Author: Chakhmakhchian Vatche

Europe must clutch the cloak of history
By ADRIAN HAMILTON
The Independent – United Kingdom
Dec 17, 2004
The vote this week of the European Parliament in favour of starting
membership talks with Turkey should presage a decision by the EU
leaders today to start the whole process rolling.
One says “should” partly because one can never be quite certain in
Europe that its leaders will do what is required of them – witness the
extraordinary about-turns over the European constitution and the rows
over keeping to the rules of the stability pact. The major players,
including President Chirac, with important caveats, and Chancellor
Schroder and Prime Minister Tony Blair, more enthusiastically, have
all said that they will give it the green light.
But there’s a lot of bad politics about the Turkish application at the
moment, especially in Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands
where the right-wing anti-immigration parties are rearing their
head. Even Chirac has had to promise a referendum to let the French
people decide when negotiations finally come to fruition.
Such hesitations are understandable, but miss the urgency and
importance of the moment. To say no at this stage, or to fob Turkey off
with a “country membership” or something less than full conjunction
would be an act of religious prejudice and historic recidivism of
the worst and most parochial sort. Europe has an opportunity to reach
out to a whole new world of a bigger, wider and more diverse Europe.
All the objections and the last-minute hurdles being put forward
against Turkey – the demands that it admit to the Armenian genocide,
the imposition of additional rules on labour movement, the proposal
for a “privileged partnership” instead of membership – are little
more than masks for a much more fundamental fear and dislike, and
that is of Turkey as a Muslim state. Even Nicolas Sarkozy, the world’s
favourite French politician, has made some deeply dispiriting remarks
about non-Catholics. If anything, Europe should be wanting Turkey in
precisely because it is a liberal, modernising country of Muslims
(officially it is still a secular state, although it is now headed
by an Islamic party).
In that sense Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minster, is quite
right to insist, as he did in The Independent earlier this week,
that Turkey will not accept second-best, special requirements, lesser
membership or anything other than the straight road to membership
that every other country has followed. Anything less would be an
insult, not least to all those in Turkey which have pushed, harried
and argued for the huge changes that have been needed to get Turkey
to this point of even beginning serious negotiations,
Of course Turkey has a long way to go. Anyone who knows Turkey also
knows how very far it is from properly integrating its Kurdish
minority, accepting even a minimum standard for its workers and
instituting the kind of law that would bring it into line with Western
Europe. We are not talking here of a neat homogenous country like
Sweden, but a largely Islamic nation developed through four centuries
of empire and then dramatically wrenched away from imperial habit to
modern national state by Ataturk after the First World War.
The benefit of that change is to produce a formally secular state
which, at least among the elite, feels its future looking westwards
and its place in Europe. The price has been a state that is fiercely
nationalistic, with an army at the centre of its constitution and an
attitude to its Kurdish minority and to human rights that has more
in common with Moscow than Brussels.
Far from that being a bar to full membership, however, it is the
very reason we should be insisting on it. Joining Europe brings
with it stringent obligations in a whole host of fields, from equal
opportunities to civil rights and financial disciplines. Lock Turkey
in those negotiations, and keep absolutely firm on their requirements,
and you help all those in Turkey wanting modernisation. Accept it as
something less than an equal European and you accept it as a basically
different country with lesser standards for its own people. Which is
why so many Kurds and even Armenians want the negotiations to go ahead.
Voting today for negotiations to start does not mean immediate
membership. Talks could last a decade and there is no reason why the
EU should compromise its own principles, at it seemed to be doing with
Romania, in order to include it. But there is equally no reason to
make Turkey a special case in negative terms, forcing on it special
obligations which are not true of everyone.
Of course politicians have to take note of their domestic opinion. At
a time when a leading Dutch documentary director has been murdered in
the Netherlands, 191 have been killed in the Madrid bombing and the
police forces of almost every European country are issuing warnings
about the dangers of attacks from Islamic extremists, now is not a good
time to talk of Turkey’s potential contribution to multiculturalism
in the Union.
