Author: Hambardsumian Paul

THEY WILL TAKE FINGERPRINTS IN "ZVARTNOTS"

A1+
[07:40 pm] 20 October, 2006

Since November 1, 2006, new security payment will be established in
airport "Zvartnots" which will be 2 Euros per passenger.

International aviation companies have offered the airports to
introduce new equipment for the security of passengers and airplanes in
connection with combat against terrorism. In particular, since November
1 airport "Zvartnots" will implement equipment taking fingerprints
for the identification of passengers, the official website of the RA
Civic Aviation Administration informs.

FRENCH CROONER CHARLES AZNAVOUR TAPS CUBAN RHYTHMS

Reuters, UK
Oct 18 2006

HAVANA (Reuters) – At the age of 82, French crooner Charles Aznavour
is still looking for new ways to capture an audience and has turned
to the hot rhythms of Cuban music to convey his songs.

Aznavour teamed up with Latin jazz piano virtuoso Chucho Valdes to
record 11 songs, Aznavour said on Tuesday before heading home after
eight days in a Havana studio.

His new offerings include songs about environmental degradation and
last year’s race riots in France.

"To have Cuban music with such lyrics will draw us closer to the
public. It’s not a question of selling records but of conveying ideas
to people, not political but important human ideas," he said at a
news conference.

It is not Aznavour’s first encounter with Cuban musicians. In 1999,
he recorded the song "Morir de amor" (Dying of Love) with the late
Compay Segundo of Buena Vista Social Club fame.

"That was a marvelous experience. Between smiles, cigars and music
we managed a duet," said the blazer-clad singer.

Born in Paris of Armenian immigrants, the raspy-voiced Aznavour was
discovered by Edith Piaf in the 1940s. His breakthrough in America was
not on the stage but on the screen in Francois Truffaut’s 1960 film,
"Shoot the piano Player."

Ray Charles, Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby sang songs written by
Aznavour.

"Songs are a powerful weapon. Important statements disappear from
the newspaper the next day, but songs remain. They penetrate walls
and keep important ideas alive in the human spirit," he said.

Aznavour’s new record, scheduled for release by EMI early next year,
was recorded in Havana’s Abdala studio with Chucho Valdes and musicians
from his Iraquere band.

RA FM TO VISIT CANADA, U.S. AND FRANCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.10.2006 18:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ October 17 Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian
is departing for Canada, reported the RA MFA press office. October 18
he will meet in Ottawa with Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay,
members of the Armenian-Canadian parliamentary friendship group and
the local Armenian community. October 19 Minister Oskanian will leave
for Toronto to address an international conference titled "Creation
of possibilities for development and peace. The role of Diaspora"
initiated by the UN University for Peace.

October 21 Vartan Oskanian will head for Washington to give a report
at a solemn event dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Armenia’s
independence. The next day he will depart for France, where he is
scheduled to meet with Azeri FM Elmar Mammadyarov and the OSCE MG
Co-chairs.

FRENCH FIRMS SET TO SUFFER FROM TURKISH ANGER OVER ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL
by Burak Akinci

Agence France Presse — English
October 15, 2006 Sunday 3:20 AM GMT

With perhaps an eye on Turkey’s precarious bid to join the European
Union, Turkish officials have so far rejected calls for an out-and-out
boycott of French goods to protest a bill making it a crime to deny
Turks committed genocide against Armenians in World War I.

But the government is still weighing other responses which may hit
French firms, from blocking the country’s defence and energy companies
from bidding for multi-million euro (dollar) contracts to the more
symbolic, such as lawmakers replacing their official Peugeot cars.

And although an official ban is unlikely, consumers and businesses
are set to cold-shoulder French goods, nearly five billion euros
(6.25 billion dollars) worth of which entered Turkey last year.

Last Thursday the French National Assembly, the lower house, passed
a bill making it a crime to deny that the 1915-1917 massacres of
Armenians by the Ottoman Turks constituted genocide.

The bill, which stipulates a prison sentence of up to three years and
a fine of up to 45,000 euros, must be approved by the French upper
house and by President Jacques Chirac before it becomes law.

The result has been widespread dismay, not only in Turkey — several
hundred people rallied outside France’s consulate in Istanbul Saturday
— but also from French historians and European Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso.

Turkey says 300,000 Armenians, and at least as many Turks, died in
civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence and sided
with invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire fell apart during
World War I.

But it refuses to accept this was genocide.

Armenians, who constitute a sizeable minority in France, say up to 1.5
million of their forbears were slaughtered in orchestrated killings,
which they maintain can only be seen as genocide.

In 2005 France and Turkey exchanged goods worth more than eight billion
euros, and French imports to Turkey were worth 4.7 billion euros.

Commercial ties between the two countries run deep. Some 250 French
companies have strong links with Turkey stretching back many years.

Carmaker Renault, for example, employs hundreds of people at a factory
in the northwest of the country.

As a result Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, together
with the country’s more liberal newspapers, has appealed for calm
and not to launch a campaign which might end up hurting Turks more
than the French.

"What do we have to win or lose by boycotting products? … We should
consider that with a great deal of caution," Erdogan said on Friday,
adding that his government would proceed with calm.

Lutfu Yenel, head of the Turkish affiliate of French telecoms group
Alcatel, said he was astounded by calls for a boycott of his company.

But although an official ban is unlikely, Turkish consumers and
businesses are expected to vent their anger by not buying French.

The country’s consumer organisation, for instance, has said that a
boycott would begin at the 500 petrol stations in Turkey owned by
France’s Total.

Every week there would be an appeal to boycott products from a new
French firm until the genocide bill is scrapped, the organisation
threatened.

"From today onwards, we are going to boycott every week a French
brand and show our reaction in a language that France can understand,"
said Bulent Deniz, the group’s president.

In some commercial centres in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, shops
were calling on Turks not to buy French — although it was business
as usual at an outlet of French chain Lacoste in the city.

Ankara’s union of traders has also decided to post on billboards
in the capital pictures of products that will be boycotted such as
perfumes and cosmetics, the group’s head Mehmet Yiginer said.

And across the country, commercial groups and businessmen have called
on their fellow citizens to cold-shoulder French brands.

The Herald (Glasgow)
October 13, 2006

Controversial Turkish writer wins;
Nobel Award’s ‘unfortunate’ timing criticised

by PHIL MILLER

COURTING TROUBLE: Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was prosecuted for
insulting his country. Picture: Tolga Bozoglu/EPA

ATURKISH novelist, who was once prosecuted for insulting his country,
has won the Nobel prize for literature.

Orhan Pamuk, who had been heavily tipped to win literature’s leading
prize, was honoured by the Swedish Academy. It said that in his
"quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [Istanbul] he has
discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures".

However, the award was criticised for being a "political" rather than
a cultural decision, especially as it came on the day that France’s
parliament approved a Bill making it a crime to deny Armenians
suffered genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.

The European Union said the French parliament’s approval of the Bill
could harm efforts to end decades of dispute over the killings.

Ankara said the French lower house vote was a severe blow to
French-Turkish ties and its Economics Minister Ali Babacan, the man
leading EU entry talks with Brussels, said he could not rule out
consequences for French firms.

A European Commission spokeswoman noted the Bill still needed upper
house approval and said EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had
often warned it would damage efforts in Turkey and Armenia to resolve
the dispute.

Pamuk, 54, was prosecuted inIstanbul for "insulting Turkishness"
after he told a Swiss newspaper Turkey was unwilling to deal with two
of the most divisive episodes in its recent history: the massacre of
Armenians during the First World War and guerrilla fighting in
Turkey’s Kurdish south-east.

The charges against the writer were dropped only in January, ending a
trial that outraged some Western observers and cast doubt on Turkey’s
commitment to free speech.

"Thirty-thousand Kurds and one million Armenians were killed in these
lands, and nobody but me dares to talk about it, " Pamuk said in the
interview.

Horace Engdahl, head of the Swedish Academy, yesterday maintained
that Pamuk’s political position had not affected the Nobel decision.

"It could of course lead to some political turbulence but we are not
interested in that, Mr Engdahl said. "He is a controversial person in
his own country, but on the other hand so are almost all of our prize
winners."

Atilla Koc, culture minister of Turkey, said he was delighted by the
news. However, Pinar Kur, a leading Turkish novelist, said: "It is
known, in Turkey and abroad, that this prize is much more related to
politics than to literature. It is very unfortunate that this prize
announcement was made on the same day as the [Armenian genocide] Bill
in France."

Suat Kiniklioglu, director of the German Marshall Fund’s new office
in Ankara, said of Pamuk: "I believe his comments on the Armenian
genocide have been influential in winning this prize. Many Turks will
see it in this way too and will not be cheering.

"I do not believe he was chosen purely on the basis of his artistic
capacity."

Mr Engdahl said Pamuk was selected because he had "enlarged the roots
of the contemporary novel" through his links to both Western and
Eastern culture.

"This means he has stolen the novel from us Westerners and has
transformed it to something different from what we have ever seen
before."

Pamuk’s prize is the first for a writer from a mainly Muslim country
since 1988 when the Nobel went to Naguib Mahfouz, of Egypt.

In its citation, the academy said Pamuk’s international breakthrough
came with his third novel, The White Castle, a historical novel set
in 17thcentury Istanbul. Mr Engdahl added: "He has a flowing
imagination and impressive ingenuity."

Pamuk will receive a 10m kronor (GBP1.1m) cheque, a gold medal and
diploma.

Grenada Broadcasting Network, Grenada
Oct 13 2006

TURKEY CONDEMNS GENOCIDE
12th October, 2006

Turkey has condemned a French parliamentary vote which would make it
a crime to deny that Armenians suffered "genocide" at the hands of
the Turks.

Turkey called it a "serious blow" to relations and has threatened
sanctions. The vote was also criticised by the EU.

The bill, tabled by the opposition but opposed by the French
government, needs approval from the Senate and president.

Armenia says Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people systematically
in 1915 – a claim strongly denied by Turkey.

There are accusations in Turkey that the Armenian diaspora and
opponents of Turkey’s European Union membership bid are using the
issue to stop it joining the 25-member bloc.

EurasiaNet, NY
Oct 13 2006

NOBEL PRIZE FOR TURKISH WRITER FOCUSES ATTENTION ON CIVIL SOCIETY
ISSUES
Mevlut Katik 10/13/06

Print this article Email this article

In awarding the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature to Orhan Pamuk, the
Swedish Academy stressed the Turkish author’s literary skill.
However, analysts and critics see unmistakeable evidence of political
motives in the decision. Pamuk has a relatively small body of work
for a Nobel laureate, but he has been a literary pioneer in trying to
fuse Western and Islamic cultures, and has emerged as an outspoken
proponent of free speech inside Turkey.

After the October 12 announcement, Pamuk said in broadcast interview
with CNN International that he considered the Nobel Prize as "a sort
of recognition of the Turkish language, Turkish culture, and Turkey."
He is the first Turk to win a Nobel Prize, and in selecting him, the
Swedish Academy appeared to offer a ringing endorsement for both
Turkey’s integration into Europe, and for the expansion of civil
society in Turkey. The academy’s statement noted that Pamuk, "in the
quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [Istanbul], has
discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures."

In Turkey, the news of Pamuk’s award was both a source of pride, and
a cause for soul searching. Pamuk has been a central figure in an
on-going free speech controversy, in which several authors have faced
criminal prosecution under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code,
which calls for up to three years imprisonment for "public
denigration of Turkishness." In late 2005, Pamuk went on trial for
comments made earlier that year in which he stated that 1 million
Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turkish forces starting in 1915,
amid the chaos of World War 1. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive]. In early 2006, the case was dropped after the
Justice Ministry declined to press the charges.

Today, Armenia wants that the killings be recognized as genocide,
while the Turkish government rejects that the mass killings
constituted genocide. [For background see the Eurasia Insight
archive].

"This is a great achievement that no one should try to cast a shadow
over," commentator Ilnur Cevik wrote of Pamuk’s prize in an October
13 editorial published by the New Anatolian English-language daily.
"Pamuk deserved what he got and has given us deep national pride and
jubilation." Referring to Pamuk’s earlier prosecution, Cevik added
that the author "showed that our people should be bold and raise
issues and have them debated in a free atmosphere."

It is precisely this point that appears to trouble Turkish
traditionalists, many of whom have misgivings about Turkey’s ongoing,
but troubled effort to join the European Union. [For background see
the Eurasia Insight archive]. From the traditionalists’ viewpoint, EU
membership will produce unwanted side-effects, namely the permanent
alteration of the Turkish Republic’s secular Islamic character. [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Pamuk, by winning the Nobel Prize, becomes an instant symbol of the
new Turkey, one that embodies both Western and Islamic cultural and
political values. His laureate status also makes criticizing his
views all the more difficult. Thus, the award could fan domestic
debate on a variety of volatile issues, including free speech, the
role of Islam in Turkish society and the tragic events of 1915.

Hints of traditionalist concerns could be seen in commentaries
appearing in Turkey’s two most popular newspapers. An October 13
editorial by the editor-in-chief of the Sabah mass-circulation daily,
Fatih Altayli, stated simply: "Shall we be happy or sad?" His
counterpart at Hurriyet, Ertugrul Ozkok, wrote: "I am very happy that
Turkey — which has preoccupied the world agenda with Kurdish,
Armenian and Cyprus issues — has produced a Nobel-winning writer.
But at the same time I wish he [Pamuk] had not presented his views
about his country as if they were concrete historical facts." [For
background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Dogan Hizlan, Hurriyet’s literary critic, wrote that a review of
Nobel laureates reveals that many recipients have been "opponents of
the establishments of their countries. However, I still tend to see
the prize from a literary point of view, and therefore am happy that
Orhan Pamuk as a Turkish writer won it."

Perihan Magden, another writer/journalist who was tried under Article
301, said "this prize won by Pamuk will increase interest in other
Turkish writers, Turkish language, and Turkey. It is Pamuk’s most
natural right to state his opinions about Turkey’s issues and
history."

Leaders of the Turkish government, which is led by the moderately
Islamist Justice and Development Party, cheered the announcement.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul telephoned Pamuk, who is in New York
serving as a visiting professor this semester at Columbia University,
to offer his congratulations.

The Nobel announcement occurred the same day that the French
parliament adopted a bill that would make it a crime to deny that
Armenians experienced a genocide in 1915. The bill, which still
requires French Senate approval and a presidential signature to
become law, provoked outrage in Turkey. The French action contrasts
sharply with Pamuk’s views: while the author seeks ways to reconcile
Western and Islamic values, France appears intent on trying to build
a wall between the two cultures. Regardless of whether the bill
becomes law, the parliamentary vote strikes a considerable blow
against Turkey’s EU bid by signaling Paris’ unwillingness to accept a
Moslem nation as a union member. [For background see the Eurasia
Insight archive].

Gul, the Turkish foreign minister, told journalists on October 13
that the parliamentary vote will go down as "an unforgettable shame
on France." Meanwhile, Mehmet Barlas, Sabah’s chief editorial writer,
blamed the vote on "irresponsible French politicians racing to try to
gain ground against one another and hunt for 400,000 French Armenian
votes."

Some international commentators stressed the irony of the two
developments occurring on the same day. An editorial published in the
British daily The Guardian described Pamuk’s selection as "an
inspired choice." It went on to note that Pamuk was prosecuted under
Article 301 "the use of which is encouraged by rightwing nationalists
[in Turkey] who complain that Europe is undermining the country’s
identity, and which must go if Turkey is to join the EU.

"But it is hypocritical of Europe to demand that Turkey modernize its
laws when France is moving in precisely the opposite — illiberal —
direction," the commentary continued. "Pamuk’s world-class
achievement should be a source of pride — a compliment, not an
insult — to a sometimes oversensitive nation. Turks would do well to
ponder its significance and try to look back at their history with a
more open mind."

The editorial additionally asserted that "some in France are quite
clearly exploiting the issue to prevent Turkey getting into the EU."

Celebrated writer Margaret Atwood, also writing in the Guardian on
October 13, said: "It will be difficult to conceive of a more perfect
winner for our catastrophic times. Just as Turkey stands at the
crossroads of the Muslim East/Middle East and the European and North
American West, so Pamuk’s work inhabits the shifting ground of an
increasingly dangerous cultural and religious overlap, where
ideologies as well as personalities collide."

The Times literary editor Erica Wagner wrote on October 13 that "no
award is apolitical; this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature is a firm
reminder of that. … The Nobel [for Pamuk] will help to ensure that
this strong voice is still heard above those cries … for an East-West
war."

Editor’s Note: Mevlut Katik is a London-based journalist and analyst.
He is a former BBC correspondent and also worked for The Economist
group.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 13 2006

‘A heavy blow to ties’

The Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday declared that the French
Parliament’s passing a law penalizing denial of an Armenian
"genocide" had dealt a heavy blow to Turkish-French ties.

The Foreign Ministry’s written statement acknowledged that the law
will still have to pass the Senate and then be ratified by the
president, but added, "The first step in this process, the
ratification of the law by the (lower house) National Assembly, has
created deep disappointment in Turkey."

The ministry stressed that Turkish nationals, civil society and
business groups had mobilized along with parliamentary and diplomatic
initiatives to block the bill, which would impose heavy penalties on
those who deny an Armenian "genocide."

"We will continue those efforts," the statement said, pointing to the
fact that there was a great deal of opposition to the law within
France as well.

The statement said that the law also constitutes a serious violation
of both the French constitutional system, which places freedom of
expression above all other rights, and the European Convention. "It
also contradicts the basic values of the French nation, which has
inspired the free world with its concept of liberty, equality and
fraternity," said the statement.

The declaration drew attention to what it called a "French paradox"
of leaving its own history to historians — meaning a controversial
past in colonial Algeria — but choosing to pass a law on the history
of another country. "This damages the credibility of France’s words
and deeds," it said.

The Foreign Ministry declaration carefully refrained from making any
reference to retaliatory measures, such as boycott or sanctions, but
simply referred to the sentiments of the Turkish public, saying,
"With this law, France has lost its privileged, special place in the
eyes of the Turkish people," said the article.

The Foreign Ministry statement was definitely softer in tone than the
declaration of Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, who called the law
"completely shameful."

"This is a very hostile attitude toward Turkey which cannot be
accepted," said Arinc. "It is a shame, totally shameful, that a
country which is seen as the cradle of democracy approves such a
law."

We hope that it will not be passed by the Senate, said Arinc.

SERGE SARGSYAN: NK’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS WILL BENEFIT IN ANY STAGE

Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 10 2006

Karabakh’s involvement in the negotiation process will benefit in
any stage, RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan said in an interview
with REGNUM news agency.

Why does Armenia mind the discussion of the Karabakh issue in the UN?

In response to the question, the Minister said that Armenia is
against transferring the question to any other structure. "What can
this transfer give? It is not the question that can be discussed
in different structures every day. There is the OSCE Minsk Group,
members of which are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

What can the discussion in other structures change? Do you believe
that people who represent let’s say Somali or other countries far away
from us are well informed about the Karabakh issue? Are you seriously
confident that they can give us clever advice? I’m confident that
the core of the conflict is different – not to distort the activity
of the Minsk Group in the settlement of the Karabakh issue," Serge
Sargsyan declared.

In response to the question about the possibility of the military
resolution of the Karabakh conflict within the coming five years,
Serge Sargsyan declared, "I have always said, and I repeat that the
Defense Minister, particularly the Defense Minister of Armenia must
be always ready that the military actions may start tomorrow. From
this very perspective he must show responsibility as it regards the
country’s security. On the other hand I think that resumption of
military actions in the near future is impossible because of a number
of reasons. First, the Minister is confident that the Azeri army is
not capable of launching military actions of this scale. Second, the
international community will be very strict to this kind of actions,
since the resumption of war in Nagorno Karabakh can mark the start
of resumption of military actions in many other places. We should
recognize this. We need to think about security."

JAVAKHETI ARMENIANS URGED TO SHOW RESTRAINT
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 11 2006

The head of an organization uniting natives of Georgia’s restive
Javakheti province living in Armenia on Wednesday condemned a local
Armenian nationalist group that staged violent protests against the
alleged falsification of local election results.

The group called United Javakhk rallied hundreds of supporters in the
regional town of Akhalkalaki and briefly seized a local government
building on Monday, saying that they were robbed of victory in the
polls held across Georgia last Thursday. Their official results showed
the National Movement Party of President Mikhail Saakashvili winning
the majority of votes in most parts of the country, including the
Armenian-populated Javakheti. Observers from the Organization for
Security and Cooperation said the vote was "conducted with general
respect for fundamental freedoms."

The leaders of United Javakhk, who demand greater autonomy for
Javakheti, ran for the Akhalkalaki district council on the ticket of
Industry Will Save Georgia, a Tbilisi-based major opposition party.

They claim to have won 70 percent of the vote.

Maksim Mahtesian, the ethnic Armenian chairman of the district
election commission, denied the allegations on Tuesday, insisting
that vote irregularities were not serious enough to affect the
election outcome. "The situation here is calm now," he told RFE/RL
from Akhalkalaki.

In Yerevan, the head of the Javakhk Compatriots’ Union, Shirak
Torosian, denounced the United Javakhk actions as "treason." "We
are calling on all forces in Javakheti to show prudence, put aside
personal, factional interests and not serve third forces," he told
a news conference.

Torosian also urged Javakheti Armenian activists to drop their demands
for the impoverished region to be given the status of an autonomy. The
Georgian government and the international community associate the word
"autonomy" with separatism these days, he said.

Incidentally, another Akhalkalaki-based Armenian group demanding
autonomy, Virk, reportedly teamed up with Saakashvili’s party
to contest the polls and won several council seats. According to
Mahtesian, 27 of the 32 newly elected members of the legislative
council are ethnic Armenians.