Author: Kalashian Nyrie

AFTER TURKEY’S HYPE OVER OBAMA COMES HARD IMPLEMENTATION
Fadi Hakura

Daily Star
April 21 2009
Lebanon

President Barack Hussein Obama swooped into Turkey on April 6 for
two days of fence-mending bilateral relations with its erstwhile,
if sometimes prickly, ally Turkey while disseminating a message of
friendship to the wider Muslim world. Obama cut a dashing figure,
mesmerizing the normally skeptical Turkish public with self-deprecating
references to his inspirational life story of struggle and achievement.

This trip could be characterized as a success in terms of public
diplomacy. Opinion polls indicated that Turks had an increasingly
favorable attitude toward the new US president. Turkish media
was also mostly upbeat, bringing into sharp focus the contrast
between the positive vibes directed toward Obama and the negative
perceptions of his predecessor, President George W. Bush. Meanwhile,
Obama heaped praise on Turkey’s European aspirations, as well as on
its democratic and secular traditions and its regional ambitions in
the Middle East. He deftly maneuvered around the hot Armenian issue,
without conceding on his points of principle.

Obama also awed audiences beyond Turkey. After all, the visit was
not just about Turkey, but additionally about the Muslim world in
general. His speech to the Turkish Parliament – in which the sound
bite that the United States is not at "war with Islam" was interpreted
as a radical break with Bush’s "war on terror" rhetoric – attracted
the close attention of media in the Arab world.

Now that the party is over, however, a more sober assessment of the
ultimate impact of Obama’s Turkey jamboree is needed. For starters,
it is fair to say that US-Turkey relations had already undergone a
rapid turnaround even before Barack Obama took office, namely during
the tail end of the previous administration, after President George
W. Bush agreed to actively cooperate with the Turkish military in
its fight against Kurdistan Workers’ Party combatants infiltrating
Turkey from northern Iraq.

But Obama’s charm offensive has generated heightened expectations of
a substantive shift in US foreign policy, specifically when it comes
to the Middle East. Turkey welcomes Obama’s current desire to open a
dialogue with Iran and Syria, as well as its ongoing plan to withdraw
American combat troops from Iraq by mid-2010, and all troops by the
end of 2011. But, as always, the litmus test will be the stance of
the United States on the dispute between Israel and its neighbors,
particularly the Palestinians, but also Syria and Lebanon. How the
US handles the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and
the glaring divide exiting between the Palestinian groups will be
closely watched by Turkey and by the Muslim world.

Naturally, heightened expectations are not just a one-way street. Obama
expects Turkey to deliver on its promises to improve ties with
Armenia by re-opening the border that has been closed since 1993,
and by establishing diplomatic relations with Yerevan. Whether
Turkey can re-open the border in the absence of a resolution to the
Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh is
open to debate. Yet, there is a serious risk of disappointment rising
in Washington if the promises fall short or flat.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly abrasive
style of diplomacy, displayed in full during his adamant opposition
to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s candidacy to take the
helm of the NATO alliance recently, could eventually irk policymakers
in Washington. Obama seems to prefer a Turkish foreign policy of
the quiet and constructive type rather than one based on emotional
gestures and religious undertones. So the ground exists for some
disappointment here as well.

Despite the pitfalls, there is no doubt that US-Turkey relations are,
at least for now, on a firmer, realistic footing than they were during
the Bush years. Gone are the poisonous atmospherics of the past,
while in have come greater mutual cooperation and respect between
Washington and Ankara. However, the present mood cannot be taken
for granted. That the persistence of instability in the Middle East
and the Caucasus region could provoke events that scuttle relations
with Turkey is possible, perhaps resulting from the ongoing conflicts
between Arabs and Israelis, Iran’s nuclear program, and developments
in Iraq, Afghanistan or Armenia, to name just a few examples. Public
diplomacy is the easy part. Delivery is a far harder prospect when
it comes to the United States and Turkey.

Fadi Hakura is the Turkey analyst at Chatham House in London. This
commentary first appeared at bitterlemons-international.org, an
online newsletter that publishes different views of Middle Eastern
and Islamic issues.