But politics has to be about the promotion of causes in inconvenient
times as well as propitious ones. The Muslim aspect to Turkey’s
membership is important, not only because to turn it down would
be to send such hostile messages to Muslims within Europe as well
as its neighbours outside. Yet in some ways one can exaggerate this
aspect. Turkey has its own history and ethnic background which make it
quite separate from the Arabs and Iranians around it, or the Pakistani,
North African and Bangladeshi Muslims populations within Europe.
More profoundly, Turkey is important because it represents a whole
new leap towards regional integration in Europe. It brings with it not
just an Islamic background but a military force in Nato, a reserve of
labour and interconnections that spread out to Central Asia and beyond.
This year’s enlargement of the Union from 15 to 25 members was meant
to be the end of the story for the time being. But everywhere round
Europe – in Ukraine, Georgia, Turkey and now Romania – the older order
is collapsing and new democratic governments are coming to power who
see in the EU both a path to the future and a means of consolidating
change. Belarus and even some Arab states around the Mediterranean
could well follow in the coming years.
It’s a development most European politicians have been slow to grasp
and fearful of embracing. The EU was desperately slow to respond
to Viktor Yuschenko’s call for EU partnership, and to the change
in government in Bucharest. Even though they know that existing
enlargement has changed forever the tight, inward-looking club of
Western Europe, the instinctive response of EU governments is to look
inwards and backwards. It won’t work. The dam has broken, and leaders
have the choice of either embracing this change or turning aside and
pretending it isn’t happening for fear that they cannot control it.
In the nervy and uncertain days before the fall of the Berlin Wall
and the reunification of Germany, Chancellor Kohl liked to quote
Otto Bismark’s statement about clutching the cloak of history (God,
as he called it) as He swept by. Kohl took the chance, and he was no
Bismark. Today’s European leaders are arguably even less statesmen than
Kohl. But history is passing by, and on Friday, and over the coming
months in Central Europe, they have the chance to touch its cloak.
[email protected]

EP Leaders Deliver Opinion: Let Negotiations Begin without Delay
Zaman, Turkey
Dec 16 2004
The European Parliament (EP) has advised European Union (EU) leaders,
who meet today at the EU summit, to begin full membership negotiations
with Turkey immediately.
The Parliament refused to insist on recognition of the so-called
Armenian genocide allegations and rejected proposals of privileged
partnership. The proposal decision was passed by 407 votes against
262 in the vote held yesterday. The report was prepared by Dutch
Christian parliamentarian Camiel Eurlings and the decision, though it
has no binding quality, has importance as it reflects the view of EP
before the summit which will have historic importance for Turkey. In
the general vote it was observed that Socialist, Liberal and Green
parliamentarians and British, Spanish and Italian parliamentarians
of the Christian Democrat group voted in favor of Turkey. In the
decision Turkey was praised for its reforms and it was noted that
the negotiations were the turning point of a long process, though it
did not mean that the process was open ended and would end in full
membership. The following articles are included in the report and
recommendation decision approved by the EP:
Full membership depends on the mutual efforts of Turkey and the EU.
The EU Commission can suspend the negotiations when it is necessary.
The process of negotiation will be long. Free movement and restrictions
on agriculture should not affect negatively Turkey’s efforts for
membership.
Six official changes in the Progress Report of EU Commission should
be approved.
Full membership negotiations cannot be completed before the targets
envisaged for the 2014 EU budget.
Turkey must solve its problems with its neighbors according to the
convention of United Nations (UN).
There must not be restrictions in the activities of minorities in
Turkey. In terms of this, the Heybeliada Seminary must be opened.
Alevism must be recognized and protected. Cem houses must be recognized
as religious centers. Religious education must be voluntary. Protective
system in South Eastern must be abolished.
Turkey must open its Armenian border. Both governments must support
a mutual peace process. Talking after the vote, Camiel Eurlings said
that after the start of negotiations, the application of political
criteria should have priority.

Xinhua News Agency – Spanish
15 Dic. 2004
Francia: Genocidio Armenia no condiciona conversaciones UE sobre
Turquía
PARIS
El ministro de Relaciones Exteriores francés, Michel Barnier, declaró
hoy al canal de la televisión estatal Francia 2, que el
reconocimiento de las acusaciones del genocidio turco contra los
armenios no condiciona el lanzamiento de las negociaciones sobre el
ingreso de Turquía a la Unión Europea (UE).
“Francia no pone como condición de peso dicho hecho para el inicio de
las negociaciones”, aseveró Barnier.
El reconocimiento de Turquía del genocidio del pueblo armenio
(aproximadamente un millón 500 mil personas murieron entre 1915 y
1917 bajo el Imperio Otomano) “era una interrogante, una interrogante
que traeríamos a colación en el curso de las conversaciones, y
tenemos unos 10 años para hacerla”, añadió el canciller.
Los Jefes de Estado y de gobierno de la Unión Europea decidirán a
finales de esta semana en la Cumbre de Bruselas si dan luz verde al
diálogo sobre la incorporación de Turquía.
“El proyecto europeo se basa en la reconciliación, lo que hicimos
nosotros, los pueblos galos y germanos, construir esta nueva Europa
sobre la base de la reconciliación… Por lo tanto, se pueden
reconciliar con sus enemigos de guerra, tienen que llegar a un
acuerdo con ustedes mismos, con su historia”, concluyó Barnier.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Zenit News Agency, Italy
Dec 14 2004
Iraqi Tells Pope That Christians Will Be Defended
Foreign Minister Meets in Wave of Attacks on Churches
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 13, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Iraqi Foreign Minister
Hoshyar Zebari told John Paul II that his government is committed to
defending the Mideast nation’s Christians, targets of terrorist
attacks in recent months.
Zebari met the Pope today in audience and afterward conferred with
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, according to
Vatican spokesman Joaquín Navarro Valls.
“In the course of the conversations a review was made of the
situation in Iraq and the Middle East in general,” the director of
the Vatican press office said in a statement.
The foreign minister “thanked His Holiness and his aides for the help
they have always given to Iraq and confirmed his government’s
commitment to promote religious freedom and, in particular, the
defense of Christian communities,” Navarro Valls stated.
“In the discussion with the minister the painful plague of terrorism
was deplored once again, hoping for a speedy return to respect for
moral values which are the basis of all civilizations,” the
spokesman’s statement concluded.
Two attacks in Mosul on Dec. 7 destroyed an Armenian Catholic church
in Mosul and the Chaldean bishop’s palace.
They were the latest of a series of attacks against churches, which
began in early August, when four churches in Baghdad and one in Mosul
were hit, killing 11 people and wounding dozens. Attacks against
stores owned by Christians had started earlier.
Christians in Iraq number about 800,000, or 3% of the population.
Chaldean-rite Catholics account for 70% of the Christians.
Zebari’s visit to the Vatican came weeks after the Pope’s meeting
with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi on Nov. 4.
In that meeting, John Paul II condemned the present “senseless
violence” and encouraged the establishment of democracy in Iraq.
On Nov. 15, the Holy Father received the letters of credence of
Albert Edward Ishmael Yelda, the new ambassador of Iraq to the Holy
See.
Through him, the Pontiff appealed to the Iraqi government to
recognize “the right to freedom of worship and religious teaching,”
and assured him of the Catholic Church’s collaboration and, in
particular, of Chaldean Catholics, to “build a more peaceful and
stable nation.”

PRESS RELEASE
ARMENIAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF CANADA
3401 Olivar-Asselin
Montréal, Québec
H4J 1L5
Tél. (514) 334-1299 Fax (514) 334-6853
13 December 2004
Contacts: Shant Karabajak 514-334-1299
Roupen Kouyoumdjian 514-336-7095
Aris Babikian 416-497-8972
Armenian delegation meet’s prime minister and senior ministers
Toronto- Representatives of the Armenian National Committee of Canada
(ANCC), the Armenian National Committee of Toronto (ANCT) and the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Youth Organization (ARF-YOC), attended
a fund-raising reception, on December 2, organized by the Liberal Party
of Canada. The guest speaker was the Prime Minister of Canada, the Right
Hon. Paul Martin. In his speech, the prime minister touched upon the
recent visit of U.S. President George W. Bush to Canada, Canada-U.S.
bilateral relations, Canada ‘ s commitment to human rights around the
world, the Darfur crisis, the Israel-Palestine peace process, the
upcoming Ukrainian, Palestinian, and Iraqi elections. The prime minister
emphasized that Canada, as a middle power, has an important role to play
in the above issues.
During the reception ANCC, ANCT and ARF-YOC delegates met the prime
minister and Minister of National Defense, Bill Graham; Minister of
Human Resources and Skills Development, Joseph Volpe; Minister of
International Trade, James Peterson; Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration, Judy Sgro; Minister of State (families and caregivers),
Tony Ianno. The establishment of a Canadian embassy in Armenia and the
inclusion of Armenia in the Canadian International Development Agency’s
(CIDA) projects were highlighted by the Armenian delegates. The
ministers promised to follow up on the issues raised during the talks.
The large number of our delegates and their participation in the talks
was greatly appreciated by reception organizers.
-30-

Donga, South Korea
Dec 10 2004
Countries Carefully Weighing Troop Withdrawal after the Iraqi General
Elections
DECEMBER 10, 2004 22:25
by Ho-Gab Lee Hun-Joo Cho ([email protected] [email protected])

There was a time when a total of 35 countries had their troops in
Iraq after the Iraq war started in March 2003. Yet, more and more
countries are now busy withdrawing or reducing their troops.
As of December 10, the number of countries with troops in Iraq has
been reduced to 28, excluding the U.S.
Seven countries withdrew their troops this year, and three other
countries are planning to do so by May of next year. The main reason
is the ever-worsening security situation in Iraq.
Domino Effect of Withdrawal and Reduction of Troops-
As of February 2004, a total of 35 nations had dispatched troops to
Iraq at the request of the U.S. However, currently there are 158,900
troops from 28 countries stationed in Iraq. Excluding U.S. troops,
the number of troops stands at a mere 3,900.
Starting with troop withdrawal by Nicaragua in February, seven
countries have pulled their troops entirely out of Iraq including
Spain (early April), the Dominican Republic (early May), Honduras
(late May), the Philippines (July), Thailand (late August), and New
Zealand (late September). Spain pulled their troops out as their
government changed, mainly due to the shock caused by the tragic
Madrid bombing. Other countries decided to withdraw troops because
domestic public opinion became increasingly hostile toward the
dispatch of troops, as there is little sign of improvement in the
Iraqi security situation.
In addition, Hungary is planning to pull out troops by late December.
Poland and the Netherlands are scheduled to do so by January and
March of next year, respectively.
An increasing number of countries are planning to reduce their troop
size, if not complete withdrawal.
Four countries, Ukraine (200 troops), Moldova (12 troops), Norway
(150 troops) and Bulgaria (50 troops), have already reduced their
troop size. Poland has decided to cut some of their troops next year.
It is highly likely that some of the countries which still have their
troops on Iraqi soil will announce troop withdrawal or reduction if
the Iraqi general elections scheduled for January 30, 2005 are
successfully carried out.
Meanwhile, there are countries planning to dispatch or increase their
troops in Iraq. Armenia and Fiji announced their decision to send
troops. Georgia, Romania, and Albania have all promised to send
additional troops. However, the countries are not likely to deliver
the promise anytime soon, as they attached a condition that their
troops should be under the flag of the United Nations.
The Japanese Public is against Prolonged Troops Dispatch-
After the Japanese government decided to prolong the stay of
Self-Defense Forces (SDF) by one year on December 9, the Asahi
newspaper strongly blamed the Japanese government in an editorial it
ran the next day.
The paper strongly accused the government’s decision, saying, `More
than 60 percent of the public is against the prolonged troop
deployment. The cause of the Iraq war has been denied as many
countries are pulling out or reducing their troops.’
The leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Katsuya Okada,
has said that he would urge the Japanese again to pull out the SDF
from Iraq in the plenary session of parliament next year.
