Author: Emil Lazarian

Libération, France
mardi 24 mai 2005
La Turquie est encore loin de l’adhésion, dit Jacques Chirac
PARIS – Jacques Chirac estime que la ratification de la Constitution
européenne rendra “plus long” le processus d’adhésion de la Turquie à
l’Union européenne.
“Elle a encore un long chemin à faire, d’autant plus long que l’Union
européenne se prépare à franchir une étape supplémentaire dans
l’affirmation de ses valeurs”, souligne le chef de l’Etat dans une
lettre transmise lundi au Conseil de coordination des organisations
arméniennes de France (CCAF).
Cette lettre, adressée au président de l’organisation Ara Toranian, a
été rendue publique mardi par le CCAF, qui a sollicité Jacques Chirac
“pour qu’il demande clairement et fermement” le report de l’ouverture
des négociations d’adhésion de la Turquie “tant qu’elle refuse de
reconnaître le génocide arménien” de 1915. Les négociations doivent
commencer début octobre.
“La France a reconnu le génocide arménien de 1915. Elle attend de la
Turquie qu’elle mène à son terme cet impératif devoir de mémoire.
Nous sommes convaincus qu’elle en comprend la nécessité car tel est
l’esprit des critères de Copenhague dont tout candidat doit démontrer
le plein respect”, écrit le président de la République.
“Avec la Constitution européenne, poursuit-il, pour la première fois
dans l’Histoire, les droits et les libertés fondamentales seront
reconnus par l’Union européenne elle-même et garantis à tous les
citoyens européens”.
“Dans dix ans, quinze ans au plus tard, si la Turquie va au bout du
processus engagé, il reviendra, en application de notre Constitution,
à chaque Française et à chaque Français de se prononcer par
référendum avant toute adhésion, et donc de juger du chemin parcouru
par la Turquie pour partager nos valeurs”, rappelle Jacques Chirac.
“La demande de la France et de l’Union européenne est que la Turquie
applique résolument les valeurs et la conception des droits de
l’homme, de la paix et de la démocratie qui sont celles de toute
l’Europe”, souligne-t-il. /SL

A1plus
| 17:45:30 | 23-05-2005 | Social |
`ALTERNATIVE SERVICE MUST NOT BE LIKE AN EASY GAME’
`One must not suppose that alternative service must be easy like a game.
>From the very beginning we wanted it to replace the hard service of those
who serve with weapon’, said NA Deputy President commenting on the latest
protest of lawyers about alternative service.
Let us remind you that the Law was adopted within COE framework and today 24
young people are in alternative service. Co-author of the Law Vaham
Hovhannisyan does not understand why the servers protest, `Those who choose
alternative service complain of the fact that the country makes them serve
one way or the other. They did not want to serve, and whatever the country
offered them, they would complain’.
On the whole, according to Vahan Hovhannisyan, the law has justified itself,
`The fear that young people would become members of sects in order to serve
in alternative service, fortunately did not come true’.

Playback
May 23, 2005
Sexy, druggy, gory and not a genocide in sight
by Sean Davidson
Egoyan’s latest surprises at Cannes
He said this one would be different, and apparently he meant it. Atom
Egoyan’s latest – the noir-ish mystery Where the Truth Lies – landed
with a splash at this month’s Cannes film fest, turning heads with
its ample nudity, spurts of violence, drugs and sex.
It was “the sexiest film so far” at Cannes, according to the Toronto
Sun’s Bruce Kirkland, writing at about the halfway point. A “big,
slick and sexy mystery” that should have “no trouble attracting
audiences seeking high-style, grownup entertainment,” says a review
in The Hollywood Reporter.
That last part should go over especially well with Egoyan’s backers
at Telefilm Canada, where successful English-language films are still
something of a rare bird.
The picture includes one orgy, a racy and drug-fuelled lesbian
encounter and, of course, the mysterious death that sends a young
writer (Alison Lohman) digging into the past of two old-school
comedians, played by Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon.
Egoyan has always said that Truth would be more accessible than his
other pictures – compared to, say, Ararat, the tale of the Armenian
genocide, or the equally wrenching The Sweet Hereafter. It shot in
Toronto, L.A. and elsewhere last summer on a $30-million budget and
will be distributed by ThinkFilm.
Bad behavior has also paid off for David Cronenberg who, at press
time, was a strong favorite to win this year’s Palme d’Or for his A
History of Violence, about how a bloody outburst at their diner
changes an all-American family. Cronenberg is “on the top of his
game” with this one, writes the Toronto Star’s Peter Howell,
following “in the tradition of a John Ford western and Clint
Eastwood’s Unforgiven.” Violence stars Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello
and William Hurt.
Cronenberg also used the fest to announce that he is getting back to
work on Painkillers, the project he put on hold to make Violence,
again working with producer Robert Lantos, who also produced Where
the Truth Lies.
The $35-million sci-fi thriller has been on again, off again for some
time, and comes from the famously creepy director’s first original
screenplay since 1999’s eXistenZ. The story reportedly involves a
futuristic society in which surgery has become a kind of spectator
sport, replacing sex, while pain has replaced sex as the new taboo
thrill. (Yep, that sounds like our David.)
ThinkFilm is reportedly already chasing presale through its new
international sales division.
Midnight Movies by Toronto filmmaker Stuart Samuels is also playing
well in Cannes, although it is not in competition. The feature doc
about the underground films of the 1960s and ’70s – Night of the
Living Dead, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and El Topo, to name a few
– also got a warm nod from The Hollywood Reporter for its “engaging
and perceptive glimpse… into a raucous time of personal rebellion.”
“An historical essay on how these fringe Midnighters have influenced
today’s mainstream directors,” writes Duane Byrge.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian opposition party against government’s constitutional reforms
Arminfo
24 May 05
YEREVAN
The National Democratic Bloc [NDB] opposition party calls on the
country’s public to vote against draft constitutional amendments drawn
up by the ruling coalition of Armenia, NDB leader Arshak Sadoyan has
said from the rostrum of the National Assembly.
He said that the draft constitutional amendments drawn up by the
ruling coalition will not help develop democracy in Armenia. He
pointed out that the draft constitutional amendments adopted by the
coalition will bring about new public clashes, unfairness and a growth
in migration.
Sadoyan said that the first 10 days of June will see an event which
will announce a programme on preparing the people for rejecting “the
draft amendments proposed by the coalition”. He called on the
political forces that see eye-to-eye with him on this issue to
participate in the event.
It must be remembered that along with the coalition’s draft
amendments, the parliament also considered the draft constitutional
amendments drawn up by Sadoyan and rejected them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
MEETING OF PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN’S ILHAM ALIYEV AND TURKEY’S AHMET
NECDET SEZER
[May 24, 2005, 21:01:35]
On May 24 at the Presidential Palace was held a meeting between the
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer.
President Sezer said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline’s commissioning
ceremony and its participation in that are historical events.
Turkey’s President has congratulated its Azerbaijani counterpart and
noted the pipeline will play an important role in the economic
development of both countries.
Having noted the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline will also
commissioning successfully head of the Turkish state has exclusively
recollected the role of the national leader of Azerbaijani people and
great son of the Turkic world Heydar Aliyev.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has highly estimated the position
of brotherly country and focused on political, economic, cultural
relations between the countries.
During the meeting was stressed that Turkey will support henceforth
the Azerbaijan’s position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani leader presented to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer a
keepsake gift, which had been specially made on the occasion of the
BTC pipeline commissioning.

Today, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
Azeri Parliament to discuss changes to the Elections Code in June

23 May 2005 [12:58] – Today.Az

“I do not want to go into details of the work being conducted with
the Venetian Commission. I think that a project related to the
changes to be made to the Elections Code will be presented to the
parliament to be discussed at the beginning of June”.
These words were told by the director of the social-political
department if the President’s Office Ali Hasanov in his explanation
given to the journalists.
According to his words, the changes to be made to the Code will be
clear after the parliament discussions.
A.Hasanov bearing his relation to the declaration of the USA
president George Bush about democratic changes’ encircling whole
Caucasus and Central Asia said that the democratic transformation
process was going in the whole world and Armenia and Georgia were
also included in this transformation: “I value this declaration as a
call to democracy. The democratic transformation process is also
going in Azerbaijan, though some countries chose the revolution way,
Azerbaijan is developing in the progress way. We are developing in
the democratic direction in the evolution period and will also hold
this way in future”.
/APA/

URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY OF AZERBAIJAN MEETS WITH DELEGATION OF
GERMAN BUNDESTAG
[May 24, 2005, 16:41:56]
Minister of National Security of Azerbaijan Republic,
general-lieutenant Edlar Mahmudov on 24 May, has met with the
chairman of the budget affairs commission of Bundestag of Germany
Manfred Karstens, chairman of the reliance affairs committee Walter
Scholler, vice-president of the Federal Investigation Service,
brigadier general Varner Scheve and others.
The Minister informed members of German Bundestag on the carried out
reforms in legal and democratic state building, socio-economic
development, as well as the measures taken for strengthening of
stability for realization of world-scale projects.
The visors were told on the role of the ministry of national
security, on the works done for strengthening of its legislation base
in accordance with international standards.
The Minister also informed on measures of fighting terrorism, combat
against organized transnational crimes, on the socio-political
situation in the Republic, the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, the uncontrolled areas occupied by Armenia, illegal
migration and other crucial problems.
Expressing gratitude for provided information, the visitors regretted
on lack of information about all these in the West, and stressed
necessity of carrying our certain works in this direction.
Members of delegation expressed confidence that the visit would be
useful for strengthening of the relations between two countries.
At the meeting also joined by the ambassador of the Federative
Republic of Germany to Azerbaijan Detlef Lingemann, also was
exchanged a number of other issues of mutual interest.

AKI, Italy
May 24 2005
OIL: ANALYSIS – CAUCASUS PIPELINE LEAVES RUSSIA IN THE COLD AND
TURKEY TO BENEFIT

Istanbul, 23 May (AKI) – After 12 years of setbacks and disagreements
the taps are ready to turn on a 2.6 billion-dollar giant pipeline
which will pump oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and on to the
world’s energy markets – a process which stands to sap Moscow of some
of its influence over the energy resource-rich Caucasus region.
Billed as the “energy project of the century” the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline will start operations on Wednesday, its inauguration
symbolising an end to the bickering between nations and oil companies
that brought so many delays and changes of plan.
The 1,774 kilometre pipeline starts in Baku, the captial of
Azerbaijan, from where an ongoing territorial dispute with
neighbouring Armenia forced engineers to incorporate a northward
detour up towards Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The structure then
winds down south through Armenia and onto the Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan.
The new pipeline which starts at Baku’s Sangachal terminal and end
ups running the bulk – some 1,070 kilometres – of its length through
Turkey, avoids Russian territory altogether.
This route differs vastly from Russia’s original ambitious “northern
line” project of 1995, which linked the Caspian Sea with the Russian
Black Sea port of Novorossick, with the pipeline running through the
Chechen capital, Grozny.
That route temporarily hooked up with another pipeline, the US-backed
Baku-Tbilisi-Batumi (Georgia) “western line” but in 1999, the Grozny
link had to be abandoned following a wave of sabotage attacks by
Chechen rebels fighting Moscow’s rule. An alternative was also needed
because of the “western line’s” modest carrying capacity.
“Oil and natural gas from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, has been
channeled to markets in the West through Russia. Russia controls the
volume of exports and dictates the prices,” Nadir Devlet, an analyst
at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University, told Adnkronos International
(AKI).
“But with the BTC project, Azerbaijani oil production will no longer
depend on Russian policies,” said Devlet, adding that in the long run
the other former Soviet central Asian republics, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan, may also link up with the project, further isolating
Moscow.
“This weakens Russia’s position in the energy-rich region. Iran on
the other hand [which some also view as another of the project’s
major losers] will not be affected by the BTC because for Tehran, the
priority is to maintain control of Turkmenistan’s natural gas exports
[for which it acts as a conduit],” Devlet explained.
The BTC pipeline was built by a 11-member consortium led by British
Petroleum (BP) which owns a 30 percent share. The next largest
stakeholder is the Azerbaijan State Oil Company, AZNEFT with 25
percent followed by the Turkish state oil company, TPAO, with 6.5
percent. Italian energy giant ENI, which has extensive drilling and
exploration rights Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan
The BTC’s carrying capacity is a staggering 50 million metric tons of
oil a year, or some 1 million barrels every day. Just to fill its
length will take five months, with the first oil expected to arrive
in Ceyhan by the end of the year.
The BTC’s inaguration comes as the oil price continues to hover above
the 50 dollar a barrel mark. With growing concerns about dwindling
global reserves expected to keep prices high, the pipeline is seen
from a market perspective as a welcome boost in supply.
But the project continues to draw criticism from skeptics who
question the wisdom of constructing a strategically important
pipeline through a region as politcally volatile as the southern
Caucasus.
Azerbaijan and Armenia’s bloody conflict over the enclave of Nagorno
Karabakh in the mid-1990s remains unresolved and cross-border clashes
still occur. Georgia’s government, installed in 2003 after the “Rose
Revolution” which toppled the country’s pro-Moscow leaders, is
grappling with break-away movements in the regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia, which are backed by Russia.
Consortium members have dismissed such arguments, insisting that
their investment is a safe one.

(Vahit Bora/Pwm/Aki)

AZG Armenian Daily #093, 24/05/2005
Appeal
STOP TURKEY ENTERING THE EU
Assyrian, Armenia and Greek Orthodox communities of Europe sent a joint
petition to the leadership of European Union asking to deny Turkey’s
accession. Turkey, the petition reads, with its Islamic fundamentalist
government has proven itself unworthy of joining such a prestigious union.
The petition created by Ninos Toma is posted on
enabling supporters to sign under it.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #093, 24/05/2005
Region
BASES OF BATUMI AND AKHALKALAK ARE OF NO STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
What’s the Meaning of Gyumri Base?
President Vladimir Putin of Russia stated yesterday that the military bases
of Georgia are not essential for Russia’s security. But, Putin says, it
would be desirable not to see bases of other states after the withdrawal of
Russian ones. According to Novosti agency, Putin said that those bases are
of no strategic importance for Russia and added, “This is not my opinion but
those from the Supreme Headquarters of Russian Armed Forces”.
Putin’s statement rises a question: if the bases of Georgia are not
important for Russia, then what’s the significance of Russian bases in
Armenia?