Author: Boshkezenian Garik

TURKEY TO SET UP PROFESSIONAL ANTI-TERRORISM UNITS

Today’s Zaman
07 October 2008, Tuesday
Turkey

The government has plans to launch a new strategy in the fight against
terrorism. Under the new plan, only professional teams will fight
terrorists and a temporary security zone in northern Iraq may be set
up along the Iraqi border.

Turkey’s search for a new strategy to fight terrorists of the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Southeast has taken a decisive turn
following an attack at the Aktutun military outpost in Hakkari last
Friday in which 15 soldiers were slain. PM Tayyip Erdogan announced
on Saturday that Turkey will implement a new strategy, without giving
any further details.

Prime Minister Erdogan immediately called a meeting of the Higher
Counterterrorism Board (TMYK) after Friday’s attack and consulted
with top representatives from Turkey’s security forces. Yesterday he
met with some of his Cabinet ministers to lay out the structure of
the new strategy, which will be finalized at the next TMYK meeting,
scheduled for Thursday.

The key feature of the new strategy, according to a senior security
official who asked not to be identified, is having professional
troops conduct operations against terrorist organizations. The idea
of establishing a professional army, first proposed in June 2007
by then-Land Forces Commander Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug, will become a
reality under the new plan, the same source said. A new special
force, initially of 7,000 privates from gendarmerie operation
battalions and ranger brigades, will be deployed in the region as
soon as possible. In the following year, an additional 8,000 will
be recruited to the new force. The recruitment process will be on a
voluntary basis. The minimum salary will be $2,000. In other words,
no longer will unprofessional soldiers deployed in the region after
a short period of basic military training be conducting military
campaigns against terrorism. Conscription soldiers will be acting in
the background as supporting units. The professional units will be
deployed along Turkey’s eastern frontiers, from the Armenian border
to the Syrian border.

A special operation command already established under the National
Police Department will be fortified to protect against potential
urban terrorist attacks. Another possibility, according to the same
source, is that governors of the provinces hit worst by terrorism
will be granted special authorities to allow garrison commanders
to conduct operations against terrorists at any time. However, the
government is not warm to the idea, which is reminiscent of the
Emergency Rule Regions (OHAL), areas placed under martial law in
Turkey’s Southeast that remained so well into the beginning of the
2000s. The military is also demanding certain temporary amendments
to restrictions established in the Criminal Procedures Law. Justice
Minister Mehmet Ali Å~^ahin is expected to brief Prime Minister
Erdogan on the military’s demands. The government is determined not
to step back from the democratizing reforms Turkey has made during
the European Union harmonization process.

One of Turkey’s greatest concerns in fighting terrorism is PKK camps
located in the Zap, Avashin, Hakurk and Basyan regions of northern
Iraq. The government is set to ask northern Iraq to set up temporary
security zones in these areas, where the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)
will be in charge of ensuring security. President Abdullah Gul is
expected to take up the issue very soon with Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani.

According to this plan, which heavily relies on Iraq’s consent,
Turkish troops will provide security across an area extending 40
kilometers into northern Iraq from the southeastern province of
Hakkari. Large military outposts will be set up along the border,
protected by large steel barriers, not unlike the NATO missions’
posts in Afghanistan. The government is also determined to deal with
European countries, which have been inactive over the sale of arms
to the PKK, which usually gets its weapons from Europe.

The TMYK determined that a delay in the delivery of Heron unmanned
air vehicles (UAVs) ordered from Israel has also caused difficulties
in obtaining intelligence in northern Iraq. Turkey will work to speed
up the delivery process to ensure enhanced intelligence gathering in
the region.

–Boundary_(ID_tLO3/ESUnkLy3lIwrWqBxQ)–

PM TIGRAN SARGSYAN TO PARTAKE IN THE ANNUAL FORUM OF THE IMF AND THE WORLD BANK

armradio.am
07.10.2008 13:49

October 9-15 RA Prime minister Tigran Sargsyan will leave for
Washington to participate in the annual forum of the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund.