As the SDF is not allowed to engage in battle, according to the
Japanese constitution, the Dutch troops have undertaken patrol
operations. The problem is that the Dutch troops will leave Iraq in
March of next year. It is expected that argument for troop pullout in
Japan would gain steam again after March, especially if Japanese
casualties occur by attacks from Iraqi insurgents.

Agence France Presse — English
December 10, 2004 Friday 7:15 PM GMT
AFP Interview: Democratic reform in Ukraine will help Russia, says
Georgian FM
MOSCOW
Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili said on Friday that
Russia should realise the benefits for itself of a process of
democratic reform in Ukraine, currently undergoing a period of
political crisis.
Speaking to AFP by phone from the Georgian capital Tbilisi,
Zurabishvili said that in order for the rerun of the second round of
Ukrainian presidential elections to take place peacefully, Russia
must be “warned against the temptation to meddle.”
She said in addition that as many observers as possible should be
deployed in the country for the vote, scheduled to take place on
December 26.
“If Ukraine becomes a democratic country at the frontier of Europe
there can only be winners,” including Russia, she said, adding that
“having borders with stable, democratic countries is something that
could set (Russia) along the same path.”
“Everything must be done to encourage Russia down this path, one
which is difficult to take,” she said.
“What is happening in Russia amounts to an internal decolonisation.
We must encourage them, support them, and help them down this
difficult path, the only one possible if Russia is to evolve in a way
that is sufficiently responsible and safe for both itself and its
neighbours,” she added.
As far as the recent strong criticism levelled by Moscow over the
West’s alleged interference in Ukraine was concerned, and in
particular comments by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Zurabishvili
spoke of a “constant swing between signs that Russia is moving
towards a possible normalisation and and signs that it is slipping
backwards.”
Questioned about the Russian accusations, Zurabishvili said that
there had been no intervention.
“We did not intervene in favour of one candidate of the other. We
intervened in favour of a democratic process,” she said.
“As long as Russia imagines that support for democracy, whether it is
in the Caucasus, Ukraine or elsewhere, is something that is directed
against it, Moscow will fail to understand the way the world is
going.”
The Georgian foreign minister described Moscow’s manifestation of
discontent as “a return to the instincts of the Soviet Union.”
“The big difference is that it does not have any effect any more.
Russian short fuses, which in the past petrified the West, are today
received in a more measured, philosophical way… and do not achieve
the desired effect.”
Zurabishvili also called on Russia to keep out of Georgia’s quarrels
with the separatist republic of Abkhazia, saying that Moscow must
“understand that former Soviet republics had become independent
countries” and that Moscow could not interfere directly in their
affairs.
Abkhazia has de facto independence from Georgia since it defeated
Georgian troops with the help of Russian mercenaries in the early
1990s in the aftermath of the breakup of the Soviet Union.
On the recent decision by Azerbaijan to shut down its cargo rail
traffic to other Caucasus republics because it feared that some of
the goods were being delivered via Georgia to its arch-foe Armenia,
Zurabishvili said Georgia had good relations with both countries.
She said Tbilisi had agreed to prevent transit through its territory
of military goods. But she added: “We refuse to take any economic
sanctions against Armenia.”
She said that if Georgia was anything other than neutral in the
dispute between the two countries, “we would enter into a logic of
escalation which would be not only damaging for us and for our
neighbours, but for the whole region.”

Breakaway Karabakh’s parliament passes new electoral code
Mediamax news agency
9 Dec 04
Yerevan, 9 December: The parliament of the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
(NKR) has passed the Electoral Code in its second and final reading.
In accordance with the new Electoral Code, a third of the MPs will be
elected on party lists, Mediamax news agency’s correspondent reports
from Stepanakert. The Democratic Artsakh Union faction which has a
majority of seats in the NKR’s parliament tabled the motion.
The National Assembly of the NKR also passed the law “On ombudsman”.