HISTORIC ARMENIAN CEMETERY IN INDIA "BURIED UNDER WASTE"

society

2009/04/21 | 15:16

An article entitled "Historic Armenian cemetery buried under waste",
in today’s ExpressBuzz, an online Indian news service, focuses on an
historic Armenian cemetery in the Indian city of Hyderabad and the
threats leading to its imminent demise.

It is perhaps the last known trace of the Armenian connection with
the city of Hyderabad.

And now it is almost on the verge of being erased from the city’s
historic map.

Yes, the Armenian cemetery located at Uppuguda (known as Opiguda in
the colonial times) is reduced to a mere dumping zone and a place
where people relieve themselves.

Armenians came into India as traders through the overland route
much before the advent of European traders into India; in fact seven
centuries before Vasco-da-Gama reached India.

A historian Mesrovb Jacob Seth in his seminal work Armenians in India
has noted that 19 Armenians including two priests Rev Johannes (1680)
and Rev Simon (1724), were buried in this now deserted cemetery.

And the cemetery is not confined to Armenians alone.

"With no English graves of 17th and 18th century seems to have existed,
even the Dutch used the Armenian cemetery till they acquired their
own cemetery in the year 1678," B Subrahmanyam, a retired deputy
director of AP Archaeology Department told Expresso.

Referring to a study done by Dr V. Nersessian, he pointed out that
there was considerable Armenian population in Hyderabad and the
community was sent a Pontifical Bull from Holy Etchmiadzin, the
spiritual centre of Armenian Chursbiantuow in Armenia.

Realizing the importance of the Armenian cemeteries and churchyards,
which are the only attested sources of their presence, the Department
of Archaeology has declared the Uppuguda site as a protected monument
under the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1960. But due to
sheer negligence, this historical churchyard is reduced to a dump
yard full of liquor bottles and human excreta.

When the sorry-state of affairs was reported to the Director of
Archaeology and Museums Department P. Chenna Reddy, he said that
they have included this cemetery in the colonial heritage monuments
preservation project in Hyderabad.

"The cemetery has been neglected for more than seven years. Before the
Central Government releases funds for this project, the department is
chalking out a plan to clean the site soon," an Archaeology Department
official said.

One can only hope that the condition of this cemetery, where the
Armenian-Hyderabad connection is etched, would be improved as soon
as possible.

TURKISH INTELLIGENCE SERVICES TO PROHIBIT TURKISH SPORTSMEN’S ARRIVAL IN ARMENIA

PanArmenian News
April 20 2009
Armenia

Turkey refused to participate in International Wushu Tournament in
memory of Genocide victims, Tigran Chobanyan, President of Armenian
Wushu Federation told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

"We were informed that Turkish intelligence services prohibited Turkish
team’s arrival in Armenia, although the Turkish Wushu Federation
had previously accepted our invitation. Ukraine and Uzbekistan also
refused to participate in the tournament on grounds of the financial
crisis. We haven’t yet received answers from Uzbekistan, Iran, Georgia
and the two Russian teams representing Moscow and Dagestan. They all
are to arrive in Armenia on April 23. On April 24, their delegations
are to visit Tsitsernakaberd and lay wreaths at the Genocide Memorial."

The sixth International Wushu Tournament in memory of Genocide victims
will be organized in Dinamo stadium, Yerevan. The Wushu wrestlers
will compete in two disciplines: martial art, i.e. single combat,
and gymnastic exercises involving women athletes.

Potential of Armenian-Iranian integration not fully realized

YEREVAN, April 18. /ARKA/. The potential of Armenian-Iranian
integration has not been fully realized, stated Armen Darbinyan, Rector
of the Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) University (RAU).

`We have been speaking of Armenian-Iranian projects for ten, or even
for 15, years and although they are closer to being launched than ten
years ago, we would like to see them more dynamic,’ Darbinyan stated at
the conference `Global financial and economic crisis: genesis and
prospects’ held at the RAU.

Among the projects he included an Iran-Armenia products pipe line,
construction of an oil refinery, a railway, as well as the construction
and joint operation of a hydro-power plant on the Araks river.

RA Minister of Transport and Communications Gurgen Sargsyan and Iranian
Minister of Road and Transportation Hamid Bihbahani signed a final
agreement on the construction of an Armenia-Iran railway in Teheran
this April. The agreement was signed during a visit paid to Iran by an
Armenian delegation headed by RA President Serzh Sargsyan.

RA Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisyan stated
earlier that the construction project for the Meghry HPP on the Araks
River, which is estimated at $240mln, had been launched, with design
work being in progress.

The construction project for an Iran-Armenia products pipe line has
been launched as well, and field
operation is under way.–0–

APA, Azerbaijan
April 18 2009

Novruz Mammadov: `Azerbaijan has pursued and will pursue
comprehensively weighed up and independent foreign policy’ ` EXCLUSIVE

[ 18 Apr 2009 15:43 ]

`¦I don’t understand so much love, attention and care to an
aggressor country. Everybody sees that recently the West is taking all
steps to improve the wellbeing of tacountry, which occupied the
territories of Azerbaijan. I don’t understand that’.

Baku. Lachin Sultanova `APA. `The working visit of the President of
Azerbaijan to Moscow has been planned since the beginning of this
year. Despite that some politicians, journalists and political
analysts explained it as they like, but they were wrong’, Chief of the
International Relations Department of the President’s Office Novruz
Mammadov told APA, commenting on the President Ilham Aliyev’s visit to
Russia.

`We have very close relations with our big neighbor Russia, we have
friendly relations and strategic partnership and these relations are
extended year by year. Meetings and relations between the Azerbaijani
and Russian leadership have a traditional character. These processes
take place every year and the presidents meet in various places. I
give great importance to this visit’, said the department chief and
added that the visit was very important and covered a;; specters of
bilateral relations.

Mammadov said the presidents have wide discussions on the future
prospects of the relations. `Our relationship is very developed in the
trade, economic, humanitarian and energy fields. It needs to take it
into consideration that Russian Federation is important for Azerbaijan
as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, the mediator in the settlement
of Armenian-Azerbaijan Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the solution to
the conflict was also focused at the meetings. The presidents said at
the briefing that they had very useful meetings and found out new
opportunities for the cooperation in a number of spheres, including
the energy field particularly. The President of Azerbaijan noted that
they had wide discussions over the solution to Nagorno Karabakh
conflict. The Russian president said Russia made all efforts to bring
inline the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan’.

Mammadov emphasized that Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents could
meet this year. `If we take the current situation and processes into
consideration, there is a great probability for the progresses’.

Asked `What is your view on Turkish media reports claiming Azerbaijan
has opted to give up a balance in foreign policy orientation and
tilted towards Russia,’ he answered that Azerbaijan has pursued and
will continue to pursue a balanced, comprehensively weighed up and
independent foreign policy.

`Azerbaijan’s relations with Turkey are at the high level and
relations have always been on track of development. We are committed
to continuing this afterwards. I also highly appreciate the relations
between Azerbaijan and the United States. At the same time,
Azerbaijan’s relations with the West are and will be developing apace.
There are frequent visits to Russia, there are frequent meetings,
these possibilities come true, there is no need to interpret this in
another way. Azerbaijan’s doors for cooperation are open in all
vectors. Our relations with the West are at the high level, I highly
appreciate this. But in my personal view, unfortunately, I can’t see
adequate reaction in the West’s relationship with Azerbaijan. Since we
gained independence, Azerbaijan’s steps directed to energy and
integration. We carried out many reforms in conjunction with NATO and
European Union. In return for these, we see very great care an
attention to Armenia which have continued to occupy 20 percent of our
territories over the past 20 years. I note that this is not a fair
position. I don’t understand so much love, attention and care [they
devote] to an aggressor. Everybody sees the West has recently moved
to take all steps to ease and improve the state and wellbeing of a
country which occupied Azerbaijan’s territories. I can’t understand
this,’ he added.

Asked `which areas Azerbaijan wants to see prioritized in the Eastern
Partnership Programme’, he said that this will be discussed in an EU
meeting in May.

`Azerbaijani President will express the country’s position during the
discussion. Simply, we want the fate of Eastern Partnership Initiative
not to be as that of the European Neighborhood Policy. We joined the
European Neighborhood Policy, what steps did Europe take in return?
What did the EU want to do? What did? It is not possible to this
clearly. Within the framework of the Eastern Partnership, we would
like everything to be fair, a special programme to be developed for
each country, concrete steps to be taken and initiatives to be
developed,’ he added.

COLUMBIA STUDENTS HOST DISTINGUISHED GENOCIDE PANEL
By Serouj Aprahamian

=41610_4/18/2009_1
Friday, April 17, 2009

In an effort to pay tribute to the memory of the 1.5 million victims of
the Armenian Genocide and inspire vigilance against such atrocities,
both past and present, the Armenian Student Association of Columbia
University hosted a distinguished panel lecture this past Thursday,
April 9.

Over 200 students, faculty and local community members were in
attendance for the event, which featured moderator Andrea Kannapell
of the New York Times, renowned genocide scholar Taner Akcam, and
famed Armenian-American attorney Mark Geragos. The official headline
for the evening was "The Armenian Genocide and Its Relevance Today."

"We were delighted to see the panel bring together the Columbia
community to discuss the Armenian Genocide," said Nora Khanarian,
a student at Columbia and a member of the organizing committee for
the event. "We are optimistic that constructive dialogue about the
important ramifications of our history is possible in the future."

Khanarian’s fellow organizer, William Bairamian, added, "It was
imperative to have an Armenian Genocide remembrance and educational
event at Columbia University, as it should be on every respected
university campus in the world. Every Armenian-American student
should feel that it is their duty to educate those who do not know
about the Genocide."

The evening began with the reading of a statement from the noted
psychiatrist and genocide prevention scholar David Hamburg. Hamburg was
scheduled to take part in the panel but was unable to make it due to
last-minute health reasons. Nevertheless, he sent a condensed version
of his talk which was read aloud for the audience by Ms. Kannapell.

This was followed by Professor Akcam’s presentation which focused
on Armenian-Turkish relations over the past 30 years and what will
be needed to move ahead in the future. He addressed such matters
as developments within Turkish society, the talks between Turkey
and Armenia, and the issue of the US position on the Armenian
Genocide. At several points during his talk, Akcam insisted that,
"Obama should use the word . . .genocide," and that, "by using this
term, %u218genocide,’ the United States can liberate Turks, Armenians,
and everybody in this conflict."

The next speaker to take the podium was Mark Geragos, who addressed
the legal implications of the Genocide and focused explicitly on
the need for reparations and restitution. After talking about his
experiences as a lead attorney for the Genocide-era claims against
insurance companies New York Life and AXA, Geragos expounded upon
why he believes reparations are so important for the securing of
justice. "You can never, as a victim, never be made whole until you
have restitution," stated Geragos. "There is never going to be a
resolution to the so-called Armenian question until we get back our
land, until we get back the monies that were taken from us, and until
we get back some kind of reparations."

After such forthright and succinct presentations, there naturally
was a great deal of issues ripe for discussion during the question
and answer period. Audience members included many Turkish students
who were not only hostile toward the facts of the Armenian Genocide,
but were also taken aback by the insistence that reparations would
be needed to right this wrong committed by their government.

Some of the Turkish attendees expressed their disagreement through
prolonged statements, at times refusing to sit down after being asked
politely by the moderator to recite their question. Many others
were more cordial and presented their questions to the panelists
and received forthright answers in return. This lively back and
forth continued as other audience members raised questions about how
Armenians could get their family lands back, the past operations of
ASALA and the Justice Commandos, and the legality of Turkey’s present
blockade of Armenia.

Following the Q&A, Bairamian took to the floor to offer some closing
remarks on behalf of the organizers. "We are here not only to remember
those that needlessly perished in the Armenian Highlands and in the
deserts of Der-Zor," he began, "but to make clear to any perpetrator
of genocide that their crimes will never be forgotten–not so long as
there is a sense of humanity and justice among the men and women of
this otherwise beautiful world." Posing the question of whether we
are doing enough to end the scourge of genocide, Bairamian posited,
"We will know the answer to that question when our children learn of
genocide not as a current event but as an aberration of the history
of a time long passed."

The event concluded with a nearby reception which continued in the
spirit of the conference, as attendees congregated and discussed many
of the issues raised by the thought-provoking panel. Professor Akcam,
in particular, could be seen engaging with many of the Turkish students
who proceeded to congregate around him.

Reflecting upon the success of the evening, Arpine Kocharian,
another of the main student organizers of the event, explained how her
grandfather was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide from Mush. Orphaned
at the age of 7, he went on to serve as a veteran of WWII and live
an accomplished life. Nevertheless, he was never able to recover from
the trauma of what happened to his family and an entire village back
in Mush, says Kocharian.

"I think my grandfather, would have been proud of me and my colleagues
today because our panel was able to voice the relevance of the darkest
page in our history."

PEROOMIAN DISCUSSES SEXUAL VIOLENCE, STATE CENSORSHIP
By Andy Turpin

April 16, 2009
discusses-sexual-violence-state-censorship/

BELMO NT, Mass. (A.W.)-On April 2, the National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) presented a talk by Rubina
Peroomian on the topic of her recently published book, And Those
Who Continued Living in Turkey After 1915: The Metamorphosis of
Post-Genocide Armenian Identity As Reflected in Artistic Literature
(Armenian Genocide Museum Institute, 2008).

Peroomian’s earlier English-language book Literary Responses to
Catastrophe: A Comparison of the Armenian and the Jewish Experience
(1993) analyzed Armenian and Jewish literary works written in response
to the horrors of genocide. Peroomian holds a Ph.D. in Near Eastern
languages and cultures from UCLA and has been a lecturer in Armenian
language and literature as well as Armenian history at UCLA, the
University of Laverne, and Glendale College. She serves as a member
of the NAASR Board of Directors for southern California.

"I’m a very diligent scholar but it was the hardest thing trying to
find a publisher for my book," Peroomian began. "The book was very
popular in Yerevan but it had its disadvantages self-publishing so
I thank NAASR for their support."

Peroomian continued, "This is the second in a trilogy, the follow-up
to my first book in 1993… The first book dealt with those in the
Armenian Diaspora of the second and third generation and how they
dealt with trauma. I’m trying to finish the trilogy with a forthcoming
study of the effects of the genocide on those in Soviet Armenia and
how this trauma was transmitted."

"Since the book was published in Armenia, I felt a need to satisfy
Armenian readers with a 25-page schematic survey of the book in
Armenian," she said.

"The methodology encapsulates my readings of these various genocide
literatures that exist and the dynamics of them." Muslim Armenians in
Turkey, such as the Hamshen, she said, "are for some people a paradox."

"To answer the question, ‘Why this book?’ I’ve been interested in the
field of genocide literature in the diaspora for 25 years. But that was
the diaspora. But I always wondered, ‘What about those in Turkey that
couldn’t get out?’ Until 15 years ago we knew nothing of these people,
only that some tourists talked to some very old Armenians [in Turkey]."

Peroomian stated, "In Istanbul literature, you had to read between
the lines, and in fact more research is needed on Istanbul Armenian
literature."

Peroomian gave examples of the cryptic prose used to describe the
genocide and get past the state censors in works of fiction. "It is
very typical for the narrator to say in Istanbul Armenian literature
of the 1950’s and 60’s that ‘My mother and father had brothers and
sisters, but they all died before I was born.’"

"In that atmosphere of constant harassment and persecution, especially
for those Armenians living in the interior of Turkey, to them, all they
had to do was survive until they could go abroad or to Istanbul. And
this in fact was the intension of the Turkish government; to evacuate
these regions of Armenians."

Everywhere in Turkey after the genocide, she explained, it was banned
to talk about Armenians in the media. Only about a dozen novels in
the republic period talked about Armenians and most of them followed
the government line of ethnic identity."

But, she added, "Because of the Diaspora Armenians’ activities and
because of some of the Armenian armed struggle activities-like the
assassinations of Turkish diplomats-in the 1970’s, Turkish people
started asking themselves, ‘Who are these Armenians and what are
their claims?’"

"At this point, Turkish youth began to be raised to hate Armenians
as traitors that went against the Ottoman Empire. There are many
intellectuals and modernists who talk about these topics now in Turkey,
tasking the government to confront the past and do it justice in the
name of a multiculturalism that will only help to democratize Turkey."

However, she countered, "Author Orhan Pamuk says there are two souls
of Turkey [on the genocide issue] that are constantly combating each
other to change the other. Elif Shafak has said, ‘God save me from
my own people.’"

"Of course, these intellectuals are constantly under persecution and
harassment but they are active," Peroomian said. "And the more active
they are, the more active the ultra-nationalists are. Hrant Dink’s
assassination was proof of this."

Peroomian recounted the controversy caused in part by Dink when he
helped prove that Ataturk’s adopted daughter, a renowned pioneer
aviatrix and the first female combat pilot Sabiha Gokcen, was in
fact an Armenian orphan whose family had been decimated during the
genocide. She stated, "She was very popular in Turkey and for him to
expose the truth like that, [to them] he had to pay for it."

Of the questions that provoked her own research, Peroomian said,
"’Did women taken into harems and forced to convert to Islam truly
convert to Islam? How did they feel in their womb with [the child]
of the perpetrator inside them?’ These are the things I was looking
for in the research I’ve done."

Peroomian continued, "Henry Morganthau wrote in his memoirs about
the acts of rape against boys during the genocide as much as the
conventions for society in 1915 would allow. I’ve seen a few good
articles on sexual violence against male and female victims coming
forth."

She noted that such domination acts sought to de-masculinize and
de-humanize the victim. "There was physical violence as well against
Armenian women and boys after the genocide, in the orphanages and
in adopted families. And as we saw in the former Yugoslavia, sexual
violence is a form of genocidal war."

Peroomian cited the 1998 "Sexual Violence Report" by the UN’s special
rapporteur on human rights and noted, "There is so much research on
these topics, but at one point I had to stop and actually publish."

"I know I haven’t said the last word at all," she said. "I want this
to be my attempt to loosen the tongue of a forbidden past, that is
the Turks’ past as well."

And Those Who Continued Living in Turkey After 1915: The
Metamorphosis of Post-Genocide Armenian Identity As Reflected in
Artistic Literature is available for purchase at the NAASR bookstore,
online at naasr.org/store/home.php.

THERE HAS BEEN OBSERVED THE SECOND WIND IN TURKEY’S INTEGRATION TO THE EUROPEAN UNION

ArmInfo
2009-04-17 10:48:00

There has been observed the second wind in Turkey’s integration to
the European Union, Chairman of EU-Turkey Delegation in European
Parliament Joost Lagendijk said.

"A new feeling of optimism has been observed in EU," Lagendijk told
Trend News over phone from Brussels. A slowdown in the reforms in
2005 -2008 was changed with Turkey’s positive steps. This increased
the EU optimism. Lagendijk voiced five main steps, which allowed to
look fresh at Turkey’s integration. One of the steps is the visit of
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and head of the leading
opposition party – Republican People’s Party Deniz Baikal to Brussels
in early of the year. During the visit Erdogan and Baikal explained
that the EU is still top priority for Turkey rkey, Lagendijk said.

Another important issue was called appointment of Egemen Bakish as
chief negotiator in the negotiations between Turkey and EU ON Turkey’s
accession to EU, the nomination that is seen very positively inside
the EU. Thirdly, the TRT6 Kurdish language national television, which
is seen as an important step forward to solve the Kurdish issue,
was opened. A radio and TRT 6 Kurdish language national television
were opened in Turkey in 2008 and January 2009 respectively. The
channel is broadcasting not only in Turkey, but also in Iraq, Iran
and Syria. Fourthly, the talks between Turkey and Armenia are seen
from a very positive in restoring diplomatic relations and opening
of borders, which will help not only to Turkey’s accession to EU,
but also resolution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia’s
claims of an alleged genocide, and the country’s occupation of
20 percent of Azerbaijani lands. Turkish President Abdullah Gul
visited Yerevan on Sept. 6, 2008 upon the invitation of his Armenian
counterpart Serzh Sarkisyan to watch an Armenia-Turkey football
match. Efforts have been made to normalize ties between the two
countries ever since. The fifth point is the fact that there
are ongoing talks between the Turkish government and the Alawi
leadership. Alawi is the largest religious minority in Turkey,
constituting about 20 percent of the population. The Turkish
authorities still prefer to ignore their existence: Alawi community
has no official status. The issue of ending discrimination against
Alawis and the protection of their rights and freedoms included in
the criteria for the accession of Turkey to the EU.

