Author: Emil Lazarian

Ottawa Citizen
October 13, 2006 Friday
EARLY Edition
National: Armenian minister heading to Ottawa
Armenia’s foreign minister, Vartan Oskanian, will pay a politically
charged visit to Ottawa next Wednesday, six months after the Harper
government formally recognized the Armenian genocide and angered its
NATO ally Turkey in the process. In April, Prime Minister Stephen
Harper acknowledged the Armenian genocide of 1915 in which 1.5
million people were killed. The statement angered Turkey, resulting
in the country’s ambassador to Canada being called back for
consultations, and the Turkish air force pulling out of a training
exercise in Alberta.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Ottawa Citizen
October 13, 2006 Friday
EARLY Edition
France passes law on Armenian genocide
by David Rennie, The Daily Telegraph
LONDON – The French parliament yesterday triggered a fresh crisis in
Turkey’s relations with Europe by approving a bill that would make it
an offence punishable by jail to deny that Armenians suffered a
genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks.
The Turkish foreign ministry said the vote had dealt “a heavy blow”
to bilateral relations.
Ali Babacan, Turkey’s economics minister, said it was too soon to
know whether the Turkish public would heed calls from nationalist
groups to boycott French goods.
“As the government, we are not encouraging that, but this is the
people’s decision,” he said. “I cannot say (the vote) will not have
any consequences.”
The Turkish parliament scrapped plans for a tit-for-tat law that
would have made it illegal to deny that French colonialists committed
genocide against the Algerians in their war for independence. Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told MPs, “you don’t clean up dirt with
more dirt.”
He repeated calls to Armenia to jointly research the killings by
opening the archives of both countries to historians.
The European Commission, which will next month unveil a key report on
Turkey’s progress toward meeting EU admission standards, said the
vote threatened to silence the first signs of debate inside Turkey on
the issue of Armenia.
Krisztina Nagy, the commission’s enlargement spokesman, said, “it is
important to see that there is an opening in Turkey to conduct debate
on that issue.” The bill, if it became law, “could have a negative
effect on debate”.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany
October 12, 2006 Thursday
Turkey outraged by French support for Armenian genocide bill
DPA POLITICS France Diplomacy Turkey EXTRA: Turkey outraged by French
support for Armenian genocide bill Ankara
Turkey has expressed outrage Thursday at a vote in
the French National Assembly in favour of a bill that would make it a
crime to deny that Turkey committed genocide against the Armenian
people more than 90 years ago.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry in Ankara characterized the
assembly’s move as an “irresponsible action” that rested on the “weak
assertions by a few French politicians,” which would deal “a massive
blow” to Franco-Turkish relations.

The ministry added that Turkey would “deeply regret” approving the
bill.

Turkish Parliamentary President Bulent Arinc said the proposed law
was “humiliating” and a “inimical stance” towards the Turkish people,
adding that it would be “a blow against freedom of opinion and
thought” and “unacceptable” to Turkey.

Turkey, which vehemently maintains that the mass deaths of
Armenians during the First World War should not be considered
genocide, has threatened France with economic sanctions should the
Western European country pass the legislation.

Economist.Com
October 12, 2006 Thursday
Denial and bad law
French MPs vote to make it a crime to deny that a genocide took place
in Armenia in 1915, provoking anger in Turkey and raising doubts
about freedom of speech
French MPs vote to make denial of genocide in Armenia a crime
“I DON’T like what you say, and I will jail you for saying it”. That
inversion of the definition of free speech commonly attributed to
Voltaire sounds so unappetising that it is hard to see why anyone
should support it. But that is just what is happening. The lower
house of the French parliament voted on Thursday October 12th to make
it a criminal offence to deny what is commonly called the “Armenian
genocide” of 1915.
Many Armenians, especially in the wealthy and well-connected
diaspora, feel that until Turkey relaxes its stance on what they call
the genocide of 1.5m compatriots, negotiations on its membership of
the European Union (EU) should be blocked (Turkey denies a genocide
took place). Many in the diaspora, especially in France, also want it
to be a crime for anyone to claim that a genocide did not occur.
There is a precedent: denial of the Nazi Holocaust is illegal in a
dozen European countries. Armenians say recognition for their
historical suffering should be protected in the same way. Though many
countries’ parliaments have voted to recognise the Armenian genocide,
few have gone further.
The French government, mindful of its ties with Turkey, is calling
the vote “unnecessary and untimely” and is trying to make sure that
it remains symbolic. To become law, the bill needs the backing of
both the upper house of parliament and the president. But the vote
has already prompted fury in Turkey, where discussion of the issue is
seen as a hypocritical Western ploy, manipulated by Turkey’s enemies
abroad. Yet the very discussion of what happened in 1915 is fraught
with legal difficulties within Turkey. Writers and scholars who raise
the matter are prosecuted, and sometimes imprisoned. One of these
writers, Orhan Pamuk, who had faced trial in December for talking
about the deaths of the Armenians, was awarded the Nobel prize for
literature on October 12th.
Many Turks recognise that hundreds of thousands of Armenians died
during “relocation” to other parts of the then Ottoman empire in
1915, but they argue that this was not a deliberate policy of mass
murder, and that the deaths took place in a context of internal
rebellion and inter-communal warfare. One problem is that the
archives concerned are not easily accessible. They are written in
archaic Ottoman Turkish, using the Arabic script, rather than the
Latin alphabet introduced by the Turkish republic’s founder, Kemal
Ataturk. Allowing the production of a scholarly and accessible
edition of the relevant files would be a big step forward–but for
many nationalist Turks even that would be an unwelcome move towards
their critics.
Turkish officials doubt this issue will affect negotiations for EU
membership (Cyprus is a far more serious concern). But the country is
trying to counter-attack in the propaganda war. Turkish deputies want
to introduce a law making it a crime to deny that the French
committed genocide in Algeria. That seems a big stretch: France
conducted a brutal colonial war, but no reputable scholar argues that
its aim was the mass extinction or expulsion of an entire ethnic
group.
The bigger question is whether laws on Holocaust or genocide denial
are a good thing in principle. Most of the countries which forbid it
were Nazi-occupied, or Nazi allies, during the second world war. They
generally passed the laws in the early years of post-war democracy,
typically along with bans on Nazi symbols, songs and regalia. That
may have been justifiable when a clean break with the past was vital;
it seems less so today.
Many scholars are convinced that making it a crime to deny the
Holocaust is a mistake. Fines and jail sentences create martyrs; they
do not deter those who hold outlandish views. The proposed law in
France, for example, sets a one-year prison term and E45,000
($56,570) fine, the same punishment as for denying the Nazi genocide.
Enforcing that against the thousands of Turks living in France for
whom denying the Armenian genocide is part of national identity,
would be all but impossible. Passing unenforceable laws looks like
gesture politics, rather than good jurisprudence.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
12 Oct 06
TURKEY SAYS FRANCE’S ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LAW AGAINST DEMOCRACY
Ankara, 12 October: “The reliability of the states depends on their
standing by the values they advocate,” the Turkish Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Thursday [12 October] after French
national assembly adopted a bill on criminalizing denial of so-called
Armenian genocide.
Releasing a statement, the MFA said: “Although enactment of the bill
depends on a long process including approvals of the Senate and the
President, it has caused a profound disappointment in Turkey. We will
maintain our initiatives in all levels within this process.”
“Recent strong criticisms against the bill have already unveiled that
even France was not fully satisfied with it and that such an
unfortunate initiative did not receive support of all public opinion.
However, it does not diminish the seriousness of the event,” MFA
said.
“This bill means a violation of French constitutional order regarding
freedom of expression as superior over all other constitutional
rights, and the relevant European Convention. It also contradicts the
spirit of France which inspired the whole world by defending the
concepts of freedom, equality and brotherhood,” it said.
The MFA noted: “When it comes to dealing with France’s own history,
French parliamentarians advocate that it is the responsibility of
historians. However, they consider themselves the authority that
makes a decision on the history of another country. This is nothing
but a contradiction. This bill has also revealed the double-standard
attitude of France in a period when Turkey has been encouraged to
take additional steps on freedom of expression despite all recent
reforms aiming at further improving fundamental rights and freedoms.”
“This bill contradicts democratic regime since it prevents freedom of
thought and expression. It has caused a profound sorrow among Turkish
people including our Armenian citizens. 70m Turkish nation rejects
such a restriction on freedom of thought and expression on basis of
totally baseless allegations. Unfortunately, by adopting the bill,
France has lost its privileged position within Turkish nation’s point
of view,” the Ministry added.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Xinhua News Agency , China
October 13, 2006 Friday 2:00 PM EST
Turkish president expresses sadness over France’s Armenian genocide
bill
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer expressed sadness over a French
bill that would make it a crime to deny Turks committed genocide
against Armenians, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported
on Friday.
The president felt deeply sad over the French national assembly ‘s
approval of the bill on Thursday, Sermet Atacanli, a senior advisor
to President Sezer was quoted as saying.
“Mr. President hopes that the bill would be received with logic in
the next legislative level and hopes that the bill would not become
an actual law in France,” Atacanli said.
The advisor noted that Sezer wishes the Turkish-French relations
would not get hurt and basic rights of freedom of expression would
not be negatively affected by the bill.
In addition, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also
condemned the approval of the controversial bill, saying, “France has
stained its own history and democracy by adopting the bill about
so-called Armenian genocide.”
Meanwhile, Erdogan called on people to be calm over boycotting
French-made products.
“Some groups call on people to boycott French-made products. Will it
be really effective? Actually, we should be calm and take steps
consciously,” said Erdogan.
“There are nearly 500,000 Turks living in France. They should be as
influential as Armenians,” he stressed.
Despite warnings from Ankara that it would hurt the bilateral
relations between Turkey and France, French lawmakers on Thursday
voted 106 against 19 for the bill, which calls for up to a year in
prison and fines of up to 56,000 U.S. dollars for anyone who denies
the Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turk during World War
I.
The bill must be passed by the Senate and signed by French President
Jacques Chirac.
Turkey has always denied that up to 1.5 million Armenians were
subject to genocide in the period between 1915 and 1923.
However, it does acknowledge that up to 300,000 Armenians died during
fighting and efforts to relocate populations away from the war zone
in eastern Turkey.
According to the Zaman daily, Turkey is the fifth largest customer of
French goods outside the European Union. France’s export to Turkey
values at 5.9 billion dollars while its import from Turkey remains at
3.8 billion dollars.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
October 13, 2006 Friday
THE SOUTH CAUCASUS UNDER ME;
Changes in the format of Russian-Georgian relations will only
strengthen Russia’s positions in the region
by Anatoly Tsyganok
PUNISHING GEORGIA: WHAT RUSSIA CAN AND SHOULD DO; Georgia confirmed
that it is an authoritarian state where the letter of the law is
worthless and the justice system can easily fabricate any case at all
– or close it just as easily, for a price. Several fundamental
conclusions can be drawn from the current situation in and around
Georgia.
(…)
Several fundamental conclusions can be drawn from the current
situation in and around Georgia.
The first is that the nationalist policy pursued in Georgia over the
past 15 years – instilling into the citizenry the idea that Georgia’s
historical experience is unique and that the exceptional nature of
the Georgian nation must be recognized by the international community
– has met with full support amongst the majority of the population,
within Georgia and in Georgian diasporas elsewhere, including Russia.
This explains the Georgian public’s general adherence to the
stereotypical notion that Georgia’s inclusion in the Russian Empire
and the USSR was unacceptable, and the reluctance to recognize the
right of the Ossetians and Abkhazians to self-determination – while
simultaneously upholding Georgia’s rights to the territories that
were attached to Georgia during the “Soviet occupation” period.
Therefore, Russia should differentiate its retaliatory response to
Georgia’s anti-Russian syndrome and its historical superiority
syndrome, in dealing with the Tbilisi government and the Georgian
population, as well as the Georgian diaspora in Russia.
The second conclusion is based on the failure of Georgia’s peaceful
reintegration policy for the “rebel autonomous regions.” For the past
15 years, Georgia has refused to amend its constitution to grant
autonomy to ethnic minorities, and rejected UN Security Council and
OSCE recommendations to sign agreements with South Ossetia and
Abkhazia against the use of force. This clearly shows that options
for peacefully resolving the problems of the self-proclaimed states
and Georgia’s federative structure – options which still existed
three years ago – have now failed completely. Therefore, Russia
should revise its own views on the unrecognized republics: South
Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The third conclusion entails recognizing the fact that Georgia,
striving to expel Russia from the peacekeeping formats in the
conflict zones by any means available, has managed to establish a
perception in the media that the Georgian-Ossetian and
Georgian-Abkhazian conflicts are escalating into a Georgian-Russian
conflict. This has formed the foundation of Georgia’s push to join
NATO – in order to protect its independence, or so Georgia claims. In
effect, Georgia has achieved its purpose already, forcing Russia to
enter into a conflict with it.
The fourth conclustion is that after Russian military bases are
withdrawn from Georgia, Russia will face the prospect of the
Russian-Armenian group of forces being completely isolated and
Armenia reorienting itself to NATO standards. If Russia wishes to
prevent this, it must create conditions that ensure Armenia’s
security and Russia’s presence in the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation
process.
The fifth conclusion follows from an assessment of Russia’s role in
the overall energy sector of the South Caucasus. Russia’s positions
with regard to using energy leverage in the South Caucasus require
substantial corrections and accelerated decision-making.
The sixth conclusion is that Russia’s severance of relations with
Georgia in the areas of diplomacy, transportation, and mail services
represent only one direction of political action with regard to our
recalcitrant neighbor. At the same time, Russia needs to accelerate
the process of making some equally important decisions, with the aim
of enhancing its political influence throughout the Caucasus region.
Primarily, this means using our levers of influence on Ukraine and
Azerbaijan with the aim of minimizing their involvement in the GUAM
organization.
The seventh conclusion is that changes should be expected in the
format of Russia’s relations with Turkey and Iran in Caucasus
politics. We could also draw China’s attention to resolving these
problems – and this would do substantial damage to British-American
energy interests and military strategy interests in the South
Caucasus.
The eighth conclusion is that following Moscow’s move to impose
diplomatic, transport, and mail sanctions, and the intervention of
Washington and London, Russia’s confrontation with Georgia will grow.
Thus, the current Georgian-Russian confrontation has entered into a
new phase, in which events may develop along the lines indicated in
the abovementioned conclusions. The events in Georgia provide a good
pretext for an effective analysis of Russia’s immigration policy, and
its policy on relations between the authorities (federal and
regional) and ethnic diasporas. Some members of the Georgian diaspora
have been acting aggressively on radio and television, providing
assistance to official Tbilisi in promoting the Saakashvili regime’s
interests on Russian territory (the possibility that they were paid
to do so cannot be ruled out). This necessitates a review of the role
of these diasporas in our society’s economy and politics, as well as
the legislative basis for the presence of diasporas on Russian
territory. But it’s short-sighted to start a campaign of identifying
“individuals of Georgian ethnicity” with the aim of deporting them.
Yes, it is necessary to restore order with regard to employment and
taxation for all immigrants, without exception. I repeat: deporting
hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens to their homeland will
only do harm to Russian-Georgian relations. At the same time, we need
to expand opportunities for all, including the Georgian diaspora, to
promote Georgian-Russian friendship.
On the topic of Tbilisi’s military policy, it’s worth citing a few
figures. Aiming to reintegrate the unrecognized territories at all
costs, Georgia has increased funding for the military component of
the state almost ten-fold since 2004, raising it to $500 million.
This year alone, Tbilisi has expanded the Defense Ministry’s budget
by over a third: the state treasury is now spending over 600 million
lari (around $336 million) on military requirements. This is 15.8% of
Georgia’s total state spending, or 4.6% of GDP. The Saakashvili
administration is getting the rest of the money from various
“extra-budget funds.” Additional money for defense spending is mostly
supplied from Turkey and America.
Since the Rose Revolution, the Americans have provided Georgia with
$1.5 billion in aid. Georgia has also received over $64 million from
the American Train and Equip program, and $60 million in 2005 alone
from Operation Maintaining Stability. Turkey has provided Georgia
with $40 million a year in military aid. In the meantime, the
Georgian government has been spending only 100.9 million lari ($55
million) a year on social services. This figure hasn’t been increased
for several years.
Over the past four years Georgia has purchased 24 tanks, 97 armored
vehicles, 95 artillery pieces, around 100,000 firearms, four Su-24
aircraft, four MiG-23 fighter jets, and five helicopters. The
Georgian Armed Forces now have 26,000 personnel, 80 tanks, 18 rocket
systems, seven Su-25 aircraft, ten training aircraft, and 15
helicopters, including two Mi-24 strike helicopters. The Georgian
Navy has eight patrol boats, two small landing vessels, and two
tank-landing vessels.
Obviously, given that it possesses these forces and is constantly
increasing its military budget, Georgia will persist in its refusal
to comply with UN Security Council and OSCE recommendations to sign
agreements with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on not using force. Under
the circumstances, Russia is justified in assuming that the regional
security of the entire Caucasus is under threat. Therefore, Moscow
has every right to revise its stance on the territorial integrity of
Georgia – and, giving priority to the right of nations to
self-determination, every right to recognize the independence of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The current conflict between Moscow and
Tbilisi is highly likely to convince the Russian leadership that
Russia shouldn’t wait for the Kosovo precedent before making its
position clear on the frozen conflicts in the CIS; that is, Russia
should set a precedent of its own.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has already
stated that Russia may accelerate withdrawal of its military bases
from Georgian territory. Presumably, this statement is based on
apprehensions that our military personnel, now engaged in withdrawing
the bases, might be vulnerable to acts of provocation, and would not
be able to offer substantial resistance in the event of a large-scale
armed conflict. Keeping them in Georgia as Mikhail Saakashvili’s
hostages is simply foolish; besides, if matters do reach the point of
a military conflict, all of Georgia’s territory is well within range
from Russian territory or from the sea. Moreover, if we assume that
Russia will no longer negotiate with President Saakashvili, then
accelerated withdrawal of the bases is also necessary in the event of
energy sanctions against Georgia.
Russia is likely to accelerate Gazprom’s involvement in the plan for
completing the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline as soon as possible, by the
end of 2006; this will guarantee gas supplies to Armenia and prevent
a total blockade of the Russian-Armenian military group by Turkey and
Azerbaijan. Only then will Yerevan use its resources and support
Russia in the confrontation with Georgia. Moreover, Russia should
immediately expand its participation in developing Armenia’s power
generation and distibution system. The confrontation with Georgia has
created a unique opportunity to accelerate the revision of Russia’s
position in the South Caucasus energy sector and reinforce Russia’s
role in developing the region’s energy system. But the introduction
of energy sanctions against Georgia by Gazprom and RAO Unified Energy
Systems should be preceded by sustained, integrated, systematic
action, synchronized with other Russian companies.
It’s equally important for Russia to use all available measures to
increase its influence on one of Tbilisi’s milch cows: Azerbaijan.
Primarily, this should involve minimizing Baku’s involvement in the
GUAM organization. In future, this could even extend to persuading
Azerbaijan to withdraw from GUAM and join the CIS Collective Security
Treaty Organization, which would only be possible if Russia once
again becomes one of the chief mediators in resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Within the framework of its decisions on
sanctions against Georgia, Russia simply must play the Ukraine card
as well. Some compromises are entirely possible in relations with
Kiev. (…)
Source: Voenno-Promyshlennyi Kurier, No. 39, October 11, 2006, pp. 1,
3
Translated by Elena Leonova
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Agence France Presse — English
October 13, 2006 Friday 7:22 AM GMT
French vote won’t hurt Turkey’s EU membership bid: EU commissioner
The French parliament’s adoption of a bill making it a crime to deny
that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks
constituted genocide will not affect Turkey’s EU membership bid, a
senior EU official said Friday.
“One thing is what happens in France, (a) second thing is what we are
doing as (the) European Union with a candidate country,” External
Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner told Finnish television
YLE.
“In France … (the issue of the Armenian genocide) has come up from
time to time because there is a strong community there that always
very strongly comes up with this issue,” she said.
The French parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would make it
a crime to deny that the 1915-1917 massacres of Armenians was
genocide.
The crime would carry a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine
of up to 45,000 euros.
The French vote provoked protests from Turkey and dissent from the
European Union.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings that they say can only be seen as genocide,
while Turkey says 300,000 Armenians died when the Ottoman Empire fell
apart during World War I.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2006
V.OSKANIAN: INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY RA IN LEGAL SPHERE WILL
BE RATIFIED IN SHORT TERMS
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. On October 13, RA Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian received Tomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights, who has arrived in Armenia for taking
part in the 27th conference of CE Justice Ministers.
According to the report submitted to NT from RA Foreign Ministry
Press and Information Department, the interlocutors spoke about
Armenia’s joining the human rights sphere international conventions
and process of ratification of signed agreements. Minister Oskanian
assured that ratification will be done in as short time as possible.
The sides also discussed legislative initiatives in human rights
sphere that followed the constitutional reform in Armenia and
possibilities of their full-value use.
At the guest’s request Minister Oskanian in general outline presented
the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process.
Tomas Hammarberg was born in 1942, in Sweden.
T.Hammarberg was elected as Commissioner for Human Rights on 2005
October 5 by PACE. He assumed the post of the Commissioner since 2006
April 1 succeeding CE first Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Alvaro
Gil Robles.
In 2002-2005 T.Hammarberg was Secretary General of Olof Palme
International Center in Stockholm, in 2001-2003 Regional Adviser to
UN Commissioner for Human Rights on Issues of Europe, Central Asia
and Caucasus. In 1996-2000 he was appointed by UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan as UN Secretary General’s Representative for Human Rights
in Cambodia. He was also member of the Refugees Working Group of East
Europe multi-lateral peace process. In 1994-2002 he was the special
ambassador of Swedish government for humanitarian issues.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2006
“MIKA-YEREVAN” AGAIN WINS AT EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP
INNSBRUCK, OCTOBER 13, NOYAN TAPAN. “Mika-Yerevan” again won at the
Europe chess club teams championship being held in the city of
Innsbruck, Austria. At the 5th stage held on October 12, the team
representing Armenia won with a score of 2.5:1.5 the Saratov
“Economist” and continues alone heading the tournament table with 9
points. The Georgian “Energy Invest Sakartvelo” has a pointer less
than the leader and occupies the 2nd horizontal.
At the men’s tournament, the Armenian “Bank King” played a drawn game
at the 5th stage with the RF “Tomsk – 400” and shares with 8 points
the 3rd-9th places.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress