Author: Hunanian Jack

Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 3 2009

President warns against impact of 1915 apology

ANKARA-The apology campaign for the events of 1915 would adversely
affect the diplomatic efforts between Turkey and Armenia, says
President Abdullah Gül, and the latest debates about the
campaign do not help relations with Yerevan

President Abdullah Gül, one of the main actors who initiated
the normalization process of Turkish and Armenian relations through
football diplomacy, said the apology campaign for 1915 events would
adversely affect the diplomatic efforts between the two countries.

"When we examine the latest debates in terms of their results, I do
not think they make a positive contribution," Gül said in a
televised interview on ATV on Thursday.

"Ideas that we like or not, support, or even fight against, can be
discussed if they do not target violence. However, the polarization
sometimes can reach serious dimensions due to the sensibility of the
subjects," Gül said.

Lively debates in Turkey Referring to his previous statements on the
campaign, he said his views had been distorted. "There is a free and
democratic atmosphere in Turkey, there is a live debate. I am content
with this," he said following the campaign.

Aside from his statements about the campaign, Gül’s rector
appointments also caused controversy in the country, calling his
presidential neutrality into question.

"I believe a new era should be initiated in universities. A new era
does not mean an era of silenced universities that do not take an
interest in the country’s issues or politics. However, I want our
universities not to become a platform for daily politics, but make
attempts to increase Turkey’s power," Gül said, adding that he
could abdicate his assignment power within this framework.

"However, a constitutional amendment is required. I hope Turkey can
undertake a more extended study on the constitutional amendments,
which includes everybody, in 2009. What is important here is the
method," Gül said.

Stating that the government and the opposition have many points in
common in their draft constitutions, he said there was consensus on
the main issues. "Issues should be discussed in an appropriate,
peaceful and participatory way, without turning them into polemics and
confusing them with daily politics."

In relation to the Constitutional Court’s decision that the two
articles of the Constitution on the headscarf could be amended only
through a court decision, Gül said everything could be
achieved. "All the draft constitutions agree on main issues, like
democratization, the rule of law and freedoms. Thus, I am optimistic,"
he said.

The articles, which foresee equality before the law and equal rights
in education, were amended by Parliament in an attempt to lift the
headscarf ban in universities. However, the Constitutional Court
canceled the amendments, starting a new debate over its jurisdiction.

Reflecting on the year 2008 for Turkey that fell on hard times due to
the closure case against the Justice and Development Party, or AKP,
terror attacks and the financial crisis, Gül said Turkey had
overcome these difficulties and gained ground. "Turkey tries to solve
these problems through its maturity. I see the debates as part of the
maturation process. Turkey has even started to debate some issues that
are discussed in the richest countries and seem marginal. These are,
indeed, good things," Gül said.

Gül also denied the allegations that Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an and he were on strained terms.

Court sitting on "case of seven" postponed again

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. Having lasted only a few minutes,
the court sitting on "the case of the seven" presided over by the judge
Mnatsakan Martirosian in the court of general jurisdiction of Yerevan’s
Shengavit community on December 27 was postponed until January 9, 2009.
Based on the fact the 7 accused persons did not rise and thus showed a
disrespectful attitude to the judge, the latter made a decision to
remove them from the courtroom, postpone the trial for 13 days and "not
to include these days in the term of punishment of the accused persons".

The former foreign minister of Armenia, defendant A. Arzumanian
demanded that he should be addressed as "Mr. Arzumanian" or "the
political prisoner Arzumanian" because he is not an accused person. The
National Assembly deputy, defendant Myasnik Malkhasian demanded that
the authorities should make a decision on "the case of the seven"
immediately, without delay so as to save the nerves of the trial
participants, journalists and the relatives of the defendants.

It is noteworthy that the Armenian National Congress called on the
activists and the relatives of the defendants not to enter the
courtroom, as a result of which the courtroom was almost empty when the
trial began. The journalists were forbidden to enter the courtroom, and
they were working in a separate room, following the trial by means of
three monitors. Based on the circumstance that the courtroom was
half-empty, the journalists tried to persuade the court instructors to
allow them to enter there. After an argument, the journalists applied
to the RA ombudsman Armen Harutyunian, saying that the monitors’ sound
and images are of low quality, and they can work properly only in the
courtroom. The ombudsman promised to speak immediately with the judge
regarding the issues of journalists and the trial’s delay.

A few minutes later A. Harutyunian came out of the judge’s room, saying
that he officially declares that it is inadmissible not to let the
journalists in under conditions of a half-empty courtroom. He promised
to apply to the court department on this issue. As regards the trial’s
delay due to the fact that the defendants did not stand up, in the
words of A. Harutyunian, "the judge considers himself a procedural
person, and he cannot start a sitting in case of a disrespectful
attitude to him". During a talk with journalists, the lawyer Hovik
Arsenian in his turn said that not to stand up is the right of an
accused, and it may not be a reason for delaying a court sitting.

Representatives of the ARF party Artsvik Minasian and Artyusha
Shahbazian attended the court sitting. As during the previous sittings,
a crowd gathered outside the court, chanting "Freedom to the Heroes!"
all the time.

PRESIDENT OF EUROPEAN MOVEMENT IN ARMENIA: "IF AZERBAIJAN IS INTERESTING FOR THE WESTERN COUNTRIES AS OIL SUPPLIER, ARMENIA ATTRACTS THEM AS A LEADER OF DEMOCRACY IN THE REGION"

Today.Az
litics/49802.html
Dec 25 2008
Azerbaijan

"Europe does not apply double standards to Armenia", considers
president of the European movement in Armenia Viktor Yengibaryan.

"Europe has no double standards, it has a separate approach to each
state", said he Wednesday.

"If Armenia is expected to be democratic, it is not a demonstration
of double standards", added he.

According to Yengibaryan, the Council of Europe is a community of
states for which democracy and human rights is important.

"Deprivation of Armenia’s right to vote in PACE will have hard
implications both for European integration and for the external
political weight of the country", considers he. According to him,
the Foreign Ministry and the public organizations of Armenia must
spare no efforts to prevent it", said he.

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER 19-25, 2008

HIGHLIGHTS:

JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH DISRESPECT TO COURT

"HAILUR" SHOOTING CREW OBSTRUCTED FROM COVERING THE CONFERENCE OF ARMENIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS

PARLIAMENTARY HEARING DID NOT ADDRESS THE KEY BROADCASTING ISSUES

SUIT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER AGAINST ARABKIR ADMINISTRATION

"GALA" TV COMPANY LAUNCHED ITS WEB-SITE

JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH DISRESPECT TO COURT

On December 24 the Police Department of Kentron community of Yerevan charged
freelance journalist Gagik Shamshian and correspondent of "Chorrord
Ishkhanutiun" newspaper Gohar Vezirian with Part 1 of Article 343 of the RA
Criminal Code ("Disrespect to Court"). As it has been reported, incidents
with journalists occurred during the hearing of the same case in the court
of primary jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan.
On August 5, 2008 upon the order of judge Gagik Avetisian Gagik Shamshian
was put out of the courtroom. The journalist was first locked in the
basement of the court building and was further moved to the Kentron Police
Department. The next day, August 6, a similar sanction was applied to Gohar
Vezirian: upon the order of the same judge the journalist was put out of the
courtroom, she was kept for about an hour and half in a room, intended for
defendants, and was further moved to Kentron Police Department. Having spent
over two hours in the police department, Gagik Shamshian and Gohar Vezirian
were released on August 5 and 6 respectively. The criminal proceedings
against journalists were instituted in September, 2008 (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, September 5-11, 2008).

As YPC was told by attorney Hovik Arsenian, journalists do not plead guilty,
saying it was the judge who exceeded his competence. Part 1 of Article 343
of the RA Criminal Code stipulates a fine ranging from 100 to 300 minimal
salaries or imprisonment of one to two months.

"HAILUR" SHOOTING CREW OBSTRUCTED FROM COVERING THE CONFERENCE OF ARMENIAN
NATIONAL CONGRESS

On December 21 the shooting crew of "Hailur" newscast of the First Channel
of the Public Television of Armenia was refused entry for covering the
conference of the Armenian National Congress (opposition political
organization led by the RA First President Levon Ter-Petrosian). As YPC was
told by "Hailur" correspondent Anna Vartanian, the External Relations
Officer of the Congress Vladimir Karapetian asked the journalists of the
Public Television to leave the hall where the conference was taking place.
According to the journalist, Karapetian substantiated this ban on coverage
by the attitude of the Armenian National Congress towards the incumbent
authorities. The Congress Coordinator Levon Zurabian described the
occurrence as a response to authorities’ refusal to provide the Armenian
National Congress with a hall for the conference.

PARLIAMENTARY HEARING DID NOT ADDRESS THE KEY BROADCASTING ISSUES

On December 19 the RA National Assembly Standing Committee on Science,
Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Issues held parliamentary hearings on
"Content of the TV Air and Legislative Regulation of TV Advertising". The
journalistic associations that took part in the debate, including Yerevan
Press Club, had supposed that the discussion would center on the urgent
issues of the broadcasting. Unfortunately, the hearing was of a general
nature. Most of the remarks made referred to the problems of language use
and esthetics. Such key issues as the formation of the regulatory body, the
transparency of broadcast licensing competitions and distinct criteria upon
which the National Commission on Television and Radio bases its license
provision decisions, development of mechanisms for regulating the activities
of the Public TV and Radio Company, digitalization in the context of
Armenia’s commitments to the Council of Europe were not touched on. The
representatives of journalistic associations drew the attention of the
organizers to this fact, and the Chairman of the specialized parliament
Committee Armen Ashotian assured that new hearings will be organized to
consider the whole range of problems faced by the broadcasting.

Meanwhile it was reasonable to expect due attention to the recent
resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In
particular, on December 18 the provisional version of PACE Resolution "The
Implementation by Armenia of Assembly Resolutions 1609 (2008) and 1620
(2008)" was released after the approval of the Committee on the Honoring of
Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe
(Monitoring Committee). Clause 8.2 of the provisional version refers to the
amendments to the RA Law "On Television and Radio", adopted on September 10,
2008, according to which the broadcast licensing competitions are suspended
till July 20, 2010 due to the need to make preparations for digitalization
(see YPC Weekly Newsletter, September 5-11, 2008). This Clause stresses that
"the technical requirements for the introduction of digital broadcasting
should not be used by the authorities to unduly delay the holding of an
open, fair and transparent tender for broadcasting licenses, as demanded by
the Assembly". The provisional version of the new Resolution, stipulating a
sanction of suspension of voting rights of the Armenian delegation, will be
presented for the consideration of the PACE winter session on January 26-30,
2009.

SUIT OF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER AGAINST ARABKIR ADMINISTRATION

On December 19 the RA Administrative Court considered the suit of the
Freedom of Information Center versus the administration of Arabkir community
of Yerevan. The NGO addressed the court with a demand to commit the communal
administration to provide the information requested. On July 30, 2008 the
Freedom of Information Center made an inquiry as to the number of apartments
held by Arabkir community with ownership right, asking to specify their
addresses, as well as provide the judicial statistics on the cases of
eviction of the residents from unprivatized apartments. In the letter of
August 6 the communal administration responded only to the last part of the
inquiry, without providing the information about the apartments it owned.

At the court session of December 19 the respondent stated that the
unprivatized apartments had not been taken stock of previously, and their
registration started only recently, upon the order of the head of the
community. In the opinion of the judge, the administration should have
responded in any case, even if it lacked the necessary information.

The court ruling is set to be publicized on December 30, 2008.

"GALA" TV COMPANY LAUNCHED ITS WEB-SITE

"GALA" TV company of Gyumri launched its web-site, .The TV
company reports that apart from the Armenian-language resource, the news of
"GALA" will soon be placed on the web in English and Russian languages as
well.

N.B. Dear readers, please note that the YPC Weekly Newsletter will next be
issued in January 2009. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.

You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

TURKEY’S STANCE REMAINS UNCHANGED
LUSINE HOVHANNISYAN

Hayots Ashkharh Daily
23 Dec 2008
Armenia

"Gyul’s visit has mainly got a symbolic character, it doesn’t give
any hint about principal changes. But if Turkey really intends to
make positive changes in Armenian-Turkish relations after this visit
it will be more visible and clear," Director of the Institute of
Oriental Studies under the Academy of Sciences Ruben Safrastyan said
in his interview given to "Hayots Ashkharh" daily one day before the
visit of the Turkish President Abdullah Gyul to Armenia.

Summarizing the period following the recent football diplomacy of
Armenian-Turkish relations, he underscored yesterday: "Judging from the
reports of the Turkish press and the announcements made by different
high ranking officials in Turkey, there is no significant change in
Turkey’s stance regarding Armenian-Turkish relations. Not only is it an
important, but in my view the most important circumstance, because the
present situation of Armenian-Turkish relations is mainly conditioned
by the stance of the Turkish state, Turkish policy towards Armenia".

Touching upon the proposal on security and cooperation in South
Caucasus initiated by Turkey: that is to say the format 3+2, Armenia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Russia, R. Safrastyan linked it with
the fact that the August developments in the region were solved to
the benefit of Russia.

According to the observations of the speaker, what Turkey really
needs is that the before mentioned initiative is supported by Russia
and the South Caucasian countries. Georgia abstained from supporting
the proposal only because Russia was involved there. In this regard
Armenia’s positive approach is very important for Turkey, because in
case Armenia also refused to participate, only Azerbaijan would have
remained there: "This was the first case when Armenia became valuable
for Turkey in terms of diplomacy, which Armenian party must use in
the negotiation process."

SANCTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IS NOT THE BEST WAY FOR SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY DEVELOPMENT IN ARMENIA – REPUBLICAN PARTY

Trend
Dec 22 2008
Azerbaijan

Sanctions of international organizations is not the best way for
supporting democracy development in Armenia, press-secretary of
Republican Party of Armenia [RPA], deputy of National Assembly Edward
Sharmazanov said at today’s press-conference in Hayeli club when
commenting on the decision of PACE Monitoring Commission regarding
fulfilment of 1609 and 1620 PACE resolutions by Armenia, reported
ArmInfo.

He also added nobody from the present authorities came forward with
threats to European structures, on the contrary, the authorities have
always emphasized their gratitude for support and said their course
is towards European integration. ‘European parliamentarians could
not but see the huge volume of the work implemented by the country
for fulfilment of the requirements of resolutions 1609 and 1620. Of
course, we still have problems regarding human rights protection
and we are going to resolve them. But I think it is unreasonable to
declare amnesty before passing sentence upon the persons accused of
an attempt of the anti-constitutional coup. It may create dangerous
precedent’, – he said.

He also said "it is impossible to avoid dual standards application"
in the politics, and at present it is

taking place in Armenia. But RPA press-secretary thinks that the
prospect of depriving Armenia of the voting right in PACE is still
not so clear.

GUL DENIES RUMORS ABOUT HIS MOTHER’S ARMENIAN ORIGIN

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.12.2008 18:19 GMT+04:00

Turkish President Abdullah Gul denies rumors about his mother’s
Armenian origin.

In his statement yesterday, Gul announced that his mother’s side,
the Satoglu family from Kayseri, and his father’s side, the Gul family
also from Kayseri, are Muslim and Turkish, according to centuries of
written genealogy records.

"I respect the ethnic background, different beliefs and family ties of
all my citizens and see this as a reality and also the wealth of our
country with its imperial history. I also would like to emphasize
that all my citizens are equal to one another regardless of any
differences. No one has any superiority whatsoever over another
one. Everybody has the equal and same rights under the guarantee of
our Constitution," the statement read. "I am proud of our country,
which has reached this level of understanding."

When Gul was asked for his opinion on the campaign, he said the
state’s position is to improve relations with its neighbors. "We
believe dialogue to be the solution for problems we have with our
neighbors. Perpetuating problems is not useful for anyone," he said.

Member of MHP, parliamentarian Canan Aritman "reminded" of the Armenian
origin of the President’s mother. "Abdullah Gul should be the president
of the whole Turkish nation, not of his ethnic origin. Investigate the
ethnic origin of the president’s mother, and you will see," she said.

NA CONVENES EXTRAORDINARY SITTING

A1+
[01:54 pm] 22 December, 2008

Upon the initiative of the Armenian Government, the National Assembly
convenes an extraordinary sitting at 12, December 23, 2008.

Alongside with other draft laws the NA will debate the draft
amendments to the RA Laws on "Advertisement," "Television and Radio,"
"Referendum," "Electoral Code," and the Law on "Conducting Meetings,
Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations."

Make or break year for the EU and Turkey
By Hugh Pope

Cyprus Mail
21 Dec 2008

AN ABRUPT and unusual word buried in a European Union declaration on
December 8 showed the mounting risks of a breakdown in Turkey’s EU
membership talks. Ankara’s need to solve its problems with Cyprus,
foreign ministers warned, has become "urgent". Thanks also to Turkey’s
failure to meet EU reform benchmarks since negotiations started in
2005, a showdown looks inevitable over the next year.

Failure to reform and deep political polarisation have led to a sense
of lost direction in Turkey. Nationalism and human-rights violations
are again on the rise. As the adoption of EU norms looks more distant,
ethnic tensions between Turks and Kurds have risen. The EU anchor of
Turkey’s economic miracle this decade, and the great progress made in a
golden era of reform from 2000 to 2004, are at risk.

For Europe, the costs of losing Turkey are higher than it thinks.
European access to one of the biggest and fastest-growing nearby
markets would become more difficult. The souring EU relationship has
helped slow the EU’s first effort to diversify away from Russian gas
supplies with the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline across Turkey.
What’s more, an EU that proves unable to work on an equal basis with
Turkey will deepen a belief in the Islamic world that the West rejects
Muslims.

In Cyprus, this situation shows how wrong the Greek Cypriot leadership
would be to believe that Turkey will do anything to get into the EU, or
that EU pressure can ever force Ankara to accept its demands; instead,
it must do all it can to bring Turkey closer to itself and the EU,
through avoiding conflicts over contested territorial waters at home
and ending the practice of blocking Turkey-EU negotiating chapters in
Brussels.

For its part, Turkey has long been wrong in its belief that the Greek
Cypriot position is the result of an EU policy; but fading EU-Turkey
ties would make it even more mistaken to expect that the EU could or
would impose anything on the Greek Cypriots. The only way forward for
Ankara is through actions to win Greek Cypriot trust, like keeping its
navy out of contested waters, and doing all it can to reform and show
itself to be a good partner in future normalised Turkey-Cyprus
relations.

There are many reasons for this damaging EU-Turkey divergence. EU
populations and politicians are cooler to enlargement than ever before.
Sound arguments about Turkey’s long-term contribution to the EU are
losing ground to nostalgia for an idealised vision of a homogenous
European past, along with fears about radical Islam and the potential
loss of jobs to Turkish immigrants.

In Turkey, disillusionment began with the EU’s 2004 admission of Cyprus
as a divided state run by Greek Cypriots, when it was the Turkish
Cypriots who had accepted, and the Greek Cypriots who rejected, the
EU-backed United Nations peace plan. French and German attacks on
Ankara’s right to join the EU further demotivated Turkish leaders, who
slowed the adoption of EU law to a crawl. Additionally, half of the 33
negotiating chapters are now frozen for political reasons by the Greek
Cypriots and the French. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily
dressed down EU diplomats at an Ankara dinner in September, telling
them the EU had got the "bucket stuck in the bottom of the well".

In such an atmosphere, Turkey-sceptic EU states, or perhaps Turkish
politicians angry with Europe, may try to suspend the negotiations
altogether. One pretext could be Turkey’s promise, made in order to win
the opening of negotiations in 2005, to normalise relations and trade
with Cyprus. When Turkey had failed to do so by December 2006, the EU
said it would study the issue "in particular in 2007, 2008 and 2009".
Brussels’ new warning that the issue is "urgent" implies that this
ambivalent wording is now seen as a deadline.

Paradoxically, this cooling of relations comes just as Turkey is
showing how much it can do to complement EU goals. Ankara has played
key roles in representing the EU point of view over Iran’s nuclear
policy and nudging Lebanese factions toward compromise on a new
president ` actions which Brussels acknowledged in its 2008 Turkey
progress report. This year it has mediated talks between Syria and
Israel, and opened up dialogue with both the Iraqi Kurds and even an
old enemy, Armenia. In recognition of Turkey’s responsible foreign
policy, the country was elected to a two-year seat on the UN Security
Council.

EU politicians must do their share to avoid a crisis. They should
recognise their past mistakes on Cyprus, engage even-handedly in
support of the promising new Cypriot talks in progress since September,
and publicly commit funds to a future Cyprus settlement. The dangers of
failure were highlighted last month when the Turkish and Greek navies
and Greek Cypriot-chartered oil-prospecting ships sparred over
territorial rights in the Mediterranean.

Since 1963 the EU has repeatedly promised Turkey full membership once
it meets all criteria. Now would be a good time to reaffirm this
promise. Also, the EU would win by following the call of pro-Turkey EU
states to deepen strategic dialogue with Ankara.

Turkey should do its utmost to give arguments to the pro-Turkish EU
presidencies of Sweden and Spain in 2009/2010. The government and
opposition should overcome their mutual hostility, implement the
long-delayed reform program, and relaunch work on a new, more
democratic constitution. Unfortunately for Ankara, EU politicians care
more about the anti-enlargement mood at home than about Turkey’s
geostrategic role. Only a full adoption of European norms can prove
that Turkey truly wishes to be part of
the EU family.

n Hugh Pope is Turkey/Cyprus project director for the International
Crisis Group and author of Turkey Unveiled: A History of Modern Turkey.
The Crisis Group on December 15 published its new policy report `Turkey
and Europe: the Decisive Year Ahead’, available on

, Turkey
Dec 21 2008

Armenia apology campaign "unfair", Turkish speaker says

Turkish speaker Toptan, said Sunday, in regard to the incidents of
1915, that it was unfair to try to convict Turkey without a trial and
bring this country to the point of apologizing.

Sunday, 21 December 2008 12:41

The Speaker of Turkish Parliament, Koksal Toptan, said Sunday, in
regard to the incidents of 1915, that it was unfair to try to convict
Turkey without a trial and bring this country to the point of
apologizing.

Speaking to reporters prior to his departure from Ankara’s Esenboga
International Airport for Macedonia, Toptan said that he could not
understand Turkish citizens who initiated an "apology" campaign on the
incidents of 1915.

Those, who signed the apology declaration, issued such declaration in
the name of freedom of expression but they could not tolerate
criticisms against them, Toptan said.

I just can not understand such an attitude, Toptan said.

AA