The talks on Turkey’s accession to the EU were launched in
2005. According to experts, Turkey will become the EU full member
within 1-15 years. The main obstacle on Turkey’s way is territorial
disputes with the Greek Cyprus, which occurred as a result of division
of the island into two parts in 1974. If Turkey to be accessed to the
EU, it will expand the EU market and grant qualified working force
to European companies, which suffer of ageing aboriginal population.

OSCE/ODIHR NOT TO OBSERVE THE ELECTIONS IN YEREVAN
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
15.04.2009 17:05

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights will not
observe the forthcoming elections to the Yerevan City Council because
of the simple reason that it has not received any invitation either
from the Central Electoral Commission or the Government.

"The OSCE/ODIHR usually observes the general elections, and this
practice is applied not only in Armenia, but also all over the
world. As a rule, the local self-government elections are observed
by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of
Europe," CEC Press Secretary Tatev Ohanyan said.

Head of Public Relations of the Armenian National Congress Vladimir
Karapetyan disagrees with the statement, saying that the OSCE is
interested in observing the elections. "Taking into consideration that
the opposition will run in the elections with a united candidate the
OSCE/ODIHR has expressed the wish to carry out observation. Besides,
the OSCE/ODIHR has the practice of observing local elections. They
did it in Moldova and Albania in 2007. Therefore, those explanations
are false," he said.

According to Vladimir Karapetyan, the authorities had to be interested
in inviting as many observers as possible, including representatives
of the OSCE/ODIHR

As of today, two local organizations have registered at the Central
Electora l Commission to carry out observation at the forthcoming
elections. As for international observers, the Government has
sent out an invitation to the CoE Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities. The Central Electoral Commission has invited the
Ambassadors of the OSCE participating states, the foreign Ambassadors
accredited in the Republic of Armenia, the Head of the OSCE Office
in Yerevan, the Special Representative of the CoE Secretary General
to Armenia, as well as the Chairman of the NKR Central Electoral
Commission to observe the elections to the Yerevan City Council.

Crain’s Chicago Business
April 10 2009

Hastert to lobby for Turkey

By: Paul Merrion April 10, 2009

(Crain’s) ‘ Former Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, is
now lobbying for the Republic of Turkey, according to papers filed
last week with the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration
Act unit.

His role is `educating members of the Congress and the administration
on issues of importance to Turkey,’ his registration statement
said. Those issues include `trade, energy security, counter-terrorism
efforts and efforts to build regional stability in the broader Middle
East.’

Turkey is a key U.S. ally in the region, as evidenced by President
Barack Obama’s stop there earlier this week after his European tour.

But one thorny issue is a perennial attempt by Congress to pass a
resolution condemning the Turks’ killing of 1.5 million Armenians
during the 1915-1916 `genocide.’ The Turkish government has warned
that such a resolution would seriously damage relations. When
Mr. Hastert was speaker, he blocked such a measure after a last-minute
request from then-President Bill Clinton.

Dickstein Shapiro LLP, the Washington, D.C., law firm Mr. Hastert
joined in June 2008 as a senior advisor, has counted Turkey among its
clients since last year. It was not known when he joined the firm
whether Mr. Hastert would lobby for Turkey.

Mr. Hastert and others at Dickstein Shapiro share a $35,000-per-month
subcontract with the Gephardt Group, led by former House Majority
Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., Turkey’s principal lobbyist since last
year, according to The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based publication that
first reported Mr. Hastert’s involvement.

Mr. Hastert did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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