Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Radio Free Europe, Czech Rep.
Dec 30 2004
Asia: Tourists From CIS Among Those Missing, Killed In Tsunamis
By Antoine Blua
With more than 100,000 people reported dead so far as a result of the
South Asian tsunami disaster, governments and relief agencies are
rushing to deliver humanitarian aid to millions of survivors. The
region is a popular holiday destination for tourists from around the
world, including the countries in the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS). Thousands of holiday makers are reported either dead or
missing, including nearly 50 Russian and Kazakh tourists. Citizens
from other CIS states were also traveling in the disaster zone.
Prague, 30 December 2004 (RFE/RL) — A government plane airlifted
home the first group of Russian tourists from Sri Lanka yesterday.
Stanislav, who was among the 21 tourists evacuated, described to
Reuters what he saw.
“Of course, it was terrifying,” Stanislav said. “We didn’t know where
to go. We wanted to hide as high above the ground as possible because
we didn’t know how big the wave was going to be.”
The Russian tourists sought assistance from the Russian Embassy in
the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, where they received food and
clothing. They complained that they felt let down by tour operators.
No one required medical assistance.
At least two Russian tourists — a Moscow woman and her 6-year-old
son — were killed in Thailand when the tsunami struck the country’s
southern island of Phuket.
A plane dispatched today is due to start evacuating Russian tourists
from Thailand. The Russian Embassy in Bangkok has registered almost
600 Russians as “safe and sound.” More than 40 Russians are still
unaccounted for, however.
Some Russian tourists, such as Natalya, had just arrived in Sri Lanka
when the tsunami hit.
“We had just arrived [in Colombo] when it all happened,” Natalya
said. “So we did not even have our holiday started there. And we are
grateful to the [Russian] Emergency Ministry. We just flew in and
out.”
In Belarus, authorities say 41 citizens were in the region when
disaster struck, but no deaths have been reported.
Belarusian businessman Ihar Makalovich explained how his brother, who
was visiting Thailand, escaped the tsunami.
“He and his girlfriend went up to the hills to take pictures at that
moment. This is what saved them. Their hotel was destroyed
completely,” Makalovich said.
Some 75 Kazakh tourists were evacuated from Thailand earlier this
week.
Lada Li returned to Kazakhstan from southern Thailand after the
tsunami struck.
“It was really horrible, so horrible that the water rose above the
second floor, breaking windows and sweeping people away,” Li said.
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said yesterday that five Kazakh
nationals, including two children, remain in hospital on Phuket.
Three other Kazakh citizens remain missing.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to India, Tamerlan Karaev, said he is
optimistic about the fate of 17 Azerbaijani tourists believed to have
been traveling in South Asia.
“Fortunately, we haven’t received any bad news so far about their
fates,” Karaev said.
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamlet Gasparian said he has no
specific information but does not rule out that some Armenians may
have been traveling in the disaster zone.
“We called the Thai Consulate in Yerevan, and they said no visas were
issued to Armenians prior to the disaster,” Gasparian said. “And the
[Armenian] Embassy in India has no data about whether there were any
Armenians in the disaster zones. As for the Armenians living in the
region, we don’t have any information. But it is possible that there
were some Armenians who flew to these countries from Moscow.”Some
travel agencies continue to send tourists to resorts in the region
that were unaffected by the tsunamis.
Many survivors of the tsunami lack proper food and medical help, and
also face the threat of disease from the lack of clean drinking water
and poor sanitation. Indian authorities have also warned that high
waves could strike southern coastal areas again.
Foreign governments are advising their citizens not to travel to the
region.
Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Mukhtar Karibai spoke with RFE/RL
in Astana.
“As a result of the natural disaster that took place in Southeast
Asian countries, there is a high threat of communicable diseases in
that area,” Karibai said. “In addition to that, some foreign weather
forecast services report the possibility of a recurrence of such
natural disasters as earthquakes. Taking into consideration all of
the above, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry advises Kazakh citizens not to
travel to this area temporarily, either for business or for private
trips.”
However, some travel agencies continue to send tourists to resorts in
the region that were unaffected by the tsunamis. Many tourists from
the CIS risk losing the money they have already paid for their
holidays if they don’t complete their trips.
“The situation at those resorts doesn’t always correspond to what you
see on television,” said Irina Tyurina, a spokeswoman for Russia’s
Association of Travel Agencies. “In fact, there are nice inland
hotels. There is a warning [about travel to the region] from
epidemiologists, from the Foreign Ministry, and the Federal Tourism
Agency. And Sri Lanka’s Embassy is asking [Russia] to suspend flights
to their country. And the airport in Colombo is asking [Russia] not
to send any planes there. And Phuket [in Thailand] is asking for
tourists not to be sent there but [instead] to Pattaya and other
provinces. We can’t forbid people to go there. It is their right. Our
border is open.”
Tyurina said a charter flight yesterday to Phuket was full, and that
no flights to the Maldives have yet been canceled.
Officials in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka region say about 180
tourists left the peninsula for Thailand yesterday.

Window on Eurasia: Russia’s First Illegal Alien Deportation Camp Opens in
Krasnodar
29 December 2004

Paul Goble

Tartu, December 29 – A camp intended to confine illegal
immigrants until they can be speedily deported from the Russian Federation
opened today in Krasnodar krai, the first such camp to be opened in
post-Soviet Russia and one organized in such a way that it seems certain to
exacerbate ethnic tensions not only there but elsewhere as well.
Krasnodar Governor Aleksandr Tkachev, who has long pushed this
idea, said at the opening that “we have begun the struggle with univited
guests, and we will continue this work to find, detain, and expell those who
do not wish to obey” Russian laws, Radio Mayak Kubani reported earlier
today. ( )
Tkachev added that people living in his territory “ought to be
able to live a peaceful life and not be afraid of going out to work or to
rest. And as experience shows, among these illegal [migrants], there are
criminals.”
In the near future, Krasnoyarsk officials have indicated that
they plan to open three additional camps elsewhere in that southern Russian
region. Each of these four tent cities will hold up to 150 people pending
deportation and will be heavily guarded, according to “Novyyze izvestiya.”
(See .)
This action comes following a significant increase in the
reported number of illegal aliens coming into the region from the Caucasus
and Central Asia and the apparent inability of officials there to control
the situation, even though in the last year alone they had increased the
number of militia officers solely responsible for dealing with this issue to
400.
Officials both in Moscow and the regions are attempting to deal
with the anger many Russians feel toward illegal immigrants, especially
those from the Caucasus and Central Asia. But so far, most of the measures
they have tried have proved ineffective often because of the corruption of
militia officers who often are willing to allow illegal aliens to remain for
a price.
That has led to calls for more radical measures like those now
being introduced in Krasnodar. But there are three reasons for thinking
that these steps are likely to exacerbate ethnic tensions there even if they
succeed in reducing the influx of illegal aliens from the Caucasus or
further afield.
First, Tkachev has played upon popular prejudice by suggesting
that illegal immigrants are responsible for a rise in crime. Research by
the Interior Ministry in Moscow and by the noted ethnosociologist Emil Pain
have disproved that contention, but many Russians are inclined to believe
it. Tkachev’s remarks will only reinforce such attitudes.
Second, the Krasnodar authorities say that they will organize
the camps on ethnic lines. That is, they will put people from Ukraine and
Moldova in one of the camps, people from Armenia in another, and those from
Central Asian countries in a third. Intended to make the management of these
camps easier, this step could easily have just the opposite effect.
(Other Russian regional governments which have thought about
setting up such filtration camps in the past have concluded that it would be
a mistake to organize them along ethnic lines, lest that provoke an
explosion. ( ).)
And third, Tkachev and his staff say that they want to do all
this without putting undue burdens on Krasnodar taxpayers. To that end,
they have created tent cities with few amenities. And they plan to force
the illegal migrants to pay for their own deportations either on their own
or by getting money from their co-ethnics who are living in the krai
legally.
The logic behind that approach seems to be that this will make
the local non-Russian communities less willing to help their co-ethnics come
to Krasnodar, but it is entirely likely that in at least some cases, this
tactic will provoke anti-government and even anti-Russian feelings among
both those confined and those who are told to help them.
Tkachev’s policies may nonetheless be popular with ethnic
Russians there who are angry about illegal immigration. Consequently and
especially in the absence of serious criticism from outside, what he does
may very well be copied by others in other region’s of the country where the
influx of illegal migrants is large.
But even such draconian measures may not reduce the number of illegal aliens
any time soon. Economic and demographic pressures are simply too great. What
such steps almost certainly will do, however, is to further divide the
Russian Federation’s ethnic communities and thus make the achievement of
interethnic accord there that much more difficult.

The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC), Russia
Dec 27 2004
Jewish Leaders and Armenian Minister Meet on Question of
Anti-Semitism
Monday, December 27, 2004

YEREVAN, Armenia – Chief Rabbi of Armenia Gersh Meir Burshtein and
other Jewish leaders in Yerevan met with Armenian Foreign Affairs
Minister Vardan Oskanyan this week. While the Minister expressed his
wish to create appropriate conditions for regular cooperation with
the Jewish community, emphasizing his intentions to provide his
support to the Jewish community in Armenia, the main focus of the
discussion concerned anti-Semitic statements made by a number of top
officials in Armenia.
“These statement haven’t received the support of the Armenian people,
but nevertheless I consider it necessary to discuss the situation at
the governmental level,” expressed Vardan Oskanyan. These offences
included a statement comparing the Jewish community to a number of
sects known for spreading anti-Jewish propaganda, a comment made by
Granush Haratyan, the Head of the Department on National Minorities
and Religion. These and other anti-Semitic statements, one of which
suggested exiling Jews from Armenia, have been published in the
country’s leading commercial and even state-sponsored newspapers.
“We want to live and work in Armenia, but these false statements
printed in the mass media may result in negative attitudes towards
Jews by Armenians. I am counting on a positive and resolute response
from the Armenian Government regarding these anti-Semitic
statements,” affirmed the Chief Rabbi of Armenia. Such offenses to
the Jewish Diaspora in Armenia have also been aired on one of the
national television channels ‘ALM’.
“I have always been proud to say that there is no anti-Semitism in
Armenia,” stated Rimma Varjapetyan, the Chairman of the Jewish
Community in Armenia. “However, we have been receiving a number of
threatening calls as of recent, just as soon as the President of the
ALM Channel, Tigran Karapetyan, joined Mrs. Haratyan in Jew-bashing.
These anti-Semitic attitudes are unacceptable,” she declared
solemnly. Such concerns were echoed by the meeting’s other
participants, who are also afraid for the resultant security risks to
the Jewish institutions they head.
The Minister promised to take measures to resolve the situation. “I
understand your anxiety. There is actually no state anti-Semitism in
Armenia, although some individuals propagandize it and may consider
themselves to be anti-Semitists in order to be different”. The
Minister expressed his desire to meet with Granush Haratyan to
discuss her actions and to submit a report about this meeting and
issue to the President of Armenia, Robert Kocharian.
At the end of the meeting, the Jewish leaders presented the Minister
with a number of gifts as a symbol of friendship with the Jewish
community. In addition to a music album by composer Willy Vainer, the
Director of the ‘Menorah’ Jewish Cultural Center, who also attended
the meeting, the Minister received a calendar for the upcoming year,
the latest issues of the ‘Lechaim’ Magazine and the ‘Kohelet’ and
‘Magen David’ newspapers.

Monday Morning, Lebanon
Dec 27 2004
Turkey’s EU bid: The long road ahead
Turkey has finally been given a date — October 3, 2005 — on which
it can begin negotiations that may in the fullness of time lead to
membership of the European Union. There has been dissent from this
decision from various quarters, notably in France and Austria, not to
mention Armenia, who complain of an attempt to `manufacture’ an
`artificial’ link to bind a Middle Eastern country to what Goethe
called `the Old Continent’.

The process of negotiations that is scheduled to start in October
2005 would take at least a decade before Ankara could be admitted.
Many details remain to be settled, including the issues of Cyprus,
human rights and legal reform. And the Turkish government, now led by
a government dominated by a moderate Islamic party, has to show how
deep the roots are of the secular tradition established by Kemal
Ataturk in the 1920s and `30s.
At the European Union summit, the Turkish prime minister, Recep
Tayyip Erdogan, said the possibility of EU membership was for Turkey
a promise of greater prosperity and influence in the Islamic world.
Addressing his people after coming back from Brussels, he said,
`There will no longer be interruptions, interim periods [of military
rule] and interventions, because there will be no need for them’. He
added that `Turkey is no longer a country that will progress for five
years, stall for 20 years, fight for three years. Stability has
come’.
These words were very expressive and show how very decisive Turks
consider EU membership to be for their future.
The other option for Ankara is to seek another regional gathering in
the Middle East, which is poorer and less stable from a strategic
angle. Joining the EU is a guarantee for the coming generations but
achieving it will be an immense task and challenge for the present
generation, which will have to mould the country into conformity with
EU standard, including thousands of pages of directives on almost
every imaginable subject.
A European country?
This is the principal question that many Europeans are asking. If we
look at the map, the European part of Turkey is very small,
comprising only about five percent of the country’s land mass.
Ninety-five percent of Turkey is `Asia Minor’. And joining the EU
will bring millions of Muslims into the European entity, where
Christianity has been the main source of morals and laws, despite the
secular character of many institutions. This point was brought to the
surface during discussions of the draft EU constitution. A big debate
took place whether the document’s preamble should mention the
Christian roots and values on which Europe’s civilization is based.
It is not a technical issue only as it seems to be when examining it
from above. Deep inside it is a cultural debate between separate
civilization, different traditions and practices. The Europeans are
afraid of the slow change taking place in their identity and culture.
This point has been clear when dealing with the immigration issue
bringing immigrants from North Africa to Southern Europe. Radical
anti-foreign parties are winning more and more seats in European
national parliaments simply because of a fear that Europe’s face is
being altered. This debate is another aspect of the `clash of
civilizations’ which, right-wing American commentators would have us
believe, is now going on between the Islamic world and the `coalition
of the willing’ led by the United States.
In this regard Ankara has to prove how European it is, and how stable
and capable it is of defending its secular tradition to alay all
these fears. A decade or fifteen years devoted to discussing these
questions may be enough to provide answers.
The role of the generals
Turkish generals have long held considerable sway over the country’s
elected politicians, staging three outright coups since 1960 and
forcing a fourth government, led by an Islamist party, to resign in
1997. But recent reforms aimed at meeting EU political criteria to
start negotiations have reined in the power of the military, which
sees itself as the guarantor of Turkey’s secular state.
Financial markets are finely tuned to any sign of friction between
the army and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), a
moderate party viewed with suspicion by much of the secularist
establishment for its roots in a banned Islamist movement.
The generals themselves are in a paradoxical position: welcoming the
EU as a bolster to secularism in Turkey but seeing their own power
eroded in the process.
Another item of discussion is that of human rights. Brussels expects
a major improvement in Turkey’s record in this respect, including
full rights for non-Muslim minorities — including the use of the
Kurdish language –, women, and the eradication of torture. The EU,
the national parliaments and a legion of non-governmental bodies will
demand concrete proof of improvements on these points.
The Cypriot nettle
Ankara has a clear vision regarding the problematic issues mentioned
above, but its main complex is the Cypriot nettle. The sensitive
issue of recognizing the internationally-accepted Cyprus government,
a full EU member since May 2004, could prove a stumbling block for
Turkey. even before it starts negotiations. Even before talks can
even start next October, Turkey will have to take the difficult step
of acknowledging the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia, something
it has said it can only do when a settlement for the divided island
is reached.
Ankara pledged last week that it would sign a protocol extending its
EU association agreement to the bloc’s 10 new members, including
Cyprus, before its EU accession negotiations are due to start on
October 3, 2005. But it insisted this was not tantamount to direct or
indirect recognition of the Greek Cypriot government in Nicosia. This
point promises many complications because Nicosia would not accept
any deviation in the general line aimed at securing recognition of
its independence. To provide a new impetus, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan offered his mediation to renew the bilateral talks that failed
months ago intended to reunify the island. The European Union urged
all sides in the Cyprus dispute to take up this offer. But Ankara
still needs time to decide what course to take.
Assuming this hurdle is passed, the negotiations will oblige Turkey
to make reforms more costly and far-reaching than those required by
other `clubs’ such as NATO or the United Nations. Turkish industry,
at present a strong backer of EU entry, will have to make expensive
upgrades of its machinery to comply with EU standards on health,
safety and the environment. One of the big challenges will be in
revamping an economy still recovering from the crisis of three years
ago, and whose reputation for corruption and red tape still scares
off many much-needed foreign investors.
Turkey adherence to the EU would change a great deal in the Middle
Eastern equation. And if Israel were to succeed in presenting its
candidacy for EU membership, it could be a slap in the face for the
Arab countries, split between various groups and interests. It would
be a `wake-up call’ to the Arabs regarding the need for them to form
strong alliances to keep their strength in the world of
globalization.

Armenian pressure group urges MPs not to endorse sending troops to Iraq
A1+ web site
24 Dec 04
23 December: The Defence of the Liberated Territories public initiative
sent an open letter to the members of the [Armenian] National Assembly
today. The National Assembly is to adopt a decision tomorrow on
sending to Iraq a 50-strong group of Armenian military doctors,
sappers and drivers.
“At this decisive moment I am calling on everybody to be vigilant.
Responsibility for sending mercenaries to Iraq is put on the
shoulders of the deputies today. Nobody can cite a single logical
reason justifying Armenia’s participation in the US-British escapade
in Iraq. You know that there is no reason of this kind,” the letter
says. The authors of the open letter are sure that one or two persons
are responsible for everything, and this is being done “in order to
mitigate the outside danger directed against their personal power
and its successful handover”.
“One does not have to pretend to be a diplomat: cunning and
cowardliness alone are too little for that. Dare not defame the
honour of our arms. Each deputy, moreover, each faction are obliged
to do the impossible to not allow this agreement to be ratified. The
Armenian people demand this today,” says the letter signed by the
commander of the special battalion of the Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh]
war and coordinator of the Defence of the Liberated Territories public
initiative, Zhirayr Sefilyan.

British-inspired Azeri military doctrine to be ready by mid-2005
Sources:
ANS TV, Baku
22 Dec 04
Assa-Irada, Baku
22 Dec 04
[Presenter] Azerbaijan’s military doctrine and security concept
will be ready by mid-2005. Then the documents will be reported
[presumably submitted] to the president of the country. A special
working group is now drawing up the documents. The aide on military
issues to the Azerbaijani president, Vahid Aliyev, has said that the
military doctrine and security concept will cover all spheres of life
in the country.
[Vahid Aliyev, speaking to microphone] The armed forces, security
bodies, ecology and all other aspects should be taken into
consideration. These documents must be worked out conceptually
and in such a way that they will give priority to Azerbaijan’s
interests. The Azerbaijani laws on national security, reconnaissance
and counter-reconnaissance were drafted, examined by experts, endorsed
by the Milli Maclis and adopted this year. The appropriate bodies
will abide by these laws in their work now.
[The Azerbaijani news agency Assa-Irada quoted Aliyev as saying on
the same day that “on the president’s instruction, we are working on
the security concept and military doctrine considering international
experience” and, in particular, that of Germany and Great Britain]

Azeri speaker, Iraqi envoy discuss Karabakh conflict, expanding ties
Trend news agency
23 Dec 04
Baku, 22 December, Trend correspondent X. Azizov: The Azerbaijani
speaker [Murtuz Alasgarov] received the Iraqi ambassador to Azerbaijan,
Umar Ismai’l, on 22 December.
Alasgarov said during the meeting that Azerbaijan is interested in
the development of ties with the Iraqi people which has the same
religious origin, Trend news agency reported.
Alasgarov said that Azerbaijan is watching the Iraqi developments
with great interest and wishes the restoration of peace and calm
in the country. Then the speaker told the guest about the roots and
consequences of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict and Azerbaijan’s fair
position on the settlement of the conflict. He noted that as a result
of the policy conducted by [Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev,
Azerbaijan will soon liberate its lands.
The ambassador said that the Iraqi people is also interested in the
development of ties with Azerbaijan.
We will try our best to develop Iraqi-Azerbaijani interparliamentary
relations after the parliamentary elections in Iraq in January 2005,
he said.
He said he will work in the sphere of developing economic, cultural
and political relations. The ambassador also said that not only the
Iraqi, but also the Turkoman people were concerned over the Karabakh
conflict. We support a speedy solution to the conflict within the
framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Ismai’l said.

Zaman, Turkey
Dec 19 2004
EU’s Changing Strategic Reflex
While Turkey was experiencing an enthusiasm mixed with anxiety at the
result of the historic December 17th European Union (EU) summit, we
were in Waterloo, 20 minutes from Brussels, the site of the big war
that paved the way for a new order in Europe.
The decision of December 17th which reached through diplomacy the
European ideal of integration that Napoleon could not achieve through
war, seems to be the harbinger of a new order just like Waterloo once
was. Ordinary Europeans, coming here to experience their historical
heritage, expressed their pleasure regarding the decision on Turkey,
which promotes the idea of a multicultural Europe. A Swiss man
offered congratulations when he learned that I was a Turk.
We’ve seen that the EU could not help in the Bosnian tragedy,
remained passive during the Kardak crisis, which brought its member
Greece and Turkey to the brink of war, split into two over the war in
Iraq, and lacks both a global strategic vision and the instruments to
put it into practice. How, then, could a strategically short-sighted
EU take such a brave and globally significant step like opening its
doors to Turkey’s 70-million Muslims? Was the decision of the
Brussels summit the ideal? Certainly not. Does it have problems? It
certainly does. Is it less than what Turkey deserves? It certainly
is.
However, while we evaluate the result, we should not forget that it
is the outcome of a European compromise including radicals like the
former French President Valery Giscard D’estaing, who views Turkey’s
membership as the end of the EU, and German politician Angela Merkel,
who calls for only a “privileged partnership” with Turkey, as well as
common antipathy of public opinion.
Among the Turks who went to Brussels for the historic summit, I think
only those who know that the EU could not risk breaking off the
process were sure that Europe has finally reached a strategic
decision on Turkey. Awareness of this strategic decision was what lay
behind Turkey’s threat to leave the table. It would be wrong to
understand the “strategic decision of the EU” as a joint decision of
the EU with 25 members, many of them ineffective in world politics.
What lies behind this decision seems like the signature of
French-German axis, which has reviewed the phenomena of September
11th and the Iraq war and given the Europe its soul. Although we do
not know whether or not the state has such a secret strategy
document, French President Jacques Chirac gave hints for this
throughout his speech on December 16th. Chirac clearly noted these as
a leader in a context where besides 65 percent of the citizens, even
his own party rejects Turkey’s membership. Two points need to be
underlined: firstly, that Turkey is a large market and a strong
economy. It should not be against them but working with them as
rejecting it could cause instability and security risks on EU
boarders. Secondly, Europe is a small compared to great powers like
China, India and the US, but it can increase its power with Turkey’s
membership.
Faced with this clear position, the anchorman of the French TF-1
television asked one by one all challenging questions he can: “Are
Turks culturally European? Do French people want Turks? Is not
privileged partnership enough? Should not the Armenian genocide be
recognized? Could Europe be a neighbor to Iran and Iraq? Will the
French reject Turkey’s becoming powerful in the EU?” His efforts were
futile; Chirac did not step backward.
Hence, although the EU complied with blackmail from the Greek
Cypriots and caused trouble for Turkey, it made a conscious
preference to become a “global actor”. Despite another 10 or 15 years
before full membership and the possibility of future European leaders
to have opposing attitudes, this decision has begun to raise
potential outcomes for Turkey, the Islamic world, Europe, and the
whole world. Moreover, this step is the most hopeful development in
international relations since September 11th, 2001. The important
thing for Turkey, at this point, is to benefit as much as possible
from this change of strategic vision in Europe and to quickly abandon
European romanticism; therefore, get prepared to become an active
member of the club in world politics.
12.19.2004
ABDULHAMIT BILICI
BRUSSELS
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Accession to NATO isn’t on current agenda of Armenia – minister
By Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
December 17, 2004 Friday
YEREVAN, December 17 — The accession to NATO is not on the current
foreign political agenda of Armenia, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisyan
said at Friday debates organized by the Public Dialog and Development
Center.
He was speaking about regional security in the South Caucasus.
“At the same time, Armenia is realistic about regional security. It
does not make premature statements but develops cooperation with
the North Atlantic Alliance step by step,” the minister said. “In
this light relations with NATO have a serious role in the provision
of Armenian security. Finally, our country has chosen European
development, and NATO is a leading organization ensuring European
security.”

Chirac insta a Turquia a reconocer genocidio contra armenios
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
December 17, 2004, Friday
Bruselas, 17 dic — El presidente frances, Jacques Chirac, insto hoy
a Turquia a reconocer el genocidio cometido en Armenia durante la I
Guerra Mundial.
“El trabajo de la memoria debe ser visto como una necesidad
irrenunciable”, indico el mandatario en Bruselas tras la cumbre de
la Union Europea (UE).
En caso de que esto no suceda, los franceses seguramente lo tendran
en cuenta para el planificado referendum sobre el ingreso de Turquia
a la UE.
En 1915 Francia abrio las puertas a muchos inmigrantes armenios.