Author: Boshkezenian Garik

FINNISH PRESIDENT HALONEN REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN ALLEGATIONS
Journal of Turkish Weekly
Sept 28 2005
Kezban TUNCOVA, YEREVAN (JTW) During her visit to Armenia on Tuesday,
Finland President Tarja Halonen found herself in the middle of
a discussion on the sensitive issue of the so-called Armenian
massacres. Armenians argue that the 1915 Relocation Decision of the
Ottoman Empire was a genocide and Turkey should admit it. However
Turkey has never accepted the allegations. Turkish historians say the
1915 Relocation Campaign was a measure to prevent Armenian attacks
against the Ottoman Army. The Armenians rioted against the Istanbul
Government in order tyo establish their own state. More than 520,000
Turkish people were massacred by the Armenian armed groups during
the First World War.
The discussion took place soon after the Finnish President had laid a
wreath at a monument to the victims of the 1915 events in the Armenian
capital Yerevan. Armenian journalists asked the Finnish President if
she would publicly recognise the 1915 events as a genocide.
Finnish President Halonen avoided a direct response to the questions,
saying instead “We are building a common future with Armenia”.
According to the President, Finland is not in the habit of giving
recognition to historical events. She said that every generation has
the right to re-examine history, and every country has a right to its
own history. She added that countries should not become prisoners of
history. Similarly Turkish prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had called the
Armenian side to establish a joint committee to discuss the historical
disputes between Turkey and Armenia. However the Armenian FM Oskanian
rejected the offer. Turkey also says both countries should focus on
today and current problems instead of obsessively focusing on the
past. Dr. Sedat Laciner from Ankara based Turkish think-tank USAK –
ISRO (International Strategic Research Organization) said “we should
not sacrifice today for the past. Both sides made mistakes in the
past and we cannot change the history. But we can construct the
future together”.
Finnish package tours to Armenia have already begun this year.
Currently, a fifth fairly small group of Finnish tourists are in
Yerevan.
On Tuesday President Halonen held talks with Armenian President Robert
Kochharian and other politicians on trade, Armenian-Turkish relations,
the dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as Turkey’s
possible membership in the European Union.
The same issues came up when Halonen, who received an honorary
doctorate, spoke to students at Yerevan State University. The Finnish
President defended Turkish EU membership, which Armenia opposes,
because of Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh
issue. She said that Turkish EU membership would benefit the whole
region, including Armenia. On the question of Nagorno-Karabakh – an
ethnically Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan – Halonen offered the
autonomous status of Finland’s Åland Islands as a model. A fiery-eyed
student responded: “Azerbaijan is not Sweden”.
Armenia has occupied almost 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories
for more than a decade and the EU and the OSCE named Armenia as
‘occupier’ in the Karabakh. Armenia also does not recognize Turkey’s
and Azerbaijan’s national borders.
Dr. Davut Sahiner from ISRO told to the JTW that Turkey’s EU membership
will be very usefull in solving the regional problems in the region:
“The old order has to be changed in the Caucasus. The economical
and political structure of the Caucaus should be integrated into the
European and Western systems. And an EU member-Turkey could play a
vital role in doing so. Armenia right now has border problems and the
irredentist Armenian groups manipulate the Armenian politics. Turkey,
Georgia, Azerbaijain and Armenia should integrate their economies.
However the Karabakh issue prevent any development. As the EU and
the US urge the Yerevan, Armenia should withdraw from the occupied
territories.”
–Boundary_(ID_YIjAZCKDOJbJwGinXZfn9Q)–

COUNTDOWN TO TURKEY EU TALKS
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Sept 28 2005
Barring any last minute hiccups, Turkey will start accession
negotiations on October 3 that are expected to last for at least ten
years and are unlikely to be smooth sailing.
One of the trickiest aspects will be transport, following Turkey’s
declaration that it does not recognise Cyprus and indications by
politicians that it has no intention of opening air and transport
routes to Cyprus.
A draft political declaration that will be studied by the COREPER
meeting of EU foreign ministers this week with the aim of presenting
it to Turkey when it starts EU accession negotiations next Monday,
will emphasise that Turkey’s progress in the negotiations will depend
in implementing its commitments.
According to CNA, part of the declaration says “The monitoring of
your commitments will become a key element for taking, in the Council
context, the necessary decisions on the conduct of negotiations with
you. Particular attention will be paid to the implementation of the
Protocol regarding the adaptation of the Ankara Agreement, on which
the EU’s position was set out in its Declaration of 20 September 2005”.
Turkey is therefore unlikely to be able to open the transport chapter
until the Ankara Protocol is implemented.
At the Maritime Cyprus Conference this week, Transport Commissioner
Jacques Barrot said “Personally, I think the chapter on transport,
which means free movement of goods, can’t be opened unless there is
a change on the part of the government of Turkey”.
Cyprus’ transhipment industry has suffered from the fact that it
cannot use Turkey’s ports.
Paragraph 4 of the draft declaration says “negotiations are taking
place in an Intergovernmental Conference with the participation of
all Member States, as well as your country”.
Following an attempt by a Turkish court to prevent a conference on the
Armenian genocide from taking place in Turkey last week, the draft
also underlines the need for Turkey towards “full implementation of
the pre-accession strategy and reforms, in particular as regards
strengthening the independence and functioning of the judiciary,
the overall framework for the exercise of fundamental freedoms
(association, expression and religion), cultural rights, the further
alignment of civil-military relations with European practice and the
situation in the Southeast of the country”.
It also calls on Turkey actively to promote regional stability.
In an attempt to incorporate Austria’s wishes that Turkey be offered
an alternative to full membership, to the draft says that member
states will decide whether the conditions are right to complete the
negotiations.

