Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

AGREEMENT REACHED TO STOP ERECTION OF MONUMENT OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN ARMENIA
AND TURKEY IN KARS

Yerevan, January 31. ArmInfo. The Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Turkey,
Zair Hashymov, has been in the province of Kars, where he met with the
Governor Mehmet Ufuk Erden, the commander of the 14th mechanized
brigade, Erjan Okan and the Head of municipality, Naif Elibeioghlu,
the "Trend" was told in the Emb assy of Azerbaijan in Turkey. At all
the meetings, the Ambassador informed his interlocutors of the
conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. Three representatives of Turkey have
assured the Azerbaijani Ambassador of impossibility of opening the
Turkish-Armenian border. During negotiations, it has succeeded to
achieve the stopping of erection of a monument in the center of Kars
devoted to the friendship between Turkey and Armenia, the decision on
which was made by the municipality of Kars.

Panorama.am

20:03 31/01/2007

NUMBER OF MIGRANTS GOES DOWN

The number of people who arrived in Armenia exceeds the number of
those who departed by 15.9 percent. `During 2006, 983741 people
arrived in Armenia and 21750 left Armenia,’ Gagik Yeganyan, migration
agency head of territorial administration ministry, told a press
conference today.

In his words, the tendency started three years ago. Speaking about
the reasons, Yeganyan did not exclude the fact of murders in
Russia. The agency head believes migration is seasonal now.

Source: Panorama.am

PanARMENIAN.Net

Pamuk rejected trip to Germany fearing for his life
31.01.2007 15:37 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nobel Prize-winning writer Orhan
Pamuk refused from a trip to Germany to avoid possible
assassination. According to Pamuk’s German publisher,
the writer refused to be present at the awarding
ceremony of the Free Berlin University scheduled for
February 2. In Germany Pamuk will be more secure than
in Turkey but he cannot run the risk of leaving his
residence, observers say.

It’s also reported that Pamuk was shocked by Hrant
Dink’s death. Like Agos newspaper editor he was
accused of `insulting Turkishness’ for stating that 1
million of Armenians were slaughtered in Turkey in
early 20th century, reports RFE/RL.

Anatolian Times, Turkey
Turkish Press
Jan 30 2007

Press Review

CICEK: `ARTICLE 301 COULD BE CHANGED IF NECESSARY, BUT IT’S NOT A
PRIORITY’

Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party
(AKP) yesterday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said that Turkish Penal
Code (TCK) Article 301 could be changed if necessary, but that the
issue wasn’t a priority for Ankara. `This law went into effect in
2005,’ said Cicek. `We didn’t say that it couldn’t be changed.’ Cicek
further stressed that while some people want Article 301 to remain,
others want to abolish or change it, adding that people should
clearly share their views on the issue with the government.
/Milliyet/

CRACK OF SERVER WITH RA PRESIDENT’S SITE IS UNREAL

Yerevan, January 30. ArmInfo. It is unreal to crack the server, where
the official site of RA President is located since it is under a
permanent control, the Head of the Computer Department of Presidential
Staff, Gagik Poghossyan, told ArmInfo.

According to him, maximum protective measures are taken to assure the
relevant safety. To note, it has been tow days an Azeri hacker, called
Bacioglu, keeps several Armenian sites under control. To also remind,
Bacioglu has promised today, on the pages of the cracked sites, to
crack the official Internet-site of RA President. "The next site will
be , it is said in the cracked sites.

Today, Azerbaijan
Jan 30 2007

Teymur Rajabov: "Risk at the game with Aronian frustrated my plans"

30 January 2007 [14:05] – Today.Az

"I always set target to win in all the tournaments I join, because my
target is to take over the leadership in world rating list. I had no
target to be the winner of Corus tournament. The wish to be the first
was ahead," leader of Azerbaijani national chess team Teymur Rajabov
told.

20-year-old grandmaster connected the successful start with the play
for win in every game, APA reports.

"First games were successful for me. I think, it is because I always
played for win. I didn’t want to compromise after taking over the
leadership. And Topalov tried to prove that it was by chance after he
had lost the world chess crown to Kramnik. Bulgarian grandmaster was
very persistent to win the tournament. He managed to pull himself
together despite the failure at the beginning. I was supposed to play
with strong opponents in the middle of the tournament. I was to play
blacks with Anand and Kramnik. It was a very difficult situation. I
should do my best to escape the attacks. I have not cleared out some
points though the tournament has been finished," he said.

The grandmaster said that he had been tired after the start games and
this had a great impact on the following games.

"Success at the start games made me tired. I lost many points as my
opponents were strong. I don’t like to make a draw. But it is
impossible to play all 13 games and win," he noted.

Commentators observing the tournament called him the winner. Rajabov
considers it normal.

"Chances of Kramnik, Topalov and Anand were highly valued. Anand have
been a winner of the Corus tournament for five times. They prevail
over me in age and experience. So commentators’ calling me the winner
is normal," he said.

Teymur touched upon his defeat by Armenian Levon Aronian.

"I was very tired at the game with Aronian. I decided to play
carefully. Unfortunately, the wish to win showed itself. On the other
hand, Topalov won Anand. So I tried to risk and win. I have always
played for win at the game with Aronian. But this risk frustrated the
plans. I was not upset for losing the game as I lost it," he stated.

Our grandmaster is going to join "Linares" tournament. The first half
of the tournament will be held in Morelia, Mexica and then Linares,
Spain, in February-March.

URL:

CENN INFO
Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN)
Tel:+995 32 75 19 03/04
Fax:+995 32 75 19 05
E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]
URL: <;

Announcement

USAID-supported South Caucasus Water Program (SCWP)
<http://www.scaucasuswat er.org/> is about to announce its Small Grants
Program which aims to fund the establishment of Best Management Practices in
the Khrami-Debed and Alazani River watersheds, located in Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia.

We are pleased to invite interested Non-Governmental, Community Based and
Non-Commercial Organizations having an experience on cooperation and program
implementation on transboundary water resources management to the meetings
organised in Yerevan and Vanadzor to provide more information concerning the
Grants Program and discuss water management related issues exciting in the
Project area. Meetings will take place:

Yerevan- 01.02.2007 from 15:00-17:00 at the PA Energy office. Address: 18
Proshyan Street

Vanadzor – 02.02.2007 from 12:00-15:00 at Argishti hotel. Address: 1 Batumi
Street

For more information and to confirm your attendance please contact Isabella
Sargsyan by 266550, 266554 tel. numbers or [email protected]
email address a day before the meeting.

NI killings: how we all missed the real story

PETER PRESTON
The Observer – United Kingdom
Published: Jan 28, 2007

THEY WERE huge, defining news stories. Take 1975: a rash of CIA
assassinations stopped in its tracks by bleak disclosure; no more
agency-orchestrated murder, on presidential orders. Take 1987: the
covert killing of 28 Eta terrorists by Spanish agents and their
hitmen. See Seymour Hersh of the New York Times and Pedro J Ramirez of
El Mundo in Madrid take a bow – brave, determined journalists doing
their jobs. Then hang your British head in shame.

Northern Ireland, lest we forget, is part of the UK. It was also the
place, we should never forget, where as many as 15 men and women died
during the 1990s because a loyalist gang had RUC Special Branch
officers in its pocket. More sanctioned slaughter.

Did any battling Hersh or Ramirez figure expose that at the time?
No. And nor was it much exposed last week, when the province’s Police
Ombudsman published her chilling report. Just five or six paragraphs
buried inside the Sun and the Mirror.

Instead, we got recycling problems in the Indy , inheritance taxes in
the Telegraph and the Mail , courts short of cash in the Times and
judges getting stroppy over rape trial reforms in the Guardian.
Almost anything, in short, but a story of corruption and collusion
that would have led every front page in America and Europe.

It’s a bizarre, shaming blindness. Not uncovering the truth in the
first place is bad enough. Not blazoning it when somebody else has is
worse.

The qualities did a decent inside-page job. The Times and the Guardian
wrote suitably fierce editorials. But the shock factor seemed to be
missing. The Mail and Telegraph had nothing to say, and only the BBC
thought it worth putting top of the shop.

Why such astigmatism? Maybe because the events were history. Maybe
because, this time, Blair could hardly be blamed. Maybe because
Northern Ireland’s politics does not sell papers. Maybe because Jade
Goody was still ruling the rueful roost. But the failure was still
shaming.

A hundred thousand Turks walked in silence at the funeral of murdered
Armenian editor Hrant Dink last week. They showed how important good
journalism can be. But nobody walked the walk, or even talked the
talk, on the streets of Belfast – or Whitehall.

Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
Jan 29 2007

Memorial Service for Slain Journalist Hrant Dink

Monday, 29 January 2007, 10:43 am

Press Release: US State Department

Remarks at Memorial Service for Slain Journalist Hrant Dink
Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs
St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church
Washington, DC
January 23, 2007

This is a sad and terrible occasion that we have gathered here in
honor of a man whose strength and vision we miss. Hrant Dink was a
man of courage and decency, and I must express my own awe and
admiration for his memory and for his life’s work. And we all express
our shock and horror at his brutal murder.

He was a proud son of the Armenian people and a citizen of Turkey,
and in his work and in his life insisted on reconciliation and
dialogue. And he stood for a civic virtue higher than hatred, higher
than ethnic stereotypes, higher than fears and repression and
ignorance. His was a vision of a better world. His was a vision of
the best in Turkey’s tradition.

The measure of how our world falls short must be judged by his murder
at the hands of an ignorant, hate-filled nationalist. The measure of
the hope for the world can be judged by his achievements in life,
which may be measured by the crowds on the streets in Istanbul today,
where tens of thousands of people & ndash; Armenians, Turks, Greeks –
filled the streets and stated their solidarity with his vision of a
better world, of a world of tolerance and understanding.

It is a testament to the power of evil people that he was murdered,
and yet a testament to the power of will that his vision was made
real today, and that tens of thousands took up his call is a noble
vision, and we should all be listening to on our own.

Thank you.

The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia)
January 28, 2007 Sunday

The martyrdom of Hrant Dink

by Gwynne dyer

When they buried Hrant Dink in Istanbul last Tuesday, more than
100,000 Turks came to his funeral, filling the streets and chanting
"We are all Armenians." There is a war going on for the soul of
Turkey, but at least a lot of Turks are on the right side.

Dink, who called himself "an Armenian from Turkey and a good Turkish
citizen," was murdered because he insisted on talking about the great
crime that happened in the country 92 years ago: the mass murder of
most of Turkey’s Armenian population in eastern Anatolia. The
newspaper he founded and edited, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly
called Agos, had only a small circulation, but his outspoken
editorials had made him one of Turkey’s most famous journalists – and
a target for assassination.

His killer, 17-year-old Ogun Samast, was a semi-educated thug from
Trabzon in the far north-east of Anatolia. He was given the gun by
older ultra-nationalists including Yusuf Hayal, who was convicted of
bombing a McDonald’s restaurant in Trabzon in 2004. But these
marginal characters are just pawns in the larger war between those
who want a more democratic, tolerant Turkey and those who are
desperately defending the power and privileges of the old
"republican" elite.

‘Dirty blood’

Samast shot Dink from behind in the street in front of his newspaper
office. "I feel no remorse," the killer allegedly told investigators.
"He said that Turkish blood was dirty blood."

Of course, Dink never said any such thing. What he said, in a
newspaper article addressed to his fellow Armenians, was that their
obsession with the massacres of 1915 to ’17 was having "a poisonous
effect on your blood."

But it’s easy to see how a useful idiot like Samast could have
believed that Hrant Dink was an enemy of the Turks, because just over
a year ago a Turkish court took that phrase out of context, found
Dink guilty of "insulting Turkishness," and gave him a six- month
suspended sentence under Article 301 of the Criminal Code. A number
of other Turkish citizens, including Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan
Pamuk, have been prosecuted under the same law for daring to discuss
what happened to the Armenians, and most of them have received death
threats, too.

It really is a kind of war, and the villains of the piece are
precisely the army officers, judges and senior civil servants who
were once seen as the guardians of the "republican" tradition, the
people who were going to modernize and democratize Turkey.
Unfortunately, "republican" doesn’t really mean the same as
"democratic."

The forms of the Turkish republic were democratic from the start, but
for a very long time the reality was a mass of illiterate peasants
under the harsh tutelage of a narrow educated elite who were
determined to Westernize the country.

The "republican" elite rewrote history (including the denial of the
Armenian massacres) in order to mould a new Turkish national
consciousness, and saw religion as a retrograde force that must be
banned from politics.

The decades passed, and much of the elite’s dream came to pass.
Turkey today has a per capita income higher than Romania or Bulgaria,
the most recent countries to join the European Union. Democracy is a
reality, and the current prime minister, Recep Tayyib Erdogan, leads
a party whose members openly refer to themselves as "Muslim
Democrats." Under Erdogan, there has been a wave of legal and
administrative reforms designed to qualify Turkey for EU membership.
But all this threatens both the rigidly secular ideology and the
autocratic privileges of the old republican elite.

>From their powerful positions in the army, the judiciary and the
bureaucracy, they work to undermine the reforms and to wreck Turkey’s
chances of joining the EU. In de facto alliance with ultra-
nationalist right-wing parties that also oppose EU membership, they
incite hatred of minorities, bring false prosecutions against the
advocates of a more open and democratic Turkish society, and pursue
the long-term goal of destabilizing the democratic order.

But the war is not over yet, and the good guys have not lost. Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul vowed last November to change or abolish
Article 301, and last week 100,000 Turks thronged streets of Istanbul
to mourn the country’s best-known Armenian and condemn his murderers.

Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles
are published in 45 countries.