Author: Hambardsumian Paul

libération, France
mardi 14 décembre 2004

Erdogan optimiste quant à l’issue du sommet européen

par Gareth Jones

ANKARA – Le Premier ministre turc Tayyip Erdogan a déclaré mardi aux
fidèles de son parti que l’Union européenne accepterait cette semaine
d’ouvrir avec Ankara des pourparlers d’adhésion attendus de longue
date.

A l’occasion du Conseil européen qui s’ouvre vendredi à Bruxelles,
les Vingt-Cinq semblent devoir entériner le processus de négociation
avec la Turquie, mais certains dirigeants de l’UE souhaiteraient y
poser des conditions particulières.

S’adressant aux membres de son Parti de la justice et du
développement, Erdogan a réaffirmé que la Turquie n’accepterait rien
d’autre que des pourparlers aboutissant à une adhésion complète au
bloc européen.

“Après une aventure de 40 ans, nous comptons voir l’UE annoncer une
date pour des négociations (…) Nous voulons une adhésion complète
sans conditions (…) et misons sur la bonne foi de l’UE”, a-t-il
déclaré à son parti, qui a entrepris de vastes réformes dans l’espoir
de rallier l’Union.

Par la suite, recevant les ambassadeurs de l’UE à Ankara, il a
précisé que la Turquie n’hésiterait pas à retirer sa candidature à
l’UE si celle-ci lui posait des conditions inacceptables pour entamer
des négociations.

“La Turquie n’hésitera pas à dire ‘non’ si l’accord final comporte
des conditions inacceptables”, a déclaré un diplomate, citant les
propos tenus par Erdogan aux ambassadeurs. Ce diplomate a ajouté
toutefois que, de façon générale, Erdogan s’était montré optimiste.

PAS DE STATUT ALTERNATIF POUR ANKARA

La Turquie a fait connaître dès 1963 son souhait d’adhérer à l’Union
européenne et est devenue officiellement candidate en 1999, mais son
bilan en matière de respect des droits de l’homme a retardé le début
des négociations.

Les autorités turques se sont indignées de ce que certains pays
européens – et notamment l’Autriche et la France – aient tenté de
faire figurer dans le communiqué du sommet de Bruxelles une allusion
à un statut alternatif qui ne ferait pas de la Turquie un membre à
part entière de l’UE.

L’Autriche a renouvelé mardi son plaidoyer en faveur d’une telle
initiative, à l’issue d’une rencontre entre le chancelier Wolfgang
Schüssel et le Premier ministre néerlandais Jan Peter Balkenende,
dont le pays assure la présidence tournante de l’UE.

“Les négociations peuvent commencer, mais elles doivent être
ouvertes”, a déclaré Schüssel aux journalistes après sa rencontre, à
Vienne, avec Balkenende.

Signe encourageant pour Ankara, Chypre – membre de l’UE depuis mai –
semble écarter l’idée d’opposer son veto à l’ouverture de pourparlers
avec Ankara.

Chypre a indiqué mardi qu’elle souhaitait améliorer ses relations
avec la Turquie sous réserve que celle-ci n’ignore pas le
gouvernement de Nicosie. La Turquie ne reconnaît que l’enclave
sécessionniste turque du nord de l’île, qui n’est pas reconnue par la
communauté internationale.

Les dirigeants turcs devront tôt ou tard reconnaître Chypre comme
l’un de ses partenaires de négociations, notent des diplomates.

Le chef de la diplomatie turque, Abdullah Gül, a néanmoins déclaré
mardi que son pays ne reconnaîtrait Chypre d’aucune façon avant que
la réunification de l’île ait fait l’objet d’un accord définitif.

“Tant qu’il n’y aura pas d’accord durable, la Turquie ne prendra
aucune mesure qui revienne à reconnaître (Chypre) directement ou
indirectement”, a dit Gül au Parlement.

A Paris, le ministre des Affaires étrangères Michel Barnier a déclaré
mardi que, pour rejoindre l’UE, la Turquie devait reconnaître que les
massacres d’Arméniens survenus après la Première guerre mondiale
constituaient un génocide. Il a précisé qu’Ankara disposait d'”une
dizaine d’années” pour le faire, dans le cadre des négociations
d’adhésion.

Les autorités turques refusent de reconnaître le massacre, entre 1915
et 1923, de centaines de milliers d’Arméniens.

PhysOrg Newsletter
Dec 14 2004

A new unidentified very high energy gamma-ray source in our Galaxy

A European team based in Heidelberg (Germany) and their colleagues
from the HEGRA collaboration have discovered a new, unidentified,
very high energy gamma-ray source in our Galaxy. This source was
detected via ground-based observations of the Imaging Atmosphere
Cherenkov Telescope System.

This system of five telescopes is designed to detect the light
produced when high energy particles enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The
discovery of this source, TeV J2032+4130, is of particular interest
because there are only a few very high energy sources in our Galaxy;
most of them lie outside our Galaxy.

Additionally, this source does not show any counterpart at other
wavelengths, notably at X-ray wavelengths. This team was also
involved in the recent discovery of a similar unidentified source,
suggesting the emergence of a new class of high energy gamma-ray
sources of unknown nature.

During the last ten years, several ground-based observatories
dedicated to very high energy gamma-ray detection have been built.
They are designed to detect the light produced when very high energy
gamma rays interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. Particles that
travel in the Earth’s atmosphere faster than the speed of light in
air (that is a bit lower than the speed of light in vacuum) produce
so-called Cherenkov radiation. Cherenkov light is made of fast and
faint blue flashes. This effect is analogous to the supersonic bang
that occurs when a plane travels faster than the speed of sound.

Cherenkov light is produced by very high energy particles such as
cosmic rays or gamma rays that enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Specialized telescopes that detect the Cherenkov light and infer
information about the incoming cosmic rays and gamma-ray photons,
have been built during the past few years. Cosmic rays and gamma rays
can be distinguished because, unlike gamma rays, cosmic rays reach
the Earth’s atmosphere evenly from all directions.

As charged particles, cosmic rays are deflected by galactic and
intergalactic magnetic fields during their travel to Earth. On the
contrary, gamma rays are uncharged particles: they are not deflected
by magnetic fields and follow a straight path to Earth. By checking
whether a given Cherenkov flash comes from a single direction or from
all directions, one can distinguish whether it is produced by cosmic
rays or by gamma rays. Additionally, as gamma rays are not deflected,
they point directly to their source, which may thus be identified.

About ten years ago, the High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (HEGRA)
collaboration, made up of German, Spanish and Armenian teams, built
the stereoscopic Imaging Atmosphere Cherenkov Telescope System,
dedicated to the detection of high energy gamma rays by the
intermediary of the Cherenkov effect. Now dimantled, this system was
made up of five identical telescopes and was designed to detect gamma
ray events rather than cosmic rays events. It was the first time that
such a system was built to observe gamma ray events using
stereoscopic techniques: the five telescopes view the same events
from slightly different angles. This technique yields an improved
reconstruction of the initial gamma-ray particle entering the
atmosphere. The system was able to identify the direction of the
incoming gamma ray with a precision better than 0.1°.

Using the HEGRA Imaging Atmosphere Cherenkov Telescope System, F.
Aharonian (Heidelberg, Germany) and the HEGRA collaboration have now
confirmed the discovery of a new high energy gamma-ray source that
was made a few years ago. This source is named `TeV J2032+4130′.
`TeV’ refers to the energy level of the source; it is an abbreviation
for teraelectronvolt. It means that the energy of the source is of
the order of a teraelectronvolt, that is, a trillion (1012)
electronvolts. The number `J2032+4130′ refers to the position of the
source in the sky. The gamma-ray photons emitted by this source are
among the most energetic photons ever observed. The energy of TeV
gamma-ray photons is compared to photons at other wavelengths in the
chart below.

The source TeV J2032+4130 has very interesting features. It is most
likely located within our own Galaxy, which is remarkable since there
are only a few very high energy gamma ray sources in our Galaxy. The
centre of our Galaxy is a famous gamma ray source. Another well-known
source is the Crab Nebula (see right picture), the remnant of a
supernova explosion. In both cases, the corresponding sources also
have strong emission at X-ray wavelengths, suggesting the presence of
accelerated electrons.

On the contrary, TeV 2032+4130 does not show any counterpart at other
wavelengths, notably at X-ray energies. The lack (or at least the low
level) of X-ray emission of TeV 2032+4130 suggests that the gamma ray
emission arises from the interaction of accelerated cosmic rays with
the local ambient matter.

TeV J2032+4130 is located in the Cygnus region, an extremely active
star-formation region. It contains a large number of X-ray and low
energy gamma-ray sources. To explain the gamma rays emitted by TeV
J2032+4130, the HEGRA collaboration looked for sites in this region
that could accelerate cosmic ray particles to high enough energy.
Such sites could be supernova remnants, expanding clouds of gas that
represent the outer layers of exploded stars named supernovae.
However, no such supernova remnant has been identified yet in this
region. The team believes that TeV J2032+4130 might be related to the
`OB stellar association’ Cygnus OB2. An OB association is a grouping
of very hot and massive young stars. Such an association is named
`OB’ because these stars have O and B spectral types. Cygnus OB2 is
thought to be powering the entire region via the intense stellar
winds emanating from its stars.

The detection of the source TeV J2032+4130 over long observation
times (about 200 hours) by HEGRA demonstrated the power of the
stereoscopic technique for the ground-based detection of very high
energy gamma rays. The next generation of ground-based instruments
should be able to detect similar sources within only a few hours. One
of these new generation instruments, the High Energy Stereoscopic
System (HESS), resulting from an international collaboration and
inaugurated earlier this year, recently revealed a similar
unidentified TeV source. This second discovery suggests that a new
class of high energy gamma-ray source of unknown nature might emerge
as technology improves.

RFE/RL EU: France Says Turkey Must Recognize Armenian Atrocities Before
Joining EU
Tuesday, 14 December 2004

Three days before a key European Union summit that is likely to give
Turkey a date for starting formal entry talks, French Foreign Minister
Michel Barnier has said that Ankara must reassess its past. Barnier said
yesterday that Turkey must come to terms with the mass killing of
Armenians in the late years of the Ottoman Empire before it can enter
the EU. The remarks have already provoked reactions in Turkey. Ankara
has long denied charges that Turks committed genocide against Armenians.

By Jean-Christophe Peuch

Prague, 14 December 2004 (RFE/RL) — The comments by French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier came after talks in Brussels with his
counterparts from the 24 other European Union countries.

Barnier told reporters that France wants Ankara to reconsider its
position on the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians at the start of the
last century before it joins the EU.

“Regarding Armenia, I mentioned the request that France will make during
the negotiations [with Turkey] for a recognition of the tragedy that
took place at the beginning of the [last] century and that concerned
hundreds of thousands of Armenians,” Barnier said.

It was the first time a French government official publicly established
a link between the Armenian atrocities and Turkey’s EU aspirations.

Barnier said France would file an official request with the Turkish
government after the EU gives Ankara a date for the start of formal
entry talks.

Ankara’s membership bid will be reviewed at the EU’s winter summit on 16
and 17 December in Brussels. The bloc has already made it clear that it
will give positive answers.
According to most Western estimates, massacres and deportations between
1915 and 1923 claimed up to 1.5 million Armenian lives. Another 200,000
Armenians reportedly were killed between 1894 and 1896.

Most Western and Armenian scholars blame the nationalist Young Turk
leaders that ruled over the Ottoman Empire during World War I for a
deliberate policy of extermination.

Although the successive governments that came to power after the
creation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 deny any links with their
Ottoman predecessors, they have always refused to recognize the killings
of Armenians as genocide.

Ankara insists the 1.5-million death toll is inflated and says that, if
300,000 Armenians did die during those years, this was largely the
result of civil unrest that also claimed the lives of thousands of Turks.

Citing historical evidence, Western and Armenian scholars in turn say
the Young Turks sought to systematically deport and massacre the
empire’s Armenian population, partly in retaliation for its suspected
collaboration with Russia.

Since 1923, Turkey has resisted and condemned any attempt by foreign
parliaments or governments to raise the Armenian genocide issue.

In June 2001, the French parliament passed a cautiously worded bill that
recognized the 1915-1923 killings of Ottoman Armenians as genocide.

Although the French government opposed the initiative, President Jacques
Chirac signed the bill into law. This prompted a swift reaction from
Ankara, which threatened to sever economic and cultural ties with Paris.

Turkey’s anger eventually abated after a few weeks and bilateral
relations went back to normal.

Up until a parliamentary debate today, Barnier was careful to not
describe the 1915-1923 killings as “genocide.” Still, a Turkish Foreign
Ministry spokesman immediately reacted to his initial comments, saying
his country would “never recognize any so-called genocide.”

Armenia, which has put recognition of the genocide worldwide on its
foreign policy agenda, welcomed France’s position.

Speaking to reporters in Yerevan today, Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian
said that Barnier’s remarks in Brussels “show once again that the
question of the genocide has gone beyond the Armenian framework and is
now a global issue.”

In an interview with Reuters last week, Oskanian said he hoped Turkey
would change its stance on the genocide after it enters into talks with
the EU.

Regional experts say Ankara’s attitude toward the Armenian issue is
deeply rooted in Turkeys’ educational system, which glosses over the
country’s cultural diversity in a bid to promote a unifying Turkish
national identity.

However, Barnier said that in France’s view, Ankara cannot aspire to EU
membership if it refuses to come in terms with its past.

“If, as I think, the core idea of Europe’s project is that all its
members should reconcile one with another — like France and Germany,
which have put reconciliation at the center of their project — and that
each member state should reconcile with its own past, then I believe
that when the time comes Turkey, too, will have to come in terms with
its own past and history and recognize this tragedy,” Barnier said.

In comments on France 2 public television today, the foreign minister
reiterated that Paris is not making this a condition for the opening of
entry talks with the EU. Barnier said that would not be legally possible.

“This is an issue that we will raise during the negotiation process. We
will have about 10 years to do so and the Turks will have about 10 years
to ponder their answer. It is not a condition we’re making for the
opening of negotiations that will be discussed by EU leaders this coming
Thursday and Friday,” Barnier said.

Results of an opinion survey released today by the Paris-based French
Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP) show a majority of citizens in France
and Germany remain opposed to Turkey’s entry into the EU.

Those who object to Ankara’s accession cite its human rights record, its
cultural and religious differences with European countries, and the
status of women in Turkish society.

However, they make no mention of the Armenian issue.

PHOTO CAPTION: “This is an issue that we will raise during the
negotiation process. We will have about 10 years to do so and the Turks
will have about 10 years to ponder their answer.” — French Foreign
Minister Michel Barnier

RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 11 2004

RUSSIAN GAS SUPPLIES TO ARMENIA TO BE INCREASED TO 1.350 BILLION
CUBIC METERS BY END OF 2004

YEREVAN, December 11 (RIA Novosti’s Gamlet Matevosyan) – By the end
of 2004 the Armenian-Russian company ArmRosgazprom is to increase gas
supplies to Armenia from 1.300 to 1.350 billion cubic meters,
ArmRogazprom CEO and director general Karen Karapetyan told
journalists.

According to him, next year the company is to increase gas supplies
to Armenia to 1.6-1.7 billion cubic meters taking into account the
rates of gasification and consumption volumes in the country.

The capacity of the Abovyan gasholder will be expanded from current
85 million cubic meters to 220-250 million cubic meters, said Mr.
Karapetyan. This will cost $27 million, he added. To finance the
program the company is negotiating with several banks, including
foreign ones, on granting credit.

“The implementation of this program will guarantee our security in an
emergency. I am convinced that the problem of Armenia’s energy
security will be solved soon, given the forthcoming opening of the
alternative Iran-Armenia gas pipeline,” Karen Karapetyan noted.

The Armenian-Russian company ArmRosgazprom is the single supplier of
natural gas to Armenia.

PanArmenian News
Dec 9 2004

ARMENIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT APPROVED OF SENDING CONTINGENT TO IRAQ:
IT IS THE PARLIAMENT’S TURN

09.12.2004 17:10

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Constitutional Court of Armenia has recognized
the joining of the republic to the Memorandum on regulation of the
command of the multinational division within the coalition forces in
Iraq as corresponding to the Constitution. According to the
Memorandum, in case the National Assembly passes a respective
decision, Armenia will send a contingent to Iraq. Addressing the
Constitutional Court sitting Armenian Defense Minister Serge Sargsian
noted, “Armenia has chosen a way of humanitarian inclusion in Iraq,
especially since it is consonant to the UN Security Council
Resolution on Iraq ¹1546 of June 8.” The Minister emphasized that
Armenia will take exclusively humanitarian part in the stabilization
in Iraq and will send sappers, physicians and drivers. He reminded
that 94 countries take part in the humanitarian activities in Iraq.
It should be noted that after the Constitutional Court making the
decision the sending of the Armenian contingent to Iraq will depend
on the Parliament resolution.

ARTSAKH WAS AND REMAINS A SANCTITY FOR DIASPORANS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
08 Dec 04

“The November 25 telethon in Los Angeles lasting 12 hours produced
unprecedented results, more than 11 million dollars was donated for
the construction of the ‘North-South’ highway,” said the director of
the all-Armenian foundation ‘Hayastan’ during the press conference
on December 3. The building of the road will be resumed in spring of
2005 and will last for two years. According to the director of the
foundation Naira Melkumian, the geography of participation in the
telethon and the willingness to contribute to the construction of the
road of strategic importance for the motherland is invaluable. “The
results we have today is the eloquent proof of the unity of the
Armenian nation. The active participation of different layers of
the society showed that the results of the telethon would be high,”
mentioned the director of the telethon. NKR president Arkady Ghukassian
had a decisive role in the organization of the telethon during which he
addressed live the Armenians. Naira Melkumian stressed the importance
of the direct participation of president Ghukassian in the telethon.
“This fact encouraged our benefactors even more.” The good results
of the telethon were also determined by the well-organized team work
in which, according to her, the local bodies of the United States
and Europe, especially the local body of the East Coast of the USA
had their contribution. Owing to the director of the latter Gevorg
Toroyan, 5 million 700 thousand dollars were donated by the Armenians
of the East Coast. The same can be said about the West Coast where
the results again exceeded those of the previous year. The West Coast
donated 2 million 222 thousand dollars of which 1 million 320 thousand
will be spent for the construction of the road and the rest for other
programs. Naira Melkumian also mentioned that this year the sum of
donations in Armenia and Artsakh totals 1 million 100 thousand drams
which exceeds the rates of the previous years. According to her,
“This testifies to the fact that RA and NKR are developing and the
foundation still enjoys the confidence of Armenians.” During the
press conference the director of the foundation enumerated the names
of the people who had donated large sums: Louise Simon-Manougian,
Eduardo Ernekian, Hrair Hovnanian, Caroline Mugar, Sarghis Hakobian,
Ara Abrahamian, and others who have lived abroad for a long time
but have not get estranged from their motherland and continue to
assist to the development of their country. “The unity we witnessed
on the day of the telethon was encouraging, indeed,” emphasized Naira
Melkumian. “And, I am sure, through maintaining this powerful feeling
of unity we will be able to overcome all the challenges we are facing
today with dignity. And, of course, the results of the telethon,
more than 11 million, are a signal for everybody that the Armenian
nation is committed to the ideas which helped us win that difficult
war. For the victory in the war was, indeed, the result of the unity
of the Armenian nation.” Sharing his impressions with the journalists,
she said, “During all our meetings we discovered that Artsakh was and
remains a sanctity for the Armenian nation. And everything will be
done for Artsakh to remain free, independent, and for our national
goals to fulfil.”

CHRISTINE MNATSAKANIAN.

08-12-2004

Peace talks going in the right direction – President

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 9 2004

The talks on the Upper Garabagh conflict are underway in the direction
suitable for Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev told a Tuesday broad
meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of 2004.

“Steps have been taken at settling the Upper Garabagh conflict that
positively affected the negotiations. The talks are already under
way in the needed direction. Azerbaijan’s fair position is even more
welcomed by international organizations and, as a result, positive
tendencies in the talks have become stronger.”

“Azerbaijan is a country suffering from the conflict and at this point,
we are waging a “cold war”, so to speak, which is successful. We have
stepped up our propaganda activities in international organizations
in a bilateral format and I am convinced that this way we will
achieve our goals. The international legal norms must be reflected,
the occupation forces withdrawn from our lands and Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity restored.”

“LAST WALTZ” RECOGNIZED BEST PERFORMANCE AT DAMASCUS FESTIVAL

YEREVAN, December 7 (Noyan Tapan). The “Last Waltz” performance of the
“Arion” theatre after Edgar Elbakian was recognized the best staging
at the 12th theatrical festival in Damascus. Armen Elbakian, Head and
Art Director of the theatre, informed about this during the December
7 press conference. He said that Vladimir Msrian, RA People’s Artist,
received a special prize for the best acting in the Fridrich Durenmat’s
play. A.Elbakian said that both the spectators and local press highly
estimated the skill of the Armenian troupe. “Msrian was brilliant,
his skill charmed everybody,” the producer of the performance
mentioned. According to A.Elbakian, Zurel Ramadan, Director of the
festival, mentioned that he has seen the “Paganini” film for several
times and was fascinated with Msrian’s acting. According to the art
director of the theatre, Anna Elbakian’s acting was also perfect. It
was mentioned that the “Last Waltz” was the longest performance
represented at the festival, it lasted 2 hours 10 minutes and it was
played without translation. But spectators understood it very well
and at the end of the performance they expressed their delight with
exclamations “Bravo, Armenia,” “Bravo, Msrian.” It was mentioned that
the “Arion” also played for the Armenian communities of Damascus and
Aleppo upon the initiative of RA Embassy to Syria.

“YOUTH AND CONSTRUCTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY” PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED IN 9 SCHOOLS OF ARMENIA

YEREVAN, December 6 (Noyan Tapan). The “Youth and Construction of
Civil Society” program has been implemented in 2 schools of Yerevan,
as well as Armavir and Kotayk regions since October 15 2004. This
program of the European Integration NGO is implemented with financing
of Fridrich Ebert Fund and Antares Media Holding. This is the second
program of the kind. In difference to the previous one, the regional
schools were included into this program for the first time. The first
program including 3 Yerevan schools started on April 10 and will end
at the end of 2004. According to Karen Bekarian, Chairman of the
organization, the program consists of several stages. During each
stage the pupils are taught the subject planned for the stage by an
interactive method. At the end of the stage a joint competition of
groups is organized. In K.Bekarian’s estimation, the lectures extend
the pupils’ knowledge about the state, law, public and international
structures. K.Bekarian mentioned that the European Integration
cooperates with other RA higher schools, as well, as a result of which
the “European Integration and International Structures” course of
lectures is held in the Armenian-Russian University. It’s envisaged to
carry out this course of lectures in another 6 higher schools, as well.

Azerbaijan releases 500 carriages to Georgia so far

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Dec 7 2004

Another 7 railway carriages loaded with grain were released to Georgia
from the Boyuk Kasik station on Monday. This brings the number of
railway carriages released to this country after being kept on the
Azeri-Georgian border for several days to 500, the State Railway
Office told AssA-Irada.

Some 780 carriages are currently withheld at the Boyuk Kasik and
neighboring railway stations, including 440 transporting oil products
and the rest grain and flour.

The carriages were detained by Azerbaijan on their way to Georgia
to investigate whether they were they were to be further delivered
to Armenia.

Representatives of the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee have been
in Georgia for several days to look into the problem.*