MIKA’S CHIEF COACH TO TRAIN LEBANESE AHD
ArmenPress
Feb 16 2005
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS: Chief coach of Armenian Mika FC
Suren Barseghian has sealed a three-year contract with Lebanese Ahd
FC, which is now in the third position of Lebanese national
championship. A former forward of Mika, Armen Shahgeldian is playing
for Ahd.
The main candidate to replace Barseghian is Armen Adamian, a
former player of Armenia’s national team, who coached Darida of
Minsk, Belarus.
French film brings dead president to big screen
By Charles Masters
Hollywood Reporter
02/16/05 00:03 ET
BERLIN (Hollywood Reporter) – French movies rarely have taken the
country’s politicians as subject matter, but “Le Promeneur du Champ
de Mars” — screening in competition at the Berlin Film Festival —
breaks with that tradition, giving an often-intriguing glimpse of
the final months of President Francois Mitterrand.
Mitterrand heralded France’s first Socialist administration in 1981
and ruled uninterrupted until 1995. He died the following year of
prostate cancer, aged 79.
Based on a book by journalist Georges-Marc Benamou, “Le Promeneur” is
told through the interaction between the president and an idealistic
young reporter (played by Jalil Lespert) trying to fill the gaps in
the life of this most enigmatic of political figures.
Michel Bouquet delivers a masterly performance as Mitterrand, injecting
equal measures melancholic reflection and dry humor as he comes to
terms with his impending death and makes a final bid to polish his
political legacy. But despite the accuracy of this filmic portrait,
the movie no doubt will have limited appeal beyond those with a keen
interest in French political history.
The film’s director, Robert Guediguian, said the idea was to use
the master-pupil structure to illustrate a point about the failure
of socialism in France to be transmitted from one generation to
another. “The film is absolutely not about political power,” he said.
Guediguian is dismissive of the fact that his film fails to probe
many of the darker areas of Mitterrand’s life, the latter years of
which were marked by accusations of corruption. “To exercise power
is necessarily to compromise,” Guediguian said, arguing that this
happens regardless of political hue.
The film does examine the degree of Mitterrand’s support for the
wartime Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis. Guediguian
said much of what was said about Mitterrand was manipulated by his
right-wing opponents, and that allegations of anti-Semitism are
“completely unfounded.”
Another episode in the movie shows that the president had the young
journalist tailed, which echoes Mitterrand’s fairly casual use of
surveillance, including phone taps. “I don’t excuse it. It’s inherent
in power. There is no state that doesn’t have a secret service,”
Guediguian said.
Ultimately, what interests him is the disappearance of what he sees
as true socialism in France. “If you want socialism, there has to
be a rupture with capitalism,” Guediguian said. “And I say that even
here in Berlin.”
Next up for Guediguian is a movie that will reunite him with his
family roots in Armenia because it follows two people from the
Armenian diaspora returning from his hometown of Marseilles to the
land of their origins. The film will star regular collaborators Ariane
Ascaride and Gerard Meylan and is set to shoot in the summer.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
President Kocharian Condoles The Killing Of Former Lebanese Prime Minister
ArmenPress
Feb 15 2005
Yerevan, February 15, Armenpress: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
has sent a letter of condolences to president of Lebanon, Emile
Lahoud, in connection with the Monday killing of Lebanon’s former
prime minister Rafik Hariri.
“It was with a great sadness that I learned about the killing of
the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a prominent politician,
whose contribution to strengthening of Lebanon and development of
Lebanese-Armenian relations is invaluable. The terrorist action that
took Hariri’s life is a challenge not only to Lebanon, but also
to the entire region. By strongly condemning any manifestation of
terrorism I convey my personal and all Armenians’ condolences to
you, the people of the friendly Lebanon and Hariri’s beloved ones,”
Kocharian’s message reads.
President Kocharian also sent a letter of condolences to Mrs. Nazik
Hariri.
Hariri was killed Monday in a massive car bomb explosion in Beirut.
At least 13 others, some of them his bodyguards, also died.
Hariri, a billionaire businessman, resigned from government last
October but remained politically influential. He recently joined calls
by the opposition for Syrian troops to quit Lebanon in the run-up to
a general election in May.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
February 8, 2005, Tuesday
Armenian genocide returned to German school curriculum
Berlin
Defusing a row after alleged Turkish pressure forced removal of the
Armenian genocide from German public school curriculums, a state
premier said Tuesday the 1915 killings of up to 1.5 million Armenians
would be again be taught in history classes. Brandenburg’s Prime
Minister Matthias Platzeck admitted it had been a mistake to remove
all mention of the genocide from his state’s education ministry
website curriculum planner. The Armenian genocide – which had been
used as the only example in history classes other than the Holocaust
– will now be returned to high schools along with other cases of 20th
century genocide, he said. Platzeck denied media reports that he
ordered removal of the Armenian genocide from his schools after
strong pressure from a Turkish diplomat. “None of that happened,”
said Platzeck. Platzeck made his announcement after a meeting with
Armenia’s ambassador to Germany, Karine Kazinian, who had expressed
deep anger over the move. “The key point is that the genocide and
everything that happened back then is being clearly addressed,” said
Ambassador Kazinian. The row began last month after Turkey’s Consul
in Berlin, Aydin Durusay, raised the issue of Armenian massacres with
regard to Brandenburg which is so far the only one of Germany’s 16
federal states, which described the killings as “genocide” in its
official public school curriculum. Most European and U.S. historians
say up to 1.5 million Christian Armenians were killed by Moslem
Ottoman Turks during World War I and that this was a genocide. Eight
European Union (E.U.) parliaments including France and the
Netherlands – but not Germany – have passed resolutions declaring the
deaths genocide. Turkey, however, firmly rejects the genocide label
and has long insisted far fewer Armenians died or otherwise succumbed
during World War I. More recently it has moderated its tone somewhat
and said the matter should be cleared up by a historical commission.
With about two million resident ethnic Turks, Germany is cautious
about any issue which could disturb ties with its biggest minority.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is a firm supporter of Turkey’s
bid to join the E.U. Platzeck is a rising star in Chancellor’s Social
Democratic Party (SPD) and is tipped by some as a possible successor
to Schroeder. dpa lm ms
Karabakh extends martial law
Artsakh Public TV, Stepanakert
9 Feb 05
[Presenter over video of parliament session] The NKR [Nagornyy
Karabakh Republic] National Assembly held a plenary session on 9
February. At the beginning of the session, members of the Democratic
Artsakh Union ZHAM faction announced that they had renamed the faction
the Democratic faction since the Democratic Artsakh Union had been
renamed the Artsakh Democratic Party. The parliament formed an interim
counting commission consisting of three deputies.
The National Assembly adopted a legislative program for the 10th
session, which consisted of 22 paragraphs. The parliament discussed
and adopted a law on extending martial law in the NKR.
The National Assembly also heard a report presented by NKR
Prosecutor-General Mavrik Gukasyan on the activities of the
prosecutor’s office in 2004. The NKR prosecutor-general was
dissatisfied with the activities of his office.
The National Assembly discussed and adopted a new charter of Artsakh
Public TV. The parliament also exempted Azat Artsakh newspaper
from debts.
The National Assembly adopted changes and amendments to the NKR laws
on administrative division and civil service. The National Assembly
also adopted a law on ombudsman.
At the end of the session deputies put questions to members of the
NKR Cabinet of Ministers.
Le Monde, France
07 février 2005
A Ankara, Jean-Louis Debré et le premier ministre turc ont ouvert un dialogue sans concession ;
Le président de l’Assemblée nationale effectue, depuis le 3 février,
une visite de trois jours en Turquie. Il est accompagné des quatre
présidents de groupe parlementaire
Patrick Roger
ANKARA de notre envoyé spécial
En l’espace de quelques jours, deux Français ont eu, cette semaine,
les honneurs de la presse turque. Celle-ci a d’abord consacré ses
titres au transfert de Nicolas Anelka, qui vient de signer pour trois
ans au club de football de Fenerbahce. Elle a ensuite commenté
l’arrivée, jeudi 3 février, du président de l’Assemblée nationale,
Jean-Louis Debré, accompagné des présidents des quatre groupes
représentés au Palais-Bourbon, Bernard Accoyer (UMP), Hervé Morin
(UDF), Jean-Marc Ayrault (PS) et Alain Bocquet (PCF).
Cette visite intervient alors qu’aucun président de la République
française n’est venu en Turquie, depuis la visite de François
Mitterrand, en 1992. Le dernier déplacement effectué par un membre du
gouvernement remonte à 2003.
Au cours de leur séjour de trois jours à Ankara puis à Istanbul, les
parlementaires français ont rencontré les principales autorités
turques, mais aussi des représentants des milieux économiques,
d’organisations non gouvernementales ainsi que le patriarche arménien
Mesrob II. « Il faut se dire la vérité. Nous avons à vous écouter,
vous avez à nous entendre », a insisté M. Debré, pour qui « toutes
les questions sont légitimes ». Et toutes – Chypre, droits de
l’homme, réformes démocratiques, Arménie – auront été abordées, sans
ménagement.
Au premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan – qui était venu
plaider à Paris, en juillet 2004, la cause de son pays en vue de
l’ouverture d’un processus d’adhésion à l’Union européenne -, M.
Debré a expliqué que l’attitude de la Turquie à l’égard du génocide
arménien constituait un « vrai problème en France ». « Je suis déçu
de la France… Je ne savais pas que 400 000 Arméniens pouvaient
faire échouer un référendum », lui a répondu M. Erdogan.
Malgré la vivacité de cet échange, M. Debré a estimé avoir «
peut-être fait oeuvre utile sur la question arménienne ». En effet,
les autorités turques se sont dites prêtes à « étudier » la
proposition d’une commission internationale d’historiens qui ait
accès à l’ensemble des archives.
La délégation française a pu mesurer combien la décision prise par
Jacques Chirac d’ajouter une clause soumettant à référendum toute
adhésion d’un nouveau pays à l’Union avait pu être ressentie comme «
blessante ». « Pourquoi cette double norme ? », a demandé un
journaliste d’Ankara, lors de la conférence de presse qui a suivi la
rencontre avec le président de la Grande Assemblée nationale turque,
Bülent Arinç. « La France a procédé ainsi à chaque fois qu’il s’est
agi de transformer la nature de l’Union européenne ou d’en changer
ses frontières », a répondu M. Debré.
POSSIBLE ÉVOLUTION DE L’UMP
Pour ses quatre collègues parlementaires, une conviction se dégage :
quelle que soit l’issue des négociations avec l’Union européenne qui
s’ouvriront le 3 octobre, le processus ne peut avoir que des
conséquences positives. « Il contribuera à mettre du carburant dans
le moteur de la démocratie turque », estime le président du groupe
PS, Jean-Marc Ayrault. Alain Bocquet (PCF) pense qu’il faut
encourager cette « envie d’Europe ». « Sinon, ajoute-t-il, il ne faut
pas sous-estimer les risques de dérive militariste, de dérive
islamiste ou de dérive atlantiste. » Son collègue de l’UMP, Bernard
Accoyer, va même jusqu’à évoquer une possible « évolution » de son
parti, qui a retenu, le 9 mai 2004, la formule d’un « partenariat
privilégié » avec la Turquie. « S’il s’avérait que ce pays, qui a
beaucoup bougé et qui a déjà réalisé des réformes de grande ampleur,
répondait aux critères de l’adhésion, pourquoi pas ? », précise M.
Accoyer. Seul Hervé Morin (UDF) reste convaincu que l’avenir de la
Turquie ne se confond pas avec l’ « identité européenne ».
Quant à M. Debré, il ne manque pas d’adresser, d’Istanbul, un message
en direction de « ces hommes politiques qui s’amusent à faire peur
aux Français », désignant nommément Nicolas Sarkozy et François
Bayrou, hostiles à l’entrée de la Turquie dans l’Union européenne. «
Ce sont des aventuriers », lâche-t-il.
–Boundary_(ID_zjI2s/lbJx4MqF8A2OgyBQ)–
Azerbaijan to raise Upper Garabagh issue at PACE session
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Feb 7 2005
Azerbaijan intends to raise the Upper Garabagh problem at the winter
session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
in Vienna on February 23-24. The agenda of the forthcoming session
has been approved, chairman of the permanent parliamentary commission
on economic policy Sattar Safarov has said.
Safarov said that Azerbaijani parliamentarians will attend the meetings
of the Assembly’s three committees.
The agenda of the PACE final session of 2005 due in Washington on
July 5-9 will also be approved at the winter session, during which
the Azerbaijani delegation will propose that the report on the Upper
Garabagh conflict, prepared by Goran Lennmarker, the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly (PA) rapporteur, be included in the session agenda.
Preliminary discussions on the report were held during Lennmarker’s
visit to the region in November 2004. The initial version of the
report will be presented to Azerbaijani MPs at the winter session of
the OSCE PA.*
PRESS RELEASE
Armenian National Committee
Eastern United States
69-23 47th Avenue
Woodside, NY 11377
Contact: Doug Geogerian
Tel: 917 428 1918
Fax: 718 651 3637
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
TARC Moderator David Phillips at NYU: Each Side has its Historians
Armenian Students Barred from Seminar
David Phillips spoke at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs on
February 4 at a seminar entitled, “Turkey and its Neighbors: Current
Political Overview and Forecast for 2005 and Beyond.” Phillips used the
opportunity to discuss his yet-to-be released book, Unsilencing the Truth,
about the Turkish Armenian Reconciliation Commission (TARC). Phillips was
the architect and moderator of TARC, which he claims was meant to foster
dialogue between Armenians and Turks. TARC was disbanded in September 2002,
when worldwide Armenian opposition arose when it became clear that hindering
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide was one of its main
purposes.
Another result of TARC, which some believe was not accidental, was to divide
the Armenian-American community about how to treat the issue of the
genocide. TARC excluded one of Armenia’s traditional political parties, the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and characterized the party as extremist
due to its criticism of TARC. TARC’s exclusionary practices continued at
New York University, when Armenian students at NYU were turned away from
attending the event by the Global Affairs Department. “Many Armenians on
campus would have really wanted to attend this seminar had it not been kept
secret from them. The organizers are using NYU’s name, but then excluded
very relevant segments of NYU’s community,” said Veronica Siranosian, a
graduate student at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Affairs. Siranosian and
other NYU students were told by the Center for Global Affairs that they
would not be allowed into the seminar.
Ms. Vera Jelinek, assistant dean at NYU’s School of Continuing and
Professional Studies and Director of the Center for Global Affairs,
introduced Phillips and described the event as partly a discussion of “the
Turkish-Armenian crisis of the past.” During his presentation, Phillips
discussed his work dealing with some of Turkey’s most significant problems
regarding democracy and human rights. Former US Ambassador to Turkey Marc
Grossman of the U.S. State Department had asked Phillips to approach the
Turko-Armenian conflict, using the “track two diplomacy” method he had
employed to bring together Kurds and Turks, as well as Greek and Turkish
Cypriots. Phillips explained that this method attempts to establish a space
that is “low-key, non-judgmental, and non-coercive” so that participants are
willing “to explore ideas for resolution, free of the constraints of
government positions.” After he agreed to Grossman’s request, he soon
learned how much he “had underestimated the bitterness which Turks and
Armenians hold for each other.”
Provided with three million dollars, Phillips said that the U.S. government
“wrote a blank check to do this work, which is highly unusual for U.S.
government officials to do.” This led to the formation of the Turkish
Armenian Reconciliation Commission. Once talks began, Phillips said the
issue of the Armenian Genocide continued to arise. Moving forward did not
seem possible without addressing it. Therefore Phillips approached the
International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) for it to study the
Armenian Genocide and issue a legal opinion on the applicability of the
Genocide Convention to it. Phillips said, “that the U.S. government knows
that Turkey will never return land nor pay reparations.” He said that, “I
have nothing against historians, but often they can’t agree on what the
facts are. The Turks and Armenians each have its group of historians with
volumes and volumes claiming their own side of the story.”
Phillips went on to explain that, “the reason I use the word genocide has to
do with the working through the International Center for Transitional
Justice, which determined that the Armenian Genocide did not apply to the
Genocide Convention.” According to Phillips, the ICTJ explained that no
treaty had ever been applied retroactively so no reparations could be
expected from Turkey. Phillips closed his comments by saying that the
September 11th terrorist attacks and the invasion of Iraq increased Turkey’s
strategic value to the United States and thus interfered in TARC’s work
because it was more difficult to pressure Turkey to make concessions. He
had hoped that Turkey’s border with Armenia would be opened, but the
relaxing of visa regimes was the only progress made.
Phillips also discussed what he saw as the great geopolitical advantages if
Turkey was allowed to join the European Union. He briefly reviewed Turkey’s
modern history, mentioning that the Republic of Turkey emerged from the
ashes of the Ottoman Empire when Kemal Ataturk set out “to build a truly
modern state on a par with its European neighbors.” Phillips went to say
that, “Turkey’s founding constitution enshrined the country’s commitment to
secularism and republicanism.”
Phillips explained that the role of the military and national security
apparatus in the years following the founding of the Turkish Republic has
been to preserve the secular principles of Kemalism and guard against
tendencies to return to Islamic rule. Phillips said, “Turkish officers see
their task extending beyond the protection of the country’s territory to
include warding off threats to the public order, such as separatism,
terrorism, and religious fundamentalism.” He noted that this had led to
previous military coups when the Turkish General Staff felt Kemalism was
under threat.
Addressing the rise to power of Recip Erdogan, Phillips related how his
Justice and Development Party came to dominate the Turkish parliament. He
stated that concerns remain about how committed Erdogan and his Islamist
party are to preserving Ataturk’s secular Turkish state. Phillips reviewed
the Turkish Parliament’s decision to ultimately not allow U.S. troops to use
southeastern Turkey as a point of entry to invade Iraq. Phillips also
devoted a portion of the lecture to Erdogan’s campaign to gain Turkish
accession to the European Union.
RIA Novosti, Russia
Feb 7 2005
The CIS and Baltic Press on Russia
[parts omitted]
ARMENIA
The media are critical of a PACE resolution on Yukos.
Newspapers fear the United States might seize the initiative from
Russia in the Karabakh settlement. However, Armenian newsmakers
criticize Russia’s role in efforts to improve Armenian-Turkish
relations.
As it is preoccupied with own problems, Russia’s interest in Armenia
will dwindle soon, some newspapers predict. The opposition papers
criticize Russia for its support of the Armenian authorities.
Newspapers are worried about that will happen to Armenia in view of
the further difficulties between Russia and the U.S.
“The Iraq issue became a kind of watershed for Armenia: we will
either continue pursing a Russia-oriented policy or withdraw from
Russia’s zone of influence. (Pakagits. 26.01.2005)
Russia’s base in Akhalkalaki is great support for the local Armenian
community, contrary to what Tbilisi has declared on the matter, write
the papers.
AZERBAIJAN
Russia has lost influence in Georgia and Azerbaijan, which have
emphasized their pro-American positions, write Azerbaijani
newspapers. Seeking to restore the balance of forces, Russia might
allegedly support an Armenian military assault (which is under
preparation) against Azerbaijan. “The Karabakh conflict has been used
by Moscow from the very beginning as an instrument of pressure both
on Azerbaijan and Armenia, renewed warfare is not just speculation in
the present circumstances.” (Ekho. 27.01.2005)
A statement made by Yury Merzlyakov, Russia’s co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group, who proposed treating Nagorny Karabakh as an equal party
to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, has stirred a new wave of
accusations of “a pro-Armenian position” against Moscow.
The opposition media believe a “velvet revolution” is quite possible
in Russia after the Kremlin lost much of its authority as a result of
failures in Georgia and Ukraine.
“Russia’s current economic situation can prompt the people to rise
one day and stage another ‘Bolshevik’ revolution.” (Eni Musavat,
28.01.2005).
Armenian paper questions motives for Russian minister’s Azeri visit
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
4 Feb 05
By Vardan Grigoryan
Over the past few days the Azerbaijani press and the press sponsored
by the Armenian Pan-National Movement, which often carries quotes from
Azerbaijani press articles, are trying to present Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Baku as a sign of changes in the
Russian position on the Karabakh issue.
Certainly the current attempt to look for “a skeleton in the cupboard”
in Armenian-Russian relations is not the first one. It is also obvious
that the hullabaloo was created by certain forces who want to force
Russia leave the region. They are trying to present the Russian
foreign minister’s visit to Baku and Ilham Aliyev’s statements that
there were no unresolved problems in relations between the two
countries as a sign of Russia’s changed position on the Karabakh issue
in favour of Azerbaijan.
The political reasons for the attempts to create problems in
Armenian-Russian relations are clear, let us try to understand the
other side of the problem: why is our strategic partner Russia
becoming increasingly interested in Azerbaijan, and together with Iran
is attempting to please it?
The problem is that some people, who are trying to look for and find
in Russian foreign policy changes directed against Armenian interests,
do not want to notice another important fact. After losing Ukraine and
as a result finding its opportunities for moving towards the West
limited, the southern direction has automatically become a priority
for Russia in the context of the policy being implemented in the whole
of Eurasia. And this has led to Russian diplomacy increasing its
efforts in the direction of interaction with Iran, the Arab world,
Turkey and other southern neighbours. Azerbaijan is in this direction,
via which Russia is trying to establish railway connections with Iran
for access to the Persian Gulf. Thus, changes are really taking place
in the foreign policy of Russia, but not in the direction expected by
those forces which are interested in withdrawing Russia from our
region, and those mass media outlets of our country that are carrying
such reports.
Russia is not losing interest in our region, on the contrary the South
Caucasus will increasingly become the focus of its attention. Under
the circumstances Russia’s attempts to build highways and
communication links towards the south will result in further efforts
together with Iran to remove Azerbaijan from the strategic programmes
of the West and increase pressure on Georgia sharply. But Armenia
will continue to remain a stable basis for Russia’s attempts to extend
its sphere of influence in the South Caucasus.
A situation has now been created whereby a quick settlement of the
Karabakh issue is becoming a mechanism for counteracting Russia’s
aspiration to the South Caucasus. Therefore it’s no accident that the
Karabakh issue will be on the agenda of the upcoming Bush-Putin
meeting in Bratislava. Under the circumstances Russia would naturally
try to remove the pressure by trying to please Azerbaijan as much as
possible on the one hand, and on the other hand by demonstrating its
impartial position on the Karabakh issue.
The question is: does this mean that Russia may support Azerbaijan and
put pressure on Armenia to achieve a quick settlement of the Karabakh
issue. To think seriously about this, means that Russia wants to cut
the “branch” which is its backbone. Because in a real policy the
existence of the status quo around Karabakh is the only “backbone”
which “preserves” the southern direction of the Russian policy.