Author: Chmshkian Vicken

GOOD FAKING OF BRAND-NAME CLOTHING IS COSTLY PLEASURE
Noyan Tapan
Oct 23 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 23, NOYAN TAPAN. There is no sense in faking of
brand-name clothing, because “high-quality” faking of production and
lables of famous companiies is a costly pleasure, while a low-quality
fake does not escape the byuer’s attention. Nazaret Grboyan,
Director of the Armenian Office of the Italian company Girotti,
expressed this opinion during a talk with NT correspondent. According
to him and Susanna Muradian, Director of the Armenian Office of the
clothing-manufacturing company Giordano (Honq Kong), they have no
informatoon about any case of revealing a faked product of their
companies in Armenia. It was mentioned that it is not a function of
the Armenian offices of their companies to implement control in order
to prevent faking of their production in Armenia and its unofficial
import into the country. According to a study conducted jointly by
the DAI ASME program on development on small and medium business
markets in Armenia and the consulting company Ameria in 2004, about
two thirds of underwear and clothing sold on the domestic retail
market was produced in Armenia, and most of it was sold as foreign
goods. The volume of the domestic market of underwear and clothing
made about 300 million drams (about 750 thousand USD) in 2004.

TURKISH PEACEKEEPERS ARRIVE FOR MISSION IN SOUTH
by Daily Star staff
The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 21 2006
Deployment comes despite vocal opposition from armenian community
Around 260 Turkish soldiers arrived in Lebanon on Friday, the first
Muslim land forces to join UN peacekeepers monitoring a cease-fire
between Israel and Lebanon. Two ships carrying 95 personnel and 46
vehicles docked at Beirut Port, officials said. Some 160 more troops
flew to Beirut’s airport a short time later.
The first Turkish deployment in Lebanon since the Ottomans left in
1918, shortly before their empire collapsed at the end of World War I,
the troops will be stationed in the village of Shaatit, 7.5 kilometers
from the Southern port of Tyre.
But their arrival comes despite vocal opposition from Lebanon’s
Armenian community, which accuses the Turks’ Ottoman ancestors of
genocide.
Turkey, a key regional ally of Israel, is the first Muslim country
to contribute troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
that will eventually number 15,000 men.
Muslim nations Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Qatar have also
pledged soldiers to the planned 15,000-strong force, but they have
yet to arrive.
A small advance team of engineers, who are due to work mostly on the
reconstruction of roads and bridges as well as de-mining, arrived on
October 10 but Turkey is not expected to contribute any more ground
troops to the UN force.
The Turkish government has said it will contribute a total of 681
troops.
A Turkish frigate is already serving in the German-led naval task
force patrolling the Lebanese coast to prevent arms being smuggled
to Hizbullah, and the navy has said it will also send two corvettes.
Members of Lebanon’s 140,000-strong Armenian community have staged
several demonstrations in protest at the troop deployment because
Turkey refuses to recognize the 1915-17 massacres of Armenians by
the Ottomans as genocide.
But the Armenians are not expected to mount further protests, despite
accusations Turkey is seeking to establish a “new Ottoman empire.”
“Their return is for economic reasons and to revive their dream of
a new Ottoman empire in the Middle East,” said Armenian-Lebanese
MP Hagop Pakradounian. “We don’t understand why the government is
enthusiastic for the Turks to come.”
But a fellow Armenian-Lebanese MP, Hagop Kassarjian, said the community
had to accept the facts on the ground.
“Even though we’re Armenian and we’ve protested, we’re Lebanese after
all. We did what we have to do but the Lebanese government has taken
a decision and so has the international community,” he said.

FRANCE AND ARMENIAN ISSUE: TURKEY SHOULD REMAIN CALM
Prof. Dr. Beril Dedeoglu
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 23 2006
If the bill in France that makes it a crime to deny the so-called
Armenian genocide passes in the Senate and is approved by the
president, it will become an effective law.
Although it is probable that it won’t pass, the Senate and the
president won’t approve it, the heart of the matter doesn’t change.
