Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

TURKISH PREMIER: "TURKEY WILL NOT OPEN ITS BORDERS TO ARMENIA UNLESS KARABAKH CONFLICT IS SOLVED"

Today, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2007

Azerbaijan’s Defence Minister, General Colonel Safar Abiyev ended
his two-day visit to Turkey.

During his stay in Turkey, Azerbaijani Minister had meetings with
Armed Forces General Staff Chief, Army General Yashar Buyukanit,
President Ahmad Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Rajab Tayyib Erdogan
and Defence Minister Vecdi Konul.

Development of military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Turkey
was discussed at the meetings.

Informing the Turkish Prime Minister of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
over the Nagorno Karabakh, Safar Abiyev said that the peace talks
have not yet reached progress.

"Therefore we are strengthening Azerbaijani Armed Forces," he said.

Rajab Tayyib Erdogan said that Turkey will continue its cooperation
with Azerbaijan in all spheres and military sphere as well.

"Turkey will not open its borders to Armenia unless Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict is solved. We should continue our friendship and
brotherhood. Our cooperation is of great importance," Erdogan
underlined.

No document was signed during the visit, the Ministry’s press service
told the APA.

URL:

RICE TO DISCUSS IRAQ AND KURDISH REBELS WITH TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER

AP Worldstream
Feb 05, 2007

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Turkish Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul on Tuesday to talk about Iraq, including the
issue of Kurdish rebels using Iraq as a springboard for attacks on
Turkish territory, the State Department said Monday.

Turkey has been unhappy with the level of U.S. cooperation in rooting
out militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK holed up in
the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Also on the agenda will be Iran and Turkey’s application to join the
European Union, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Gul was expected to ask Rice to oppose a congressional resolution,
introduced in January by Democratic and Republican lawmakers, urging
the U.S. government to recognize as genocide the mass killings of
Armenians at the end of World War I.

Turkey has adamantly denied claims by scholars that its predecessor
state, the Ottoman government, caused the Armenian deaths in a planned
genocide. The Turkish government has said the toll is wildly inflated,
and Armenians were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the
disarray surrounding the empire’s collapse.

DEVELOPPEMENT PASCAL COUCHEPIN ENTAME UNE VISITE D’UNE SEMAINE EN TURQUIE NEGOCIATION D’UN ACCORD DE RAPATRIEMENT DES BIENS CULTURELS

Berne (ats) Quatre mois après la visite de Christoph Blocher a
Schweizerische Depeschenagentur AG (SDA)
SDA – Service de base francais
4 fevrier 2007

Ankara, le conseiller federal Pascal Couchepin entame lundi un sejour
de cinq jours en Turquie. Il negociera un accord de rapatriement
des biens culturels et se rendra dans le sud-est du pays, region a
majorite kurde.

Le chef du Departement federal de l’interieur (DFI) rencontrera lundi
a Ankara le ministre turc de la culture Atilla Koc pour negocier un
accord de rapatriement des biens culturels. La Turquie est le 3e pays,
après le Perou et l’Italie l’annee dernière, avec lequel un tel accord
pourrait etre conclu.

Ces accords permettent de proteger le patrimoine culturel etranger
en reglant l’importation de ces biens en Suisse. La Suisse
est le quatrième marche d’art au monde après les Etats-Unis, la
Grande-Bretagne et la France, selon le DFI. Le secteur pèse plusieurs
milliards de francs.

Au Kurdistan

Mardi, M. Couchepin rencontrera les ministres de l’education Huseyin
Celik, du travail et des affaires sociales Murat Basesgioglu et
le ministre d’Etat Mehmet Aydin, notamment responsable du dialogue
interculturel. Il rendra une visite de courtoisie au Premier ministre
turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Le conseiller federal se rendra mercredi et jeudi dans le sud-est
du pays, a population majoritairement kurde. Il rencontrera des
representants des autorites locales et visitera des sites culturels
et historiques ainsi que des projets de cooperation soutenus par
Berne. Vendredi, le chef du DFI s’entretiendra avec des intellectuels
turcs a Istanbul.

Ce sejour intervient quatre mois après la visite a Ankara de Christoph
Blocher, qui avait alors critique la norme penale contre le racisme,
declarant que ce texte lui donnait des "maux de ventre". Le conseiller
federal avait regrette que l’article 261 bis du code penal suisse
ait conduit a une enquete en Suisse contre un historien turc pour
ses propos sur le genocide armenien.

"Inacceptable"

Les declarations de Christoph Blocher avaient sucite l’indignation en
Suisse. Premier conseiller federal a reagir, Pascal Couchepin avait
juge "inacceptable" l’attitude de son collègue.

La justice suisse a ouvert en 2005 des enquetes contre l’historien
turc Yusuf Halacoglu et le politicien turc Dogu Perincek pour
determiner si des propos tenus en Suisse sur le genocide armenien
perpetre entre 1915 et 1917 dans l’Empire ottoman violent la norme
anti-raciste. M. Perincek sera juge en mars a Lausanne.

La question du genocide armenien a ete a l’origine ces dernières annees
du report ou de l’annulation de visites en Turquie des conseillers
federaux Micheline Calmy-Rey et Joseph Deiss. Ankara reagissait a la
reconnaissance officielle par le Conseil national et le Grand Conseil
vaudois du genocide armenien.

La Turquie, qui ne nie pas les tueries, en conteste l’ampleur et
rejette la qualification de "genocide". Ce negationnisme de l’Etat
turc est denonce par les survivants du genocide armenien et par la
communaute des historiens.

"L’histoire aux historiens"

Interroge dimanche sur la Radio suisse romande (RSR), M. Couchepin
a declare que "les evenements qui se sont passes au cours de la
Première Guerre mondiale" seront evoques lors de sa visite. La
position du gouvernement suisse "est tout a fait claire (…) Nous
pensons que l’histoire doit etre laissee aux historiens", a declare
le conseiller federal.

Et d’ajouter: "Ce qui serait juste, c’est la creation d’une commission
internationale (…) qui etudie ce thème et cherche a comprendre les
causes et les resultats des evenements de l’epoque et notamment les
massacres qui ont eu lieu a ce moment-la".

NOTE: depeche completee (propos de M. Couchepin). Trois derniers
paragraphes nouveaux.

–Boundary_(ID_Zy2wcW6VEOSyFQ5u9kQZVg)- –

NATO MEMBER STATES SHARE EXPERIENCE WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.02.2007 12:48 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The main goal of the seminar titled "Military reform
in Armenia: provision of Defense Ministry with civil personnel and
introduction of amendments in the law On Defense" is the specification
of plans and further assistance in the process of reformation and
modernization of the Armenian armed forces, said Dr Horst Schmalfeld,
the German Deputy Director of the George C. Marshall Center.

In his words, the seminar also aims at exchange of experience with NATO
member states, summarizing of opinions of international and Armenian
experts on the proposed amendments in the law On Defense. "150 Armenian
military were trained in the George C. Marshall Center. This fact
proves the republic’s engagement in the armed forces’ reform. All
those officers who were trained in the Center assumed positions in
the Defense Ministry and General Staff.

We are convinced that our counterparts who arrived in Armenia from
Latvia, Estonia and Romania have enough experience to share with the
Armenian officers," added Dr Schmalfeld.

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN USA TO BOOST BILATERAL TIES

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Feb 4 2007

ANKARA (A.A) -04.02.2007 -"I believe that my visit to the United
States will further develop the cooperation between the two allied
countries in every area," Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul said on Sunday.

Gul left for the United States on a six-day formal visit as the guest
of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Holding a news conference at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport prior to his
departure, Gul said, "I will hold talks with US Vice President Dick
Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security
Adviser Stephen Hadley in Washington D.C."

"I will also meet US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs
Committee Chairman Tom Lantos and members of the Turkey-United States
Interparliamentary Friendship Group. I will deliver a speech at the
German Marshall Fund on Turkey’s future. I will meet Turkish-American
Council Executive Board President Brent Scowcroft," he told reporters.

"Later, I will proceed to New York on February 8th to meet with United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. I will deliver a speech at
the Foreign Relations Council on recent developments in Iraq and the
Middle East. I will return to Turkey on February 10th," he said.

Gul said that besides the bilateral relations, regional and
international issues would be high on agenda of his scheduled meetings.

"Kurdish, Turkish, Arab, Sunni, Shi’i, everybody in Iraq should come
to their senses and find a way to live together and fraternally on
their own lands," Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul said on Sunday.

Holding a press conference before he left for USA on a six-day formal
visit as the guest of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gul said
that they would share opinions on Iraq issue within the framework of
his talks in USA.

Stating that problems did not calm down in Iraq, Gul recalled the
bombing that took place in a Shi’i neighbourhood yesterday and said
that the disturbance should not spread to other cities within the
country.

Upon a question on whether he would have a message for USA regarding
Syria and Iran’s will to participate in the process concerning Iraq,
Gul said, "our opinion on this issue is known. In order for all the
neighbours to play positive roles in this process, meetings should
be held with them and their contributions should be accepted".

-FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM-Replying to a question on whether the "fight
against terrorism" would be discussed during his talks in USA, Gul
said the issue would be an important branch of the meetings.

-ALLEGATIONS OF SO-CALLED GENOCIDE-In his reply to a question on the
recent resolution on so-called Armenian genocide, introduced to the
US House of Representatives and Turkey’s endeavours on the issue,
Gul noted, "you have to tell the others both your truth and the
history’s truth on this matter".

Gul, who said "informing, enlightening, telling the truth is our duty",
stated that many MPs from the Turkish parliament would contact several
US Congress members in order to explain "the true side of this issue"
to them.

Commenting on the study of "Joint Historians Commission Proposal",
Gul stressed that serious studies continued concerning such suggestion.

-SHARED VISION DOCUMENT-Upon a question on the latest developments
regarding the "Shared Vision Document", Gul said the document envisaged
close cooperation, working together and exchange of opinions on many
issues and added that they were carrying out countless joint studies
on this issue.

-CYPRUS-On the other hand, replying to a question on whether Cyprus
would be on the agenda of his meeting with UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon, Gul said, "we will desire Ban Ki-moon to endorse the studies
conducted on Cyprus issue previously and especially to support his
assistant Gambari’s activities and to be attached firmly to the issue".

-SAMAST’S IMAGES-Moreover, upon a question on whether the images of
Ogun Samast, suspect of journalist Hrant Dink’s murder, caused any
tension between institutions, Gul said, "there should not be any
tension. All these institutions are the institutions of Turkey".

Gul stated that these institutions should work hard, cooperate and
be in great solidarity.

OY LEADER: I DON’T SEEK THE TITLE OF "OPPOSITION LEADER"

Yerevan, February 3. ArmInfo. I don’t seek the title of "opposition
leader" – the leader of the opposition is the people, the leader of
Orinats Yerkir party, ex parliamentary speaker Artur Bagdassaryan says
in an interview to Kentron TV.

Bagdassaryan thanks almost 200,000 people who gave their votes to his
party during the parliamentary elections 2003. After his resignation
and the split of OY from the opposition, his party has gone through
many privations. "We have seen slander and treason but we have got
even stronger," says Bagdassaryan.

POWER GRIDS OF ARMENIA INVESTED $10 MLN IN 2006 IN ARMENIA’S POWER SYSTEM

Yerevan, February 2. ArmInfo. The "Power Grids of Armenia" (PGA) CJSC
has invested $10 mln in 2006 in the Armenia’s power system, Director
General of the Company, Yevgeny Gladunchik, sid in an interview to
"Delovoy Express" weekly.

According to him, the cost of the investment program for 2007 makes up
$37,5 mln (13,5 bln drams). He noted the Company intends to maximum
invest in the Yerevan power system in 2007 since "we conventionally
call this year a year of Yerevan". Y. Gladunchik added that the
Company’s electric energy sales proceeds in 2006 made up 78,1 bln
drams, that is more by 3,2% than in 2005. For the reporting period,
the PGA have provided the consumers with 4,631 mln kWh of electric
energy, that is exceeded the indicator of 2005 by 5,9%. At that, the
energy consumption inside Armenia for the reporting period has grown
by 3,1% to 4,309 mln kWh. The export of electric energy to Georgia and
Nagorno Karabakh In 2006 reduced by 56,7% to 322 mln kWh. He added
that energy consumption in Armenia has been growing every year. Thus,
in 2006, the population has acquired electric energy from PGA to the
sum of 37 bln drams, while the industrial complex – to sum of 19,5 bln
drams against 26,1 bln drams and 9,5 bln drams in 2002, respectively.

To note, the Company is a monopolist for the electric energy sale to
consumers in the whole territory of Armenia. It serves 922,000
subscribers. The Company had been privatized in 2002. All the Company
shares were acquired in 2005 for $70 mln by the "INTER RAO UES" CJSC,
a subsidiary of RAO "UES of Russia".

PanARMENIAN.Net

Armenian expert does not exclude military coup in Turkey
01.02.2007 17:57 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There exist two kinds of Turkey: one is Turkey in
`Taksim Square’, it is a smaller part of the country with European
values. And just there Hrant Dink’s funeral and demonstrations took
place, it is that 100 000 people. This Turkey includes some towns of
European part, part of Ankara,’ said director of Caucasian Media
Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan during an
interview to the PanARMENIAN.Net journalist. In his words, the other
greater part of Turkey is nationalistic and Islamic country. `Truly,
here Islam is not so strong as in Afghanistan or Iran, but Islamists
are rather strong.

An attempt of military coup is possible there, which, principally, is
not new for Turkey when country’s direction changes from West to
Islam, that is to say, from the state created by Ataturk to more
Islamic. `I am sure, the bullets shot at Hrant Dink, were directed at
liberal Turkey,’ stated Armenian political scientist.

Nobel winner cancels book tour over safety

Jess Smee in Berlin
Thursday February 1, 2007
The Guardian

Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk has cancelled a publicity tour of
Germany amid fears for his safety following the murder of
Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink.

Hanser Verlag, Pamuk’s German publisher, confirmed that the celebrated
author had called off a string of book readings in Hamburg, Cologne
and Stuttgart. He was also due to receive an honorary degree at
Berlin’s Free University.

Fears for Pamuk’s safety are running high. Last week, Yasin Hayal, the
man who police claim has confessed to orchestrating Dink’s murder,
issued what appeared to be a threat to Pamuk.

"Orhan Pamuk, be smart. Be smart," he called out to journalists as he
was being taken to an Istanbul courtroom by police. Police are
investigating whether his words constitute a threat to the novelist,
which could lead to Hayal’s prosecution. Both Pamuk and Dink have
been the focus of controversy in Turkey after talking openly about the
mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century. They have been
accused of the crime of "insulting Turkishness".

Pamuk is famed for novels such as Snow and My Name is Red, and won the
Nobel literature prize in 2006. His publisher said that there were no
immediate plans to reschedule the trip to Germany, where Pamuk has a
large readership, partly because of the country’s sizeable Turkish
community.

Dink’s assassination earlier this month has prompted outrage at home
and abroad.

Within Turkey it has sparked fierce debate about excessive nationalism
as well as freedom of expression.

Regnum, Russia
Jan 31 2007

Azerbaijani foreign ministry released statement on
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku project

On January 30, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on
start of the implementation stage in Kars-Akhalkalaki-Baku railway
project, a REGNUM correspondent informs.

The document says, the project will connect Azerbaijani railways with
the railway that will be constructed between Georgia and Turkey.
Connecting China and Kazakhstan to the railway in the east and
connecting the railway network with European railways will let
transporting passengers and goods safely and quickly from Europe to
Asia and backwards.

On February 7, a framework agreement will be signed on the project.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to take part
in it. Construction of the railway is expected to start in June and
accomplish within two years.