Author: Chmshkian Vicken

Agence France Presse — English
October 13, 2006 Friday

First Turkish protest against French ‘genocide’ bill comes in sports

Turkey’s Taekwondo Federation said Friday it would shun an
international tournament in Paris in protest at a French vote to make
it a crime to deny that there was an Armenian genocide in Turkey.

"The French move is nothing but slander against the Turkish people,"
federation chairman Metin Sahin told the Anatolia news agency.

"We have decided not to take part in the international Paris
tournament even though we have received persistent invitations as
both the men’s and women’s European champions," he added.

Turkey was infuriated when the French National Assembly on Thursday
adopted the bill which stipulates a prison sentence of up to one year
and a fine of up to 45,000 euros (57,000 dollars) against those who
deny the Armenian genocide.

The bill still needs the approval of the Senate and the president to
take effect.

PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL ROYAL SAYS TURKEY MUST ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN KILLINGS AS GENOCIDE
By Emmanuel Georges-Picot, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
October 11, 2006 Wednesday

French presidential hopeful Segolene Royal said Wednesday that Turkey
must recognize the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th Century
as a genocide if it hopes to join the European Union.

Royal, a Socialist, also said she was in favor of a bill to go before
France’s parliament Thursday that would make it a crime to deny that
the killings amounted to genocide.

Turkish anger over the bill forced a delay in the initial debate, which
had been set for May, as lawmakers caved in to warnings by Turkish
authorities that bilateral ties would suffer if the bill became law.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, commenting Wednesday on
the bill, said France would compromise its values if the measure
became law.

"We’ve done everything we can," Gul said. "If this passes, Turkey will
lose nothing. But France will first lose Turkey … it will turn into
a country that throws people in jail for expressing their thoughts, for
expressing their ideas, for stating what is in historical documents."

Royal, a lawmaker hoping for the Socialist Party’s nomination as 2007
presidential candidate, aligned herself with the official stance
that Turkey must recognize the killings as genocide if it wants
EU membership.

"It is obvious that if Turkey wants to confirm its candidacy and one
day enter Europe, it is obvious that it must recognize the Armenian
genocide," she said at a news conference called to set out her
positions on Europe.

She added that she was for the legislation going before parliament.

"We have no lessons to give anyone and, at the same time, something
has to be done."

On other issues, Royal called for Europe to immediately establish aid
to the Palestinian territories, and supported continued diplomatic
efforts to counter fears that Iran is looking to develop nuclear arms.

Meanwhile, about 40 Turkish demonstrators gathered at the Place de la
Concorde, facing the National Assembly, to denounce the bill making
it a crime to deny Armenian genocide.

"The Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie," said Yalcin Buyukdagh,
who identified himself as the presidential counsel of the Workers
Party in Turkey.

"If France votes ‘yes’ to this law, it will have officially taken a
position as an enemy of Turkey," he said.

In Ankara, lawmakers, looking to retaliate against Paris, discussed
proposals to recognize an "Algerian genocide" during France’s colonial
rule there, which ended in 1962 after a brutal war.

Armenians claim that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed between 1915-1923 in an organized campaign to force them out
of eastern Turkey. However, Turkey contends that a large number of
people died in civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

French President Jacques Chirac visited the Armenian capital of
Yerevan the first by a French president less than two weeks ago and
urged Turkey to acknowledge a genocide.

Associated Press Writer Emily Withrow in Paris contributed to this
report.

ARMENIAN, BRITISH MINISTERS DISCUSS BILATERAL RELATIONS

Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
11 Oct 06

Yerevan, 11 October: Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan met
Minister for Europe at the British Foreign Office Geoff Hoon in
Yerevan today. Hoon is winding up his tour of the South Caucasus.

Oskanyan highly rated relations between Armenia and the UK, noting
that Yerevan wishes to expand these relations within the framework
of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), the press service of the
Armenian Foreign Ministry told Mediamax today.

Speaking about Armenia’s action plan within the framework of the ENP,
Oskanyan said that Armenia intends to implement all provisions of
the document, counting on support from the European Commission and
EU countries.

Oskanyan and Hoon also discussed the settlement of the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict, as well as the problems between Armenia and Turkey
in the context of talks on Turkey’s membership of the EU.

VAHAN HOVHANNISYSN: WE MUST HAVE RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN RELATIONS EXERT NO INFLUENCE ON ARMENIA’S INTERESTS

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 10 2006

"I think we should do everything for the conflict between Russia and
Georgia not to impact the interests of Armenia. For this purpose we
must have a distinct position in our relations with both Russian and
Georgian partners," NA Deputy Chairman Vahan Hovhannisyan told the
journalists today.

In the Vice-Chairman’s opinion, it is obvious that Georgia is trying to
do everything for Russia to finally lose its role in Transcaucasian
politics, which is not favorable for Armenia today. On the other
hand, through utilization of the energy factor some political circles
of Russia are trying to become a superpower deciding everything in
the region, which is again unfavorable for Armenia. "The truth is
somewhere between," Vhan Hovhannisyan mentioned.

ROME INAUGURATES STAR-STUDDED FILM FESTIVAL FRIDAY
by Katia Dolmadjian

Agence France Presse — English
October 11, 2006 Wednesday

Rome kicks off the first edition of its film festival on Friday with
16 movies in competition, several high-profile world premieres and a
galaxy of stars including Nicole Kidman, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo
di Caprio.

Despite demure denials by the organizers, the event is seen as a
potentially serious rival to the venerable Mostra of Venice.

Kidman will be on hand to unveil "Fur, An Imaginary Portrait of
Diane Arbus," a film expected to make waves with its departure
from biographical fact and the sheer originality of director Steven
Shainberg’s approach to the life of the controversial photographer
of freaks.

To run from Friday until October 21, the RomeFilmFest will also
feature appearances by Monica Bellucci, George Clooney, Robert De Niro,
Harvey Keitel, Sean Connery and Luc Besson.

Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, the festival’s mastermind, said he wants it
to be "a great popular fete entirely dedicated to the cinematic art."

The ardent cinephile has rejected any talk of a rivalry between the
RomeFilmFest and the decades-old Mostra, saying the two cities and
their respective festivals "help each other with reciprocal love
and respect."

The Rome program is in fact less flamboyant than the Mostra, but it
enjoys a much larger budget — by several million euros (dollars) —
thanks to private donations.

Many big stars jumped at the invitation to attend.

The feature-length films in competition include French director Robert
Guediguian’s "Armenia", "Primo Levi’s Journey" by Italy’s Davide
Ferrario, "A Casa Nostra" (At Our House) by Francesca Comencini, also
Italian, and Georgian filmmaker Otar Iosseliani’s "Gardens in Autumn".

Three Asian films are in the running: "Nightmare Detective" by Shinya
Tsukamoto of Japan, "After This Our Exile" by Patrick Tam of Hong Kong,
and "The Go Master" by Tian Zhuangzhuang of China.

Another point of pride for the organizers is the amount of space
offered to the public: some 40,000 seats with affordable tickets
ranging from five to 10 euros (6.20 to 12.50 dollars) on sale at
kiosks.

This "democratization" will also see screenings both in the city
center and on Rome’s periphery.

What is more, the organizers have put together a unique jury made up
of 50 ordinary moviegoers, headed by Italian filmmaker Ettore Scola.

On October 21 they will bestow three awards: best picture (for 200,000
euros), best actress and best actor.

On Saturday Bellucci will offer "Napoleon and Me" alongside Frenchman
Daniel Auteuil, retracing Bonaparte’s life in exile on Elba.

Scorsese, the US director with Sicilian roots, will on Sunday present
"The Departed," a drama from the Boston underworld teaming Di Caprio
with Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon.

The weekend will see Rome’s Via Veneto — setting of Rome’s iconic
"La Dolce Vita" — turned into "Business Street", where films and
screenplays will be showcased for industry clients.

ARMENIAN THINK-TANK ACCUSES GEORGIA OF PURSUING ANTI-ARMENIAN POLICY

Armenpress
Oct 09 2006

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Two analysts of a Yerevan-based Mitk
(Thought) think-tank rapped today Georgia’s leadership for pursuing
what they said was ‘a pronounced anti-Armenian’ domestic and foreign
policy.

The analysts, Kadmus Balkhchian and Edward Abrahamian, argued during
a news conference that Georgia’s recent policies were unacceptable
for the international community. They said they had arrived at this
conclusion after looking into a long string of stories in Georgian
media on national minorities. "Our main conclusion is that the
policy of Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili is harmful to
Georgian-Armenian friendly relations," they said.

One of the analysts, Kadmus Balkhchian, said the region of Javakheti
in southern Georgia which is now populated predominantly by ethnic
Armenians is being populated by Meskhetian Turks and ethnic Georgians
with the aim of driving Armenians out. He said a similar policy had
been conducted some 40 years ago in another region of Akhaltsikhe
that once had mostly Armenian population, as a result the number of
Armenians there drastically declined.

The two analysts then accused Georgian authorities of preventing ethnic
Armenians’ from keeping executive and legislative positions. They
also said in October 5 municipal elections in Georgia 1,000 Armenian
voters in Javakheti province failed to find their names in voter lists.

They also accused Saakashvili of plans to sign an agreement on purchase
of potato from neighboring Turkey, though he knows well that the main
source of income for Armenians in Javakheti is potato growing.

PORTERFIELD MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR REACHES ARMENIA
by Tony Halpin

The Times (London)
October 7, 2006, Saturday

Tony Halpin on the latest posting for a man who knows a bit about
miracles

LOCATED within sight of biblical Mount Ararat, where Noah landed
his ark, the tiny former Soviet republic of Armenia knows a thing
or two about miracles. So it seems an appropriate place to find Ian
Porterfield, who earned football immortality with his winning goal for
unfancied Sunderland in the 1973 FA Cup Final against Billy Bremner’s
mighty Leeds United.

Porterfield, 60, was appointed Armenia head coach in August, the
latest stop on a foreign management career that has taken him to
Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

His mission is to qualify for the 2008 European Championship finals
and, as miracles go, this is a tall order.

Armenia, who are bottom of group A, face Finland, the leaders, at
home in Yerevan today in a group that includes Portugal, Poland,
Serbia and Belgium. Armenia are not without hope, however, because
Porterfield has made a specialty of improving unheralded teams.

Dismissed by Chelsea in 1993 after eight years at the club, the Scot
was recruited to coach Zambia. Most of the first-choice players had
been killed in a plane crash and Porterfield agreed to stay for six
months to complete Zambia’s qualifying matches for the 1994 World
Cup. His makeshift young team came within a whisker of reaching the
finals in the United States.

"We lost 1-0 in Morocco when one point would have taken us to the
USA," Porterfield said from his Yerevan hotel after training with
Armenia’s squad. "I was really sad for the players but after that game
in Morocco, I was going to go home because I had sacrificed a big part
of my life being there. I didn’t realise that I was going to sacrifice
a lot of my life over the next 12 years to work outside (abroad)."

The Zambian authorities persuaded him to return and Porterfield led
his young team to the African Cup of Nations, going all the way to
the final before losing 2 1 to Nigeria.

Spells in Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe followed, before a brief and
unsuccessful return to the Premiership in 1996 as assistant manager
with Bolton Wanderers.

Porterfield moved abroad again, first to Oman and then to Trinidad &
Tobago to seek qualification for the 2002 World Cup. "When I went
to Trinidad, I won the Caribbean Cup of Nations and I was so near
qualifying for the World Cup, but just missed it," Porterfield said.

"That team went to 25th in the world."

Porterfield moved again in 2003, to South Korea and the club side,
Busan I’Park.

"I won the league and cup and went to the semi-finals of the Asian
Champions League," he said.

He left Korea in May but soon after his return to Britain he was
offered another national team’s coaching job. "Not many of my friends
knew much about Armenia," Porterfield said. "But I went to have a
look and I was surprised by the friendliness of the people."

He signed a 16-month contract and Armenia played their first match
under Porterfield on September 6, losing 1-0 to Belgium. On their
Euro 2008 challenge, Porterfield said: "This is a very difficult
group and no one is expecting us to win it, but what I would love to
see is that the football improves and develops here.

"When I look back over being on four different continents, it has
made me a better human being, more patient and understanding."

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN: ANKARA CHERCHE L’APPUI DES MILIEUX D’AFFAIRES FRANCAIS

Agence France Presse
7 octobre 2006 samedi 4:42 PM GMT

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a rencontre samedi a
Istanbul les representants de societes francaises faisant des affaires
en Turquie afin d’obtenir leur appui face a une proposition de loi
francaise qui menace d’empoisonner les relations entre les deux pays.

Ce projet de loi controverse, qui doit etre debattu jeudi au Parlement
francais, rend passible de prison la negation du genocide armenien
pendant la Première guerre mondiale.

"Erdogan a demande aux societes francaises de faire pression sur les
legislateurs francais pour essayer d’empecher que cette proposition de
loi voie le jour", a declare a l’AFP a l’issue de la reunion Mustafa
Abdullahoglu, cadre d’une societe qu’il n’a pas souhaite nommer.

"Il (le Premier ministre) a dit que la proposition de loi endommagerait
les relations bilaterales si elle etait adoptee", a indique ce cadre.

M. Abdullahoglu a dit craindre un boycott des produits francais en
Turquie si le texte venait a etre adopte.

Les representants des constructeurs automobiles Peugeot et Renault,
du geant de l’alimentation Danone, du producteur de materiaux de
construction Lafarge et de la chaîne de supermarches Carrefour
participaient a la reunion.

Un groupe d’hommes d’affaires franco-turc devait s’envoler dimanche
pour Paris dans le but de faire pression contre la proposition de
loi qui fait de la negation du genocide armenien, en 1915, un delit
punissable d’un an d’emprisonnement et de 45.000 euros d’amende.

Vendredi, le ministère turc des Affaires etrangères a averti que
l’adoption du texte pourrait mettre en peril "des investissements,
fruit d’annees de travail", et que "la France pourrait, pour ainsi
dire, perdre la Turquie".

Le texte legislatif avait commence a etre discute en mai. Mais son
examen avait ete interrompu faute de temps et le vote n’avait pu
avoir lieu.

Omer Sabanci, qui dirige le plus important groupe d’affaires turc,
Tusiad, a egalement condamne le texte, estimant qu’il refletait "les
craintes que le projet de la Turquie d’adherer a l’Union europeenne ne
se materialise" et qu’il constituait une tentative pour "faire echouer
les efforts visant a un dialogue constructif et a un debat rationnel".

"J’en appelle aux politiciens francais: ne voyez-vous pas que vous
mettez en danger les relations politiques, economiques et sociales
entretenues par la France et la Turquie pendant des siècles et ce
pour servir vos propres interets politiques?", a declare M. Sabanci
dans un communique diffuse par l’agence de presse turque Anatolie.

Les Armeniens estiment que jusqu’a 1,5 million des leurs ont peri
dans un genocide orchestre pendant les dernières annees de l’Empire
ottoman entre 1915 et 1917. Ankara affirme que des massacres ont ete
commis de part et d’autre et recuse les accusations de genocide.

–Boundary_(ID_L8ZIPwFGEq/ur1XIA8pQgA)- –

French politician regrets new vote on Armenian "genocide"

Agence France Presse — English
October 6, 2006 Friday 3:55 PM GMT

The head of the ruling UMP party bloc in France’s National Assembly,
Bernard Accoyer, said Friday he regretted a new attempt by the
opposition socialists to vote through a bill making it a punishable
offence to deny the Armenian "genocide".

Debate on the bill — which was originally tabled in May — is due
to take place on Thursday, despite protests from Ankara that it will
have a damaging effect on Franco-Turkish relations.

"The president of the Republic already reminded everyone when he was
in Armenia that France recognises officially the Armenian genocide and
is working for a better understanding between states in the region,"
Accoyer told AFP.

"As president of the UMP group, I regret that the Socialist party
(PS) bloc thought it useful to try once again to get parliament to
legislate on history," he said.

The Socialist bill would make it punishable by up to five years in
prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (57,000 dollars) to deny that Turkish
troops committed genocide against the Armenians between 1915 and 1917.

A 2001 French law officially recognises the massacres of Armenians
as genocide.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million were slaughtered in orchestrated
killings between 1915 and 1917 by Turks, as the Ottoman Empire was
falling apart.

Turkey rejects the claims, saying 300,000 Armenians and at least as
many Turks died in civil strife when the Armenians took up arms for
independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian
troops.

The Socialist party controls fewer than a third of seats in the
National Assembly. However the ruling Union for a Popular Movement has
promised a free vote, and some if its members also support the bill.

Last week in Yerevan, President Jacques Chirac said Turkey should
recognise the Armenian genocide as a condition for joining the EU.

However, he also said the opposition bill was "deliberately
controversial."

May’s debate on the bill followed stern warnings from Ankara on the
repercussions for bilateral relations, and broke up in uproar when
it ran out of parliamentary time.

On Friday Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan warned again
that a positive vote could jeopardise "investments, the fruit of
years of work, and France will — so to speak — lose Turkey."

Le Figaro, France
06 octobre 2006

Blocher conteste la loi sur le negationnisme SUISSE…;
EN BREF

Blocher conteste la loi sur le negationnisme SUISSE. En visite
officielle en Turquie, le ministre suisse de la Justice et de la
Police, Christoph Blocher, a conteste une loi permettant de
poursuivre toute personne niant, minimisant ou justifiant un
geno­cide.

Les propos de l’homme fort du parti populiste Union demo­cratique du
centre ont provoque de vives reactions dans les ­medias suisses et
chez les intellectuels. L’annee dernière, l’historien turc Youssuf
Halacoglu et le leader du Parti des travailleurs Dogu Perincek
avaient ete condamnes pour avoir nie le caractère genocidaire des
massacres d’Armeniens perpetres entre 1915 et 1917 dans l’Empire
ottoman. Pour les nombreux adversaires politiques de ­Christoph
­Blocher, c’est une petite revanche a peine quinze jours après
l’approbation a une majorite ecrasante par voie de referendum de
res­trictions du droit d’asile et de l’immigration dont il s’est fait
le ­champion. Nouvelle entorse a la liberte d’expression TURQUIE. Le
procès de la journaliste turque Ipek Calislar, accusee d’avoir
insulte le fondateur de la Turquie moderne Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a
debute hier a Istanbul. L’auteur d’une biographie de Latife Ussaki,
la femme d’Ataturk, risque jusqu’a quatre ans et demi de ­prison en
vertu d’une loi speciale protegeant la memoire de l’homme d’Etat. La
première audience s’est tenue au dernier jour d’une visite en Turquie
du commissaire europeen a l’elargissement Olli Rehn, qui a prevenu
Ankara que le statu quo sur la question de la liberte ­d’expression
pourrait nuire au processus d’adhesion du pays a l’UE.

–Boundary_(ID_gCSoBqW9hQg5xcTbEljnkQ)–