Author: Jidarian Alex

THE WEST AND OUR REGION
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
une 27, 2008
Armenia

We continue the publication of the interview with political scientist
Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan

"Don’t you underestimate the geopolitical factor while stressing the
omissions of our delegation? Doesn’t this account for the fact that the
West is much more sensitive to the ‘pro-Russian Armenia’ than to the
anti-democratic deviations of the neighboring Georgia and Azerbaijan?"

"I agree. The West is an ally to the ruling authorities both in
Azerbaijan and Georgia because the leaderships of both countries
definitely pursue pro-Western views. It’s a different matter that the
Georgian President is much more sincere in his pro-Western policy. As
to the Azeri President, he is more restrained in his statements but
his activity is definately Western-oriented. That’s to say, they are
advantageous to the West. The West has created a kind of support for
itself in the South Caucasus thanks to Georgia and Azerbaijan.

However, it is impossible to rule over the South Caucasus without
Armenia.

And the authorities of Armenia are traditionally pro-Armenian, as
shown by the policy of the second President and his legal successor
Serge Sargsyan.

Or, let’s say, ‘pro-Eastern’. This is the policy that corresponds to
the aspirations and the civilization values of our people.

Armenia is not a pro-Russian country. We are, first of all, an eastern
nation, and our ‘East’ is much more civilized than the ‘West’ which
is now being offered to us. And our being a pro-Eastern nation is
not apparently to the liking of the West.

However, there are some misguided people in our reality whose
mentality and approaches contradict our national ideology in very
many issues. Naturally, those people are much more advantageous to
the West; they work in their favor and benefit from the direct and
indirect assistance of the West.

It’s quite a different matter that the West is not, after all,
interested who is at the helm of state in Armenia, They are even
ready to make the "mop" become a President if they see that one
part of that mop is bent to the West. But is it advantageous to the
people to be governed by a mop? I am sure not. One thing is clear:
as long as Mr. Aliev rules over Azerbaijan, and Mr. Sahakashvili
rules over Georgia, the West will not provide assistance to the
Azerbaijani and Georgian opposition. And, on the contrary, it will
assist the Armenian opposition as long as the Armenian authorities
are conducting a pro-Armenian or "pro-Eastern" policy."

"What about the presidential race and the post-electoral developments?

Don’t they create an illusion that Armenia is the weak link on which
it is possible to impose unacceptable solutions with regard to the
Karabakh issue, taking into consideration L. Ter-Petrosyan attitude
towards the Karabakh issue?"

"The West, in this case, doesn’t much care whether Artsakh will belong
to Armenia or Azerbaijan. What they need is stability and peace in
the region".

INTERVIEW OF MR. GEGHAM GHARIBJANIAN, DEPUTY MINISTER…

Azat Artsakh Daily,
25 June 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

– What do you think is a true value of the BSEC as a regional
organization and how is it integrated in the world economic relations
in the view of new global challenges? The Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, one of the influential and representative organizations
in the region, was launched in 1992 as an initiative bearing a specific
responsibility for promoting multilateral mutually beneficial economic
cooperation and securing stability and prosperity in the Black Sea
region. The BSEC conception has been to comprise those who are bound up
with the Black Sea and have standing political and economic interests
even when sometimes policies and approaches essentially differ.

The Organization, that tries to address the most substantive
challenges of regional economic cooperation and contributes to its
project-oriented agenda, is also called for developing the common
principles of regional cooperation as part of the integration process
in Europe and a higher degree of integration into the world economy.

I will not be mistaken if say that the BSEC-EU interaction in
particular after the milestone meeting in Kiev on February 14, is of
potential importance to the future of a result-oriented cooperation
in the Black Sea region as it has a greater impact to address the
real needs of the region. The BSEC has become a major instrument
in the process of intensification of the Black Sea strategies and
plays an important role in its development and formation of shared
values and interests. Addressing the challenges which BSEC Member
States encounter, and the difficulties affecting the multilateral
process, the Organization’s strategy should concentrate on the
comparative advantages of regional cooperation, the priority sectors,
infrastructures and investments and the strategic significance of the
region in the context of the wider European economy. – What are the
priorities of the BSEC economic agenda? From the very beginning, as
it was provided for in the BSEC Chapter, the Organization was aimed at
fostering cooperation among the member-states in the major economic
fields – energy, transport, agriculture and agro-industry, health
care, environmental protection, tourism, science and technology,
communications, trade, collaboration among customs authorities,
combating organized crime etc. Gradually, along with the mentioned
priorities, the new ones, such as good governance and institutional
renewal, development of small and medium entrepreneurship, emergency
assistance, combating international terrorism and others have emerged
in the Black Sea region and found their place on the BSEC agenda.

– What kind of joint programs does the BSEC carry out with other
international organizations? There is a number of international
organizations the BSEC collaborates to in different formats. With
some of them it signed Memoranda of Understanding (UN, EU, CIS). I
would mention just one of the initiatives – Black Sea Trade and
Investment Program – which is executed by the UNDP. The Program
is aimed at promoting investment and trade links within the BSEC
region. It creates the capacity within the Black Sea business support
institutions to take advantage of intra-regional trade and investment
expansion opportunity. The beneficiaries of the Program are small
and medium-sized enterprises and business support organizations of
the BSEC member states. As you know, one of the last presentations
of the Program was organized in Yerevan on April 3rd this year with
the efforts of the Armenian Development Agency. – As you mentioned,
the BSEC is a project-oriented organization. How can a member state
make use of the BSEC funds for project implementation?

There is a Project Development Fund operating within the framework
of the BSEC. The Fund, that provides financial support to eligible
proposals and projects, was established for the purpose of facilitating
the elaboration and promotion of projects with a focus on regional
cooperation and major economic development in the BSEC area. The
Fund operates on the principle of voluntary contributions from the
BSEC member-states, related bodies, observers and third parties. The
amount of contribution is 30.000 USD or Euros. Only entities from those
member-states who made a contribution may have priority to benefit
from the Fund. The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is another
financial institution operating within the framework of the BSEC. The
Bank is established by the BSEC Member States and supports regional
economic cooperation by providing project financing and supporting
public and private enterprises in its member countries. In recent
years, the BSTB invested 2.1 million Euros in the "Beer of Yerevan"
CJSC, 23 million USD in the "RusAl Armenia" CJSC and 3 million USD
in the ACBA (Credit Agricole Bank Closed Joint Stock Company). Due to
the efforts of the Government of Greece a new financial institution,
the Hellenic Development Fund, has been established recently. The
BSEC has been included in the Official Development Assistance Programs
of the OECD which allows the Organization promoting through the Fund
economic cooperation and development projects in the region. – What
challenges are currently being faced by the BSEC as an organization
for regional economic cooperation? The fundamental principles of the
BSEC, which is determined to promote a lasting and closer cooperation
among the states of the Black Sea region and to enhance the mutually
advantageous economic cooperation, are provided for in the BSEC
Charter’s Preamble and secured in a number of provisions of other
statutory papers of the Organization adopted by the member-states.

At the meantime, the delegations of some member-states to the BSEC
Organization have been applying continuous efforts to raise global
and regional political issues of a sensitive nature including
those of international conflicts and to include the politically
motivated formulations in the respective documents. This approach
is inconsistent with fundamental provisions of statutory documents
of the BSEC and tends to shift the forum into one of deadlocked
and time-wasting discussions on unsettled political conflicts
and, accordingly, could not be acceptable for the most of BSEC
member-states who feel the fate of the BSEC keenly. Besides,
referring to the recent letter of the Turkish Foreign Minister
addressed to the BSEC Ministers of Foreign Affairs, it is to be noted
that despite the unsettled issues existing in bilateral relations
between our countries, we share the former’s deep concern on new
interim as well as international challenges addressing durability of
our organization. Indeed, the organization is wasting its precious
time also on non-effective and pointless procedural issues, instead
of fostering the necessary practical measures to maintain reformation
processes within the organization. – What are the main priorities
of the Republic of Armenia in the BSEC and how do you envisage our
country’s prospects within the organization?

Armenia is one of the founder-countries of the BSEC. We have the
BSEC representation in Istanbul. There is a representative of the
Republic of Armenia in the BSEC Permanent International Secretariat
who is responsible for international economic policy and BSEC-EU
cooperation – one of the key operational sector of the organization. A
representative of the Armenian Foreign Ministry is a board-member of
a number of the BSEC related bodies. As for the main priority areas,
I would single out the following root issues for Armenia within the
framework of BSEC cooperation: transport and energy, agriculture,
science, technology and communications, education, environment and
tourism, public administration, cooperation in emergency assistance
and combating crime etc. We have joined to almost all agreements signed
in these areas, particularly on transport and energy cooperation. The
Republic of Armenia is currently a country-coordinator for energy
cooperation. Since this coming November our country is assuming the
six-month Chairmanship in the BSEC. This is a privilege and great
responsibility. The Armenian Government and public institutions
involved have already set about the preparation activities and
proceeding to be thoroughly prepared for duly implementation of
their duties during the forthcoming Chairmanship-in-Office. We,
as a BSEC member-state and the next Chairman of the organization,
are confident that the BSEC is playing a significant role in the
regional as well as the world economic and social life, so we will
redouble our efforts to withstand the world global challenges to keep
this organization alive forever.

