Author: Hovhannisian John

The EU-Turkey-Cyprus Triangle: "Privileged Partnership Offers Turkey
neither Privilege nor Partnership",
Hugh Pope in Today’s Zaman
back to "Solving the EU-Turkey-Cyprus Triangle"
23June 2009
Right-wingers won big in the European elections this month, and one of
their rallying cries has been that the EU should renege on its promise
of an eventual place for Turkey in the European Union. In its place,
they are offering a vision of "privileged partnership". Yet leading
proponents in France, Germany and elsewhere have failed to spell out
what this policy might be, even though talk of a substitute
arrangement for Turkey puts European credibility, intellectual honesty
and long-term interests at stake.

Among the first to propose "privileged partnership" was German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union in 2004, trying
to find ways to fit German public concerns to Turkish
expectations. But little perceptible intellectual effort has gone into
developing the concept, even though French President Nicolas Sarkozy,
outgoing European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering and other
European conservatives have joined the bandwagon since then. And at
the same time as their leaders are proposing the idea, the German and
French governments have published no documents saying how this
"privileged partnership" can substitute for Turkey’s existing EU
Associate Membership. Small wonder that German Foreign Minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists last week: "I don’t know what
privileged partnership means."

Indeed, the only theoretical study apparently available dates back to
2004. By Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, currently Germany’s minister of
the economy, the 33-page document is in many ways the proof of what
Euro-sceptical Turks used to pun about Europe’s old Common Market:
"They keep the partnership in common for themselves. And they keep us
as the market." Or, in plain English, having one’s cake and eating it
too.

Zu Guttenberg’s plan would extend the existing EU-Turkey customs union
into areas advantag
re and services — while allowing Turkey into most European
institutions as an observer only. There would be consultative
mechanisms, but they closely resemble those that Turkey already has in
the Association Council. Turkey would integrated in European defence,
security and foreign policy mechanisms, with eventual full membership
in the relevant decision-making bodies. This is an advance on the
current situation, but it is not particularly generous, considering
that Turkey has already helped defend Europe for 57 years as a full
and continuing member of NATO. However, zu Guttenberg stipulates that
before this can happen, the EU has to take binding decisions on its
Middle East policy and the "strategic meaning of Turkey for the
EU". He rules out monetary union, stipulates that the EU ends at the
border of Turkey and ignores the
historical and emotional sides of the arguments for Turkey in Europe.

Other published proposals for "privileged partnership" have been even
more broad-brush. The European People’s Party members of the European
Parliament in 2005 offered an eight-point plan suggesting integration
of Turkey into EU trade policy, full judicial cooperation, control of
immigration, cooperation in maritime security, development aid, joint
defence and foreign policies, work on a peaceful solution to the
Cyprus problem and cultural/educational projects. Once again, EU
concerns came first while Turkey’s sovereign sensitivities were ridden
over roughshod, with calls for its recognition of an Armenian
genocide, the ceding of some of its control of the Bosphorus waterway
and allowing Europeans a share in controlling its external borders.

In short, "privileged partnership" offers no obvious new privileges to
Turkey, even though it is a member of almost all pan-European
organizations from the Council of Europe to soccer leagues, and is in
many ways closer to the EU than any other non-member. Nor does it
offer real new partnership, since the main goal appears to be either
to control Turkey or to exclude it from the decision-making that would
make it a true partner. Already, the EU happily concludes free trade
deals with third parties that supposedly urge them to open their
markets to Turkey. But these third countries are under no obligation
and are reluctant to do so.
There is a downside to "privileged partnership" as well. European
states have formally contracted with Turkey that it is in a process
leading to full accession to the Union, if and when it satisfies all
the criteria. Reversing this obligation for transparent reasons of
domestic politics sends a message that Europe cannot be trusted. There
is an element of dishonesty, too. Politicians and commentators present
the accession talks as if a poorer, over-populated Turkey was about to
join tomorrow. In fact, the process will take a decade or even two, by
which time the relative positi
agnant Europe will doubtless be much changed. Fears of a flood of
Turkish migrants are exaggerated – free movement of Turkish labour
will likely not be allowed for many further years, if ever. Even then,
Turkey’s accession can ultimately be vetoed by any government.

Turkey’s negotiations to accede to the European Union are good for
Turks and good for Europeans, as long-standing strategic allies and
economic partners (see our August 2007 report Turkey and Europe: the
Way Ahead). On top of that, sweeping Turkish reforms from 2000-2005
showed that sincere cooperation towards EU accession helps in every
area that Europe and Turkey want matters to improve: on human rights,
on the Kurdish question, solving Cyprus, on limiting the role of
Turkey’s military and on empowering Turkey to be a force for stability
in the troubled areas to its east. Not only that, but Turkey’s economy
grew 7 per cent between 2002-2007, and foreign investment has rocketed
up more than tenfold, most of it from Europe.

As Turkey’s failure to sustain reforms since 2005 shows, it needs the
goal of full EU membership as a vital locomotive in its transformation
process. Updating laws, improving food hygiene standards and lowering
emissions may be important, but they are disruptive and expensive, and
any government needs to provide its population with motivation for
difficult change. The goal of accession is still supported by half of
all Turks, hoping that it will accelerate their country’s progress
towards greater prosperity, less corruption and a steady anchor for a
two-century-old process of modernisation and Europeanisation. Of
course, not all the trouble in the EU-Turkey relationship is the EU’s
fault. Turkey should be doing much more to adopt EU laws and norms
more quickly, and its leaders should do far more to remind Turkish
people how much of their current prosperity and regional prestige is
due to the EU convergence process. But since the Turkish republic was
founded in 1923, Turkey has founded itself on European models, Europe
is by far take the lead in shaping its neighbourhood in its own image.

In the circumstances, talk of "privileged partnership" thus looks more
and more like a scapegoat for popular European fears about jobs,
immigration and Islam. Blaming the EU-Turkey accession process does
not just build up problems for the EU-Turkey relationship — with all
the lost opportunities that this implies for future cooperation
between the EU and NATO, European energy security and cooperation with
the Muslim world — but it also delays an honest appraisal of the true
causes of these fears in European states themselves.
Hugh Popeis the project director of the International Crisis
Group-Turkey/Cyprus.

Today’s Zaman
back to "Solving the EU-Turkey-Cyprus Triangle"

Meeting of writers of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh held in Stepanakert
27.06.2009 18:29 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On June 27 NKR President Bako Sahakyan met with the
delegation of Armenia’s Union of Writers, headed by its chairman Levon
Ananyan. The parties discussed issues related to the development of
literature and cultural life in Artsakh.
Bako Sahakyan praised the role of writers in the country’s development
and in preserving national values, as well as in strengthening the
triunity of Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora. Members of the NKR Writers’
Union, and the head of the union Vardan Hakobyan attended the meeting,
the information department of the NKR President’s office reports.

ERGENEKON: AN URBAN LEGEND?
By Orhan Kemal Cenga°Z

Today’s Zaman
June 26 2009
Turkey

According to some, the ruling party is now taking revenge for the
closure case against it. For some Westerners, the Ergenekon case is
just a part of the dirty war between the Justice and Development Party
(AK Party) and those looking to maintain the status quo in Turkey. I
am trying to put myself in the shoes of the man on the street in
Turkey. If I were them, I would probably reach the same conclusion and
believe that Ergenekon is just a fabricated story by some circles in
Turkey. It is quite easy to reach this kind of conclusion if you read
some "mainstream" media outlets. Certain media groups have actively
been spreading this propaganda, and they are doing it using quite
sophisticated methods.

My perspective though, is completely different from what these media
groups have been trying to convince us of. I am a human rights lawyer,
and I have known "deep state gangs" for such a long time. In 1997 and
1998, I was working on cases of village destruction and extrajudicial
killings in southeastern Turkey. I was representing Kurdish villagers
before the European Court of Human Rights. Since then, I have known
about JÄ°TEM — an infamous illegal apparatus of the gendarmerie,
the very existence of which have always been denied. JÄ°TEM kidnapped
and killed thousands of Kurds who were believed to be members or
supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Today,
founders of this illegal organization are in prison in connection
with the Ergenekon case. Even children in the Kurdish regions of
Turkey knew the names of these JÄ°TEM commanders. These people were
never held accountable for the crimes they committed before. These
JÄ°TEM people were very active in the operational part of Ergenekon.

I also have some other reasons to believe that Ergenekon is much
bigger and much more complex than most people think. These reasons,
once again, spring from my personal experience.

Malatya massacre

In April 2007, three missionaries were killed in quite a barbaric way
in Malatya. Their throats were slit after long being tortured by their
murderers, five ultranationalist youngsters. The protestant community
in Turkey asked me to follow the case and to represent the families
of the victims before the criminal court where the accused would be
tried. After briefly reviewing the file, I came to the conclusion
that the case was much more complex than it first appeared. I also got
the impression that some "deep state elements" may have had a hand in
the case. Therefore, I decided to invite lawyers from different cases
in which the deep state had been implicated to take part in Malatya
case. More than 20 lawyers kindly agreed to join the legal team in
this case. However, this move apparently made the real perpetrators
behind this case very angry. When we went to Malatya, the news in the
local media was shocking. My picture and an agitating story appeared
in the local newspapers. They were portraying me and my colleagues
as provocateurs whose only purpose was to harm the reputation of
Malatya. After a while, I started to receive highly sophisticated
and serious threats. However, the most shocking and disturbing thing
happened later on. After gaining a deeper understanding of the case
file, I came to conclusion that this case and some other murders were
somehow linked to each other. Detecting many similarities in the
murder of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon in 2006, the killing of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in January 2007 and the Malatya
massacre case, I thought all these murders were carried out by the
Turkish Gladio (the name given to secret armies established in NATO
countries; Turkey is the only country that has never dissolved this
structure in the state). I started to tell my theory to my colleagues
over the phone: "Hey, I think these cases are linked to each other and
these murders were carried out by the Turkish Gladio. I came to this
conclusion after considering these factors…" After I told this theory
of mine to a couple of colleagues an extremely strange thing happened.

The Turkish Gladio

A week later I got a call from a journalist in Ä°stanbul. He said
a strange guy visited their newspaper and told them, "Santoro, Dink
and the Malatya murders were linked to each other, and they all were
carried out by the Turkish Gladio." He also "explained" the structure
of the Turkish Gladio for them. He was carrying a sketch showing the
organizational structure of Gladio. He said, showing the top of the
"organizational structure," the leader of the Turkish Gladio is Orhan
Kemal Cengiz.

I then understood that my analysis was true. The organization of
course was wiretapping my telephone and apparently they did not like
the idea that the lawyer in the massacre case would make a lot of
noise by alleging that the Malatya massacre was actually of the work
of the deep state. So they decided to make the first hit.

Bulent Varol Aral, the man who visited newspapers and tried to
convince journalists that I was the chief of Gladio, was arrested in
the Malatya massacre case later by the court on suspicion of conspiring
with the murderers.

When I developed this theory, I did not know the name of
Ergenekon. Today, however, I know very well that Ergenekon is the name
of the Turkish Gladio. I also know that the Turkish Gladio is much
bigger and more complex than has been discovered in the Ergenekon case.

However, some want us to believe that there is not such an
organization, that Ergenekon is just an urban legend. I wish they were
right. But I know very well that we just have touched the tentacles
of the octopus with this Ergenekon case, and if we cannot capture
the body of the octopus, democracy in this country will be an urban
legend in the future!

ACNIC DIRECTOR: EUROPEAN UNION IS NOT NATO, AND EASTERN PARTNERSHIP IS NOT AN ASPECT OF EXPANSION OF ALLIANCE

ArmInfo
2009-06-26 16:13:00

ArmInfo. Both Moscow and Yerevan should remember that European Union
is not NATO, Eastern Partnership is not expansion of NATO, Director
of Armenian Center for National and International Studies Richard
Giragosian said at an international conference "Eastern Partnership and
Prospects of Democratic Construction in the South Caucasus", Friday.

Giragosian thinks that Eastern Partnership tests Armenia’s flexibility
in the context of Russia’s reaction, if one takes into account
that Russia carefully perceives this program of EU. According to
him, Armenia’s rapprochement with EU is not necessarily a challenge
against Russia, and the Armenian authorities should ne able to balance
Armenia’s needs with Russia’s desire and reaction, moreover, it is
not yet clear whether Armenia will manage to emerge from the ordeal.

The EU Eastern Partnership program was initiated by Poland and
Sweden and approved by 27 countries of EU at a summit in Brussels
in December 2008. The program envisages considerable raising of the
level of political cooperation, wide integration of former Soviet
republics Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldavia, Belarus and Ukraine
into EU economy, increasing volumes of financial support to them and
strengthening energy security. The program also envisages allocation
of 600 mln EUR to these 6 countries by 2013.

MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI: GEORGIA NOT GOING TO CAPITALIZE ON TRANSIT OF GOODS TO ARMENIA

ArmInfo
2009-06-24 20:13:00

ArmInfo. Georgia is not going to capitalize on the transit of goods to
Armenia, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili says in an interview
with the Armenian Public Television.

He said Georgia does not strive to abuse the dominating position in
the sphere of transit and cause any damage to Armenia. On the other
hand, the railway of Georgia must operate and bring profit. To come
out of this situation, it is necessary to boost the economic ties
of the two states and increase the commodity turnover. The higher
is commodity turnover the lower will be the transit tariffs, he
said. As regards the possible opening of Upper Lars checkpoint on
the Russian-Georgian border, M. Saakashvili said Russia closed it
in 2005 making no exception for Armenia. Georgia sees no problems
in cargo traffic and free movement of the neighbors even if only its
neighbors gain from that. Now Georgia is waiting for the reply from
Russia for it is the Russian party that sent official proposal to
open the checkpoint, he said.

APAO GIVES ANIMATED PRESENTATION OF THREE POPULAR CHILDREN’S BOOKS

US State News
June 23, 2009 Tuesday 5:47 PM EST

YEREVAN, Armenia, March 6 — The U.S. Embassy issued the following
press release:

On March 6, APAO Susan Bridenstine read children’s stories to an
audience of over 30 young students at the Armenian National Children’s
Library. The Officer gave an animated presentation of three popular
children’s books. The interaction between the speaker and the audience
was very strong, the children, their teachers and parents enjoyed
themselves as the storytelling became a game with illustrations and
drawings which attracted the children’s attention. Monthly storytelling
programs will help schoolchildren become familiar with the correct
pronunciation of words and encourage them to borrow American literature
from the library.

PARLIAMENT URGED TO BACK CAMPAIGN TO CLEAR SEAFARER
by Tim Pauling

Aberdeen Press and Journal
June 23, 2009 Tuesday
Scotland

The Scottish Parliament has been asked to back a campaign to clear
the name of a legendary Scottish seafarer hanged for piracy more than
three centuries ago.

Captain William Kidd, who was born in Dundee or Greenock around 1645,
was executed in 1701 and his body left to rot in chains. Although
condemned as a pirate, history would suggest he was a privateer,
acting for the Crown.

Captain Kidd was appointed by the Crown to hunt French vessels and
take their cargoes.

He got into trouble after taking the Armenia ship Quedagh Merchant,
which was captained by an Englishman who had bought passes from the
French East India Company promising him protection.

After realising he had taken the ship of an Englishman, Kidd tried
to give it back, but his crew refused.

In order to keep control, Kidd relented. When word reached England
it cemented his reputation as a pirate and he was hunted down.

Two American researchers claim he was framed by King William III who
wanted to appear tough on pirates and stood to benefit from the bounty.

The Fraternity of Masters and Seamen of Dundee, which paid a pension
to Kidd’s mother in the late 1600s, is considering having Kidd’s case
reheard by the Court of Appeal in London.

SNP MSP Bill Kidd, who is not related to the captain, has lodged a
motion in the Scottish Parliament, welcoming the bid to clear his name.

Mr Kidd said there was no timescale for justice and governments should
not be allowed to get away with punishing people wrongly.

"I don’t expect that there’s going to be a mass campaign for something
that happened 300 years ago but I do expect people are going to be
worried about the fact that someone can be used in that way by the
state, whatever time in history," he said.

"If someone is accused and hung for something he didn’t do, when he
was operating for the government and he was doing the job properly,
that comes down to a criminal act on the part of the government,
not on him."

American expert: Turkey and Armenia should improve their bilateral
relations without waiting for Nagorno Karabakh settlement

2009-06-21 10:07:00

ArmInfo. Turkey and Armenia can and should improve their bilateral
relations without waiting for an Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,
Senior Associate of the American Foreign Policy Council Wayne Merry
told ArmInfo. ‘After all, Greece and Turkey have greatly improved their
ties without waiting for a Cyprus settlement. However, the political
reality in Turkey will strictly limit how far this process can go’, W.
Merry said.

Agence France Presse, France
June 19 2009

Armenia approves amnesty for opposition activists

YEREVAN, June 19 2009

Armenia’s parliament on Friday approved a general amnesty for dozens
of opposition supporters involved in post-election unrest last year
that left 10 dead.

The ex-Soviet republic’s National Assembly voted 98-1 to approve the
amnesty proposed by President Serzh Sarkisian, which officials said
would affect 90 percent of the about 100 people arrested following the
unrest or still wanted by police.

More than 50 people have been convicted and jailed in connection with
the unrest.

"This amnesty will resolve many important questions, will further
reduce tension in the country and create the conditions for
cooperation," the chair of parliament’s legal affairs commission,
David Harutunian, told lawmakers.

Sarkisian’s government has been under international pressure to
release jailed opposition supporters, including from rights watchdog
the Council of Europe, which has repeatedly raised concerns about what
it calls "artificial or politically motivated charges" against
opposition activists.

Officials said that those sentenced to fewer than five years in prison
would be released, while those facing longer sentences would see jail
terms reduced.

Overall, nearly 2,000 people would be affected by the general amnesty,
officials said, including about 500 who will be released from jail.

It was unclear how the amnesty would affect seven top opposition
activists, including several ex-lawmakers and former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanian, who remain on trial for organising the protests.

The charges stem from street battles that broke out when riot police
moved in to disperse thousands of supporters of former Armenian
president Levon Ter-Petrosian rallying to denounce Sarkisian’s victory
in a February 2008 election.

Two police officers and eight civilians were killed in the clashes and
dozens more were injured, many from gunshot wounds. Ter-Petrosian had
finished second in the vote and his supporters denounced the result as
rigged.

Armenia — a mountainous country of about three million people wedged
between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey — has seen repeated
political violence and post-election protests since gaining
independence with the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

IT SPHERE HAS REGISTERED AN INCREASE BY 20% COMPARED WITH LAST YEAR

ARMENPRESS
June 19, 2009

YEREVAN, JUNE 19, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan
participated today in annual informational, telecommunication and
high technology "DigiTec Business" forum.

Technological solutions to banking and financial sectors, small and
medium-sized enterprises, tourism, trade and storing, construction
and transportation, public sector, cargo transportation, medical and
drug spheres are presented at the forum.

Governmental press service told Armenpress that Armenian Prime Minister
Tigran Sargsyan attached great importance to the forum saying that
it enables IT representative companies to show their new production
and services, as well as the progress and achievements registered in
a year, and customers are given the opportunity of choosing valuable
products and services for their business.

Armenian prime minister expressed his satisfaction that IT sphere even
in the conditions of the world crisis has registered an increase by 20%
compared with the last year. "Productivity increase is one of the best
ways of overcoming the crisis, and IT is one of the exclusive spheres
that presents proposals on increasing productivity and competitiveness
to economy branches",-said the head of Armenian government stressing
that the government is too a customer in this forum and is to serve
an example for businessmen with its choice.

The prime minister said that the government is inclined to apply modern
IT in all the links of the state system, as it faces the problem of
increasing the productivity as well. 25 companies and 1500 businessmen
took part in the forum.