Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
16. Februar 2007 Freitag

Wo Mörder heranwachsen;
Die Türkei, die Taviani-Armenier und das "Tal der Wölfe"

ISTANBUL, 15. Februar

Die Telefone bei RTÜK, der Aufsichtsbehörde für das Radio und
Fernsehen der Türkei, waren heiß gelaufen. In den ersten sechs Wochen
dieses Jahres haben 16 597 Türken die Beschwerdenummer der Behörde
gewählt. Sie wollten sich zur Fortsetzung der Fernsehserie "Tal der
Wölfe" äußern. Als Serienheld war Polat Alemdar, der selbsternannte
Retter der türkischen Nation mit Kontakten zur Unterwelt, bereits
einmal in Aktion. Dann folgte im vergangenen Jahr die Fortsetzung im
Kino. Sie löste in Europa eine Debatte über den Seelenzustand des
türkischen Volkes aus.

Nun setzte der private Sender Show TV am 8. Februar die Serie fort.
22,4 Prozent der Fernsehzuschauer sollen Zeuge gewesen sein, wie der
heroische Einzelkämpfer Alemdar Terroranschläge der
Separatistenorganisation PKK mit einem Rachefeldzug beantwortet.
Bevor der Sender am gestrigen Donnerstag den zweiten Teil ausstrahlen
konnte, zitierte die RTÜK den Chef von Show TV, Saner Ayar, nach
Ankara. Denn inzwischen hatten sich 13 953 Anrufer gegen die
Ausstrahlung der Serie ausgesprochen, die vor Rassismus und
Gewaltverherrlichung nur so strotzt.

Die Macht von RTÜK reicht weit. In den vergangenen Jahren hatte die
Behörde gegen einzelne Sender wiederholt Sendeverbote verhängt. In
der Aufsichtskommission von RTÜK spreche sich eine Mehrheit für die
Absetzung der Serie aus, berichtet die Zeitung "Hürriyet". Doch wolle
sich RTÜK mit dem Sender verständigen. Dessen Chef Ayar räumte ein,
die Sache sei sehr sensibel, und bot an, nun besondere Sorgfalt
walten zu lassen.

Die Anrufer hatten beanstandet, dass die Serie dem Rassismus Vorschub
leiste und damit das Gegenteil dessen bewirke, was für einen
gesellschaftlichen Frieden in der Türkei erforderlich sei. Zudem
setze sie ins Bild, was für die Türken immer mehr zu einer
schrecklichen Gewissheit geworden ist: dass es einen "tiefen Staat"
gibt, in dem Mitglieder des Staats und der Sicherheitsapparate
jenseits des Gesetzes mit der organisierten Kriminalität
zusammenarbeiten und sich dabei auf die Rettung der türkischen Nation
und deren Staat berufen.

Nicht wenige türkische Jugendliche hätten begonnen, sich wie Alemdar
zu kleiden und in ihrer Umgebung Angst zu verbreiten, beobachtet die
regierungsnahe Zeitung "Zaman". Für die Zunahme der Gewalt an den
Schulen macht sie das "Tal der Wölfe" mitverantwortlich. "Hürriyet"
zitiert Mitglieder von RTÜK, die fürchten, Vorbilder wie Alemdar
könnten neue "Ogün Samasts" hervorbringen. Der siebzehn Jahre alte
Arbeitslose Samast hatte am 19. Januar den armenisch-türkischen
Intellektuellen Hrant Dink kaltblütig erschossen.

Bei der Beerdigung hatte dessen Witwe Rakel Dink die Türkei
aufgefordert, sie solle herausfinden, wie Samast zu einem Mörder
hatte heranwachsen können. Serien wie das "Tal der Wölfe" seien zwar
nicht der einzige Grund, aber sie seien ein Teil der Erklärung,
kommentierte Halik Sahin in der Zeitung "Radikal". Diese hatte in den
vergangenen Wochen zu den Wortführern der Kampagne gegen die Rückkehr
der Serie auf die Bildschirme gehört. Sie hatte die Wirtschaft
aufgefordert, den Film zu boykottieren und um den Film herum keine
Werbezeit zu kaufen.

Keine Kontroverse löst bislang in der Türkei indes der auf der
Berlinale gezeigte Film "Das Haus der Lerche" aus. Nur wenige
Zeitungen haben den Inhalt des Streifens knapp zusammengefasst, der
den Genozid an den Armeniern zum Thema hat. Lediglich ein Kritiker
der Zeitung "Radikal" äußerte sich. Er stellt die Aussage der beiden
Brüder Taviani in Frage, dass der Film nicht gegen die Türken
gerichtet sei, sondern gegen die nationalistischen Jungtürken. Im
Film komme nie die Bezeichnung "osmanisch" vor, kritisiert Ahmet
Boyacioglu. Ständig sei von der Türkei und teilweise von der "großen
Türkei" die Rede.

Der Kritiker warnt aber davor, dem "mit vielen Defiziten" behafteten
Film durch übertriebene Kritik zu Ruhm zu verhelfen und zu
wiederholen, was geschehen war, nachdem 2002 in Cannes der Film
"Ararat" des armenischen Regisseurs Atom Egoyan gezeigt worden war.
Nationalistische Schlägerbanden hatten damals gedroht, die Kinos kurz
und klein zu schlagen, die diesen Film zeigten. Zu sehen war der Film
"Ararat" in der Türkei nirgends. Zumindest aber wurde er heftig
diskutiert.

RAINER HERMANN

MILITARIZATION IN THE GREATER CAUCASUS COULD HAVE DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES
by Anatoly Tsyganok
Translated by Elena Leonova

Source: Nezavisimoe Voennoe Obozrenie, No. 5, February 9, 2007, p. 2
Agency WPS, Russia
What the Papers Say Part A (Russia)
February 12, 2007 Monday

THE POWDER-KEG OF EURASIA

An overview of military forces in the Greater Caucasus; The
Greater Caucasus includes territories belonging to six UN member
states (Russian Federation, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey,
Iran) and three unrecognized republics (Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
Nagorno-Karabakh). Analysts are keeping close watch on this region’s
militarization processes.

The Greater Caucasus certainly isn’t the most peaceful part of
the world these days – but it’s not the only place where the
situation threatens to unleash new wars. Moreover, in contrast to
other hot-spots, at least this region doesn’t have any large-scale
hostilities under way, with millions of people being killed or
injured. Yet this particular region is getting very intense attention
from leading world powers, inter-state alliances, and various
international organizations. And this is entirely understandable:
it is a highly significant region from the geopolitical, economic,
and military-strategic standpoints.

The Greater Caucasus includes territories belonging to six United
Nations member states (Russian Federation, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Turkey, Iran) and three unrecognized republics (Abkhazia,
South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh). Relations between them aren’t
exactly straightforward, to put it mildly. That’s why analysts are
keeping such a close watch on this region’s militarization processes.

Experts estimate, for example, that the Russian Armed Forces have a
total of 300,000 personnel in the North Caucasus.

The former Soviet republics

Of the former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan has the most numerous Armed
Forces: 95,000 personnel, including 85,000 in the Army, 8,000 in the
Air Force and Air Defense Forces, and 2,000 in the Navy. Aside from the
Armed Forces, Azerbaijan also has a National Guard (2,500 personnel),
Interior Ministry Troops (12,000), and Border Guards (5,000). Evidence
of Azerbaijan’s militarization can be found in its defense spending:
in 2007 this will exceed the entire budget of Armenia, with which
Baku has almost-hostile relations.

The Army of Azerbaijan consists of five army corps. The First, Second,
and Third corps are concentrated against Nagorno-Karabakh, although
part of the Second corps is deployed on the Azeri-Iranian border. The
Fourth (Baku) corps covers the capital city and the shoreline;
the Fifth corps is based at Nakhichevani. The Army has 292 tanks,
706 armored vehicles, 405 artillery pieces and mortars, 75 BM-21
multiple rocket launcher systems, and 370 anti-tank rocket launchers.

The Air Force of Azerbaijan (61 combat aircraft, 46 auxiliary aircraft)
includes a combined aviation regiment, a fighter and bomber squadron,
and separate squadrons of fighters, reconnaissance planes, and training
aircraft. Main airbases: Kyurdamir, Zeinalabdin (equipped with a NATO
air traffic monitoring system), Dallyar, Gyandzha, Kala.

The Air Defense Forces of Azerbaijan include four air defense brigades,
one air defense regiment, and two separate radar battalions. They
are equipped with S-200, S-125, S-75 (35 launchers), Krug, and Osa
air defense systems.

The Navy of Azerbaijan has a brigade of surface vessels (guard
division, landing vessels division, mine-sweeper division, search
and rescue division, training vessel division), a national waters
security brigade, a marines battalion, an intelligence and special
assignment center, and coastguard units. The Navy has a total of 14
warships and patrol boats and 22 auxiliary vessels, but not all of
them are serviceable at present, due to various technical problems
and a shortage of experienced specialists.

Azerbaijan’s main military-strategic partner is Turkey. Educating
military personnel in the pan-Turkic spirit is considered highly
important. At the same time, the Azeri leadership is striving to make
Azerbaijan a NATO member. As of January 1, 2007 the Army staff and
the Baku corps have been operating on the basis of NATO documents.

Azeri officers are trained according to NATO programs. Overall, the
combat readiness of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan is not at a high
level, and they are not ready for large-scale military action.

Experts say, however, that Azerbaijan’s firepower has increased
significantly since it took delivery of 9A52 Smerch 300mm multiple
rocket launcher systems from Ukraine in 2004 (some analysts even
claim that the addition of these weapons could disrupt the military
balance in the Trans-Caucasus).

* * *

The Armenian Armed Forces have a total of around 53,500 personnel,
mostly in the Army. The Air Defense Forces have 3,900 personnel
and the Air Force has up to 700. The Armenian Army has eight
operational-tactical rocket launchers, 198 T-72 tanks, 320 armored
personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, 360 field
artillery pieces, mortars, and multiple rocket launcher systems,
around 160 100mm guns for firing on ground targets (previously used to
avert avalanches), and 55 air defense system launcers (S-75, S-125,
Krug, Osa). The Armenian Air Force has seven fighters (six Su-25s,
one MiG-25), 12 combat helicopters (seven Mi-24s, three Mi-24Ks,
two Mi-24Rs), and 26 auxiliary aircraft (two L-39s, 16 Mi-2s,
eight Mi-8MTs).

Most of Armenia’s military forces and resources are concentrated
on the border with Azerbaijan. There are several battalions in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone itself, on occupied Azeri territory.

Units from the Fifth Army Corps are stationed close to the
Armenian-Turkish border. The main Air Defense Forces group is stationed
along the line of contact with the Azeri Armed Forces.

Armenia has no attack weapons on its borders with Georgia or Iran.

Russia has a closer relationship with Armenia than with any other
country in the South Caucasus. After Russia’s two remaining bases in
Georgia are withdrawn by 2008, Armenia will be the only country in
the Trans-Caucasus where Russia can deploy a group of troops.

The troops involved in Russian-Armenian joint air defense operate
according to a system developed in the Soviet era: joint monitoring
of the airspace to the south, using combat aviation and air defense
units. Essentially, this is an anti-NATO air defense option; de
facto, it’s anti-Turkey – despite a significant thaw in Moscow-Ankara
relations of late.

* * *

The forces controlled by the Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry
of Georgia have a total of around 30,000 personnel (23,000 with the
Defense Ministry, 7,000 with the Interior Ministry). There are also
the Border Guard Department (6,703 personnel) and the National Guard
(2,300 personnel).

The Georgian Army has up to 80 infantry fighting vehicles, around 100
tanks (T-55, T-64, T-72), 18 Grad multiple rocket launcher systems,
and over 115 artillery pieces.

The Georgian Air Force (1,300 personnel) has seven Su-25 assault
aircraft, ten L-39 training aircraft, and 24 helicopters (three
Mi-24s, four Mi-8ts, ten American Iroquois), and seven S-125 air
defense systems.

The Georgian Navy (1,500-2,000 personnel) has two frigates (acquired
from Lithuania), one rocket-carrying patrol boat, 11 sea-going patrol
boats, and five landing patrol boats.

Georgia’s defense spending is growing significantly faster than other
sectors of its economy and industry. The Tbilisi government rejects
the idea of signing agreements with the breakaway regions – South
Ossetia and Abkhazia – on not using military force, as recommended
by the United Nations and the OSCE. Since the NATO summit in Riga,
it appears that Tbilisi is no longer aiming to go for broke and try to
regain control of those territories by military means; but the threat
of a new military conflict breaking out still remains. Similarly, we
cannot rule out a resumption of active hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh,
which broke away from Baku.

The unrecognized states

The Army of Nagorno-Karabakh is well-trained and well-equipped. It
has between 18,500 and 20,000 soldiers and officers; in the event of
mobilization it could call up a further 20-30,000 reserves.

Nagorno-Karabakh has 65 military personnel per thousand residents – a
higher proportion than any other Caucasus country. In this unrecognized
republic, the Armed Forces are regarded as an institution providing
stable employment, and many families depend on military salaries.

However, independent experts estimate that the Nagorno-Karabakh Army
has only 8,500 Nagorno-Karabakh citizens – along with 10,000 Armenian
citizens. In response, it is claimed that these 10,000 Armenians
are representatives of the 500,000 Armenians who originated from
Nagorno-Karabakh and are now living in Armenia.

It’s no secret, of course, that there is a high level of integration
between the Armed Forces of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan
admits supplying arms and various military items to Stepanakert.

Nagorno-Karabakh speaks openly of Armenian officers helping to train
its military personnel. However, Yerevan claims that no units from
the Armenian Armed Forces are present in Nagorno-Karabakh or the
occupied Azeri territories around it.

Armenian military analysts maintain that although the Armed Forces of
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are smaller than the Azeri Armed Forces,
they are more combat-capable. This is particularly applicable to
the Nagorno-Karabakh Army – it is relatively mobile and compact, and
its officers have combat experience. By mobilizing 100% of Karabakh
war veterans, it can operate as small autonomous units in mountain
terrain. The weakness of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armed Forces is their
lack of any army aviation – a constraint factor in active military
operations.

* * *

The South Ossetian Armed Forces have around 3,000 personnel, with
15,000 reserves ready to return to duty immediately in the event of a
military threat. They have 87 tanks, 95 artillery pieces and mortars
(including 72 howitzers), 23 BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher
systems, 180 armored vehicles (including 80 infantry fighting
vehicles), and three Mi-8 helicopters). Around 35-40% of military
personnel are kept on alert to repel potential acts of provocation
from Georgia.

* * *

The Armed Forces of Abkhazia are organized into three groups of troops
(Central, East, West), plus the Air Force and the Navy.

According to various sources, personnel numbers are between 4,500
and 10,000, with around 28,000 reserves.

The Abkhazian Army has about 60 tanks (two-thirds are T-72s), 85
artillery pieces and mortars (including 152-mm howitzers), and 116
armored vehicles. The Air Force has two Su-27 fighters, one MiG-23,
five Su-25 assault aircraft, three L-39 training planes, one An-2,
one Yak-52, one Mi-8t helicopter, and one Mi-2.

The Navy has three divisions of sea-going patrol boats (21 Grif patrol
boats are based at Sukhumi, Ochamchiri, and Pitsunde).

Around a third of Abkhazian Armed Forces units are kept on alert to
repel any potential landings by Georgian marines and paratroopers.

Around 35-40% of military personnel and almost all mid-rank and
senior officers in the Armed Forces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
have real-world combat experience.

Turkey – Moscow’s probable partner

Present-day Turkey is a power aspiring to a leading geopolitical role
to the south of the Great Caucasus Range. Several parallel processes
are nudging Ankara toward rapprochement with Moscow.

There has been a chill in American-Turkish relations due to the war
in Iraq and attempts by the US-supported government in Baghdad to
create a Kurdish autonomous region close to Turkey’s south-eastern
border. A conflict with the European Union arose in the wake of
Greek Cyprus being accepted into the EU and continued when Ankara was
denied EU membership. The French parliament recognized the genocide
of the Armenians in the early 20th Century Ottoman Empire. Friction
developed between Ankara and Tel Aviv when it was discovered that
Israeli intelligence is active in the Kurdish autonomous region in
northern Iraq and helping to create Kurdish intelligence forces.

(Turkey continues its war against the "terrorist organization known
as the Kurdish Workers’ Party" on its territory, with incursions into
northern Iraq.)

What’s more, with Bulgaria and Romania joining NATO, there are now
some US military facilities on the Black Sea – which Moscow and Ankara
have grown accustomed to regarding as their "domestic waters."

There is some likelihood of a partnership between Russia and Turkey
in the Caucasus, despite numerous wars between the two countries in
the past.

It should be noted that the Turkish Armed Forces are an object of
national pride.

The Turkish Army (490,000 personnel) has 4,205 tanks, 4,380
armored vehicles (738 infantry fighting vehicles and 3,642 armored
personnel carriers), 6,985 field artillery pieces (2,015 towed and
868 self-propelled), over 2,000 mortars, 60 multiple rocket launcher
systems; 3,582 anti-tank weapons, 19 air defense launchers, 1,510 air
defense rocket systems, around 1,600 air defense weapons, 196 planes
and up to 300 helicopters.

The Turkish Air Force (60,000 people) has 486 combat planes, 330
auxiliary planes, and 37 helicopters, organized into two tactical
air commands.

The Turkish Navy has 14 submarines, 26 frigates with guided rockets,
21 rocket-carrying patrol boats, 18 patrol boats, 24 mine-sweepers,
29 small landing vessels, and 151 auxiliary vessels. The Navy has
53,000 personnel.

North-eastern Turkey, part of the Greater Caucasus, is home to around a
third of the Turkish Army: the 3rd Field Army (8th and 9th army corps,
48th infantry brigade, 4th tank brigade) and part of the 2nd Field Army
(7th army corps).

The actions of the ground forces are supported by the 2nd Tactical
Aviation Command and the Navy along the coast.

An important player

Iran possesses a fairly powerful military organization, with 853,000
personnel. Fewer than half of them (403,000) are part of the Armed
Forces, which include the Army (300,000), the Air Force and Air Defense
Forces (85,000), and the Navy (18,000). The remaining 450,000 personnel
belong to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Iranian Armed Forces and the IRGC have 17-30 launchers and up to
175 tactical missiles with a range of 150-180 kilometers; 15 launchers
and around 250 Shihab-1 (Scud-B) operational-tactical missiles, with
a range of 300 kilometers; between 100 and 200 Shihab-2 (Scud-C)
missiles, with a range of up to 700 kilometers; and between 20 and
40 Shihab-3 missiles with a range of 1,500-2,000 kilometers.

The chief weapons of the Iranian Armed Forces and the IRGC also include
1,655 tanks, 1,490 armored vehicles, 2,085 towed artillery pieces, 310
self-propelled artillery pieces, around 900 multiple rocket launcher
systems, 270-306 combat planes, 580 helicopters (including 50 combat
helicopters), three submarines and six frigates, 20 rocket-carrying
patrol boats, 90 patrol boats, and 13 landing vessels.

The following forces are stationed directly in the Greater Caucasus,
on the Armenian-Iranian and Azeri-Iranian borders: the 21st and
77th infantry divisions of the Iranian Army and the 31st mechanized
division of the IRGC. The 3rd special assignment infantry division
of the IRGC, the 25th paratrooper brigade, and the 64th infantry
division are stationed on the Turkish-Iranian and Iraqi-Iraqi borders.

Around 25% of the forces and resources of the Iranian Armed Forces
and the IRGC are deployed along the Iranian coast of the Caspian Sea.

They are part of the Tehran group (30th infantry division, 16th tank
division, 23rd paratrooper division, and 58th stormtrooper division
from the Armed Forces; the 1st, 16th, 17th, 27th, 52nd infantry
divisions, the 12th infantry brigade, the 2nd mechanized division,
the 10th and 25th special assignment infantry division from the IRGC).

Iran holds quarterly military exercises – usually in western and
south-western Iran, the Persian Gulf, and near the Straits of Hormuz.

Most of the arms and military hardware used by the Iranian Armed
Forces and IRGC units date back to the 1980s and 1990s, but they are
in satisfactory condition and can be used to effect in battle. And
the Persians have always had high morale (the Islamic Republic of
Iran is capable of deploying a people’s militia of many millions).

Moreover, the experience gained in eight years of war with Iraq has
not been forgotten.

INTERNATIONAL TEAM TO DIG UP ALLEGED ARMENIAN MASS GRAVE IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY

Hurriyet website, Istanbul
12 Feb 07

Assertions made in an article in the Turkish magazine "Nokta" last
year that mass Armenian graves could be found in the town of Nusaybin
outside of the city of Mardin were taken up by Swedish professor
David Gaunt, who then brought these assertions to the attention of
the Swedish Parliament.

Gaunt’s accusations have elicited a response from the head of the
Turkish History Foundation (TTK), Professor Yusuf Halacoglu, who has
invited all interested parties to come to Turkey and participate
together in an opening up the gravesite in question. Professor
Halacoglu, who subsequently received an affirmative answer from
Professor Gaunt, said the following regarding the situation:

"Professor Gaunt has said that he would be pleased to cooperate
in the opening up of the gravesite in the Mardin area town of
Nusaybin. However, he has some preconditions: During digging, he
wants complete freedom in the region. In addition, he is requesting
the opportunity to speak with anyone in the area who claims to know
something about these mass graves….We have naturally accepted all
of these demands. In fact, we have said that we are prepared to meet
any needs that his delegation may have while in Turkey. We suggested
that March would be a good time, as the weather would be perfect. Now
we are waitin g for the confirmation that they will in fact come."

Professor Halacoglu noted that if the mass grave in question does
in fact turn out to hold the bodies of Armenians and/or Suryanis,
he will be prepared to apologize in a public press conference, but
if not, he is expecting that Professor Gaunt will apologize.

‘WE CANNOT SUPPRESS PUBLIC DEMAND’

Hurriyet, Turkey
Feb 10 2007

Speaking to the Washington Post, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned
that if the US House of Representatives adopts draft legislation
making it a crime to deny the Armenian Genocide, Turkey would enter
a state of shock and the government would have little in the way of
answers to public calls that Turkey cease collaborating with the US.

Gul also stated the importance of delaying the referendum regarding
Kirkuk. Describing Kirkuk as ‘Little Iraq’, Gul argued that the city
should be given special status that would keep it outside the borders
of a Kurdish Iraq should the country be split in three. The Minister
went on to say, "If Kirkuk [is included] in this region, this will be
a great error. Those wanting to withdraw from a difficult situation
should not get caught up in another difficult situation. The division
of Iraq would be a terrible mistake."

Sabah, Turkey
Feb 9 2007

Gül gives a lecture in history
There was an Armenian minister

Minister Gül spoke about the Armenian bill in the USA: "the Ottoman
Empire had an Armenian minister during the years of genocide."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gül told the chairman of the US Congress
Defense Sub Committee Hoyer: "the Ottoman Empire had an Armenian
foreign affairs minister and an Armenian ambassador of London in the
years during the so-called genocide."

Gül gives a lecture in history

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gül met with the top level authorities of
the US congress. Gül met with 15 congress members and around 40
politicians and made a striking request: "Talk to me about the claim
of an Armenian genocide, for which you have signed on in three
sentences. Tell me when did it happen?" Gül was not replied to and he
then asked: "then why did you sign this?"

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gül met with the top level authorities of
the US congress. Gül met with 15 congress members and around 40
politicians, including those signing the Armenian bill, at lunch. Gül
gave some critical messages in his speech at the lunch attended by
both Republicans and Democrats. Addressing those who are signing the
bill, Gül made a striking request: "tell me about the claims
regarding the Armenian genocide for which you have signed in three
sentences. Tell me when did it happen?" Gül was not replied to and he
then asked: "then why did you sign this?"

NAGORNO-KARABAKH DISPUTE TAKES TO CYBER SPACE
Rovshan Ismayilov and Onnik Krikorian

EurasiaNet, NY
Feb 8 2007

The differences between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed
territory of Nagorno-Karabakh may at times seem never-ending, but
in their response to what appears to be an ongoing cyber conflict
between Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers, residents of both countries
are standing united in a push for peace.

Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers are nothing new, but
the most recent "cyber war" has gained greater resonance. As was the
case in 2006, international observers have forecast that 2007 could
witness a breakthrough in negotiations between the two sides over
Nagorno-Karabakh. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

At the same time, the potential for online debates about the
territorial dispute is growing rapidly, as the number of Internet
users in both countries continues to expand.

The latest cyber conflict began on January 22 when Armenian hackers
attacked the website of Azerbaijan’s public television station. The
attackers, who identified themselves as members of Armenia’s security
services, posted Armenia’s state emblem on the site’s home page,
and warned that they would kill an Azerbaijani hacker identified as
"Bacioglu" (a slang Azeri word for "nephew"), if the individual did
not stop sabotaging Armenian websites.

But the threat did little to dissuade "Bacioglu." On January 29, the
Azerbaijani hacker attacked five Armenian websites (openarmenia.com,
openarmenia.ru, tamanyan.org, homeopathy.am, photoblogs.am). He posted
Azerbaijan’s state emblem and images of Azerbaijani civilians killed
in Nagorno-Karabakh on the sites’ home pages, along with a pledge to
"fight you and all Armenians on earth as long as I live" and a threat
to destroy the official website of Armenian President Robert Kocharian.

The hacker urged Azerbaijani TV channels to cover the news, warning
that "If they don’t, it could affect my enthusiasm."

On February 5, a group of Armenian hackers calling themselves "axteam"
attacked two more Azerbaijani sites — list.az and hayat.az — as
"revenge for Bacioglu," according to text posted on hayat.az.

The Armenian security service has rejected the claim that it is
connected with any of these attacks.

Meanwhile, few in either Armenia or Azerbaijan appear to support the
hackers, despite, in the case of Azerbaijan, an appeal by "Bacioglu"
for Azerbaijanis to back his "enthusiasm."

In comments to the independent ANS television channel on January 31,
Azerbaijani Communications and Information Technology Minister Ali
Abbasov urged both sides to stop the "electronic war."

"The electronic war which has started between Armenia and Azerbaijan
is something very unpleasant," Abbasov said. The minister suggested
that both countries should sign the European convention on cyber
crimes to avoid similar incidents in the future.

As in Armenia, Azerbaijani observers largely see the attacks as
time misspent. "There will not be a winner or a loser in this war,"
commented Ilgar Mammadov, an independent Baku-based political
analyst. "That is why I believe it is just wasting time."

Osman Gunduz, president of Multimedia, a Baku-based non-governmental
organization involved with projects promoting the Internet and
information technologies in Azerbaijan, shares this view. "In both
Azerbaijan and Armenia, the governments and security services have
nothing to do with it," said Gunduz. "These attacks are undertaken
by groups of young people who are expressing themselves this way and
showing their attitude toward the conflict between the countries."

Seven years have passed since tit-for-tat attacks by Azerbaijani and
Armenian hackers almost became an all-out "cyber war." In January
and February 2000, after an ethnic Armenian in California launched
Aliyev.com, a site that disseminated "black propaganda" about then
Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijani hackers launched an
attack against Armenian Internet sites that included National State
Television H1, and several online resources about the Turkish massacre
of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians during World War I.

At the time, the Armenian foreign ministry called the attacks a
"violation of human rights," and a counter-offensive was launched by
a group of Armenian hackers, Liazor. The Russian-language Azerbaijani
daily Zerkalo (Mirror) reported that the group threatened to take down
the entire Azerbaijani Internet. Indeed, the websites of many large
Internet users, including humanitarian organizations, in Azerbaijan
were hacked, and the email connections of major Azerbaijani newspapers
disrupted.

Since then, the attacks on Armenian sites have continued. Before the
most recent run of hacking, in March 2006 Azerbaijani hackers broke
into the website of Armenia’s Eurovision Song Contest entry.

But Ruben Muradian, technical director of PanArmenian.Net, an online
news agency, says that any successful hacks from the outside are
because of careless system administrators or complacency among website
owners, not because of a concentrated cyber-war campaign.

"Any serious site should take care of its security," he said. "We
are in a situation of no-war and no-peace, and we have enemies. We
have to be prepared."

Official figures on Internet usage in both Armenia and Azerbaijan are
sketchy at best, but, as elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, user
numbers are believed to be increasing rapidly. A recent survey by the
International Telecommunication Union put the number of Azerbaijani
Internet users at 5.6 per 100 people, and the number of Armenian
users at slightly less, 5.03.

The Baku-based non-governmental organization Multimedia, which monitors
Internet usage, estimates that Azerbaijan now has some 700,000
Internet users — about 9 percent of the country’s population —
a figure that is nearly four times as high as in 2000, during the
last Armenian-Azerbaijani hacking conflict.

Despite the broader user base, the attack on Armenian sites, however,
did not mark the introduction of new, hi-tech techniques. After
accidentally opening an attachment in an email sent by an "Artur
Oganyan," all of the login details for the sites hosted on the same
US server were sent to the sender of the so-called "Trojan Horse,"
a document that contains a virus or spyware that can disseminate
a user’s password. A message stating that Nagorno-Karabakh was
"historical Azeri land" along with photographs of victims from the
Armenian attack on the Azerbaijani village of Khojali during the
Karabakh war replaced normal content.

As of February 8, the original content of all but one of the Armenian
sites was still unavailable online.

Samvel Martirosian, a local analyst and co-founder of Open Armenia,
an online forum that includes an area for discussion on the Karabakh
conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani users, says that he is
convinced that this is not necessarily the start of new hostilities
on the Internet. As do other members of the Armenian IT community,
he strongly doubts that Armenians were responsible for the attack on
Azerbaijan’s public television site.

"The last real war was in 2000," Martirosian said. "Of course, small
attacks always come, and usually from Azeris. This time, I don’t know
for certain who attacked the sites in Azerbaijan, but I don’t think
he was an Armenian."

Martirosian points to the type of attacks experienced by Azerbaijani
sites in recent weeks and says that they are not the same as in
2000 when Liazor employed more sophisticated methods by modifying
site content. "If you destroy a website, all you succeed in doing is
taking it down for a few days and then publicizing its existence,"
he said. "That’s usually the work of some teenager living outside of
Armenia or Azerbaijan. Real hackers are more intelligent."

A report on the Azerbaijani news site Today.az that the Azerbaijani
public television website was compromised by the same method employed
against the five Armenian sites has fostered the belief in Armenia
that only one hacker is responsible.

Both PanArmenian.net’s Muradian and Martirosian second that view. "It
looks to me as though this is being done to provoke a war between
Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers," said Martirosian. "Thankfully,
one group of Azeri hackers has said it will not do anything now that
their Ministry of Communication has called for restraint, and there
is nothing to indicate the involvement of Armenians so far."

But domestic controversy surrounds one Azerbaijani government measure
to bring a halt to the hostilities. Communications and Information
Technology Minister Abbasov recently announced that all sites with
the ".az" domain, currently hosted in the United States, will soon be
relocated to Azerbaijan. "One of the reasons why Public TV’s website
was attacked so easily is that its server is located abroad, in the
US," Abbasov said, as quoted by Echo newspaper on January 31.

Some Azerbaijani Internet users see these plans as only providing the
government with greater control over digital media content. "It is
very difficult to attack our site, even theoretically," fumed Elnur
Baimov, editor-in-chief of Day.az, a popular Azerbaijani news site,
in a message posted on his site’s forum. "Who will provide us with
such security in Azerbaijan? Of course, nobody!"

"All Internet providers in Azerbaijan are under [the government’s]
control," Baimov continued. "I consider these plans a threat to freedom
of speech on the Internet." The government has not yet responded to
the charge. There are more than 3,000 websites currently registered
in Azerbaijan, according to data published on Day.az.

Other web users, however, believe the government should expand its
efforts to strengthen the security of Azerbaijani websites. "There is a
process of establishing ‘e-government’ in Azerbaijan," commented Rasim
Aliguliyev, director of the Information Technologies Institute of the
Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences. "Therefore, the issue of
[the] security of web resources is becoming vital," Aliguliyev told
Trend news agency on January 22.

Many Armenians agree: "We cannot underestimate the role of the Internet
in our lives," commented one 22-year-old customer care professional
working for a leading foreign IT company based in Armenia. "[B]ut I
can’t see any serious person — even one concerned about the [Karabakh]
conflict — busying themselves with such childish ‘efforts.’ I would
say it’s all being done by [computer] nerds."

Editor’s Note: Rovshan Ismayilov is a freelance journalist based in
Baku. Onnik Krikorian is a freelance journalist and photographer from
the United Kingdom based in the Republic of Armenia. He works for a
variety of publications and international organizations.

AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA, TURKEY AGREE NEW RAILWAY LINK
By Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili, Associated Press

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Feb 8 2007

Leaders of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan signed an agreement Wednesday
to build a railroad line that will link the three nations and provide
a new route for trade between Turkey and the Caucasus Mountain nations.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the
deal in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, where Erdogan also attended the
opening of an international airport terminal that was rebuilt by a
Turkish company.

Construction is expected to start in June on the $600 million rail
line linking the eastern Turkish city of Kars with the Azerbaijani
capital, Baku, on the oil-rich Caspian Sea. It will go through the
Georgian town of Akhalkalaki and the capital, Tbilisi.

Saakashvili said the railroad would be a "a geopolitical and
geo-economic revolution" that will connect Europe with the Caucasus
and Central Asia, further east. Erdogan likened it to the Silk Road,
the trade caravans that long ago linked Asia with Europe. Georgian
authorities say they expect the railroad to handle 15 million tons
of goods annually.

A leading lawmaker in Armenia, cut off from trade with foes Turkey
and Azerbaijan, two of its four neighbors, denounced the project.

Vice-speaker Vahan Hovannisian said the project had no economic basis
and was "aimed to strengthen the blockade of Armenia."

Saakashvili put in a word for Armenia, saying that Turkey is
investing millions of dollars in Georgia. "We are witnessing huge
changes. We do not want any neighboring country to be left outside
these processes." He said Georgia wants good relations with Armenia.

The railroad is one of several projects to link resource-rich
Azerbaijan and Central Asia with Turkey and European markets while
bypassing Russia. An oil pipeline from Baku through Georgia and on
to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan was opened n last year,
and a gas line is in the works.

Georgia is to receive $200 million from Azerbaijan to help with
construction of the railroad. Saakashvili thanked Aliev for support
in the face of pressure from Russia, which sharply raised the price
of natural gas for Georgia this year and cut off travel links with
the small ex-Soviet republic in the fall.

After the signing, the three leaders attended the opening ceremony for
the new international terminal at Tbilisi’s airport, rebuilt at a cost
of $2 million by the Turkish company TAV Urban, which received the
right to manage the airport for nearly 12 years. Runway improvements
were also made at the airport.

SUSPECTS IN JOURNALIST’S KILLING CAME FROM A HOTBED OF TURKISH ULTRANATIONALIST SENTIMENT
By Sebnem Arsu
Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

New York Times, NY
Feb 8 2007

TRABZON, Turkey – With fishing boats pouring in and out of a busy
harbor, white minibuses crisscrossing in all directions and shopping
streets bustling, this regional capital nestled on the Black Sea
appears to be a vibrant city.

But beneath the colorful shopping malls filled with trendy clothes
and chic cafes, the poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunity
that afflicts many of Turkey’s cities is crushing here – especially
for young people.

All eight suspects in the plot to kill Hrant Dink, a nationally
prominent editor, came from nearby, and links to other ultranationalist
crimes here are beginning to emerge.

Mr. Dink, an Armenian Turk who was an outspoken commentator on
the country’s handling of minority rights and was once convicted of
insulting the Turkish identity for an article he wrote, was killed on
Jan. 19 in Istanbul. Ogun Samast, 17, a high school dropout who has
confessed to the killing, was arrested with seven others in connection
with the crime.

The attack has caused a harsh examination in Trabzon of how the
authorities handled early hints of this and similar crimes.

The government dismissed Trabzon’s provincial governor and police
chief in the wake of Mr. Dink’s killing, and the Interior Ministry
is investigating what might have gone wrong in the handling of an
informant’s tips before the crime was committed.

According to NTV television, the informant, Erhan Tuncel, told the
police about plots to kill Mr. Dink on four occasions in the last
year. The first tip was passed along to Istanbul, where the police made
inquiries, but the later tips were not, the television report said.

Other prominent crimes here have had a common motivation of extremism
in upholding nationalist values. A local McDonald’s restaurant
was bombed in 2004, chosen as a Western target, and there was an
attempted lynching of a group of leftist protesters and killings of two
professors from the local university and of a Roman Catholic priest,
the Rev. Andreas Santaro.

But it was not until the police found personal links between Mr.

Samast, the confessed killer of Mr. Dink, and Yasin Hayal, an
ultranationalist convicted of the McDonald’s bombing, that a web of
connections between various crimes came to light. Mr. Hayal is being
charged with inciting the Dink killing.

Mr. Tuncel is a mysterious figure. He was implicated in the McDonald’s
bombing but then was given his freedom to act as an informer. There
are reports that he tipped off the police four times to the threat
to Mr. Dink, but he is also being held as a suspect.

In addition, the fact that Mr. Samast and the killer of Father Santaro,
a 16-year-old high school dropout, were both under age at the times of
their crimes suggests that someone may have been urging young people
to commit crimes, knowing that they would escape harsher penalties
if caught.

But so far the police have not arrested any older or more established
figures in these crimes.

For some of the city’s youth, the region’s culture of bravado and
machismo seems to make a breeding ground for anger.

"Black Sea people are dynamic, restless, energetic and have strong
heroic feelings," said Adem Solak, a prison therapist who works with
the youth who killed Father Santaro. "Their environment, built on a
single culture without interaction with diverse ethnicities, creates
a greater potential for reaction to social issues."

Expressions of anger are easy to come by, as are defenses of Mr.

Samast and the killing of Mr. Dink.

"I don’t think brother Ogun did wrong," said Murat, 19, a university
dropout who, like many interviewed, refused to give his last name,
saying he feared police harassment. "We heard that the Armenian
cursed our blood, which we cannot accept." He and his friend Hasan,
18, chain-smoking at a cafe near the town center, said they had known
Mr. Samast for years in Pelitli, the suburb where all three grew up.

They praised nationalism with a religious undertone.

But Murat hesitated before saying whether Mr. Dink deserved to die.

"If television earlier had said what a good person he was, like they
do now, no, actually," he said after a moment of reflection.

In Pelitli, a young man giving his name as Serkan said Mr. Samast
was a troublemaker, but one who would have needed guidance to commit
such a crime. "I bet he had no idea who Hrant Dink was," Serkan said,
"because he had nothing to do with newspapers or politics, but loved
stirring up violence, starting fights on small matters."

A colleague, who gave his name as Hamdi and said he was 21, went on
from there. "What would you expect in a town where there are no social
activities for young people, no job opportunities, and everyone around
you loves to cause trouble?" he said.

The problem with Mr. Samast was not his politics, they said, but his
failure to leave it to the government to defend the nation.

The city was populated by Greeks, Armenians and Abkhazians when it
was a trading center, but after Turkish independence in the 1920s,
the Greeks left, and Trabzon became overwhelmingly Muslim and
Turkish. Since then the people here have been seen as having strong
nationalist and religious values. Use of weapons adds another dimension
to the pride of individual bravery.

"We cannot do without weapons," Asim Aykan, a member of Parliament
from Trabzon, said on NTV. "They are a special part of the culture
of our society. We cannot express our joy without firing guns. That
is the culture, which is beautiful but can also turn bad."

On a cold and windy Sunday after Mr. Dink was killed, crowds attending
a game at the soccer stadium here waved Turkish flags. One group
opened a huge banner saying: "We’re from Trabzon. We’re Turks.

We’re all Mustafa Kemals" – a reference to the founder of the modern
Turkish state.

That was a rebuttal to the many thousands of Turks in Istanbul who
attended Hrant Dink’s funeral carrying signs that read: "We’re all
Hrant Dinks. We’re all Armenians."

Nationalism of the former sort "embraces intolerance towards the other,
superiority over minorities and not only fear but also hatred toward
the foreigner," said Professor Ali Carkoglu of Sabanci University
in Istanbul.

The feeling is stirred up by global events like the war in Iraq,
the Danish cartoons satirizing Muhammad and the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Then there is Turkey’s ambition to join the European Union,
which has brought many changes.

That long process has its ups and downs, said Melek Goregenli, a
professor of political psychology at Ege University in Izmir. She
said that it "helped bring unspoken thoughts to the fore, made them
more visible, but at the same time made those who spoke out as targets
for those who couldn’t tolerate free expression of thought and equal
rights for everyone."

