Author: Frangulian Shushan

Turkish Daily News , Turkey
Jan 15 2008

PACE president calls for reforms on free speech, minority rights
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Linden pays a farewell visit to Turkey ahead of next week’s
presidential elections at PACE when Turkey’s future judge in the
European Court of Human Rights will also be elected

ANKARA – TDN Parliament Bureau

The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) yesterday urged Turkey to press ahead with reforms and
pay more attention to freedom of expression and minority rights – two
areas that await further improvement if the country is to proceed on
its thorny road toward the European Union.

`I am one of the biggest supporters of Turkey’s EU membership as
long as Turkey sticks to its commitments,’ Rene van der Linden told
reporters following a meeting with Parliament Speaker Köksal Toptan.
He warned Turkey to pay much more attention to the much-criticized
article 301 of the Turkish penal code that makes it a crime to insult
Turkish identity.

The contentious article has landed a string of intellectuals in
court due to denigrating ”Turkishness” and mostly for comments on
the alleged genocide of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire.

Linden also urged the Turkish government and Parliament to improve
minority rights. `I am sure that you, the new Parliament and the new
government will pay attention to these issues and contribute to their
solution,’ he told Toptan.

Farewell visit

In Ankara Linden met with President Abdullah Gül during a farewell
visit ahead of the presidential elections at PACE set for Jan. 21,
when Turkey’s future judge in the Strasbourg-based European Court of
Human Rights will also be elected.

Turkey’s previous list was rejected because of difference in
capacity level among the three nominees. The current list includes
Professor Ruþen Ergeç, who was previously nominated, Professor Iþýl
Karakaþ and Associate Professor Ali Ulusoy. Ergeç still stands as a
strong candidate to replace Turkey’s respected judge Rýza Türmen but
political observers say Karakaþ has also got a chance to be elected
since European circles remain warm toward female candidates in order
to foster equal representation.

Some 20 current judges of the European court including Turkey’s
Türmen will be retired in February and will be replaced by new judges
since Russian State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament,
did not approve Protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human
Rights, which extends the terms of the judges from six to nine years.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Jan 15 2008

Van der Linden calls for action on 301, minority rights

The president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) has repeated European calls for more reforms by Turkey,
particularly by amending an infamous article of the Turkish Penal
Code (TCK).

PACE President Rene van der Linden, on a three-day visit to Turkey,
met yesterday with President Abdullah Gül and Parliament Speaker
Köksal Toptan in Ankara. Speaking at a press conference after talks
with Toptan, Linden said he was confident that the Turkish
authorities would continue with reforms. But he called for "more
attention" to the issue of Article 301 of the TCK, which the EU says
restricts freedom of expression, and asked for more effort to improve
rights and freedoms for minorities.
The PACE president said the 47-nation Council of Europe, of which
Turkey is also a member, supported Turkey’s membership in the EU,
provided that it meets the entry criteria, and called Turkey a "very
important member of the European family," noting that it shares the
same values as the rest of the Council of Europe member states. He
also praised the Turkish efforts to improve intercultural dialogue.

The government is under pressure from the EU to change or remove
Article 301, under which several prominent Turkish intellectuals,
including slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, landed in
court for "insulting Turkishness." The government had pledged to
bring an amendment proposal to Parliament last week, but it was
postponed amid a reported rift among Cabinet members on the content
of the proposed changes.

Van der Linden, responding to a question on an ongoing closure case
against Turkey’s leading pro-Kurdish party, the Democratic Society
Party (DTP), voiced opposition to the closure, saying political
parties are an important element of the democratic system but also
warning the DTP to abide by established rules. He also stated that a
debate on the DTP case was likely to take place in PACE.

The DTP is facing a closure suit for alleged links with the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The party is frequently criticized in
Turkey and in the EU for not clearly distancing itself from the PKK.

15.01.2008

A1+

HRANT KHACHATRYAN WAS TAKEN TO POLICE DEPARTMENT
[05:20 pm] 15 January, 2008

more images Hrant Khachatryan, Head of the
`Constitutional Right Union’ Party is taken to the
Central Police Department. The reason is the same – Mr
Khachatrayn again slapped Hayk Babukhanyan in the
face. `Only I did not slap him well’, said Mr
Khachatryan to `A1+’.

Some days ago Babukhanyan held the session of the
party’s board on the stairs, since Hrant Khachatryan
had not opened the door.

Today Hayk Babukhanyan and his supporters tried to
enter the party’s office, but the door was closed from
inside. Hrant Khachatryan and his supporters were in
the office. Babukhanyan called police, to use force in
case Khachatryan refused to open the door.

Hayk Babukhanyan was deprived of the right to enter to
the office from 19 February 2007, when according to
him, he was illegally turned out from the office. We
should mention that the Court has restored Hayk
Babukhanyan’s rights, as well as Hovhannes Galajyan’s
rights as the editor of `Iravuk’ (Right) newspaper.
Some days ago Hrant Khachatryan said to `A1+’: `We
have nothing against him, let him come’.

Today Hayk Babukhanyan demanded to release the office,
so that the party would be able to work. The party has
not made a final decision regarding the upcoming
presidential elections. We should remind, that Hrant
Khachatryan announced that the `Constitutional Right
Union’ party supported Vazgen Manukyan’s candidature.
But Hayk Babukhanyan announced recently, that the
party had not decided which candidate it should
support. `To make party’s final decision, we should
reinstate its regulations and get ready to the
elections’, said Babukhanyan.

With the help of the police, Hayk Babukhanyan’s
supporters intruded into the party’s office, and
Khachatryan repeated what he had once done – slapped
Hayk Babukhanyan in the face. When Hrant Khachatryan
asked the head of the police service why they broke
the office’s door, the latter said: `Some one called
us and said that some people in the territory of the
`Constitutional Right Union’ party will die of
poisonous gas if we did not open the door of the
office, thus, we harried to save people’.

PRACTICE OF GIVING SHORT WEIGHT BECOMES SERIOUS FACTOR OF PRICE
FORMATION IN ARMENIAN CONSUMER MARKET

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. Short weight giving, which has now
become a serious factor of price formation, is one of the most
widespread violations in the Armenian consumer market, Abgar Yeghoyan,
chairman of Protection of Consumer Rights NGO, said at the January 10
press conference. In his words, under the RA Law on Ensuring Unity of
Measurements, compulsory checks of scales have to be done at least once
a year. Whereas, 2007 data of the RA National Institute of Metrology
shows that out of nearly 25,000 scales used in trade facilities, only
6,000 were checked. The fine for using uncheked scales is only 50-100
thousand drams (about 165-330 USD).

A. Yeghoyan said after making some changes in electronic scales used in
retail trade, these scales can weigh 200-300 grams less. As for
household scales used in street trade, their use is forbidden by law.
According to A. Yeghoyan, such scales weigh 300-500 grams less.

"It is obvious that the problem is extremely important and requires an
urgent and coordinated solution," A. Yeghoyan said. In his opinion,
control of the use of scales should not be limited only to activities
of inspecting bodies.

In order to solve this problem, the NGO proposes that in particular,
punitive measures for violation of the rules on use of scales should be
made stricter by increasing the fine up to 200-300 thousand drams.
Besides, it is proposed installing weight checkers in trade points,
which would allow customers to check the weight of the purchased
commodity on the spot.

2007 NOT PROMISING FOR MIDDLE EAST
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
10/01/2008

Regional

Political and Military Tensions Expected to Grow in 2008

The political processes of 2007 caused escalation of tension in various
regions of the world, especially in Middle East and Central Asia. The
complications in our region were caused by chaos in Iraq, the isolation
of Gaza district because of "Hamas"-"Fat’h" struggle in Palestine,
destabilization in Lebanon, and, of course, the international pressure
upon Iran and Syria.

In result of the struggle between Shiites and Sunnites, artificially
provoked after the war against Iraq, the escalating terrorism, the
undiscovered murders and kidnappings, over 1,200 million people were
killed in Iraq, mainly representatives of local intellectual circles.

Although Iraq was occupied by American armed forces, which implies
the responsibility of the US authorities for the chaos in the country,
the current government of Iraq proposed the United States to prolong
the term of military presence in their country. Therefore, 2008 can
hardly be promising for the people of Iraq.

The same thing evidently can be said about Palestine, especially about
Gaza district, which remains under the domination of "Hamas". It
is expected that Gaza’s isolation from Jordan and the outer world
in general shall aggravate in 2008. Naturally, Israel will have the
opportunity of taking "punitive measures" against both the peaceful
population and "Hamas" militants.

Referring to "Fath" and its factual leader, head of the Palestinian
autonomy Mahmoud Abbas, an agreement of recommencing Israel-Palestine
peace negotiations was signed with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert in Annapolis, USA, November 27. Nevertheless on December 12,
the day appointed for the recommencement of peace negotiations, the
Government of Israel made decision to construct 300 more dwellings
in East Jerusalem.

Obviously, in such a situation, the sensibility of those negotiations
appears to be rather dubitable.

Thus, the main result of the Annapolis conference on Middle East was
the improvement of the international image of Israel.

After the war against Lebanon and deployment of international
peacemaking forces in that country, Lebanon ceased being considered
a part of the Arabic world. Lebanon came into the control of
international structures, which brought forth intensification of
controversies between Fuad authorities and "Hezbollah". The latter,
in its turn, resulted in polarization of the Lebanese society.

All the recent international conferences and other kinds of discussions
of the Middle East issue proved to be useless, and the destabilization
of the situation in the region seems to grow. It becomes evident
that the USA and the EU are equally interested in aggravating the
difficulties in Middle East.

ARMENIAN WEIGHTLIFTERS EAGER TO WIN OLYMPIC GAMES MEDALS

ARMENPRESS
Jan 9, 2008

YEREVAN, JANUARY 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s national weightlifting team
has proven that it will be a serious rival at this year’s Olympic
Games in Beijing, China.

Gevorg Davtian, two-time Europe champion and vice world champion,
who was voted as Armenia’s best athlete of 2007, told Armenpress that
he and his peers will do their best in China to win as many medals
as possible.

Asked why he failed to win a medal at a recent world championship in
Thailand, Gevorg Davtian attributed it to his poor health which he
said was caused by ‘peculiarities’ of the Thai climate.

He said Armenian weightlifters will leave for China days before the
start of the Games to get adapted to local climate.

Gevorg Davtian said he knows well all his major rivals and will bear
in mind that Chinese rivals will enjoy a strong support of their
country fellows.

ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENT TO GIVE A NEWS CONFERENCE

Mediamax
January 8, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Ex-President of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrosian will
give a news conference in Yerevan on January 11, his pre-election
staff informed today.

As Mediamax was told in the staff of the Ex-President, the news
conference will be devoted to Levon Ter-Petrosian’s pre-election
program, published on January 7.

Mediamax notes that the latest news conference with the participation
of Levon Ter-Petrosian took place in fall of 1997, when he occupied
the position of the Armenian President.

EXTERNAL FACTOR MAY PLAY A DECISIVE ROLE IN ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND POST-ELECTION PROCESSES, LEADER OF NATIONAL-DEMOCRATIC UNION VAZGEN MANUKYAN IS SURE

arminfo
2008-01-09 18:24:00

ArmInfo. "External factor may play a decisive role in election
campaign and in post-election processes", Leader of National Democratic
Union Vazgen Manukyan told ArmInfo correspondent. According to him,
the importance of the external factor may increase after probable
falsification of the coming election results, if the nation comes out
to streets. "In such a situation the external forces may support any
of the sides. For example, they supported Saakashvili and prevented
Shevardnadze from use of force in Georgia. In Azerbaijan during
parliamentary election the opposition was unified, fought against the
authority, but there was an impression that the external forces were
interested in keeping a steady power held by Aliyev.

But as far as I see, the outcome of all the elections in out country
is defined with no special consideration of the external factor",
V. Manukyan said.

The politician also added that, naturally, there are many external
forces that would like to have "insider" in power in Armenia. However,
no special interference in the internal affairs of the country has
been observed yet, not counting the financial side, where many things
are unclear.

TURKEY TO CHANGE FREE SPEECH LAW

Al-Jazeera
Jan 7 2008
Qatar

Rehn has said Turkey-EU talks should not continue until the law
is changed.

Turkey is expected to amend a heavily criticised law which makes
"insulting Turkishness" illegal, in order to improve its chances of
entering the EU.

Mehmet Ali Sahin, the country’s justice minister, said on Monday:
"The work [on the draft] has been finalised. I believe the proposal
could be submitted to parliament this week."

The EU has put pressure on Turkey to change the law, article 301 in
the penal code, that is criticised as a threat to freedom of speech
in Turkey.

The law is seen as a major stumbling block to Turkey’s accession to
the EU.

Turkey’s centre-right government has said it will change article
301, but critics say that this has not materalised for fear of a
nationalist backlash.

Breaking the law can mean a sentence of up to four years in jail.

Change of wording

Sahin refused to comment on the nature of the changes to the law
before they were discussed at a cabinet meeting on Monday.

However, media reports have said that the term "insulting Turkishness"
may change to "insulting the Turkish nation" or "insulting the
Turkish people".

Sahin suggested that the justice ministry would have to give permission
before proceedings could start under the article.

This would prevent nationalist prosecutors from exploiting the law.

Block to accession

Talks between Turkey and the EU have stalled due to human-rights
disputes and Turkey’s conflict in Cyprus.

Olli Rehn, the EU’s enlargement commissioner, has advised that
negotiations with Turkey should not progress until article 301
is changed.

Dozens of journalists and writers, including Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel
literature laureate, have been prosecuted and convicted under the law,
but none have been jailed.

Typically it has been used against those saying that the Ottoman
Empire’s massacres of Armenians in World War I were genocide.

Lragir, Armenia
Dec 26 2007

THE FORT SHOULD NOT BE LET STARVE TO PREVENT A REBELLION

The director of the Armenian Development Agency Tigran Davtyan
pronounced an interesting idea that the foreign investors find that
the climate for investments is better than they had expected but
since the Armenian market is small, Davtyan says it is the main
hindrance to major industries. It is difficult to disagree with
Tigran Davtyan. Nobody would make major investments in Armenia if
hardly 3 million people will pick up their fruits, more exactly those
of the three million who get remittances or are oligarchs or
officials. In brief, those who have money. However, this is mere
reporting of the fact. It is important to find out why the situation
is so, in other words, if there is a possibility to enlarge the
market. No doubt there is but it should be used, or efforts should be
made to use. The first option is perhaps an effort to set up
effective relations with neighbors.

The case of Azerbaijan is clear. The relations with this country
cannot be improved for a long time. This is the reality and there
cannot be illusions regarding this. The Armenian and Azerbaijani
relation has a long way to go to discharge the lack of confidence in
each other, and in this sense pragmatism can be more useful than
impertinent optimism.

As to Iran, the resource of our partnership with Iran is highly
restricted, and it began and ended with energy projects which are
turning into a `protectorate’ of Russia because Armenia is no longer
an actor in energy and has handed out the cords to Russia. In terms
of multifunction economic relations Iran has no prospects for us,
considering also the problems this country has with the international
community.

The case of Georgia is much more complicated. In reality it is not
clear what Armenia and Georgia have in common except for Javakheti.
The leaders of both states swear they cannot live without meeting and
greeting each other several times a year but the economic relations
between these two states does not go beyond retail trade. For
Armenia, Georgia’s importance is export of capital rather than
involvement of capital, considering the resorts which the Armenian
businessmen are building on the Adjarian coast.

Perhaps the Armenian and Turkish relation seems a little more
probable than the Armenian and Azerbaijani relation but on the whole
it does not inspire hope, judging by the tough stance of the Turkish
government and the thinking of the Armenian government. In this
connection, there are expectations from a third party which means
there is no hope because there are many third parties and each of
them has their interests, and if it is in the interests of one to set
up Armenian and Turkish relations, the interests of the other two are
the contrary. As a result, the possibility of relations vanishes
rather than becomes visible, and the impression is that the third
parties try their best to leave the stances of the Armenian and
Turkish elites the same, although they make those efforts in the
context of their actions, because there is total peace and tolerance
at their surface.

Hence, it is obvious that Armenia is deadlocked, and nobody would
make major investments in a deadlock if the investments do not have a
political purpose. One does not need to be an economist to understand
it. Therefore, only Russia is willing to make major investments in
Armenia. A fort should not be let starve to prevent a rebellion.

The problem is the size of the mistake of the Armenian government.
This is a complicated problem because there is too little information
for even suppositions. However, it is perhaps clear that the internal
economic policy is pushing Armenia deeper into the deadlock. First of
all, through its loan and monetary policy Armenia artificially
reduces its market to make producing in Armenia and exporting
non-lucrative. In other words, any investor knows that producing is
not lucrative because there are no favorable conditions for export.

Besides, what is found in the Armenian economy? Monopolies,
protectionism, relations based on illegal arrangements, absolute
preference of Russia. For instance, if a major foreign businessman
comes to Armenia and tries to make investments, on learning that he
first needs to find out whether that sphere is vacant and how much he
must share with the government, what conditions the government will
impose except for the law and whether one day Russia will not have an
eye on that sphere whose wish and words are a law for the Armenian
government, the major foreign businessman will turn back his plane in
the air, if he is not from Russia, and he is not an adventurer, if he
is not a Diasporan with already a philosophical outlook for life, and
most importantly if Vardan Oskanyan has persuaded him that we will
develop for another 100 years with blocked borders.

JAMES HAKOBYAN