Author: Emil Lazarian

CC UPHOLDS THE CLAIM OF THE OPPOSITION
A1+
[06:54 pm] 07 November, 2006
While discussing the amendments to the RA Electoral Code (EC),
it was decided to involve judges in the electoral commissions. The
decision was made when Arthur Baghdasaryan was still the Speaker of
the National Assembly.
The decision of the NA was motivated by the fact that the
representatives of the electoral commissions must be from the bodies
which enjoy popularity in Armenia.
Thus, we can assume that judges are popular in Armenia. It is
noteworthy that this provision of the EC contradicts the RA
Constitution adopted in 1995 and amended in 2005.
The NA (at the head of Tigran Torosyan) has again neglected Article
98 of the RA Constitution and didn’t change the provision according
to which judges are involved in the election commissions.
This gave the Constitutional Court (CC) a perfect ground to review
the compliance of the decision with the RA Constitution.
Today Shavarsh Kocharyan, Na deputy and Hrayr Tovmasyan, deputy
chairman of “Democracy” NGO, presented the interests of oppositional
26 deputies in the CC.
Hrayr Tovmasyan referred to the impossibility of engaging judges into
the electoral commissions.
First of all, he referred to Article 98 of the Constitution according
to which, “Neither the judge nor the member of the CC can be engaged
in business, hold posts in State or Local Self-Government bodies
and commercial organisations not connected with their ranks with
the exception of pedagogical and creative activity.” He also stated
that the post of the member of the Precinct Electoral Commissions
has nothing to do with the judge’s jurisdictions. The Central and
Precinct Electoral Commissions are state bodies and the post of a
member of electoral commission is a state post.
Hrayr Tovmasyan is convinced that the involvement of judges into
the electoral commissions will destroy both the judicial and the
electoral systems.
The respondent was Ashot Khachatryan, head of the NA
legislative-analytical board.
Mr. Khachatryan agreed that there are certain obvious contradictions
between the CC and EC but illustrating the international practice
said that there are a lot of countries in the world where judges are
involved in the electoral commissions.
Gagik Haroutyunyan, Head of the RA CC, brought the example of Georgia.
Provided all judges are involved in the commissions they will, not
be enough as there are 179 acting judges in Armenia but they need
180 in the commissions.
CC found the involvement of judges into the electoral commissions
anti-constitutional.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

“THERE IS NO POINT IN HOLDING ELECTIONS IN ARMENIA”
A1+
[08:44 pm] 07 November, 2006
Forty-one deputies of the RA National Assembly will be elected by
majoritarian system and 90 deputies – by proportional system.
This ratio is stipulated by the Electoral Code, and the RA political
powers have agreed to it.
But the NA presently considers a draft law proposing 100-percent
proportional system. There is a general concern that in case the
bill is passed, it will pave ground for the legislative initiative
of 100-percent majoritarian system. The website of “A1+” held polling
and tried to find out which system our readers approve of. 21 percent
of those surveyed were for the 100-percent proportional system and
6-percent – for the 100-percent majoritarian system.
Over 5 percent of the participants supported mixed type electoral
system, mainly majoritarian one, and 6 percent were for the mixed type,
mainly proportional one.
Two percent of the polling participants couldn’t give a definite
answer. The most striking is the fact that 60 percent of the
participants assume that “There is no point in holding elections
in Armenia.”
Over 499 people participated in the polling.
Now we offer our readers to answer the following question; “Will
“Millennium Challenges” Cooperation render assistance to Armenia?”
Reminder, Freedom House has called on “Millennium Challenges” not
to render assistance to Armenia as the latter doesn’t ensure the
protection of political and civil rights.
On November 8 the presidium of “Millennium Challenges”Cooperation
will choose all the governments which can apply for assistance in 2007.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CEMENT “FLOWS” TO GEORGIA
A1+
[04:38 pm] 07 November, 2006
whereas Georgia has penetrated into the Azeri markets with its cement
and completely captured them
Today Michael Baghdasarov, president of “Mika Limited” told a press
conference and briefed the journalists what factors the increase of
cement price by 70-80 percent over the past two years is determined by.
“A1+” Company asked the businessman whether the increase is not caused
by anti-competitive relations of two producers.