Indian Express, India
Dec 9 2004
Bollywood DIPLOMACY
Express Features Service
New Delhi, December 8: Like so many people in his part of the
world, the outgoing Armenian ambassador Armen Baibourtian too is a
Bollywood fan. And so, at a recent farewell party held in his honour
at The Grand hotel, he informed us that he is taking back many filmi
memories. “Aishwarya Rai and Shah Rukh Khan are my favourite stars,”
said the man who will be Deputy Foreign Minister in the Armenian
government. Baibourtian served a four-and-a-half-year term in India and
was happy to deliberate on the India-Armenia connection. “There are
Armenian communities in India, mostly in Chennai and Kolkata. And at
present there are around 650 Indian students in Yerevan State Medical
University in Armenia,” he said. But if he had to choose between a doc,
Ash and SRK as Indian envoy to his country, wonder who he’d vote for?

GAS SUPPLY IN THE REPUBLIC
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
08 Dec 04
At the beginning of our talk with the executive director of
“Artsakhgas” State CJSC Maxim Mirzoyan we touched upon the situation
in the sphere. In ten months of the year 2004 the number of natural
gas users in the republic grew by 1428, and thereby against the same
period in the previous year additional 78 million drams were paid to
the state budget. And in the past 18 months 809 flats in Stepanakert
were connected to the gas supply system. There were problems because
the majority of these flats were on the outskirts of the town. “On
the whole gasification of the capital may be considered complete
except for detached houses and three dormitories located far from
the main supply system,” said Maxim Mirzoyan. The question of these
remains unsolved because there are problems of usage security to be
solved. Maxim Mirzoyan drew attention to the installation of a new type
of gas stoves in block houses, which are safe to use. Already more
than 650 stoves have been installed. “Figuratively speaking, it means
saving 650 lorries of wood thereby saving the forest,” concludes the
executive director. In reference to the problem number 1 of Stepanakert
(that is, the worn-out underground pipeline which is already 25 years
old) M. Mirzoyan said that in the mentioned period 30 per cent of the
pipeline was replaced. The same cannot be said about gas distribution
booths, the replacement of which requires 200 million drams. “Today we
lay an emphasis on the regions,â~@~] says the head of ‘Artsakhgas’. In
the region of Martouni five contractors carry out the installation
of the gas pipelines and lateral gas pipelines. Gasification works
are carried out in 12 communities of the region. Two automatic gas
distribution booths have been installed in the villages Chartar
and Karmir Shuka, which will enable 100 per cent gas supply of all
the villages of the region. In the regional center low-pressure
reducers were installed most of which supply gas to 600 flats. In
parallel three medium-pressure gas reducers were placed to supply
five offices. On the whole, about 100 km of gas pipeline was built.
The schools of the villages of Shekher and Herher are heated on gas
(the school of the village of Chldran in Martakert is also heated on
gas). According to Maxim Mirzoyan, in 2005 the installation of the
pipelines of the regional center, as well as the villages of Gishi,
Khnushinak, Spitakashen, Chartar, Karmir Shuka, Taghavard will be
completed. In 2004 the number of gas users in the regional center
increased by 284, and in another 300 flats the local network has
been installed. Low-pressure pipelines were built in 17 communities
of Askeran. All the communities of the region of Shoushi except for
the small village Tsaghkadzor have gas supply. The most part of the
inhabited houses of Shoushi has natural gas. The work done here in 2004
costs 10 million drams, and another 116 families have gas supply. In
total, there are 523 users in the regional center and 298 users in
the villages. In 2005 again works of 10 million drams will be carried
out in the region. It is planned to provide the regional hospital with
gas, which means that the blocks situated along the pipeline will also
have gas supply. Despite the undeniable contribution of the region of
Martakert in the GDP of Nagorni Karabakh the region was not gasified
during the Soviet years. Today only the village of Vank has gas supply
(the gasometers were provided to the villagers by the benefactors
from Toronto through the all-Armenian foundation “Hayastan”. The
infrastructures of the villages Tsmakahogh and Shahmasur are ready
for use. In 2005 it is planned to include the region of Hadrout,
low-pressure pipelines will be installed in the villages Drakhtik,
Azokh, Mets Tagher and Togh.
NIKOLAY BAGHDASSARIAN. 08-12-2004
–Boundary_(ID_hn6nRyhPq7HDObUVVFcfOw)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress