Author: Dabaghian Diana

FOR STUDENTS, A SHOCKING BRUSH WITH GENOCIDE
By Willy Fluharty
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, Va.)
September 26, 2005 Monday The Virginian-Pilot Edition
In May, Willy Fluharty, a teacher in Cape Henry Collegiate School’s
international studies department, took a group of seniors to Cambodia
and Vietnam. Here is his account of the trip to Cambodia:
As our group of 15 Cape Henry Collegiate seniors gingerly walked around
fragments of femurs and skulls that “floated” to the surface after a
recent monsoonal rainfall, Vanta, our guide at the Killing Fields in
Cambodia, told of his personal experience under the genocidal regime
of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.
Vanta was only a few years old when the Khmer Rouge came and evacuated
his neighborhood in the eastern part of Siem Reap near the ancient
Khmer capital of Angkor Wat. His family was forced into an agrarian
commune as slave laborers — as was the entire population of 6 million
after the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975.
Thousands died of starvation in the beginning of the communist
Utopian vision of Pol Pot, which supposedly was short for “Political
Potential.” Vanta survived on two spoonfuls of rice mush per day and
porridge of indigenous plants that his mother cooked each evening. He
recounted how she was sure he wouldn’t survive because he did not like
the taste of weed soup. So his mother begged the camp cook to help
supplement his diet. The cook obliged, but was caught and executed.
During the 3 years, 8 months and 20 days of the Khmer Rouge reign
of terror, a time frame seared into the memory of every Cambodian,
an estimated 2 million were killed, or 30 percent of the population,
in an act of insane genocide. The trauma this genocide inflicted on
the people is evident in the titles we witnessed at the Central Market
book stand in Phnom Penh. Books like “First They Killed My Father,”
“Stay Alive My Son,” “Year Zero” and “When Broken Glass Floats”
fill the store with morbid tales of genocide and survival.
Few elderly Cambodians are seen because many did not survive the
killing. The median age is 19. At our first stop in Phnom Penh,
at the Buddhist Wat Phnom, our group walked between saffron-robed
monks and a mob of limbless beggars who had the unfortunate fate of
stepping on one of the millions of land mines left over from decades
of civil war. Then came the child beggars.
The students were taken aback by the masses of poor. It’s one
thing to read about economic development and GDP per capita, but
it’s another when students witness first-hand the reality of a $350
average annual income.
But the students were most shocked at the magnitude of the genocide.
After visiting the powerful Killing Fields memorial, a five-story glass
building with thousands of skulls, one of my Cape Henry students,
Brandon Flynn, asked, “We know so much about the Holocaust, why
don’t we know anything about this?” He had just stepped over bones
and clothing that were recently exposed.
Each day someone walks through the mass grave site of an estimated
17,000 people, and gathers the bones and clothes and piles them up
for later removal. For about an hour, I didn’t hear one of my students
say a word as they absorbed the gravity of the Cambodian genocide in
all of its barbarity.
Cambodia was only one of many, many tragedies that man has thrust
upon himself; Armenia, Tibet, Rwanda, Bosnia and the present crisis
in Darfur are a few more examples.
“Why didn’t we intervene in Cambodia to stop the killing?” asked
student Whitney Fulton.
We had just lost 58,000 young Americans in neighboring Vietnam so
we let the Khmer Rouge have their way with the people. We tried and
failed in Southeast Asia. It was someone else’s turn to be the global
cop. Turns out, it was Vietnam itself that was forced to intervene
in Cambodia to stop the killing in 1979.
For our Cape Henry students, the “discovery” of the Cambodian
genocide and the massive poverty created the perfect educational
environment. “How can you stop such genocide?” they asked. “What can
we do to stop global poverty?”
After silently walking through the Tuol Sleng torture prison that
was converted from a high school under Pol Pot, the students saw
blood-splattered walls and floors along with hundreds of pictures of
the tortured and executed.
“How many must die before we do something about it?” As a teacher, I
welcomed being asked the question. Will I have to take another group of
Cape Henry students to another field of bones before I hear it again?
E-mail the author at [email protected]
GRAPHIC: RICHARD VOGEL/ASSOCIATED PRESS; A former soldier lays incense
at Cambodia’s Killing Fields memorial, where thousands of skulls are
on view.

October 03, 2005
u.html
Bitter debate over Turkey’s EU bid
On eve of talks, the EU remained at odds over opening doors to Turkey.
By Mark Rice-Oxley

LONDON – Europeans haven’t agonized this much about Turkey since the
Ottoman Empire was unravelling 100 years ago.
The geopolitics may have been very different in the age of kaisers and
sultans, of imperial gambits and gunboat diplomacy. But one central
question has persisted: What sort of alliance should bind Europe to
the very different civilization on its eastern doorstep?
It’s a question that is perplexing European Union leaders as they
reach a critical juncture in deciding whether to throw open their
doors to Turkish membership. Formal negotiations were scheduled to
start Monday. But so fierce is the row that there were serious doubts
at press time Sunday that the talks would start – with Britain urging
members not to “abandon” Turkey even as Austria proposed a
watered-down membership.
That is because EU enlargement is always controversial – and Turkey is
proving the most controversial of the lot because of its striking
difference from the European norm in terms of economics, demography,
culture, religion, and even basic geography.
The crucial question is whether these differences will enhance or
undermine the EU. Proponents say incorporating a Muslim-majority
country for the first time will help the EU reach out to the Islamic
world, and see Turkey’s young, growing population and economy as a
boon.
“A populous Turkey anchored in Europe would be a very good model and a
great symbol to the Middle East, to the Caucasus, and to the Central
Asian countries and others,” says Fadi Hakura, a specialist at the
London-based Chatham House think tank. “It’s become the symbol of the
merging of European and Western culture and Islam,” he says.
This idea appeals to the Americans as well, and they have thrown their
weight firmly behind Turkish accession, mindful that it will provide a
bridgehead to the Islamic world and extend the EU’s border up to Iraq
and Iran in the east.
But opponents fret that a new member as large and poor as Turkey would
adulterate European values. Lingering concern persists about the
incorporation of 10 mostly East European countries last year, which
some feared would dilute EU prosperity. Many feel that EU enlargement
has run its course and that further extensions would make it unwieldy.
“Vienna must not become Istanbul!” has been the rallying cry in
Austria, a notable antagonist, which up until the last minute was
holding out for offering Turkey the lesser “partnership” deal instead.
Such opinions have been gaining currency this year. Two-thirds of
Europeans oppose Turkish membership, according to a recent EU survey.
When French and Dutch voters abruptly rejected a new EU constitution
in the summer, the Turkey question played a big role.
Since then, several EU heavyweights, from French would-be president
Nicolas Sarkozy to German would-be chancellor Angela Merkel, have
voiced grave doubts about Turkish accession.
An additional problem has been a lingering dispute over Cyprus, which
Turkey refuses to recognize, but which is now an EU member.
EU members were also concerned by a recent attempt in Turkey to shut
down a conference on the 1915 mass killings of Armenians, as well as
moves to prosecute prominent author Orhan Pamuk over his use of the
term “genocide” to describe the killings in a foreign newspaper
interview.
Turkey itself has been upset by listening to Europeans discuss its
merits and demerits in public. It is incensed that the Oct. 3 fanfare
start date, formalized earlier this year, should now be called into
question.
The foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, has warned that it may walk away
from the process if fair play is not upheld.
That would be disastrous, say Turkophiles, warning of the terrible
message it would send to the Islamic world.
Denis Macshane, a British MP and former Europe minister in the British
government which as the current EU president is spearheading the
talks, said that if the EU broke its word of honor it would “encourage
nationalists and those who don’t want Turkey to live by European
norms.”
He adds that for all Turkey’s current problems with human rights,
economic vacillation and security, the long process of getting it
ready for EU membership will encourage it to raise its game – as it
did with other EU newcomers.
“For the first time since Ataturk you have a real momentum for
modernization, democratization, and economic reform in Turkey,” says
Macshane. “Istanbul is one of the cradles of European cultures and
civilization. Turkey itself has got one foot in Europe and one foot in
Asia. The question is do we want it to live under European norms and
laws or tell it go off and imitate the worst performances of its
neighbors?”

| Copyright © 2005 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.

Links with Armenia reinforce French fears
Financial Times, UK
By John Thornhill
October 1 2005
Every year France celebrates another country by organising bilateral visits
and cultural exchanges. In 2004it was China, and the Eiffel Tower was
briefly lit up in red. This year it has been Brazil – hence the samba
dancers at Paris plage.
Next year it will be Armenia. The choice of a small Caucasian country of 3m
people highlights the importance France attaches to Armenia. This is mostly
due to France’s 450,000-strong Armenian community, which has grown
increasingly rich and influential.
But the timing of Armenia Year could hardly be more discordant for President
Jacques Chirac if, as expected on Monday, France and the European Union’s
other 24 members signal the start of accession talks with Turkey.
Armenians in France and elsewhere have been opposing Turkey’s entry into the
EU – unless and until Ankara acknowledges that the death of Armenians during
the break-up of the Ottoman empire was an act of genocide. Armenians claim
up to 1.5m people died in 1915-18. Turkey denies genocide, and admits only
that hundreds of thousands of both Armenians and Turks died, largely as a
result of civil war and famine.
The French parliament has already declared the massacres to have been a
genocide. And Mr Chirac has himself been sympathetic to the Armenian cause.
Harout Mardirossian, president of the Paris-based Committee for the Defence
of the Armenian Cause, says Turkey has been a “a country in denial” for 80
years that does not conform with the values espoused by the EU.
“How can you imagine Germany being integrated into the European Union in the
1960s if it did not recognise the Holocaust?” he says.
In spite of Mr Chirac’s support for accession talks with Turkey, most of his
compatriots are against the move. A recent Eurobarometer poll showed that 70
per cent of French respondents opposed Turkey’s entry into the EU with only
21 per cent in favour. Opposition to Turkish entry boosted the victorious No
vote during May’s referendum on Europe’s constitution.
Those opposed to Turkey’s accession range from Islamophobic nationalists to
Armenian campaigners to fervent pro-Europeans who believe the entry of such
a large country would kill off the dreams of a federal EU.
Earlier this month, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former French president
and father of the European constitution, said French voters had clearly
expressed their opposition to Turkey’s entry.
He noted: “There was a clear contradiction between the pursuit of European
political integration and the entry of Turkey into European institutions.
These two projects are incompatible.”
Mr Chirac has argued that Turkey’s entry into the EU would recognise a great
civilisation, extend Europe’s hand to the Muslim world, and help energise
the EU’s economy. But he has also guaranteed French voters a referendum on
whether to accept Turkey’s entry into the EU once accession talks are
completed.
However, Sylvie Goulard, a Europe expert at Sciences-Po university, says
this move deceives the French and Turks. “Resistance to Turkey’s accession
is not going to disappear in 15 years. Even if the Turks have successfully
reformed themselves, they will still share a border with Iran and Iraq. You
cannot change the nature of the EU without a proper democratic debate.”
Whatever the EU leaders decide, the issue of Turkey will loom large through
the 2007 presidential elections and beyond. Nicolas Sarkozy, president of
the ruling UMP party and a strong presidential contender, has already stated
his firm opposition to Turkey’s accession. Dominique de Villepin, the prime
minister and rival presidential contender, has doggedly defended Mr Chirac’s
line.

On Mideast ‘Listening Tour,’ the Question Is Who’s
Hearing
The New York Times
September 30, 2005
BY STEVEN R. WEISMAN
ISTANBUL, Sept. 29 – Even by Middle East standards, it has been a
tumultuous week. Violence is spreading in Iraq and Lebanon and between
Israel and the Palestinians; Egypt is prosecuting a popular opposition
leader for fraud; Turkey is in an uproar over efforts to block its
entry into the European Union.
The relentlessly upbeat American under secretary of state for public
diplomacy, Karen P. Hughes, President Bush’s longtime communications
aide, came into this vortex. She was trying to make news by defending
unpopular American policies and by projecting her message that the
United States stands for peace, democracy, faith and family values.
She also repeatedly asserted, no less than three times in an interview
on the Arabic satellite network Al Jazeera, that Mr. Bush was the
first American president to call for the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state. It was a bit of an exaggeration, since
President Bill Clinton endorsed such a state a couple of weeks before
he left office in 2001.
“I am here to listen and to learn and to work to strengthen the
relationship and close partnership between our two countries,”
Ms. Hughes declared in Turkey on Wednesday, in a typical opening
comment. Among schoolchildren she later exclaimed, “I look forward to
shaking each of your hands and having you give me a hug!”
Could this work to turn around anti-American hostility? As they wound
up their trip on Thursday, Ms. Hughes and her aides acknowledged that
five days of stops in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey would not do the
job. “But you have to start somewhere,” Ms. Hughes said.
There was some coverage in the regional press, but not a great deal,
combined with editorial skepticism, if not hostility, over her first
overseas trip in her new role. “The Arab world is tired of
U.S. hurricanes,” said an editorial in Asharq, a daily paper in Qatar.
“It hopes that Hurricane Hughes will be the last one.”
On the other hand, the picture of Ms. Hughes hugging a child in
Istanbul made a lot of papers and television shows, and there were
positive stories about how she listened respectfully to criticism of
the war in Iraq, provided rebuttals and reiterated American opposition
to violence by Kurdish separatists in eastern Turkey.
The papers in Saudi Arabia and Egypt did not put Ms. Hughes on the
front page, but most ran articles calling attention to her efforts to
reach out.
If regular diplomacy entails meetings in private to overcome
disagreements, “public diplomacy” involves efforts to mold popular
opinion abroad, defend American positions and rebut misinformation.
In Turkey, for example, American officials have not only had to defend
the Iraq war but also to counter erroneous press reports of large
numbers of rapes of Iraqi women by Americans. Earlier this year, many
papers reported that the tsunami in Asia last December was caused by
an American undersea nuclear explosion.
Ms. Hughes says she wants to establish a “rapid response” unit to
counter such stories and to train diplomats to deliver defenses and
rebuttals in the local vernacular.
A study two years ago by a panel led by Edward P. Djerejian, a
retired diplomat, indicated that anti-American sentiments around the
world had risen to alarming levels. Mr. Djerejian said recently that
80 percent of the hostility derived from American policies, especially
on Israel, Iraq, the treatment of Iraqi prisoners by Americans at Abu
Ghraib prison and the detention of people captured by the Americans at
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
“Karen understands that ‘it’s the policies, stupid,’ ” Mr. Djerejian
said in a recent interview. But the other 20 percent, he said, could
be addressed by a sophisticated media strategy that Ms. Hughes should
be able to provide. This trip, though, showed the problems she faces
as well as the opportunities.
Traveling with her was at times like being trapped in a cable
television infomercial, with an emphasis on values like family and
faith. Ms. Hughes said that she was a “working mom” and that President
Bush cared about mothers, fathers and children everywhere, especially
in a future Palestinian state.
She addressed several policies, but in concise sound bites rather than
sustained arguments. In American campaigns, such messages repeated
over and over can have an effect because a presidential candidate
dominates the news with every statement he makes, and if that fails to
work, money can be poured into saturation advertising.
By contrast, in the lively and percussive environment of this region,
Ms. Hughes came nowhere near the commanding heights of the media.
In Egypt, she supported democracy. But the papers focused that day on
the prosecution on charges of election fraud of Ayman Nour, the
leading opposition figure who got the most votes in the recent
presidential election. Local reporters criticized Ms. Hughes for not
meeting with enough genuine opposition figures.
In Turkey, news coverage was almost exclusively devoted to troubled
negotiations over the European Union and the issue of Kurdish
separatists.
Mr. Bush’s support for a Palestinian state also seemed to count for
little in an environment where attention is focused on Israeli attacks
on Palestinians. “I guess I’m a little surprised that he doesn’t get
more credit,” Ms. Hughes told reporters after hearing criticism in
Jidda, Saudi Arabia, of American support for Israel.
But Ms. Hughes made it plain that “public diplomacy” was not a
one-trip exercise and that she would continue to travel around the
world, hone her message and show that the United States was capable of
listening – and to urge State Department officials to think in those
terms as well.
She and her aides said they were satisfied with the publicity they
generated, noting that what was billed as a “listening tour” turned
out to be just that, leaving a positive impression countering the
image of an America unwilling to engage with those who disagree.
Ms. Hughes promised to take what she learned from hearing dissenting
views back to Washington. She was struck, she said, when a Turkish
official told her to try to imagine the situation of Iraq, a next-door
neighbor, sliding into possible civil war and engulfing Turkey from
the perspective of “the common Turk.”
“I will be sure to bring that message back to President Bush when I
get back to Washington,” she said.
Abeer Allam contributed reporting from Cairo for this article.

Pan Armenian News
AZNAVOUR: ARMENIA SHOULD TAKE EUROPEAN WAY
30.09.2005 08:28
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ «Armenian origins are exclusively important to me,» famous
singer Charles Aznavour stated. «My parents and I were born not in our
fatherland: my father was born in Georgia, while my mother in Turkey. They
spoke many languages. They were widely open people and it helped up – their
children – absorb various cultures of the East and West. In France itself I
listened to Arab, Latin American and American music,» he remarked. Answering
a question about assistance to Armenia, Charles Aznavour said, «I was
engaged in assisting poor people, helped to restore electricity in the past.
Today I am busy with building new schools, repairing old ones. The future of
the country is the youth, as it is known.» Speaking of whether Armenia
should follow Georgia’s example and «turn towards the US,» the singer said
Armenia should take the European way. «Its place is in Europe. I am pleased
with Armenia preserving very good relations with Russia. By the way, I was
in Uzbekistan lately and paid attention to the fact that all Uzbeks, like
Armenians, speak Russian. From the geographic point of view Armenia also is
closer to Russia than America,» Aznavour summed up, reported the Izvestia.

Cyprus Mail
Sept 30 2005
Let October 3 be a great day for Turkey
TURKEY should have been celebrating October 3 as one of the
milestones in its history – after decades in the waiting, at last the
start of full accession talks with the European Union.
No country that has ever started accession talks has failed to join
the EU. But the growing opposition to Ankara’s membership across the
continent suggests Turkey could well be the first to break the mould.
As Monday’s rendez-vous nears, the debate gets more strident by the
hour. Indeed, there is still no agreement on the negotiating
framework, without which talks cannot begin, with Austria holding out
for an explicit alternative to full membership to be written in.
Turkey has said it will walk away from talks if such a clause is
inserted.
The realisation that Turkey’s membership prospects are now for real
has suddenly reminded politicians across Europe of Turkey’s many
democratic shortcomings. People who’d barely heard about Cyprus are
now championing its cause; the European Parliament is suddenly
insisting that Turkey cannot join without acknowledging the Armenian
genocide; many point to the ill-treatment of religious minorities or
the charges laid against novelist Orhan Pamuk for comments on the
massacres of Armenians and Kurds.
They’re right of course. The `deep state’ is far from dead in Turkey,
for all the reforms of the past years, and the country still offers
its critics plenty of sticks with which to beat it. Turkey does
little to help itself with its blustering arrogance, and the
aggressive rhetoric it feels it has to offer its domestic audience to
offset the compromises it is making.
But is it helping anyone to raise all these issues at this stage and
start talks in such a negative climate? Turkey’s accession process is
a win-win for all. The kind of changes Ankara will have to undertake
will address precisely the kind of problems that so many are now
nagging about. This can only be a good thing, anchoring a potentially
unstable country in an institutional and economic framework that over
a decade will erode precisely those fears that many harbour about
Turkey.
If at the end of that process, the Austrian people – or whoever else
– are still implacably opposed to accession, then they will say no,
period. That’s when we can start thinking about special partnerships
and the like – and to have reached that stage, Turkey will in any
case have matured sufficiently not to slam the door and precipitate a
regional crisis.
So let Turkey enjoy its historic moment on Monday, and let’s have the
opportunity over the next decade, step by step, to try and bring the
country into the orbit of democratic values that the European Union
represents.

Agence France Presse — English
September 29, 2005 Thursday
Austria’s Schuessel pushes for EU membership talks with Croatia
LONDON
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel reiterated on Thursday a
desire to see European Union membership talks with Croatia follow
soon after discussions start with Turkey.
Speaking in an interview with Britain’s Financial Times, the Austrian
leader attacked the EU’s “double standards” over Zagreb.
Talks with Croatia have been put on hold because of its failure to
cooperate in the hunt for alleged war criminal General Ante Gotovina.
“If we trust Turkey to make further progress we should trust Croatia
too,” Schuessel told the economic daily.
“It is in Europe’s interest to start negotiations with Croatia
immediately.”
The FT said Austria denied it was linking the cases of Turkey with
Croatia.
At the same time it said European diplomats feel a deal on Turkey
will only be possible if the EU makes progress with beginning talks
with Croatia.
“It is not fair to leave Croatia in an eternal waiting room,” said
the Austrian leader. “I don’t understand the logic.”
EU membership talks with Turkey are due to start on Monday despite
rising political tensions after the European Parliament urged Ankara
to recognise Cyprus and acknowledge that the Ottomans committed
“genocide” against Armenians during World War I.

All Systems Go: SOAD’s Mental Metal
By Adam Bregman
TheStranger.com, WA
Sept 29 2005
System of a Down
w/the Mars Volta, Hella
Wed Oct 5, KeyArena, 7 pm, $31.50-$44, all ages.
In the insular world of mainstream metal where thousands of bands
look and sound exactly alike, and use the same vaguely Satanic font
for their band logos, such factors as original concepts, progressive
politics, and ethnic influences are not at a premium. One outfit that
has strayed from the conventional at every turn is System of a Down,
perhaps the freakiest group to ever sell millions of records.
Four Armenian dudes from L.A. sporting funky goatees, SOAD first
came onto the scene in the late ’90s, at the same time as nu-metal
was spreading like bad acne amongst pierced mall rats. They were
originally lumped in as a niche act along with bands hidden in idiotic
masks, but broke off from that pack by virtue of actually writing
intelligent songs.
Everything seemed to coagulate perfectly on 2001’s stunning Toxicity,
a record that came along like a fierce kick to the loins. Featuring
“Chop Suey!” and “Toxicity,” the most spastic singles to ever be
played on radio continuously, Toxicity was wholly noncommercial and
ferociously berserk. Pulverizing crunch chords piled up like giant
steel planks, their peculiar time changes could throw an elephant off
balance, and genuinely melodic parts were trapped between blistering
metal anthems. Toxicity also showcased power drill-like beats,
drunken clown rhythms, and a delicate balance of fury and melody,
which the band pulls off exquisitely. Another key component: singer
Serj Tankian’s sometimes screwball, but more often dramatic, vocals
that are squarely in the metal tradition of operatic exaggeration.
In “Deer Dance,” one of Toxicity’s indignant protest songs, the lyrics
were inspired by the police riots at the 2000 Democratic National
Convention, when mounted cops cleared thousands of protestors with
a flurry of rubber bullets. (“Beyond the Staples Center/You can see
America/With its tired poor avenging disgrace/Peaceful loving youth
against the brutality/Of plastic existence.”) The brutal chorus
“Pushing little children/With their fully automatics/They like to
push the weak around” pummels the listener to the ground like a
testosterone-laden LAPD thug.
One of the main issues creeping into all their releases, though,
is an awareness of the Armenian Genocide (1895-1915), when Ottoman
Turks killed some 1.5 million Armenians. The U.S. government has
never recognized the genocide for fear of upsetting its military ally,
Turkey, whose government to this day denies it ever happened. The band
puts real force behind this key Armenian-American issue by organizing
large benefits for the Armenian National Committee of America, which
lobbies Congress to officially recognize the atrocity.
As SOAD’s popularity has grown exponentially, the band has made no
concessions in their music or their politics. Their latest record
Mezmerize, the first of a two-disc set (the second half, Hypnotize,
arrives in November), is another radical slice of odd-tasting pie.
Mezmerize isn’t all social critique-take the blatantly silly “Old
School Hollywood,” which was apparently inspired by actor Tony Danza
cutting in line at a baseball game. But then there’s the fiery payback
anthem, “Revenga,” and the puzzling “Radio/Video,” which have plenty
of hooks, though SOAD drop wacky harmonies, perverse screeching,
and circus chord progressions whenever possible.
Beyond their blasts of thunder and raining glass, SOAD once again
showcase amazingly sharp lyrics. Heshers concerned with politics
rarely venture beyond the issues of censorship, legalizing pot, and
the evils of Christianity. More in the spirit of punk rock, SOAD
are truly outraged by the millions of people forced to live below
poverty in one of the world’s richest nations. Their current hit,
Mezmerize’s “B.Y.O.B,” is about how those same poor folk are shipped
off to die in Iraq. With its repeated howl of “Why do they always
send the poor?/Why don’t presidents fight the war?” this single is a
rare detour from the regular sort of moronic mouthing off one expects
from Mallternative radio.
One of the album’s strangest cuts is “Cigaro,” which rips along at
the pace of a frenzied hardcore punk tune. The song’s concept is
fairly simple, comparing war and global politics to a cock-sizing
contest. However, SOAD may be the first metal band to make fun of
machismo, tie the idea to world leaders committing genocide, and then
put forth the whole argument in a song that manages to be zany and
bone crunching at the same time. Bursting with new-fangled ideas like
insane, pissed-off physicists, System of a Down simply stand alone.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HOPES FOR SUCCESS IN PEACE TALKS
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Sept 29 2005
Armenian President Robert Kocharian has expressed a hope for success
in the ongoing negotiations on the settlement of the long-standing
Upper Garabagh conflict.
The talks with Azerbaijan, which have been underway since 1994,
have entered an ‘active stage’, Kocharian told a news conference
held jointly with the Finnish President Tarja Halonen in Yerevan on
Tuesday. “There were times when the sides were close to the conflict
settlement. But something was always in the way.”
The Armenian leader welcomed the efforts being made by international
organizations, mentioning that the peace process is mediated by
the OSCE.

EU Ministers to Hold Meeting on Turkey
By CONSTANT BRAND
Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 29, 6:11 AM ET

European Union foreign ministers will hold emergency talks this weekend
aimed at overcoming Austrian objections to starting entry talks with Turkey,
after their envoys failed to reach agreement Thursday, diplomats said.
Austria held to its position that Turkey be offered the option of a lesser
partnership rather than full membership in negotiations which are scheduled
to start on Monday.
All 25 EU nations have to agree on a negotiating mandate before talks can
begin with Ankara.
The deadlock will put further strain on ties with Ankara which is growing
increasingly restless over attempts by several EU nations to put the brakes
on opening negotiations.
A British EU presidency spokesman confirmed the EU foreign ministers will
hold talks on Sunday in Luxembourg, on the eve of the planned opening of
negotiations with Turkey.
“Twenty-four EU countries could accept the text,” said the British official,
who refused to be named, due to the sensitivity of the talks. He added that
bilateral talks would continue between London and Vienna to try and get
Austria to back down from its demands.
Britain and other EU nations fear that adding changes demanded by Austria
will unravel an already cautiously-agreed to deal between EU leaders last
December, when they decided to open talks with Turkey, with the only goal of
full membership.
“It’s not a question of drafting, but its a political issue,” said an EU
diplomat.
Austria is the most ardent opponent of Turkey’s membership arguing the
country is too big and unready to join the EU. It has also linked the issue
to Croatia’s EU entry bid.
Diplomats said Britain and other member states were unlikely to yield to
demands to drop guarantees in the EU’s negotiating mandate ‘ which lays
out the rules and a lose timeframe ‘ that the goal of those talks is full
membership.
The draft mandate states the “shared objective of the negotiations is
accession,” but adds they are “open-ended.” It does not mention a
partnership as an alternative option.
The membership talks will be a milestone for Europe and predominantly Muslim
Turkey, which has been knocking on the EU’s door since 1963. EU leaders
agreed to open accession talks with Turkey last year.
If EU foreign ministers fail to get a deal Sunday, the opening of talks
would be delayed as the EU needs to present a negotiating guidebook for
talks to begin.
It would inevitably lead to a rupture in already tense relations between
Ankara and Brussels.
In Vienna, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel maintained his country’s
tough line on Turkey.
In an interview with two European newspapers, Schuessel said talks with
Turkey should only start if separate membership talks with Croatia are also
restarted.
Negotiations with Zagreb were frozen until it meets EU demands it fully
cooperate in handing over a top war crimes suspect to the U.N. war crimes
tribunal.
Austria says its people ‘ and many others across the bloc ‘ do not
support full membership for Turkey and is demanding that Ankara be given the
option of privileged partnership rather than full membership. Turkey has
already rejected anything less than full membership talks.