Author: Dabaghian Diana

TURKISH POLICEMEN ON TRIAL OVER PICTURES OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST’S KILLER

Agence France Presse — English
September 28, 2007 Friday 12:15 PM GMT

Two Turkish policemen went on trial Friday for their role in a scandal
which saw security forces pose for pictures with the suspected murderer
of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the Anatolia news agency
reported.

The trial in the northern city of Samsun is the first time that members
of the security forces have been brought before a court over the
January 19 murder, which the police are accused of failing to prevent.

The charges followed a complaint from Dink’s family that police
protected the self-confessed killer, 17-year-old Ogun Samast, when
he was captured in Samsun a day after Dink was shot dead in Istanbul.

Footage and photos leaked to the media at the time showed officers,
some of them in uniform, posing with Samast as he held a Turkish flag,
unleashing accusations that some officials may secretly approve of
the murder.

Eight police officiers were given disciplinary sanctions at the time,
but only Metin Balta, the deputy head of the terrorism department,
and Ibrahim Firat, a police chief in the same office, have been
charged over the incident.

Balta is accused of "abusing his office by allowing acts unbefitting
state officials and leading to the impression that there was sympathy
for Samast’s action," Anatolia said.

He could be sentenced to between six months and two years in jail if
found guilty.

Firat risks a prison sentence of one to five years on charges of
"violating the secrecy of the investigation" by leaking the images
to the media, Anatolia added.

The police are also under fire for failing to prevent the murder
despite having received intelligence of a plot to kill Dink being
organised in the northern city of Trabzon, the home of Samast and
most of his suspected associates.

Dink, 52, a prominent member of Turkey’s tiny Armenian minority,
was gunned down outside the offices of his bilingual Turkish-Armenian
weekly Agos, in central Istanbul.

Although he campaigned for reconciliation, Turkish nationalists hated
him for calling the massacres of Armenians under Ottoman rule during
World War I genocide, a label that Turkey fiercely rejects.

Samast has admitted to shooting Dink because he was an "enemy of the
Turks," according to prosecutors.

He is on trial with 18 other suspects at an Istanbul court.

NKR VICE-PRIME MINISTER, NKR MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

Azat Artsakh Tert, Nagorno Karabakh Republic
Sept 27 2007

Armo Tsaturian Armo Tsaturian was born in 1947, February 23rd, in
Khanabad village. In 1965 he finished the school of the village. In
1970 he graduated from Erevan Cattle-breeding and Veterinary Institute,
faculty of technology of dairy produces. In 1970 he worked at the
group of enterprises of milk of Stepanakert. In 1981-1991 he held
a post of a director of the group of enterprises. In 1991 he was
appointed the chairman of "State agroprod" committee of NK. In
1992-1994 he held a post of minister of the NKR Agriculture. In
1994-1997 – was an assistant of the leader of board of administration
of Askeran region. In 1997 he was appointed the Minister of the NKR
Agriculture. In 2001-2005 – was the leader of board of administration
of Askeran region. In 2005 he was appointed the Minister of the NKR
Territorial Government and Development of Substructures. He had active
participation in NK national-liberation movement. He was the member of
"Krunk" committee. He was rewarded with "Mkhitar Gosh" medal. He is
married and has 2 children.

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR "INTERACTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION. PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS" HELD IN YEREVAN
Author: Editor: Eghian Robert

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 27 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. "I am sure that during the
international seminar "Interactive Technolologies in Education.

Problems and Solutions", there will be not only proposals to use
these technologies but also to involve Armenian scientists in their
development," the RA deputy minister of education and science Ara
Avetisian stated in his speech of welcome at the seminar held on
September 27. He expressed a hope that the seminar will contribute
to signing agreements on the use of these technologies.

During the seminar, various companies’ software was presented,
including interactive technologies software of Smart Technologies
(Canada), educational programs of Microsoft, interactive vizualization
technologies of Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), as well as Armenian
universities’ experience of using these technologies.

In the words of Edward Saghatelian, technical director of Firma Alpha
company – the Armenian representative of Smart Technologies, the
problem of computerization of Armenian universities has been solved to
some extent, while intercative technologies are not yet used widely. He
added that an attempt will be made to promote the development of the
respective state programs through meetings with representatives of
the RA ministry of education and science and the Yerevan municipality.

TURKISH PM DISCUSSES 1915 "INCIDENTS", MIDEAST WITH JEWISH LEADERS IN NEW YORK

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Sept 27 2007

"ERDOGAN RECEIVES REPRESENTATIVES OF JEWISH COMMUNITY"

NEW YORK (A.A) -27.09.2007 -"Incidents of 1915 were discussed during
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with the representatives
of Jewish Community in the USA. Prime Minister said the allegations
were baseless and do not have any scientific or historical ground,"
a Prime Ministry statement said on Thursday.