OPPOSITION ATTEMPTING TO CREATE INSTABILITY IN ARMENIA – PRESIDENT

Interfax News Agency
June 24 2008
Russia

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said he is prepared to talk to the
opposition, although he added that his opponents seek to destabilize
the country, not reach a consensus.

"I have said on many occasions that I am ready, guided by Armenia’s
interests, to sit down at a negotiating table and work with any
political force," Sargsyan told representatives of the Armenian ethnic
community in Moscow.

"I want you to understand and assess the situation in Armenia
correctly. The political forces that declared long before the election
that they would not accept anyone’s victory except their own are now
trying to use political blackmail to destabilize the country," he said.

"No one has the right to destabilize our state system with threats,
terror, or calls for regime change," the president said.

"Serious steps have been made to ease political tensions at home.

All local TV channels invite opposition leaders to various programs,
and all those arrested after the March 1 events – those who were not
directly involved in the unrest, or whose suspected guilt has not
been proven – have been freed," the president said.

After the February 19 presidential elections, the Armenian opposition,
led by ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosian, organized mass rallies to
protest the outcome of the election. The rallies deteriorated into
clashes with police on March 1, in which ten people were killed and
more than 250 injured.

TURKEY, AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN NATO EXERCISES IN ARMENIA

NOYAN TAPAN

JU NE 24

The third conference on the Cooperative Lancer/Longbow and Bold Lynx
2008 Exercises to be held in Armenia within the framework of the
NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program started at Yerevan’s Ani
Plaza Hotel on June 24. The Armenian co-chairman of the exercises,
Deputy Chief of the Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Major General
Arshaluys Paytian told reporters that the preparatory work was almost
completed and the conference participants will discuss issues related
to technical, rear, signals and other services.

110 militaries of 30 nationalities, including 37 NATO officers,
as well as representatives of the states-participants in NATO PfP
program attended the conference.

According to A. Paytian, Armenia has participated in 7 exercises of
this kind since 2001. "Cooperative Lancer/Longbow and Bold Lynx 2008"
is the third exercise of the NATO in our country. The expenditures of
the exercises are covered by the NATO that holds 2-3 such trainings
a year.

21 countries will send their militaries for the exercises in Armenia,
including 7 NATO members (the U.S, the UK, Canada, Poland, Lithuania,
etc) and 13 from PfP program. Yet another state – the United Arab
Emirates represents the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. A. Paytian
said that Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia have not expressed a desire
to take part in the exercises. Out of former Soviet republics,
Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova will participate
in the exercises.

The exercises will include two stages: the first stage – a command
post exercise will have 350-360 military as participants, while the
second one – a field training exercise will have 800-850 military
as participants.

In the words of A. Paytian, the scenario is quite comprehensive.

Representatives of various military specialities, inclding drivers,
military personnel, will be involved. The participants are expected to
arrive from September 15. The first stage will start on September 20,
while the exercises will last 15-20 days.

A. Paytian assured those present that the Armenian side will be
prepared in the best way. In his words, Armenian militaries have
always demonstrated good results both in peacekeeping activity and
during such exercises.

According to him, Claudio Verchellotti – the Deputy Chief of Staff
of Allied Land Component Heidelberg had said that Armenia has always
participated successfully in such exercises, and the past year’s work
also shows that Armenia is ready to organize such events.

ARMENIAN AMBASSADOR LAUDS UAE PRESIDENT

Emirates News Agency
June 22, 2008 Sunday 12:16 PM EST

Armenian Ambassador, Vahagn Melikyan, has praised UAE President,
H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for his great efforts in
conserving and developing the UAE’s water and natural resources. He
expressed profound gratitude and deep appreciation of the Armenian
government to the UAE’s leadership and people for their continuous
support to Armenia.

