Author: Hunanian Jack

SABANCI: WHILE WE TRY TO LIFT ARTICLE 301, FRANCE ACTS AFRAID OF TRUTH
Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 5 2006
As part of the “Turkey Week” sponsored by the Turkish Industrialists
and Business Foundation (TUSIAD), a panel entitled “European Global
Struggles and Turkey” took on the controversial topic of France’s
approach towards Armenian claims of genocide. With an upcoming debate
in the French Parliament on a law which would forbid public denial of
the so-called Armenian genocide, TUSIAD President Omer Sabanci spoke
yesterday about how this law contrasted with Turkey’s hotly debated
article 301 from the Turkish Penal Code.
Answering questions after the panel, Sabanci reminded reporters that
TUSIAD was at the forefront in Turkey of putting pressure on Ankara
to either alter or remove article 301 from the Turkish Penal Code. He
then said “And while we take these steps towards freedom of expression,
I cannot understand how France is embracing a stance which would limit
freedom of expression. This stance seem to me to be the stance of a
country which fears something.”

NEGATIONISME
Gie van den Berghe
De Standaard, Nethrland
October 3, 2006
Uitstekende bijdrage van Luc Bonneux over de negationismewet
(DS Weekend 30 september). Vrijheid van meningsuiting duldt geen
uitzonderingen. Schaf af die handel, weg met de negationismewet. En
breid ze vooral niet uit, zoals sommigen overwegen, tot andere
genocides. Die tendens toont aan dat de inkrimping van grondwettelijke
vrijheden tot escalatie leidt, alleen al om niet te discrimineren met
andere genocides. Aanleiding voor het stuk tegen de negationismewet
was naar alle waarschijnlijkheid de schrapping door het Europees
Parlement, woensdag laatstleden, van een van de voorwaarden waaraan
Turkije moet voldoen om tot de Europese Unie toegelaten te worden,
met name de erkenning van de genocide op de Armeniers. Een voorwaarde
die men nu om realpolitische, economische redenen liet vallen.
Maar het gaat hier niet om vrijheid van meningsuiting, maar om de
volgehouden weigering van een staat om een volkenmoord te erkennen.
Een staat die toelaat dat sommige van zijn burgers die de gruwelijke
misdaad wel erkennen zich voor de rechtbank moeten verantwoorden en
riskeren gestraft te worden. Je mag er niet aan denken wat er zou
gebeuren als Duitsland zich zou veroorloven om de jodenuitroeiing in
twijfel te trekken!
Wat de genocide op de Armeniers betreft ligt de zaak ook
ingewikkelder. De Turkse regering erkent ondertussen de gruweldaden
wel, maar ze wijst op de medeverantwoordelijkheid van de’ Armeniers,
die tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog de kant kozen van de Russen,
een eigen staat wilden… En vooral, ze weigert mordicus de term
genocide te gebruiken, want de toenmalige Turkse regering zou nooit
de intentie gehad hebben om de Armeniers uit te roeien.
Juridisch gezien is die intentie helaas inderdaad een voorwaarde om
van genocide te mogen spreken. Niet alleen de Turkse regering maakt
daarvan handig misbruik, ook de internationale gemeenschap, de VS en
de VN verschuilen zich om de haverklap achter deze clausule om niet
te moeten tussenbeide komen. Hoog tijd dus om het begrip genocide te
herzien of de verplichting tot tussenkomst te koppelen aan misdaden
tegen de menselijkheid.
Gie van den Berghe(De auteur is gastdocent aan de Universiteit Gent.)

DALLAKYAN SKEPTICAL ABOUT FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Panorama.am
19:17 04/10/06
The Convention on Corruption obliges to call to responsibility
for bribing national and public officials. Justice Minister Davit
Harutunyan also said officials will have to file statements on their
property.
The minister admits corruption is wide-spread in all spheres in the
republic. Answering to the question of Tatul Manaseryan, deputy of
parliament, on the recent data release by World Bank according to
which corruption has grown in Armenia, the minister answered, “these
data are based on sociological surveys and do not refer to facts.” The
minister said no cases of corruption were reported in customs whereas
the WB report especially points to this field as very corrupt.
Viktor Dallakyan, deputy of parliament, is sure that corrupt top
officials cannot fight corruption in the country. Speaking about
filing about the property, Dallakyan said some officials wear more
expensive underwear than dozen times of some people’s salary.
Dallakyan is skeptical about the Convention on Corruption because the
car of Aghvan Hovsepyan, chief prosecutor who is supposed to fight
corruption, costs $70,000.
There were only seven deputies in the session hall while the parliament
was discussing the issue of prime significance.

GEORGIA ESTABLISHES SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR STUDENTS FROM JAVAKHK
Public Radio of Armenia
Oct 3 2006
According to Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli’s decree, Javakhk
students studying in higher educational establishments of Georgia
will enjoy special discounts at the expense of the state budget.
A-Info reports that the size of the discount will depend on the grades
received when entering the higher educational establishment.
According to the competition announced, 19 first-year students of
the Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi State Medical University,
Batumi Satate University and Akhalskha and Akhalkalak branches of
the Tbilisi State University will benefit from the discounts.

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT PREFERS PRO-GOVERNMENTAL BILL ON PARLIAMENT’S REGULATIONS
ARMINFO News Agency
October 3, 2006 Tuesday
Today the Armenian Parliament considered two bills on the regulations
of the Armenian Parliament and preferred the bill drafted by
pro-governmental forces.
The chairman of the parliamentary commission on legal issues Rafik
Petrossyan says from now on a deputy’s question to the government
will be sent either to the government or local administrations who
should answer the deputy within 20 days or appear in the parliament
and answer the question personally.
There will be one rather than several commissions on one and the
same bill. The bill also specifies the procedures for approving
governmental programs, calling extraordinary sessions, confirming
the president’s resignation, boycotting parliament’s work. From now
on any parliamentary group can boycott the parliament’s work for two
rather than one session which is “more democratic.”

GAS SUPPLY TO ARMENIA RESTORED
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.10.2006 12:58 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russia has restored gas supply to Armenia. As
reported before, September 28 gas supply to Armenia was interrupted
due to reconstruction and regulating of Red Bridge measuring unit
in Georgia.
The work in the unit was planned to last 4 days, however it was managed
to be completed earlier. In that period gas supply for population
of the republic was secured at the expense of reserves of Abovyan
underground gas storage, reports Interfax.

REPRESENTATIVE OF AZERBAIJAN REJECTS ARMENIAN FM’S ACCUSATIONS
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 29 2006
On September 27, representative of Azerbaijan exercised the Right of
Reply on the last day of the general debates at the 61st session of
the United Nations General Assembly to make some things clear about
the statements made by Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian at
the General Assembly.
Representative of Azerbaijan stated that Azerbaijan regrets about
the fact that Armenia’s Foreign Minister uses the UN General Assembly
rostrum to speak aggressively about things that could harm the conflict
resolution process.
According to Azerbaijani diplomat, Azerbaijani side had to reply to his
rhetoric full of accusations to reveal that Armenian side’s extremely
aggressive statements do not agree with respective resolutions and
decisions of the UN Security Council, Council of Europe, Organization
of the Islamic Conference, OSCE and other international organizations.
On Armenian Minister’s false accusations of destruction of Armenian
monuments in the Azerbaijani lands, Azerbaijani representative said
the country suggested sending Council of Europe’s fact-finding mission
to the region but received no official answer on this matter from
the Armenian Government.
Vardan Oskanian said in his address that Armenian community of
Nagorno-Karabakh allegedly exercised its right to self-determination to
break away from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani representative regarded this
statement as Armenia’s attempt to hide the ethnic cleansing committed
in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by abusing international
legal principles.
The Diplomat reminded UN member countries of the fact that “Declaration
on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples”
of December 14, 1960 and Declaration on Principles of International
Law Concerning Friendly Relations And Cooperation Among States of
1970. Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by World Conference
on Human Rights clearly indicate that self-determination may not
be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would
dismember or impair the territorial integrity of sovereign and
independent states.
In accordance with these documents, self-determination is the right
of the whole population living in the certain area. They can exercise
this right only in a peaceful way by strengthening the political
unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the state. Armenia
as an UN member must comply with these rules regulating interstate
relations. Ensuring the participation of both Armenian and Azerbaijani
communities in the democratic and legal process, Azerbaijan is ready
to grant the highest status of autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh within
its borders.
Summarizing his address, representative of Azerbaijan stressed that
Oskanian’s accusations highlighted the need for raising the UN’s
awareness of the situation in the occupied Azerbaijani lands. The
General Assembly must know who the aggressor and the victim of
aggression is. To this end, Azerbaijan will use all tools and
mechanisms at its disposal.

GENOCIDE EXPULSION
Hurriyet, Turkey
Sept 28 2006
It would appear that official recognition of Armenian genocide
claims is a pre-condition for participation in local elections in
the Netherlands this year.
A total of 3 ethnically Turkish citizens living in the Netherlands
have been removed as candidates from their parties’ pre-election lists
due to their unwillingness to recognize Armenian claims of genocide as
true. With local elections coming up on November 22, a campaign started
by Armenians living in the diaspora has met with success, as the Dutch
Social Democrat Workers’ Party and the Christian Democrat Party both
removed Turkish candidates from their candidate lists following the
candidates’ refusal to acknowledge the so-called Armenian genocide.
The removal of Social Democrat Workers’ Party candidate Erdinc Sacan
occured first this week, but was followed shortly by a decision by
the Christian Democrat Party to remove both Ayhan Tonca and Osman
Elmaci from its candidate lists.

EURLINGS: “TURKEY REPORT IS FAIR”
ABHaber, Belgium
EU-Turkey News Network
Sept 27 2006
Parliament adopts tough but fair Turkey Report. Camiel Eurlings MEP
Today European Parliament adopted Camiel Eurlings’ report on Turkey’s
progress towards accession with an overwhelming majority (429 in
favour, 71 against).
MEPs from nearly all political groups in Parliament shared the
conclusion that the reform process in Turkey has slowed down during
the last year. Camiel Eurlings MEP said: “This is a tough but fair
signal. I hope it will be perceived by Turkish politicians and the
Turkish public as an encouragement to restart the reform process.”
Debating the report in plenary Eurlings said freedom of expression
in Turkey, and in relation to that issue article 301 of the new penal
code, raised many doubts.
Eurlings said: “The reconfirmation of the sentence of Mr. Hrant
Dink proves that Article 301 has to be changed or repealed. I ask
the Turkish Government and the Turkish people to recognize the need
for this. It is important for the freedom of the Turkish people,
it is important for the image of Turkey in the wider world.”
Eurlings also said that much needs to be done as regards freedom of
religion and that schooling facilities should be reopened. Eurlings
said: “Give back the properties to the religious minorities and change
the proposed law on foundations so that seized church property can
be given back, or that there is a good compensation for the minority
churches. For a country that wants to be European, it is very important
that it should be as easy to build a Christian church in Turkey as
it is to build a mosque in the current Member States of the EU.”
Eurlings is worried about the situation in south-east Turkey:
“I strongly condemn the PKK and all terrorism; there is never any
excuse for terrorism. But at the same time I ask Turkey to try to
find peaceful interlocutors, try to find a political way and invest
in the social and economic development of the south-east.”
Concerning Cyprus this report makes it clear that the European
Parliament wants to see more efforts by the EU in the northern part of
the island in terms of trade arrangements. But, at the start of the
accession negotiations, Turkey accepted hard conditions from Europe,
including the normalisation of the relations with the Republic of
Cyprus, by signing the Ankara Protocol. As the Council did before the
Parliament demands the full implementation of the Ankara Protocol
before the end of 2006. Eurlings: “Big trouble lies ahead with the
negotiations if the implementation of the Ankara Protocol is not
settled this year.”
Regarding the Armenian question European Parliament adopted a strong
position. Parliament reached the political conclusion that it is
indispensable for a country on the road to Europe to come to terms
with and recognise the past. This political conclusion was adopted by
a large majority. The fact that this decision, without implying that
it is formally one of the Copenhagen accession criteria, does not
make the position of Parliament weaker but more credible and thus
stronger. I urge Turkey to accept a committee under the auspices
of the UN and to accept its conclusions and in the shortest term to
stop sending people to jail when they express that they personally
recognize the Armenian Genocide.
This report states the position of Parliament very clearly. We are
committed to the accession process of Turkey but we ask a quick proof
that Turkey is committed as well. Only if Turkey restarts reforms in
a vigorous way can the future of the process be guaranteed.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Chirac: Turkey Should Be Interested in Armenian Genocide Recognition
30.09.2006 15:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia is interested in a predictable and
democratic state Turkey can become, RA President Robert Kocharian said
at joint press conference with French President Jacques Chirac when
responding to a Le Monde reporter’s question. In his words, the talks
on Turkey’s accession to the EU should give the answers to urgent
questions including the Armenian Genocide issue.
For his part Jacques Chirac underscored that the image of each country
raises if it acknowledges its part. `Germany has lost nothing by
recognizing the Holocaust. The faults of the past should be
acknowledged. This does credit to the nation and Turkey itself should
be interested in the Armenian Genocide recognition,’ the French
President said.