But even in this city, there are people who try to revive the feeling
of unity among ethnic groups that lived together for centuries. In
a historic building once used as a prison, a local theater company
performed an Armenian comedy classic the weekend after Mr. Dink was
killed. There had been several sold-out shows, and the seats were
sold out for that performance too.

But because of fears about security, the theater was empty, Necati
Zengin, the director of the play, said in a sad and frustrated tone.

"What we have to understand is that if Ogun and others had been
theatergoers, Hrant would have been still alive," he said.

LAWMAKERS TO TAKE WITNESS OF ARMENIAN ATROCITIES TO US
Ercan Yavuz
Muzaffer Gulyurt

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Feb 7 2007

Turkish parliamentarians who will visit the United States later this
month to lobby against the passage of an Armenian genocide resolution
have decided to include in the delegation a lawmaker whose father
survived inter-communal fighting between Turks and Armenians and
atrocities committed by Armenians in eastern Anatolia during World
War I.

A resolution was recently introduced in the US House of Representatives
urging the US administration to recognize an alleged genocide of
Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. The sponsors of the
resolution announced the resolution at a press conference attended
by two Armenian survivors of the episode.

Turkey denies Armenian allegations of genocide and says the killings
were the result of an inter-communal fight that killed Turks as
well as Armenians. Clashes ensued as Armenians of eastern Anatolia,
in collaboration with the invading Russian army, attacked Turks in
a revolt aimed at creating an independent Armenian state in the region.

Passage of the resolution is expected to strain Turkish-US relations,
and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently on a visit to Washington,
is urging US authorities to exert efforts to prevent passage of
the resolution.

The Turkish parliamentary delegation, led by Parliament’s Foreign
Affairs Commission Chairman Mehmet Dulger, will visit the United States
on Feb. 11, the first in a series of planned trips to Washington until
April. Dulger and Parliament Speaker Bulent Arýnc insisted that the
delegation should include Muzaffer Gulyurt, a ruling Justice and
Development Party (AK Party) deputy from the eastern province of
Erzurum because he could give an account of what happened in the
World War I years in Anatolia in talks with US congressmen.

A grim story Gulyurt, in an interview with Today’s Zaman, said his
father had gone through the hardship that almost all families in
Erzurum had gone through during the years of World War I. His father’s
story included grim details such as an wound that saved him from a
painful death in a house set ablaze by Armenian gangs.

His father, who was 15 when the Russians began invading Erzurum, told
him that the invasion led to waves of migration from the province and
that his family, too, was among those who were trying to flee. The
rest of his story continues: "As my family was preparing to set off
for Tokat on oxcarts, the Russians launched a siege. They could not
move. My father was among them. As whoever was capable of using a
weapon was recruited to the army, the remaining population of Erzurum
consisted of only the elderly, children and women. When the Russian
invasion first started, my father went out for scouting purposes. But
when an Ottoman arsenal was destroyed,my father was injured with
a shrapnel wound to the head. Some women took him inside a house
and hid him. As he was injured, he was not recruited as a soldier,
so he was the only young person in the neighborhood.

"After the Russians left the region following the Bolshevik revolution,
the city was dominated by Armenian gangs. They started to persecute
Turkish people. My father had to work under their command for two more
years. Since my father was a high school graduate, they made him a
chief in the camp of Turkish prisoners. With the advance of Turkish
troops toward the city, the Armenians started to incinerate Turkish
prisoners, who were forced to work in quarries or in digging shelters,
from early March to March 12. On that day, my father could not go to
work since he contracted tetanus due to a nail cut on his foot. On
March 12, Turkish prisoners were taken to a house in Yanýkdere,
Erzurum, and the house was set ablaze by Armenians, incinerating them
alive. My father would say, ‘If I had not been hurt by a nail, I would
have been one of those incinerated.’" Gulyurt recalled that Turks and
Armenians were living in peace until the Russian invasion and added:
"In the US, I will state that it was the Turks who were massacred in
reality. There is no need to generate hatred and animosity out of the
incidents of the past. Using the evidence, historians can decide the
ultimate truth in such issues. I will take the documents and photos
I have to the US."

The parliamentary delegation includes Yaþar Yakýþ, head of Parliament’s
EU Harmonization Commission and Foreign Affairs Commission members
Murat Mercan, Ali Rýza Alaboyun, Onur Oymen and Gulsun Bilgehan Toker
as well as Gulyurt.

A second delegation will depart after Feb. 24 and is expected to
include Þaban Diþli, one of the AK Party’s experts on foreign policy,
as well as Vahit Erdem, Necdet Budak, and Republican People’s Party
(CHP) members Ýnal Batu and Yakup Kepenek. The third delegation
will consist of Egemen Baðýþ, who has close contacts with the US,
Reha Denemec, CHP’s Zeynep Damla Gurel and Þukru Elekda.

–Boundary_(ID_Kw3YuILsVNATymSuK6ofWw)–

ARMENIA: THREE COMPOSERS FROM SWEDEN TO TAKE PART IN ARMENIAN SEMIFINALS

oikotimes.com, Greece
Eurovision Song Contest
Feb 7 2007

Panayiotis Panayides reporting from Athens (Greece)

Three Swedes will compete with a song in the Armenian selection
this year: Thomas Tornholm and Danne Attlerud together with Michael
Clauss have written the song Angel. The song will be sung by Jaklin,
a member of the group Hayer, which was awarded as the best pop act
in Armenia in 2005 and 2006.

Tornholm, Attlerud and Clauss have also submitted a song in that
year’s Melodifestivalen: Live forever, performed by Magnus Carlsson
in the third semifinal, held in Ornskoldsvik – February.

There will be two semifinals in Armenia that will be held in 22nd
and 23rd of February while the final is scheduled in 25th of February.

However, the dates have not yet been confirmed by the Armenian
broadcaster. Still nothing else is known, concerning the rest of the
participants – Jaklin will be there for sure, as escsweden.com reports.

a special report by