According to the statement, Erdogan met representatives of 20 Jewish
communities including Conference of Presidents, Appeal of Conscience,
Foundation, Aipac, ADL, American Jewish Committee, American Jewish
Congress, Bnai Brith International and UJA Federation in Turkish
Centre in NYC.

"Prime Minister also reminded Turkey’s call to Armenia to establish
a joint commission to study historical facts, and stated that Turkey
expected the Jewish community to confirm its support against the
baseless allegations," the statement added.

The statement also noted that representatives of the Jewish community
asked PM Erdogan to comment on the regional matters and exchanged
views on various issues.

[Anatolia in English at 0738 gmt on 27 Sep 07 reports: "NEW YORK
(A.A) – 27.09.2007 – ‘There may be disagreement between friends
from time to time. This does not change friendship or deference,’
Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL) said on Thursday.

"Foxman replied to the questions of reporters following Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with representatives of Jewish
community in New York.

"Asked what was the matter of disagreement, Foxman said the
disagreement was some words describing Turkish-Armenian history.

"He also said historical and current Turkish-Jewish relations were
discussed at the meeting. ‘We have expressed gratitude for the support,
deference and tolerance shown to Jews in Turkey. We also discussed
Turkish-U.S. relations. Iran, Syria and Middle East process as well
as Turkish- Israeli relations were handled at the meeting,’ he noted.

"Asked to comment on the Armenian draft in the U.S. Congress, Foxman
said, ‘we believe that a matter between Turkey and Armenia related
to history should be tackled between the two parties, not in U.S.

Congress or parliament of any other country. This is not a political
matter and those in the Congress are not historians.’

""I believe that we should focus on the future, not the past. If the
Jewish community, the United States and the Congress are willing
to assist they should bring together Turkey and Armenia for the
grandchildren of the two parties,’ Foxman said.

"Indicating that the matter should not be tackled in the French
parliament or any other place, Foxman said he expected Armenians
to respond affirmatively to the proposal to discuss the matter in a
committee of historians.

"Abraham Foxman, the National Director of ADL, said earlier in a
statement that his organization had come to share the view that the
incidents of 1915 ‘were indeed tantamount to genocide,’ but added
that the organization maintained its opposition against bringing the
issue to Congressional floor."]

"THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE" BOOK BY ARMENIAN SCIENTIST PUBLISHED IN HUNGARY

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.09.2007 14:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Hungarian translation of "The Armenian Genocide",
a work by a renowned Armenian scientist, member of the National Science
Academy of Armenia, prof. Nikolay Hovhannisian, was recently published
in Budapest. The publication was undertaken by the "Armenian Roots
of Transylvania" culture center. The translation was made from the
publication of 2005, dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Genocide.

President of the "Armenian Roots of Transylvania" company and the
editor of the Hungarian version of the book Charlotte Iszekutz said
that the translation of the book was aimed at representing a rich
material on the first Genocide of the 20th century to the wide public
and the political circles of Hungary. She also said that their company
is striving for the official recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the Parliament of Hungary.

The book is richly illustrated by photographs, provided by the
Museum-Institute of the Genocide, Yerevan.

Professor Nikolay Hovhannisian has been engaged in the studies of
the Genocide for a very long time. He is the author of 45 works
dedicated to the matter, 5 of which are well known and accepted
among the international science circles. One of his works in English,
entitled "The Armenian Genocide. Armenicide" was fully translated into
Turkish and published in Istanbul, 2005. Parts of that work were also
published in the "Marco Polo" journal in Venice, Azg newspaper reports.

ARMENIAN PM TELLS EU: TOO SOON TO MAKE TURKEY A MEMBER
By Dmitry Solovyov

Reuters, UK
Sept 26 2007

MOSCOW, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Armenia said on Tuesday the European
Union would be making a "strange" decision if it admitted Turkey
before Ankara had made progress in settling disputes with Yerevan.

Turkey shut its borders with its tiny neighbour Armenia in
1993 in protest at Armenian forces’ capture of territory inside
Azerbaijan, Ankara’s historic Muslim ally, during fighting over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The two countries are also at odds over Anakara’s refusal to
acknowledge as genocide the massacre of large numbers of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey at the start of the last century. Turkey has no
diplomatic ties with the former Soviet republic.

"I believe it would be very strange for the Europeans to accept to
their family a country which sometimes employs principles running
counter to the principles of the European Union," Armenian Prime
Minister Serzh Sarksyan said.

But Sarksyan, speaking at a news briefing during a visit to Russia,
a close ally, said he believed the EU application would pressure
Ankara into changing its stance on the border with Armenia and on
diplomatic relations.

"I believe … the more time passes the harder it gets for them to
stick to this position, because Turkey aspires to join the European
Union and faces a long negotiation process."

"So the ball is in Turkey’s yard, nothing depends on us," said
Sarksyan, a close ally of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan. Many
observers expect that when Kocharyan steps down next year, Sarksyan
will replace him as president.

Armenians and some European nations describe the 1915-17 killings
of Armenians, as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, as genocide. Turkey
maintains they were part of a partisan conflict in which many Turks,
Armenians and other nationalities died.

It is a crime in Turkey to call the killings genocide.

Earlier this year a French parliamentary bill making it a crime to
deny the killings were genocide soured relations between Paris and
Ankara. Turkey suspended talks on a major gas pipeline with Gaz de
France in protest at the bill.

IRAN, ARMENIA TO BROADEN MUTUAL COOPERATION

Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran
Sept 25 2007

Armenian Ambassador to Tehran Karen Nazarian conferred here Tuesday
with the Head of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy
Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi on expansion of cooperation between
the two countries.

According to the Information and Media Bureau of Majlis, at the
meeting, Boroujerdi highlighted the significant role of parliaments in
consolidating ties among countries and said expansion of parliamentary
relations would help bolster all-out ties between the two states.

Referring to exchange of views between the two sides’ officials,
he said such consultations have played effective role in broadening
mutual relations.

Expressing satisfaction with the current level of mutual relations,
he said there are huge untapped potentials which should be explored
for broadening of economic, cultural and political ties between the
two countries.

Iranian Majlis supports expansion of all-out relations between the
two countries, he pointed out.

The Armenian ambassador, for his part, underlined that the Armenian
officials are determined to further bolster ties with Tehran in
various fields.

Calling the two sides parliamentary ties as very good, he said Armenia
has formed a parliamentary friendship group to encourage development
of ties with Tehran.

The Armenian ambassador submitted to Boroujerdi a message from the
Armenian parliament speaker to his Iranian counterpart and voiced
his country’s readiness to broaden parliamentary cooperation with Iran.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

Armenian version: nian.htm

A DELEGATION FROM THE CATHOLICOSATE OF CILICIA
TRAVELS TO ETHIOPIA

A delegation representing the Catholicosate of Cilicia and His Holiness
Catholicos Aram I traveled to Addis Ababa today to participate in the
ceremonies marking the second millennium of Ethiopia. The delegation is
formed of Bishop Kegham Khatcherian (Primate of the Diocese of Lebanon), and
Bishop Nareg Alemezian (Ecumenical Officer of the Catholicosate).

An international conference dedicated to the second millennium of Ethiopia
will precede special religious services and ceremonies on this occasion.

His Holiness Aram I was invited as the only head of church to deliver a
lecture to the conference. However, given the uncertain situation in Lebanon
at the moment, His Holiness decided to cancel his visit to Ethiopia.

##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the Ecumenical
activities of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.

OPPOSITION NOT TO NOMINATE SINGLE CANDIDATE IN POLLS – ARMENIAN POLITICIAN

Mediamax
Sept 11 2007
Armenia

Yerevan, 11 September: The leader of the Democratic Party of Armenia
(DPA), Aram Sargsyan, has ruled out an possible alliance of opposition
parties on an ideological basis and the possibility of a single
candidate being nominated from the opposition.

Speaking at a news conference in Yerevan today, Sargsyan expressed
the opinion that "consultations between opposition representatives
will yield no results, since they do not have a single ideological
platform. As for the possibility of a single candidate being nominated
from the opposition, I simply rule it out," Mediamax reports.

"I would agree to participate in talks between opposition
representatives if issues of changing the current state system were
discussed at these meetings," the politician said. Sargsyan said that
the current system can be changed in two ways – either by an outside
force or by an inside force," he said. Sargsyan added that at the
same time, "it does not matter which of these forces will implement
the reform".

"If (Prime Minister) Serzh Sargsyan can change this system, I will
consider this to be progress, although I believe that he bears full
responsibility for the current situation in the country," he noted.

PRESS TV, Iran

Turkey condemns US support for PKK

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:06:15

Turkish FM Ali Babacan

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan says US cooperation with the
armed PKK movement can endanger Ankara-Washington relations.

Babacan also warned that acknowledgement of a mass murder of Armenians
as genocide by the US Congress can harm US-Turkey relations.

The Turkish foreign minister, currently in the United States, said
that the Turkish people cannot comprehend why the PKK is launching
attacks against Turkey from Iraq.

Recent reports regarding the transfer of American weapons to the PKK
has made the Ankara-Washington relations intense, just as the
conflicts between the Turkish army and the PKK have also intensified,
Babacan remarked.

"We are expecting both the United States and the Iraqi governments to
take urgent, firm steps in bringing the PKK terrorists to justice,"
Babacan told a meeting on Thursday held at the Chicago Council on
Global Affairs.

"Turkey cannot accept a third party playing the role of judge or jury,
and taking sides," Babacan said regarding a resolution in the US
Congress on Armenian allegations concerning the incidents of 1915 .

"We would like to see that the US Congress does not take sides in this
matter, and that common sense prevails. This is an issue that has to
be dealt with by Turks and Armenians," Babacan stressed.

AO/JG/BGH