In fact, perhaps the law’s waiting before the Senate, which is known
to be comprised of intelligent men who aren’t worried about elections,
and a president who doesn’t show much of a tendency to go beyond the
demands of society, can spark further serious tensions.
The probability of the law passing can become more important than
the law itself. In this state it can be used more consciously as a
vehicle for imposing action, and from Turkey’s perspective it will
serve as Democles’ sword.
First, we shouldn’t make the mistake of asking France questions as
long as the bill doesn’t become law.
The opposition Socialist Party is the architect of the bill and is
responsible for it. It is as meaningless to criticize all French
citizens for this bill as it is to leave all Turkish citizens under
genocide suspicion.
There is benefit in discussing the probabilities of what is happening
in France. It can be claimed that the bill is a tactic that will
cause Turkey to break off from the EU negotiations process. Perhaps
there are members of parliament from both the party in power and
the opposition who would approve such an understanding. In fact,
if the law leads to ending Turkey’s EU negotiations, there may be
others who would be very happy about it.
However, the tactic to drive Turkey away from the table can only
succeed if Turkey actually chooses to do this. In other words,
this points to a process tied to Turkey, not France. Actually, this
strengthens the hands of those in Turkey who, seeing it as their duty,
defend abandoning developments on the EU road and support efforts
for democratization. However, it is difficult to say that French
representatives had planned this. If France wants to drive Turkey
away from the European Union, it is already doing it with the Cyprus
problem. Besides, France will have several more opportunities to push
Turkey away during the negotiation process.
For the Votes of 400,000 Citizens
Another possibility that can be considered is barring the way of
any improvements in Turkish-Armenian relations. It can be said that
as long as Armenia’s isolation continues in the region and tensions
with Russia are increased, France remains Armenia’s only hope for
political breakthrough and France will protect Armenia because it is
its only avenue for activity in the Caucasus. The biggest weakness
of this possibility lies under the question of whom the tensions
between these countries harm the most. Just as preventing Armenia
from opening to the world will increase its political and economic
weakness, it will bring the problem of taking on more responsibility
before the Armenian Diaspora in France (it can’t be claimed that
there are serious contributions to the root country). In addition,
this kind of implementation that points to Armenia would nurture
radical movements that are fed by enemy politics, which, in turn,
support authoritarian structures. In this situation, those who don’t
want to be authoritarian would be negatively affected, rather than
authoritarians. This process would not benefit Armenian citizens and
would prevent Turkey from taking any possible steps toward Armenia.
We can assume the kind of results the Armenian Diaspora’s expectations
will yield. Armenians are continuing to organize in many regions of the
world. We know that genocide claims form the basis of the Diaspora’s
ethnic references and that it sometimes becomes more important than
those of the citizens of the country they live in.
While such a claim can sometimes have a positive effect on the status
of the people and a negative one, it also gives them political power.
It helps them to receive direct decisions and obtain the capacity to
influence processes. The Diaspora largely uses the positions they
have gained in the country to meet its expectations. The Armenian
Diaspora in France mainly supports the Socialist Party. Situations
like the Socialist Party being an opposition party, their loss to
an ultra-nationalist party in the last elections, and not being sure
about the vote potential of Segolene Royal, the female candidate they
brought out to oppose Sarkozy who is in the party in power as the
presidential elections approach, have led the party to increasingly
lean toward more aggressive policies.
It’s is unknown if there are still people who are surprised at the
socialist parties coming to the point of acting along the same lines
as the ultra-nationalist parties. However, as a result it is obvious
that the Socialist Party needs the votes of the estimated 400,000
Armenians living in France. In a similar way, the parties in power
need every vote they can get, strengthening the nationalist game.
Consequently, the administration doesn’t verbalize the meaninglessness
of the bill; on the contrary, it is said that if this policy gains
votes. If so, why should it fail? One of the reasons why certain
parties want these votes could be to turn the raison d’etre of the
Armenian Diaspora, which supports it, into law. Moreover, this effort
is a matter of urgency for the Diaspora, because Turkey has opened
a different door to approach the issue.
Turkey has announced that it is ready to “officially” open this issue
for discussion on an international level outside of state players and
has made progress to some extent. It is clear that the beginning of
discussion of the issue on an international basis in the fields of
science, politics or law will lead to the watering down of the claim
that genocide was perpetrated and the posing of the proposition in
many places throughout the world that maybe there was no genocide. In
this situation, there can be a weakening of the raw material within
the genocide claim from which it feeds.
For certain, the law related to the benefits of exploitation, which
was passed previously and is still being discussed, and the law
that counts the denial of genocide as a crime will continue to be
debated in France. It is also evident that even if this type of law
is a result of a political party presenting it to the parliament,
these subjects are not that contrary to general perceptions in France.
There is a broad, wide-spread and deep belief in France that there
was an Armenian genocide. When the Socialist Party puts this on the
agenda, there’s no great uproar. As communication increases among
societies, it’s possible for fixed opinions to change. There are
lessons here for Turkey. Instead of producing policies based on pushing
possibilities for communication among societies and drawing closer
through cooperation, looking for counterattack policies that encourage
introversion hasn’t provided Turkey with any permanent benefits
to date. If Turkey is a country that trusts its theses, documents,
philosophy and, most importantly, its system, it shouldn’t rush to
take harsh actions that can be seen as expressions of helplessness.
Professor Beril Dedeoglu – Galatasaray University Faculty Member

ARARAT ZURABIAN: MOST OF ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN RALLIES IN
1988 WILL GIVE THEIR VOTES FOR ARMENIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. The purpose of the current ruling
regime in Armenia is its reproduction, while the opposition’s main
objective is not to allow such reproduction – be it in the version
of Vartan Oskanian or Serge Sargsian. Ararat Zurabian, Chairman of
the Armenian National Movement (ANM) Board, expressed this opinion
at a press conference on October 20. “I think that if in 2003 the
opposition had taken a more resolute steps, everything would have had
a normal outcome,” he said. According to him, in order to participate
in the parliamentary elections, the party will try to form an alliance
with several political forces. He indicated the Republic Party and
the Liberal Progressive Party as possible allies. A. Zurabian said
that the ANM will not unite with the Aylntrank (Alternative) social
political initiative that has the same ideological principles. In his
words, there are no serious disagreements between the two bodies, but
some problems exist. That is why some members left the ANM and formed
the organization Armat later reorganized into Aylntrank. A. Zurabian
noted that the current authorities never received more than 10-15%
of votes at elections – the rest was added. According to him, at the
time when ANM was in power, elections were never rigged, and if such
a thing happened, it was done by people like the defence minister
Serge Sargsian and the prime minister Andranik Margarian who were
in power at that time too. As regards the current rating of ANM,
in A. Zurabian’s words, the party’s electorate are those who were
participating in rallies in 1988. Some of them who left Armenia or
changed their views will be replaced by those who did not yet have
the right to vote at that time. Noting that many people boycotted the
referendum on Constutitional amendments in response to the ANM’s calls,
A. Zurabian added: “I think that in Armenia there is an environment
where we have our votes.”

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 19 2006
Turks to File over 6,000 ‘Genocide’ Lawsuits
By Adem Yilmaz, Anadolu News Agency (aa), Cihan News Agency,
Gaziantep
Thursday, October 19, 2006
zaman.com
Sevret Saltan, president of the Turkish National Power Veterans
Association said they would open lawsuits for each of the 6,317 Turks
martyred by the French and Armenians while defending their hometown
of Antep, a southeastern Turkish city which was occupied by France
during World War I.
Saltan visited current Gaziantep Mayor Asim Guzelbey.
During their visit, Saltan announced their intention to pursue a
legal course of action, adding, “Our aim is to prove that Armenians,
in cooperation with the French forces, perpetrated genocide in
Gaziantep.”
Saltan remarked that they would not remain silent when faced with the
notorious French bill and said that they were ready to provide all
the documents supporting the atrocities perpetrated against innocent
civilians during the occupation of Gaziantep by France.
Saltan said that they were going to open compensation lawsuits on
behalf of the 6,317 massacred people and defend the violated rights
of their ancestors in the international arena.
Saltan further noted that they spoke to Aziz Canatar, president of
the Gaziantep Bar Association, and asked the association for
assistance.
“The Gaziantep Bar Association is going to help us and will conduct
the required research. We will call those accusing us of genocide to
account for what they did in Gaziantep.”
Emphasizing the documents in their possession concerning the mass
killings of Turks by French forces, Saltan remarked “If we win the
lawsuit, we will build a great monument for the martyrs of
Gaziantep.”
Saltan also said they discovered that 93 women were martyred in
either their homes or in the street in addition to male victims.
Noting that 36 out of 93 women were martyred in their homes, he
stated that their intention was to gather all the documents and
information together in one place.
Gaziantep Bar President, Aziz Canatar said they would submit Servet
Saltan’s demand to the Turkish Bar Association, and confirmed that
they were willing to take action on behalf of Turkey at the European
Court of Human Rights after accumulating all the evidence and
documents available

BASE METAL EXPANDS PRODUCTION VOLUMES IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Armenpress
Oct 18 2006
STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Base Metal company that has been
running the Drmbon gold and copper mine in Nagorno-Karabakh since 2002
has increased production volumes up to 300,000 tons of processed ore.
Company’s executive manager Artyom Mkrtumian said as a result the
company’s annual output this year will amount to $30 million. He
said the company plans to raise this figure up to 400,000 tons in the
second half of 2007, which he said would be possible after the local
plant’s reconstruction which though was built 3 years ago needs to
be expanded in view of the growing production volumes.
The chief manager said the company has already invested $20 million
with the bulk of this sum going to building of its infrastructure. By
the way, the plant was built in a site with no infrastructure at
all. He said the company plans to invest annually around $7 million
in construction of apartments for workers. The company employs now
1,600 workers with an average wage of 142,000 drams.
In terms of tax obligations this is the biggest company in
Nagorno-Karabakh. He said several more mines are expected to be
commissioned in the next couple of years. The Drmbon mine has estimated
4 million tons of ore. It can be exploited for another 10-12 years.

OSCE PLANS TO EXTEND ITS ELECTION MONITORING MISSION IN ARMENIA TO 90 DAYS
Armenpress
Oct 19 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS: Deputy parliament chairman Vahan
Hovhanesian, who is also head of Armenian Delegation to the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly and Samvel Nikoyan, a Delegation member,
met today with the visiting U.S. ambassador to the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, Julie Finley.
Armenian parliament press service said Julie Finley stressed that next
national elections in Armenia must be in conformity with international
standards saying the OSCE would like to extend its mission’s presence
in Armenia to monitor preparations for the next parliamentary elections
to 90 days. She said the presence of observers during pre-election
campaign as important as on the voting day.
The Armenian officials were said to underline the importance of fair
and transparent polls saying the parliament is set to pass a set
of changes to election code which were approved by the OSCE and the
Council of Europe.

PROCèS CONTRE LES RESPONSABLES DE L’EDITION TURQUE D’UN LIVRE DE CHOMSKY
Agence France Presse
17 octobre 2006 mardi
Le proprietaire d’une maison d’edition, un traducteur et deux editeurs
ont comparu mardi devant un tribunal stambouliote pour avoir “incite
a la haine” en publiant la version turque d’un livre de l’intellectuel
americain Noam Chomsky, a rapporte l’agence de presse Anatolie.
Ce procès est le dernier en date d’une serie de poursuites ouvertes
contre des intellectuels -dont le prix Nobel de litterature 2006
Orhan Pamuk- en raison de l’expression de leurs opinions sur des
sujets sensibles en Turquie comme les massacres d’Armeniens commis
sous l’empire ottoman.
Les quatre prevenus risquent jusqu’a six ans de prison pour “incitation
a la haine” raciale et “denigrement de l’identite nationale” en
raison de leur rôle dans la publication en mars de l’edition turque
de “La Fabrique de l’opinion publique : la politique economique des
medias americains”.
Le livre, cosigne par Noam Chomsky et Edward S. Herman, analyse a
travers l’exemple de plusieurs pays les influences dont font l’objet
les individus et les medias.
Il contient des references au traitement impose a la minorite kurde
de Turquie dans les annees 1990 -au plus fort de la lutte entre les
separatistes kurdes et les forces de securite turques- de manière
jugee insultante par le ministère public.
Les prevenus -Fatih Tas, le proprietaire des editions Aram, les
editeurs Omer Faruk Kurhan et Taylan Tosun et le traducteur Ender
Abadoglu- ont recuse les accusations.
Le juge a ajourne l’audience pour leur permettre de disposer de plus
de temps pour preparer leur defense.
“Personne ne devrait s’etonner si les distributeurs, les libraires
et les lecteurs sont poursuivis prochainement”, a commente M. Tas a
la sortie de la salle d’audience.
M. Tas avait deja ete poursuivi et acquitte en 2002 pour avoir publie
un autre livre de Noam Chomski qui critiquait deja l’attitude d’Ankara
a l’egard de ses Kurdes et les ventes d’armes par les Etats-Unis a
la Turquie.
Le professeur de linguistique avait alors assiste a une des audiences
a Istanbul pour manifester son soutien a l’editeur et donner des
conferences a Diyarbakir, la principale ville du sud-est anatolien
a la population majoritairement kurde.
–Boundary_(ID_QvWy2X1CNCC96z6fmPBfig)–

GENOCIDE ARMENIEN: LE PARLEMENT N’A PAS A ECRIRE L’HISTOIRE (PARISOT)
Agence France Presse
17 octobre 2006 mardi
La presidente du Medef, Laurence Parisot, a estime mardi qu’il
“n’appartient pas au legislateur d’ecrire l’Histoire” et que le vote
des deputes francais sur le genocide armenien “depasse ce qu’il est
normal de faire sur un sujet aussi grave”.
“Il n’appartient pas aux entreprises d’ecrire l’Histoire, mais
il n’appartient pas non plus au legislateur d’ecrire l’Histoire”,
a-t-elle declare lors de sa conference de presse mensuelle, jugeant
que “chacun doit rester a sa place”.
“Nous considerons que ce qui a ete vote depasse ce qu’il est normal de
faire sur un sujet aussi grave. On ne peut pas prendre des mesures de
ce type sans se poser des questions sur les consequences”, a-t-elle
poursuivi.
“Il est facile de comprendre qu’une reaction trop vive des autorites
ou des responsables economiques turcs peut etre très prejudiciable
pour la sante des entreprises francaises”, a-t-elle dit, rappelant
que beaucoup d’entreprises francaises sont implantees en Turquie ou
exportent vers ce pays.
Estimant que “cette affaire est suffisamment inquietante”, la
presidente du Medef a annonce qu’elle rencontrerait ce mardi a
Bruxelles le president du TUSIAD (patronat turc), Omer Sabanci,
en marge d’une reunion de l’Unice, le mouvement patronal europeen.
La Turquie s’est indignee du vote la semaine dernière par l’Assemblee
nationale d’une proposition de loi sanctionnant la negation du
“genocide armenien” de peines allant jusqu’a un an de prison et 45.000
euros (57.000 dollars) d’amende.
Le texte controverse doit encore etre soumis aux senateurs, puis aux
deputes en seconde lecture, avant d’etre definitivement adopte.
–Boundary_(ID_8YjBytUGXhoGMCGlaPzEtA)–

ARMENIA, EU TO LAUNCH “ACTION PLAN” ON CLOSER TIES
By Emil Danielyan
Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
Oct 17 2006
Next month the European Union and Armenia will sign a five-year action
plan related to the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) program that
enables EU neighbors to establish preferential relations with the
25-country bloc. The development will be hailed by the authorities
in Yerevan as an important milestone in their intensifying efforts
at European integration. It will also underscore the EU’s apparent
intention to press harder for democratic reforms in the South Caucasus
country.
The ENP, which also covers Azerbaijan and Georgia, is designed to
enable participating nations to build privileged partnership with the
EU in return for sweeping reforms that would bring their political
and economic systems into conformity with European standards and
practices. Although the scheme does not open the door to membership
in the EU, it offers other tangible incentives such as free trade,
substantial economic assistance, and extensive political dialogue
with the expanding union. More importantly, it means a chance to
become part of what EU officials call Europe’s “four freedoms” —
the free movement of people, capital, goods, and services.
The three South Caucasus states were not included in the ENP when
it was launched in 2003, with the EU initially targeting other,
geographically closer former Soviet republics like Ukraine and
Moldova. Georgia’s November 2003 “Rose Revolution” appears to have
been instrumental in the EU’s subsequent decision to extend the scheme,
also known as “Wider Europe,” to the volatile region.
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia were officially invited to join the
ENP in June 2004 and opened talks with Brussels on their respective
“action plans” shortly afterwards.
The process has been slowed down by a controversy sparked by
Azerbaijan’s decision to establish commercial and air links
with Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus. The divided island’s
internationally recognized Greek government retaliated by freezing
Baku’s participation in the ENP. This led the European Commission to
put on hold its talks with Armenia and Georgia as well. The negotiating
process resumed only late last year. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja
of Finland, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency,
announced its effective completion as he visited the three counties
earlier this month. He said their action plans would be signed in
Brussels on November 14.
“The European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan is a significant step
towards an increasingly close relationship between the EU and Armenia,
going beyond cooperation to involve a significant measure of economic
integration and deepening of political cooperation,” Tuomioja and his
Armenian counterpart Vartan Oskanian said in a joint statement issued
after their talks in Yerevan on October 2. “The European Union and
Armenia are determined to make use of this occasion to enhance their
relations and to promote prosperity, stability, and security.”
Officials have said before that the Armenian action plan, which has
not yet been made public, will be based on the recommendations of a
report released by the European Commission in March 2005. The 30-page
document called for democratic elections, the rule of law, respect for
human rights, anti-corruption measures, as well as further economic
reforms in Armenia. EU officials now stress that democratization
of the country’s deeply flawed political system will be a necessary
condition for Yerevan’s participation in the ENP.
Tuomioja specifically warned against a repeat of serious fraud in the
next Armenian parliamentary elections, due early next year. “Armenia
is aware that we all have to live up to our obligations, and if
there are deficiencies [in the conduct of the elections] they will
be noticed and there will be consequences,” he told reporters in
the Armenian capital. The EU’s special representative to the South
Caucasus, Peter Semneby, likewise warned in July that the freedom and
fairness of the polls will be “crucially important” for the Armenian
government’s drive to forge closer links with Europe.
The EU has until now avoided active involvement in democracy-building
in Armenia, criticizing its rulers for rigging elections but refraining
from taking any punitive measures against them. The bloc’s external
relations commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, signaled a change
in this policy during a February visit to Yerevan. Issues related
to political reform and human rights protection were high on the
agenda of her meetings with President Robert Kocharian and other
Armenian officials.
Armenian leaders insist that they are taking the EU warnings seriously,
with Oskanian admitting that another rigged election would jeopardize
his country’s participation in the ENP. They argue that “European
integration” is now an increasingly high priority of Armenian foreign
policy. As if to drive home their point, they set up on September 7 two
new bodies headed by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian and tasked with
helping to deepen political and economic ties with the EU, Armenia’s
number one trading partner. The move followed Kocharian’s recent
instruction to his government to come up with a comprehensive plan
of action that will accelerate Armenia’s integration into European
and Euro-Atlantic structures.
Whether the Armenian leadership, which has failed to hold a single
election recognized as democratic by the West, is prepared to go as
far as to end chronic vote rigging and run the risk of losing power
for the sake of that integration seems doubtful. The EU questioned
its commitment to democracy as recently as last December, in the wake
of a fraudulent referendum on Kocharian’s amendments to Armenia’s
constitution.
(Aravot, October 3; Joint statement by the foreign ministers of
Armenia and Finland, October 2; Azg, September 8; RFE/RL Armenia
Report, July 24, February 17)