement du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, formé par
un parti issu de la mouvance islamiste, doit par ailleurs faire face
sur la scène intérieure à une montée des critiques l’accusant d’avoir
perdu ses ambitions réformatrices depuis qu’il a obtenu en décembre
une date pour le début de négociations d’adhésion avec l’UE, fixée au
3 octobre.
Un autre diplomate européen a déploré le report de la conférence, qui
“aurait reflété l’évolution en cours dans la société turque”.
“Les Européens sont déçus (…) mais espèrent qu’elle sera finalement
organisée”, a-t-il déclaré, soulignant qu’ils “continueront
d’insister sur le rôle important que la société civile doit jouer en
Turquie”.
Les médias turcs n’ont pas été plus cléments avec M. Cicek, estimant
que son attitude portait atteinte à la liberté d’expression et
faisait le jeu de la campagne menée par les Arméniens en vue d’une
reconnaissance internationale du “génocide”.
“Tolérance zéro pour la liberté”, a asséné le quotidien libéral
Radikal en Une de son édition de jeudi, le journal Milliyet titrant
sur “Un coup porté à la démocratie”.
“Quelle est en fait la trahison? Tenir une conférence visant à ouvrir
un débat en Turquie sur un problème turc débattu à peu près partout
dans le monde, ou qualifier de ‘traîtres’ des gens qui pensent
peut-être différemment à un moment où la Turquie livre une bataille
pour la démocratie (…)?”, se demande l’éditorialiste Murat Celikkan
dans Radikal.
“Cemil Cicek doit démissionner” de son ministère ou être contraint à
la démission, conclut-il.

VARDAN OSKANIAN: EUROPEAN UNION MUST INCREASE PRESSURE ON TURKEY
YEREVAN, MAY 27. ARMINFO. The European Union must increase the
pressure on Turkey. As AR informs, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Armenia Vardan Oskanian had stated during the meeting with his Finnish
counterpart Erkki Tuomioja.
According to the resource, the foreign minister of Armenia called on
EU “to be more resolute in this issue”. Touching upon the proposal on
creation of joint Armenian-Turkish commission on study of the Genocide
of Armenia, the minister considered unacceptable the preliminary
conditions put down by Turkey. “We must follow the example of other
European countries”, the foreign minister mentioned.

SE European media roundup on EU-related issues on 19-25 May 05
BBC Monitoring Service – United Kingdom
May 26, 2005

For queries and feedback please contact Duty Editor, Europe, on
0186254 (internal) or 0118 948 6254 (external), or email
[email protected]
The following is a roundup of media reports on EU-related issues from
the applicant countries in Southeastern Europe between 19 and 25 May
2005:
BULGARIA
Elections/EU/opposition
Sergey Stanishev, leader of the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party,
the BSP, presented the party’s election platform. He said the next
four-year period would be decisive for Bulgaria’s place in the
European Union. Stanishev pledged to run the country in a European
manner if the BSP won the elections. “We need Eurorealism rather than
scepticism and excessive expectations. The people in our country are
expecting a change in the leadership. They would like to feel that the
state institutions are concerned about them, and this is precisely the
policy that BSP offers,” he said. He said Bulgaria could not risk EU
membership over the Kozloduy nuclear plant issue. He also said there
was no serious progress in judicial reform or preparing a new penal
code.
(BGNES web site, Sofia, in Bulgarian 1314 gmt 24 May 05; BTA web site,
Sofia, in English 20 May 05; BGNES web site, Sofia, in Bulgarian 0749
gmt 20 May 05)
CROATIA
Minority rights/Serbs
This week has seen a spate of attacks on ethnic Serb targets.
The dead body of an elderly Serb with visible marks of violence was
found in the village of Karin near the coastal town of Zadar. The
Veritas Documentation and Information Centre, a Serb refugee centre
with offices in Belgrade and Banja Luka, announced that the man in
question was Dusan Vidic, a retired officer of the former Yugoslav
People’s Party, whose throat had been slit.
Savo Strbac, the NGO’s head, said that the murder was most probably a
result of ethnic hatred and a warning to all Serbs who wished to
return to Croatia. Strbac further remarked that over the last two
months there had been three cases of death by hanging among the Serb
returnees to the Dalmatian coast and that these deaths were described
as suicide by Croatian official sources.
The government-in-exile of the self-styled Republic of Serb Krajina,
or RSK, described the murder as a repugnant crime and proof that the
persecution of Serbs, both in religious and ethnic terms, has not
abated. The RSK urged Serbia-Montenegro, or SCG, authorities to
undertake “energetic measures” before international organizations in
order to remove the consequences of ethnic cleansing of Serbs. The RSK
further launched an attack on the media in SCG over the coverage of
the incident because it “either ignored it or reported it in columns
which cover ordinary crimes”.
The Serb MP and deputy chairman of the Independent Democratic Serb
Party, or SDSS, Milorad Pupovac, blamed the media in Croatia for
contributing to persecution of co-nationals. “The media first
contributed to this atmosphere when they reported that no less that
10,000 Serbs were coming over from SCG to vote in the recent local
elections in Croatia `so that they can take over power’, even though
`barely 2,000 had arrived,” Pupovac said.
He further noted that the escalation of ethnic violence was a result
of the good election results achieved by his party. He accused the
Knin-branch of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union, or HDZ, of
attempting to gather all Croatian parties under the slogan of “all
Croats against Serbs” in a bid to exclude the SDSS, which won the
municipal election with 35 per cent of the vote, from the future local
government. “If Serbs and the SDSS – 10 years after Operation Storm –
are openly being told that `living together is not possible’, then
this is a worrying message, all the more as the SDSS is one of the
premier’s strongest suits on the path to Europe,” Pupovac said.
(SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1436 gmt 19
May; SRNA news agency, 0818 gmt 20 May; SRNA news agency 0645 gmt 19
May )
An unknown attacker hurled an explosive device into a building with
residential and office premises in Vukovar. The device damaged a flat
which was situated next to the offices of the Party of Danube Serbs,
or PPS, whose head office is also based in the building. No-one was
hurt.
On the morning of 22 May, two explosive devices went off outside the
municipal buildings in Trpinja and Borovo near Vukovar. The blasts did
not claim any casualties, but caused substantial material damage to
the facilities.
The government condemned the attacks in the strongest terms. Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader requested that the Ministry of Internal Affairs
and other relevant bodies scale up their efforts and arrest the
culprits. “These excesses, whose perpetrators will be discovered and
punished, cannot and must not threaten the co-existence and
reconciliation in the area, something which is the country’s lasting
commitment,” Sanader said.
In a most damning criticism of all Croatian ministers, President
Stjepan Mesic branded the murder of the elderly Serb returnee and the
explosions “politically-motivated acts of terrorism”.
Asked whether it was the aim of these terrorists to undermine
Croatia’s entry into the EU, Mesic said that this could only be
ascertained once the cases were resolved, but that it was “a fact that
terrorists want Croatia to be isolated because it can only be
plundered when isolated”.
The OSCE condemned the attacks, saying that it was “worrying” that
these blasts occurred on the heels of the local elections which were
held in a tolerant and democratic atmosphere.
(HINA news agency, Zagreb, in English 1804 gmt 23 May; HINA news
agency, in Croatian 0943 gmt 22 May; HINA news agency, in Croatian
1333 gmt 22 May; HINA news agency, in English 1802 gmt 23 May)
EU entry/bilateral ties
President Mesic and Prime Minister Sanader received cast-iron
assurances from Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos that
his country would support Croatia on its path towards the EU.
(HINA news agency, Zagreb, in Croatian 1517 gmt 19 May 05)
MACEDONIA
Macedonia/EU integration
Macedonia is right to expect a positive response from the European
Commission and the status of an EU membership candidate, President
Branko Crvenkovski told the third national forum on Macedonia’s
integration into the EU. The strategic goal of bringing Macedonia
closer to the EU has been achieved, he added, stressing that future
moves will have to result in the fulfilment of the political criteria
required for EU membership. Economic criteria will soon take
precedence.
(Macedonian Radio, Skopje, 1000 gmt 25 May 05)
Macedonia/Pope/EU
Pope Benedict XVI will lobby for Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic
integration, he told Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski on 23 May. He
asked for religion to be included in the Macedonian school curriculum.
(Macedonian Radio, Skopje, in Macedonian 1000 gmt 23 May 05)
Macedonia/Italy/NATO
Vlado Buckovski on 24 May received from his former counterpart,
Italian Defence Minister Antonio Martino, approval for Macedonia’s
path towards NATO and its defence and judicial reforms. They also
discussed the situation in Kosovo. This was also on the agenda of
Buckovski’s meeting with Gianfranco Fini, deputy prime minister and
foreign minister. Fini reportedly assessed positively the
implementation of the Framework Agreement, adding that Macedonia’s
efforts should be appreciated. Italy will support Macedonia in its
NATO integration and its bid to receive the status of EU membership
candidate.
(Macedonian Radio, Skopje, in Macedonian 1000 gmt 24 May 05)
Macedonia/EU/police
Cooperation between the EU police (EUPOL) mission, codenamed Proxima,
and the Macedonian Interior Ministry is good, according to EU special
envoy to Macedonia Michael Sahlin and Proxima head Juergen Scholz. The
progress of the Macedonian police in accordance with EU standards is
also rather encouraging, they said. The EUPOL mission is due to finish
by the end of 2005.
(Macedonian Radio, Skopje, in Macedonian 1330 gmt 19 May 05)
Macedonia/regional cooperation
The third annual meeting of the Southeast Europe Police Chiefs
Association (SEPCA) commenced on 19 May in the Macedonian town of
Ohrid. The event brought together high-ranking police officers of the
participating states – Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro, Croatia,
Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, the (Bosnian) Serb Republic and
Moldova. One of the main themes of the meeting was to promote
cooperation in the fight against organized crime.
(Makfax news agency, Skopje, 1404 gmt 19 May 05)
Macedonia/law
The Macedonian parliament on 19 May passed a law on witness
protection, aimed at providing efficient protection for individuals in
possession of significant information for a criminal procedure whose
life is endangered. Justice Minister Meri Mladenovska Gjorgievska said
the law would contribute to fighting organized crime more efficiently.
(MIA news agency, Skopje, in English 1506 gmt 19 May 05)
Macedonia/economy
Vlado Buckovski on 20 May announced the government’s economic
programme for the reduction of unemployment by 60,000 by the end of
2006 and economic growth of 4-5 per cent. He explained that the
programme contained a package of measures for the resolution of the
crucial problems in the economy, namely economic growth, unemployment
and the deficit in the trade balance and balance of payments. Among
the measures to improve the business climate, Buckovski announced the
introduction of a one-stop-shop system for rapidly registering firms,
and financial assistance for small companies through the Macedonian
Bank for Development Support.
“The government’s economic policy is a mix of macroeconomic stability
and structural reforms, which should deliver higher growth rates in
the short or mid-term,” Buckovski stressed in a speech. “Reforms are
pending in numerous areas to improve the business environment,
judicial efficiency, increase labour market flexibility, improve the
regulatory and supervisory framework of the banking sector, develop
the securities market and the insurance sector, as well as continue
the reforms in the public sector etc”, Buckovski said.
Experts assessed that the government’s economic programme does not
offer specific solutions for the economic crisis. It is too general
and does not contain deadlines for the realization of set objectives,
they said.
(Makfax news agency, Skopje, 1205 gmt 20 May; MIA news agency, Skopje,
in English 1421 gmt 22 May; Utrinski vesnik newspaper, Skopje, in
Macedonian 24 May 05)
Macedonia/EU/migration
Many Albanians in Macedonia are interested in acquiring Bulgarian
citizenship so they can travel to the EU more easily. Bulgaria is an
EU candidate country and its citizens can travel to EU states without
Schengen visas. One “facilitator” based in Kumanovo said he had dealt
with over 50 Albanians who wished to gain Bulgarian citizenship. This
costs over 500 euros – first an ID card for foreigners is issued by
the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, and after several weeks the desired
passport is issued. One of the required conditions is that Albanians
must adapt their surname to a Bulgarian form – from Ramadani to
Rakhmanov, for example.
(Koha Ditore newspaper, Skopje, in Albanian 19 May 05)
ROMANIA
EU entry/early elections
Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu said the European Commission
warned the government that holding early elections might affect
Romania’s schedule in the process of joining the European Union. “The
European Commission has clearly changed its perception, which is quite
favourable now, it trusts the current government, but, at he same
time, we have received clear warnings against early elections,” the
prime minister said.
(Rompres news agency, Bucharest, in English 1030 gmt 24 May 05)
EU accession/cost of delays
Leonard Orban, Romania’s chief EU negotiator said that the direct cost
Romania would had to pay if accession was postponed by one year would
be as high as 1.16bn euros. Orban said that there would also be
political costs as well as other indirect costs that could be much
greater because postponing accession would mean losing opportunities
and support for modernization.
The chief negotiator said the authorities’ current main objective was
making sure the safeguard clause was not used. According to Orban, the
EU is now very weary and West European leaders are keen to criticize
any mistakes made by candidates. Stressing the importance of
preparations for EU accession, he said that so far members of the
business community had shown very little interest in the deep changes
the Romanian economy is supposed to undergo.
(Rompres news agency, Bucharest, in English 1408 gmt 20 May 05)
EU entry/judicial reforms
Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Adrian Nastase wrote a letter to
European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini, in which he
complained about what he called the government’s “brutal pressures” on
the Romanian legal system. According to Nastase, Justice Minister
Monica Macovei wants to exercise control over the prosecutors. “The
fundamental goal of amending the legislation is to purge the judicial
system and to replace people based on political criteria,” the PSD’s
executive chairman wrote. Nastase reminded Frattini that negotiations
on the justice chapter were concluded when he was Romania’s prime
minister, and he asks the latter to help him “in order to avoid these
sideslips.” Nastase also asked Frattini to say whether amending the
law on the judicial system was a “specific” requirement of the
European Commission.
(Adevarul, Bucharest, in Romanian 19 May 05)
TURKEY
EU talks/chief negotiator
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that he believed that Minister of
State for Economy Ali Babacan would serve successfully as Turkey’s
chief negotiator for entry talks with the EU .
Gul said it was a good choice because membership negotiations would
mostly cover economic matters and because Babacan had already dealt
with issues concerning the EU.
Gul also said that Babacan would continue to hold his ministerial
post.
(Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1222 gmt 24 May 05)
Armenian genocide issue
Istanbul’s Bogazici University cancelled a conference entitled
“Ottoman Armenians During Collapse of Empire” over what it called
serious imputations about the conference. The university said: “We are
concerned that prejudices about the content of a conference which has
not been held yet may deteriorate the academic freedom of a state
university,” the university said .
(Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 2017 gmt 24 May 05)
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek described the conference as “nothing but
a stab in the back for Turks” and said he wished his ministerial post
did not prevent him from taking the matter to court.
(Anatolia in English 1313 gmt 24 May 05)
EU talks/women’s rights
Addressing a conference on the role of women in society, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul said that despite the legal regulations
undertaken in the field of women’s rights in Turkey, Turkish women
still faced unfair treatment for cultural, political, legal and
economic reasons. “I should confess that the participation of the
Turkish women in political life is not at the desired level,” said Gul
noting that the ruling party and government were determined to
increase women’s role in the political process.
Gul said the Turkish parliament planned to set up a commission or
sub-commission on equality between the sexes and women’s rights and
Turkey was considering attending the second part of EU’s Daphne
programme aimed at countering violence against women, juveniles and
children.
(Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1110 gmt 24 May 05)
EU talks/full membership
Commenting on reports in the Turkish media that Turkey had been
offered “privileged partnership”, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan
said that the government rejected any such idea. “Turkey, which will
start entry talks with EU on 3 October 2005 due to the decision taken
at 17 December EU summit, has concentrated all of its energy on full
membership target. On the basis of these realities, Turkey can’t
accept another formula or alternative than full membership,” Tan said.
(Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1408 gmt 21 May 05)
EU membership/relations with Finland
Visiting Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said that Finland’s
taking the EU’s rotating presidency would be good for Turkey. “I told
Mr Prime Minister that Turkey expected to see a more sincere approach
from the EU towards Turkey,” Tuzmen said.
“Our support to Turkey’s EU bid will continue and improvement of
Turkey-EU relations will also contribute to Turkey-Finland relations,”
Finnish Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomaki
said.
(Anatolia news agency, Ankara, in English 1228 gmt 20 May 05)

Photo evidence of Armenian Genocide to be displayed in Moscow
26.05.2005 16:41
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The exhibition “Armin Wegner and the Armenian
Genocide” will open in Moscow on May 31, the newspaper Yerkramas,
published by Armenians of southern Russia, reported.
Organized by the Moscow chapter of the Russian-Armenian Friendship
Organization and Russian Cultural Fund’s project directorate, the
exhibition is based on the book by Italian historian Giovanni Guaita,
Yuri Navoyan, chairman of the Russian-Armenian Friendship Organization
said.
Unique photos taken at the death camps by German officer Armin Wegner,
an eyewitness of the Armenian Genocide, in defiance of the Turkish and
German authorities’ strict ban to shoot the events, will be on
display.
Armenian and Russian public figures will attend the opening ceremony.

CBA CHAIRMAN: IMPROVEMENT OF THE SPHERE OF TAX ADMINISTRATION IN
ARMENIA IS DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH THE FORMATION OF CORRESPONDING
PUBLIC OPINION
YEREVAN, May 25. /ARKA/. Improvement of the area of tax administration
in Armenia is directly connected with the formation of corresponding
public opinion, as stated the CBA Chairman Tigran Sargsyan,
introducing CBA annual report for 2004. “It’s necessary to understand
that avoiding paying taxes is shame, and cheating government is a
misdeed worth condemning”, he said. So, according to Sargsyan, the
society itself should show its attitude towards such objects. It’s
naturally that under such conditions it will be easier to form
“political will in struggle against influential tax payers”. A.H.-0–

Media: See our dirty linen: As news ombudsmen from across the world
meet this week, Ian Mayes celebrates press accountability
The Guardian – United Kingdom
May 23, 2005
IAN MAYES

The Guardian is host this week to the 25th anniversary conference of
the Organisation of News Ombudsmen, the aptly acronymed Ono. About 50
delegates, the majority of them with roles similar to mine as readers’
editor of the Guardian, are gathering in Farringdon Road, rather like
the members of a rare species meeting at the water hole. It is the
first time in the history of the organisation that the conference has
been held in London.
Delegates have come from all over the world: from the United States –
where the first ombudsman was appointed in 1967, in Louisville,
Kentucky – from Canada, from many parts of Europe, from South America,
South Africa and Australia. Speakers and observers come from Russia
and Armenia among other places. This will, I believe, be the first Ono
conference at which members from the US have been in a minority
compared with those from elsewhere.
Many of the world’s leading news organisations are now counted among
the members: the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles
Times, Le Monde, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, France
Televisions.
Indeed, a notable area of growth in recent years has been among
television and radio news organisations, partly due to the work of the
current president of Ono, Jeffrey Dvorkin, the ombudsman for National
Public Radio in Washington. Broadcast news ombudsmen and other
representatives make up about a third of those attending this
conference. They show in various ways that correcting broadcast
journalism and offering greater public accessibility to broadcast
media do not present insuperable problems. One of the people due to
speak at the conference is Mark Byford, the deputy director general of
the BBC, who will be talking about the way in which the corporation’s
complaints procedures (without the appointment of an ombudsman) are
being revised in the aftermath of the Gilligan affair and Hutton
inquiry.
There are now three ombudsmen working on newspapers in Turkey, and –
following the lead of Politiken in Copenhagen – a growing number in
Scandinavia. It was Sweden, after all, which provided the word,
ombudsmen, applied to holders of the job both male and female, with
its general meaning of “independent referee”. South America is also an
area of growth. The membership of Ono demonstrates that this form of
self-regulation is adaptable to a wide variety of organisat ions,
large and small, in all branches of news media.
What we have in common is a desire for news organisations to be more
open and accountable, but more than that, we have been entrusted with
the means in our own organisations to make that happen, at least to
some extent. We wash the dirty linen in public, as one of my American
colleagues once put it, and the discovery we have generally made, when
surveys have been conducted, is that doing this significantly
increases public trust.
Essential features of the job for the great majority of us are that we
are guaranteed independence by the people who pay us, and that we have
a visible presence in our organisations – the readers, listeners,
viewers, know we are here and that we are not at the whim of
editors. In fact, the Scott Trust, the owners of the Guardian, took
steps very recently to ensure the continuity of the job here. They
will have a hand in the appointment of future holders of the job, they
will get an annual report from the readers’ editor about the way the
office is working, and they will require those reports to include an
account of resourcing. The idea is to protect the independence of the
post against any undercutting by an editor less enthusiastic about the
role than the present editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, and to
make sure that the job cannot simply be undermined by reducing the
resources available to it – essentially the money needed to provide a
worthwhile service.
Rusbridger’s wholehearted support for the principles on which the job
is based partly accounts for the choice of London for this
conference. In an article in the current issue of Newsweek, he says,
in effect, that troubled times with revenue, circulation or audiences,
make it more desirable to be open and accountable, not less so. I see
the role as an effort to build a new relationship with readers,
listeners and viewers in which increased trust is one of the potential
mutual benefits.
The 50 delegates at the conference represent about half the total
worldwide membership of Ono, so you can see it is a thin
scattering. The demand for the experience that Ono now contains within
its membership is, however, increasing, most conspicuously so from
parts of the world where the freedoms that we sometimes take for
granted are beset by huge difficulties. Ono does not campaign, but it
does try to help whenever and wherever it is invited to do so.
Ian Mayes is the readers’ editor of the Guardian and the
vice-president of Ono
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Today, Azerbaijan
May 21 2005
Ilham Aliyev: In Nagorno Karabakh process certain advances to observe
20 May 2005 [16:35] – Today.Az
The Upper Karabakh problem will be solved in the frame of the
territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
This was announced by the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, on 19
May in Ganja at the meeting of the City executive power, Trend reports.
According to him, during peaceful talks process, certain advances are
observed. And these advances, along with political and diplomatic
successes, occur thanks to growth of the economic potential of
Azerbaijan, he added.
Aliyev said, that in the Council of Europe Warsaw summit framework
he conducted discussions with heads of other states on the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict and the just position of Azerbaijan is accepted
today by the world public. The head of the state assured the public of
Ganja that the leadership of the country will continue their efforts
for peaceful and just settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.
URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zaman Online, Turkey
May 17 2005
Kocharian Move on Genocide, Karabag Kills Hopes
By Selcuk Gultasli
Published: Tuesday 17, 2005
zaman.com
Armenian President Robert Kocharian has carried the so-called Armenian
genocide allegations to the 3rd European Council summit in Poland.
The summit brought 46 European countries except for Belarus together
for the first time in history and became the scene of the Kocharian
claims. The Armenian President made a suggestion to include the Azeri
land “de facto” Upper Karabag (Karabakh) Republic in Europe. This
move by Kocharian is interpreted as a blow to expectations for
dialogue. In his short speech, the Armenian President said they aim for
international recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide in 1915
and recognition is in harmony with the European values he claimed. In
a written statement handed out to reporters, the statement read, “The
Armenian genocide committed in Ottoman Turkey” took place. He said
his country has commemorated the 90th year of the genocide and offered
thanks to the countries recognizing and condemning the genocide. Polan
as the host of the summit joined those countries before April 24,
the alleged date of the genocide in 1915.
Kocharian in his address also referenced the closed Turkish-Armenian
border and said, they want “a Europe with no blockades and
immigrants”. Touching upon the Upper Karabakh issue as well, the
Armenian President called the inclusion of the Upper Karabakh Republic
in Europe. In recent days, he met with Azerbaijan President Ilham
Aliyev and the meeting was interpreted as an attempt to find a solution
for the issue. Following the meeting, it was revealed that Kocharian’s
statement regarding the Upper Karabakh was met with surprise.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“ARMENIAN MAGICIAN FROM LAS-VEGAS” ARRIVES IN YEREVAN ON PRIVATE VISIT
YEREVAN, MAY 19. ARMINFO. The American billionaire of Armenian origin
Kirk Kirkorian arrived in Yerevan on a private visit. Minister of
Armenia Vardan Oskanian informed today. The minister informed that
the visit will last a couple of days. Kirkorian has already met with
President of Armenia Robert Kocharian and walked about the center
of the Armenian capital. He arrived in Yerevan from Cannes, where he
took part in the activity of the film festival.
Through his benevolent foundation “Lincy” Kirk Kirkorian has provided
a colossal assistance to Armenia, allocating in total about 180 mln
U.S. dollars for reconstruction of roads, construction of housing
in the zone of Spitak earthquake of 1988 and under programs of small
business crediting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Russian officials say Kuwaiti militant linked to al-Qaida killed near Chechnya
By STEVE GUTTERMAN
AP Worldstream
May 18, 2005
Russian authorities said Wednesday that a Kuwaiti militant who was
an al-Qaida emissary to Chechnya has been killed by security forces
in a neighboring region, the second statement in as many days linking
foreigners to Chechen rebels.
The alleged militant, who went by the single name Jarah, was killed
Tuesday evening along with another suspect during an operation near
the Chechen border in Dagestan, said Maj.-Gen. Ilya Shabalkin, the
spokesman for the Russian campaign against rebels in Chechnya and
surrounding areas.
In a statement, Shabalkin said Jarah was an al-Qaida emissary
in Chechnya and has close connections with members of the Muslim
Brotherhood, an outlawed Egyptian Islamic movement, and of Al-Haramain,
a Saudi Charity that the kingdom’s government dissolved last year
amid U.S. suspicion that it was bankrolling al-Qaida.
He said Jarah had been a middleman for the funding of Chechen rebels
by foreign terror groups and had helped top rebel leaders _ Shamil
Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed earlier this year _ to
organize “many large terrorist acts.” He did not name any specific
attacks Jarah allegedly helped plan.
Russia authorities say Chechen rebels, fighting their second separatist
war in a decade, have been financed by Islamic terrorist groups abroad
and that many Arab mercenaries have fought alongside the rebels in the
mountainous southern region, in some cases leading groups of militants.
According to Shabalkin, whose claims could not be independently
confirmed, Jarah received training in Taliban terror camps and was
adept at preparing bombs and poisons. He said that Jarah had spent
“a long period of time” in the Pankisi Gorge, a region near Chechnya
in neighboring Georgia, and in Azerbaijan.
While in Georgia and Azerbaijan, he said the Kuwaiti citizen and
unidentified associates received large amounts of money from “foreign
terrorist centers” and sent it along to Russia’s North Caucasus region,
which includes Chechnya.
Jarah also frequently entered Chechnya, where he moved with rebel
groups under Basayev and took part in terror and other attacks,
trained militants in explosives and taught them extremist Muslim
ideology, Shabalkin said. He was also involved in training female
suicide bombers, Shabalkin’s statement said.