The delegation headed by the Prime Minister comprises RA Minister
of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan, Minister of Finance Tigran Davtyan,
Adviser to RA President on Economic Issues Vahram Nersisyants, Head
of Government’s Staff David Sargsyan, President of the Central bank
of Armenia Arthur Javadyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosyan,
Armenian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the US Tatul
Margaryan, other officials.

HIERARCHS OF WORLD ORTHODOXY PARTICIPATED ECUMENICAL SERVICES IN ARMENIA

Portal-Credo.Ru
Oct 1, 2008
Russia

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople (Ecumenical Patriarchate),
Metropolitan Valentine of Orenburg and Buzuluk (Moscow Patriarchate)
and representatives of eleven more "sister-churches" accompanied
Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II inblessing the Chrism for
Armenian Apostolic Church in Etchmiadzin on September 28.

Armenian Apostolic Church uses two relics to bless the Chrism: the
Right Hand of St. Gregory, the Enlightener of Armenia, and Holy Spear
of Crucifixion. During the ceremony of blessing the Chrism, the Right
Hand of St. Gregory was used by Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
(Monophysites), and the Holy Spear was given to Patriarch Bartholomew
of Constantinople (World Orthodoxy).

The following Church leaders and representatives participated the
ceremony: Metropolitan Valentine of the Diocese of Orenburg and
Buzuluk, of the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate;
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches, who led the delegation for the Roman Catholic Church;
His Bishop Benjamin of Menoufeya from the Coptic Orthodox Church;
Metropolitan Mor Eustathius Matta Roham of Jazirah and Euphrates
of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East;
H.G. Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasios, Metropolitan of the Chengannur
Diocese who led the delegation of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian
Church of India; Geoffrey Rowell, Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe of
the Anglican Church, Mgr. Vartan Ashkarian, General Representative
of the Patriarchal Eparchy of the Armenian Catholic Church; Father
Yeghia Kilaghbian, Abbot of the Armenian Mkhitarist Congregation
of San Lazzaro; as well as representeatives from the World Council
of Churches, and the organization "World Conference of Religions
for Peace".

The day before (on September 28) the same members of "sister-churches"
presided by Garegin II served a memorial service for the victims
of the Armenian Genocide. Prior to the start of the service, a
wreath was laid at the memorial. During the service the participants
offered joint prayers in their own languages for the victims of the
Genocide. Following the service, members of the delegations visited
the Genocide Museum.

KARABAGH MUST TAKE THE INITIATIVE
Karine Asatryan

A1+
[08:47 pm] 30 September, 2008

Russian Communist Party leader and member of the PACE Russian
delegation Genadi Ziuganov believes that the Russian-Georgian war was
planned beforehand by the unruly adventurer [Georgian President Mikhail
Sahakashvili] and feels sorry that the Georgian people play by his
rules. During the Strasburg press conference today Ziuganov recalled
that World War I and II began as a result of the provocation of a
psycho and mentioned a couple of motives for the Georgian President
to start the war:

1.Sahakashvili was on the verge of downfall-he falsified the elections.

2.NATO integration was constantly postponed

The U.S. is getting ready for elections, is in a financial crisis
and needs support

Since, according to Ziuganov, it was impossible to start a war
against Iran now, the war broke out in Georgia. Ziuganov stressed a
couple of times the importance of the right to self-determination
of nations. What is Ziuganov’s view on the Nagorno-Karabagh peace
settlement? Is it possible to see the Russian State Duma recognize
Artsakh’s independence as it recognized the independence of Abkhazia
and Southern Osetia? In response to these questions, Genadi Ziuganov
reminded that he has met several times with Abkhazian president
Sergey Bagapshi, there have been special visits and discussions. As
far as Nagorno-Karabagh is concerned: "Go ahead, Karabagh must take
the initiative."

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

THE PARTICIPATION OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN THE MEETING
OF THE WCC’S EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) convened in
Lubeck, Germany on September 22-26. The WCC Executive Committee meets twice
a year and is accountable to the Central Committee.

Representing the Armenian Church at the meeting were Archbishop Vicken
Aykazian (Catholicosate of All Armenians) and Bishop Nareg Alemezian
(Catholicosate of Cilicia).

The agenda of the meeting featured the presentation of the General Secretary’s
report, the extension of his term by another year, the adoption of the
presidents’ assessment report, discussion of the 2009-2010 budget, the
presentation of future projects, the evaluation of the staff’s work and the
adoption of specific WCC positions on urgent socio-political issues.

The participants in the meeting agreed on extending the term of General
Secretary Dr. Sam Kobia until December 31 2009. They also decided to recruit
the Catholicosate of Cilicia’s candidate, Ms. Carla Khijoyan, as the
director of the department ‘justice, social service and commitment towards
creativity.’

On September 22 Bishop Nareg visited the center of the Lutheran Church in
Lubeck, which deals with refugees. Meeting with officials from the center,
His Holiness said: "I am the grandson of survivors from the Armenian
Genocide. The collective sorrow of the Genocide still pushes us to pursue
justice and the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to prevent other
genocides from being carried out."

Bishop Nareg also met the Head of Germany’s Evangelical Churches, Bishop
Wolfgang Huber, the former General Secretaries of WCC, Dr. Philip Potter and
Dr. Konrad Raiser, who spoke about His Holiness Aram I’s significant
contribution to the ecumenical movement and the WCC’s achievements during
his term as moderator of the Council. Bishop Nareg in his turn conveyed the
Armenian Pontiff’s greetings to his companions.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

SERZH SARGSYAN: MEETING OF ARMENIAN, TURKISH AND AZERBAIJANI FOREIGN MINISTERS HAS HAD NO SPECIFIC RESULT SO FAR

ArmInfo
2008-09-29 15:07:00

ArmInfo. Meeting of Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
has had no specific result so far, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
told journalists Monday when commenting on the meeting of the foreign
ministers in New York on 27 September.

The ministers discussed developments in the South Caucasus and the idea
of establishing "Security and Cooperation Platform in Caucasus." ‘The
result of such meetings will become visible in future’, the president
said. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan initiated the
establishment of Security and Cooperation Platform in Caucasus. It
must be based of OSCE principles and involved Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan, Turkey and Russia.

CANDIDATE TO THE POST OF ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER TO RAISE EFFECTIVENESS OF PARLIAMENT ACTIVITY

ArmInfo
2008-09-29 13:59:00

ArmInfo. Candidate to the post of Armenian parliament speaker,
ex-ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan is going to raise effectiveness of
parliament activity.

She said in her speech, that the present activity of the National
Assembly is shameful and is not in line with activity of a state
which pretends to be democratic. She is going to resolve the problem
is elected. She also added the parliament has been turned into a club
where certain group of persons is resolving their problems. Moreover,
in fact the parliament has found itself beyond the interests of many
public organizations. Alaverdyan also said if elected, she is going
to take efforts for recognition of the NKR independence and for
improvement of Armenia’s relations with its neighbours.

STEPAN DEMIRCHIAN: ELECTIONS SHOULD NOT BE CRIMINALIZED

Noyan Tapan

Se p 24, 2008

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, NOYAN TAPAN. "The opposition is now accused of
politicizing the elections, but the elections are just a political
process, it is a different matter that elections should not be
criminalized," Stepan Demirchian, the Chairman of the People’s Party
of Armenia, stated at the September 24 press conference.

According to him, the opposition will continue the legal way
considering that they can achieve a result only in case they fight
within the framework of the Constitution.

As regards possible change of tactics of fight carried out by the
opposition against the authorities, the PPA leader said that there is
always a necessity to correct tactics, but it does not mean that no
rallies will be held. Meanwhile, according to Demirchian, opposition’s
fight will not be limited to only holding of rallies.

Touching upon the investigation regarding the March 1 events,
S. Demirchian stressed that no unbiassed investigation has been carried
out up to the present, on the contrary, the policy of slurring over
the case and laying the blame on the opposition continues. As regards
hearing through opposition figures, according to Stepan Demirchian,
"they would rather hear through and publish talks of Robert Kocharian
and a murderer, whose name I do not want to mention."

MID-EAST QUARTET ‘HAS LOST GRIP’

BBC NEWS
iddle_east/7634894.stm
2008/09/25 09:07:52 GMT

The Quartet of international powers has "lost its grip" on the
Middle East peace process which it is meant to foster, a group of
aid agencies says.

In a damning report, the agencies say the Quartet – Russia, the US,
the EU and the UN – is failing in its mission.

Conditions for Palestinians, which it was meant to improve, have
worsened since peace talks recommenced under US sponsorship in 2007,
the agencies say.

In the West Bank there was an increase in Israeli settlement and
travel curbs.

The report was issued ahead of a Quartet meeting in New York on Friday.

"The Annapolis process [launched by the US in November 2007] was
meant to herald a new dawn for the Middle East peace process," said
Christian Aid director Daleep Mukarji.

Unless there is a swift and dramatic improvement, it will be necessary
to question what the future is for the Middle East Quartet Aid
agency report

"Nearly one year on, we are seeing exponential settlement growth,
additional check-points and – because of this – further economic
stagnation.

"The Quartet is losing its grip on the Middle East peace process."

There has been no immediate response from the Quartet, whose
representative in the region is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Missed objectives

The Bush administration wanted the November 2007 peace summit at
Annapolis to lead to a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians
before it left office but this is looking increasingly unlikely.

The coalition of 21 aid agencies – including Oxfam, Save the Children,
Care, Cafod and World Vision – warned that the peace process would
fall apart unless the Quartet made swift and dramatic progress towards
its goals.

The report says there has been no change in a number of the 10 main
objectives set by the Quartet to help improve the daily lives of the
Palestinians and in five of them an actual deterioration.

It had failed to hold Israel to account for expanding the settlements
on occupied land, the report added.

The agencies say this week’s Quartet meeting would take place at "a
critical moment to demonstrate that it can play an effective role in
bringing peace to the Middle East".

"Unless there is a swift and dramatic improvement, it will be necessary
to question what the future is for the Middle East Quartet," it said.

"We are facing a vacuum in leadership," said Care International
representative Martha Myers. "The Quartet’s credibility is on the
line."

MENENDEZ HAMMERS TURKEY’S "HISTORICAL COMMISSION" PROPOSAL

armradio.am
25.09.2008 14:55

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez pressed U.S. Ambassador to Turkey
nominee James Jeffrey to explain the Administration’s apparent
renewed backing for Turkey’s widely discredited push for a "historical
commission" on the Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National
Committee of America (ANCA).

The move comes despite the State Department’s pledge, made during the
nomination process for U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch,
to oppose efforts that would open to debate the fact that Ottoman
Turkey used mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced deportations
to destroy over one and half million Armenians.

"We want to share our special thanks with Senator Menendez for,
once again, shining a powerful international spotlight on the
Administration’s policy of complicity in Turkey’s denial of the
Armenian Genocide," stated ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. "We
are especially for his incisive line of questioning regarding the State
Department’s flawed and inconsistent position on Turkey’s self-serving
proposal for a historical commission. A clear illustration of the
bankruptcy of the Administration’s policy on the Armenian Genocide
was the nominee’s convoluted response to the simple question, posed
by Senator Menendez: ‘If Turkey would be willing to recognize the
Armenian Genocide, would the United States be willing to do so?’"

Ambassador-Designate Jeffrey’s confirmation hearing was chaired by
Senator John Kerry (D-MA), who, in his opening remarks, cited his
decades-long support for Congressional reaffirmation of the Armenian
Genocide. Following Amb. Jeffrey’s testimony, Sen. Kerry led the
questioning on the Armenian Genocide, asking if the nominee could
"assure the Committee that the Administration is not supporting –
financially, rhetorically, or otherwise – an effort to convene a
commission to settle an historical debate [on the Armenian Genocide]
– that in effect is not a debate."

Jeffrey responded, "Mr. Chairman, as you have indicated, the
Administration recognizes and mourns, and is very, very, very concerned
about the historical facts, which include, as you said, the mass
killing and the forced exile of up to 1.5 million Armenians at the
end of the Ottoman Empire. We support, as President Bush made clear in
his recent statement on March 24th, the open effort on both sides to
get to the bottom of the historical facts and to move forward as part
of a reconciliation process both to establish closer and eventually
full relations and to work out these dark chapters in the past."

