Author: Jagharian Tania

ArmenPress
Aug 5 2004
SECRETARY GENERAL OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE REGRETTED ABOUT ELECTIONS IN
NAGORNO KARABAKH
STRASBOURG, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS: Referring to the previous call
by Council of Europe leaders to refrain from staging one-sided “local
self-government elections” in Nagorno-Karabakh, Walter Schwimmer,
Secretary General of the 45-nation Council of Europe, regretted that
elections would again be held in the province on 8 August 2004.
“One-sided actions are counter-productive. The future status of
Nagorno-Karabakh must be decided through negotiations”, said Mr.
Schwimmer, who confirmed that the Council of Europe fully supports
the efforts undertaken to this end by the “Minsk Conference” under
the auspices of the OSCE. “I further welcome the recently revived
contacts at the highest political level by Armenia and Azerbaijan to
find a peaceful solution to the conflict, as well as the efforts by
the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to foster
parliamentary co-operation in the region”, added Mr. Schwimmer.

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one’s belief or religion
The right to join together and express one’s belief
=================================================
Tuesday 3 August 2004
ARMENIA: IMPRISONMENT, NO REGISTRATION, AND NO IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR JW’S
Armenia continues to jail Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objectors, in
clear breach of its Council of Europe and OSCE commitments, although human
rights ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan has denied to Forum 18 News Service that
the commitments have been broken. The head of the state religious affairs
department, Hranush Kharatyan, has rejected the right upheld in
international human rights agreements of religious believers to spread
their beliefs by peaceful means. An alternative service law is
theoretically in force, but in practice cannot yet be applied. Jehovah’s
Witnesses see the alternative service terms as excessive punishment for
their refusal to do military service, and are also being denied identity
documents – necessary eg. for employment or marriage – on completing
jail terms. Also, for the twelfth time since 1995, Jehovah’s Witneses have
been denied state registration. Stefan Buchmayer, the OSCE’s Yerevan human
rights officer, told Forum 18 that “one cannot find real legal
justification for the refusal.”
ARMENIA: IMPRISONMENT, NO REGISTRATION, AND NO IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR JW’S
By Felix Corley, Forum 18 News Service
Armenia’s Jehovah’s Witness community has just received its twelfth
registration denial since 1995, with fourteen members in prison for
refusing military service on religious grounds and a further eleven
expecting to be tried for refusing the lengthy and harsh alternative
service, the terms of which they see as a punishment for refusing military
service. Problems for those completing prison terms also seem to be
mounting. Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18 News Service that seventeen
recently freed young men are being refused identity documents (internal
passports) because they are not registered with the military commissariat,
while a further seven who have identity documents are being refused
residency registration, a requirement in Armenia.
Officials blame the Jehovah’s Witnesses for allegedly failing to try to
resolve these problems with the government. “If those being released
are not getting passports they have put themselves in that situation,”
the human rights ombudsman Larisa Alaverdyan told Forum 18 from the capital
Yerevan on 2 August. Hranush Kharatyan, head of the government’s religious
affairs department, told Forum 18 the same day that the Jehovah’s Witnesses
had failed to respond to her invitations to discuss how to amend their
statute to get registration.
Fifteen Jehovah’s Witnesses from various parts of Armenia, who did not
possess an internal passport before they were called up by the army, found
that after their release the local military commissariat refused to issue a
certificate to them until they are registered with the military
commissariat, saying they will not issues the certificates until the
Jehovah’s Witnesses have served their time. The passport office will not
issue an internal passport without this certificate. In two further cases,
both in central Yerevan, two young men who had passports before their
prison terms were refused them when they asked for their return. Both have
made official complaints to the military commissariat and the general
prosecutor.
“This is a clear violation of their human dignity – they can’t
do anything without a passport,” Jehovah’s Witness lawyer Rustam
Khachatryan told Forum 18 from Yerevan on 2 August. “They can’t get a
job or even marry. But our clever state does allow people to pay taxes
without a passport.” He said the military commissariats are obliged to
give out these certificates, but said they deliberately refuse to give them
to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Human rights ombudsman Alaverdyan agreed that the lack of a passport would
create “an awful lot of problems” in Armenia. “People can’t
leave the country, can’t vote, can’t engage in any legal transactions, for
example.” But she said the Jehovah’s Witnesses have not reported the
problem to her and unless they do she can take no action. Yet she insisted
they have to comply with the law and get the required certificates from the
military commissariat like any other young men.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been applying for registration as a religious
community since the early 1990s, but their opposition to military service
and what many regard as their aggressive style of proselytism have offended
state officials and the leadership of the dominant Armenian Apostolic
Church.
Their latest application was submitted for the required “expert
assessment” to the government religious affairs department on 16
March, three months after a meeting between state officials and the
Jehovah’s Witnesses organised by the Yerevan office of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) tried to break the registration
deadlock. The religious affairs department concluded on 24 March that the
Jehovah’s Witness statute was in accordance with the law. “We didn’t
refuse the application – we gave a positive view about
registration,” its head, Hranush Kharatyan, told Forum 18.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses then submitted the application to the State
Registry of Legal Entities at the Ministry of Justice on 18 May, but it
ruled at the end of June that the statute contradicted the religion law and
other laws. Gyurgen Sarkisyan, who maintains the State Registry, had
previously told Forum 18 that “with an expert conclusion signed by the
minister and all documents, they will be registered” (see F18News 4
February 2004 ).
Sarkisyan’s phone was not being answered when Forum 18 tried to speak to
him on 2 August.
Despite having signed the expert assessment approving the application,
Kharatyan of the religious affairs department insisted to Forum 18 that a
provision in the statute describing the Jehovah’s Witness practice of
door-to-door preaching violates the law. “This amounts to proselytism
and the religion law forbids this,” she declared. “They don’t
have the right to do this.”
She flatly rejected suggestions that in a democratic country, believers of
any faith have the right to spread their beliefs by peaceful means.
“We keep getting a mass of complaints that Jehovah’s Witnesses come to
people’s homes every day and bombard them with visits,” she claimed.
Kharatyan also argued that other provisions of their statute violated the
law, although she maintained that the Jehovah’s Witness rejection of
military service was not an issue.
Stefan Buchmayer, human rights officer at the OSCE office in Yerevan,
reported that the denial of registration was for “technical
reasons” which the Justice Ministry did not fully explain. “The
Jehovah’s Witnesses cleared the expert assessment, so registration with the
justice ministry should have been only a formality,” told Forum 18 on
2 August. “One cannot find real legal justification for the
refusal.” He said his office has been closely following this issue.
“Unfortunately it has dragged on for many years.”
Despite its 2001 commitment to the Council of Europe to free all imprisoned
conscientious objectors and introduce civilian alternative service by
January 2004 (see F18News 19 April 2004
), the courts have
continued to jail young male Jehovah’s Witnesses. As late as 26 May 2004,
Ruslan Avetisyan was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and is now being
held in Nubarashen labour camp, Jehovah’s Witnesses told Forum 18. Also
held in the same camp is Mikael Lazarian, sentenced to two years’
imprisonment the same month. The other twelve prisoners are being held in
labour camp in Kosh. Other Jehovah’s Witnesses freed early from prison for
good conduct are required to report regularly to the local police station.
On 1 April 2003, a foreign ministry spokeswoman told Forum 18 that a
“full stop” would be put to the imprisonment of conscientious
objectors by the end of 2003 (see F18News 1 April 2003
).
Parliament’s deputy speaker Tigran Torosyan, who heads the Armenian
delegation to the Council of Europe, told Jehovah’s Witness representatives
at the Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Strasbourg on 22 June
that all conscientious objector prisoners would be freed once the new law
on alternative service came into force on 1 July.
Alaverdyan, who said she has visited 21 imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses
since taking up the post of ombudsman, claimed there is a “new
situation” now that the alternative service law has taken effect.
“The situation has changed completely,” she told Forum 18.
However, the fourteen Jehovah’s Witnesses remain in labour camp.
Moreover, Buchmayer of the OSCE pointed out that, although the alternative
service law theoretically came into force on 1 July, in practice it cannot
be applied until promised amendments are approved by parliament. “This
will not now be until parliament’s autumn session at the earliest,” he
told Forum 18, “unless a special session is called, which is unlikely
for such an issue.”
Buchmeyer categorically stated that the continued imprisonment of
conscientious objectors violates Armenia’s commitments to the Council of
Europe and OSCE commitments, a point rejected by Alaverdyan.
In a new development, eleven Jehovah’s Witnesses called up in recent months
have refused the alternative service offered to them, regarding unspecified
work – perhaps cleaning sewerage systems or working in psychiatric
homes for three and a half years under military supervision – as
excessive punishment for their refusal to do military service. “This
does not meet European norms,” Khachatryan told Forum 18. The length
of the proposed alternative service has been criticised by the Council of
Europe (see F18News 4 February 2004
).
Khachatryan noted that Aram Manukyan, a Jehovah’s Witness from Yerevan
called up in May, is expected to face trial in the next ten days. He said a
further four are awaiting the opening of criminal cases against them, while
six more are likely to face similar cases in the near future.
Both ombudsman Alaverdyan and Kharatyan of the religious affairs department
seemed annoyed at Forum 18’s questions about the Jehovah’s Witnesses’
difficulties. “Why don’t the Jehovah’s Witnesses work with us to
resolve their problems, instead to complaining to people like you?”
Alaverdyan asked Forum 18. “Organisations like yours seem only
interested in having continuing cases to take up rather than resolving them
properly.” Kharatyan echoed these sentiments. “Why don’t the
Jehovah’s Witnesses come to us if they want to resolve these issues?”
she exclaimed. “I absolutely don’t understand why they go running to
others to complain and don’t come to us.” She said her office had
helped other religious communities bring their registration applications
into line with the law.
A printer-friendly map of Armenia is available at
;Rootmap=armeni
(END)
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved.
You may reproduce or quote this article provided that credit is given to
F18News
Past and current Forum 18 information can be found at

PRESS OFFICE
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jake Goshert, Coordinator of Information Services
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 60; Fax: (212) 779-3558
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
August 2, 2004
___________________
CHURCH LEADERS PUSH FOR ACTION ON CATASTROPHE IN SUDAN
By Jake Goshert
The Armenian Church is taking a leading role in pushing for action to
end the genocide which is beginning in the Sudan.
Bishop Vicken Aykazian, legate and ecumenical officer of the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), led a protest outside the
Sudanese Embassy in Washington D.C. on Friday, July 23, 2004. He was
joined by religious leaders and supporters from the Armenian Assembly of
America.
“My message was that genocide is not acceptable, especially in the
beginning of the 21st century,” said Bishop Aykazian, who led a prayer
during the protest and also spoke for the group to various media
outlets. “I told them I know what genocide means, because my people
have suffered through genocide. So we ask the authorities and the
people to come together to fight against the genocide.”
Bishop Aykazian, who serves as secretary to the executive committee of
the National Council of Churches (NCC), has talked about the issue with
leaders of that ecumenical body and is one of the organization’s leaders
calling for international action to end the violence in the Sudan, where
the Janjaweed — a government-backed nomadic Arab tribe — has raped,
killed, and burnt the homes of black, non-Arab residents in the nation’s
Darfur region in attempt to get them to leave their lands, which the
Arab government has promised to the mercenaries.
Those able to flee the Sudan have been pouring into neighboring Chad,
where food, water, and shelter are growing scarce. American officials
have unsuccessfully called on Sudan to allow humanitarian aid to flow
into the Darfur area. The Bush administration has already pledged $300
million in aid.
With American pressure, the United Nations Security Council passed a
resolution at the end of July calling for sanctions against Sudan unless
the violence ends. (Sudan was recently elected to a three-year term on
the U.N. Human Rights Commission.)
The violence has already claimed an estimated 50,000 lives and displaced
a million people. During the protest at the Sudanese Embassy, the group
called not only for an end to the violence, but also for humanitarian
aid and financial support for the displaced non-Arab victims.
USING THE RIGHT WORDS
Right now the activists are struggling on two fronts: to gather
humanitarian assistance and to get the violence to be called genocide.
“According to the experts, it is genocide. It really bothers me when
the authorities and the government do not use the word genocide, because
it is genocide. We have to use the word genocide,” Bishop Aykazian
said. “We have no right to use the word ‘massacres’, because other
nations used that word when talking about the Armenian Genocide, and
that bothers us. So we have to use the word ‘genocide’.”
“Genocide goes beyond violence,” Bishop Aykazian added. “It is not only
killing human beings; it is killing the culture of a nation, of a
minority, of a race. Genocide is the destruction of a group of people
and the destruction of their history.”
CONTINUED CALLS FOR ACTION
The NCC’s executive board passed a resolution on Tuesday, May 18, 2004,
urging member churches to push for cessation of the apparent attempt at
ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region of western Sudan.
The first NCC resolution dealing with the Sudan was approved in 2002.
This recent resolution “affirms and extends” the calls to action made in
the earlier statement of the NCC Executive Board — an 80-member body
representing leaders from the NCC’s 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and
Anglican member churches.
The organization is also raising funds to send supplies of food and
clothing to the refugees streaming out of Sudan and into neighboring
Chad.
The Eastern Diocese will be raising funds through its local parishes to
provide aid to the victims in the Sudan through the National Council of
Churches.
“Today it is happening in the Sudan, and tomorrow it can happen in any
part of the world. When you need help, you ask other people to help
you. So make sure when others ask for help you don’t just keep quiet
because you don’t want to put your hands into your pockets,” he said.
“As Armenians especially, we have no right to just keep quiet.”
— 8/2/04
E-mail photos available on request. Photos also viewable in the News
and Events section of the Eastern Diocese’s website,
PHOTO CAPTION (1): Bishop Vicken Aykazian, diocesan legate and
ecumenical officer, leads a protest outside the Sudanese Embassy in
Washington, D.C., on Friday, July 23, 2004.
PHOTO CAPTION (2): Dozens of people join Bishop Aykazian in a protest
calling for an end to the genocide in the Sudan.

1.015 VACANCIES OFFERED BY JULY 1, 2004
YEREVAN, JULY 30. ARMINFO. A total of 1,015 vacancies had been offered
by employers by July 1, 2004, 789 of them in trades.
The RA Employment Service reports that a total of 2,500 Armenian
job-seekers had been involved in the UN “Allowance for Work” program
by July 1, 2004. Special sewing courses have been organized for eight
workers, who later were employed. Twenty four disabled persons are
currently attending the sewing courses. 266 job-seekers, including
ten disabled persons, have taken computer training courses.
Skilled programmers, dealers, translators, insurance agents, brokers,
doctors turners, welders, jewelers and service workers are in great
demand on the market. An Armenian-Swedish-Lithuanian employment
program is being implemented as part of international assistance as
well.

Zaman, Turkey
July 30 2004
If Accelerated Diplomacy Derails…
ALI H. ASLAN
What Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said in defense of the
government after the train disaster was right in a way. A person who
does nothing, makes no mistakes either. However, just as one who
works has the right to make a mistake, it is also incumbent upon that
person to realize the mistake and try not to do it again.
When the issue is something that directly affects people’s lives,
like mass transportation, it is natural that expectations are high.
In issues concerning a whole nation’s destiny, like foreign policy,
it is much more essential to realize the mistakes on time and make
the necessary corrections.
Erdogan government is generally doing a good job on foreign policy as
well as in mass transportation. Our accelarated EU train is advancing
toward the station where membership negotiations will start. It is
doing so in great difficulty while struggling to repair the
broken-down political and economic infrastructure of the country. The
delay accumulated for so many years is being recovered. A dangerous
referendum curve on another delayed issue like Cyprus, was passed
without derailment. Turkey gradually has become a country that exerts
more influence in the region and has enhanced its contribution to
international peace. Relations between Turkey and the United States,
which has changed course during the parliamentary motion crisis, at
least seemingly working fine again. However, there is an issue that
has the potential to ruin this good course. And that is
Turkish-Israeli relations.
Don’t say, “Is it your job to write about Turkish-Israeli relations
from Washington?” If Turkey and Israel sneeze, many in Washington
catch cold. The virus spreads to the Turkish diplomatic mission,
lobbyists as well as official/private Americans dealing with Turkey.
As you know, the relation between
U.S.-Israel is even something more than a “strategic partnership.”
Actually, it’s a “strategic brotherhood.” Even though they live far
away from each other, they are like single-egg twins, who feel each
other’s pains. Almost everything that bothers the U.S. also bothers
Israel. The United States feels the same for anything that perturbs
Israel.
It is certain that what has been bothering Israel of late are Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s harsh statements. Using the term
‘state terrorism,’ to describe the things Israel does in Palestine,
the prime minister could be appeasing most of the Turkish people as
well as others in the region. However, this situation makes people,
who favor the wellbeing of Turkish-American-Israeli ties, and want
Turkey to reach to the EU station without any mishap, deeply
concerned.
When the prime minister made these remarks for the first time, early
evaluations in Washington were that it could have been a political
tactic in order to secure the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) term presidency for Turkey. That is, people had good thoughts.
This is because Erdogan is the one of the key AKP leaders, who has
been able to convince Americans and Israelis the most, that he has
changed although he comes from an anti-American and anti-Israeli
background. The prime minister worked a lot before and after he came
to power in order to eradicate any Jewish lobby doubts. This was the
right thing to do. International politics has to be played by the
rules. The U.S. influence on world policy and that of Israel and its
friends on U.S policy cannot be denied.
However, since Erdogan maintained this attitude against Israel after
Turkey took over the OIC term presidency, old chapters that were
about to be closed by Washington, are gradually being reopened.
First of all, those elements who never closed in those chapters, got
an upper hand in Washington. They had the opportunity to say to the
majority, who consider the AK Party government ‘workable with’,
“We’ve told you. They won’t ever change. See how they manifested the
anti-Semitism within themselves.”
Even though the prime minister says, “our criticisms are not directed
at the state of Israel or the Jewish people but at the Sharon
government”, most counterparts do not perceive it that way. The
expression used is “state terrorism,” not the “Sharon government
terrorism.” Firstly, they find the remark “state terrorism” too heavy
to bear. It even causes more trouble when a prime minister personally
utters these words. One of the leading people in the Jewish lobby
said to me, “The European Union also severely criticizes Israel but
never has it used such a term. Besides, while many countries consider
Turkey’s fight against the PKK as state terrorism, didn’t Israel
support Turkey?”
The Erdogan government’s Middle East policy is gradually being viewed
as pan-Islamist, especially by the Jewish lobby. Both the United
States and Israel do not see pan-Islamism in the region to be in
their interests. One should not expect the Judeo-Christian West
warmly favor a renewed Ottoman spirit in Turkey. Hence, it is no
surprise Turkey’s proposal to be a mediator in the Middle East was
not accepted by either Israel or the United States.
Nobody is saying let’s determine our Middle East policy solely in
line with Israel and U.S. policies. However, we must not forget that
we will still need to knock on the Jewish lobby’s door in Washington
for certain reasons, like the so-called Armenian genocide. Besides,
while we are already struggling with difficulty riding through our
broken-down state infrastructure with high-speed diplomacy, during
this critical EU period, when Turkey needs stability internally and
externally more than ever, shouldn’t we refrain from attitudes that
could give ammunition to internal and external elements who want to
derail our train?

ARMINFO NEWS AGENCY
July 29, 2004
SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF ARMENIAN REFUGEES FROM AZERBAIJAN THREATENED
WITH RESETTLEMENT FROM MOSCOW HOSTEL
YEREVAN, JULY 28. ARMINFO. Several thousands of Armenian refugees
from Azerbaijan are threatened with resettlement from Moscow hostel
in Molodtsova street.
According to Russian Mass Media, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov instructed
that the refugees residing there since 1989 leave the building on Aug
1. The regional authorities intend to tear down the old buildings,
and the have already instructed that water and electricity supply to
these buildings be stopped on Aug 1. At the same time, according to
witnesses, representative of the local authorities apply uncivilized
methods to the residents, penetrating into their premises and
breaking and throwing the furniture out of windows. According to the
source, many of the Armenian refugees have not registered their
documents, through many of them have become Russian citizens.
Meanwhile, in his interview to the Armenian Public Television,
Armenian Ambassador to Russia Armen Smbatyan said that in this case
resettlement from illegal occupied territories is in question, he
explained that the building is accident-prone.

ARMENIAN BUSINESSMAN COMMITTED SUICIDE IN PENZA RUSSIAN CITY
27.07.2004 13:58
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A citizen of Armenia has committed suicide in Penza
Russian city by jumping out of the window of his suite, situated on
the 5-th floor of Russia Hotel. As reported by Interfax news agency,
the tragedy occurred July 26 at about 9 a.m. Resulting from the fall
the man got numerous fractures and died in the ambulance car. The
37-year-old entrepreneur from Yerevan had lived in Russia Hotel for a
week. Criminal proceedings are instituted on the occasion of the
suicide, the causes are being investigated.

ArmenPress
July 26 2004
ARMENIA N PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS IN FAVOR OF REOPENING ABKHAZ SECTION
OF RAILWAY
TBILISI, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS: Restoration of railway communication
across Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia topped the agenda of
Armenian-Georgian talks today in Tbilisi with participation of
Armenian prime minister Andranik Margarian and an extensive Armenian
delegation. “Armenia is greatly interested in the resumption of the
railway operation of the Abkhaz section,” Margarian told reporters
after concluding talks with his Georgian counterpart Zurab Zhvania.
He said though this issue is not linked directly to Armenian-Georgian
relations, the ongoing negotiations inspire some hopes that a certain
progress may be achieved in that direction “as Georgia has too
softened its position on this issue.”
“We hope that if not this year then some years later this problem
will be resolved,” Margarian said adding that the operating railway
is of vital importance not only for Armenia but for Georgia as well,
as deeper economic cooperation with the breakaway region may serve as
an additional resource for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
Concerning the current level of trade and economic cooperation
with Georgia, Margarian said though its amount is growing day by day
the available potential is not used to the full extent. Overall there
are only 25 joint Armenian-Georgian ventures, which is not a good
figure, according to the prime minister, especially having in mind
traditional Georgian-Armenian ties, the huge potential of Georgian
Armenians, many of whom are engaged in businesses and serve as
government officials.
According to the Armenian prime minister, a bigger attention
should be devoted to building favorable conditions for private sector
cooperation, which he said is hampered by some security problems
Armenian businessmen run into on Georgian highways, despite a
recorded progress, following a Georgian government decision to cut
the number of road police officers.
“During our meeting with president Mikhail Saakashvili we learned
that Georgia is trying to introduce simplified customs procedures on
border with Armenia, supposed to facilitate cargo forwarding services
and if all these promises come true we may expect a great upsurge in
the volume of bilateral trade by the close of this year,” Margarian
said.
Margarian said also Armenia has proposed that a wholesale market
in Gogavan on the border, closed by Georgian authorities, reopen to
allow bordering provinces to establish contacts and start mutually
beneficial trade.
The Armenian prime minister also spoke about power supplies from
Armenia to Georgia saying Armenia’s power grid is run by private
companies which will supply as much electricity as Georgia would
request.

55.5% INCREASE IN NUMBER OF DEALS WITH IMMOVABLE PROPERTY RECORDED
YEREVAN, JULY 23. ARMINFO. A total of 45,953 deals with immovable
property were recorded in Armenia in the first half of 2004, which is
8.8% more than in the corresponding period of 2003.
According to the information reported by the RA State Registry of
Immovable Property, 19,061 deals (41.5%) were alienation, 16.7%
primary registration, 9.7% lease, 7.6% pledge, 0.5% privatization,
8.3% inheritance, and 15.7% other types. As against the first half of
2003, a 40.1% increase in the number of alienation transactions, which
influence the market most of all, was recorded in the first half of
2004, and a 3.2% increase as against the second half of 2003. In the
first half of 2004, 39.6% of alienation deals were recorded in
Yerevan. During the period under review, 67.3% of 6,613
purchase-and-sale deals involved flats. As against the corresponding
period of last year this index increased by 15.7%, and decreased by
17.7% as against the second half of 2003.

Turkish Press
July 19 2004
Pushing EU Entry, Turkish PM Starts French Visit
AFP: 7/19/2004

by Hugh Schofield
PARIS, July 19 (AFP) – Turkey`s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
held talks in Paris with his French counterpart Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Monday at the start of a three-day visit to push Turkish entry into
the European Union.
Speaking to reporters at Ankara airport, Erdogan said that in his
meetings with French leaders he would “explain what steps we have
taken in order to align ourselves with the EU and where we are in
terms of implementation (of reforms).”
The prime minister, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) has
Islamist origins, was to lunch with President Jacques Chirac Tuesday
after a meeting with business leaders. He will also see the heads of
the three main political parties before leaving Wednesday.
A crucial period is approaching for Turkey`s application bid, with
the European Commission due to give its opinion in October on a
possible opening of negotiations, followed by a decision in December
by European leaders on whether enough progress has been made towards
the EU`s reform demands.
Erdogan was expected to use the French visit to build up support in
the European country which has seen probably the most heated public
debate over the suitability for the EU of a predominantly Muslim and
Asian nation.
While Chirac has indicated in recent speeches that he now regards
Ankara`s progress to EU membership as “irreversible” and spoken of
its “historic and very ancient European vocation,” many in his own
government are deeply opposed to its accession.
In addition opinion polls indicate that a majority of the population
is against Turkey`s admission to the 25-nation body.
“The opposition comes in various forms: fear of Islam and immigrants
at one end, fear of seeing Europe dissolve into a vast free-trade
zone for others,” said Eddy Fougier of French Institute for
International Relations (IFRI).
France also has a large Armenian community of some 450,000 people,
whose pressure in 2001 secured the official recognition by the French
parliament of the Armenian genocide. This remains a highly
contentious issue between Ankara and Paris.
The opposition Socialist party said Monday it supports Turkish entry
“as long as the accession criteria are respected,” but both Chirac`s
ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and its junior partner the
Union for French Democracy (UDF) are sceptical.
“Europe`s historical identity is indissolubly linked — not with the
religious convictions of Europeans today — but with a cultural and
political model fashioned by 15 centuries of Christianity… Turkey
is a stranger to this history,” said UDF Euro-deputy Jean-Louis
Bourlanges.
The left-wing daily Liberation said in an editorial that the
“sticking-point between Europe and Turkey is not Islam or
Christianity, but the secular basis for social ties and institutions.
Turkey will have its own place in Europe … once it has given up
Sunni Islam as the de facto state religion.”
But it went on in more encouraging vein: “There is no convincing
reason to think that Islam is not in its essence compatible with
democracy and secularism. Helping Turkey to prove this should be an
uplifting challenge for Europeans.”