Author: Jilavian Emma

EU-TURKEY NEGOTIATIONS ARE HEADING FOR A STALEMATE

EurActiv.com, Belgium
Oct 16 2006

In Short:

EU-Turkey negotiations have hit a wall. A solution for the Cyprus
issue appear to remain out of reach. Comments by Barroso have added
to the sombre mood around the upcoming progress report.

RELATED

EU-Turkey relations
Turkey accession and Cyprus
Background:

The EU launched accession negotiations with Turkey on 3 October 2005.

The Finnish presidency is currently stepping up its efforts to find
a compromise on the Cyprus issue, one of the main stumbling blocks
on Turkey’s way to accession, as the pace of negotiations slowed down.

Issues:

Greece and Greek Cyprus have blocked the opening of negotiations in
new policy areas, such as enterprise and industry, pressuring Turkey
to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels.

Greek Cypriot spokesperson Christodoulos Pashiardis said on 12 October
2006, that their aim was "not to accept the opening of any of the
remaining 34 chapters concerning Turkey’s accession until 8 November
2006, when Turkey’s progress report is issued."

Turkey refuses to open its ports to Greek Cypriots unless an
international embargo against the Turkish part of Cyprus is lifted.

The Finnish presidency is currently in search of a compromise to
unlock the Cyprus issue, which is currently blocking progress in
EU-Turkey membership negotiations.

Meanwhile, Turkish business and consumer groups threatened to boycott
French products, after a bill passed by the French parliament to
penalise denial of the Armenian genocide. Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "Because of certain narrow-minded deputies,
the France we know as a country of liberties is forced to live with
this shame".

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso pronounced a very pessimistic
view of the progress of Turkey’s membership negotiations.

He said it could be up to 20 years before Turkey joined the EU and
highlighted a slowdown in reforms.

Positions:

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the BBC: "We are
concerned about Turkey because the pace of reforms is rather slow
from our point of view. I believe it would be great to have Turkey if
Turkey respects all the economic and political criteria. This is not
yet the case. It is a country that comes from a different tradition.

There are efforts in the right direction but nowadays there is news
that is not encouraging in terms of them coming closer to us."

Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas said: "Cyprus cannot
act as if nothing is happening in EU-Turkey relations at a time when
it refuses to meet its obligations towards the EU".

Turkey’s Chief Negotiator Ali Babacan did not comment on the blockade,
but said that Turkey expected negotiations to be opened and closed
on a few chapters during Germany’s EU presidency in early 2007.

AsiaNews.it, Italy
Oct 13 2006

Turkey protest: France’s Armenian genocide denial bill leads to calls
for boycott

Turkish government calls action `severe blow’ against relations built
over the centuries; Turkish press calls French MPs `stupid’.

Ankara (AsiaNews) – Reactions in the Turkish press to the French
parliamentary vote making it a crime to deny that Armenians suffered
genocide are perhaps stronger than expected. The Turkish government,
despite the popular reaction, responded yesterday with more a
moderate tone, excluding official retaliation.

`Thought Genocide’ titled popular daily Hurryet in a clear reference
to the new law’s denial of free speech. The paper also gave wide
coverage to political reactions, starting with that of Bulent Arinc,
the speaker of the Turkish parliament, who said that it `is a
decision which will cause great embarrassment. It is a stance against
the Turkish people, and we cannot accept this.’

`106 stupid men’ titled another paper, Vatan, referring to the number
of French MPs who voted in favour of the bill. For Milliyet `the
Turkish press is mad at France, whilst Sabah lobbed a meaningful
`J’accuse’ saying that the `French parliament, acting as judge and
jury, took a decision that hurts all Turks’. Finally, Cumhuriyet
reiterated a call to `Boycott’ made by Dervis Gunday, chairman of the
Turkish Traders and Small Businessmen’s Confederation (TESK), French
products.

In the heat of the situation, Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan
also hinted at a possible anti-French boycott saying that `it depends
on the people’. But the Turkish government’s official position was
expressed yesterday by the foreign ministry in Ankara. In a press
release it said: `The long-standing historical relations between
Turkey and France, which have grown through the centuries with great
care, have received a severe blow today because of the irresponsible
attempts – based on groundless claims – of a group of French politicians
who are unable to appreciate the consequences of the policies they
follow.’

If the government is concerned about possible repercussions of the
French decision on Turkey’s application to join the European Union,
the nationalist response in the country to the French bill might also
cause problems to those Turkish intellectuals like Nobel Prize
laureate for literature Orhan Pamuk who have tried to push their
countrymen to face head on the Armenian extermination issue and were
taken to court for it.

FRENCH GOVT SAYS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL ‘NOT NECESSARY’

Agence France Presse — English
October 10, 2006 Tuesday 3:42 PM GMT

PARIS, Oct 10 2006

The French government said Tuesday it believed a bill enshrining
the World War I massacre of Armenians as genocide by Turkey was
"not necessary", following stiff anger from Ankara.

The bill, drafted by the opposition Socialist Party and to be voted
on Thursday, "does not implicate the government", foreign ministry
spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei told reporters.

"In our view, it is not necessary," he said.

President Jacques Chirac’s ruling conservative party has distanced
itself from the bill which, if passed, would punish anybody who denied
the Armenian "genocide" with up to a year in prison and a 45,000-euro
(56,400-dollar) fine.

France in 2001 already adopted a law calling the massacres a genocide.

The bill has created an uproar in Turkey, which argues that while
300,000 Armenians died in 1915, at least as many Turks did too in
civil strife that occurred during the collapse of its Ottoman Empire.

Chirac has championed Turkey’s ambitions to join the European Union,
though domestic opposition has prompted him to soften his stance
somewhat.

On a recent trip to Armenia, he said Turkey should recognise the
Armenian killings as a genocide before being allowed to join the EU.

French MPs pass ‘genocide’ bill

BBC
October 12, 2006

The French parliament has adopted a bill making it a crime to deny
that Armenians suffered "genocide" at the hands of the Turks,
infuriating Turkey.

The bill, which would make genocide denial punishable by a year in
jail and a 45,000-euro ($56,400) fine, will now be passed to the
Senate and president.

Turkey has threatened to retaliate with economic sanctions against France.

Armenia says Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people systematically in
1915 – a claim strongly denied by Turkey.

ICG: TWO QUESTIONS HAMPER KARABAKH TALKS

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.10.2006 17:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ International Crisis Group (ICG) Caucasus Project
Director Sabine Freizer stated that during the recent two months
the sides fail to reach an agreement because of two questions –
the status of Nagorno Karabakh and the issue of Lachin and Kelbajar.

According to her, the sides should make extra steps to reach a
compromise over the above-mentioned questions, reports RFE/RL.

ARFD ON ARMENIAN EX-INTERIOR MINISTER ASSAULT: SITUATION EXACERBATES AT PRE-ELECTION STAGES

Regnum, Russia
Oct 10 2006

"It should be taken into consideration that situation exacerbates at
pre-election stages; division of spheres and influences takes place;
at first, it happens quite and, then, openly; some boors become active
in the process, violating, at that, law," Armenian parliamentary
deputy speaker, Armenian revolutionary federation Dashnaktsutiun
(ARFD) bureau member Vahan Hovhannisyan stated.

It is worth reminding; recently, opposition Republic Party executive
committee member, Yerevan ex-mayor, Armenian ex-interior minister
Suren Abramyan was beaten by unknown persons. Being interviewed
by Armenian mass media, Suren Abramyan accused Prime Minister,
Republican Party chairman Andranik Margaryan, whom he recently
labeled as ‘corrupted person,’ of organizing the attack. According
to Mr. Abramyan, attackers demanded from him to go and to beg pardon,
not specifying whose one. Mr. Abramyan concluded that the attack had
been organized by Andranik Margaryan because he might hurt the prime
minister revealing his statement.

According to deputy speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan, it is unlikely that
authorities have lost control over situation. However, according to
him, parliamentary hearings should be conducted, during which heads
and representatives of law-enforcement institutions will inform on
level of control of criminal situation. "Also, the ARF Dashnaktsutiun
initiated draft law on body guards, which will regulate situation in
the sphere. Current so called body guards of certain oligarchs realizes
function, which is not allowed to them by law. It is just militarized
escort, which tries to gain its chief’s favor. Using appropriate law,
special selection will be carried out; people with a shady past will
not get there and they will be both responsible to their chief and
amenable to law," Vahan Hovhannisyan stated.

TURKEY’S ARMENIANS BLAST FRENCH BILL

Islam Online, Qatar
Oct 10 2006

"This is idiocy," Dink said.

ISTANBUL – Turkey’s Armenians have raised their voice against a French
bill that makes it a jailable offense to deny their ancestors were
the victim of genocide under Ottoman rule, wary it will antagonize
fellow Turks and further strain an already tense debate on the issue.

"Initiatives like the one in the French parliament are awkward,"
Armenian journalist Etyen Mahcupyan told Agence France-Presse (AFP)
Tuesday, October 10.

He said Turks see the proposed law as an imposition on them to accept
the genocide and feared the French move could scupper a fledgling,
timid debate in Turkey to question its past.

The draft law, to be debated and voted in the French parliament
Thursday, October 12, calls for one year in prison and a hefty
45,000-euro (57,000 dollar) fine for anyone who denies that the World
War I massacres constituted genocide.

Ara Kocunyan, editor of the small Armenian-language daily Jamanak,
criticized what he called the feeling of "self-victimization" with
which the Armenian diaspora in the West is pursuing its campaign to
have the massacres internationally recognized as genocide.

"If we stick to the current priorities, I fear those weeping today
for a father killed 90 years ago will find themselves weeping for
little Armenia in 50 years’ time," Kocunyan said.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.

Turkey categorically rejects the genocide label, saying 300,000
Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when
Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided
with invading Russian troops as the Ottoman Empire fell apart.

Idiocy

"The EU must absolutely take a stand against this eclipse of reason
in France," said Erdogan.

Among the first to condemn the bill was journalist Hrant Dink, who is
among a handful of taboo-breaking intellectuals in Turkey who have
openly argued that the massacres were genocide, drawing nationalist
ire and landing himself in court.

"This is idiocy," the Turkish-Armenian Dink said in remarks to the
liberal daily Radikal.

"It only shows that those who restrict freedom of expression in Turkey
and those who try to restrict it in France are of the same mentality."

Dink said he was ready to defend freedom of expression even if it
means running the risk of imprisonment in France.

"I am standing trial in Turkey for saying it was genocide. If this
bill is adopted, I will go to France and, in spite of my conviction,
I will say it was not genocide," he said in a television interview.

Dink, editor of the Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly Agos, received
a six-month suspended sentence last year for "insulting Turkishness"
in an article about the 1915-1917 alleged massacres.

"The two countries can then compete to see who throws me in jail
first."

The Armenian Patriarchate had said the same thing in May, when the
bill was first submitted but ran out of parliamentary time before a
vote could be held.

"All initiatives creating obstacles to freedom of expression will
jeopardize the process of dialogue between Turks and Armenians and
will reinforce nationalist tendencies on both sides," it said.

"Eclipse of Reason"

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan fired a broadside at France
Tuesday in a mounting row over the draft law, calling the bill the
product of "an eclipse of reason" and urging Paris to rethink its
own colonial past.

"We expect Paris to avoid this blunder, this political accident that
will harm Turkish-French relations," Erdogan told the parliamentary
group of his Justice and Development Party in a speech interrupted
by applause.

"The EU must absolutely take a stand against this eclipse of reason
in France," he said.

Erdogan rejected suggestions by some Turkish lawmakers for Ankara
to retaliate, if the bill is voted, with a similar law making it a
crime to deny that the killings of tens of thousands of Algerians
under French colonial rule amounted to genocide.

"No, we will not retaliate in kind — we do not clean filth with
filth," he said, but he urged the bill’s backers to closely examine
their own past.

"Those vehicles of slander and lies should look at their own past…

Let them look at what happened in Algeria between 1954 and 1962,"
he said.

Erdogan said the bill will prevent free debate on a historical subject
and violate freedom of expression, a basic EU norm that Turkey itself
is under pressure to respect.

But he said the bill would not discourage Turkey from pursuing its
bid to join the European Union.

"Minor snags will not deter us from pursuing our major goals… Work
on our EU (membership) process continues unabated," he said.

Ankara has warned France that it will be barred from potentially
lucrative economic projects in Turkey, including a planned nuclear
power plant, if the bill is adopted.

In a 2001 resolution, France recognized the Armenian massacres as
genocide, prompting Ankara to sideline French companies from public
tenders and cancel several projects awarded to French firms.

006-10/10/08.shtml

SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT SAYS AZERBAIJAN NEEDS COLD SHOWER

Panorama.am
17:13 10/10/06

"The growing impudence of Azerbaijan is explained not only with the
expected oil revenues but also because our authorities have annoyed
the world with their concession disposition," Vahan Hovhannisyan,
parliament speaker, told a press conference today.

In his words, we are really ready for mutual concessions but Azerbaijan
thinks it is a weakness.

Therefore, there is a need to open a cold shower on the growing
aggressiveness of our neighbor, he said.

Speaking about Georgian-Russian conflict, Hovhannisyan said Armenia
is not interested in super-power of Russia in the region. Neither does
it want weak position of another country in the region. "The truth is
somewhere in between," he said. Hovhannisyan believes Armenia has more
"balanced and guided policy" as compared to our neighbors. However,
he thinks we need more emotion.

LEVITIN: 2006 SPECIAL FOR RUSSIA AND ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.10.2006 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ October 9 the 8th session of the Intergovernmental
Commission for Economic Cooperation between Russia and Armenia held
in Moscow. Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin and Armenian
Defense Minister Serge Sargsyan co-chair the Commission. As reported by
the Russian Transport Ministry Press Office, when opening the session
Levitin said the year 2006 is special for Russia and Armenia, as it
will pass under the mark of the Year of Armenia in Russia. Levitin
said that since the 7th session of the Commission much work is done
by the parties.

The Intergovernmental Agreement on Mutual Protection of Capital
Investments was put into effect.

Calculations over the Intergovernmental Agreement from 17 July 2002
are over. As for 30 January 2006, Armenia has no debts on state
credits in Vnesheconombank. 31 March 2006 an Agreement is signed
between Gazprom Public Corporation and the Government of the Republic
of Armenia on participation of Gazprom in gas and energy projects in
Armenia. Organizational and financial matters relating to the creation
of a Center of Space Monitoring in Armenia are already solved.

Humanitarian cooperation has rather intensified.

During the session of the Commission the parties discussed the state of
the contract and treaty base for cooperation, prospects of development
of trade and economic, financial and property relations, fuel and
energy, transport and communication, humanitarian cooperation. A
Protocol is signed at the end of the session.

Houston Chronicle, TX
Oct 7 2006

Dark memories rekindled in Lebanon
Armenians irked by Turk presence in U.N. troops

By GREGORY KATZ
Middle East Bureau

BOURJ HAMMOUD, LEBANON – After a 90-year absence, Turkish forces are
returning to Lebanon this weekend, but their impending arrival as
U.N. peacekeepers is opening up old wounds in this Armenian community
on the edge of Beirut.

Turkey will contribute about 800 ground troops plus a naval
contingent to the U.N. protection force known as UNIFIL. It was
established as part of the cease-fire that ended the 34-day war
between Hezbollah and Israel in mid-August.

The 222 Turkish sailors are expected to arrive in Lebanese waters
Sunday aboard a frigate. They will join a German-led force tasked
with preventing seaborne weapons deliveries to Hezbollah. Diplomats
said Friday that the frigate was already steaming toward Lebanon.

The return of the Turks – an odd postscript to the war – has sparked
little debate inside Lebanon. But the Armenian community in Bourj
Hammoud seems deeply troubled by their inclusion in the 15,000-member
U.N. force.

"The Turks are our first enemy, and if I see any Turkish army coming
in here I will kill them," said Manushat Ekmejian, practically
spitting her words as she left a food market.

Ancestors fled Turkey
Bourj Hammoud is home to about 60,000 Armenians whose ancestors fled
eastern Turkey in 1915 to escape the killings of their countrymen at
the hands of the Ottoman Turks. The deployment of the Turks, who were
Lebanon’s colonial rulers until World War I, is rekindling memories
of what the Armenians in this tightly knit Christian community call
the genocide, the darkest chapter in their history.

In every household, people remember how their ancestors were
slaughtered, said Jack Mandalian, owner of a gift shop filled with
carvings and portraits of Jesus Christ.

The Ottoman Turks would not allow them to practice their religion and
tried instead to force them into adopting Islam, Mandalian said.

"They said if you become Muslim, you could live in peace," said
Mandalian, 63. "We could not become Muslim, and we said we would die
but we won’t become Muslim for your sake. And they collected our
people and killed them."

Mandalian and other Armenians in Bourj Hammoud assert that 1.5
million Armenians were massacred. The figure has been disputed, but a
growing number of countries have denounced the Turks’ actions.

Survivors fled on foot, and many ended up in Lebanon where they were
welcomed and allowed to practice Christianity without repression,
Mandalian said.

"We want to be honest about the genocide," he said. ”We want (the
Turks) to apologize for what they did and pay a penalty, like Germany
and the Jews. You have to accept the truth, and they deny it."

The Turkish government steadfastly denies that anything resembling a
genocide took place. Speaking in Washington this summer, Deputy Prime
Minister Abdullah Gul called the charges "baseless" and said Turkey
wants a joint committee of historians to address the matter in depth.

A Turkish diplomat in London said Friday that the Armenian charges
should have no impact on the Turkish deployment.

"The Armenian claims are quite irrelevant to the UNIFIL deployment,"
he said. "We want to contribute to peace and stability in the region,
and all the Lebanese political parties agree with that position."

The diplomat said Turkey is "extremely opposed" to the use of the
word genocide to describe the events of 1915 and 1916.

"According to our interpretation, there were mutual killings, there
was a civil war in progress, and the Armenian elements fomented
insurgencies and collaborated with the invading army," he said. "And
measures had to be taken."

U.N. officials in Lebanon maintain that the Turkish presence, and the
addition of troops from other predominantly Muslim countries, will
give the expanded armed force added credibility. The U.N. force is a
centerpiece of the cease-fire reached in August between Israel and
Hezbollah. The soldiers are expected to demilitarize the border
region and prevent more fighting.

"It’s very good to have them," U.N. spokesman Khaled Mansour said of
the Turkish contingent. "We didn’t want this to be only a European
force, or only Asian or African, but a U.N. force so people have
confidence in it."

Not all the Armenians are critical of the Turks’ role in the U.N.
force. Sarkis Kournajian, owner of a video and electronics store in
Bourj Hammoud, said he is not troubled by their arrival.

"Attitudes are changing in the long run," he said. "We are Armenian,
but we are also Lebanese. In 50 years, we won’t be Armenians. If I
meet a Turk I will not kill him. I have them as customers. They are
very much like us … I don’t see that much difference."

‘We will never forget’
The return of the Turks is a hot topic in Bourj Hammoud, said Rafi
Bogosian, a 34-year-old policeman who spends most days directing
traffic in the city center.

"My grandmother told my father what they did, and he told me what
happened," Bogosian said. "She said they killed my grandfather and
threw him into the sea. We have taught our children that the Turks
never respect any human being. And now they are coming back. How can
we forget if they killed our parents? We will never forget."

He is chafing to take action against the Turkish soldiers but does
not want to jeopardize his job.

"I would like to do something to the Turks, but I can’t because I’m
in the Lebanese police," he said. "But inside I feel so bad about
this."

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