Author: Felekian Ara

EUROPEAN UNION READY TO PROMOTE ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS’ ESTABLISHMENT

DeFacto Agency
Sept 8 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 08.09.08. DE FACTO. On September 7 RA FM Edvard Nalbandian
received European Union’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus
Peter Semneby. According to the RA MFA Press Office, on Peter Semneby’s
request Armenian FM presented the results of Turkish President’s visit
to Yerevan. Edvard Nalbandian said Armenian party was resolute about
the settlement of relations with Turkey to establish trust, stability,
security and cooperation in the region.

In his turn, Peter Semneby, highly estimating Armenia’s initiative
on establishment of relations with Turkey, noted that the European
Union was ready to render any assistance to settle relations between
the two neighboring countries.

Minister Nalbandian and Ambassador Semneby also discussed the
development of situation in the region as well as issues referring
to Karabakh conflict settlement process.

President of Turkey Abdullah Gul has invited President of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan to visit Turkey

2008-09-06 20:18:00

ArmInfo. During a meeting in Yerevan today President of Turkey Abdullah
Gul has invited President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to visit Turkey,
reports Armenian TV.

Gul has invited Sargsyan to attend the Turkey-Armenia match in Turkey.

To remind, Gul has come to Yerevan today to attend the Armenia- Turkey
FIFA 2010 qualification match.

CNN International
Sept 6 2008

Tuncay puts Turks on road to Cup victory

CNN) — Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk scored second-half goals to
give Turkey a 2-0 win over Armenia in their World Cup qualifying Group
5 game in Yerevan.

Tuncay gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute, scoring from
close range. Senturk made it 2-0 in the 79th, capitalizing on a
defender’s mistake in the box.

Mehmet Aurelio had an early chance for Turkey but his powerful shot
from 14 meters four minutes into the game was blocked by goalkeeper
Roman Berezovsky.

Armenia replied with a chance in the 8th when Volkan Demirel saved
Gamlet Mkhitarian’s drive from 25 meters.

Neither side dominated the game before half-time, but Turkey looked
more organized.

The visitors came close midway through the first half when Emre
Delozoglu shaved the crossbar from the edge of the box in the 27th
minute. Three minutes later, Mevlut Erdins broke down the left flank
only to hit the outer side of the net.

The match was being played against the backdrop of decades of
animosity rooted in the WWI-era atrocities that began in 1915.

The two neighbors have no diplomatic ties. Turkey President Abdullah
Gul attended the match, becoming the first Turkish leader to visit
Armenia since the ex-Soviet nation declared independence in 1991.

All Headline News
Sept 6 2008

Turkish President Attends Soccer Match To Improve Relations With Armenia

September 6, 2008 2:59 p.m. EST

Mayur Pahilajani – AHN News Writer Ankara, Turkey (AHN) – Turkish
President Abdullah Gul made a landmark visit on Saturday by being the
first leader to set foot in neighboring Armenia.

Turkish president arrived into the capital from Yerevan airport to see
his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian and to attend a World Cup
qualifying match between the two national teams that have never played
each other before.

But hundreds of protesters did not like the President Gul visiting
Armenia as the two countries have no diplomatic relations over past
disputes.

Armenia was engaged with Turkey to recognize the 1915-1917 (World War
I) massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenian civilians by Ottoman
forces as genocide.

Before he arrived in the capital city of Yerevan, Gul said that
Saturday’s match would help resolve disputes and lift the barriers
that divided Turkey and Armenia.

Turkish President also said that he would extend an invitation to the
Armenian President Sargsian to watch the Turkey-Armenia soccer match
on Oct. 14 in Turkey.

Focus News, Bulgaria
Sept 6 2008

Turkey has to recognize Armenian genocide in 1915: OSCE

6 September 2008 | 11:23 | FOCUS News Agency

Yerevan. Turkey has to find a way to fight its past and recognize the
fact that there was genocide against the Armenians in 1915, the
special envoy of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/ in Nagorno
Karabah Goran Lehnmarker said during a meeting with the Chairman of
the National Assembly of Armenia Tigran Torosyan, RIA Novosti reports.

A1+

`SCHIZOPHRENIC GOVERNMENT’
[06:48 pm] 05 September, 2008

We would like you to comment on the recent steps of Serzh Sarkissian
and the ARF Dashnaktsutiun with regard to Abdullah Gul’s visit: Serzh
Sarkissian invites Gul to Yerevan while the ARF Dashnaktsutyun plans a
protest action on the day of Gul’s arrival.

`We have a marasmoid and schizophrenic government,’ coordinator of the
Armenian National Congress Levon Zurabian said in reply to
A1+. Zurabian says schizophrenia is a condition when a person splits,
and two personalities emerge in one person. It is not normal when one
part of the government does one thing, and the other part-another. It
is possible to be in the same government and think differently but it
is not normal to act differently. `It means the government has lost
self-control and cannot work out a programme of joint actions.’

It is strange when the government declares enhanced mode of security,
instructs the City Hall not to authorize any public event, meanwhile
another coalition force violates the special security mode using
government resources – buses, petrol, etc. When the reporters noted
that the ARF Dashnaktsutyun states to have agreed with the government
on its action, Levon Zurabian said: `Most likely we deal with agreed
schizophrenia’.

Today Levon Zurabian presented the list of the political prisoners who
have health problems but haven’t got medical aid so far. This is a
rough breach of the Human Rights Convention, he says. The government
does not allow providing medical aid to people who have health
problems, and continues to keep them in pitiful conditions. The
government tortures the political prisoners.

The list involves 13 political prisoners: Karen Tarkhanian, Jora
Sapeyan, Samvel Karapetian, Miasnik Malkhassian, Hakob Hakobian, Suren
Sirunian, Ashot Zakarian, Sasun Mikayelian, Christopher Elazitan,
Gevorg Manukian Aghasi Mkrtichian, Mkrtich Sapeyan, and Arman
Babajanian. The latter has been taken to hospital for treatment.

The Armenian National Congress also made a statement, noting that the
presence of political prisoners and the fact that they do not get
medical aid evidences to cynical attitude of the government towards
the society, international community, in particular, towards the PACE
resolutions.

The government has rejected all the opportunities for a dialogue aimed
at overcoming the political crisis. The government also failed to
eliminate the `main obstacle’- political prisoners, and to overcome
the crisis through political negotiations.

BRUSSELS, WASHINGTON WELCOME GUL’S DECISION TO GO TO YEREVAN

Today’s Zaman
Sept 5 2008
Turkey

Both the European Union, which Ankara aspires to join, and Turkey’s
NATO ally the United States have welcomed President Abdullah Gul’s
decision to respond favorably to Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan’s
invitation to visit Yerevan to watch a match between the national
football teams of the two estranged neighboring countries.

Both Brussels and Washington also expressed expectations of a complete
normalization of bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey, which
have not had diplomatic relations since the early 1990s. Turkey severed
ties with Armenia in protest of Yerevan’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s
Nagorno-Karabakh region, over which Armenia fought Turkey’s ally
Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s.

Gul’s office announced on Wednesday evening that the president will
visit Armenia over the weekend for the soccer match. Armenia and Turkey
will play against each other in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on
Sept. 6 in a qualifying match for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. EU term
president France, in a written statement released yesterday on behalf
of the EU Council, expressed "pleasure" over Sarksyan’s invitation,
while voicing "joy" over Gul’s decision to respond favorably to
his invitation.

"This [historic] visit constitutes a strong and encouraging gesture
for relations between Armenia and Turkey. The EU Council Presidency
hopes and wishes that this extremely symbolic visit will create
the normalization of relations between the two countries," the EU
statement said.

In Washington, Mark Toner, a spokesperson for the Bureau of European
and Eurasian Affairs at the US State Department, told the Anatolia
news agency that Washington has welcomed Gul’s decision.

"We congratulate both of the presidents’ courage to take steps
toward strengthening peace and welfare in the region," Toner was
quoted as saying by Anatolia. "We hope that this historical meeting
will help accelerate the complete normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations," Toner added. Both the US administration and the now
27-member EU have called on Turkey to normalize bilateral relations
with Yerevan. The issue has constantly found a place in regular
progress reports annually released by the European Commission on EU
candidate Turkey. In Damascus, EU term president France’s Nicolas
Sarkozy yesterday expressed pleasure over Gul’s decision to go to
Yerevan, calling the move "very positive."

Sarkozy’s comments on the issue came at a joint press conference
following a summit that brought him together with Syrian President
Bashar Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar’s Emir
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani for talks on Mideast stability and
peace. The EU statement, meanwhile, also lent support to Turkey’s
initiative for establishing a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation
Platform, calling the initiative "a meaningful contribution to
stability, security and development in the region."

TURKISH PRESIDENT TO ATTEND SOCCER MATCH IN ARMENIA

CNN International
Sept 4 2008

(CNN) — Turkish President Abdullah Gul will travel Saturday to
Armenia to watch a World Cup soccer qualifying match between the two
countries — a move promoted as a step toward bolstering relations
between neighbor nations with a long history of animosity.

"We believe such visit will contribute to the creation of a warmer
friendship climate in the region," said a statement from Gul’s
office, which added Armenian President Serj Sarkisyan extended the
invitation. "Our president has accepted the invitation with this
understanding," it said.

"It is also hoped this visit will offer the opportunity for the
citizens of two nations to understand each other better."

Gul would be the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia, which
was a Soviet republic until 1991, in an official capacity.

The neighboring nations in the Caucasus region, straddling Europe
and the Middle East, have no official diplomatic relations and their
shared border has has been closed since 1993.

Much of the animosity stems from mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
Turks during World War I.

Armenians call the killings genocide. Historians estimate about 1.5
million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire — the predecessor
to modern Turkey — during the war.

Turkey, which is now a secular and democratic Muslim nation, calls
the killings part of the natural course of war, says far fewer than
1.5 million Armenians were killed and says a comparable number of
Turks died in the conflict.

Last year, members of the U.S. House of Representatives sponsored
a resolution that would have declared the killings an act of
genocide. But, under pressure from the Bush administration, House
leaders dropped plans for a vote.

The administration was trying to persuade Turkey not to launch
cross-border raids into Iraq against Kurdish rebels and Turkey had
threatened to curtail U.S. access to military bases used to support
U.S. troops in Iraq if the resolution had passed.

In 2005, Turkey moved away from its historical position of blanket
denial — calling for an "open investigation" by scholars from both
countries into the genocide allegations. The Armenian government has
declined to take part, calling it a political maneuver.

When the soccer match was announced last year — the first time the
two nations have played each other in soccer at the highest level —
questions were raised as to whether tensions would be too high for
the game to be played as planned.

But political and sports leaders from both nations quickly moved to
play down the political implications of the match, in which Turkey
is heavily favored.

"You cannot play a game thinking about those things," Turkish coach
Fatih Terim told the Turkish Daily News. "We cannot carry the weight
of history on our shoulders."

HUSEYIN AVNI KARSLIOGLU: "IF ABDULLAH GUL VISITS YEREVAN, HE WILL SURELY DISCUSS NAGORNO KARABAKH PROBLEM"

Azeri Press Agency
Sept 2 2008
Azerbaijan

Baku. Lachin Sultanova – APA. "It is not exact that Turkish President
Abdullah Gul will visit Yerevan on September 6", Huseyin Avni
Karslioglu, head of Turkish President’s Protocol Department told
APA exclusively.

To him, if the visit takes place, Turkish and Armenian Presidents
will also discuss Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"If the visit takes place, Nagorno Karabakh problem will surely be
discussed. We do not want Nagorno Karabakh to remain as a "frozen
conflict", but to be solved peacefully, through dialogue," he said.

Huseyin Avni Karslioglu had been Turkey’s Ambassador to Azerbaijan.

PACE BUREAU TO DISCUSS APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRMAN OF AD HOC COMMITTEE ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

Trend News Agency
Sept 1 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 1 September / Trend News corr. I.Alizade / A new
chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s
(PACE) Ad Hoc Committee on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be appointed
at a meeting of the PACE Bureau to be held in Paris on 5 September.

"Appointment of the new chairman of the PACE Ad Hoc Committee on
Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed at the Bureau’s meeting," Arif
Mammadov, the Azerbaijani permanent envoy at the CE, told Trend News
over telephone from Strasburg on 1 September.

PACE adopted resolution 1416 in January 2005 concerning the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The resolution states that Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land, including Nagorno-Karabakh
region, and should immediately withdraw its troops from the occupied
territories, refugees should be repatriated and the conflict should
be solved only through the peaceable way.

The subcommittee has been established to exercise control over the
implementation of the Resolution and to assist in solution of the
conflict. Lord Russell Johnston, a British MP and the chairman of
the PACE Ad Hoc Committee on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, passed
away several months ago.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-1993, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha,
Khojali and seven regions attached to Nagorno-Karabakh. In 1994,
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement and the sides
continue peace negotiations.

The OSCE Minsk Group, including co-chairmen from three countries – USA,
Russia, France, are mediating in the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict through peaceable way.

During the meeting members of the Bureau will be informed about the
death of the Ad Hoc Committee chairman and vacancy for the position of
chairman, Samad Seyidov, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament’s
standing commission on international and inter-parliamentary
relations and the head of the Azerbaijani Delegation at the PACE,
told Trend News.

"Firstly, appointment of new chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee should
be discussed at the PACE Political Committee," Seyidov said.