Author: Jalatian Sonya

EU AID COMMISSIONER MICHEL REACTS TO CHIRAC
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 3 2006
European Commissioner Louis Michel responded to French President
Jacques Chirac, who said during a visit to Armenia that Turkey should
recognize the so-called Armenian genocide to become a European Union
(EU) member.
Belgian Commissioner Michel stated on Sunday that the EU could not
produce new political criteria regarding Turkey’s EU membership.
Commissioner Michel stressed that some people are trying to change the
rules after the game has begun. “We have to understand the importance
of Turkey,” he stressed. Michel added that Turkey was important for
the bloc and it played a key role in the region, citing that one
must merely look at the crossroads of energy pipelines to see how
important Turkey was.
“Turkey needs the EU, but the EU needs Turkey more,” Michel
highlighted.
When asked whether Turkey should recognize the “genocide” to join
the European Union, Chirac said: “Honestly, I believe it should. Each
country grows by acknowledging its dramas and mistakes of the past”
during a visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan.

ARMENIA, EU TO SIGN COOPERATION PLAN IN NOVEMBER
Agence France Presse — English
October 2, 2006 Monday 6:24 PM GMT
Armenia and the European Union will sign a joint action plan on
cooperation on November 14, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja
and his Armenian counterpart Vardan Oskanian said Monday.
“This is a document of historic importance for us that invites
Armenia to participate in an intense dialogue with the EU and in
the integration process,” said Oskanian, adding however that it was
premature to talk about Armenia actually joining the EU.
Tuomioja said the plan, part of the EU’s neighbourhood policy, would
lead to significantly enhanced economic and political cooperation.
This poverty-stricken Caucasian former Soviet republic, still at
odds with its neighbour Azerbaijan after a war in the early 1990s,
has traditionally maintained close ties with Russia but has also
declared integration with the West to be a priority.
French President Jacques Chirac visited here at the weekend and
praised the Armenian people, also urging Turkey to recognise World
War I-era massacres of Armenians as genocide.

CHIRAC POUSSE LA TURQUIE A ASSUMER SON PASSE
Philippe Goulliaud
Le Figaro, France
03 octobre 2006
“SOUVIENS-TOI”. Ces mots inscrits par Jacques Chirac sur le livre
d’or du Memorial du genocide, a Erevan, donnent le sens de la visite
d’Etat, hautement symbolique, du president francais en Armenie :
regarder l’Histoire en face. Cette visite de trois jours, la première
d’un president francais et meme d’un chef d’Etat occidental dans cette
toute jeune Republique qui a accede a l’independance en 1991, etait
très attendue. Surtout de la part d’un homme qui, tout en cultivant
ses relations amicales avec l’Armenie, a toujours soutenu l’entree de
la Turquie dans l’Union europeenne. À Erevan, Chirac a donc accompli
les gestes qu’attendaient les Armeniens.
Accompagne de son homologue armenien Robert Kotcharian, le
president francais a visite le Memorial du genocide, sur la colline
du Fort-aux-Hirondelles qui domine la capitale. Comme le veut la
tradition, Jacques et Bernadette Chirac ont depose des oeillets devant
la flamme eternelle, avant de planter un arbre du souvenir.
Dans ce lieu symbolique de la tragedie du peuple armenien, le
footballeur Youri Djorkaeff s’est longuement recueilli, tandis que
le journaliste Daniel Bilalian etait submerge par l’emotion. Chirac
et Kotcharian ont ensuite inaugure la place de France, au coeur
d’Erevan. L’ancienne place de l’Opera etait, a la fin des annees 1980,
le haut lieu de la contestation au regime sovietique. Samedi soir, il
a assiste, place de la Republique, au grand concert du plus celèbre
Armenien, Charles Aznavour. Un travail de memoire À Erevan, Jacques
Chirac a surtout eu les mots qu’esperaient, sans toujours y croire,
les Armeniens, notamment ceux de France. Au cours d’une conference
de presse conjointe avec Robert Kotcharian, il a pose un principe :
“La France reconnaît le genocide armenien.” Mais il est alle plus
loin. La Turquie doit-elle reconnaître le genocide pour pouvoir entrer
dans l’UE ? “Honnetement, je le crois”, a-t-il dit.
“Tout pays se grandit en reconnaissant ses drames et ses erreurs.”
Jacques Chirac a fait un parallèle avec l’Allemagne et la
reconciliation franco-allemande de l’après-guerre. “Peut-on dire que
l’Allemagne, qui a profondement reconnu la Shoah, a perdu son credit
? Elle s’est grandie”, a-t-il affirme, appelant Ankara a faire un
travail de memoire similaire. “La Turquie serait bien inspiree, au
regard de son histoire, de sa tradition profonde et de sa culture,
qui est aussi une culture humaniste, d’en tirer les consequences.”
Meme si l’entourage du president a fait valoir qu’il ne s’agissait pas
d’un changement de position de sa part, les Armeniens de France ont
immediatement salue ce “pas en avant”. Très hostile a l’adhesion de la
Turquie, le sarkozyste Patrick Devedjian s’est rejoui de cette “avancee
considerable”. “C’est un moment historique”, a-t-il dit en soulignant
la portee symbolique des declarations de Jacques Chirac “a deux pas
de la frontière turque qui est fermee dans le but avoue d’asphyxier
l’Armenie”. Jacques Chirac a toutefois decu certains membres de la
diaspora en condamnant par avance la proposition de loi socialiste
visant a penaliser la negation du genocide armenien. Cette proposition,
qui devrait etre examinee par les deputes le 12 octobre, “relève plus,
aujourd’hui, de la polemique que de la realite juridique”, a-t-il
dit, en expliquant que l’arsenal legislatif existant permettait de
sanctionner le negationnisme. n Lire aussi pages 14, 15 et 34.
–Boundary_(ID_uvwP1HhBZiN5DcHJVCdyCg)–

UNEASE GRIPS GEORGIANS IN RUSSIA
BBC World News, UK
Oct 3 2006
Khatuna and her husband now talk about selling up and moving away
Khatuna Dadiani is one of the estimated half a million Georgians
living in Russia, who send money home to support family members.
As of today she faces two new problems – how to wire money to Tbilisi,
and how to get to Georgia if she wants or needs to visit.
But Russia’s economic sanctions against Georgia strike her as more
ridiculous than anything else.
“Of course there will be ways round them,” she says.
“The worrying thing is that attitudes towards Georgians are changing
so fast here – it’s getting worse and worse.”
Money and travel
Khatuna’s husband, who has his own construction company, is
investigating the possibility of sending money to Georgia via foreign
banks in Moscow, rather than Russian banks.
The people to whom we send money, live on that money
Khatuna Dadiani The solution to the travel problem would be to fly
via Ukraine or Armenia – a minor inconvenience.
It might also be possible to go by road through the Russian republic
of North Ossetia, though Khatuna says this would involve dealing with
bribe-hungry border guards.
Khatuna is originally from the Georgian autonomous region of Abkhazia,
and her relatives in Georgia are mainly refugees, forced out during
the 1992-93 war in the region.
Some have found their feet in the Georgian capital, others have not.
“The people to whom we send money, live on that money,” she says.
“They have big families to feed.”
In the current war of words between Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Khatuna is 100% behind
Mr Saakashvili.
She was deeply offended by Mr Putin’s account of the arrest of Russian
officers in Georgia on spying charges as part of the legacy of the
Stalin-era secret police chief, Lavrentiy Beria – a Georgian, like
Stalin himself.
Changing attitudes
But what worries her most is what she perceives as a changing attitude
towards Georgians in Russian society as a whole. It is getting worse
“exponentially”, she says.
She worries for the safety of her daughter, who travels on public
transport every day to an institute, where she studies modern
languages.
“Georgians in Russia are quietly selling their businesses and going
away,” she says.
Her husband, who has lived in Russia most of his life, used to laugh
at the idea, but he has now begun to consider it, she adds.
In an ideal world they would return to Abkhazia but, that being
impossible, they have discussed going further afield, to Spain or
Italy perhaps.
“[The comedian, Mikhail] Zhvanetsky said on television recently that
the biggest achievement of Russian democracy is that anyone can go
away,” says Khatuna.
“He is absolutely right.”

ARMENIA: RUSSIAN BASE WILL NOT EXPAND
Stratfor
Sept 28 2006
The Russian military will not augment operations at its Gyumri base in
Armenia, Armenian armed forces general staff chief Mikael Arutyunyan
said Sept. 28. Arutyunyan said the base’s weapons will be upgraded,
its combat training will be enhanced and equipment will be transferred
from Russian bases in Georgia to the Gyumri base by 2008.
The base is manned by 5,000 Russians and forms part of the joint air
defense system for the Commonwealth of Independent States.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Atom-AntiTerror 2006 Exercise Over in Armenia
29.09.2006 16:42 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Atom-AntiTerror 2006 command staff exercise is over
in Armenia. According to Director of the RA National Security Service
Gorik Hakobian, the exercise was a success. In his words, the goals
set within the CIS member states’ cooperation program were
achieved. To note, during the exercise, the Armenian special forces
jointly with the special forces of the Russian Federal Security
Service performed an operation for eliminating terrorists and release
of hostages in the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant.
Such an exercise with the participation of representatives of Armenia,
Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine, was held in
Armenia for the first time. The exercise was observed by
representatives of the G8, anti-terror unit of the OSCE Secretariat
and counter-terror committee of the UN Security Council as well as of
the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, reported IA Regnum.

PanARMENIAN.Net
One More Step by Yerevan and Baku Needed for Karabakh Problem Resolution
30.09.2006 15:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `Over 10 years France sparing no effort has been
taking part in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process within
the OSCE Minsk Group,’ French President Jacques Chirac said at the
opening ceremony of the Square of France in Yerevan. `I do want to
believe that the time for peace has come. I do want to believe in it,
since I know the price of war. One more step should be done for
achieving peace. A hard step, which will prove the belief in future of
the humanity. Yerevan and Baku should take this step, since it will
open the horizon to peace, light and prosperity. This is my wish to
the peoples of the Caucasus,’ the French President said.

Turkish Daily News
September 27, 2006 Wednesday
KURDISTAN MAP ANGERS COMEZ DURING KIRKUK TALKS
A Kurdistan map hung on the wall of an office in Kirkuk where members
of the Turkish Parliament held talks with the chairperson of the
Kirkuk Provincial Council led to a debate as the map angered Turhan
Comez of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
Comez and his colleague, Orhan Ziya Diren of the main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP), held talks yesterday with council
chairperson Rizgar Ali as part of their four-day visit to the region.
Their talks will apparently be dominated by talks in the disputed
northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the status of which will be decided
upon after the results of a referendum slated for 2007
Following their talks with Ali, Comez wanted the map to be removed
from the wall when he learned that it was a “Kurdistan map,” the
Anatolia news agency reported.
“This map is not a proper one,” Comez was quoted as saying by the
agency.
When Ali explained that it was an antique map brought from a museum
in London in response to Comez’ question, Comez continued
questioning: “This is a public office, is it proper to have an
antique map in a public office? Why don’t you hang a new map?” “We
hung the map because it has Kurdistan and Armenia on it,” Ali, who is
known to be a staunch member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK), responded
“Maps and borders drawn on them do not matter. What matters is the
togetherness of peoples,” Ali said, when Comez offered him to give
“more proper” maps when he visits Turkey.
The conversation between Comez and Ali apparently continued in the
form of a debate.
“The United States will not stay here but Turkey will always be
here,” Comez said as he looked at the antique map from the Ottoman
Empire era.
“We can’t forget the kindness of the United States towards us. It
[the United States] saved us from a dictator,” Ali responded.
On their way from Arbil to Kirkuk, the Turkish parliamentarians had
to wait for two hours after a landmine was found on the road. The
landmine was defused by the U.S. security forces who escorted Comez,
Diren and journalists accompanying them on their way to Kirkuk.

EU DEBATES ‘FAIR BUT TOUGH’ TURKEY REPORT
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Sept 26 2006
The European parliament insists controversial conclusions on Turkey’s
EU membership bid are “fair but tough”.
In a heated Strasbourg debate on Tuesday rapporteur Camiel Eurlings
hit back at his critics, saying his hard-hitting findings are all
based on facts.
“Unfortunately there is reason for criticism,” he declared. “We
regret the slow down in reforms and our criticism centres on the main
political reforms we wish to see in place.”
This sentiment was echoed by the Finnish EU presidency during the
plenary debate.
“We share the concerns over reforms,” Paula Lehtomaki, Finnish Europe
minister said. “Turkey needs to give fresh impetus to reforms.”
Eurlings used the debate to pressure Turkey to amend its penal code
and afford full freedom of expression to its citizens.
Article 301 of the Turkish penal code has come under attack in Brussels
– the subsection makes it a crime to insult “Turkishness.”
“Journalists still face trial on vague grounds of insulting Turkey
according to the notorious article 301,” EU enlargement commissioner
told MEPs.
“I cannot imagine an EU member state that doe not respect freedom of
expression,” he added.
The Eurlings report also calls on Ankara to improve freedom of
religion.
“Properties are still be taken away,” Eurlings declared. “Let this
stop. Give properties back to the religious minorities.”
On Cyprus, his report calls for a normalisation of relations and full
implementation of the Ankara protocol.
But Turkish MPs have slammed the report as “nasty” and unfair.
And in an attempt to appease his Turkish critics, Eurlings stressed
that he would be personally seeking to tone down controversial
conclusions on Armenia.
“Certain things were added to my report during the vote in the foreign
affairs committee,” he said.
Eurlings insists it was never his intention to force the Turks to
formally recognise this chapter of their history.
“This amendment was added when my report was being debated in the
parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and it is an amendment I
regret,” the Dutch MEP said.
“I said that formal recognition of the past is important but not a
criterion. I do hope for Turkish accession and I hope my tough but
fair report will be seen as an encouragement for Turkey.”

NK OBSERVER: “OSCE POSITION CONCERNING TRANSDNESTR REFERENDUM IS VERY STRANGE”
Regnum, Russia
Sept 25 2006
“Referendum on Transdnestr Moldavian Republic’s (TMR) independence was
conducted in accordance with all international norms; no violations
were recorded by us,” Nagorno Karabakh delegation member, NKR FM and
CEC representative Semyon Afiyan, who monitored the recent referendum
on Transdnestr independence as an international observer, stated to
a REGNUM correspondent.
The observer stressed republican citizens’ high activity and
responsibility. Simultaneously, he called “very strange” position of
the OSCE, which negatively reacted to referendum, having even sent no
observers to it. The Karabakh delegation, which comprised NKR National
Assembly Permanent Commission on State and Legal Affairs Chairman Yury
Ayrapetyan and NKR Industrials and Entrepreneurs Union Chairman, NA
Deputy Samvel Hakopyan, met with TMR President Igor Smirnov; it visited
famous Kvint brandy-producing factory in Tiraspol, participated in
harvest festival and new church’s consecration in Dayeban village. NKR
IEU Chairman Samvel Hakopyan donated $500 to the church’s foundation.
Economic cooperation was discussed during a meeting at Transdnestr
Chamber of Commerce and Industry. NKR representatives familiarized
themselves with Transdnestr production. The Karabakh delegation met
with representatives of Armenian community in city of Grigoriopol,
which was founded by Armenians under Katherine the Great. “Although,
there are not many Armenians in Transdnestr, they play important
role in republican social-political life, contributing to Transdnestr
economy’s development,” Semyon Afiyan said. The NKR representatives
donated books to local museum.
It is worth reminding, the Nagorno Karabakh delegation was present
at the September 17 referendum on independence, being invited by
TMR leadership.