Sen. Kerry followed up, asking if Jeffrey is, in effect saying that
"we are supportive of the historical commission itself and its goal? Or
are we supportive of simply maintaining the historical records?"

Jeffrey responded: "We are supportive of anything the two sides
mutually agree on, Sir. And as part of any process, there should be
a full and open review of the events of that time."

Jeffrey’s response sparked a series of probing questions from
Senator Menendez, who opened his remarks by expressing his "dismay"
at Jeffrey’s answers, arguing, "that puts us before where we were
when we had the Ambassador designee to Armenia [Marie Yovanovitch]
being interviewed."

Senator Menendez then quoted extensively from a July, 2008, letter
from Asst. Secretary of Legislative Affairs Matthew Reynolds, issued
to clarify various responses that U.S.

Ambassador to Armenia Marie Yovanovitch had given during her
confirmation hearing. The letter explained that, a proposed effort to
bring Turkish and Armenian archivists to the U.S. is not a means to
"open a debate on whether the Ottomans committed these horrendous acts;
it is to help preserve the documentation that supports the truth of
those events." The letter went on to note that "the Administration
recognizes that the mass killings, ethnic cleansing, and forced
deportations of over one and a half million Armenians were conducted
by the Ottoman Empire. We indeed hold Ottoman officials responsible
for those crimes."

Sen. Menendez, concerned that Jeffrey had veered away from
Administration policy articulated in the Reynolds letter, asked "The
historical facts, as I see it, have now been admitted to by the State
Department and clearly stated as such." And I don’t get the sense
that’s what you’re telling us, so that puts a complication in this
process. Maybe you can help us out."

Jeffrey was again evasive, responding that, "what assistant
Sec. Reynolds wrote is U.S. government policy and we stand by it. What
I was trying to convey was that it is also important for Turks and
Armenians to move forward on a joint effort to work on these issues
to come to some kind of, to the extent they can, common view of the
historical past."

Menendez shot back, asking "Why would we support an initiative that
ultimately doubts whether those are the historical facts? If the Turks
seek to do it, that’s one thing. But why would we be supportive of
an effort that ultimately undermines the very position that the State
Department has?"

Jeffrey responded in generalities, noting "In conflicts such as this,
Senator, we believe, and we apply this across the board in the many
conflicts that I have been involved in, we have an obligation to the
historical record and to our citizens to have our own views, but
it is also important to encourage the various sides on a dispute,
be it this one, be it others, to try to come to some sort of joint
understanding of the past and a joint way forward for the future."

Menendez then went back to Sen. Kerry’s original question once
again. "Would you then, as Ambassador, be someone who would advocate
rhetorically, financially or otherwise, that the commission should be
constituted and move forward?" Jeffrey responded: "The effort that
can be taken for people to review openly the facts of that period
would be supported by me."

Sen. Menendez would later return to Amb. Jeffrey for a second round of
questioning, expressing frustration that the lack of "straight answers"
from Ambassadors precludes Senators from making "straight judgments"
on key foreign policy issues. He then asked Amb. Jeffrey, simply, if
"If Turkey would be willing to recognize the Armenian Genocide, would
the United States be willing to do so?" Jeffrey initially replied
that he "can’t commit the Administration to any future action,"
but upon further questioning stated, that while Turkish recognition
would be important, "there would be other factors that would have
to be weighed, such as our general approach to other conflicts in
the region and taking positions. The relationship between Turkey
and Armenia is a major factor in the policies we take, the words we
use. But there are other factors as well, sir."

Menendez ended his questioning on the Administration’s Armenian
Genocide policy by asking whether Jeffrey would follow in the footsteps
of Undersecretary Edelman and Assistant Secretary of State Dan Fried,
who, according to multiple press accounts, last October, traveled
to Turkey to "express regret" at House Foreign Affairs Committee
passage of Armenian Genocide legislation. "Senator," said Jeffrey,
"I never have and I never will express regret. This is an independent
and equal organ of the U.S. government and it deserves the respect
of everyone, everywhere in the world."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman and Vice-Presidential
nominee Joe Biden and other Committee members are set to submit
additional questions to Ambassadorial nominee, who may be confirmed
as early as Friday of this week.