ARMENIA BECOMES ADB MEMBER
Armenpress
Sept 27, 2005
MANILA, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS: Armenia has become the 64th member
of Asian Development Bank (ADB). Armenia’s membership became effective
on 20 September 2005 upon completion of all formalities.
Armenia has subscribed to 10,557 shares of the capital stock. ADB’s
authorized capital stock is 3,509,728 shares equivalent to US$51.6
billion.
The Asian Development Bank is dedicated to reducing poverty in the
Asia and Pacific regions through pro-poor sustainable economic growth,
social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is
owned by 64 members, with 46 from the region. In 2004, it approved
loans and technical assistance totaling $5.3 billion and $196.6
million, respectively.

HOPELESS REFERENDUM
A1+
| 12:36:48 | 26-09-2005 | Social |
The chances for the Constitutional amendments to be adopted
are rather low, at least for the time being. The results of the
internet poll organized by “A1+” last week come to prove that 73.6%
of the participants of the voting have negative attitude towards the
Constitutional amendments.
318 citizens have answered the poll question “How will you vote at
the upcoming referendum on constitutional amendments?” The votes have
been distributed the following way:
I will not vote – 40.3%
Against – 33.3%
For – 21.4%
Undecided – 5.0%
This week our poll question is “Who should appoint members of
independent committees?” The opinion of every reader is important in
order to get the whole picture.
print version |
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NO NEWS FROM ARABKIR
A1+
| 19:55:28 | 25-09-2005 | Politics |
At 05:00 p.m. the Central Electoral Committee has no new information
about the number of voters in Arabkir. In Kentron community 29 980 of
the 85 thousand electors have already voted. In the other communities
the scene is the following: Ajapnyak – 17 077 from 71 615, Davtashen
– 9 000 from 25 481, Avan – 9 455 from 34 746, Malatia-Sebastia –
22 600 from 84 493, Shengavit – 10 500 from 95 140.
In Shengavit the electors are still the most passive of all: only 11%
of them have voted so far. The highest level of activity has been
recorded in Kentron and Davtashen – more than 35% of the electors
has participated in the elections.
By the way, there have been cases when the citizens called the Central
Electoral Committee to learn whether they can vote with the old Soviet
red passports, or where their electoral area is.

DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Sept 23 2005
ROBERT KOCHARYAN MET JOHN HUNTSMAN
On September 22 RA President Robert Kocharyan met an American
businessman, President of the `Huntsman’ Corporation John Huntsman.
According to the information De Facto got at the RA President’s press
service, the owner of the `Sharp and Associates’ company James Edgar
Sharp and the owner of the `Reaud, Morgan and Quinn’ company Wayne
Allison Reaud participated in the meeting as well.
In the course of the meeting Robert Kocharyan stated Armenians
remembered with gratitude John Huntsman, who had reached his hand to
the Armenian nation after the earthquake in Spitak in 1988.
`I am happy to visit Armenia again,’ said Jon Huntsman having noted
he intended to realize a number of programs in educational and health
care fields. Robert Kocharyan voiced confidence that the cooperation
would go on and John Huntsman’s ideas would become a reality.

kurdishinfo.com, Germany
Sept 24 2005
The Armenian Conference is protested by the nationalists and Labor
party fans

ISTANBUL (DIHA) – A group of protesters formed by the nationalists
and fans of Labor Party came to the Bilgi University, where the
postponed Armenian Conference is to be held, and protested those
coming to the conference.
The nationalist protesters gathered in front of the Dolapdere Campus
of Bilgi University before the conference and shouted slogans such as
‘Either love or leave’. After a while another group of protesters
holding Turkish flags and a placard saying ‘The Armenian Genocide is
an international conspiracy’ joined to the former group. They
frequently shouted slogans saying ‘The government resign’, ‘Tayyip to
America’, ‘We do not want to Soros in the universities’ and ‘Either
liberty or death’.
Giving a speech, the province chairman of Labor Party Erkan Önsel
claimed that the aim of the conference if to divide the national
state. He said the rectors of Bogazici, Sabanci and Bilgi
Universities should immediately resign.
On the other hand the protesters booed to the ex-deputy and ex-leader
of SHP Erdal Inonu coming to the conference.
The conference is expected to be launched in Bilgi University where
there are dense security precautions while the tension is still on
peak.

Armenpress
VIC DARCHINYAN TO ATTEND OPENING OF BOXING SCHOOL
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: An Australia-based Armenian boxer Vic
Darchinyan, who retained his 2004 International Boxing Federation and 2005
International Boxing Organization flyweight titles, told during a rare visit
to his homeland he was preparing to defend one of his titles versus Damian
Kelly from Ireland.
Vic Darchinyan retained his International Boxing Federation flyweight
title with a fifth-round technical knockout on August 24 over Jair Jimenez
at the Sydney Entertainment Center.
This is his first visit to homeland in two year time. Darchinyan who is
from Vanadzor said he will be present at a September 21 opening of a boxing
school in his native town. Darchinyan won all 24 fights, 19 by knock outs.
He also said he may move from Australia to US where professional box is more
developed.

ISLAMIC DEFENDERS DENY COVER-UP FOR WOMEN’S GAMES
Middle East Times, Egypt
Sept 22 2005
TEHRAN — Supporters of Iran’s Islamic Women’s Games have dismissed
arguments that the event is a sideshow to gag women competitors denied
access to the Olympic Games.
“We are seeking to empower and encourage Muslim women, who are absent
from the international sports grounds due to their beliefs,” said
Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,
who started the games in 1993.
French basketball umpire Chantal Julien, who officiated at the 2001
Games, added: “It’s clear some of them would like to compete abroad.
However, they do not believe they’re prisoners.”
Since the Islamic revolution Iranian women have been mostly banned
from international sporting events due to the obligatory headscarf
and long coat that they must wear in front of men.
Under the previous reformist government of the last eight years, Iran
started sending women athletes to competitions abroad in the events
where women are able to compete and wear the veil, such as shooting,
taekwondo, fencing, canoeing, chess and horse riding.
In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iran had a sole female
representative – Nassim Hassanpour – in pistol shooting.
An American Muslim runner is to be the first woman to represent the
US in Iran, although photographers will not be allowed to record the
event, which runs from September 22 to 28.
Saira Kureshi, 26, will race in the 800 and 1500 meters in the fourth
all-women games.
Male coaches, referees and spectators are banned from the Games
except for golf, shooting and archery, where participants are modestly
dressed and veiled.
Only these three competitions are open to male spectators and can be
photographed or filmed, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies
since the women appear in Islamic wear.
In order to attract more athletes, this year non-Muslim women have been
allowed to participate as long as they are on the national teams of
their countries and agree to compete under the stipulated conditions.
Sportswomen from 48 countries, many of them Islamic, will compete in
18 sports. Iran’s Christian northern neighbor, Armenia, is sending
17 teams.
Athletics, shooting, table tennis and taekwondo have attracted the
most participants.
The weeklong event has few sponsors and has been allocated a budget of
10 billion Iranian riyals ($1.1 million), which according to Hashemi
“is barely enough” to cover costs.
“The games do not satisfy sponsors as there are no television cameras
to show their advertisements,” she explained.
Although Iran has been approached by other Muslim countries such as
Pakistan and Qatar wanting to host the games, Hashemi sees little
chance of them leaving Iran.
“Other countries have different interpretations of Islam. I am not
sure they would be able to hold the games like us with such observance
of Islamic rules,” she said.
Pakistan blotted its book by sending a woman swimmer to Athens.
And it is difficult to see the likes of a Nawal Al Moutawakel or
Hassiba Boulmerka emerging from these Games.
Morocco’s Moutawakel became the first woman from an Islamic nation to
win an Olympic medal and the first Moroccan athlete of either sex to
win a gold medal when she won the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Los
Angeles Olympics.
In 1998 Moutawakel was chosen to be a member of the International
Olympic Committee.
Boulmerka scored a stunning upset victory in the 1,500 meters at the
1991 World Athletics Championships. When she returned to Algiers she
was hailed as a national heroine and as a model for Arab women who
wanted to break away from restrictive roles. But she was also condemned
by Islamic fundamentalists and was forced to move to Europe to train.
She went on to win the 1992 Olympic gold medal.
But International Olympic Committee member Anita De Frantz of the
United States, a 1976 Olympic rowing bronze medal winner, refused to
close the door.
“It’s a step [for Muslim women] toward the Olympic Games,” she said
recently.

AZG Armenian Daily #169, 21/09/2005
Visit
SEN. JACK SCOTT ARRIVES IN ARMENIA
19 September, US senator Jack Scott arrived in Yerevan accompanied by
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party members and chairs of the party’s western
regional administration. Sen. Jack Scott represents the regions of Pasadena,
Glendale and Burbank with the densest Armenian population of 150.000.
During his 5-day visit the senator will hold a number of official meetings
with high-ranking Armenian officials, will visit the office of “Hayastan”
All-Armenian Fund, the Monument of Genocide Victims, the office of
California-Armenia trade union, Holy See of Etchmiadzin as well as other
cultural sites.
The accompanying ADL delegation is headed by Ara Aharonian.