PARIS AMBASSDOR RECALLED
Milliyet
Anatolian Times, Turkey
May 10 2006
Press Review
Turkey which had recalled its ambassador in 2001 for 6 months as a
reaction against the approach of the France toward so-called Armenian
genocide, this time recalled Paris Ambassador Osman Koruturk for
consultations.
Before Koruturk, Aydemir Erman, Turkey’s Ambassador in Ottawa
was recalled to Ankara as Canadian Government used the expression
“genocide” on April 24th.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
TURKEY PULLS OUT OF CANADIAN MILITARY EXERCISEPROTESTING PRIME MINISTER’S COMMENTS
By CP
Edmonton Sun, Canada
May 10 2006
TORONTO – The Turkish government has pulled out of an international
military air exercise in Canada to protest Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s characterization of a mass killing of Armenians as a genocide,
the Globe and Mail reports.
Officials with the Turkish embassy confirmed Tuesday that a half-dozen
Turkish jet fighters and support aircraft, which were supposed to
take part in the exercise May 17 to June 24 at Canadian Forces Base
Cold Lake in Alberta, have been withdrawn.
The move comes after the Turkish ambassador to Canada, Aydemir Erman,
was recalled to Ankara for discussions on the situation.
When asked whether the decision to withdraw from the military exercise
stemmed from Harper’s comments, an official said, “I think one can
draw that conclusion at this point.”
“This seems to be related to the not-so-good period of relations we
are going through.”
Turkey’s anger comes from Harper’s recognition last month, on behalf
of the federal government, that Armenians had suffered a genocide at
the hands of Turkey during and after the First World War.
The issue is highly controversial in Turkey, where the government
says the deaths were caused by the war and civil strife.
A spokesman for Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor said the Turks
cancelled their participation on Friday.
“This is a Turkish decision,” said communications director Etienne
Allard.
“Exercise Maple Flag is a major training exercise which brings great
benefits to all participants. Turkey is an important NATO ally and
we hope that they will be able to participate in future exercises.”
The military exercises will involve about 40 aircraft and pilots from
nine countries – Canada, Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands,
Sweden, the United States, New Zealand and Singapore.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
GENOCIDE BILL AT FRENCH CONSTITUTIONAL COMMISSION
By Ali Ihsan Aydin, Paris
Zaman, Turkey
May 10 2006
The controversial bid to penalize those who deny the so-called genocide
in France will be discussed at the French National Parliament’s
Constitutional Commission today.
The motion, expected to be discussed at the National Parliament on
May 18, needs to be approved by the Senate as well to become a law.
If the motion passes, those denying the existence of the so-called
genocide may be fined 45,000 euros and sentenced to one-year in
prison. The French Foreign Ministry in a statement yesterday said
“they are following the developments carefully” concerning Turkey’s
reaction. The bill prepared by the main opposition Socialist Party
(SP) needs to pass the commission in order to reach the parliament.
Last month, the SP decided to bring the bill to the parliament by
using its “right to determine agenda” given to French parties in
proportion to the number of deputies. Five other bills prepared by
parliamentarians from the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and
the SP in this frame were unable to be included on the parliamentary
agenda since 2001. The right to determine the agenda, which normally
belongs to the government, will be invoked by the SP on May 18.
A Turkish split in the SP
Jean Marc Ayrault, the Socialists’ house leader, that party that
prepared the bill, does not hide his concern about the draft.
Ayrault, warning that the bill will be a “source of chaos and
difficulty,” stresses the offer came to the agenda as “a result of
big pressure from the party.”
The left-leaning newspaper Liberation wrote that the bill deepened
the crisis between France and Turkey.
Liberation estimates Ankara harshly reacted to the proposed law when
it recalled Ambassador to France Osman Koruturk “to discuss the issue,”
and “is getting harsher against France.”
The article cites the boycotting of French goods and excluding of
French companies from public tenders came to the agenda in Turkey,
and those who criticize the bill, mostly Turkish intellectuals such
as Baskin Oran, are struggling against official history. Marc Semo,
the newspaper’s expert on Turkey who wrote the article, maintains that
although the majority of historians accept it, Ankara still rejects
the so-called genocide. In the event the bill passes, Turkish-French
relationships, which almost stopped in 2001 due to the Armenian issue,
are again expected to undergo a second crisis.
BACK HOME AGAIN
by Sara Khojoyan
Transitions Online, Czech Republic
May 10 2006
Children’s centers are replacing orphanages and institutions in
Armenia, and helping to get children back in the classroom.
GYUMRI, Armenia | Every day a sister and brother walk through the
bustle of reconstruction in Gyumri, the main city in Armenia’s
northwestern Shirak region, the poorest in Armenia with a poverty
rate of nearly 50 percent.
After school, 15-year-old Parandzem and 10-year-old Levon come to
town from the nearby village of Akhourian and head to the Center for
Community Development and Social Support to do their homework, draw,
or watch television.
Like most children, Levon plays, runs around, or even brags about
the progress he’s making in his lessons. Seeing how diligently this
cheerful little boy does his homework, it’s difficult to believe that
he would never have gone to school but for this center.
“Levon used to go begging. … His father wouldn’t let him attend
school. Our psychologist worked with the father for two months. After
a lot of effort we finally managed to persuade him,” says Geghanush
Gyunashyan, the center’s director. “When Levon came out dressed in
his tidy school uniform to go to school for the first time, his father
got very emotional.”
Photo by Sergey Fidanyan
At the age of 12, Parandzem started school with her brother. “Levon and
I are in the fourth grade now. Studying with the little kids doesn’t
bother me; instead, I can read and write now,” she says proudly.
There are five children in their family, but only Parandzem and Levon
are old enough for school. “They helped two of my children to go to
school, at least, and that’s good,” their mother, Alisa Grigoryan,
says gratefully.
The Center for Community Development and Social Support in Gyumri,
founded by UNICEF in 2001, has already helped 150 children considered
“high risk,” with 45 of them currently under the center’s care.
Gyumri, a major industrial city of more than 200,000 people in
Soviet times, was heavily damaged by the December 1988 earthquake
that killed an estimated 25,000 people. Scars from the earthquake are
evident today despite international aid for reconstruction. Efforts
to rebuild the economy and provide jobs and opportunity have been slow.
“A family’s extreme poverty, parents’ unemployment, a child not
attending school, begging – all these are criteria for being listed
in the high-risk group,” Gyunashyan says. Today in Armenia, there are
about 1,300 children in state and private orphanages, although about
60 percent are not orphans. In addition, more than 10,000 children
attend special schools, about 40 percent of whom are boarders.
“For a country as small as Armenia, the number of children in
orphanages is very big,” says Naira Avetisyan, manager of UNICEF’s
Children’s Rights Protection Project in Armenia. “And for a long time,
the government, instead of helping poor families so that they wouldn’t
send their children to orphanages, encouraged such institutions.”
Government policy has changed, but parents still need more options.
“Parents prefer taking their children to orphanages because conditions
are better there than in their own homes. We tried to find an
alternative,” Avetisyan says.
That’s where the community centers come in.
BABY STEPS
UNICEF supports nine such centers in Armenia, addressing slightly
different needs.
In Vanadzor and Alaverdi, in the north, the centers help children who,
for various reasons, are not in school and who have family problems,
such as parents who do not pay attention to their children’s studies
or keep track of their school attendance.
Four centers operate in the northeast region of Tavush – in Berd,
Ijevan, Dilijan, and Noyemberyan. The one in Dilijan is among the first
centers founded by UNICEF, in 2002. There, disabled children have an
opportunity to socialize with their peers who do not have disabilities.
“If a child hasn’t started school at the correct age, they do their
best in the center to help him overcome that psychological barrier. A
child is provided with elementary knowledge as well as skills to help
him eventually enter school. Younger children receive help with getting
ready for school because there is no preschool institution for children
with disabilities. This way it’s easier to start attending school,”
Avetisyan says.
The Tavush centers offer physical and psychological therapy, and
social and legal aid to disabled children as well as disability
pension registration. And, most importantly, it tries to integrate
disabled children into society at an early age and raise awareness
of the problems that disabled children face.
With UNICEF’s support, centers were opened in 2005 in the southern town
of Masis and in the Avan community in the capital city of Yerevan. In
Masis most children in the center have serious disabilities and were
not given the opportunity to attend school.
They are taught skills, such as weaving or embroidery, that might help
them contribute eventually to their families’ incomes. The center in
Avan houses younger children with disabilities, mainly ages 3 to 6.
“These are not called day-care centers because many people associate
those with care only. The centers encourage the idea of a child staying
with his or her family. At the same time parents are provided with
basic instructions on upbringing, care, and rights,” Avetisyan says.
A GROWING NEED …
After the earthquake of 1988, the number of at-risk children rose
considerably, according to Diana Martirosova, a specialist at the
National Statistics Service. “Today it’s children who suffer from
poverty most,” she says.
Back in Gyumri, one of those children is green-eyed Hovhannes, who
writes a greeting card to his late mother. “Dear Mother, I want you
to be happy. I hope that you never get sick or leave me alone: In a
word, I congratulate you on 8 March,” International Women’s Day.
Hovhannes’ father left the family when his mother was still alive.
After she died, his only caregivers were a grandmother and the
center’s workers.
“I like drawing most,” Hovhannes says. He draws what he misses in real
life – a fairytale, three-story castle, painted in red and orange,
with open windows. A spruce stands next to the castle, with the two
peaks of Mt. Ararat, Sis and Masis, in the background.
Sometimes it’s the parents who must be helped before the children
can be. Fair-haired Gohar is in the second grade, though she should
be in the third: Her mother kept her out of school for a year so she
could beg. It took the center’s workers a year to convince the mother
to let Gohar attend school. The center helped her mother register
for her state allowance and find seasonal employment, and Gohar was
sent to school. “Today Gohar reads a lesson right after the teacher,”
says Gayane Sahakyan, a social worker at the center.
Apart from doing lessons and drawing, children here learn to weave
tapestries and work with computers.
Artyom is an Adobe Photoshop fan and has combined a photo of himself
with those of his favorite car and his favorite actress, Angelina
Jolie. He was taught the skills by a student volunteer from the Gyumri
campus of the Yerevan State Academy of Arts.
“We have 15 to 20 volunteers, as a rule,” says director Gyunashyan.
“But we have fewer paid employees: two psychologists, two sociologists,
two tutors, a doctor, and a lawyer.”
Artavazd has been in the center since the summer of 2005. He quickly
became one of the best pupils in the weaving club and a favorite of
Marine Avetisyan, the teacher.
“It’s especially boys who like weaving,” Avetisyan says. “We weave
three days a week, four hours every time. The purpose, however,
is not to make them masters but merely to distract them, make them
forget their family’s concerns, as well as those put on their weak
little shoulders.”
The center’s administrators have worries of their own. Gyunashyan’s
first concern is the lack of a permanent home. “We’ve been renting
this damp two-story house for $800 a month. It would be great to get
some support for building a new house for the center,” she says.
Food is another concern. The center gets only 150 drams (U.S. 34 cents)
to feed each child per day. “We’re thankful to the German Red Cross,
who allocates that money, but it’s way too little,” she says.
UNICEF’s Naira Avetisyan says, “Such centers are highly effective. In
the Tavush region, for example, where the centers provide services
to disabled children and encourage them to live at home, very few
children are sent to orphanages. The same is true in Gyumri: If it
hadn’t been for the center, most [of the] children would have been
in orphanages a long time ago.”
Gyunashyan estimates that her center is 60 percent to 70 percent
effective; only four children have been sent to orphanages in the
past four years. “But we’ve managed to withdraw Andranik from there,
and taken little Siranoush’s case to court,” she says, recounting
the stories of these four children one by one.
… AN AMBITIOUS PLAN
What UNICEF has started, the Armenian government plans to expand,
with 25 such centers slated to open in the next 10 years, according
to Avetisyan.
Filaret Berikyan, Armenia’s deputy minister of labor and social
affairs, says serious reforms are under way in the area of children’s
rights and the government is anxious to redirect needy children from
orphanages and institutions into community centers and foster families.
“Unlike in the times of the Soviet Union, when orphanages and other
similar institutions were built for these children, now [the solutions]
are family-based. Human history has proven that the best place for
children to grow up is with their family,” Berikyan says.
The first two government centers are being established under a pilot
program of reform in children’s care supported by Japan’s Social
Development Fund.
One of the centers, in the Ajapnyak district of Yerevan, opened in
November while still under construction. Through March, staff there
compiled a database of more than 300 children who fall into the
high-risk category.
“We’ve been working with the first hundred children on the list,”
says center director Seda Ghaltaghchyan.
As in UNICEF’S Gyumri center, here a team consisting of a social
worker, a psychologist, a tutor, and a doctor and lawyer, if necessary,
works with each child. The center has 20 employees and is guided by
a governing council that meets monthly.
“We make headway every month and children are removed from the
high-risk list. Sometimes 19 children of the 100 are withdrawn,
sometimes 20 are, and sometimes none are. We keep updating the list,”
Ghaltaghchyan says.
The state budget allocates 500 drams for a child’s food each day,
and 2,100 for other expenses. The center gets around 8 million drams
a month, or $18,000.
The center in Gyumri, which performs more functions than that in
Ajapnyak, gets about $15,000 to $20,000 a month, Avetisyan says.
The second state-financed center will also be in Gyumri, where
construction is almost complete. A director will be chosen at the
end of May and the center will open in June.
Seeing Hovhannes and Gohar on their way to school in the morning,
few would suspect that these two children, neatly dressed in black
and white, are in the high-risk group. With help of the day-care
center in Gyumri, today they are pupils instead of beggars.
Sara Khojoyan is working on her master’s degree in journalism at
Yerevan State University. She also works as a reporting intern for
the ArmeniaNow online newspaper.
?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=166& amp;NrSection=3&NrArticle=17038
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
“THE US AND RUSSIA RIVALING FOR THE LAURELS OF PEACEMAKER IN THE KARABAKH CONFLICT”: NAGORNO-KARABAKH PRESS DIGEST
Regnum, Russia
May 10 2006
Consultations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
PanARMENIAN.Net reports the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs Yuri Merzlyakov
(Russia), Steven Mann (US) and Bernard Fassier (France) to hold
consultations in Moscow on May 2-3. Russian Deputy FM Grigory Karasin
met with the co-chairs and the personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk May 2. The sides discussed the
current issues for the Karabakh conflict settlement, reports the
press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
OSCE MG Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov says that it is the first
time the co-chairs are consulting behind closed doors. He says
that they will consider how to settle the conflict and how to bring
the sides closer to agreement. The co-chairs will also discuss new
proposals, will try to reach a consensus over the moot points and will
present this formula to the sides during their upcoming visit to the
region. 525th Daily (Baku) says that the failure of the Rambouillet
meeting and the following inaction in the peace process show that
the sides are not willing to concede. This is also proved by the last
statements of the co-chairs. What they are saying implies that they
have no more new proposals to keep the process moving. The daily
reports that during the Azeri president’s Washington meeting last
week US Co-Chair Steven Mann said that they were beginning to see some
effective basis for compromise. He did not specify what basis he was
talking about but just said that they were planning not full and final
resolution, but stage-by-stage settlement of some moot points. The
daily says that, in principle, this is in line with Azerbaijan’s
stage-by-stage scenario, but, with the present differences between
the sides, it is not clear how much practicable this “stage-by-stage
resolution” is.
APA news agency (Baku) reports that on May 3, after the OSCE MG
co-chairs’ Moscow consultations with the personal representative of
the OSCE chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk, French Co-Chair Bernard
Fassier went to Yerevan and then to Baku. APA says that in Moscow
the mediators specified some details, which they have to formulate
and present to the conflicting sides.
Asked “what proposals has OSCE MG French Co-Chair Bernard Fassier
brought to Yerevan and how good will they be for the Karabakh peace
process?” Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan says: “Very much will depend on
the political will of Azerbaijan. I don’t want to link this all with
Azerbaijan, but Armenia has already taken definite steps, and, if we
want success in the matter, Azerbaijan should take them too.” A1+
reports Oskanyan to say that after their individual visits to the
region the OSCE MG co-chairs have come to a conclusion that the
presidents should meet once again, but they have not yet decided
where and when.
Commenting on Bernard Fassier’s “one more tour of the region” 525th
Daily says that the fact that he came alone proves that the MG have
not yet found a new optimal formula of how to resume the peace process
and need some more consultations with the sides. The daily says that
after Fassier’s visit to the region the MG will meet again – in either
Washington or Paris – to finalize the formula and to present it to
the sides. For this purpose, they will organize a new meeting of the
Azeri and Armenian presidents in June-July.
Fassier’s consultations with the Azeri leadership will mostly probably
held Mar 5 or May 6, says Zerkalo daily (Baku). The co-chairs have,
in fact, stopped visiting the region together. Even though they
all said quite recently that after the Moscow consultations they
will jointly visit Baku and Yerevan, what we see now is, in fact,
a shuttle diplomacy by two ally-co-chairs – the US and France. After
their individual visits to the region, the US and French co-chairs –
who seem to have formed a perfect tandem – just inform their Russian
colleague about the results. It seems that the Russian co-chair has –
at least temporarily – moved away – or has been removed from the peace
talks, says the daily. The latter is quite possible – for, as far
as the daily knows, the decision to stop joint visits to the region
was made not in Moscow by the co-chairs themselves but in Washington
by the Department of States. The daily says that before the Moscow
consultations the US DS bureau representative for Europe and Eurasia
Terry Davidson said that there would be no joint visit right after the
consultations, while just a day before Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov
stressed that he was not planning to visit the region alone without
his colleagues. The daily also reminds that before the Rambouillet
meeting it was Merzyakov who was the most talkative of the three.
The US, together with the other two co-chairs of the OSCE MG,
continues its efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict. It gives
high importance to its cooperation with Russia and hopes that that
country will play a positive role in the matter, 525th Daily reports
US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Daniel Fried
as saying during debates at the Brookings Institution (Washington). He
said that the establishment of peace and stability and the resolution
of conflicts in the South Caucasus is the priority of the US’ regional
policy, and Russia is also interested in this. Fried said that in
this sphere the US and Russia cooperate mostly in the Karabakh peace
process, and, despite pessimism by some analysts and media, there is
no reason for US-Russian tensions in this region.
Still, the US and Russia are taking no practical steps to resolve
the conflict, says the daily. Both stress that the sides must resolve
their conflict themselves and expect relevant initiatives from them.
On the other hand, however ardently they may deny this, the two
super powers are actually rivaling for the laurels of peacemaker in
the conflict, which makes the possibility of their joint mediation
rather disputable.
The failure in Rambouillet was natural. The same failure awaits any
new attempt to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to
the scheme “territories/security zone in exchange for NK status,”
the political reviewer of the Noyan Tapan information-analytical
center David Petrossyan said at the Apr 28 Caucasus 2005 international
conference. This scheme – saying that the Armenian side should withdraw
its troops from the security zone around Nagorno-Karabakh and then
Azerbaijan should agree to hold a referendum on NK’s status – is
unacceptable for either side. This scheme was most appropriate in 1994,
after the conclusion of the cease fire agreement – when after their
military collapse the Azeris were ready to agree that Karabakh was lost
for them for ever, and Armenia did not yet have a doctrine that the
territories controlled by the Armenians or the “zone of security” must
in no way be given back to the Azeris. But in the next two post-war
years, while Russia and the OSCE were sorting out their relations,
the two societies had developed two quite opposite doctrines: in Baku
– the doctrine of “postponed revenge,” in Yerevan – the doctrine of
“security zone,” says Petrossyan. He says that the present Armenian
and Azeri leaders will not agree to the “territories/security zone
against status” scheme as this agreement runs contrary to the above
two doctrines and may lose Kocharyan and Aliyev their offices. The
idea of international peacekeeping is not popular either. So, today
the mediators have no alternative to the above doctrines. There is a
serious crisis of ideas in the negotiating process, and there is an
urgent need for new ones.
Azg daily publishes the principles of the Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), proclaimed by its leader, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan. He says: “The Rambouillet talks did not fail – simply, the
sides failed to reach agreement on some key issues. Nagorno-Karabakh
Republic must not be part of Azerbaijan, the NKR population must be
given security guarantees, NKR and Armenia must have common border,
the NKR problem must not be solved at the expense of Armenia’s
borders and NKR must be a party to the negotiating process. That’s
RPA’s position on the Karabakh conflict settlement.”
Zerkalo daily calls “a sensation” the statement of OSCE MG US
Co-Chair Steven Mann that an effective basis for compromise has
been found. One important principle is that the MG has given up
its attempts to resolve all the problems once and for all. Now the
approach is opposite: moving forward step by step and leaving some
complex issues for the future. In fact, Mann has made public the MG’s
mechanism of the Karabakh conflict settlement. The daily links Mann’s
words with the “new settlement proposals” mentioned by Azeri FM Elmar
Mamedyarov for the first time after his meeting with US Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice, and with the fact that the selfsame “new
proposals” were presented by Rice to Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan in
Washington. The daily reports both sides to approve of them.
The daily’s reviewer Rauf Mirkadyrov concludes that the question is
about the proposal made by the co-chairs of the Dartmouth Conference
workgroup on regional conflicts Harold Saunders (ex deputy of
Henry Kissinger) and Vitaly Naumkin (well-known Russian diplomat,
orientalist) during their recent visit to the region. That is, the
question is about “a framework agreement” on peaceful settlement
of the Armenian-Azeri conflict – a framework that will include a
whole series of “intermediate agreements” on withdrawal of troops,
return of refugees, provision of security. Nagorno-Karabakh is given
“an intermediate status” to be finalized at the concluding stage of
the conflict settlement. The whole point is in Nagorno-Karabakh’s
“intermediate status,” which, though not internationally legalized,
makes the NK Armenians a party to the negotiating process and no longer
isolated and allows foreign states and international organizations
to establish “legal” relations with them. “The sheep is safe, the
wolves satisfied” – at least, for some time: Baku can parade its no
responsibility for NK’s future status, Yerevan can calm down its
public that the “intermediate status” makes Arkady Gukasyan “the
recognized leader of an unrecognized state.” But let’s not forget
that there is nothing more permanent than something temporary.
Besides, we have already witnessed something of the kind in Kosovo.
There too “unrecognized authorities” have been given “an intermediate
status.” And what has come of it – we all know.
The director of the Caucasian Institute of Mass Media, political
scientist Alexander Iskandaryan says than in the Karabakh peace
process the conflicting sides continue their efforts to freeze the
conflict. Karabakh is just something to talk about. Everybody says
that when a political decision is made, the process will get more
specific. But all the parties concerned perfectly know that no
political decision will be made, says Iskandaryan.
The research worker of the Institute of World Economy and International
Relations of the Academy of Sciences of Russia Alexander Krylov says
that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is like the Israeli-Palestinian
or Taiwan conflicts, which have stayed unresolved for many decades
already. “I would call them slack conflicts, conflicts that will not be
resolved in the near future. The talks are underway, then they stop,
then everything takes its normal course,” says Krylov. He does not
think that the US-Azeri relations over Iran will have an impact on
the Karabakh peace process.
There are more common than different points between the
Israeli-Palestinian and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts, the director of
the Tel Aviv Institute of Eastern Europe and the CIS, Knesset member
Alexander Tsinker says to PanARMENIAN.Net. “Geographically, Israel
and Nagorno-Karabakh cannot ‘go away’ from Arabs and Azerbaijan,
respectively. Besides, this is a conflict of civilizations: Israel
conflicts with Arabs, Christians with Islam.”
At that Tsinker notes that Israel is already trying to resolve its
problem by demarcating its border. “In due time the international
community will recognize this border. The same thing may expect
Karabakh.”
Azeri political expert Oktay Atakhan says that all this activity in
the Karabakh problem comes from the interests of the US who wants
to deal a strike on Iran. “And today as never before the US wants
Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach whatever agreement so it can use
their territories as outposts for its strikes on Iran. The objective
of this new political game is to bring Armenia and Azerbaijan to
agreement and to return five districts. For example, they will start
from Fizuli, then Jebrail, then Agdam. The co-chair-states want to do
this stage by stage, with each stage taking one month. For example:
in a month one district, say, Fizuli, is liberated and protected by
international peacekeepers. But the key point is that the US will
use this one month for arranging its outposts in that district and
in 1-2 months to do what it wants to do against Iran.” (Echo)
Citing RFE/RL, Haykakan Zhamanak daily reports NATO Parliamentary
Assembly President Pierre Lellouche to invite the Armenian and Azeri
presidents to take part in the PA meeting in Paris in late May. “I
have been myself, just before I was president of the Assembly, to see
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev.
