Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

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.

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.