"The Armenian government and people greatly appreciate the sincere
efforts and the positive stances of President H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin
Zayed Al Nahyan in support of peaceful co-existence, stability and
security in the region, as well as his commitment to cultural diversity
and togetherness among the peoples of the world," Melikyan said in
a lecture he delivered at the Media Affairs Centre here in Abu Dhabi.

He expressed profound gratitude to Sheikh Khalifa for granting to
the Armenian community in the UAE a piece of land to build their own
school and church. He cited a funding agreement signed between his
country and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, which granted loan
to his country for the rehabilitation of the Arba Sifan Canal.

He said the agreement was a positive sign of the two countries’ strong
desire to further boost relations of economic cooperation between them.

BELGE: ONLY REMEDY TO CURRENT DEADLOCK IS DEMOCRACY

Today’s Zaman
June 23 2008
Turkey

Murat Belge, a left-wing intellectual, has said democracy has its own
remedies to solve the current deadlock of the political system, which
peaked following a series of decisions by the judiciary to overrule
parliamentary decisions. "Today the biggest threat to Turkey’s current
system is liberal democracy.

The system’s ruling elite have staged a war against democracy,"
he said in an interview for Monday Talk. "But if you don’t trust
the public, then the public’s votes do not mean anything, and you
deal with the issues by using judicial organs or the gendarmerie,"
he added. Belge, a professor of comparative literature at Ä°stanbul
Bilgi University and the chairman of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly,
said the powerful elite have been plotting ways to oust the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) instead of seeking democratic
ways to combat the policies they don’t like.

Belge elaborated on the current political crisis and the history of
the political deadlock for Monday Talk.

You left the Radikal daily, to which you had contributed since
its founding in 1996, and began writing for another daily, Taraf,
which began circulating this year. You said the reason for this move
was that you did not share the views of some Radikal columnists. You
wrote that if society succeeded in leading a "normal life," a variety
of viewpoints emerging from this situation would not create problems
for you. Can you elaborate on this idea?

Turkey is at a critical juncture. We are in one of the most critical
periods since the republic’s establishment. Turkey has to decide
whether it wants to be a democratic country or not. Even if it decides
to choose an undemocratic course, I don’t think it will stay on that
path in the long run, though that would cause unnecessary delays
in granting basic democratic rights and freedoms to the people in
addition to causing much pain. If a newspaper’s writers completely
defend opposing views at such a time, it causes confusion in the
minds of its readers as well.

What types of ideas presented in Radikal or other papers cause
confusion and increase polarization in society?

Take, for example, a columnist being critical of the military’s
warning to the government on one page while another writer completely
supports the military’s role in politics. This is misleading for
readers. Radikal belongs to a media group. Of the group’s papers,
it is the one I have the least objections to. Hurriyet, the leading
newspaper of the same company, has nothing in it that appeals to
me. A new newspaper then came on the scene, one whose views I share,
so I see nothing wrong in agreeing to write for them. Turkey’s present
circumstances require me to do so.

Please elaborate on these circumstances and Turkey’s situation.

When we look at the history of Turkey, starting in 1923 with
the founding of the republic, there were about 15,000 to 20,000
literate and politically active people. The society was mostly
agricultural and in a pre-capitalist period. Our elite had taken over
the task of modernizing Turkey. We were in a process of becoming a
nation-state. Having a state is easier than becoming a nation. If we
were to employ an opposing dichotomy metaphor in which the state is
masculine and the nation feminine, the current situation is akin to
the wife wanting to move out of her predefined role and the husband
resisting this and resorting to violence. In some states, this violence
is not prevalent, while in Turkey, it is a common occurrence. With
such a system in place and without society having become democratized,
we began implementing multi-party politics in the 1940s

What happened to the elite in the early stages of the multi-party
period?

They had a close circle of friends. Everyone knew each other from
the first class sections of Ä°stanbul’s ferries and the Ankara Opera
House. However, they began seeing people from second and third class
sections of ferries in the first class because these people — rather
than the known elite — had begun to acquire money and could pay for
the service. This the elite found disturbing. People that were looked
down upon started to take a seat next to the elite. For example, a new
passenger on the ferry could be "Hacı Aga from Adana" [a derogatory
term for a newly rich villager who flaunts his wealth in the city]
or some rich person who was previously in the mafia. When it comes to
our democracy, we had a client-based system and it was based on the
idea that "only if you vote for me will I bring water to your village."

Do you think the elite of today are same as those of yesterday?

They are still of the same mentality. The mission of the elite is to
bring up and educate the society. The elite have never felt that the
society has grown up. It’s the situation of having a 35-year-old son
whose hand you still want to hold while crossing the street. If this
is the case, the 35-year-old man must be retarded. The father needs to
give up being such a father and the society needs to grow up. Indeed,
our multi-faceted society has grown up: Just look at the Anatolian
Tigers, [A new group of entrepreneurs rising in prominence from
conservative Anatolian cities which have shown impressive economic
growth over the past few years]. The society wants to make up its
mind on such matters as whether or not it wants to join the European
Union. The society wants to solve the Kurdish issue, too. There
are people who have invested in the society and they want to have
a say in the future of this country. But the elite are unwilling to
grant this right to society and want to protect their turf. In the
meantime we have more polarization, but if there is no dialogue,
extreme elements can gain ground.

You have written that since no consensus exists, society is unable
to solve its problems; nationalism is growing along with the desire
to silence the "other." Where do we go?

I don’t think we will get anywhere by crushing or silencing one
another. No one can go anywhere desirable by punishing the other
that is different. If we hang a huge Turkish flag on the Selimiye
military barracks, yes, it sends out a certain nationalistic message
to some groups. If we wave Islamist symbols at some other groups, yes,
it gives a certain message to them. In nation-states we can expect
a certain tension between ethnicity and religion. It happened in
Bismarck’s Germany, too. Today’s big Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
of Germany has risen from the ashes of the movement that Bismarck
tried to crush. Bismarck, indeed, had given up its crushing project
after realizing that it would not succeed. In Turkey, we have not yet
made peace between Kocatepe [the site of a large mosque in Ankara]
and Anıttepe [the site of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s mausoleum]; we
have not yet provided an environment in which these two would not see
each other as adversaries. This is significant political ineptitude,
to say the least. This means our society is one that cannot grow
normally and that we should expect pathological developments.

Do you consider the latest decision of the Constitutional Court which
overturned constitutional amendments passed by Parliament to relax
a ban on wearing a headscarf at universities to be a pathological
development?

I would say that the case filed by the Supreme Court of Appeals chief
prosecutor [Abdurrahman Yalcınkaya] seeking to close the ruling
party is a pathological development. The closure case against the
[pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party] DTP is also pathological. I
would say that about the decisions of the judiciary in general. There
is another example: I read a verdict of a judge who handed down a
sentence on some writing in Agos. That judge quoted some writers
who claim that the Armenian massacre never happened. There are also
writers who claim that the massacre did happen. How can a judge quote
only from writers who say it did not happen? We have numerous other
such examples. What kind of objectivity can we expect from this kind
of a judiciary?

You have written that Turkey remains within the boundaries of the
authoritarian regime of the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup. That coup
produced its own constitution in 1982. However, the ruling AK Party
wants to change this constitution. Do you think this is the reason
behind the closure case against it?

We cannot mention only one factor as a reason behind the closure
case. There are a number of factors, and this is one of them. To put
it simply, the main thing is that the tail has been trying to wag the
dog. As you may recall, the prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] said
the same thing since he is partly of the same mentality [referring
to labor unions’ demand to celebrate Labor Day in Taksim Square,
Erdogan said, "If the feet try to rule the head, this will bring
about doomsday," sparking an uproar]. If you look at the indictment
against the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DÄ°SK)
during the Sept. 12 period, you can see that the main concern was
about workers who were becoming powerful and "trying to rule the head."

Are you saying the reason behind the closure case is not the AK Party’s
"anti-secular" activities, as indicated in the indictment?

Islam may feature prominently among some AK Party supporters. Take,
for example, communism; some communists wanted to bring about
communism through a revolution but realized that it was not possible
to do so in countries like Italy and France. They then decided to
have Euro-communism through elections. Instead of a revolution, they
decided to work in a gradual manner. So Islamists have also seen that
when they assure the public that they do not aim to bring Shariah
to the country, their votes increase. This gives them a message:
"You promised not to bring Shariah, so we trust you and give you our
votes." This is what democracy is about. But if you don’t trust the
public, then the public’s votes do not mean anything and you deal
with issues by using judicial organs or the gendarmerie.

What’s next?

We have been involved in a democratization project with the EU. It
hasn’t advanced as much as it should have because of military and
judicial interference. I liken this to a tug-of-war. Although the
number of people who are against the democratization project is
lower than those who want Turkey to move forward, the influence of
the former is greater, leading to equal power and a never-ending
game. The parties have also abandoned respecting the rules of this
game. So what happens next in such an environment? I don’t know. A
society should never find itself in such a situation.

You have written that the Sept. 12 period was the biggest catastrophe
a society could have. How would you compare today’s Turkey with
that period?

Today is a continuation of that period. We are in an even more
catastrophic situation today because we have been unable to move out
of that catastrophe, created in 1980.

What are the main threats being presented to the society today,
compared to the past? Has Islamism replaced the threat of communism?

We went through much pain during the Sept. 12 period, and those
in power said all their undemocratic measures were taken to combat
the spread of communism. We then saw how shortsighted this view was
because the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 — the Sept. 12 military
coup took place in 1980 — bringing with it the end to the threat
of communism. Later came the threat of separatism and the Kurdish
issue. We have also had the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. The
most significant threat to the current system is liberal democracy,
and the system’s ruling elite are at war with democracy, using the
threat of Islamism only as a cover-up.

What is the remedy?

The remedy is democracy itself. Democracy can produce its own
remedies. You need to include the highly feared "enemy" and talk to
him; do not exclude him. The powerful elite have been plotting how to
oust the AK Party. For example, if the AK Party prohibits drinking,
then you should fight against that policy, not shut the party down. You
can be critical of its policies and try to change these policies
within the democratic system. This is the way democracies work. This
is the rule of law. You do not need to roll tanks down the street as
in the Feb. 28 process [a "post-modern coup" staged in 1997 by the
military to overthrow a coalition government led by pro-Islamist
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan], especially if you have a civil
society prepared to resist any move leading to religious oppression.

What do you suggest the government should do?

The government could gain more support from democratic forces by
developing a broader grasp of democratic needs and by addressing the
fears of some people — even if their fears might be unjustified —
who think the government’s intention is to bring Shariah rule to the
country. But I usually refrain from criticizing the government at
this time so as not to give ammunition to undemocratic forces. We may
criticize the government for "bad policy," but that doesn’t justify the
"legal" threats it now faces. We are at such a point in time that it
is crucial to defend basic democratic rights.

Murat Belge Murat Belge is a left-wing Turkish intellectual,
translator, literary critic, scholar, civil rights activist and
academic. He is the son of political journalist Burhan Asaf Belge and
the nephew of Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoglu. He received his Ph.D. from
Ä°stanbul University in 1969. After the military coups of 1971
and 1980, he had to leave academic life and went into publishing
left-wing classics through Ä°letiÅ~_im Press in Ä°stanbul. Belge has
translated the works of James Joyce, Charles Dickens, D. H. Lawrence,
William Faulkner and John Berger into Turkish. Since 1996 he has been
a professor of comparative literature at Ä°stanbul Bilgi University. He
also chairs the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

Belge was a member of the organizing committee of a two-day academic
conference held on Sept. 24-25, 2005 at Bilgi University titled
"Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of the Empire: Issues of
Scientific Responsibility and Democracy." The conference openly
disputed the official Turkish account of the Armenian massacres.

The gathering was denounced by neo-nationalists as treacherous and
led to him facing a jail sentence.

–Boundary_(ID_mGCv+V4ro717H+aERvnvEQ)- –

GLOBAL GOLD CORPORATION HOLDS PUBLIC HEARINGS ON PROJECT OF EXPLOITATION OF MARJAN DEPOSIT

arminfo
2008-06-23 15:54:00

ArmInfo. The US company Global Gold Corporation (GGC) held
public hearings on the project of exploitation of the Marjan
gold-polymetallic deposit in Sisian, Syunik region of Armenia, on June
20. Representatives of the regional administration, rural community,
as well as the Armenian ministries of environment and economy attended
the hearings.

Director of GGC Office in Armenia Ashot Poghosyan noted that the
wide discussion of the project is conditioned by the law on impact
on environment. He assured the participants in the hearings that the
impact on the environment as a result of exploitation of the Marjan
deposit will be minimal, and the social and economic effect will be
tangible. The director pointed out that there are no forest ranges or
pastures at the Marjan deposit, therefore its exploitation will not
cause ecological problems. As regards possible pollution of the river,
the company is planning to take samples of water near the source of the
river and present the results to the public regularly. The good news
is that there is a possibility to create an open pit on the deposit,
the director said. Open mining is less dangerous for workers and it
is cheaper as well. A.Poghosyan noted that 35-40 people have already
been involved in the exploration works at Marjan since last year. When
the deposit is launched, the number of workers may increase to 100. To
note, the matter concerns unskilled labor force to be attracted from
the local and neighbor communities.

