Author: Jagharian Tania

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
Mediamax news agency
1 Sep 05
Yerevan, 1 September: The Armenian National Assembly passed the draft
constitutional reform in its second reading today. The draft law will
be put up for a nationwide referendum in November this year.
A total of 97 MPs voted for the draft with no-one opposing it and
one MP abstaining, Mediamax has said.
The opposition factions, the Justice bloc and the National Unity Party,
left the assembly hall of the parliament yesterday and did not take
part in today’s voting.
The draft constitutional amendments were prepared by the ruling
coalition and agreed with the Council of Europe Venice Commission.
The main purpose of the reforms is to ensure the equality of all
branches of power.
The constitutional reforms were one of the key points of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s election programme and one of Armenia’s
basic commitments to the Council of Europe.
The Armenian president’s representative on the constitutional
amendments, Armen Arutyunyan, said today that the role of the
parliament will increase in the country if the constitutional reforms
are adopted in the referendum. Specifically, the National Assembly
will play the main role in forming the parliament and appointing
the prosecutor-general, and the president will be able to personally
adopt a decision to dismiss the prime minister.

PERSECUTION IN TURKEY DESCRIBED AS WORSENING DESPITE NEW LAW
By Peter Lamprecht
Baptist Press News, TN
Aug 31, 2005
ISTANBUL, Turkey (BP)–Bektas Erdogan never expected his Christian
faith of 11 years to jeopardize his career as a fashion designer
in Turkey.
Hired five months ago by a designer jeans company in the Beyazit
district of Istanbul, Erdogan was assured by his Muslim employer that
he would be evaluated on the basis of his work, not his religion.
After his first collection sold successfully in Russia, Erdogan thought
the phone call he received from his employer — asking him to come to
work on a Sunday afternoon — boded well. Maybe there was a surprise
company dinner.
But that evening at the shop, his employer angrily accused him of
“missionary work” and “brainwashing,” according to an Aug. 30 report
by Compass Direct news service.
The employer, with the help of two employees and a relative, beat
Erdogan for two hours, Compass reported; the men repeatedly struck
the designer’s head and face with their fists and the butt of a
pistol. Three times Erdogan’s employer attempted to shoot him, but
the gun failed to fire, Compass reported.
“He really wanted to kill me. It wasn’t just to scare me,” Erdogan
told Compass, recounting that he prayed for help and meditated on Bible
verses while his attackers threatened to murder him and hide his body.
The two co-workers released the 32-year-old Erdogan with a swollen
and bloody face around 9 p.m., warning that they would kill him
later. Since then, he has received three anonymous phone calls
threatening his life, Compass reported.
Erdogan told Compass he did not report the Aug. 7 incident to police,
fearing that his employer’s ties with local officials might make
him the target of further aggression. He also felt that once the
authorities learned he is a Christian, they would be unwilling to help.
Erdogan told Compass he believes that his employer’s anger stemmed
from shop employees’ interest in Christianity. During his last three
months at the job, Erdogan said, “Almost every meal [at work] became
a question-and-answer session about my religion.”
Erdogan is not the only victim of what Compass described as an
increasingly overt, anti-Christian sentiment within Turkish society.
On the same day that Erdogan was attacked, according to Compass,
Istanbul police beat two Protestant converts in their early 20s and
told them they could not be both Turks and Christians.
Umit and Murat-Can, who asked to have their last names withheld,
were on their way to one of Istanbul’s 25 Turkish-speaking Protestant
churches on Aug. 7 when they saw American David Byle and his 3-year-old
daughter surrounded by a small crowd of police and civilians.
Byle had been exercising the legal right to distribute Christian tracts
on Istiklal Caddesi, one of Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfares,
when two plainclothes policemen accosted him. According to Compass,
one of the officers grabbed Byle’s chin and shouted at him for
distributing literature, quickly drawing a crowd of police and
passersby.
When the two Christians tried to intervene on behalf of Byle, whom they
recognized as a member of a local church, a scuffle broke out between
Umit and one of the plainclothes policemen. According to Murat-Can,
about 15 policemen forced Umit to the ground, where they kicked and hit
him before handcuffing him and carrying him inside a nearby building.
“That’s when I first realized they were police,” said Umit, whose
plainclothes attacker never identified himself as an officer. The
officer continued to beat Umit for three minutes before taking him to a
local police station with Murat-Can, who had followed the group inside.
“They never showed us any ID or read us our rights,” Murat-Can told
Compass as he described the following hour in the police station.
After finding 100 Christian tracts in Murat-Can’s backpack, police
accused the youths of being “missionaries” bent on “dividing Turkey.”
Although finally releasing them without filing any formal report,
they told the young men they could not be both Turks and Christians.
In another incident in July in Eskisehir, 120 miles southeast of
Istanbul, three strangers in a park assaulted Protestant Salih
Kurtbas. According to Compass, they attacked him from behind at 6
p.m. as he waited for an anonymous caller who had asked to meet and
discuss Christianity.
Shortly after arriving home with a bloody nose, split lip, black
eyes and a swollen ear, he received an irate phone call from his
attackers. Compass reported that they accused him of missionary
activity and threatened to kill anyone associated with a local U.S.
businessman whom they claimed was spreading Christian propaganda.
According to Compass, Eskisehir evangelicals have faced constant
delays in obtaining legal permission to start the city’s first
Protestant church. “We applied to the governor and haven’t received
an answer, and the city government has said that the building
is not up to earthquake safety standards,” Kurtbas told Compass.
“Everything’s kind of gone downhill.”
Kurtbas didn’t even think of going to the police after the attack,
explaining, “If they found out that I was a Christian, nothing good
would have come of it.” Umit also wanted to avoid further problems
with authorities, fearing that legal proceedings might hurt his
brother’s chances of entering the police academy.
“These sort of attacks are not shocking for me,” admitted Orhan
Kemal Cengiz, legal consultant for Turkey’s Alliance of Protestant
Churches. “I was expecting them … but [Christians] should take this
very seriously.”
With European Union membership talks looming Oct. 3, Turkey is
attempting to improve its human rights image. A package of legal
reforms passed in June reasserted freedom of religion, instituting a
three-year prison sentence for anyone obstructing the expression of
religious beliefs. But the EU has remained skeptical, challenging
officially 99-percent-Muslim Turkey to implement these religious
freedoms among its non-Muslim minority communities. Fewer than 100,000
citizens follow the ancient Christian traditions of the Armenian,
Greek and Syrian Othodox churches, which remain exclusively ethnic
congregations.
By contrast, the emerging community of an estimated 3,500 Turkish
Protestants challenges the centuries-old perception that to be a Turk
is to be a Muslim.
Over the last 10 months, violence against Protestant Christians in
Turkey has become publicly visible, prompting former U.S. Ambassador
to Turkey Eric Edelman to make formal inquiries with Ankara officials
in April and again in June regarding 10 incidents.
“Turkey is not aware of the gravity of the problem,” Cengiz, of the
Protestant alliance, said. “Some officials have good intentions, but
I have a strong suspicion that they don’t really grasp the freedom
of religion issues.”
While most Turkish Protestants remain reluctant to open court cases
for fear of further persecution, others feel that the church can gain
from aggressive legal action without undermining its message of love.
“I’m a big fan of opening a court case,” Isa Karatas, the Protestant
alliance’s spokesman, told Compass. “When we look at things from a
Christian perspective, of course we need to be forgiving. But this
is not an obstacle for us to pursue our rights.”
Cengiz, the alliance’s legal consultant, also advises that abuse
victims go to court to protect themselves. “If you do not file a
case against the police, you may find yourself before a court or
even in jail, in spite of the fact that you are the victim of police
misconduct,” Cengiz said. Turkish law enforcers often sue abuse
victims preemptively, Cengiz said, in order to shield officers from
legal prosecution.
Turkish Protestant church leaders have opened seven libel cases
this year against three TV stations to combat accusations aired
nationally. Statements on the television programs claimed that local
Christians spy for foreign governments that pay Turks to change
their religion.
In the face of anti-Christian rhetoric from some government officials
and the latest attacks against Protestants, many Turkish Christians
admit that they are not expecting either the government or society
to change overnight.
“There is a segment of the government that supports anti-Christian
sentiment, but along with this section is a larger segment that
opposes it,” Karatas told Compass. He said that if Christians who
suffered persecution for their faith “would open court cases now,
I believe they would receive support from the government.”
“In theory we have a free environment,” Umit told Compass 10 days
after being beaten by the police. “I don’t think that there is a
problem with the state. But the Turkish people have not yet understood
democracy. They still see the state as a father. They don’t know that
it’s meant to serve us. Therefore, when people working for the state
say something bad about Christians, the people believe it.”
Despite ongoing death threats, Erdogan has no plans to leave the
country. When asked how he felt about losing his job, enduring
a severe beating and being threatened with death — all in one
evening — he smiled. Even if his situation doesn’t improve, he said,
“God tells me to rejoice, because He can bring glory to His name.”
–30– Peter Lamprecht is a writer for Compass Direct, a news service
based in Santa Ana, Calif., focusing on Christians worldwide who are
persecuted for their faith. Used by permission.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FOUR EX-SOVIET REPUBLICS HOLD JOINT ANTI-TERROR AIR DEFENSE EXERCISES IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA
The Associated Press
08/30/05 07:14 EDT
1/4tMOSCOW (AP) – Four ex-Soviet republics held joint anti-terror
air defense exercises in southern Russia on Tuesday, news agencies
reported. 1/4tMore than 40 aircraft and 2,000 personnel from Russia,
Armenia, Belarus and Tajikistan were expected to take part in the
maneuvers near the southern Russian city of Astrakhan, the ITAR-Tass
news agency reported, citing Gen. Vladimir Mikhailov, commander of the
Russian Air Force. 1/4tThey will practice counter-terrorist attacks
and maneuvers, ITAR-Tass said. 1/4tRussian Defense Minister Sergei
Ivanov, attending the exercises, said that Russia had recently agreed
to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Belarus, news reports
said. The S-300 series can be used against airplanes, cruise missiles
and ballistic missiles, at a maximum range of about 90 kilometers
(55 miles). 1/4tIvanov also said Russia continued to be in favor of
creating a pan-European missile defense system, report said. 1/4tRussia
first raised the idea of a European missile defense system in 2000
amid the dispute over the United States’ intention to abandon the
Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. However, the proposal attracted little
interest. 1/4tThe proposal did not foresee establishing a unified
system per se, but as a mechanism for coordinating the missile defense
commands of various countries.

TURKEY CHARGES ACCLAIMED AUTHOR
Karl Vick
Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq
Sept 1 2005
ISTANBUL, Aug. 31 — An acclaimed Turkish novelist, Orhan Pamuk,
has been charged with the “public denigrating of Turkish identity”
and faces a possible prison sentence of three years, his publisher
said Wednesday.
The charge stems from an interview that Pamuk gave to a Swiss newspaper
in February in which he said certain topics were regarded as off-limits
in Turkey. As examples, he listed the massacre of Armenians in 1915
and the ongoing war between Turkish security forces and Kurdish
guerrillas as examples.
“Thirty-thousand Kurds were killed here, 1 million Armenians as
well. And almost no one talks about it,” Pamuk told the newspaper,
Tages-Anzeiger. “Therefore, I do.”
Turkey considers the Armenian deaths a consequence of war, with severe
casualties on both sides, while Armenians say the deaths constitute
a genocide. Under Turkish law, people can be jailed for differing
with the government’s line on the deaths, as well as on the presence
of Turkish troops in Cyprus, which Turkey invaded in 1974, and other
“fundamental national interests.”
Turkey’s penal code was revised this year in hopes of bringing laws on
freedom of expression closer to international standards, as demanded
by the European Union, which Turkey wants to join. Organizations
representing writers and journalists say more changes are needed.
Pamuk was “just trying to point out that first you have to face it —
a tragedy or a dispute or a problem, at least,” said Tugrul Pasaoglu,
Pamuk’s publisher and an editor at Iletisim Yayinlari, a publishing
house in Istanbul. “If you don’t talk about it, then you can’t find
a solution.”
Pamuk, 53, is the most acclaimed novelist to emerge from Turkey
in at least a generation. His books, including “My Name Is Red,”
have been translated into more than 20 languages. His latest novel,
“Snow,” explores the tensions between Turkey’s rigorously secular
military establishment and political Islam by stranding a lovesick
poet in a snowbound eastern Turkish city during a coup.
In Turkey, however, Pamuk’s international success has been
overshadowed by his comments in Tages-Anzeiger. The remarks incensed
ultranationalists, a powerful force in a country that opinion polls
show may be the world’s most patriotic.
“There is nothing that constitutes a crime in this interview,” said
Nazan Senol, an attorney representing Pamuk, whose court date was
set for Dec. 16. She noted that another state prosecutor’s office
also investigated the allegations and decided against filing charges.
Turgay Evsen, the prosecutor who went forward with the case, earlier
this year filed the same charge against a Turkish journalist of
Armenian heritage, Hrant Dink. Evsen declined to comment on the
Pamuk case.

THE NKR PRESIDENT RECEIVES AN EMINENT SPONSOR AND ENTREPRENEUR FROM THE USA
ARKA News Agency
Aug 29 2005
STEPANAKERT, August 29. /ARKA/. The NKR President Arkadi Ghukasyan
received an eminent sponsor and entrepreneur from the USA Albert
Boyajian. According to the NKR President’s Press Service, in
the course of the meeting, in which NKR Prime Minister Anushavan
Danielyan participated, several investment programs were discussed,
in particular, prospects of the establishment in NKR of industrial
enterprises equipped with the latest technologies. Ghukasyan expressed
his gratitude to Boyajian for the implementation of a benevolent
program in NKR and expressed his belief that their close cooperation
in the area of investments will continue. A.H. -0-

ARMENIA’s FOREIGN MINISTER NAMED “NORMAL” MEETING WITH
AZERI COUNTERPART
YEREVAN, AUGUST 24. ARMINFO. Armenia’s Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanyan estimates positively a Moscow meeting with his Azeri
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov. He expressed such an opinion in an
interview to Radio “Liberty”.
“On the whole, the meeting was normal. We continued the discussion of
issues being on the agenda. Some of them will be submitted at the
meeting of presidents in Kazan”, he noted refusing to detail his
words. Oskanyan also noted that a press-conference might take place
after coming back from Kazan. He stressed that they plan to sign no
document in Kazan. “I can say unambiguously that there will be
signing of no document there as the sides are far from it. The
discussions will be continued and if presidents decide to say
anything to press, it will be their decision”, Oskanyan noted.

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 26 2005
Moscow Says Concerns over Russo-Armenian Ties Groundless
Azerbaijan’s concerns over Russo-Armenian ties are groundless, a
Russian parliament member has said.
The Russia-Armenia relations are considered defense union ties and
`Azerbaijan should know this’, said director of the CIS Institute, MP
Konstantin Zatulin.
Zatulin said that Azerbaijan should not be concerned over the recent
transfer of Russian arms to Armenia. He said that its `doubts and
accusations’ against Russia and Armenia over the transfer of Russian
military bases from Georgia to Armenia `are in vain’.
`The distance between Russia and Armenia in the present
communications age challenges such views and renders out of place the
statements that Russia disrupts military balance in the region by
taking this step.’
The MP added that due to Azerbaijan’s concerns over the presence of
Russian bases in Armenia, Moscow may station a part of its military
contingent in Russian territory.

La Croix , France
24 août 2005
Un été dans La Croix.
Les arméniens de turquie (3/7).
Dossier. Kars veut rouvrir sa frontière sur le Caucase. Les vestiges
d’Ani se délabrent chaque jour un peu plus. L’ancienne “ville aux
mille églises”, carrefour d’une des routes de la soie, ne bénéficie
pas d’une restauration adéquate. ANI, reportage de notre envoyé
spécial.
par PLOQUIN Jean-Christophe
Un jour peut-être, Ani révélera ses secrets. Des archéologues auront
dénudé les tumulus, retracé les rues antiques, cartographié
l’histoire d’une ville qui compta sans doute plus de 100 000
habitants au XIe siècle avant de décliner à partir du milieu du XVe.
Fondée par une dynastie arménienne, elle passa sous suzeraineté
arabe, byzantine, turque, géorgienne, mongole, mais le catholicossat
de l’Église grégorienne arménienne y demeura de 992 à 1441. Elle a
gardé depuis le Moyen ge le surnom de “la ville aux mille églises”.
“C’était un peu notre Rome”, résume un Arménien.
Ani, aujourd’hui, se fondrait dans la steppe environnante si des
murailles ne bornaient ses limites septentrionales. À l’intérieur de
l’enceinte, quelques vestiges restent péniblement debout. Des restes
d’églises. Une cathédrale dont le toit a disparu et qui n’existe plus
qu’à l’état de squelette. Une jolie mosquée du XIe siècle, la
première qu’auraient btie en Anatolie les Turcs seldjoukides. Une
église, enfin, toujours vaillante, dominant la rivière qui sert de
frontière avec l’Arménie.
Saint-Grégoire de Honentz se découvre en surplomb. On voit d’emblée
le clocher béant, la végétation qui gagne, les ouvertures étroites
dans les murs, les frises soigneusement ouvragées. Après avoir
descendu le sentier, on fait face à un portique à moitié effondré qui
reposait sur des colonnes de basalte. À l’intérieur, les parois sont
couvertes de fresques du XIIIe siècle. Près de l’entrée, à gauche, un
groupe de sept femmes est représenté au pied de la Croix. L’ovale des
visages est d’une beauté stupéfiante. Les mains jointes, les yeux
suggérés d’un trait, évoquent une profonde affliction. D’autres
scènes retracent la présentation au Temple et la vie de saint
Grégoire l’Illuminateur, qui évangélisa au tout début du IVe siècle
la nation arménienne, baptisa son roi, et vit s’ériger le premier
royaume chrétien du monde.
L’église est relativement à l’écart du trajet suivi par les groupes
de touristes. Ce jour-là, une dizaine de Japonais étaient de passage,
ainsi qu’un car de touristes turcs venus d’Istamboul. Sur un bout de
chemin, leur guide donna un coup de menton en direction de deux
miradors plantés à cinq cents mètres, de l’autre côté de la
frontière. “Regardez, il y a deux drapeaux, un russe, un arménien,
marmonna-t-il. Tout est contrôlé par les Russes là-bas. Entre
Arméniens et Turcs, il y a eu huit cents ans de bonnes relations.
Mais l’impérialisme russe a tout détruit”.
Le divorce est symbolisé par la petite rivière qui coule rapidement
le long de la frontière. Du côté turc, un pilier de pont ancien
s’élève. Sur l’autre rive s’étendaient sans aucun doute des faubourgs
d’Ani, lorsque la cité était une étape importante entre Byzance et
l’Asie centrale. Mais aucune fouille n’a été entreprise. La zone est
sous contrôle militaire. Le vent apporte seulement le grondement
d’engins de chantier qui exploitent une carrière.
Ani ne peut que ptir des relations détestables entre la Turquie et
l’Arménie. Des travaux entrepris par des équipes turques sur les
murailles relèvent de la reconstitution plus que de la restauration.
L’architecture et l’art arméniens ne sont pas étudiés en Turquie où
l’identité arménienne de dizaines de monuments est systématiquement
niée ou occultée. C’est notamment le cas sur le panneau de
présentation rouillé qui accueille les visiteurs à Ani. Or, Ani est
plus qu’un symbole d’une antique indépendance arménienne. C’est un
élément du patrimoine de l’humanité qui mériterait d’être inscrit au
catalogue de l’Unesco.
J.-C. P.

PACE ATTACHES IMPORTANCE TO POLITICAL PARTIES’ COOPERATION ON ISSUES
OF IMPORTANCE TO ARMENIA
YEREVAN, AUGUST 19, NOYAN TAPAN. The adoption of the constitutional
reforms is a test for Armenia, with both the authorities and the
opposition being responsible for its success because the Constitution
is for the whole state and the people rather than for the current
authorities and for one day. PACE President Rene van der Linden, who is
on a visit to Yerevan, stated this at the August 19 meeting with the RA
National Assembly President Artur Baghsadarian. He noted that gaining
the confidence and faith of the people is important in order to achieve
success at the constitutional referendum. Rene van der Linden said
that PACE attaches importance to the cooperation among the political
parties on the issues of significance to Armenia, the existence of the
independent mass media, the preparation of accurate electoral rolls,
as well as to imposing punishment on those who committed rigging at
the previous elections. According to A. Baghdasarian, a national
register is being created in order to make the electoral rolls more
accurate, and the necessary legislative steps have been taken with
the aim of holding elections in line with democratic standards. He
noted that the discussions on constitutional reforms will continue
with NGOs and political forces. The NA President underlined the
importance of the whole society’s participation in deciding the fate
of the Armenian Constitution, as well as the imprortance of creating
an atmosphere of mutual trust, which will allow to orientate oneself
correctly. According to the RA National Assembly PR Department, the
sides pointed out that the adoption of the constitutional reforms
will play a crucial role in Armenia’s development, strengthening its
authority and prospects of progress.

Edinburgh city council to consider recognition of Armenian Genocide
19.08.2005 13:48
YEREVAN (YEREVAN) – Donald Anderson, Edinburgh City Council chairman
has said he is sure the “1915 events are a genocide,” and that the
issue to recognize the Armenian Genocide would be discussed by the
city council in October, Armenpress reported.
The move has sparked the outrage of the Scottish capita’s Turkish
community which has sent a letter to Anderson.
Another letter was sent by Turkish ambassador to the United Kingdom. In
his response, Anderson has said he had studied the issue and has no
doubts that the Armenians were subjected to genocide by the Ottoman
Empire.
A Wells city recognized the Armenian Genocide last year, according
to Ara Sarafian, director of the Komitas Institute’s London
branch. Following that recognition, the Turkish Parliament requested
that the British Parliament cancelled the so-called “Blue Book,”
a book published by British statesman Viscount Bryce in 1916 and
containing accounts and facts on the Genocide.