Author: Badalian Vardan

Regnum, Moscow, in Russian
22 Sep 05
AZERBAIJAN TO BEAT ARMENIA BY 2015 – EXPERTS SAY
“Drastic changes will take place in favour of Azerbaijan in its
military confrontation with Armenia in the next few years,” this is
the result of an expert poll carried out by the Armenian Assembly of
America (AAA). According to the Yerevan newspaper Azg, 24 American
and west European experts, former officials and analysts took part in
the poll.
About 33% of the respondents consider that Azerbaijan will be able to
gain a military victory over Armenia by 2015. Only 4% consider that
Armenia will gain a victory by 2015. At the same time, 42% of the
respondents said that if the war starts in the near future, the
Armenian side will win, 29% predicted that both sides will lose and
others found it difficult to give a clear answer.
As for the status of Karabakh, 62% of the respondents think that
there is no point in expecting the status quo to change in the near
future.
International experts also expressed their pessimism about future
relations between the USA and Russia and Iran. At the same time, they
predict the further strengthening of American influence in the
Caucasus. They predict that Turkey will not join the European Union
earlier than 2020-25. Ankara will not recognize the Armenian genocide
and strengthen relations with Washington, although the USA might
recognize the Armenian genocide in the next five years, some of the
experts believe.
Asked who in the region will have the greatest impact on Armenia
(positive or negative), 45% said Azerbaijan, 16% – Turkey, 11% –
Russia, 9% – Georgia, as well as Iran, Iraq, etc.

The Irish Times
September 24, 2005
Court ruling could harm Turkey’s bid to join EU
Nicholas Birch in Istanbul
TURKEY: In a decision widely seen as an attempt to sabotage Turkey’s
European Union hopes, an Istanbul court yesterday forced a major
state university to suspend a three-day conference on the fate of the
Ottoman Empire’s Armenians, for the second time.
Another university has said it would try to host the event.
Due to start today, the meeting would have been the first in the
country’s history to question official claims that it was
inter-ethnic war, not a deliberate state policy of mass murder, that
led to the deaths of up to one million in 1915.
The conference had been planned for this May, but was postponed after
Turkey’s justice minister accused organisers of “stabbing the country
in the back”. “If only I had not dispensed with my right to take them
to trial,” Cemil Cicek added.
Mr Cicek’s message was not lost on the judges of Istanbul’s 4th
Administrative Court.
Late on Thursday they informed Bosporus University the meeting
represented a potential breach of the peace and gave organisers 30
days to provide details about participants, speeches and funding,
information that has been known for months.
The writ is disingenuous, analysts say, and probably
unconstitutional.
Late on Thursday prime minister Tayyip Erdogan angrily described the
court’s decision as “incompatible with democracy, freedom and
modernity.”
With Turkey looking likely to start EU accession proceedings on
October 3rd, analysts describe the court’s involvement as evidence of
the depth of opposition to democratisation in bureaucratic and
judicial circles.
“It’s a copybook example of Turkey’s old political ideology”, said
political analyst Dogu Ergil. “Rather than accepting that the state
serves citizens, some still think everything citizens do must be
permitted by the state.”
Nowhere is the mentality that national interests supersede individual
freedoms clearer than in attitudes towards history.
Outside the gates of Bosporus University on Friday morning a group
opposed to the conference distributed leaflets describing
participants as “agents of imperialism . . . working to destroy the
country’s unity.”
“Turkey has the maturity and will to discuss 1915 democratically,”
said Bedri Baykam, opposition deputy and leader of the Patriotic
Movement. “Unfortunately, the other side has neither the courage nor
the brains.” Another protester dismisses conference participants as
agents of the Armenian genocide lobby.
It is a claim historian Aykut Kansu fiercely denies. His speech, he
points out, was due to be about Turks who saved Armenians.
“History in Turkey is too often seen as a matter of public policy,
adhering to ideology rather than free debate,” he says. “The taboo on
1915 is just an extreme version of that.” He knows all about the
political pressures on Turkish universities.
In July he was sacked from his history chair at a well-respected
private university for openly questioning near-hagiographical
official accounts of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The conference decision comes less than a month after another court
charged Orhan Pamuk, Turkey’s best-known novelist, with “slandering
Turkey’s name.”
Pamuk could face up to three years in prison for telling a Swiss
newspaper this February that “one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds”
had been killed in Turkey.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 23 2005
Dr. Berktay: The Participants In The Conference Do Not Have Biased
View
ISTANBUL – A member of the organizing team for the conference titled
”Ottoman Armenians During the Fall of the Empire,” Dr. Halil
Berktay of Sabanci University has indicated today that the
participants in the conference do not have a biased view. ”They
describe themselves as out of the official ideology,” told Dr.
Berktay.
According to Berktay, the Armenian conference has been organized by
Dr. Selim Deringil, Dr. Edhem Eldem, Dr. Caglar Keyder and Dr. Nukhet
Sirman of Bogazici University, Dr. Murat Belge of Bilgi University
and Dr. Cemil Kocak and Dr. Aksin Somel of Sabanci University. The
organization committee has 15 members.
Dr. Berktay referred to a statement made by Turkish Foreign Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul that ”no one hurts us more
than we do” and remarked that the suspension of the conference has
received protests from many political leaders in Turkey.
Asked if the participants in the conference only support one view,
Dr. Berktay noted that ”such an allegation is inaccurate. The
participants in the conference have termed themselves as representing
notions out of the official ideology. Representation of only one side
of the matter is not the actual case,” commented Dr. Berktay.
Dr. Berktay added that the thesis that the Turks committed a genocide
in 1915 is only mentioned twice in 60 presentations or speeches.
Conferences may of course represent different views and opinions,
stated Dr. Berktay.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Higher Board of Education (YOK) released a
statement today that said ”the Istanbul court’s decision to suspend
the Armenian conference is an intervention in universities’ rights to
possess scientific autonomy. Yesterday’s court decision is one that
threatens Turkey’s national values.”
According to Bogazici and Sabanci Universities’ rectors, lawyers
representing the universities have filed an official objection today
to Istanbul Administrative Court no. 4’s decision that suspended the
conference yesterday.
-CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT BILGI UNIVERSITY ON SATURDAY & SUNDAY”-
The Armenian conference will take place at Bilgi University in
Istanbul on Saturday and Sunday. ”Bilgi University will hold the
Armenian conference at its campus for the sake of freedom of thought,
research and expression,” said Rector Dr. Aydin Ugur.

Pan Armenian News
RUSSIA’S EXPERIENCE IN PENSION SYSTEM REFORM USEFUL FOR ARMENIA
23.09.2005 08:01
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian met with
Chairman of the Russian Pension Fund Gennady Batanov, who is in Yerevan on
working visit, RA President’s press center reported. During the meeting the
parties discussed the issues referring to the reformation of the pension
system. Gennady Batanov stated that the Russian party is ready for active
cooperation and that the signing of a corresponding agreement will become an
advance. Robert Kocharian welcomed the initiative and noted that Russia’s
experience in pension system reform will be useful for Armenia.

Pan Armenian News
FINLAND FOR LAUNCHING EU-TURKEY TALKS
24.09.2005 04:28
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «If Turkey fulfills all preconditions for starting the
talks, the EU should launch these, though the final decision should be made
by the European Commission,» Finnish President Tarja Halonen stated.
«Finland has expressed its support to EU enlargement. Turkey has expressed
desire to join the EU before Finland, however, Finland has already been part
of the EU for 10 years. Thus, the EU-Turkey relations have a long history,»
she said. Answering a question on the introduction of the issue of opening
the Armenian-Turkish border to the talks agenda and establishment of
diplomatic relations, the Finnish President said, «I would not like to speak
of subjects that may appear during the talks in detail. However, we usually
expect the candidate states to comply with the Copenhagen criteria. At the
same time Turkey has to recognize all EU member states. Finally, we hope the
candidate countries will have good neighborly relations with all adjacent
countries. We tell all candidates about it, however there are two parties in
this case: neighborhood always provides for relations between the two
countries,» reported Mediamax. It should be noted that September 26-28 Tarja
Halonen will pay an official visit to Armenia.

Pan Armenian News
TURKEY NEVER MET EU CRITERIA
23.09.2005 08:16
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Representatives of various European political forces, who
took part in the conference organized by the European Armenian Federation
stressed that Turkey has never met the EU criteria let it be the Cypriot
issue or problems with Armenia. The conference entitled “December 2004 –
October 2005. Has Turkey changed?” was held in Brussels on September 22 on
the initiative of the Christian Democratic Party of Germany and the Hay Dat
European Committee. Over 200 participants from 15 EU member-states took part
in this conference. In his speech Vice Speaker of the Armenian National
Assembly Vahan Hovhannisian emphasized that Turkey’s aggressive policy
jeopardizes stability in the South Caucasus. To note, yesterday the
conference participants called upon the EU leaders to exercise vigilance,
Yerkir Online reports.

RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 23 2005
Turkish PM disappointed over court’s cancellation of Armenian
genocide conference
12:45 | 23/ 09/ 2005

ANKARA, September 23 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Palariya) – Turkish Prime
Minister Erdogan said Friday he regretted an Istanbul court’s
decision to cancel a planned academic conference on the Armenian
genocide.
“I do not welcome the court’s decision. It goes against democratic
and civilized society,” Erdogan told a news conference.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said he saw the decision as an
attempt of some political forces to sabotage Ankara’s integration
with Europe.
The European Commission also said it was disappointed with the
decision.
The Shishi district court of Istanbul ruled to cancel the conference
Thursday on security reasons.
Several hundreds of scholars and intellectuals were expected at the
unprecedented conference due to discuss events of 1915 when up to a
million of Armenians have been killed.
Armenians want the killings classified as genocide, but Turkey
refuses, pointing to casualties on both sides.
It is the second time the conference has been called off.

Pan Armenian News
RULER OF SHARJAH CONGRATULATED ARMENIA ON INDEPENDENCE DAY
21.09.2005 04:53
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Next week another UAE delegartion ex expected to visit
Armenia, Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member
and Ruler of Sharjahsatted during today’s press conference. Assessing his
visit as efficient he expressed hope that the delegation members will make a
contribution to the development of bilateral relations. The Ruler of Sharjah
also congratulated Armenia with the Independence Day and wished all the
problems impeding the development of the country be resolved.

AZG Armenian Daily #169, 21/09/2005
Holiday
INDEPENDENCE DAY
Today, the Republic of Armenia celebrates its Independence Day. 14 years ago
this day the exclusive majority of Armenia’s population said “yes” to its
centuries-long dream of free and independent fatherland. 14 years were a
vast period for the republic’s population to become disillusioned with the
first then the second presidents and the authorities as a whole. More than 1
million Armenians left the country, fled from independence. Is this the
independence we longed for?
“… A group of mediocre people heinously deceived the people, broke its
back to the extent of creating a yearning for a dependent Armenia. Only
fancy that: one lives in an independent country and misses his dependent
past”, only 4 days ago wrote publicist Pertch Zeytuntsian.
The Independence Day will not cross the threshold of official holiday to
enter every Armenian family as long as presidential, parliamentary and other
elections are being rigged in Armenia as long as the rights of the owners of
independence, the common citizens, are being violated.
By Tatoul Hakobian

ASBAREZ ONLINE
TOP STORIES
09/20/2005
TO ACCESS PREVIOUS ASBAREZ ONLINE EDITIONS PLEASE VISIT OUR
WEBSITE AT <;HTTP:// 1) Cyprus Threatens to Veto EU's Draft Text on Turkey 2) Sharjah Ruler Commemorates Armenian Genocide Victims 3) Youth Activists in Azerbaijan Say They Are Being Targeted By Government 4) Azeri Shots Force OSCE Mission to End Monitoring 5) Catholicos Aram I to Visit Los Angeles Armenian Evangelical Community 1) Cyprus Threatens to Veto EU's Draft Text on Turkey (Bloomberg)--The Cypriot government threatened to veto a European Union (EU) declaration on ties with Turkey, imperiling EU plans to start Turkish membership talks on October 3. The last-minute threat prevented European governments today from agreeing on a response to Turkey's diplomatic boycott of EU member Cyprus and may force the 25-nation bloc to hold an emergency meeting. The UK, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, brokered an accord among diplomats yesterday and expected routine approval today. "There is no agreement yet," Stavros Papagianneas, a spokesman for the Cypriot mission to the EU, said by telephone in Brussels today. "There is a proposal by the UK presidency which is being studied by us." The month-long debate over the declaration has sidetracked the EU, holding up the passage of a negotiating plan for Turkey that needs the backing of all member nations. The plan covers 35 areas from customs and public procurement to energy and fisheries where Turkey would have to meet the bloc's regulatory standards. The Turkish government said in July that its signature of a protocol extending a European trade accord to Cyprus wasn't tantamount to recognizing the Mediterranean island, whose northern tier Turkey has occupied since 1974. Signing the protocol was a condition the EU set in December for starting decade-long membership talks. RECOGNITION The declaration agreed on yesterday by EU government representatives urges Turkey to ensure free trade with Cyprus while moving toward normal political ties "as soon as possible.'" The EU will review progress in 2006, the statement says. "There was approval at ambassadorial level but not ministerial level," Jonathan Allen, a British government spokesman, said by telephone today in Brussels. He said EU diplomats would return to the issue tomorrow and did not exclude the possibility of a special meeting of EU foreign ministers on September 26. "We don't want to drag foreign ministers to Brussels, but if we he have to, we will," Allen said. Papagianneas declined to say when the Cypriot government would decide on its final position and what the government's remaining concerns might be. Cypriot government demands for tougher warnings against Turkey over trade obstacles and non-recognition helped scuttle four attempts to agree on the declaration this month until yesterday's breakthrough among diplomats. The trade curbs include a ban on Cypriot ships unloading goods in Turkish ports and Cypriot planes landing at Turkish airports. Turkey, a nation of 72 million people, is counting on the accession talks to attract record foreign investment to its $300 billion economy. It would be one of the two most populous EU nations along with Germany, become the bloc's first mainly Muslim member and widen the EU's borders to Iraq. 2) Sharjah Ruler Commemorates Armenian Genocide Victims YEREVAN (Armenpress)--The Ruler of Emirate of Sharjah, HH Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, paid his respects, on Tuesday, to the victims of Armenian genocide by visiting Yerevan's Genocide Memorial and a nearby genocide museum. The Sheikh, who is on an official visit to Armenia to open the Days of Arab Culture there, initially met with the head of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences to review scientific cooperation, specifically joint research projects in the near future. "We are happy that, despite the burden of pressing problems, Armenia opens its doors to Sharjah. We respect that, along with the determination to expand our relationship," said the Arab leader. He said that cooperation with Armenia developed after President Robert Kocharian's visit to the United Arab Emirates in April 2002. The Sheikh also met with Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markarian to evaluate implementation of projects in recent years, and the various cooperation agreements the two countries have in place. They spoke of developing economic cooperation, and noted the need to expand their collaboration in the areas education, science, culture, tourism, and the exporting of agricultural products. The prime minister the Sheikh's visit and the celebration of cultural days of Sharjah in Armenia will give new impetus to their relationship. Margarian stressed the importance of establishing an Arab cultural center in Armenia and thanked the Sheikh for readiness to provide financial support. 3) Youth Activists in Azerbaijan Say They Are Being Targeted By Government (Eurasianet.org)--As Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections draw closer, opposition and youth organization representatives say they are feeling increased pressure from the government. Their concerns have been fueled by the recent arrests of youth activists, one of them a Ukrainian citizen. On September 12, Yeni Fikir Deputy chair Said Nuri was detained for 48 hours on suspicion of conspiring to stage a coup against the Azeri government. While attending a training session in Poland that was sponsored by the National Democratic Institute, Nuri allegedly received instruction on organizing anti-government protests with the aim of overthrowing the established order, Azerbaijani officials contend. Nuri had assumed responsibility for running Yeni Fikir, a youth group loosely aligned with the opposition Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, shortly after the August arrest of Ruslan Bashirli, the group's leader. Bashirli was charged with conspiring with Armenian special services to foment unrest in Azerbaijan. The same day as Nuri's detention, Ramin Tagiyev, another Yeni Fikir deputy chairperson, was sentenced to a three-month prison term for his role in a supposed coup plot. The US State Department has sharply criticized Nuri's arrest. In a September 15 interview broadcast by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Azeri Service, Terry Davidson, a US State Department official, expressed concern that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's administration was trying to squelch legitimate domestic political opposition. "The US government is concerned [by] the arrest of youth leaders in Azerbaijan as well as the campaign against the Popular Front Party," Davidson said. `We urge the Azeri government to provide basic civil liberties in preparation for the parliamentary elections, including freedom of assembly, equal access to the media and not being a subject of pressure." In an interview with EurasiaNet, Popular Front Party Chairman Ali Kerimli stated that the arrests were motivated by the authorities' fear of Yeni Fikir's increasing popularity and the related need to reduce youth activism in Azerbaijan. "They [authorities] think that the only way to make these young people stop the struggle is to isolate them," Kerimli said "However, the opposition's rallies demonstrate that, more and more, orange-clad youth have joined the nationwide struggle against dictatorship." The scandals surrounding Yeni Fikir show no signs of abating. On September 15, organization members reportedly discovered three hand grenades and a cartridge of TNT in the group's main office in Baku. Media reported that the police officer called to the scene to investigate refused to remove the explosives. The building also houses the offices of the opposition newspaper Azadliq and the Popular Front. Azadliq Editor Ganimat Zahidov, reportedly accompanied by foreign and local journalists, eventually took a bag with the explosives to the local police station. Zahidov claimed that the explosives were deliberately planted by authorities to provide justification for another Yeni Fikir arrest, and to search the organization's headquarters. Zahidov has since ordered all individuals entering the building to be checked. Police pledged to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, but have not issued any updates. Some human rights activists believe that the arrests of Yeni Fikir members are designed to reduce the potential for an election-related protest in Baku akin to those that occurred in Georgia and Ukraine in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Those protests resulted in regime-change in Tbilisi and Kyiv. Georgian and Ukrainian youth groups played key roles in organizing those demonstrations. "The former leaderships of Georgia and Ukraine never took such tough action against youth leaders," said Saida Gojamanli, director of the Bureau of Human Rights and Law Observance. The arrest of a representative of the Ukrainian youth group Pora in Baku has helped fuel speculation that the government plans to discourage such organizations from playing any role in Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections. Azerbaijani authorities detained Sergei Yevtushenko--an advisor to the Ukrainian foreign minister, and a Pora leader--at Baku airport on September 15. Two days later, he was forcibly returned to Ukraine. Yevtushenko had traveled to Azerbaijan at the invitation of the opposition election bloc Azadliq to attend a conference on democratization in Azerbaijan and Belarus. No official reason was given for Yevtushenko's detention. The Ukrainian consul was allowed to meet with Yevtushenko only after the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry lodged a formal diplomatic protest. In a September 16 interview with Trend news agency, the country's ambassador to Baku, Igor Kizima stated that Azerbaijani officials had violated international agreements by making the Ukrainian consul wait five hours before seeing Yevtushenko. Ukrainian officials also accused Azerbaijan of violating bilateral agreements that provide for a no-visa entry to Azerbaijan for Ukrainian citizens. 4) Azeri Shots Force OSCE Mission to End Monitoring YEREVAN (Armenpress)--An OSCE team had to cut short its routine monitoring of the line of contact between Armenian troops of Mountainous Karabagh and Azeri troops near a village in Fizuli region on Tuesday. At the very start of the monitoring, a single shot in the direction of the Mission was fired from Azeri positions. Andrzej Kasprzyk, the special envoy of the OSCE chairman-in-office supervising the monitoring, reported the observation was ceased for security reasons. Representatives of the Mountainous Karabagh Republic's Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries were accompanying the OSCE mission. 5) Catholicos Aram I to Visit Los Angeles Armenian Evangelical Community The Armenian Evangelical Union of North America has announced that His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia has accepted the Church's invitation to visit the Evangelical community of Southern California, during His upcoming Pontifical visit to the Western Prelacy, October 5-19. The Evangelical Church will welcome the Catholicos on Friday, October 7, 3PM at the United Armenian Congregational Church located at 3480 Cahuenga Blvd. West, in Los Angeles. A reception will follow at the adjoining Ayvazian Hall. 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) 2005 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.