Besides engineering infrastructures and plant, the company is also
planning to build a road, water channel, establish communication as
there is no communication in the community at all. "Our company bears
social responsibility for the implemented projects and we are ready
to discuss not only ecology-related issues you are interested in,
but any other issues as well", Poghosyan said. The Marjan deposit
is situated near the border with Nakhijevan. The village of Arevis
with a population of 140 people is at the foot of the deposit. The
residents of the village and adjoining communities, who met the
company’s representatives, are mostly interested in creation of new
work positions and improvement of living standards. The company has
already repaired and furnished the school in Arevis and built 50 km
of roads.

BIA, Turkey
June 21 2008

Trabzon Police Knew Dink’s Murder A Year Before It Took Place

Two more witnesses in the Gendarmerie Neglect Trial in Trabzon say
that they knew the murder. One of them added that it was not their
concern since it was not a terrorist act.

Bia news center
21-06-2008
Erol Ã-NDEROÄ?LU

The trial of the accused gendarmerie petty officer Okan
Å?imÅ?ek and the gendarmerie master sergeant Veysel
Å?ahin continues at Trabzon. Both gendarmerie officials are
accused of negligence of duty before the murder of Hrant Dink, the
founder and chief editor of Agos, the Armenian-Turkish weekly, who was
slained brutally on February 19, 2007.

Veysel Å?ahin, gendarmerie sergeant major, and Hacı
Ã-mer Ã`nalır, the gendarmerie master sergeant, both
stationed at Trabzon Gendarmerie Command Post, were present at the
court as witnesses held yesterday (June 19).

Yılmaz and Ã`nalır’s statements confirmed that Dink’s
murder at Istanbul was accomplished owing to the negligence of the
high level gendarmerie authorities; foremost among them was Trabzon
Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Ã-z. In yesterday’s hearing,
Ã`nalır said that the warnings about the murder were
received a year before.

Yılmaz: Ali Ã-z said `let us discuss this in private’

Yılmaz said that the first time he heard about the intelligence
report was in August 2006 from Petty Officer Å?imÅ?ek and
that the information that Yasin Hayal was planning an assassination,
which Å?imÅ?ek was planning to bring up during the
meeting, was raised by Metin Yıldız, the branch head of
the intelligence at the time.

`When the subject brought up, our regiment commander Ali Ã-z closed
the subject by saying that we should discuss it in private. I had the
chance to meet Okan Å?imÅ?ek two or three days later. He
told me the incident in more detail. He said that Hayal was planning
to murder the Agos writer Krant Dink together with three or four of
his friends. We put in writing what Å?imÅ?ek told me. When
we investigated the matter further, we found out that there was such a
newspaper and such a journalist. However, his name was not Krant, but
Hrant.’

Yılmaz said that when he took some time off and went on a
vacation for a short time, he called Ã`nalır and asked him
if he had received an order regarding Hayal. In return,
Ã`nalır told him that he had met with Å?imÅ?ek
and learned that the director had told Å?imÅ?ek that they
were going to send them an order about the subject.

Furthermore, Yılmaz said that Ã`nalır called him on
the day (January 19, 2007) the journalist was shot and told him to
turn on the TV. Upon seeing the news, he went to the center and
continued watching the news there: `We went to the Trabzon Police
Department. There I found out that they had taken O.S.’s father’s
statement. We did not enter the room where the statement was being
taken.’

He added that when they returned to the Gendarmerie Command Post he
saw Å?imÅ?ek, Å?ahin, Metin, the branch director,
and Gazi Günay, the Law and Order Commander, preparing an
intelligence form in order to pass it to their superiors: `We went
back to the Police Department after we saw this.’

When Yılmaz was reminded Å?imÅ?ek’s statement that
he handed over his duty about this subject to him, he said that this
was not possible because of his position and rejected the allegation.

Ã`nalır: We received the order six months before the
incident and the police received it a year before `nalır, who
stated in his statement that they received the intelligence about the
murder six months before the incident, also said that he found out,
when he was at the Police department, that the police had received
this information a year before the incident and that he did not take
any part in the operations after this.

Answering a question asked by Dink’s lawyers Ergin Cinmen and Hakan
BakırcıoÄ?lu, Ã`nalır said, `In our
work, in order to have a terrorist act, there needs to be an
organization. Dink’s murder was not a terrorist act, but a law and
order case.’

The court decided to wait for the replies to its letters that were
sent to take instructed statements. The trial will continue in
September. (EÃ-/EZÃ-/TB)

lish/kategori/english/107801/trabzon-police-knew-d inks-murder-a-year-before-it-took-place

DAVIT SHAHNAZARIAN: ROBERT KOCHARIAN COMMITTED PREMEDITATED MURDER ON MARCH 1

Noyan Tapan

Ju ne 20, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Despite the promises of the police to
ban the unapproved rally of the opposition, the rally did take place on
June 20 and quite a lot of people attended it. The area adjacent to the
Matenadaran was filled with people as far as the crossroads of Mashtots
Avenue and Isahakian Street, which, however, did not block the traffic.

The rally started two hours later than was scheduled (6 pm) due to the
absence of loud speakers. At the beginning, those present observed a
moment’s silence in memory of the March 1 vcitims, as well as honored
those co-thinkers who are either in prison or have gone underground.

The commander of the Shoushi special battalion Zhirayr Sefilian, who
was recently released, said in his speech that there is no ideological
political struggle in Armenia today, but there is resistance led by the
national movement. According to him, the movement against the return
of the liberated territories (the movement is led by Z. Sefilian)
has some differences with Levon Ter-Petrosian but it does not prevent
them from cooperating. "Our purpose is to get rid of this regime
rather to make Levon Ter-Petrosian president," Z. Sefilian declared.

"There is a state of emergency to all of us until there is even
one political prisoner in Armenia," member of the Armenian National
Movement (ANM) board Davit Shahnazarian stated. In his words, early
in the morning of March 1, the former president Robert Kocharian
"without warning attacked" the people in Liberty Square, and on the
evening of that day he "committed a premeditated murder, for which
he must be subjected to criminal responsibility". According to the
speaker, another 3 officials are to blame for the March 1 events
and must be punished: former minister of defence Mikael Harutyunian,
former head of the president’s security service Grigory Sarkisov and
the prosecutor general Aghvan Hovsepian. "This rally which was approved
at the last moment proves that civil society does exist in Armenia,"
D. Shahnazarian said. In his words, the people has restored its right
to protest and will restore the other rights as well.

Speeches were made by the chairman of People’s Party of Armenia
Stepan Demirchian, the leader of "Republic" party Aram Sargsian,
chairwoman of the Social Democratic Hunchak Party Lyudmila Sargsian,
other leaders of the opposition. The leader of the National Movement
Levon Ter-Petrosian made a speech at the end of the rally, those
presented welcomed him by chating for a long time. "This is not an
ordinary postelection situation because the March 1 events took place,"
he pointed out. He said that the purpose of the rally is to show once
again to the country’s authorities and the international community
that the people does not recognize the results of the presidential
election. He stated that rallies will continue and informed those
present about the further plans of the National Movement.

"GOLDEN APRICOT" FILM FESTIVAL LAUNCHES "ARMENIAN FILM PROJECT" PROGRAM THIS YEAR

NOYAN TAPAN

JU NE 19

Within the framework of the 5th international film festival "Golden
Apricot" to be held on July 13-20 of this year, the forum "Armenian
Film Project" with the participation of cinematographers of Armenian
origin both from Armenia and abroad will be organized for the first
time. During the forum, the film directors will develop programs for
a documentary and a fiction film, based on which two films will be
shot by 2010.

The forum’s executive official, cinematologist Davit Muradian said
at the June 18 press conference that 8-9 film directors will present
10-minute film projects for a 90-minute fiction film, after which all
these short fiction pictures will be edited into one of the conditional
name "House". The same procedure will be used to make a documentary
"Land". According to D.

Muradian, it is common practice in Western countries to shoot a film
in this way.

"Armenian Film Project" forum opens a unique opportunity to present
Armenian cinema in the context of the world film making, and, on
the other hand, to introduce the world cinema thinking in Armenia,"
D. Muradian noted. In his words, unlike the competition program
"Armenian Panorama", which aims to bring together Armenian film
directors from various corners of the world, the purpose of this
forum is to create films by efforts of Armenian directors.

The documentary project will be headed by Harutyun Khachatrian,
the fiction film project by Atom Egoyan.

Davit Muradian announced that invitations for project implementation
have been sent to more than 50 film directors.