We are trying to help in finding a solution. The Caucasus needs
stability. Both Azerbaijan and Armenia need to do something else other
than just building weapons and being in this state of cold war,”
Lellouche said in a talk with RFE/RL Azeri correspondent. “I have
been in the trenches in Nagorno-Karabakh and I know how difficult
it is for the two nations. So, I have invited Kocharyan and Aliyev
to Paris because I’m hoping that the two presidents will work it out
through negotiations and the war is not a solution.”
Aliyev’s visit to the US
Commenting on the results of his talks with US President George Bush,
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev says that he has told Bush that the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved exclusively in line with
the international law. “Azerbaijan’s occupied lands must be given
back, the refugees must be allowed to go back to their homes and
security guarantees must be provided. There are no changes in our
positions. And President Bush said that the US wants the problem to
be solved peacefully,” says Aliyev. (Day.Az)
Azeri FM Elmar Mamedyarov calls Aliyev’s Washington talks “very
useful.” He says that the sides have discussed “global and regional
problems.” Special attention was given to the Karabakh conflict and
the situation over Iran. Azerbaijan advocates peaceful stage-by-stage
resolution of the conflict in the framework of the “Prague Process.”
This means that the Armenian troops must be withdrawn from
Nagorno-Karabakh and nearby districts, the territory demined,
refugees taken back to their homes and only then the status of NK
be determined. Mamedyarov says that NK’s status must be considered
jointly with the region’s Armenian and Azeri communities, i.e. with
the Azeris who lived in the region before the conflict. (525th Daily)
US Congressmen Joe Knollenberg, Frank Pallone, George Radanovich and
Adam Shiff have urged US President George Bush to condemn Azerbaijan’s
actions against Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. They say that Azerbaijan
is waging a “cold war” against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Azeri
authorities are threatening with war and cultivating anti-Armenian
moods. Azerbaijan’s actions are breaking stability in the South
Caucasus. In defiance of international criticism, Azeri President
Ilham Aliyev is reiterating that Azerbaijan may start a new military
attack on Karabakh. The congressmen also remind Bush that in Dec
2005 Azeri soldiers destroyed Armenian cultural monuments in Old Juga
(Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan) (ARKA)
Haykakan Zhamanak daily calls “a sensation” the statement of Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev before his meeting with US President George
Bush that Azerbaijan will not support the US if it starts hostilities
against Iran. This statement was contrary to the general unanimity that
Aliyev was invited to the US exactly and exclusively for discussing
Azerbaijan’s involvement in the anti-Iranian program.
Thereby, Aliyev has spoiled the US’ plans. Commenting on Aliyev’s
statement, political expert Agasi Arshakyan says that the US wants
to deploy its troops all along the Azeri-Iranian border so that the
Iranian opposition be sure that Iran’s territorial integrity will
not be broken. That is, America needs this to prevent the possible
attempts by the Northern Iranian Azeris to reunify with their
“mother-Azerbaijan.” This is certainly not what Azerbaijan and,
possibly, Turkey want, says Arshakyan.
Azeri independent analyst Ilgar Mamedov says that for the first time
Azerbaijan has got a chance to speak about Karabakh in the context
of the Iranian problem, and this may open up new prospects in the
Karabakh conflict settlement. (RL)
Aravot daily gives several remarkable statements on Karabakh from
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s speech in the Carnegie Fund Foreign
Affairs Council. “We hope that, as a super power and OSCE MG co-chair,
the US will help to resolve the Karabakh conflict and to finally
establish peace in the region.” “Today the Karabakh problem is
the key obstacle to Azerbaijan’s development. In everything else
we are doing brilliantly: our budget is growing, energy programs
are enlarging.” Asked what concessions the winner Armenia can make,
Aliyev says: “First of all, in my opinion, Armenia has not won the
war. Everybody knows that without Russians Armenians would never be
able to occupy our territories. Besides, the war is not over yet. I
think it’s time for the Armenian authorities to make a decision and
to try to imagine what will become of Armenia in 10-15 years if the
problem stays unresolved.” “Azerbaijan’s future is easy to predict:
it will become a strong, prospering country with strong economy
and society, a country one better be a neighbor with.” Aliyev says
that peace is good for all the sides. In exchange for concessions,
Armenia will get communications, links with Russia, which “is very
important for it,” access to regional programs. The Nagorno-Karabakh
people will be allowed to live in peace. “Our firm position is that
the problem must be solved in the context of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity,” says Aliyev and suggests his settlement scenario: “The
Karabakh Armenians will be given high autonomy in the framework of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in analogy with many European
countries. They must be given strong political guarantees that peace
in region will be irreversible.” Aliyev made these statements in
Washington on the eve of his meeting with Bush. So Aravot assumes
that he might have been encouraged for this.
Azeri political expert Rasim Musabekov gives an interview to Day.Az
(abridged – REGNUM):
“What an effect will Ilham Aliyev’s visit to the US have on the
Karabakh conflict settlement?”
Obviously, it is exactly the US who is trying to give the Karabakh
peace process a new impulse in the context of the so-called Prague
process. And, if not Bush personally, then the deputy secretary of
state and the US co-chair of the OSCE MG, have expressed optimism in
the matter. They say that the positive result is very much possible.
The co-sponsorship of a strong power like the US may prove decisive
for the process. Furthermore, the US is acting in close constructive
cooperation with the EU and Russia. Aliyev says that he has told
Bush about our concerns and that we can’t concede beyond the limits
of the international law. I think that this time our arguments and
expectations might well be given more understanding.
When will Armenian President Robert Kocharyan visit the US and what
an effect will his visit have?
I can’t say anything specific, but, according to the Armenian media,
Kocharyan is getting ready and will visit the US soon. In economy
and energy, Armenia is of no interest for the US. As Moscow’s loyal
ally, Yerevan can’t be helpful in the regional problems either. So,
the only reason why the US has invited Kocharyan is to push through
its settlement proposals and to show balance in its relations with
the conflicting sides.
Armenian FM Vardan Oskanyan says that all the three OSCE MG co-chairs
will visit the region in May and that the Armenian and Azeri presidents
may meet in June. Is there any sense in the presidents’ meeting if
the sides are not ready for concessions?
If we take the package resolution, no progress is possible because of
incompatibility of positions, but in the context of the stage-by-stage
resolution (exactly what the co-chairs are proposing), there seemingly
are some formulas that can set the process afoot. And dodgy and
stubborn as they are, the Armenians will hardly succeed this time in
the face of the joint will of the US, Russia and the EU.
PACE President Rene van der Linden says that the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict must be resolved, first of all, for the sake of the younger
generation. Whole generations of Armenians and Azeri have already
grown up without seeing each other. How can one hope that the Karabakh
problem can be solved on this basis?
This factor is certainly present. But more important is the
understanding that Azerbaijan’s growing economic power with the
continuing occupation of its lands will inevitably lead to a new war.
None of the great and regional powers wants this. That’s why they are
trying to help the process out of deadlock. Indeed, there still are
people in Azerbaijan and Armenia who have the experience of peaceful
co-existence, and until it is too late we must use this potential
for building and restoring bridges of confidence.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
HISTORIANS WARN FRENCH PARLIAMENT: DO NOT CENSOR HISTORY
By Selcuk Gultasli, Brussels
Zaman, Turkey
May 10 2006
Famous American and European historians have sided against the bill,
which would make denial of the so-called Armenian genocide a punishable
offence, to be discussed in the French Parliament on May 18.
Historians say if the bill is passed, freedom of speech will be harmed
and history will have been “censored.”
Lobbies in Brussels make jokes that the French parliament is being
influenced by the 301st clause in the Turkish criminal code which is
frequently criticized by the European Union (EU).
Professor Eric Zurcher, a famous Dutch professor and an expert on
Turkey, considers getting stuck on the word “genocide” is unfortunate.
Emeritus Professor of Political Science Guenter Lewy, who became
the target of Armenians because of his recently published book
“The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey: A Disputed Genocide,”
wants history to be left to the historians.
Britain’s Dr. Andrew Mango says it is “an insult to pass such a
ridiculous bill.” The three important academics responded to questions
posed by Zaman.
Jewish origin American scholar Lewy says he also opposes the laws
that suggest criminalizing the denial of the Jewish Holocaust.
“Parliaments should discuss the laws, not history. The Armenian
“genocide” bill in France is not as logical as the Holocaust oriented
laws. The freedom of speech in democratic societies should also be
applied to fools speaking unwisely. I oppose the existence of such
laws wherever they are – in France, in Germany, in Switzerland or
in Turkey. Such laws could have functioned in Germany after the Nazi
defeat in 1945; however, they are not needed anymore.”
Lewy says he is not concerned about being arrested in France over
his book. “If French judges want to censor history, including all the
history books published all over the world,” he said, “they will be
insulted by everyone siding with the academic world, and with free
and uncensored researches.
Algeria and Congo are forgotten
Professor Zurcher considers the French bill is objectionable in two
aspects: Primarily historians should avoid writing history; and the use
of the word “genocide” is a hindrance to any research being conducted
on the events in 1915. He also believes Armenians were exposed to
ethnic cleansing and if it is to be compared to any other event, it
can be more likened to the Serbian massacres in Bosnia and Kosovo,
not to the Jewish holocaust.
Zurcher points out that the French law could be spread throughout
Europe, but the issue, he says, cannot be made a condition for
Turkey’s entry to the European Union. “What France did in Algeria;
Belgium in the Congo and in my country, The Netherlands, as well as in
the Far-East, have never been discussed by the EU; so then why Turkey?”
British scholar Andrew Mango puts the so-called Armenian genocide
allegations aside and considers that freedom of speech will be
restricted after the bill becomes law.
Mango says, “Such a law is unlikely to be exercised in my country,
Britain. Britain even allows you to deny the Jewish Holocaust because
we highly appreciate the speech freedom.” He says defending such a
law is an “insult against freedom.”
When asked whether he will hesitate about traveling to France if the
bill becomes law, Mango replied: “I was asked the same question in my
previous France visit. I said, ‘I will not talk about the Armenian
case here because there is no freedom of speech in your country.’ I
will probably not talk about these issues in France anymore.” The
British historian says enemies of Turkey consider the EU bid as an
“opportunity.” Don’t the Greek Cypriots do the same thing? Turkey
portrays itself as if it is ready to accept everything for EU
membership.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
ARMENIAN BILL WOULD SEND PARIS TO ECHR
By Anadolu News Agency (aa), Paris
Zaman, Turkey
May 10 2006
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judge Riza Turmen predicts
that if the French legislative proposal to criminalize denial of
the so-called Armenian genocide becomes law, the ECHR will inundated
with cases.
The 10th article of the European Human Rights Convention “guarantees
freedom of expression and thought,” reminded Turmen, noting that any
individual sentenced after the legalization of the bill might take
France to the European Court.
The Turkish Judge also suggested that the ECHR might approve an
investigation on such applications.
French historians had earlier put forward, “Such an offer might
impinge on freedom of expression, and therefore; legalization will
turn history teachers into prisoners.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
NKR PRESIDENT AND DELEGATION OF RUSSIAN “STRATEGIC CULTURE” FUND DISCUSS PROSPECTS OF KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 10 2006
STEPANAKERT, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. NKR President
Arkadi Ghukasian received on May 9 Vladimir Maximenko, the Director
General of the Russian “Strategic Culture” fund and experts Alexander
Krilov and Andrei Areshev.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NKR President’s acting Press
Secretary, participants of the meeting touched upon the present
approaches and viewpoints among the Russian experts’ and information
circles, concerning the essence of the Karabakh conflict and prospects
of settlement.
RA FOREIGN MINISTRY’S PRESS SECRETARY HAMLET GASPARIAN APPOINTED ENVOY TO FRANCE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 10 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 10, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Hamlet Gasparian,
the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
was appointed the envoy to France. In 1999-2002 he also officiated
in France as the RA Embassy’s Advisor. H.Gasparian has occupied the
post of the Press Secretary since autumn, 2003. In 2005 he, at the
same time, coordinated works of organizing days of Italy to Armenia.
During his this mission trip, H.Gasparian will participate in holding
the Year of Armenia in France. According to the information submitted
to Noyan Tapan by the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information
Department, H.Gasparian combined during his activity professions of a
journalist and diplomate. In 1991-1995 he was the editor of the “Azg”
newspaper, in 1997-1998 he headed the National Television of Armenia.
He is an author of numerous articles, which were published in press
of Armenia and Diaspora, he formed and edited books, has translations
from French as well. By the RA President’s decree of late last year,
H.Gasparian was confired the dimplomatic degree of the RA Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. Obligations of the RA
Foreign Ministry’s Press Secretary are provisionally put on Vladimir
Karapetian, the Chief of the Department for Ties with Media of the
Foreign Ministry’s Press and Information Department.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
CASPIAN COUNTRY RICH IN PETROLEUM
By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent
Korea Times, South Korea
May 10 1006
BAKU, Azerbaijan _ The Republic of Azerbaijan is a petroleum-rich
country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. It gained independence from
the former Soviet Union in 1991 amid political turmoil and against
a backdrop of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Dubbed the “Land of Fire,” the country has been famed for its oil
and natural gas resources since ancient times, when Zoroastrians _
for whom fire was an important symbol _ erected temples around burning
gas vents in the ground.
At the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Azerbaijan is
bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia
to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south.
In the 19th century, the country experienced an unprecedented oil boom,
which attracted vast international investment. At the beginning of
the 20th century, it was supplying almost half the world’s petroleum.
Since the 1990s, Western companies have invested millions of dollars
in developing the country’s oil and gas reserves, though critics say
the economy as a whole has not benefited as much as it might have done.
The period has also been marred by bloody conflict. As the Soviet
Union collapsed, the predominantly Armenian population of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region stated their intention to secede from
Azerbaijan.
War broke out and the Armenians of Karabakh took control of the region
and surrounding territory. A ceasefire was signed in 1994.
Azerbaijan lost 16 percent of its territory and must support some
528,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict.
Some one-seventh of its territory remains occupied, while 300,000
other refugees are scattered around the country.
Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001,
although 93 percent of its 8.4-million population is Muslim,
three-fourths of them Shiites.
The country is formally an emerging democracy, but under strong
authoritarian rule. Often accused of rampant corruption and
election-rigging, the country’s ruling circles walk a tightrope
between Russian and Western regional geo-strategic interests.
South Korea established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in March
1992, but did not have a diplomatic mission there until last March.
A senior official accompanying Roh on his trip to Baku said
the president’s three-day official visit to Azerbaijan has great
significance since it will lay the cornerstone of Seoul’s diplomatic
efforts in the region.
Roh’s Azerbaijan visit is the first by a South Korean head of state
to the Caspian country.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress