Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Los Angeles Times
October 27, 2004 Wednesday
Home Edition
The Nation;
Family Has Seen Share of Turmoil;
Along with power and wealth, the clan Teresa Heinz Kerry first married
into has lived through tragedy and estrangement.
by Ralph Vartabedian, Times Staff Writer
PITTSBURGH
If her husband is elected president, Teresa Heinz Kerry will be among
America’s most recognizable figures. But she already is commander of a
family empire that has been a familiar name to Americans for over a
century — one whose history includes political activism and
philanthropy, but also infighting and tragedy.
The Heinz family history is told all over this riverfront city — at a
stylish museum named for Teresa’s late husband, Sen. H.J. “John” Heinz
III, and in archives at Carnegie Mellon University. The name is stamped
on parks, schools and a magnificent limestone chapel at the University
of Pittsburgh.
The symbols of Heinz wealth, power and patronage in Pittsburgh tell the
public story of a pioneering American industrial family almost as
important to food as the Fords are to autos and the Rockefellers are to
oil.
A closer look reveals a long record of conservative as well as liberal
political activity and philanthropy, mixed with epic battles over money
and personal turmoil such as divorces, suicides and alcoholism.
Within the family, there are painful memories of a schism in the 1930s
that led to a 50-year legal battle and helped shape the modern Heinz
family. To this day, it has left some of the grandchildren and
great-grandchildren of patriarch H.J. Heinz feeling cast out.
“Most of the time, people aren’t talking to each other,” said Nancy
Heinz Russell, a granddaughter of H.J. Heinz. “That’s what happens when
people have money.”
Teresa Thierstein Simoes-Ferreira joined the family in 1966, when she
married John Heinz, future Republican senator from Pennsylvania and
great-grandson of H.J. Heinz, the ketchup and pickle king.
She assumed control of the family empire in 1991 after Sen. Heinz died
in a plane crash. Five years later, she married John F. Kerry, a
Democratic senator from Massachusetts.
Even as she made a new life with Kerry, she remained loyal to the
Pittsburgh branch of the family. She is addressed by her staff as Mrs.
Heinz, and her legal residence is the Heinz family estate outside of
town.
She has fought fiercely to protect the family image. Ten years ago,
Heinz Kerry hired an archivist to research the family tree, but has
kept the findings private, even within the family. She declined to be
interviewed for this article.
After a lengthy genealogical investigation, The Times has identified
the other descendants of H.J. Heinz, founder of the pioneering food
company, who died in 1919 at age 74.
He left three wings of the family under daughter Irene and sons Howard
and Clifford. Four generations later, there are more than three dozen
descendants.
The family is spread far and wide, most having severed their
Pennsylvania roots years ago. In several cases, The Times’ reporting
led to members of the Heinz family getting in touch with each for the
first time, including two distant cousins living a few streets apart
near Monterey.
Except for Heinz Kerry and her three sons, most of the family lives in
California. Heinz Kerry, worth at least $1 billion, controls the lion’s
share of the family’s money, but there are other centers of wealth and
sharply varied political views about how it should be used.
Separate Lives
Heinzes pioneered the industrialization of the U.S. food supply, pushed
government reforms to improve food safety and advocated for military
intervention to stop the Armenian genocide.
Heinz Kerry is the family’s largest philanthropist, but other Heinzes
have opened their wallets for public causes from Orange County to New
York. Family money has funded hospitals, assisted the poor and educated
scientists and artists.
The family has also experienced tragedies, most notably the midair
plane collision over a suburban Philadelphia schoolyard that killed
Sen. Heinz and six others. Far less known is the alcoholism, suicide,
eccentric behavior and marital instability that have plagued all three
wings of the family.
Along the way, there were odd encounters with the rich and powerful.
Rock star David Bowie wrote the song “Young Americans” for his good
friend in the celebrity circuit, the late Sharon Heinz Tingle. Sarah
Heinz Waller, whose husband was a maverick Chicago alderman in the
1920s, was personally threatened by mobster Al Capone, friends and
family say.
Many Heinz family members today lead very private lives, tired of jokes
about ketchup and requests for loans. Family members no longer manage
H.J. Heinz Co., and they own less than 4% of the firm’s stock.
Some descendants have no real sense of heritage or kinship.
“I had no idea I had any relationship with this family until I was 12
years old,” said Wilda Northrop, a watercolor artist and a
great-granddaughter of H.J. Heinz. “I was raised that this was a big
secret.”
Northrop, president of the Carmel Art Assn., shook hands this year with
Heinz Kerry at a fundraising event, but didn’t mention she was the
second cousin of Heinz Kerry’s late husband.
Northrop’s son, Lowell, is supporting Sen. Kerry’s campaign, making
videos for MoveOn.org, the liberal activist group. Lowell Northrop says
he knows little about Heinz Kerry.
“It’s an interesting little story that I am a Heinz, but it is not
something I have gone out of my way to tell anybody,” he said in a
phone interview. “Money sometimes brings out the worst in people.”
‘Just Johnny Heinz’
The man Heinz Kerry married was the child of Joan Diehl Heinz and H.J.
“Jack” Heinz II. The couple’s marriage did not last long, and they
played very different roles in their son’s upbringing.
After their divorce, Joan moved to San Francisco with her young son in
tow and, an aviation pioneer herself, married naval pilot Monty
McCauley.
“No one in San Francisco knew where he came from,” said a family
friend, Ted Stebbins, referring to the future senator. “He was just
Johnny Heinz.”
Meanwhile, Jack Heinz, the father, was a consummate jet-setter. He
owned a dozen homes and had two more wives after Joan. Suave and
imperious, he hobnobbed with British royalty and Greek shipping tycoons
while running the family company from Pittsburgh.
By most accounts, Jack Heinz had a distant relationship with his only
son, and was none too happy when he learned that the main heir to the
family fortune wanted to marry the daughter of a Mozambique doctor.
“His dad disapproved of his marriage…. The story was that his dad
felt he had been hoodwinked by a fortune-seeking European woman,”
recalls Cliff Shannon, who headed John Heinz’s Senate staff in the
1980s. “Eventually, he made his peace with Teresa.”
Jack Heinz underwrote the performance hall for the highly regarded
Pittsburgh Symphony. Less well known is the philanthropy of his
ex-wives.
Drue Heinz, the last of Jack Heinz’s wives, had bit parts in film, and
still controls a foundation with assets of $32 million that supports
some of the top fiction writers in America.
His first wife, Joan McCauley, who died in 1999, left the bulk of her
$31-million estate in the Bay Area, contributing to the San Francisco
Museum of Modern Art and the ARCS Foundation, which supports the
nation’s elite students in science and engineering.
Progressive Legacy
The progressive views of family patriarch H.J. Heinz were out of sync
with early 20th century capitalism. He provided employees with medical
care and adult education. Some of his factories had rooftop gardens
where workers could relax.
It was in this era that armed guards for U.S. Steel killed 10 employees
during the infamous 1892 Homestead strike at a plant in Pittsburgh. In
a move laden with symbolism, Heinz Kerry would later purchase the
abandoned U.S. Steel plant and turn it into a public park.
“He treated his workers better than anybody I have seen in the early
20th century,” Nancy Koehn, a historian at Harvard Business School,
said of H.J. Heinz. “He was the real deal.”
H.J. Heinz was branded a traitor in some sectors of the food industry
because he supported government intervention to ensure minimum safety
standards. As food-processing scandals raged in the background, he
pushed hard for the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which created the
Food and Drug Administration.
His son Howard, also deeply involved in public service, was sent to the
Middle East by the Wilson administration after World War I to head
famine-relief efforts. On the day H.J. Heinz died, Howard was
delivering 30,000 tons of food to the region, where he witnessed the
unfolding genocide that took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians.
Howard tried to get Wilson to send troops to halt the slaughter in
harsh, remote areas of eastern Turkey and Armenia. In a dispatch to the
president, he wrote, “I do not believe America, when she knows the
truth, will be satisfied to have all our ideals of humanity thrown to
one side while these people are murdered.”
His pleas were ignored.
It was Howard’s grandson, John Heinz, who became a U.S. senator and
came to personify a moderate Republicanism similar to his
grandfather’s.
John Heinz tried working in the family business but left unsatisfied
after five years. He became a college professor, and in 1971 was
elected to Congress, six years after marrying Heinz Kerry.
Sen. Heinz drew an unusual mix of support. Steelworkers liked his
protectionist policies, and he tirelessly promoted the coal industry.
But he also backed environmentalists’ efforts to clean up the state’s
air and water. On the campaign trail, he successfully masked his
blue-blood pedigree.
“He had a common touch,” said Louis Pagnotti, whose family owns a
Pennsylvania coal mine. “And Teresa was a big hit in the ethnic
communities up here.”
Since the death of her husband, Heinz Kerry has kept tight control over
family documents. About 10 years ago, she began collecting detailed
personal information from distant relatives, recalled Robert Heinz, a
great-grandson of H.J. Heinz.
After meeting the family archivist for lunch in San Francisco, Robert
Heinz said, he repeatedly asked to see the family tree — with no
success. “The archivist finally told me that Teresa has not authorized
it,” Heinz said in a phone interview.
A Conservative Side
If Sen. John Heinz represented the family’s moderate politics and
public policy, Clifford Heinz represents a different outlook.
A grandson of H.J. Heinz, Clifford has long — and quietly —
underwritten conservative causes from his base in Orange County. He has
acquired a wealth, celebrity and power separate and apart from the
Pennsylvania wing of the family.
When the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, he was awakened
with the news at Clifford’s mansion in Newport Beach, where he was a
guest.
Heinz has helped fund the Free Congress Foundation, a Washington-based
think tank, and has underwritten the campaigns of various Republicans,
including Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach. He has long funded
ethics programs and endowed a chair for peace studies at UC Irvine.
“Clifford is a very principled, conservative Republican,” Rohrabacher
said.
Clifford Heinz, 85, declined to be interviewed. His attorney, Bernard
I. Segal, said his client had no desire to be drawn into a public
controversy with Heinz Kerry. To put it mildly, the two have little in
common politically.
Clifford Heinz was a key financial supporter of Oliver North,
contributing $25,000 to his unsuccessful Senate campaign in 1994 — the
same year Teresa Heinz sharply attacked the former U.S. Marine colonel
and his role in the Iran-Contra matter in a speech before the National
Assn. of Christians and Jews.
“It is difficult to imagine anything more cynical than Oliver North
running for Congress,” she said in her speech. “This is a man who used
his moment in the public eye to spit not just on politicians, but on
the institution of Congress itself.”
Geographic Schism
Not long after the death of patriarch H.J. Heinz in 1919, his
descendants began migrating to California, and a Western branch of the
family came to outnumber the Eastern branch. By the Depression, a
full-blown schism had occurred, centered around who would get the
family wealth held by the senior Clifford Heinz.
A director and vice president for labor relations, Clifford had always
been second fiddle to his older brother, Howard. And by the Depression,
Howard’s son Jack was playing an influential role in the family
business.
The battle began in March 1935, when the senior Clifford Heinz died of
pneumonia at a Palm Springs hotel. He had left Pittsburgh three months
earlier, hoping the dry desert air could cure him. Clifford’s third
wife, Vira Ingham, was by his side when he died.
But the three children from his second marriage — Clifford, Nancy and
Dorothy — were never informed of their father’s illness, even though
they lived only a few hours away in Beverly Hills. Their mother was
socialite Sara Moliere Young, who had run afoul of the Pittsburgh
family.
After their father’s death, the teenage children received a second
jolt, discovering that in Clifford’s final will, they had been
disinherited. They came to believe that decision was made on his
deathbed under pressure from the elders of the Pittsburgh clan.
“They tried to cut us out of the will,” recalled Nancy Heinz Russell.
“Dad was not a strong, forceful man … and the Heinz family hated my
mother. The Eastern family hated the Western family.”
The resulting lawsuit dragged on for decades, ultimately resulting in
the children getting a large share of key Heinz trust funds.
It wasn’t the only time the family played tough when it came to money.
Rust Heinz, grandson to the company founder, moved to Pasadena in the
1930s and married Helen Clay Goodloe, daughter of a prominent family
from Kentucky that included a U.S. senator and an ambassador.
When Rust was killed in a 1939 car accident, Heinz family attorneys
persuaded his wife to take $25,000 and forfeit any claim to the family
money. The couple had separated, but they were still legally married.
The inside story of what had happened was detailed in a newspaper
article 16 years later in the Pittsburgh Press. The headline: “Heinz
widow traded fortune for $25,000.”
After a second unhappy marriage, Helen Heinz took her life, according
to her daughter, Margot Pierrong, a convention planner who lives in
Anaheim.
“She was so young,” Pierrong said. “I am not bitter, but what the Heinz
family did to my mother will come around.”
Out of Public View
Irene Heinz, the eldest child of the company founder, married and moved
to Manhattan, and her branch of the family virtually disappeared from
public view.
Irene’s husband, John LaPorte Given, suffered a nervous breakdown —
under the harsh treatment of the Heinz family, according to his
granddaughter. He retired early to play golf, and gave away tens of
millions of dollars to Harvard University and other schools.
A daughter, Sarah Given, came to distrust the family money, saying it
destroyed personal character. She married twice, the second time to a
firefighter.
Sarah’s younger brother, John Given, became estranged from the family
and was known for eccentric behavior. New York City police arrested him
in 1948 on allegations that he beat a man with his cane.
When police examined the cane, they found a 28-inch dagger in its
shaft. Four years later, after he fired a pistol at a neighbor’s
birthday party, he was ordered by a New Jersey magistrate to leave
town.
Given, who never married and suffered from alcoholism, died in 1957. In
his will, he instructed executors at Chase Manhattan Bank to find
deserving beneficiaries for his estate.
They gave more than $4.5 million to charity.
GRAPHIC: GRAPHIC: Heinz family tree CREDIT: Lorena Iniguez Los Angeles
Times PHOTO: ‘BIG SECRET’: Wilda Northrop, an artist living in Pacific
Grove, didn’t know she was related to the Heinzes until she was 12.
PHOTOGRAPHER: David Paul Morris For The Times PHOTO: FUTURE SENATOR:
John Heinz and his wife, Teresa, in 1976, upon hearing that he won the
GOP nomination for the Senate. PHOTOGRAPHER: Associated Press PHOTO:
MATRIARCH: Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of John F. Kerry, remains deeply
involved in the Heinz family. PHOTOGRAPHER: Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Associated Press

Chinese FM satisfied with first official visit to Azerbaijan
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
25 Oct. 2004
Baku, October 23, AssA-Irada
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, who arrived in Baku for his
first official visit on Friday, met with his Azerbaijani counterpart
Elmar Mammadyarov on Saturday. The two ministers held a joint news
conference following the meeting.
The status of political, economic, cultural, educational, tourism
and humanitarian relations between the two countries were discussed
during the meeting, Mammadyarov told the news conference.
Pointing out the high level bilateral relations, Mammadyarov underlined
that both countries have common position on regional issues and
within international organizations. “China supports Azerbaijan’s
right position on the Upper Garabagh conflict,” he noted.
Expressing satisfaction with his first visit to Baku, Zhaoxing called
Azerbaijan a friendly country. Recalling the deep historical roots
of the Azerbaijan-China relations, the Chinese foreign minister said:
“If earlier the Silk Way was connecting our states, today our attempts
to achieve peace and development make our countries closer.”
Assessing late Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev’s visit to China
in 1994 as a successful one, Zhaoxing stressed that relations between
the two countries began to develop rapidly after the visit. “China
and Azerbaijan have common interests in political issues and we always
trust and support each other,” he underlined.
Touching upon bilateral economic relations, the Chinese diplomat said
that there exists great potential to increase goods turnover between
the two countries. He welcomed Chinese business people’s investments
in the Azerbaijani economy.
Speaking about great changes happened in China over the recent years,
Zhaoxing invited Azerbaijani journalists to his country to witness
the changes.*

MEETING AT NKR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
22 Oct 04
On October 20 the speaker of the NKR National Assembly Oleg Yessayan
met with the British group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on visit
in Stepanakert. The delegation included members of parliament of the
House of Commons Gordon Marsden (head of the delegation), Jane
Griffits, Candy Aterton, member of the House of Lords Baroness
Caroline Cox, vice secretary of the group Jim Rogers.
Addressing the guests, the speaker of the National Assembly pointed
out the significance of the visit of the delegation representing the
British parliament. At the same time he mentioned that this and
similar events in Nagorni Karabakh are not regarded as a fact of
recognizing NKR but are highly appreciated asan `expression of
attention towards our country and people’. Gordon Marsden said that
taking into consideration all the political complications, as
individual parliamentarians they personally treat Karabakh people and
theirefforts with respect, the evidence to which is this cognitive
visit. During the talk questions concerning the Karabakh problem and
the process of peaceful settlement, the formation of the legislative
sphere, post war restoration, results of democratization of the public
and political life in Karabakh were discussed. `We think’, said the NA
speaker, `that we shall not attract theattention of the European
community if we do not direct our efforts at promotion of the commonly
acceptable values adopted by Europe and building a civil society.’
Mentioning that a lot still has to be done on this way, he said, `We
are readyto present to our guests all we have achieved without being
recognized, without the help of the international community.’ At the
meeting were present the chairman of the NKR NA permanent committee of
foreign relationships Vahram Atanessian, leaders of the parliament
groups of Democratic Liberal Union and Armenian Revolutionary
Federation Janna Galstian and Vahram Balayan, vice foreign minister of
NKR Masis Mayilian.
AA.
22-10-2004

PARTY LEADER READY TO UNITE WITH ARMENIAN
NATIONAL PARTY
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 22. ARMINFO. party’s
leader Paruyr Hayrikyan didn’t exclude the possibility of the
unification with Armenian National Party. Paruyr Hayrikyan himself
stated at the press-conference, Friday.
According to Hayrikyan, he is ready to unite with any party with whom
< Self-determination unity> party will find common
interests. Concerning the issue on the registration of religious organization, he noted that the organization is
not mentioned in law violations in Armenia. At the same time, the
Government must exercise severe control over its activity. Referring
to his favorite theme of the negative influence of Russia on Armenia,
P. Hayrikyan reminded that he is the opponent of Russian imperialism,
which reemerged with occupying the President’s
office. He mentioned that Russia’s ex-President Boris Yeltsin’s policy
included some democratic elements. What democratic elements the matter
concerned, when the whole world was witnessing Russia’s collapse,
P. Hayrikyan preferred not to go into details.
During the press-conference Hayrikyan informed that he will take part
in the international conference , which will take place 30-31, October, 2004 in
Tbilisi. He will make a 15-minute report. According to P. Hayrikyan
there will be representatives from Georgia, Germany, Great Britain and
other European countries at the conference.-A-
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

`EXISTENCE OF ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH ENDANGERED’
A1+
21-10-2004
Members of `Ramkavar’ Party of Armenia are alarmed for the atmosphere
around the Armenian Apostolic Church. They think existence and further
activity of Church are doubtful.
‘Establishment of Anthilias Diocese in Canada, bombing of the Armenian
Church in Iraq, the `traditional’ curses addressed to the
ecclesiastics in Jerusalem and disappearance of Deacon Zorik Abeshyan
in Vladikavkaz, Russiaserved as bases for such a
conclusion. Legalization of various sects, including `Jehovah’s
Witnesses’ activity paves the way for deceiving Armenian people joined
around the Armenian Apostolic Church of 1700-year-long history’, Party
statement says.
Respecting the basic norms of human rights, Republican Department of
`Ramkavar ‘ Party considers unacceptable registration of the religious
organizations, which activity is lined to harm forming of the civil
society and health of individuals.
Taking into account all the circumstances, Republican Department of
`Ramkavar’ Party expresses willingness to support all the Dioceses of
Saint Echmiadzin Church both in the homeland and Diaspora through all
the `Ramkavar’ structures in Armenia. `Ramkavar’ also calls upon
social, political and cultural organizations to join the action.

British parliament delegation arrives in Nagornyy Karabakh – Armenian agency
Mediamax news agency
20 Oct 04
YEREVAN
A delegation of the British parliament headed by a member of the House
of Commons, Gordon Marsden, arrived on a one-day fact-finding visit to
the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic (NKR) today.
Today, the British parliamentarians will be received by NKR President
Arkadiy Gukasyan and National Assembly Chairman Oleg Yesayan,
Mediamax’s correspondent reports from Stepanakert Xankandi .
The British delegation is also scheduled to meet representatives of
Nagornyy Karabakh NGOs.

AZERI TV SLATES BRITISH MP’S VISIT TO KARABAKH
Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
19 Oct 04
(Presenter) Britain has on more than one occasion stated that it is
interested in the resolution of the Karabakh problem, it recognizes
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and condemns separatism. However,
regrettably, all these are verbal statements. A new visit by Baroness
Caroline Cox from Britain’s House of Lords to Stepanakert might cause
a diplomatic row between London and Baku.
(Correspondent) A person who is a member of the House of Lords,
Britain’s most influential and prestigious body, damages the influence
and dignity of the House. She is separatist Baroness Caroline
Cox. This woman has been in contact with the Karabakh separatists for
a long time. She completed her latest 55th visit to Karabakh
lately. Although the Azerbaijani government has repeatedly protested
against the visits by the high-ranking British parliamentarian, London
diplomats stress that Cox visits Karabakh at her own expense. However,
it is obvious this time that the British embassy could not keep to
itself its false peace-loving mission and decided to help the
separatist baroness and did this in an open fashion.
Certainly, we are speaking about the British embassy in Armenia. Today
Armenian web sites reported that Caroline Cox’s visit to Nagornyy
Karabakh was arranged precisely by the British embassy in
Yerevan. British diplomats may interpret this differently – allegedly
they organized her visit to Armenia, and Cox, in turn, went to
Karabakh herself, and they were allegedly unaware of Cox’s programme
and so on.
It is intriguing that Britain, which is a member of the UN Security
Council, has always stated that it recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity and is against separatism.
Nevertheless, the failure to see a British citizen who embraces
separatists in Azerbaijan is disrespect for Azerbaijan and the
manifestation of double standards, to put it in diplomatic terms. The
separatist baroness, who describes herself as a champion of the truth,
has never visited Azerbaijan despite numerous invitations. She refused
to come to Azerbaijan to eyewitness the situation in Azerbaijan and
the state of the refugees. In return, she voices the slogan Freedom to
Nagornyy Karabakh, which does not go hand in hand with official
London’s policy. This is British-style justice and truth.
Etibar Mammadov for “Son Xabar”.

ArmenPress
Oct 18 2004
US-ARMENIAN BENEFACTOR PLEDGES MONEY FOR MAINTENANCE OF NORTH-SOUTH
HIGHWAY IN KARABAGH
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 18, ARMENPRESS: An American-Armenian benefactor
Vahe Karapetian pledged on October 16 to release funds for the
maintenance of a strategic highway that will run across Nagorno
Karabagh. Christened as the North-South highway the new road will
provide safe communication among all rural and urban communities.
Funds for its accomplishment are raised by Hayastan all-Armenian fund
through annual telethons conducted in the USA, Armenia and other
countries with strong Armenian communities.
Vahe Karapetian was in Nagorno Karabagh October 16 where he met
with its leader Arkady Ghukasian. He traveled to Karabagh via
Goris-Stepanakert highway that was also built on Hayastan funds.
Karapetian provides money for its technical maintenance.
The US benefactor also promised to help restore two churches in
Nagorno Karabagh.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PRESS RELEASE
“Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund
Governmental Building 3, Yerevan, RA
Contact: Artak Harutyunyan
Tel: 3741 52 09 40
Fax: 3741 52 37 95
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
2004-10-15
A new residential building in Yerankyuni district
On October 15, the inauguration of the residential building 7A took
place in Yerankyuni district, Spitak, with participation of the of the
“Hayastan” Fund’s Executive Director Mrs. Naira Melkoumian, the
Governor of Lori Marz Henrik Kochinyan and the chairperson of the
Fund’s Great Britain affiliate Mrs. Armine Karapeti. Due to the Fund
eight more families will be provided with new apartments. Very soon,
by the efforts of the “Hayastan” Fund’s Great Britain and Germany
affiliates the construction of the whole district will be completed.

Le Temps, France
15 octobre 2004
Le grand débat à l’Assemblée nationale sur l’adhésion de la Turquie a accouché d’une souris;
FRANCE. Plus de vingt orateurs sont intervenus jeudi à l’Assemblée
nationale pour débattre de l’opportunité d’ouvrir les négociations
avec Ankara. Des semaines de polémiques et une discussion sans vote
arrachée au gouvernement n’ont abouti qu’à un débat sans passion
devant un hémicycle à moitié vide.
Y a-t-il un député français qui est favorable à une adhésion aussi
rapide que possible de la Turquie à l’Union européenne après le début
des négociations que décidera d’ouvrir, le 17 décembre prochain, le
Conseil européen? La réponse est non. Le débat de jeudi à l’Assemblée
nationale, obtenu de haute lutte par les députés de la majorité et de
l’opposition, n’a donné lieu à aucune empoignade entre les partisans
d’un oui enthousiaste et ceux d’un non ferme et définitif.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin a résumé l’opinion des 23 députés qui sont
intervenus après lui sans même les avoir entendus: «Ni l’Europe ni la
Turquie ne sont prêtes à [cette] adhésion.»
Durant tout l’après-midi, il n’a été question que de conditions et de
délais, quinze ans ou plus. Jean-Pierre Raffarin a rappelé que «la
demande d’adhésion de la Turquie n’est pas illégitime», en faisant
l’inventaire des démarches turques pour se rapprocher de l’Union
européenne depuis 1959, et en soulignant que la Turquie était déjà,
dans les années 1960, «un élément majeur de la politique
méditerranéenne et proche-orientale du général de Gaulle». Mais il a
ensuite énuméré les inconvénients de cette adhésion: «Risque de voir
l’ambition de l’Europe politique diluée dans un ensemble si vaste et
si disparate qu’il serait impossible d’avancer ensemble, risque
d’incompréhension entre deux mondes, deux cultures profondément
différentes.» «Face à ces deux objections et à d’autres encore,
a-t-il ajouté, nous ne pouvons répondre aujourd’hui, c’est pourquoi
il faut laisser du temps au débat et à la réflexion.»
Le premier ministre est cependant convaincu qu’«il est dans l’intérêt
de la France et de l’Europe d’avoir une Turquie stable, moderne,
démocratique qui partage nos valeurs et nos objectifs». «La Turquie
change parce qu’elle manifeste un vrai désir d’Europe. Laissons lui
du temps. […] L’histoire tranchera», a-t-il conclu avant de répéter
que la Commission européenne n’a donné qu’un «oui conditionnel», et
que plus tard, quand le moment sera venu, le peuple français sera
consulté par référendum.
La plupart des orateurs de l’opposition, même s’ils ont protesté
contre le fait que le débat d’hier n’était pas suivi d’un vote, ne
semblaient pas avoir d’objections majeures au discours consensuel et
prudent du premier ministre. «Claquer la porte devant la Turquie
serait interprété comme un manquement à la parole de notre pays, elle
a droit aux négociations», a dit le président du groupe socialiste à
l’Assemblée, Jean-Marc Ayrault. Avant de poser une condition qui
s’adresse plus à l’Europe qu’au pays candidat: retrouver un moteur
politique qui évite que les nouveaux élargissements ne condamnent
l’Union à se diluer dans une simple zone de libre-échange sous
influence américaine. Quant aux députés de l’UMP, ils ont évité
soigneusement d’affronter le gouvernement et le président de la
République en transformant leur hostilité à l’adhésion en une
proposition de partenariat privilégié.
Est-ce parce que l’ensemble de la représentation nationale était
saisie par un syndrome de procrastination (de remise au lendemain)?
Le débat s’est déroulé sans passion, sans envolées, et surtout dans
un hémicycle plus qu’à moitié vide au début et presque désert à la
fin. Seul le député vert Noël Mamère a défendu clairement l’adhésion:
«Les Verts n’ont ni divisions ni états d’âme. Nous sommes pour,
résolument pour», a-t-il déclaré. Mais il a tout de même émis des
réserves. Il faudra, a-t-il expliqué, qu’avant l’adhésion proprement
dite le problème chypriote soit résolu et que la Turquie reconnaisse
le génocide arménien.
Il y avait aussi François Bayrou. Farouche adversaire de l’adhésion.
«Nous croyons que l’Union européenne est une unité politique en
construction. Or l’adhésion de la Turquie n’est pas un pas vers
l’unité de l’Europe, c’est un pas vers sa dispersion», a-t-il
proclamé. Mais encore la trahison de son unité culturelle: «L’Europe
est la rencontre la plus féconde que l’histoire ait jamais produite,
[…] entre Athènes, Rome et Jérusalem. Supprimez l’un des trois,
vous supprimez l’Europe.» Bien que les sondages montrent qu’une
majorité de citoyens sont hostiles à l’adhésion turque, François
Bayrou sait que sa position est minoritaire à l’Assemblée. Il tentera
donc seulement de freiner le processus et d’éviter qu’il soit
irréversible en demandant que la négociation porte à la fois sur la
possibilité d’adhésion et sur celle d’un partenariat privilégié.
Voilà donc un grand débat qui a accouché d’une souris. Sans doute en
raison des contradictions internes de la droite comme de la gauche.
Sûrement parce que les interrogations sur la perspective, même
lointaine, de l’adhésion turque révèlent l’étendue des questions non
résolues sur l’identité politique de l’Union européenne.