Reminder; NA deputy Gagik Tsarukyan owns one of the cement
plants-“AraratCement” and the other plant belongs to Michail
Baghdasarov.
The businessman claims that according to the data he possesses the
price of the cement is comparatively lower in Armenia among the South
Caucasian countries.
The price of cement is 35000 AMD per a ton, in Armenian, in Georgia
it is 140 USD, in Azerbaijan – 180 USD and in Iran – 220 USD.
That’s why, the price of one sack of cement went up from 1300 AMD to
2200 AMD in Armenia in 2005 – 2006.
Michail Baghdasarov says that the cars clogged in the Meghri Customs
Office have created a great traffic jam, and there is a large demand
of cement in Georgia which leads to abrupt increase of cement price
at the market.
In Mr. Baghdasarov’s words, Azerbaijan is unable to meet the interior
demand of cement either; the country doesn’t export cement from Russia
any more as the price of cement has gone up in Russia too. That is
why Azerbaijan has to export cement from its neighbouring country
– Georgia.
This means that Azerbaijan gets cement from Georgia with the help of
Armenia. “Armenia is a democratic country and we don’t care which
country purchases the cement sent to Georgia. If Azerbaijan buys
cement from Georgia we can assume that the high quality of Armenian
cement is guaranteed.”
Michail Baghdasarov complained of the frequent fluctuations of
the currency and mainly the revaluation of the Armenian dram. As
an Armenian, he is proud that our currency is gradually becoming
stable. But he thinks that the dram appreciation is occurring rather
quickly. “The Central Bank has chosen a suitable time for the dram
revaluation,” added Michail Baghdasarov.
Today, Michail Baghdasarov and Gagik Abrahamyan, president of Armenian
Goldsmiths’ Association, were invited to “Mirror” club to talk on a
number of economic and political issues.
Michail Baghdasarov assured the journalists that he is not going to
participate in the political life of the country. Reminder: many years
ago on the eve of Parliamentary elections Mr. Baghdasarov supported
“Armenian Women” Organisation but he couldn’t enter the Parliament
and decided to stay aside from the inner political procedures.
“Michail Baghdasarov got disappointed,” was Gagik Abrahamyan’s remark
on this score. By the way, the latter told us a few interesting news.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

WHY DO THE AUTHORITIES BREACH THE CONSTITUTION?
A1+
[07:27 pm] 07 November, 2006
Today the discussions of the compliance of the Electoral Code with
the Constitution in the RA Constitutional Court revealed that the NA
majority consciously evaded the Constitution.
Why are the authorities eager to involve judges in the electoral
commissions taking into account the fact that judges are against the
provision of the EC?
Shavarsh Kocharyan claims that it is conditioned by the fact that
we don’t display legal approach while making decisions in the NA and
government. “The compliance of the legislation with the Constitution is
beyond discussions, and it doesn’t depend on the policy adopted by the
country. But unfortunately this isn’t fixed in our mentality so far.”
Mr. Kocharyan claims that suchlike issues mustn’t be solved in the
political field. “The issues of the political sphere are solved by
button pressing and not by legal approaches. ”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azad Hye
November 2006
Reported by Acacia Poladian
Tuesday the 17th of October 2006 was an honorable and memorable day for
Souren Antoyan. Organized by Hamazkayin’s Roupen Zartarian and Azadamard
club, the event was dedicated to the Armenian survivor who recently
published his autobiography, “Inknagerdoumi Djampov” (‘on the path of
self-formation’).
The book describes the path taken by Souren in order to fulfill his duty as
a self – devoted Armenian. The title already speaks for itself: It tells the
story of a man who had struggled through deadly and threatening moments in
his life and finally carved out the real life he chose to live, despite the
loss of his family, the separation from his mom and being in the orphanage.
The book points out the story of other national and cultural personalities
who had played a major role in educating Armenian generations. Souren
Antoyan has never thought of pulling back or retreating away from life
threatening situations and always showed the courage to continue overcoming
difficulties. He also took part in building the club and the school in
Ashrafieh (a suburb in Beirut).
Garo Hovhannissian presented the book, then the writer himself thanked all
the people present at the event, during which he received an award.
At the end of the ceremony bishop Kegham Khatcherian, presented Souren
Antoyan as a national hero, and an example that must be followed by every
single Armenian.
Priest Mesrob Kerkezian gave a heartwarming speech about Souren Antoyan.
Born during the Armenian genocide and already 91 years old, he is still
urging Armenians to build their own life path, inspired by his pioneering
work of organizing the Armenian community in Beirut.
See photos at:
621sjl41
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
ARMENIA: YEZIDI IDENTITY BATTLE
New textbooks highlight division within Armenia’s Yezidi community.
By Onnik Krikorian in Yerevan
Yezidis in the western Aragatsotn region of Armenia have taken a dim
view of government efforts, supported by the UN children’s agency,
UNICEF, to bolster minority education in the republic.
At the beginning of September, at an event staged in the Yezidi village
of Alagyaz, government officials said that new textbooks in minority
languages would be distributed to schools in minority-populated
villages, while UNICEF said it would provide stationary and other supplies.
Less than a month later, however, Yezidis in Alagyaz and ten surrounding
villages were complaining. Their language is the Kurmanji dialect of
Kurdish, but the books funded and provided by the government were
instead written in Ezdiki. While the latter is still Kurdish by another
name, the alphabet chosen for publication was in the unaccustomed
Cyrillic alphabet instead of the more usual Latin or Arabic scripts.
“All schools have at present is old Soviet-era textbooks,” said Gohar
Saroava, a young journalist with the Mesopotamia newspaper in Yerevan
and one of the few Muslim Kurds remaining in Armenia. Others, however,
are more outspoken. “These [new] books are a shame and we don’t want to
have this rubbish,” said Torkom Khudoyan, vice-president of the National
Committee of Yezidis of Armenia.

Speaking to IWPR, both UNICEF and Hranush Kharatyan, head of the
Armenian government’s department for national minorities and religious
affairs, confirmed reports that the new textbooks are being rejected,
but said that it was outside their remit to intervene. Critics, however,
argue that the situation should never have arisen in the first place and
allege it is part a continuing attempt to promote a non-Kurdish identity
among Armenia’s Yezidis.
Yezidis are the largest ethnic minority in Armenia, with most having
arrived in the country in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. Widely
dismissed as devil worship, Yezidism in fact combines elements from
Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Although the Yezidis
are generally considered to be Kurds who resisted pressure to convert to
Islam, there have been attempts to identify them as a separate ethnic
group in Armenia since the last years of Soviet rule.
In 1988, an appeal was made to the Soviet authorities by some Yezidi
leaders requesting that they be designated as an ethnic group. This
coincided with the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over
Nagorny Karabakh, as a result of which, thousands of Muslim Kurds fled
Armenia, alongside ethnic Azerbaijanis. Yezidis, however, were spared.
In 1989, the request was granted, and in the last Soviet census
conducted the same year, out of approximately 60,000 Kurds who had been
formerly identified as living in Armenia, 52,700 were for the first time
given a new official identity as Yezidis. The 2001 census put the number
of Yezidis and Kurds in the republic at 40,620 and 1,519 respectively.
Hasan Tamoyan, editor of the Armenian-language Yezidikhana newspaper and
head of the Yezidi programme on Armenian Public Radio, eagerly cites the
last census as evidence that Yezidis are not Kurds. Tamoyan is also one
of the authors of the controversial new school textbooks.
“There are over 40,000 people who identified themselves as Yezidis and
only around 1,500 that identified themselves as Kurds,” said Tamoyan.
“Aren’t you inclined to believe the official data? Is Kurmanji listed as
a language in the census? The Kurdish language is not even mentioned.
There is only the Yezidi language, Ezdiki.”
However, few specialists on the Yezidis outside of Armenia agree.
“The Yezidi religious and cultural tradition is deeply rooted in Kurdish
culture and almost all Yezidi sacred texts are in Kurdish,” said Philip
Kreyenbroek, head of Iranian studies at the University of Goettingen in
Germany and a leading specialist on the Kurds and the Yezidis of Turkey
and northern Iraq.
Dr Christine Allison, a lecturer at the Institut National des Langues et
Civilisations Orientales, INALCO, in Paris currently conducting
fieldwork among Yezidis in Armenia, agrees. “I have met more Yezidis in
Armenia who believe they are also Kurds,” she said, “and with the
exception of two villages in Iraq, Yezidis speak Kurmanji Kurdish. Their
oral and material culture is typical of Kurdistan and pretty much
identical to non-Yezidi Kurds.”
Nahro Zagros, an ethnic Kurdish PhD student from Iraq studying the
ethno-musical traditions of Yezidis at the University of York, concurs.
Zagros says that he also stumbled upon what many consider to be the
artificial division of the community on a recent visit to Armenia. “The
school in Shinkani has refused these textbooks, and teachers from Rya
Taze, Alagyaz, Dirik, Orta Chia, Amri Taze and Jamushlow have also
rejected them,” he said.
The situation in Armenia also differs markedly from that in neighbouring
Georgia, home, according to official statistics, to 18,000 Yezidis.
“There are problems in Georgia, but we [Kurds] are one nation,” said Pir
Dima, a Yezidi religious leader from Tbilisi visiting Armenia in
September. “It’s just that our religion is different. However, the
problem in Georgia is nowhere near as serious as it is in Armenia.
Yezidis here [in Armenia] don’t want Armenians to know that they are
Kurdish because Muslim Kurds killed Armenians as well as Yezidis [during
the 1915 genocide].”
Rostom Atashov, president of the Union of Yezidis in Georgia, told IWPR
his community uses the Kurmanji dialect and the Latin script. “We are
both Yezidis and Kurds,” he said. “We have one language and it is
Kurdish, and if you look at where the Yezidis came from geographically,
it is Kurdistan. In Georgia, we’ve never even debated this problem.
Yezidis are Kurds, and we all believe that.”
Atashov also says he believes that the division has opened up Armenia’s
Yezidi community to the appeal of organisations such as the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, currently fighting a separatist guerrilla
war in Turkey. “The Armenian government doesn’t want to recognise
Yezidis as Kurds so the only people willing to help Yezidis in Armenia
with establishing their identity are groups such as the PKK,” he said.
And that certainly seems to be the case in at least six Yezidi villages
in the Aragatsotn and Armavir regions of Armenia visited by IWPR this
autumn. While many Yezidis openly identified themselves as such, all
also said they were Kurmanji-speaking ethnic Kurds. They additionally
expressed support for the PKK and displayed portraits of Abdullah
Ocalan, the organisation’s imprisoned leader, in their homes, cultural
centres and schools.
In recent years, several PKK representatives have also openly visited
Armenia to tour Yezidi villages. Last year, Yusuf Avdoyan, a Yezidi from
the Armavir region of Armenia, was killed along with six other PKK
members fighting in Batman, Turkey. According to the Kurdistan Committee
in Armavir, his sister has now also joined the PKK and is currently
fighting with them.
Some experts believe that the government has only succeeded in
alienating the Yezidis through its education policies. One academic from
Europe speaking to IWPR on the condition of anonymity said, “The state
seems to be distinctly encouraging the Ezdiki faction and has not
latched on to the fact that Kurmanji and Ezdiki, which were the same
language for the entire Soviet period, are still the same. The most
obvious and cost-effective compromise would be to produce Ezdiki-Kurdish
schoolbooks in a mutually agreed alphabet.”
Kharatyan says that she proposed a solution such as this to resolve this
conflict over language, but was threatened by both sides of the Yezidi
community instead. The government has since said it will monitor the
distribution of the controversial textbooks, but the Kurdistan Committee
is now printing its own textbooks in the Latin script for distribution
to Yezidi schools during the second half of November.
Knyaz Hassanov, head of the Kurdish community in Armenia, told IWPR,
“These books do not concern us. They are not important and we have
decided to publish our own. The overwhelming majority [of Yezidis in
Armenia] consider themselves Kurds, so if 1-2,000 do not feel the same
it’s not significant enough of an issue for us. Besides, it’s also their
right.”
Onnik Krikorian is a British-born journalist and photojournalist who has
written on Yezidis in Armenia since 1998. He has a blog from Armenia at
For Andrei Liankevich’s vivid photo essay on the Yezidis, visit the IWPR
Caucasus website and scroll down the right-hand column
;s=p&o=-& amp;apc_state=henh
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Interview with the Executive Director of the Americans
for Artsakh (AFA) Emil Sanamyan.
Usanogh.com
October 26, 2006
Mr. Sanamyan took over as AFA’s Executive Director this October. From
2000 until 2006 he was a Research Officer at the Armenian Assembly of
America and from 1998 to 2000 he worked in the Office of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic in the United States. Mr. Sanamyan was educated at
the University of Arizona in Tucson and George Washington University
in Washington, DC.
Usanogh: When was your organization, Americans for Artsakh established
and how?
AFA: Back in October 2003 a group of American Armenians activists came
together to see what they could do to contribute to the welfare and
development of Artsakh, this truly strategic part of Armenia. Since
then, AFA registered as a not-for-profit organization, launched its
web site at and in March 2005
opened a liaison office in Stepanakert.
AFA’s mandate includes five main elements: to preserve Artsakh’s
freedom, strengthen its democracy, foster economic development, help
its educational system and protect and promote its cultural heritage.
Usanogh: Who was or were the founders of your organization and why did
they establish the AFA?
AFA: The founders of the organization include AFA Chairman Mr. Zaven
Khanjian, AFA Board Members Dr. Hratch Abrahamian, Mrs. Rita Balian,
Mr. Edward Chobanian and Mrs. Savey Tufenkian, and Mr. Hrant
Jamgochian as AFA’s executive director from 2003 to 2006. AFA founders
have a history of leadership involvement in Armenian American
initiatives, including those dealing with Artsakh. They also represent
a true cross-section of the community, and continue to be active in
organizations such as the Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian
Educational Foundation, Armenian General Benevolent Union, Armenian
Missionary Association of America, Armenian National Committee of
America, and Hayastan Pan-Armenian Fund.
Why was establishment of a new organization necessary? In my mind,
this is recognition of Artsakh’s unique strategic value. And I would
argue not just for Armenians, but for the world at large. Physically,
Artsakh is truly one of the most beautiful corners of the world and
certainly of Armenia. Values at the core of Artsakh’s struggle:
freedom, justice, self-determination – are truly universal values.
Finally, for Armenians everywhere, Artsakh means national survival and
revival, political relevance in the world today and a window into the
future. Artsakh has given us the gift of pride through the struggle,
sacrifice and victory. It is only natural that we return the favor
through our modest efforts.
There has of course been considerable Armenian American involvement in
Artsakh, both by individuals and through organizations. Since the end
of the fighting in 1994, this involvement has focused on humanitarian
assistance (including direct Armenian American involvement and via
U.S. government funding secured by our advocacy groups in Washington),
building of a basic road infrastructure (through the Hayastan Fund)
and, more recently, the effort to contribute to sustainable
development of Artsakh’s rural communities.
Certainly, like no other part of Armenia today, Artsakh remains
vulnerable to external threats and continues to demand utmost
attention and care.
Many avenues for involvement remain open. AFA is working to identify
those areas where it can be most effective and secure necessary
resources to address the needs.
Usanogh: How many members does your organization have and where are
they located?
AFA: While AFA has supporters in many parts of the United States, we
have yet to begin to aggressively recruit members. Using this
opportunity I would like to invite your readers to visit
and decide how they would like to
get involved.
Usanogh: What sort of projects did the AFA carry out from the time of
its establishment? What are your future projects?
AFA: Our projects so far included:
-Sponsorship of two seismologists from Artsakh to participate in a
professional conference held in California;
-We helped bring in a very talented young Armenian American from the
Stanford University to teach conflict management to Stepanakert high
school students, a project we hope to replicate;
-We helped equip a high school geography classroom, also in
Stepanakert, another project ripe for replication;
Since 2005, we launched a first-ever survey of agricultural products
available throughout Artsakh, with an eye to identifying the most
promising produce that can be grown locally for both domestic
consumption and export;
Last month, we facilitated a trip by Kathryn Cameron Porter, President
of the Washington-based Leadership Council for Human Rights to
Artsakh.
We are working on a number of other projects, including in education,
agriculture, cultural heritage and strengthening democratic
governance.
Usanogh: Do you have any sponsors and if so, who are they?
AFA: So far, AFA’s supporters are AFA’s sponsors. We have not yet
sought and have not received grants from outside.
Usanogh: Do you have any organizational newsletter or newspaper? If
not, do you plan to have one any time soon? If you do, who is your
editorial staff?
AFA: We have issued press releases on completed and ongoing projects –
they are on our web site and have been circulated through print and
electronic media. As we go forward, we will consider possible
additional ways of communicating with our supporters and the public at
large.
Usanogh: How can one volunteer or become a member of your
organization?
AFA: Once again, I invite your readers to our web site
and welcome your feedback and
volunteer assistance. Ways to get involved are many: spread the word
about AFA, help organize events, contribute to the development of our
web site and our projects. And certainly, we would welcome new members
and their financial support.
Usanogh: Thank you for taking time to answer our questions. We wish
you all the best with your projects.
AFA: Thank you. It was my pleasure.
Source:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

4 (±1.5%) INFLATION FORECAST IN ARMENIA FOR NEXT 12 MONTHS
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006
YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. Despite inflationary pressures,
inflation is expected to range within the planned 4±1.5% during the
next 12 months.
The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) reports that external inflationary
pressure is maintained despite certain reduction and stabilization
of the world prices for oil products in August 2006. The expected
decrease in the crop yield in Russia and in Ukraine may cause risks.
The CBA Board members pointed out that the economic growth in Armenia
is mainly recorded due to the construction and service sectors. As
a result, the increase in the population’s cash incomes, accompanied
by increase in private transfers, creates inflationary pressures.
Inflationary pressure caused by the agricultural sector is maintained
as well.
In conditions of dramallization (replacement of the USD by the AMD),
the CBA’s policy of satisfying the demand for Armenian drams through
the purchase of foreign-exchange, accompanied by huge on-budget
expenditures, will cause excess liquidity in economy. The CBA Board
members believe that this liquidity is possible to neutralize in
conditions of the current interest rates.
In case the inflationary pressures increase, the CBA will gradually
neutralize their effect during 12 months.
The RA Statistical Service reports that 2.5% inflation was recorded
in Armenia in October 2006 compared to December 2005. The consumer
price index was 106% in October 2006 compared to October 2005.
–Boundary_(ID_tVsv9uXcFJtakKc9Pzc3XA)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

IRAN EVENT ON CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IN YEREVAN
IranMania, Iran
Nov 7 2006
LONDON, November 7 (IranMania) – Iran opened its Seventh Solo
Exhibition on Construction Materials in Yerevan, the capital of
Armenia, on Monday, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.
Running for a week, the exhibition is displaying construction materials
and urban development equipment presented by over 20 Iranian firms.
At the inaugural ceremony of the exhibition, Iran ambassador to
Armenia, Alireza Haqiqian said that Tehran and Yerevan have managed
to expand trade ties because of attempts made by economic activists
to identify new investment opportunities in industrial sector.
He added that Iranian and Armenian private sectors and industrial
owners play crucial role in the expansion of bilateral ties, and they
can enjoy the support of their respective governments in this field.
Armen Movsesian, Armenian energy minister also said that both nations’
economic relations have significantly grown during the past year.
Movsesian, who is also the chairman of Iran-Armenia Economic
Cooperation Commission, noted that the commission intends to facilitate
bilateral cooperation of the industrialists and develop trade and
economic ties between Iran and Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKS COOL TOWARDS ‘UNFAITHFUL’ EUROPE
By William Horsley
BBC European Affairs analyst
BBC News, UK
Nov 6 2006
Is Europe losing Turkey? New tensions threaten to harm a strategic
bond that has long been seen as vital to the West’s security.
Turkish membership would show the EU was not just a Christian club
Turkey became a member of the Nato alliance before Germany, and
remains a bastion of stability in a region marked by undemocratic
regimes and plagued by conflicts.
But a year-end deadline for Turkey to make important concessions
in its talks on EU membership is casting doubt on the future of the
country’s integration with Europe, which began back in 1963.
Cyprus is the main sticking-point. Turkey’s relations with Europe
may suffer lasting damage unless a solution is found quickly.
Anti-French anger
In a recent opinion poll only one in three Turks said they definitely
want their country to join the EU – about half the figure in similar
polls two years ago.
France’s bill on Armenian ‘genocide’ denial triggered angry protests
Turkey is the only candidate ever to have been obliged to start
accession talks on the basis that it may never be granted full
membership, even if it passes every test.
And last month the French parliament sought to embarrass Turkey over
the nation’s past history, by voting for a bill which would make it
a crime to deny Turkish responsibility for “genocide” against the
Armenians in World War I. That provoked a wave of angry anti-French
demonstrations in Turkey.
In fact, Europe’s reputation for arrogance among the Turks has united
the main political currents there in protest against what they see as
“unfair” treatment.
Consider these recent statements by influential Turkish figures:
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he would rather see
the suspension of the EU membership talks than bow to what he calls
“unreasonable” demands over Cyprus.
Former Turkish president and prime minister Suleyman Demirel says EU
demands for legal rights for Turkey’s Kurdish minority may threaten
the unity of the state, which Turkey “will not accept.”
Onur Oeymen, deputy leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party
and a former ambassador to Nato, accuses the EU of seeking excuses
to delay or block Turkish membership. He complains that Europe’s
present leaders lack “strategic vision”, and fail to understand the
importance of supporting Turkey, as the only secular democracy in
the Muslim world.
Mehmet Ali Birand, a popular TV newscaster, says Turkey has been
faithful to Europe for 45 years, but Europe has not. Now he fears
that Europe is going to “break the dream”.
Marriage hopes
In Europe, the cooling of political attitudes towards Turkey,
fuelled by public fears of immigration and suspicion towards Islam,
has been dramatic.
We will not do it!
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on an EU demand to open ports to
Cypriot shipping Some opinion polls suggest that opponents of Turkish
membership account for two-thirds of the population in France, Greece
and Cyprus. In Austria it is around 80%.
A turning-point was last year’s referendums in France and the
Netherlands, when voters rejected the draft EU constitution.
After that, conservative leaders such as Angela Merkel in Germany and
Nicolas Sarkozy in France spoke out loudly against full EU membership
for Turkey, even in 15 or 20 years time.
Turkey’s Muslim make-up has also become an issue.
Hans-Joerg Kretschmer, the EU’s ambassador in Ankara, says Europe
wants to see “for the first time in the history of mankind whether a
Muslim country is able and willing to embrace the values of Western
civilisation”.
But Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says Turkish EU membership
would prove that the EU “does not belong to a single religion”.
He insists his government is fully committed to a long-term political
“marriage” with Europe, and speaks proudly of Turkey’s radical
pro-European reforms as a “silent revolution”.
Promises
The European Commission itself has praised Turkey for abolishing the
death penalty, taking action against police torture and changing the
constitution to rein in the influence of the army.
But now the Commission is focusing again on shortcomings in Turkish
democracy. It has warned of a “train crash” unless Turkey bends to
EU demands over Cyprus and moves to bolster civil rights.
“We will not do it!” was Mr Gul’s terse reply, when asked whether his
government would fulfil the EU’s demand to end its embargo on ships
from Cyprus using Turkish ports.
“The Europeans must first fulfil their promises”, he said, meaning
that the EU should first take steps to facilitate direct trade with
the Turkish Cypriots in northern Cyprus.
In 2004 the Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of an international peace
plan to unite the divided island. The Greek Cypriots, who represent
the only internationally recognised government there, voted against
the plan but were anyway admitted as EU members. Now they, like every
member-state, hold a veto over Turkey’s progress.
Trade and investment
Still, a “train crash” is not inevitable. Turkish leaders now say they
may amend a much-criticised law banning insults against “Turkishness”,
which has been used against authors who have written critically on
Kurdish and Armenian issues.
Britain, Finland and other supporters of Turkey’s case argue that
its progress must not be seriously held back.
It is clear that the EU itself could hardly escape without damage in
case the relationship turned sour.
Turkey is now one of the most attractive partners for European trade
and investment. French car-makers and Austrian banks are among those
profiting from Turkey’s booming economy and liberalising market.
Michael Lake, a former EU envoy to Turkey, warns that to block Turkey’s
EU prospects would harm the EU’s credibility.
And Onur Oeymen says it would be a massive strategic mistake for the
EU to write Turkey out of its future plans – because then, he said,
“you are going to make Turkey your competitor, if not your enemy”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress