Author: Emil Lazarian

EU DEADLOCKED IN WAR OF NERVES OVER TURKEY TALKS
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand
Oct 5 2005
04.10.05
LUXEMBOURG – The start of Turkey’s historic accession talks with
the European Union was in jeopardy last night after EU foreign
ministers failed to overcome Austrian demands for an alternative to
full membership.
EU president Britain said ministers would try again for a deal
overnight but said the planned opening ceremony today was uncertain
and could slip.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said a planned review of Croatia’s
progress towards EU entry talks had been postponed and would have to
wait until Turkey was sorted out.
“It is a frustrating situation, but I hope and pray that we may be
able to reach agreement,” Straw told a post-midnight local time news
conference after five hours of tough wrangling with Austria.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn played down the threat to
Turkey’s 42-year-old entry bid, saying: “I am confident we will have
a positive outcome and start negotiations [today].”
But a Turkish official said nerves in Ankara were “extremely stretched
… Every minute that passes is making things more bitter and it
won’t be nice starting negotiations with all these bruises.”
With Austrian voters overwhelmingly hostile to Turkey’s entry, Foreign
Minister Ursula Plassnik waged a lone battle demanding that the EU
spell out an alternative to full membership, not only in case Turkey
did not meet the criteria but also if the EU felt unable to absorb
the vast, populous, poor Muslim state.
Diplomats said the 24 other members insisted they could not make
any change to the central plank that the aim of the talks would
be accession.
“Isolation and pressure is never going to work in politics. It’s not
going to work inside the European Union, certainly not. The union
should have and must have a different style,” Plassnik said after
three tense meetings with Straw.
Asked whether Austria was prepared to veto the start of talks, she
said it took all 25 member states to agree.
The EU has already irked Ankara by demanding that it recognise Cyprus
soon and open its ports and airports to traffic from the divided
Mediterranean island.
The European Parliament compounded Turkish irritation last week by
saying Turkey must recognise the 1915 killings of Armenians under
Ottoman rule as an act of genocide before it can join the wealthy
European family.
Fanning Turkish anxiety, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy
cast doubt on whether Turkey would ever join the EU, saying the talks
might end in an enhanced partnership instead.
Douste-Blazy, who stayed away from yesterday’s meeting, said that
Turkey was a long way from having the same values, laws and human
rights as the European Union.
“I think it will be very hard for Turkey because we will be asking
a lot. We’re asking it to change its laws.”

KARABAKH HOLDS ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT
By Emil Danielyan
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 4 2005
The unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is hosting another
international chess tournament which has brought together some of
the world’s leading chess players and is touted by organizers as the
first event of its kind in the South Caucasus.
The ten-day tournament, sponsored by the Karabakh government and the
Chess Academy of Armenia, got underway at the weekend, with two dozen
players from 11 countries, including the United States, Russia and
China, vying for the top prizes in two separate competitions.
“This tournament is very significant for the chess world,” one of
the organizers, Aram Hajian, told RFE/RL from Stepanakert on Tuesday.
“There has never been a tournament of this strength held anywhere
in the Caucasus,” he said, pointing to the average rating of the
participants. “It’s one of the top chess events happening this year
anywhere in the world.”
The most prominent and highly rated of the contenders is Vassily
Ivanchuk, Ukraine’s top grandmaster who has won European chess
championships in the past. Among other renowned participants are the
veteran Russian grandmaster Alexey Dreev, the reigning U.S. champion
Hikaru Nakamura and one of China’s top players, Bu Xiangzhi.
Armenia is represented at the tournament by its highest rated player,
Levon Aronian, and four other grandmasters. All of them are members
of its national chess team, one of the best in the world. The small
South Caucasus nation boasts 19 grandmasters, the largest per-capita
number of top-class chess players in the world.
Not all of the participants of the Stepanakert tournament are men.
Kateryna Lahno, a 15-year-old Ukrainian and the current women’s
champion of Europe, was deemed strong enough to compete with the
male players.
It is the second international chess tournament held in the
Armenian-controlled territory in less than two years. The first such
event took place in Stepanakert in March 2004 and was dedicated to
the 75th birth anniversary of the late Tigran Petrosian, the Armenian
former world champion who dominated the game in the 1960s. It was
opened by Boris Spassky, the Russian-born grandmaster who had defeated
and replaced Petrosian as world champion in 1969.
The “honorary guest” at the current tournament is another former
chess heavyweight, Lajos Portisch of Hungary.
The 2004 tournament drew protests from Azerbaijan which always
denounces the presence of foreign dignitaries in Karabakh as an
affront to its sovereignty over the disputed region. Reaction from
Baku is expected to be the same this time as well.
Hajian, who is a member of the Yerevan-based Chess Academy’s
governing board, believes that the ongoing tournament is a “very
positive image-building event” for the Karabakh Armenians. “Karabakh
has become well known to the world as the location for a war for
self-determination for the Armenians living here,” he said. “Although
the fighting ended eleven years ago, I think that many people have
not grasped the fact that life here has gone on and that there is a
whole generation of young people and a society in general which is
moving on.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TAKING IT OUT ON TURKEY
by Josie Appleton
Spiked, UK
Oct 4 2005
The tortured debate about the Turks joining the EU is a product of
crises in the West more than the East.
Turkey appears to be causing drama in the European Union (EU). First
there was talk of crisis, when EU nations couldn’t agree on the issue
of Turkish membership. Austria led the opposition, backed up by blocs
within countries such as France and Germany. Now that accession talks
are agreed, rhetoric abounds about this being a ‘truly historic day
for Europe’.
This isn’t about Turkey, though. Instead, it’s about EU elites
jostling for position. Elites shaken over the recent ‘no’ votes
on the EU Constitution are now trying to take a stand on Turkish
accession. Some hope that Turkish membership will pave the way to
a confident, multicultural Europe; others think that keeping Turkey
out will keep Europe secure. But Turkey is neither the cause of nor
solution to the EU’s problems – and the membership debate can only
expose the EU elites’ isolation and vacuity.
The UK, which currently holds the EU presidency, is the staunchest
supporter of Turkish entry. By letting in a Muslim nation, the Brits
argue, the EU will prove its cosmopolitan credentials. Part of this
is about invigorating Europe internally; sociologists Ulrich Beck and
Anthony Giddens recently argued that accession is part of a project
for a vibrant, post-national Europe, based on diversity (1). European
politicians also hope to win the favour of Muslim communities both
abroad and at home, an argument that gets US backing. The Turkish
prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed that membership
‘would help to build a bridge between Christian and Muslim countries’,
while rejection would reveal the EU as a ‘Christian club’ (2).
Austria and co, meanwhile, counter Turkey in an attempt to win favour
with their own populations. One opponent warned of the danger of
letting in ‘a poor, culturally alien nation’. Former French president
Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who spearheaded the effort to rewrite the
Constitution, has taken this tack in an attempt to save his reputation,
arguing that ‘there is an obvious contradiction between the pursuit
of Europe’s political integration and Turkish entry into European
institutions’ (3).
Both sides are on a hiding to nothing. It will take more than a bit of
‘diverse’ Eastern spice to enliven stodgy EU politics. Similarly, it is
delusional to think that radical Islamists will call off their battles
just because Erdogan has a seat in Brussels, any more than they will
be won over by Bush and Blair reading the Koran. Meanwhile, posturing
against Turkey isn’t going to solve the problems of Giscard and others
– that is a see-through attempt to cover up their own failures.
This debate reveals the isolation of EU leaders from their publics.
On the one hand, both Turkish and European people are told to just
accept that accession is inevitable. Erdogan counsels that ‘in today’s
Turkey, there is no possibility left other than change.
Turkey will no longer yield to political deadlocks to those who are
ideological exploiters of emotion’ (4). Similarly, US deputy assistant
secretary of state, Matthew J Bryza, argued that ‘our friends in the
EU completely understand how important it is to continue that process
of Turkey’s anchoring in Europe. It would be a shame if that process
didn’t complete itself. But I think it will’ (5).
‘The process’ is really a business for Brussels lawyers. Turkey has
been busily passing the kinds of laws that will help it jump through
EU hoops – giving Kurds more autonomy, abolishing capital punishment,
and cleaning up archaic legislation such as the rape law. These changes
aren’t bad things in themselves; the problem is the automatic way in
which they were brought through. ‘We returned the abnormal heartbeat
of this country to normal’, said the prime minister.
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better
Supporters present accession as a continuation of Turkey’s past,
especially the dramatic Westernising reforms brought through by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s. But while Ataturk’s (often heavyhanded)
reforms were driven by revolutionary zeal, today’s Turkish elite is
copying out the EU lawbook. Modernisation now is about bowing down in
acceptance, not seizing the reins of national destiny. Hence the EU’s
insistence that Turkey recognise the Armenian genocide. The Turks are
asked to prove their membership of the Western club by flagellating
themselves – joining UK prime minister Tony Blair in apologising for
the potato famine, and former US president Bill Clinton in apologising
for slavery.
EU publics are viewed with similar contempt. Opposition to Brussels’
plans is seen as the result of a chauvinistic yearning for security.
Beck and Giddens say that suspicion of the EU is driven by ‘social
and economic anxieties’ and an ’emotional return to the apparent safe
haven of the nation’; they warn that there is no option but to adapt
to globalisation and adopt their cosmopolitan attitudes.
Given this, it’s no surprise that both EU and Turkish publics have
started going cool on the idea of Turkish membership. Turkish support
has gone down from three quarters to two thirds over the past year, and
60,000 people gathered in Ankara on Sunday to voice their opposition
to the process. Speaking to the rally, party leader Devlet Bahceli
argued that Turkey was facing ‘an environment of enmity from outside
and an environment of treason from within’ (6).
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better, though. This is
a desperate attempt to connect with a distant public, appealing to what
elites see as the masses’ knee-jerk racism. Their attempt at populism
could win them attention, but is unlikely to provide a secure support.
The debate about Turkish membership may be leading to a fracas in the
EU, but Turkey itself isn’t the cause of the problem. The discussion
may look east, but its roots lie in the west.

TAVUSH-2005 IN TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF ARMENIA
By S. Melkonian
AZG Armenian Daily #177
04/10/2005
Culture
The Union of Theatre Workers of Armenia is holding Tavush-2005 Theatre
Festival with the participation of the actors from Yerevan’s theatres.
On October 1, Gabriel Sundukian Academic Theatre staged Muratsan’s
“Ruzan” in Ijevan. That very day the singers of Yerevan Opera and
Ballet Theatre performed in Dilijan. Hovhannes Tumanian Puppet Theatre
presented “The Three Piglets” in Touz.
The meeting in Khashtarak village of Ijevan was extremely interesting.
Haykaz Yeranosian introduced the life of honored artist of Armenia,
Armen Gulakian. Gulakian’s students, actor Vladimir Abajian and
reciter Svetlana Khanumian, presented a wonderful bouquet from the
Armenian poetry.
This action by the Theatre Workers’ Union was received with special
warmth in this village neighboring with Azerbaijan, as the last 10-15
years were a period of cultural stagnation for the village.

GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER TO VISIT ARMENIA OCTOBER 4
Pan Armenian
03.10.2005 14:42
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ October 4 the Greek delegation headed by Defense
Minister Spilios Spiliotopoulos will arrive in Armenia on a formal
visit, RA MOD Spokesman, Col. Seyran Shahsuvarian told PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. Spilios Spiliotopoulos is scheduled to meet with Armenian
President Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan and
Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan. Besides, the delegation members
will attend the Genocide Museum and lay a wreath to the memorial to
the Armenian Genocide victims. They will also visit Holy Echmiadzin
and meet with Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AMBASSADOR HENRY MORGENTHAU & THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
NY Blueprint, NY
Oct 4 2005
Wednesday Nov 30 2005 – 7 pm
WITH ARA SARAFIAN, EDITOR, UNITED STATES DIPLOMACY ON THE BOSPHORUS:
THE DIARIES OF AMBASSADOR MORGENTHAU, 1913-16 In 1915, Ambassador Henry
Morgenthau intervened on behalf of the Armenian community and helped
rescue thousands from murderous “Young Turks.” In commemoration of
the 90th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, historian Ara Sarafian
will present archival images of the tragedy and discuss the Armenian
deportations, the the intervention of courageous Americans, and the
legacy of the Armenian genocide.
Contact Information:
Brought to you by: Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to
Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust 36
Battery Place New York, NY 10280 View on Mapquest
Cost: Free with suggested donation
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN PAPER WONDERS IF MEETING AT US EMBASSY AIMED AT “EXPORTING REVOLUTION”
Hayots Ashkar, Armenia
Sept 28 2005
Headlined “Has a secret service started its work? How is the US
activity explained?”
Judging by certain information and, in particular, given a secret
meeting in the US embassy between Armenia’s opposition leaders and US
secret service representatives, this country’s interest in Armenia’s
domestic political life has grown. This, however, should not surprise
anybody given US experience of exporting revolutions to the post-Soviet
area (Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgystan).
The USA first applied technology of the colour revolution in the
post-Soviet area in Georgia in 2003. They say that radical meddling
of the USA in Georgian affairs was conditioned by the fact that
irrespective of [former Georgian President Eduard] Shevardnadze’s
evident anti-Russian policy, Georgia has started actively restoring
its economic relations with Russia. Objective necessity made Georgia
take these steps and Shevardnadze’s regime could not hinder this.
The statement of the US Department of State on 21 November [2003]
that it did not recognize the results of the parliamentary election,
became a critical moment in the Georgian revolution. After that, even
Shevardnadze’s supporters joined the camp of “revolutionaries”. But
this was only visible part of an iceberg. In reality, long before
that the Americans started financing the opposition via the Open
Society-Georgia Foundation which is the Georgian branch of Soros
Foundation. [Passage omitted: methods used by “revolutionaries”]
After the successful implementation of the “revolution of roses”
in Georgia, the USA’s Wall Street Journal said in its editorial
on 11 February 2004: “Ukraine has got a good opportunity to repeat
the Georgian success of democracy but under condition that the West
and the Ukrainian opposition play their card correctly.” It said:
“Washington has spent more than 2bn dollars to support free and
independent Ukraine.”
[Passage omitted: background of revolution in Ukraine]
How can one explain today’s activity of the US embassy in Armenia?
Certainly, diplomatic duties include meetings with influential
opposition forces of a country. But it is absolutely unclear, what
is the purpose of the US secret service representatives’ meeting with
the opposition leaders in the US embassy? It would be very interesting
to get an answer to this question directly from the embassy.

GENOCIDE FINALLY GETS SCHOLARLY INQUEST
by Dorian Jones, Istanbul
The Times Higher Education Supplement
September 30, 2005
Despite death threats, two postponements and the presence of hundreds
of protesters, an academic conference on the mass killings of Armenians
living in Turkey in 1915 went ahead under heavy police protection at
Istanbul’s Bilgi University.
Participants hailed it as a success and pledged to hold more.
Organiser Halil Berktay of Sabanci University said: “It is enormously
important. This has been the most enduring taboo of Turkish nationalist
mythology. Five years ago, hardly anyone was speaking out about this.”
Although he has received many death threats for raising the issue, he
promised: “We will go on to organise a series of books, translations,
pamphlets and future conferences, and we will call for official
spokesmen to join an open debate not just in Turkey but in front of
world historians abroad.”
The Armenian Government accuses Turkey’s Ottoman rulers of killing
1.5 million Armenians. But the Turkish state argues that a civil
war was to blame for the deaths. Until now, the official historical
interpretation has not been challenged in Turkish academic circles.
The conference angered many in Turkey’s academic community: 320
professors signed a petition condemning the meeting. One organiser
said that the careers of young academics linked to the event could
be blighted.
An injunction to stop the event was circumvented by changing the
venue. The decision to proceed was apparently made after the deputy
prime minster intervened.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MEETING OF COMMISSION FOR YEAR OF ARMENIA IN FRANCE TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON NOV. 3
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Oct 3 2005
YEREVAN, October 3. /ARKA/. Meeting of Commission for organization
of Year of Armenia in France will be held in Yerevan on November 3,
2005, Press-Secretary of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hamlet
Gasparyan told journalists. He said that the program of events will
be developed and concretized during this meeting. The Year of Armenia
in France will be held on the initiative of the Presidents of France
and Armenia. “It will one of the largest events”, Gasparyan said.
However, he did not concretize the program of events saying that
organizational work have not been finished yet.
2006 will be the Year of Armenia in France and 2007 will be the year
of France in Armenia. A.A. -0–

KNOCKING ON HEAVEN’S DOOR
Howard Hudson
European Parliament
Tiscali, Europe
Oct 3 2005
Embrace Turkey or “end up a Christian club”
EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg last night failed to
bury the hatchet ahead of accession talks with Turkey. Vienna is
insisting Turkey be offered the next best thing to full membership;
Ankhara says it will walk away if full accession is not on the table.
The impasse is clear and deep: the negotiating mandate has to be
agreed by all 25 member states before entry talks can begin. And
with polls saying 70% of Austrians are against Turkey’s membership,
Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel says he wants the EU to admit popular
concerns. And offer “privileged partnership” instead.
After getting the go-ahead to begin talks nine months ago, there’s now
a palpable sense of frustration and increasing feelings of betrayal on
the streets of Turkey. Sensing this, and echoing earlier declarations
made by Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan, UK Foreign Minister Jack
Straw warned of a “theological-political divide, which could open up
even further down the boundary between so-called Christian-heritage
states and those of Islamic heritage”.
Seeking some kind of diplomatic manna, Mr Straw added: “I hope and
pray that we may be able to reach an agreement”.
In a separate development, the European Parliament has postponed
voting to extend Turkey’s association agreement to the 10 new member
states. MEPs feared that Ankhara’s declaration that the protocol
does not mean any form of recognition of Cyprus would form part of
the ratification process in the Turkish parliament and thus gain
legal force.
However, Parliament did agree: “the Commission and the Council take
the view that Turkey has formally fulfilled the last conditions for
starting the accession negotiations on 3 October 2005”.
During the negotiations, which are open-ended and will not
automatically lead to Turkish EU membership, Turkey should be kept
under permanent scrutiny and pressure to ensure that it maintains
“the pace of the necessary reforms”. Parliament also said it considered
Turkish recognition of “the Armenian genocide … to be a prerequisite
for accession”.
On other issues, MEPs voiced their concern about the criminal
proceedings against Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, about article 305
of the penal code which criminalizes “acts against the fundamental
national interest”, about the restrictions on foreign funding for
associations, and about the “Law on Foundations” concerning religious
communities.
Parliament wants each negotiation session at ministerial level to be
preceded by an assessment of the fulfilment of the political criteria,
both in theory and in practice, “thus exerting permanent pressure
on the Turkish authorities to maintain the pace of the necessary
reforms”. Finally, Parliament stressed that the EU’s capacity to
absorb Turkey remains an important consideration, and needs to be
monitored by the Commission during negotiations.
Accession talks with the Turkish delegation are due to begin at 3pm
GMT. Asked how great the fallout would be if the situation remained
deadlocked, Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said: “It would
certainly be a bad day. But we’ve had similar crises before. We’ve
found solutions before and we’ll find one for Turkey.”
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress