Author: Jagharian Tania

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER, EU’S REHN, GERMANY’S FISCHER ADDRESS CONFERENCE
Anatolia news agency, Ankara
20 Oct 04
Istanbul, 20 October: Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday (20 October): “Turkey will
continue deepening its democracy on the basis of European
values. Actually, these universal values conform to Turkish people’s
traditional and moral values.”
Speaking at a conference organized by the European Parliament
Greens/EFA (European Freedoms Alliance) Group in Istanbul on “Turkey
in the EU: A Common Future”, Gul said: “Some political movements in
political history of Europe made decisive contributions to economic
and social development. Those contributions also affected the
universal politics positively. I consider the Greens Group one of the
most dynamic political powers of today’s Europe and world politics.”
“In the past, disagreements, misunderstandings, tension and
discussions were dominant over our relations with members of the
European Freedoms Alliance. Now, our relations have changed into
mutual understanding, confidence and cooperation. I believe that such
a change is necessary and beneficial in regard to the common future of
Turkey and Europe and their interests,” he said.
Referring to the economic and political reforms made by the (ruling)
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in its two-year political
power, Gul said: “A peaceful foreign policy has been accompanying
those political and economic reforms. Everyone is aware of Turkey’s
initiatives to prevent the war in Iraq, its efforts to reach a
compromise between Azerbaijan and Armenia, its priority to urgent
solution of Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and its courageous efforts to
find a solution to the Cyprus issue.” (passage omitted)
“Turkey-EU integration process should progress steadily towards the
target of full membership without any delay. Therefore, the decision
to be made at the EU summit on 17 December is of great importance as
regards to setting the route of Turkey-EU integration process,” he
said. (passage omitted)
Turkey’s EU membership will open new horizons for both Turkey and the
EU and bring forth new challenges, Olli Rehn, new commissioner of the
EU, said on Wednesday. He also said that Turkey’s accession to the EU
was one of the most important items of the union’s agenda.
Stressing that Turkey had made a series of very meaningful reforms
since 1999, Rehn listed some of those reforms as annulment of death
penalty, broadcast in Kurdish and the other languages and the new
penal code. There are still steps to be taken in fundamental freedoms,
minority rights, trade unions and human rights, but the most important
thing is that reforms should be sustainable in Turkey, he said.
The European Commission said in its progress report for Turkey that if
political criteria were violated, entry talks could be suspended, Rehn
said and noted that it was envisaged by the EU constitution and was
valid for all other candidate states. “Entry talks could last for the
next ten years. Opening of entry talks and Turkey’s ongoing efforts
will lead to a macro-economic stability in Turkey. Turkey’s dynamic
population will support Europe’s ageing population. We are about to
open a new page in the EU integration process. Turkey’s EU accession
process will be tough and complicated. However, the target at the end
of this path is quite meaningful,” he said.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said on Wednesday
that if the EU made a positive decision on 17 December and opened
entry talks with Turkey, it should put forward a clear perspective.
Fischer also said that Turkey’s modernization had integrated with
Europe’s perspective since foundation of modern Republic of
Turkey. The German government had always advocated the perspective
that Turkey belonged to the EU, he said.
Stressing that Turkey had recorded an unbelievable progress, Fischer
said: “I would like to ask our Turkish partners not to comment on
decisions of the EU against them. This is a learning process. This is
a process to understand implementation of reforms. I propose Turkey to
wait for decision of the EU Council on 17 December. In that case, we
will have taken the first step of our Bosphorus dream.”
Highlighting strategic importance of the Middle East and Mediterranean
for Europe’s security, Fischer said that the EU countries should
realize the importance of Turkey’s desire to become a member of the
EU. (passage omitted)

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
—————————————— —-
PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
375010 Telephone: +3741. 544041 ext 202
Fax: +3741. .562543
Email: [email protected]:
PRESS RELEASE
14 October 2004
Meeting of Minister Oskanian with delegates of the Trusteeship Council
of the Armenian Assembly America
On 14 October, 2004, the Armenian Foreign Minister, Vartan Oskanian,
met with delegates of the Trusteeship Council of the Armenian Assembly
of America, who have arrived to Armenia for an annual conference.
In his welcoming speech, Minister Oskanian expressed his gratitude to
the Armenian Assembly of America for its significant contribution to
the development of a close relationship between Armenia and the US,
and for its protection of Armenian interests.
Following his speech, Minister Oskanian introduced to delegates those
achievements that have been made last years in foreign relations
and other arenas. Most notably, he presented recent developments of
the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict resolution as and addressed issues of
Armenian-Turkish relations.
The delegates of the Armenian Assembly of America noted the readiness
of their organization to continue its assistance to Armenia and
protect its interests at the state institutions of the US.
The two parties discussed those concrete fields where assistance
is needed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA REGISTERS JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES
ArmenPress
Oct 13 2004
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 13, ARMENPRESS: Armenian justice minister David
Harutunian said today that Jehovah’s Witnesses organization was
officially registered after it brought its statutes in line with
law requirements.
In response to fears that after registration the organization, viewed
by many Armenians with suspicion, will continue activities running
counter to law, the minister said registration is the first stage
and it does not give it right to breach laws. “If the organization
violates laws later all measures stipulated by legislation will be
applied against it,” he said. The minister said the organization had
been denied registration as its statutes and `forms of preaching’
were not in conformity with Armenia’s law on religious organizations.
The organization registration certificate was issued by the state
registry of legal entities on 8 October and was signed by the
deputy justice minister Tigran Mukuchian. The registration covers
the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ activity across the whole of the country.
Registering the Jehovah’s Witnesses was a key demand of the Council
of Europe.

Brawl between Orthodox archbishop, Jewish student highlights problems
By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM-CONFRONTATIONS Oct-12-2004 (790 words) xxxi
Catholic News Service
JERUSALEM (CNS) — The recent brawl between an Armenian Orthodox bishop
and an ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth has spotlighted the issue of such
religious confrontations, which some observers say are increasing.
The incident occurred Oct. 10 when an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student
spat at a cross carried by Armenian Orthodox Archbishop Nourhan
Manougian during a procession marking the exaltation of the holy
cross in Jerusalem’s Old City. The archbishop’s ceremonial medallion,
which has been in use since the 17th century, was broken during the
ensuing brawl, in which he slapped the student.
The archbishop and the student were questioned by the police, and
the student was arrested.
The Ha’aretz newspaper said religious Jews often spit on the ground
when they see the cross. The newspaper quoted the archbishop as saying
he had grown accustomed to people turning around and spitting when he
walked past, but to have a cross spit at during a religious procession
was a “humiliation we are not prepared to accept.”
“You meet a fanatic segment of Jews who have their own ideas;
sometimes when they see Christian clergy walking on the Via Dolorosa
with the cross, some fanatics (may say something or spit) but we
can’t generalize. It is not the sort of thing you see in general,”
said Father Shawki Baterian, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of
Jerusalem. “It may happen to individual priests sometimes, but they
don’t (lodge) complaints or pay attention to it.”
He said Archbishop Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem has never been insulted
or abused in such a manner.
Rabbi Ron Kronish, director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council
in Israel, said there have been increasing reports of such incidents.
“There is a lack of education in a very certain quarter of Jewish life,
but it is not sweeping Israeli society. It tends to be in the areas of
Jerusalem where (Christian clergy) come in contact with ultra-Orthodox
(Jews),” he said. “It is not an epidemic, but it is increasing.”
The problem is most intense in the Old City, he said, recalling
an incident when he accompanied a visiting Catholic cardinal to
the Western Wall, and an Orthodox Jewish youth shouted disparaging
remarks at the religious leader. The cardinal ignored the shouting,
and his visit continued as planned.
“There needs to be more education and statements by some leading
figures in the Orthodox (Jewish) world in Israel,” Rabbi Kronish said.
“But it is hard to educate people who are not open to dialogue. More
awareness that this is a city of three faiths would be helpful.”
The Armenian and Syrian Orthodox churches are generally the ones facing
the brunt of such antagonism because their communities are located
closer to areas where Orthodox Jews go and so have more chances of
contact, said Daniel Rossing, former adviser on Christian affairs for
the Religious Affairs Ministry and director of the Jerusalem Center
for Christian-Jewish Dialogue.
“You don’t hear of a lot of incidents near the Latin Patriarchate
area or near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, because those are not
areas where in general Jews are passing, (but) the Armenian Quarter
is along a major thoroughfare, with a human traffic flow of Jews
going to the Jewish Quarter and to the Western Wall,” Rossing said.
In general, he said, such attacks are perpetrated by younger male
members of the Orthodox Jewish community.
In its lead editorial, Ha’aretz called the incidents “Jerusalem’s
disgrace” and charged the police and Interior Ministry with not doing
enough to prevent such attacks.
“It turns out that for some time the Christians in Jerusalem have been
suffering from … provocations by wild young people. The provocations
… have become an ugly routine in recent years, fitting right in with
the increasingly extremist political atmosphere,” the newspaper said.
It called on the city to “take firm action” against the offending
youth.
“It is intolerable that Christian citizens of Jerusalem suffer from
the shameful spitting at or near a crucifix,” the paper said.
Many Orthodox Jews see the cross as a symbol of the violence
perpetrated on Jewish communities by Christians over the centuries.
Rossing said his center is planning to ask Christian churches to
report all such incidents so it can build a solid statistical base
with which to approach leading rabbinical figures to ask for their
assistance in curbing the abuse.
Jerusalem officials did not return a Catholic News Service request
for comment, but Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said
police have had only two complaints from Christians in the past
year. In both cases, the culprits were caught and punished, he said,
adding that police deploy a large number of patrols and employ special
technology in the Old City to try to maintain order.
END

Armenian president names new envoy to Egypt
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
11 Oct 04
By a decree of Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Armenian ambassador
to Egypt, Sergey Manasaryan, has been recalled.
Under another presidential decree, Ruben Karapetyan has been appointed
the ambassador to Egypt.

ZDNet France News
6 octobre 2004
Responsabilité des hébergeurs: la LCEN mise à l’épreuve judiciaire
Estelle Dumout, ZDNet France
Le consul de Turquie à Paris est assigné le 11 octobre pour
propagande négationniste sur internet par le Comité de défense de la
cause arménienne. L’hébergeur du site, Wanadoo, devra aussi rendre
des comptes pour n’avoir pas coupé l’accès au site.
Le Comité de défense de la cause arménienne (CDCA) fournit un cas
d’école parfait pour éprouver les dispositions de la loi pour dans la
confiance dans l’économie numérique (LCEN), relatives à la
responsabilité des hébergeurs de contenus internet.
Le CDCA a assigné le consul général de Turquie à Paris, Aydin Sezgin,
pour «propagande négationniste» sur le site officiel du consulat. Il
lui reproche d’avoir mis en ligne un document intitulé “Allégations
arméniennes et faits historiques”, accessible depuis la page
d’accueil du site. Il traite du génocide perpétré sur la population
arménienne en Turquie en 1915.
Selon le plaignant, il s’agit «d’un pamphlet à vocation clairement
négationniste, destiné aux internautes à la recherche d’informations
générales sur la Turquie. Il reprend la thèse développée, depuis de
longues années, par l’État turc, (…) avec une série d’arguments à
caractère pseudo-scientifique».
«La loi du 29 janvier 2001 reconnaît la réalité du génocide arménien
de 1915», explique à ZDNet Vartan Arzoumanian, responsable de la
communication du CDCA. «Nous avons donc dans un premier temps mis en
demeure le consul et l’hébergeur du site, Wanadoo, de retirer ce
texte». Le consul n’a pas donné suite à cette requête – et n’a pas pu
être joint par ZDNet.
Wanadoo attend une décision de justice pour couper l’accès au site
De son côté, la filiale de France Télécom a préféré jouer la
prudence: «Ils nous ont expliqué qu’ils s’en tiendraient à une
décision de justice, et qu’ils couperaient l’accès si un juge le leur
ordonnait», poursuit Vartan Arzoumanian. L’hébergeur est donc lui
aussi assigné, tout comme le consul, malgré son statut de diplomate.
«Nous avons estimé que, dans la logique des choses, l’hébergeur était
lui aussi responsable du contenu qu’il hébergeait», soutient le
représentant du CDCA.
La LCEN (adopté en mai dernier) précise que la responsabilité civile
et pénale des hébergeurs ne peut pas être engagée «s’ils n’avaient
pas effectivement connaissance du caractère illicite [des contenus]
(…) ou si, dès le moment où elles en ont eu cette connaissance,
elles ont agi promptement pour retirer ces données ou en rendre
l’accès impossible». Après coup, le Conseil constitutionnel avait
précisé qu’il fallait, pour que cet article s’applique, que le
contenu litigieux soit «manifestement illicite».
Les premières audiences se tiendront le 11 octobre devant le tribunal
de grande instance de Paris. Les juges devront déterminer si Wanadoo
a eu raison ou non d’attendre une notification émanant de l’autorité
judiciaire avant d’agir, un point crucial pour de nombreux tenants de
la liberté d’expression.

NEW BOOK OF PROBLEMS
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
06 Oct 04
There is need for specialized literature in the field of physics in
the Armenian language. This time the specialist were presented with
the first volume of the book `Problems in Physics: Types and Methods
of Solutionâ=80=9D, co-authored by Kamo Atayan and his colleagues from
Yerevan. The presentation of the book was held in the framework of the
fourth conference of young physicists and Atayan Readings, and the
four co-authors of the book were present. The bookis of great
importance for the teachers and students of physics. Each type of the
problems is preceded by a theoretical part where examples are observed
as well. The book contains more than 900 problems with keys to their
solution. The book also contains tables. The second volume of the book
will come out next year.
SVETLANA KHACHATRIAN.
06-10-2004

Armenia ready to counter Azerbaijan if need be
01.10.2004
Yerevan. (Interfax-AVN) – Armenia does not want to resume military
operations against Azerbaijan, Armenian Defense Minister Serzh
Sarkisian has told Armenian Public Television.
“Armenia will declare war only if attacked by Azerbaijan. However, if
it is the case, Azerbaijan will be repulsed so as not to even mention
the war again for years to come,” he emphasized.
Azerbaijani authorities have recently repeatedly stated the
possibility of resuming military operations against Armenia to settle
the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, if peaceful negotiations do not yield any
results.
“The aftermath of the war will be heavy for both sides,” the Armenian
defense minister said.
“Given the most favorable outcome of the war for Armenia, we do not
wish to resume military operations, since a war always results in
human casualties. Even if the losses ratio equaled 1:7, as was the
case in 1993-1994, we would not be willing to start a war,” Sarkisian
pointed out.
In addition to that, in wartime the sides will have to spend their
limited resources on solving military problems, he noted.
At the same time he emphasized that the Armenian Armed Forces were the
most combat ready force in Transcaucasia.
Sarkisian also said that NATO’s decision to cancel the military
exercise in Azerbaijan, slated for mid-September, due to the fact that
Armenian officers were not allowed to participate in it, had not been
a surprise to him.
At the same time he said that Armenia was interested in Azerbaijan’s
participation in the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace
program. “Azerbaijan’s participation in this program imposes certain
commitments on Baku, and we will be better off dealing with
Azerbaijan, committed to its promises,” he pointed out.

AFTEREFFECTS OF OPEN BORDER WITH TURKEY DISCUSSED
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS: A roundtable discussion convened by the
Political Dialogue and Development Center together with the US embassy in
Yerevan on September 29 to explore consequences of a possible opening of the land
border between Armenia and Turkey brought together local politicians and
economists, whose opinions differed significantly.
A parliament member Tatul Manaserian argued in favor of using the full
potential of Armenia’s relations with Georgia and Iran and only then try to
extend the expected experience to its relations with Turkey.
Seyran Avagian, a presidential adviser, put the blame for the sealed
border on Turkey, saying open borders would benefit both nations, as “Armenian
businessmen are familiar with Turkey’s market and Turkish consumers have
discovered the quality of Armenian goods.”
A senior transport and communication ministry official Vahagn Badalian
voiced concern over Turkish-Georgian plans to build a railway connecting Turkish
Kars with Akhalkalaki saying it would further aggravate the blockade imposed
on Armenia.
According to Ashot Yeghiazarian, a senior member of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, fears that the Armenian market would be flooded with cheap
Turkish goods in the event of an open border must be thrown off. He added that
open borders would first of all benefit underdeveloped eastern regions of
Turkey, while Armenia would get a transit route across Turkey to Middle East
markets.
Gagik Melikian from the ruling Republican Party said open borders would
result in more exports and consequently more budget revenues.
According to official figures, Turkish-Armenian trade is estimated
annually between $40 – $60 million and is mainly carried out through neighboring
Georgia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU a fragile hope for Istanbul’s Christian communities
Agence France Presse
October 3, 2004 Sunday
BY Nicolas Cheviron
ISTANBUL
Andrea is a “Rum”, Tarin is Armenian, Giovanni a Levantine. For
centuries, their communities served as bridges between Europe and the
Ottoman Empire whose successor, Turkey, is now seeking full membership
in the European Union.
All three are Christian and favor the mainly Muslim country’s entry
into the EU and see in it a fragile hope for their disappearing
cultures.
Andrea Rombopoulos single-handedly produces Iho, one of two
Greek-language dailies to still appear in Turkey.
He claims 80 percent of Istanbul’s “Rums” — Romans, as Greeks of
Turkish nationality are called here, in reference to the Eastern Roman
Empire from which they descended — read his paper. That makes about
1,600 people.
Rombopoulos believes Turkey’s membership in the European bloc will end
all the problems his community faces in trying to defend its rights.
“We have about 60 foundations that run our schools and our churches,”
he explained. “But for the past 37 years, the (Turkish) state has
forbidden any elections to renew their management — has sometimes
seized their property — and prevented them from functioning
properly.”
Turkish membership in the EU, he believes, will be the best guarantee
for the future of his dwindling community.
In the editorial offices of his newspaper, in a 19th century townhouse
built by the great Zarifi “Rum” banking dynasty that is witness to the
past grandeur and current decline of Istanbul’s Greeks, Rombopoulos
laments: “We are on the verge of extinction.”
The EU, he explained, can mean salvation. “When Turkey enters the EU,
foreign firms will invest in Turkey and they will need staff who know
how to trade with the Turks,” he said. “The Greeks are in the best
position to do that.
“If new (Greek) families settle in Istanbul, then maybe we can save
our culture.”
Tarin Karakasli, who works for the Armenian daily Agos, agrees.
“Turkey joining the EU means normalizing relations with Armenia,” she
said. “For people like us, who live in the shadow of their ancestors,
this will be like a drop of cool water through a parched throat … we
could even speak of a cultural renaissance.”
She is a fervent supporter of Turkey’s rapid accession to the European
bloc — contrary to most of the Armenian diaspora, which says Turkey
should be kept out of the EU until it admits that the 1915 massacre of
hundreds of thousand of Armenians was an act of genocide.
“My newspaper believes that only a fully democratic country can
question its past,” she said. “As things stand, Turkey can neither
confirm nor deny something it does not really know about — something
that has been kept under wraps like a terrible taboo.”
She believes that the democratization process accompanying membership
talks will free the Turkish mindset — and allow the country’s
45,000-strong Armenian community to finally cast off the yoke of the
past.
The grandson of a Neapolitan cook who emigrated to Istanbul in
mid-19th century on his father’s side, and of an Italian family long
established in the Greek islands on his mother’s, Giovanni
Scognamillo, 75, is a Levantine — a Roman Catholic born on Turkish
soil, although the term can also apply to Protestants.
Scognamillo, a well-know figure in the Istanbul intelligentsia, has
been a bookdealer, a decorator, a bank employee, a filmmaker, a
journalist, an author and a historian.
He believes the extinction of his community — a few hundred souls, he
said, in Istanbul and Izmir, on the Aegean coast — is inevitable.
“Mine is the last generation of Levantines,” he said, without a trace
of nostalgia. “The young now go live abroad.”
He is all for Turkey joining the EU, but he does not have much hope
for the Levantine community.
“That there will be a rush of Turks into EU countries, I do not doubt
for a moment,” he said. “But a rush of Levantines into Turkey — I
don’t think so.
“Anyway,” he joked, “once Turkey is part of the EU, at least I won’t
have to queue for my residence permit every five years.”