Author: Chalian Meline

DINK FAMILY LAWYER QUESTIONS FAIRNESS OF TRIAL
Yonca Poyraz Doðan

Today’s Zaman
Feb 13 2008
Turkey

Erdal Doðan, a lawyer representing the family of slain Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, has said the murder has not been properly
investigated, noting that some of the evidence has been hidden or
destroyed.

"During the preparations for trial, the prosecutor’s office
demanded some information that has not been provided, and during the
investigation process, the court’s demands from security personnel
and institutions have not been fulfilled. If such information is
being withheld, the people behind this crime cannot be revealed,
so we can’t talk about a just trial process," Doðan said yesterday,
following the third hearing on Monday in the trial of defendants
accused of assassinating Dink, who was killed in January of last year
by an ultranationalist youth for allegedly insulting Turkishness.

Referring to the series of police lapses in the handling of the Dink
case and official attempts to protect those who plotted the crime as
reported by the press previously, Doðan said:

"In the report related to how the defendants had been organized
to commit the crime, head of police intelligence Ramazan Akyurek
intervened in the case by calling Yasin Hayal and others planning
the murder merely a group of friends who came together because he
said Dink had insulted Turkishness. Plus he obstructed justice by
ordering the destruction of a 49-page document related to one of the
defendants, Erhan Tuncel. The trial cannot proceed in a healthy manner
because documents containing information on more than 6,000 telephone
calls made by some of the defendants have been destroyed by security
officials in Trabzon [where several suspects who are being tried for
instigating the crime are from]."

Dink was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 19 in front of
the headquarters of bilingual Armenian weekly Agos, where he was
editor-in-chief. Following Dink’s murder, many reports suggested that
the police were tipped off about the planned assassination more than
once prior to his execution yet failed to prevent it.

In addition, links have emerged among members of the security forces
in Trabzon, where the killing was planned, in Ýstanbul where it was
executed and in Ankara, where the intelligence was gathered.

A total of 19 suspects, including Dink’s suspected killer, 17-year-old
O.S., and an ultranationalist youth charged with planning the crime,
went on trial for organizing the murder at the 14th High Criminal
Court in the Beþiktaþ district of Ýstanbul.

The trial is being held behind closed doors because O.S. is a minor.

Up to 50 lawyers tried to attend Monday’s hearing, though only 17
were allowed into the courthouse. Security was tight, with police in
riot gear stationed at the courthouse entrance.

One of the lawyers of the Dink family, Fikret Ýlkiz, demanded a bone
analysis test to determine O.S.’ real age again because they objected
to the results of the previous tests. However, the prosecutor made
an objection to this.

At Monday’s hearing, which lasted approximately seven hours, defendants
O.S., Hayal and Tuncay Uzundal, who have been in police custody,
were questioned by their own lawyers and the lawyers of the Dink
family, while Tuncel refused to answer the questions of the Dink
family lawyers.

The attorneys for the defense requested the release of the eight
defendants from police custody but this was to no avail.

The questioning will continue on Feb. 25, with many in the country
following the case closely.

All sessions were recorded by cameras set up in the courtroom for
the first time in Turkish judicial history. The Ýstanbul Public
Prosecutor’s Office ordered cameras to be installed in the courtroom
following the Dink family’s request of audiovisual recording after
their lawyers had accused security officers of covering up intelligence
and evidence after the second hearing of the trial, which resumed in
early October 2007.

The second hearing of suspects was held on Oct. 1, 2007, when
O.S. expressed "regret" for the killing in his testimony.

"I was forced to do this job. I shot Dink out of fear without even
understanding how it happened. I was at my uncle’s place when I came
back to my senses. I could not sleep the entire night. I regret it;
I didn’t know he had a family. I wouldn’t have done it if I had known,"
he said in his testimony.

Malatya case lawyer demands protection

Meanwhile, the lawyer for three murdered Christian victims at the
Zirve Publishing House in the southeastern province of Malatya demanded
protection, saying that he fears for his life.

Attorney Orhan Kemal Cengiz applied to the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office
last week for protection after receiving suspicious letters and calls.

"I was active in preparations for the formation of a group of experts
to investigate the crime. I have become the target of some groups
that have been uncomfortable because the victims have been strongly
represented," he reportedly wrote in his petition.

Last April, three Protestants — two Turks and a German — had their
throats slit at a Bible publishing house.

–Boundary_(ID_H8+TC82GGyUtiiF2bp/D2A)–

NOBLE ARF DASHNAKTSUTYUN DID NOT USE ITS MORAL RIGHT

Lragir
Feb 13 2008
Armenia

Member of Parliament Alvard Petrosyan from the ARF Dashnaktsutyun
stated February 13 at the Hayeli Club the ARF Dashnaktsutyun does not
rattle all the time and will never make populist pledges which it can
never bring into being. Alvard Petrosyan said her party’s advantages
are modesty and nobility, and although unlike others they have the
moral right to condemn Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s return to politics, they
did not do because they did not want to create a negative atmosphere.

At the same time, however, Alvard Petrosyan says Levon Ter-Petrosyan
is now playing on people’s instincts.

ARMENIA TRANSFERS RAILWAYS TO MANAGEMENT OF RUSSIAN-OWNED COMPANY

Mediamax
Feb 13 2008
Armenia

Yerevan, 13 February: An agreement was signed in Yerevan today on the
transfer of Armenian Railways to the concession management of South
Caucasus Railways, which was founded by Russian Railways.

Mediamax reports that the trilateral agreement was signed by Armenian
Transport Minister Andranik Manukyan, the general director of South
Caucasus Railways, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, and the president of Russian
Railways, Vladimir Yakunin.

In line with the agreement, Armenia is obliged to transfer the right to
use and manage the concession assets to the concession holder, South
Caucasus Railways, for a 20-year period with the option of extending
the agreement for another 20 years. The agreement is underwritten by
Russian Railways.

The concession holder is obliged to invest 174.5bn drams [about 600m
dollars] in the development of Armenian Railways, of which 53.3bn
drams should be spent on renovating infrastructure, and 8bn drams on
buying new rolling stock. As a guarantee, Russian Railways should in
turn pay 57m dollars to the Armenian side and assume responsibility
for the fulfilment of obligations.

According to the agreement, South Caucasus Railways should within
30 days of the signing of the agreement make a lump-sum payment of
1.7bn drams to the concession provider. In addition, the Armenian
side will every year receive 2 per cent of the concession holder’s
gross revenues.

ARMENIAN NATIONAL TEAM 4 POSITIONS UP IN THE FIFA RANKING TABLE

armradio.am
13.02.2008 16:48

With 383 points the national football team of Armenia occupies the 81st
position in the FIFA ranking list issued today. The Armenian national
team advanced with 4 positions as compared to the previous list.

Argentine tops the list with 1 518 points, followed by Brazil (1 502)
and Italy (1 484).

The Georgian team ranks 80th with 384 points, Azerbaijan is 122nd
with 250 points.

Global Insight
February 8, 2008

Russia Plans to Bid on Expected Tender for New NPP in Armenia

Andrew Neff

Sergei Kiriyenko, the general director of Russia’s Rosatom state
nuclear holding company, said earlier this week that Russia plans to
bid on a tender to build a new nuclear power plant (NPP) in Armenia.
Officials in Armenia have yet to announce any tender, but Kiriyenko
said that the government plans to announce one, and "we will take
part and we have good chances of winning". Armenia has one existing
NPP at Metsamor, and the government has said it will only close the
NPP once it has alternative power generation capacity in place
(seeArmenia: 30 November 2007:). Armenia closed the NPP in 1988 due
to safety concerns after a devastating earthquake rocked the country,
but it was forced to reopen the plant in 1995 as a result of a severe
energy crisis brought on by a blockade of energy supplies from
Azerbaijan and Turkey due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Western
countries have put heavy pressure on Armenia to close Metsamor before
its operating lifespan ends in 2016 because of safety concerns and
possible design flaws in the Soviet-era facility.

Significance:Kiriyenko’s comments point to the likelihood that any
tender to build a new NPP in Armenia will favour Russian companies,
which dominate the energy sector in Armenia. Moreover, Russia is the
sole supplier of nuclear fuel to Armenia, making Rosatom a
near-certainty to win a future tender to build a replacement NPP in
Armenia.

OWNERS OF PIGS SLAUGHTERED BECAUSE OF AFRICAN PLAGUE IN ARMENIA TO
RECEIVE PECUNIARY AID

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. This year the Armenian government
will allocate 479 mln 548 thousand drams from its reserve fund to the
ministry of agriculture with the aim of providing assistance to owners
of 18,800 pigs that died or were slaughtered because of African plague
in Armenia in 2007. This decision was taken at the February 7 sitting
of the Armenian government.

The head of the ministry’s food safety and veterinary inspection Grisha
Baghiyan said after the sitting that 1,005 drams (about 3.3 dollars)
will be paid per 1 kg of meat. Pig owners will receive these sums in
banks. According to G. Baghiyan, there are 152 thousand pigs in the
country.

G. Baghiyan announced that in connection with recent cases of bird flu
in Turkey, the respective preventive measures, including strict control
on the Armenian-Turkish border, are being taken in Armenia.

RUSSIA HOPES TO WIN TENDER FOR CONSTRUCTION OF NPP IN ARMENIA – KIRIYENKO

Interfax
Russia & CIS General Newswire
February 6, 2008 Wednesday 11:23 AM MSK

Russia is going to place its bid in a tender for the construction of
a new nuclear power plant in Armenia, director of the Rosatom state
corporation Sergei Kiriyenko said.

"There will be a tender. We are ready to take part in it. We have a
good chance to win it," Kiriyenko told journalist in Yerevan,

The construction of the NPP should begin either in 2010 or in 2011,
he said.

Russia hopes to win tender for construction of NPP in Armenia –
Kiriyenko (Part 2)

YEREVAN Feb 6

Russia is going to place its bid in a tender for the construction of
a new nuclear power plant in Armenia, director of the Rosatom state
corporation Sergei Kiriyenko said.

"There will be a tender. We are ready to take part in it. We have a
good chance to win it," Kiriyenko told journalist in Yerevan,

The construction of the NPP should begin either in 2010 or in 2011,
he said.

A joint Russian-Armenian geological prospecting and uranium production
enterprise will be established, he said. The Russian and Armenia
sides will each hold a 50% stake in this enterprise, he said.

"The first groups of prospectors were deployed in 2007, According to
our assessments, possible uranium reserves are at about 30,000 tonnes,
so the project may be profitable," Kiriyenko said.

Four geological prospecting expeditions will be sent this year and
Russia will spend about $3 million on this, he said.

The joint enterprise will have access to all Russian geological
archives about Armenia, he said.

TURKEY PLANS TO COMBAT ARMENIAN GENOCIDE ISSUE AT THE HAGUE
By John C. K. Daly

Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Feb 6 2008

The tragic events in eastern Anatolia in 1915 continue to roil not
only Turkish-Armenian relations, but the international community and
Turkish-American relations as well.

For more than 25 years, Yerevan and the Armenian diaspora have lobbied
to have the events in the wartime Ottoman Empire labeled as the 20th
century’s first case of genocide, a definition that successive Turkish
governments have furiously lobbied against. Now the issue seems set to
appear before The Hague’s International Court of Justice and Permanent
Court of Arbitration.

At issue is the February 2001 genocide resolution adopted by France,
which concisely states: "France publicly recognizes the Armenian
genocide of 1915." It was a largely symbolic act, since it did not
allow for the prosecution of those who deny that the 1915 massacre was
genocide. At the time Ankara was furious, but despite the dispute,
trade between France and Turkey grew 22% in 2002 and by 2006 had
increased 131% (Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2007).

The issue has never really gone away, however. Last week veteran
Turkish diplomat Sukru Elekdag, from the opposition Republican
People’s Party (CHP), brought up the issue following talks at the
French parliament, where he was part of a Turkish Grand National
Assembly delegation. Elekdag suggested that France should reconsider
its legislation under the terms of the 1948 UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. "We can go to
the Internal Court of Justice with France and ask whether the law
adopted in France in 2001 is in compliance with the agreement in 1948
and whether the 1915 incidents constitute genocide."

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, Elekdag expanded on his observations,
saying, "What would the authorized court rule if we assume that the
UN Convention could be implemented retrospectively? … It is obvious
that the court will rule that the French parliament is not authorized
to make such a decision, and it will also have to announce that the UN
Convention cannot be implemented retrospectively due to the principle
of legality. This means that the 1915 incidents cannot be described
as genocide. If the ICJ makes such a ruling, then Armenia’s genocide
allegation will entirely collapse" (Today’s Zaman, February 5).

Elekdag, a former foreign ministry undersecretary and former ambassador
to the United States, has a history of opposing international efforts
to label the events of 1915 as genocide.

Speaking at the "Turkish-Armenian Relations and 1915 Incidents"
symposium at Ankara’s Gazi University in 2005, he declared, "The
Armenian diaspora’s accusing Turkey of genocide is a legal crime"
(Anatolian Times, November 25, 2005).

Having attempted to battle the decision in the media, the Turkish
government is now set to take its case to The Hague. Ankara will
argue that since France’s genocide resolution was not based on any
French court decision, then the French National Assembly’s decision
should be based on a prior ruling by an international court. Elekdag
told Hurriyet, "There is no international court ruling on the
Armenian so-called genocide allegations. Is the French parliament a
court? France is thus in the position of having disregarded the 1948
UN Convention" (Hurriyet, February 4).

Turkey will propose that Ankara and Yerevan each select three judges,
who in turn will select a chairman. The panel will review Turkish
archival material as well as the Dashnak (Armenian Revolutionary
Federation) Party archives in Boston, Armenian Patriarchate archives,
and those of foreign missions in the Ottoman Empire at the time
to determine the validity of their documents. The survey will be
followed by an extensive forensic survey of possible contributory
factors such as demographics and disease, ending with testimony from
relevant parties.

Even if Turkey succeeds in its Hague appeal the issue is hardly likely
to go away for Ankara, as many EU politicians insist that Turkey must
recognize the Armenian genocide before it can join the European Union.

The issue has also crossed the Atlantic. On January 30, 2007,
U.S. Congressmen Adam Schiff (D-CA), George Radanovich (R-CA), and the
co-chairs of the Congressional Armenian Caucus, Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) introduced a resolution to recognize the
Armenian genocide, which was only tabled in October after furious
lobbying by the Bush administration (see EDM January 23, October
12, 17, 2007). Undeterred, Congressional critics in the House of
Representatives recently introduced a new resolution condemning the
January 19, 2007, murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink
(Panarmenian.net, February 5). Furthermore, Democratic presidential
candidates Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have both stated that,
if elected, they will recognize the Armenian genocide.

The imbroglio seems to be a classic case of political posturing versus
historical reality, and the only certainty is that the issue seems
unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov visited Tsisernakaberd Memorial
Complex

06.02.008

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov is embarking on a two-day official
visit to Armenia. Mr. Zubkov accompanied by the Mayor of Yerevan Yervand
Zakharyan and the Deputy Foreign Minister of RA Gegham Gharibjanyan
visited Tsisernakaberd Memorial Complex. During the visit guests put a
wreath to the memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims. The Prime
Minister also planted a fir at the Memory Alley.

NOT TO HAVE SERGE SARGSYAN KNOW

Lragir
Feb 5 2008
Armenia

How is Levon Ter-Petrosyan going to protect his votes, who states he
will win the presidential election on February 19. On February 5 the
reporters asked this question to the spokesman for the presidential
candidate Arman Musinyan. Musinyan said protection of votes consists
of three levels. According to Arman Musinyan, Levon Ter-Petrosyan
spoke about the first level during his news conference on January 11,
noting that every citizen should protect their own vote first.

The second level, according to Arman Musinyan, is that considerable
social and political capital and a number of experienced activists
have gathered around Levon Ter-Petrosyan, which is evidence that the
protection of votes is quite realistic. The third level, according to
the spokesman for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, is that first the reporters,
the citizens should learn about the methods of protecting votes then
Serge Sargsyan. And since they do not want Serge Sargsyan to know
how they are going to protect the votes, they do not want to spell
out their actions.