Author: Emil Lazarian

ARMENIA HAS REPUTATION OF RELIABLE COUNTRY IN REGION
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 12 2006
YEREVAN, October 11. /ARKA/. Armenia has reputation of a reliable
country in the region, stated RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan.
“Everybody is well aware that Armenia has its place and role in the
region, and our country can be relied on,” stated Oskanyan in his
interview to the “Hayastani Hanrapetutyun” newspaper.
According to him, the result is that Armenia receives large-scale
support in various issues. He said that among Armenia’s partners are
the countries interested in the region’s security and development.
“We are part of the international community, international family.
During its independence, Armenia has made its contribution to the
development of civilization, politics, culture, and this process is
continuing today,” Oskanyan said. He added that the deeper are the
relations between the countries the “more appreciable will be mutual
contribution.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIANS RALLY AGAINST TURKISH PARTICIPATION IN U.N. PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN LEBANON
NaharNet, Lebanon
Oct 12 2006
Thousands of Lebanon’s Armenians rallied in Beirut Thursday against
Turkish troops taking part in a U.N. peacekeeping force there, on
the same day France moved to make denial of the Ottoman genocide of
Armenians a crime.
Armenian political and religious leaders attended the demonstration,
which came just two days after the first contingent of Turkish
peacekeepers arrived to police a ceasefire between Israel and
Hizbullah.
The rally took place on Beirut’s downtown Place des Martyrs, which
honors six Lebanese nationalists who were hanged by the Ottomans
during World War I.
The crowd, drawn from an Armenian community of about 140,000 people,
held high banners denouncing the presence of Turkish troops as “an
insult to the collective memory of the Armenian people”, while waving
Armenian, Lebanese and French flags.
“Genocide, massacre, deportation: Turkey’s definition of peace,”
read another banner.
Earlier Thursday, French deputies approved a bill making it a crime
to deny that the 1915-1917 massacre of Armenians by the Ottomans was
genocide, provoking the fury of Turkey, the modern state that emerged
from the Ottoman Empire.
“What France has done is very good. The Lebanese government should
do the same instead of welcoming Turkish troops,” said an elderly
demonstrator who gave his name as Taurus.
“Chirac is on the right track,” said one of the organizers, Sarkis
Katchadorian, referring to French President Jacques Chirac.
Overriding widespread opposition, the Turkish parliament approved a
government motion on September 5 to contribute troops to the U.N.
Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) following a ceasefire that ended
34 days of fighting.
In total, Turkey is to deploy some 700 soldiers in Lebanon, including
troops aboard naval ships. Those that landed on Tuesday were the
first Muslim peacekeepers to arrive in the war-scarred country.
Turkey contests the term “genocide” and strongly opposed the French
bill.
It says 300,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, died in civil
strife when Armenians took up arms for independence and sided with
invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire fell apart during World
War I.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their ancestors were slaughtered
in orchestrated killings, which they maintain can only be seen as
genocide.
The French bill must now go to the Senate, or upper house of
parliament, for another vote.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

CONTROVERSIAL TURKISH WRITER WINS NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE
By Elsa McLaren and agencies
The Times, UK
Oct 12 2006
Novelist Orhan Pamuk, whose prosecution for “insulting Turkishness”
raised concerns about suppression of free speech in Turkey, has today
won the Nobel literature prize.
His novels that have been translated into dozens of languages include
My Name is Red, Snow and The White Castle and deal with the clash
between past and present, East and West, secularism and Islamism,
often against the colourful backdrop of his native Istanbul.
The Swedish Academy said that that the 54-year-old writer “in the
quest for the melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new
symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures.”
Not one to avoid confrontation, Pamuk went on trial for telling a
Swiss newspaper that Turkey was unwilling to deal with two of the most
painful episodes in recent Turkish history: the massacre of Armenians
during the First World War and recent guerrilla fighting in Turkey’s
overwhelmingly Kurdish southeast.
In an ironic twist the announcement today of his win comes at the
same time French MPs voted to approve a draft law that would make
it a criminal offence to deny that Turkish massacres of Armenians in
1915-17 constituted genocide.
Pamuk’s prize marked the first time that a writer from a predominantly
Muslim country has been honoured for literature since 1988, when the
award went to Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz, who died in August.
Pinar Kur, a leading female Turkish novelist said: “For years,
everybody has wished someone from Turkey would win the Nobel.
But it is also known, both in Turkey and abroad, that this prize is
much more related to politics than to literature, it is given more
for political reasons.
It is very unfortunate that this prize announcement was made on the
same day as the [Armenian genocide] Bill in France.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE LEGISLATION
By Lisa Bryant
Voice of America
Oct 12 2006
French deputies vote Thursday on an Armenian genocide bill that has
sparked warnings of economic sanctions from Turkey and concern from
Brussels.
French president Jacques Chirac (C), his wife Bernadette (white
coat)stand in front of the Memorial to the Armenian Genocide, September
30, 2006 in Yerevan The draft legislation would make it a crime to
deny that Armenians were victims of genocide in Turkey during World
War I. Armenians claim that up to 1.5 million of them were victims
of orchestrated killings by Turkey between 1915 and 1917.
In 2001, France passed a bill recognizing the killings as a genocide.
But Armenians living in France – including this regional representative
– say that is not enough.
Speaking on French radio recently, the representative said French
Armenians have been fighting since 2001 to improve the law to sanction
those who deny the Armenian genocide. He accused Turkey of mounting
a large campaign against the issue, as part of its efforts to join
the European Union.
Turkey is indeed displeased with the French legislation. Ankara has
threatened to block French companies from investing in Turkey, among
other economic sanctions. Ankara argues that only 300 Armenians died –
as did just as many Turks – during civil strife nearly a century ago,
when Armenians fought for independence in the eastern Anatolia region.
The French vote also poses another obstacle to Turkey’s efforts to join
the European Union. The Reuters news agency reported Monday that the
EU’s enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn warned Paris against passing
the bill.
France’s conservative government has also called the bill unecessary –
the legislation was sponsored by the opposition Socialists. It would
still have to be passed by the French Senate and approved by French
President Jacques Chirac before it becomes law.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU CONCERNED BY FRENCH GENOCIDE VOTE
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Oct 12 2006
The EU has warned that French moves to make denying the Armenian
genocide a crime could damage membership talks with Turkey.
The lower house of the French parliament voted on Thursday to back
plans that would make denying the WWI genocide by Turkish troops
a crime.
A spokeswoman for European commission enlargement chief Olli Rehn
stressed that the decision did not mean the law had been passed,
and that it still had to be approved by the upper house, the senate.
“But commissioner Rehn has made it clear in the last few days that he
believes the law will prohibit debate and dialogue on reconciliation
on this issue,” she said.
“Reconciliation is a very important EU value, but we have made it
clear that recognition of the Armenian genocide is not a prerequisite
of Turkish EU membership.”
But she did admit that the commission was worried that the French
action could hamper the burgeoning discussion on the genocide in
Turkey.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan has recently established
a commission of historians to establish the truth about the genocide,
which Ankara claims was not a planned extermination but due to the
fighting in WWI.
Some commentators have suggested that the French law would limit
freedom of expression – something for which Turkey has been criticised
in the past, and which Rehn believes still needs to be resolved.
The French vote comes on the same day that Orhan Pamuk, the Turkish
writer acquitted last year of denigrating the Turkish state, was
awarded the Nobel prize for literature.
Rehn called the award “good news for all those who want to speak,
search, learn the truth, pursue dialogue, exchange thoughts and
knowledge – not just in Turkey, but everywhere else, in Europe and
in the world”.
–Boundary_(ID_gBBcV2T4If/nKxFlbMV8e Q)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LE MONDE EDITORIAL ASKS FRENCH DEPUTIES TO REJECT BILL
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Zaman Online, Turkey
Oct 12 2006
France’s Le Monde newspaper called on French deputies not to vote for
the Armenian draft bill before the session at the French parliament
today.
In an editorial, the newspaper termed the draft to penalize anyone who
denies the purported Armenian genocide as an “inappropriate discussion”
and said that politicians must not act as ministries of truth.
Before the critical session, Le Monde’s lead editorial column was on
the draft bill submitted by France’s Socialist Party.
Pointing out this initiative divided all political parties within
themselves, the newspaper said the bill would most probably pass but
it would never come to the agenda of the senate, which is the next
step before the bill becomes law.
In the article, it is said the purported Armenian genocide is not
equal to the Jewish genocide and denying the Jewish genocide was a
kind of anti-Semitism that is penalized by the French law as racism.
Le Monde said this had nothing to do with the so-called Armenian
genocide.
Reiterating that the so-called Armenian genocide had no place in the
penal code, Le Monde said “This is the memory work of the Turkish
nation.”
Quoting Nicolas Sarkozy, who supports the bill, the editorial read
“Freedom of expression is not manipulating history nor denying
historical evidence,” Le Monde replied to the ruling party leader
as follows: “Freedom of expression is neither taking the history and
the Armenian case hostage for political goals.”
Addressing the politicians, Le Monde said “We hope deputies will not
vote for this bill and correct this wrong step.”
In the article entitled “L’Armenie en otage” (Armenia in Hostage), it
is stated the bill puts forward a double problem in terms of history
and Turkey knocking at the door of the European Union. The article
handles the following points in summary:
First of all, the view that “history cannot be written down by laws,”
which was settled since the polemic on the law about “the positive
role of the colonization.”
French historians published a manifesto on this.
The bill opposes this consensus approved by President Jacques Chirac.
The other problem is that the bill will be counterproductive in Turkey,
where the alleged genocide has begun to be discussed, which will give
a trump to the nationalists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Last Updated: Thursday, 12 October 2006, 22:47 GMT 23:47 UK
Why French MPs passed Armenian genocide bill
By Clive Myrie
BBC News, Paris
A dictionary will tell you that genocide is the organised killing of a
people to end their collective existence.
Because of its scope, it requires central planning and a machinery to
implement it.
Genocide was clearly Adolf Hitler’s aim – it was also what the Hutus
of Rwanda desired in 1994.
There are many Turks who will not deny hundreds of thousands of
Armenians were killed in 1915 during a resettlement programme to other
parts of the Ottoman Empire.
But people died, they say, in inter-communal warfare – it was not the
organised killing of a people to end their collective existence. It
was not genocide.
There are many others around the world who beg to differ but some here
in France want to enshrine their view in law.
The lower house of parliament has approved a bill making it a crime to
deny Armenians suffered genocide. No other country has tried this, so
why are the French doing so now?
“Everything is politics” they say and for critics of the French
initiative that is exactly what the controversy is about – politics.
Wooing voters
The bill was proposed by the minority Socialists in the French
Parliament.
There is a presidential election next year and cynics say pushing for
a law criminalising denial of an Armenian genocide plays well with
Armenians here who vote.
Jack Lang, a Socialist MP, believes he knows what is going on and has
broken ranks.
“I believe the Socialist party has adopted an electoralist point of
view. It is not sincere. It is only to get the electoral support of
the Armenian community.”
Cynics say there are others whom those who put forward the bill want
to impress: the majority of French people who do not want Turkey
joining the European Union.
Indeed many French politicians agree a mainly Muslim country has no
place in the EU and this may be driving the anti-Turkish bill.
Cross-party support
But is cynicism over the motives behind the bill fair?
For many French politicians denying the Armenian genocide is like
denying the Holocaust and it was not just Socialists who supported the
bill.
They were joined by a number of centre-right politicians too.
Herve Mariton of the ruling UMP party said:
“The genocide is a fact. It is an absolute disgrace for the 20th
Century, it is an absolute disgrace for humanity, it has to be stated
as such.”
The government of President Jacques Chirac is in a difficult position.
He has suggested Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide should
be a pre-condition of entry into the EU, but he has distanced his
government from the bill.
Principle
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin says it is a bad idea and insists
France wants strong ties with Turkey.
French businesses fear trade will suffer. Exports to Turkey were worth
4.66bn euros last year.
That is why ultimately the bill will never become law.
It has to go to the Senate for a vote and with the government’s
majority in the upper house, it is highly unlikely to pass.
Gesture politics then and a cry from the heart by MPs who believe it
was genocide, or is all this politicking?
And does it make sense to criminalise Armenian genocide denial anyway?
French jails would be overcrowded with Turks, proud of their history.
Those in favour of the bill emphatically say yes, the horrors of the
past must not be forgotten or denied.
The new bill is not about politics, they say, but principle.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ADOPTION OF GENOCIDE BILL ONLY FIRST STEP
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2006 15:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Adoption of the bill criminalizing the denial of
the Armenian Genocide was quite expected, Head of the Department of
Turkey of the NAS of RA, Doctor Ruben Safrastyan told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. In his words, the passage of the bill evidences that the
public and political forces of Europe understand that Turkey may become
an EU member only in case it opens the dark pages of its history.
“The country should find the courage to face the past and accept it
properly,” Safrastyan said.
In his turn Head of Hay Dat Office Kiro Manoyan underscored in a
conversation with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that the adoption of
the Genocide bill is only the first step. “Ratification in the Senate
is the next, while the President has to sign it after that. I do not
think serious problems may arise in the Senate,” Manoyan remarked. As
for the threats by Turkey, the Head of Hay Dat Office underscored that
expected sanctions against France will hit as a boomerang upon Turkey
itself. “I believe that statements of the Turkish party within the past
week are bluff. It is in its own interest to recognize the Armenian
Genocide if it really wants to become an EU member,” Manoyan said.

VIRAGE LOGIC ARMENIA BRANCH DEVELOPS STEADILY
Armenpress
Oct 12 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 12, ARMENPRESS: Adam Gablanian, the chief executive
manager of Virage Logic Armenian branch, told a news conference today
that the branch was the best and most dynamically developing structure
of the company.
Gablanian called the news conference to speak about the 10-th
anniversary of founding Virage Logic.
Gablanian said founded in 1996, Virage Logic Corporation rapidly
established itself as a technology and market leader in providing
advanced embedded memory intellectual property (IP) for the design
of complex integrated circuits.
Now it is a global leader in semiconductor IP platforms comprising
embedded memories, logic. The company also prides itself on providing
superior customer support and was recently named Customer Service
Leader of the Year in the Semiconductor IP Market by Frost & Sullivan.
Headquartered in Fremont, California, Virage Logic has R&D, sales and
support offices worldwide. The Armenian branch was established in 1999
and is second in terms of recruited personnel among all other local
IT companies. It has now 110 highly skilled staff, who have regular
training courses to be kept updated on the most latest achievements.
Gablanian also said the Armenian branch is expected to expand twice
and recruit more engineers and specialists in two years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FRENCH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
PanARMENIAN.Net
12.10.2006 15:07 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The French lower house of parliament, the National
Assembly, approved a bill on Thursday making it a crime to deny that
the Ottoman Turks committed Genocide against Armenians during World
War One. A total of 106 deputies voted in favor of the bill while
19 voted against, France Info radio reports. The amendment of former
minister Patrick Devedjian, authorizing the debate of the historians
on the history of the Genocide, was rejected by the deputies. The
bill has still to be ratified by the upper house, the Senate, and
the President Jacques Chirac before it becomes law.
The bill provides for one year of imprisonment and a fine of 45
thousand Euros for denying the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey
during World War I.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress