Author: Emil Lazarian

Regnum, Russia
Oct 13 2006
Expert: Ankara’s next step will be charging the US with the genocide
of Indians in North America
As you may know, after the visit of French President Jacques Chirac
to Armenia and his statement during a press-conference in Yerevan
that the French Parliament was drafting a bill on criminal
responsibility for denying the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923, they
in Turkey and Azerbaijan have launched a large-scale anti-French
campaign. Expert of the Caucasus analytical center Sergey Shakaryants
comments on the matter.
He says that the situation when Turkish politicians are charging
France with `genocide in Algeria’ is more like the childish `You are
fool yourself!’ style than an attitude of conscious political or
public figures to a serious problem. `Instead of recognizing or
producing real facts and documents to disprove the Armenian Genocide
perpetrated in Western Armenia and other parts of the former Ottoman
Empire, the Turks are trying to charge with genocide the countries
who have taken steps to recognize and condemn the crime committed by
Turkish chauvinists. In such a case, the Turks will have no end of
work to do – for example, their next step may be charging with a
genocide of North American Indians almost all the US states whose
national assemblies have passed resolutions recognizing and
condemning the Armenian Genocide.’
`True, Turkey will hardly dare to be as blackmailing to even one US
state as it is now to France. Old Continent is a different story –
they are burdened with the necessity of negotiating EU membership
with Ankara and are absolutely at a loss what to do with the problem
of yearly swelling Muslim and Turkish gastarbeiter communities in
almost all European states,’ says Shakaryants.
He believes that Azerbaijan’s solidarity with Turkey in the matter
comes more from self-interest than barely from commitment to the
recent Azeri-Turkish agreements on mutual support in `fighting the
Armenian lobby’ worldwide. `This can be seen in the recent behavior
of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov, who have begun to actively argue for the deployment of
some `international peacekeepers’ in the Karabakh-Azerbaijani
conflict zone. Their point is that, since the OSCE MG states have,
allegedly, no right to provide their military contingents for such
`peacekeeping,’ they, in tandem with Ankara, will succeed in `pushing
through’ the scenario of Turkish peacekeeping presence, like was the
case in Lebanon,’ says Shakaryants.
`However, the attempts of Turkey and Azerbaijan to blackmail the
international community and Armenia with NKR are a priori doomed to
failure. It was not without purpose that Turkey was debarred from any
active part in the OSCE MG – Yerevan and Stepanakert are unanimous
that Turkey, who, de facto, took part in the war (to remind, any form
of blockade by any country, in fact, even by the UN, is considered to
be a form of waging or partaking a war) had and has absolutely no
right to take part in the affairs of the South Caucasus, not
mentioning the Karabakh peace process. The Armenian Genocide issue
will always be `a sword of Damocles’ for Ankara if it actually wants
to join United Europe – at least, because there are still many
descendants of Armenian Genocide victims living in many European
countries,’ says Shakaryants.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 13 2006
Azeri Parliament to Make Second Protest Letter to French Government

Source: Trend
Author: J.Shahverdiyev

13.10.2006

The Chairman of the Milli Majlis [Azerbaijani Parliament] condemned
the draft law envisaging punishment for the denial of the so-called
Armenian Genocide adopted on 12 October 2006. The speaker made the
statement at a plenary sitting of parliament on 13 October, Trend
reports.
Asadov noted that the adoption of the draft law contradicts democracy
and human rights. He underlined the role of Armenians residing in
France in the approval of the Bill.
The Parliament made a resolution to establish a commission under the
chairmanship of Vice Speaker Bahar Muradova to develop the second
written appeal to the French parliament on behalf of Milli Majlis.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Focus News, Bulgaria
Oct 13 2006
Bulgarian PM: Chirac and I Haven’t Discussed France’s Bill on
Armenian Genocide

13 October 2006 | 13:42 | FOCUS News Agency

Paris. `French President Jacques Chirac and I haven’t discussed the
French bill on the Armenian genocide’, Bulgarian Prime Minister
Sergey Stanishev said answering a question of AP Stanishev was
received today by the French President at his Elysees Palace. `The
issue is nether related to the French-Bulgarian relations, nor to the
common European politics. It’s an issue related to the Frech-Turkish
relations’, said the Bulgarian Prime Minister, who is on a official
visit to France.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Baku Police Dispersed Picket at French Embassy in
Azerbaijan
13.10.2006 16:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On Friday the United National Front
Party of Azerbaijan tried to hold a picket at the
French Embassy in Baku. A group of 15 party activists
were pushed from the building. Two party members were
detained. Despite the pressure the activists read a
resolution calling on the `Azeri population to boycott
French products, on Milli Mejlis recognize the
genocide of 30 thousand Algerians committed by France
in 1954-1961 and refuse from the French mediation
within the OSCE MG.’ The resolution also calls on the
Azeri government to break all the economic ties with
France, reports Day.az
Baku’s discontent was aroused by the bill adopted by
the French parliament yesterday. The bill provides for
a 45 000 euros fine and a year in prison for the
denial of the Armenian Genocide.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Adoption of Armenian Genocide Bill in France – Correct
Step by Good Friend
13.10.2006 16:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The bill penalizing the denial of
the Armenian Genocide in France is of great importance
for Armenia, since our two states enjoy very warm
relations, RA NA ex-Speaker Artur Baghdassarian said.
`We always stand for the development of the
French-Armenian relations and think it’s a correct
step made by a good friend,’ he said. At that Artur
Baghdassarian added he is not surprised at Turkey’s
reaction. `We should not forget that besides France
many other states have condemned the Armenian
Genocide. If we do not condemn genocides we will have
to face this evil in future. We should recognize what
happened in the past in order to prevent its
repetition tomorrow,’ he said, reports Golos Rossii.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Siberian News Online, Russia
Oct 13 2006
“Days of Armenia in Siberia” finished in Krasnoyarsk 10/13/2006
6:36:45 PM
“Days of Armenia in Siberia” were closed in Krasnoyarsk in
International Exhibition Business Center “Siberia” officially on
October, 13. Yerevan Champagne Plant, Gent Group (facing ceramics),
Vedi Alko Ltd (vintage wine) and Lamag Ltd (decorative goods) were
awarded with medals of Krasexpocenter Ltd.
It is worth reminding that Armenian and Krasnoyarsk businessmen had
meetings as part of “Days of Armenia in Siberia”, participated in a
panel discussion with members of Central Siberian Commerce and
Industrial Chamber, The Union of Industrialists and Businessmen of
Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Union of Commodity Manufacturers and
Consumers. Famous Armenian singers and musicians gave two concerts,
one in IEBS Siberia, the second one – in the Big Concert Hall of the
philharmonic society.
Visitors were also able to see an exhibition of Armenian food and
industrial goods. The expositions showed decorative goods, national
souvenirs made of stone and ceramics, shoes, textile, equipment, a
wide range of beverages, including alcohol.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
Adoption of Armenian Genocide Bill Will Change Many Things for France
13.10.2006 17:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “A wrong step taken on October 12th will change many
things for France and not for Turkey,” said Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan when commenting on the French bill criminalizing
the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
“Initiative of France to turn a historical lie into a law is a big
challenge against EU`s fundamental values. The most valuable asset of
Copenhagen criteria is freedom of thought and expression. So when a
scientist says “this thing is against scientific and historical
realities” and this will be considered as a crime; then where is the
freedom of expression? Moreover, how can France be part of a problem
between Turkey and Armenia?” Erdogan asked. He said that international
politics cannot be made by avoiding scientific and historical
documents and remarked that France should look at what happened in
Algeria between November 1st, 1954 and March 19th, 1962, reports
Turkishpress.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Reuters, UK
Oct 13 2006
Nobel laureate Pamuk chronicles Ottoman past
Fri Oct 13, 2006 10:27 AM BST

By Gareth Jones
ANKARA (Reuters) – Orhan Pamuk, who on Thursday became the first Turk
to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, shot to fame with novels that
explore Turkey’s complex identity through its rich imperial past.
But his criticism of modern Turkey’s failure to confront darker
episodes of that past has also turned Pamuk more recently into a
symbol of free thought both for the literary world and for the
European Union, which Ankara wants to join.
The bespectacled, boyish-looking Pamuk, 54, went on trial last year
on charges of insulting Turkish national identity under a
controversial article of the country’s penal code strongly criticised
by the EU.
Pamuk had upset nationalists by telling a Swiss newspaper that a
million Armenians had died in Turkey during World War One and 30,000
Kurds had perished in recent decades.
Though the court dismissed the charges against Pamuk on a
technicality, other writers and journalists are still being
prosecuted under the article and could face a jail sentence of up to
three years.
In a curious twist of irony, the Swedish Academy declared Pamuk
winner of the 2006 literature prize on a day when, to Turkey’s fury,
the French lower house of parliament approved a bill making it a
crime to deny the Armenian genocide.
Ankara says there was no genocide but that large numbers of both
Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan conflict
raging at that time as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.
The Pamuk trial was a big embarrassment for Turkey’s pro-Western
government, which has introduced a flurry of human rights reforms and
last year finally began EU accession talks.
At the height of the nationalist hysteria over his comments, one
provincial official called for Pamuk’s books to be burnt.
SPEAKING TRUTH
“What I said is not an insult, it is the truth. But what if it is
wrong? Right or wrong, do people not have the right to express their
ideas peacefully,” Pamuk asked during the trial.
His work has been translated into many languages and has earned him a
growing fan club in Europe, America and beyond.
In his novels, Pamuk chronicles the clash between past and present,
East and West, secularism and Islamism, often against the colourful
backdrop of his native Istanbul, a city which straddles Europe and
Asia.
In “The White Castle”, he explores the complex relationship between a
17th century Ottoman Muslim master and his Italian Christian slave.
“Snow”, his most political work to date, Pamuk tells the tale of a
poet-journalist who returns from exile in Germany and travels to the
eastern Turkish city of Kars to investigate the suicides of a number
of pious, young headscarved women.
It is critical of both Westerners and Islamists in Turkey.
His most recent work, “Istanbul: Memories of a City”, intersperses
personal reminiscences of childhood and youth with reflections on the
city’s Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman past.
“Istanbul’s fate is my fate. I am attached to this city because it
has made me who I am,” he says.
Pamuk was born into a wealthy, Westernised family in Istanbul in
1952. He speaks fluent English and spent several years as a Columbia
University scholar in the United States.
He has pioneered a style of writing that combines traditional
story-telling with experimental devices and a very modern
preoccupation with identity and fears of a “clash of civilisations”.

AZG Armenian Daily #196, 14/10/2006

Turkey
MESROP MOUTAFIAN AND HRANT DINK ON FRENCH BILL ON DENIAL OF ARMENIAN
GENOCIDE
According to Turkish Milliet newspaper, Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of
Agos, stated that after the adoption of the French bill on the
Armenian Genocide Turkey appeared in more beneficial position that
Armenia. He explained this by the fact that the international
community had always considered the Armenians as victims in this
issue, while at present; the Turks have occupied this favorable
position. At the same time, Dink stated that the adoption of the
French bill was a shame from the viewpoint of the freedom of speech.
According to the Turkish newspaper, Mesrop Moutafian, Patriarch of
Constantinople, stated that the French bill made great harm to the
tense Armenian-Turkish relations. He added that the bill is
anti-democratic, as it hinders the right of the freedom of speech.
Besides, Moutafian said that the Armenian residents of Turkey follow
the developments with concern and expect pressures from the Turks
after the adoption of the abovementioned bill.
In his turn, Famous Turkish writer Elif Safak said in the interview to
the French Le Monde, that the adoption of the bill would not
contribute to the recognition of the historical issue (the Armenian
genocide). At the same time, he added that that the Turks should share
the grief of the Armenian people, respect that and get along with the
past. He expressed hope that the Turks are able to discuss the mistake
committed by their ancestors.
By Hakob Chakrian
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Kathimerini, Greece
Oct 13 2006
Nicosia puts foot down on Turkey
Cyprus cannot act as if all is well in Turkish negotiations with the
European Union when Ankara persistently refuses to fulfill its
obligations as an EU candidate state, Cypriot Foreign Minister
Giorgos Lillikas said yesterday ahead of talks with Dora Bakoyannis
in Athens.
«We are simply implementing a policy which Nicosia had declared early
on to the European Union presidency and the European Commission,»
Lillikas said.
He was elaborating on an earlier declaration by Cypriot government
spokesman Christodoulos Pasiardis according to which Nicosia will
block progress in Turkish accession talks until Ankara opens its air
and sea ports to Cyprus.
According to Greece’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Giorgos
Koumoutsakos, Ankara’s failure to extend its customs agreement to
include Cyprus is «politically illogical.» «The obligations (Ankara)
has undertaken as regards the protocol are autonomous and
established,» he said.
Koumoutsakos also criticized Ankara for threatening France over its
draft law that aims to make it a crime to deny that the 1915-1917
genocide of the Armenians took place. «Threats or insinuations and
the aggressive tone of public statements do not befit a country on
the road to joining the European Union,» he said.
The Greek Parliament voted in 1996 to condemn the Armenian genocide
but Koumoutsakos said, «In the modern world, the past should not act
as a hindrance to the future.»
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress