Author: Kanayan Tamar

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 31 2007

New constitution to dominate 2008

Turkey is leaving behind a year full of tension, initiated by the
presidential election crisis, and the country is understandably eager
to make major changes in 2008, starting with a new constitution that
will replace the current one, which was drafted by a handful of
generals after a bloody coup d’état.

Law professionals from the Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
and constitutional law professors from various universities have
drafted a new text for the constitution. This draft text differs
fundamentally from Turkey’s current constitution, a painful left over
from the 1980 coup. The government will open the draft to public
debate soon, but the process to enact it is likely to take the entire
year. There is not the slightest doubt that debate on the new
constitution will be the top political issue this year.

Some of the changes promised for the new constitution promises are
likely to give rise to clashes between the government and the
opposition. The AK Party, which has 340 deputies in Parliament, does
not have the strength to adopt a new constitution by itself. Some of
the articles of the new constitution are likely to be supported by
the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), while some are likely to have
the backing of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) or the Democratic
Society Party (DTP). There are 170 articles in the draft, each of
which should be discussed and voted on in Parliament two times — a
process likely to take anywhere between three and five months. This
is why the AK Party would like to finish its work on the constitution
within the first six months of the new year.

The AK Party hopes the new constitution will enable it to fulfill the
dream of selling Treasury land that has lost its "quality as a
forest." The government says the sale of such land could earn the
Treasury $20 billion. The introduction of a new ombudsman law, which
is of crucial importance in the EU harmonization process, also
depends on the adoption of the new constitution.

If discussions on the new constitution go nowhere, a new referendum
might be in store for 2008. The AK Party has expressed its
willingness to take the constitution to the people in the event that
opposition parties do not support the new constitution.

The government will also refocus on the EU-accession process, which
it had somewhat abandoned this year due to domestic political
developments. Before the constitutional change, changes to the
Turkish Trade Code will be brought to Parliament. When this law
passes, Turkey’s 50-year-old trade code will be adapted to EU
legislation.

Meanwhile, Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which
criminalizes "insulting Turkishness" and which has caused countless
writers to appear before courts although nobody has yet been
convicted will be changed. The EU has repeatedly for a change to
Article 301, which has become perhaps the most famous penal code
article in the world.

Many have blamed this article for the murder of ethnic Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink. Dink was tried under 301 before he was
assassinated by a teenager who said he had heard that Dink had
insulted "Turkishness."

However, parliamentary discussion on Article 301 is going to be no
less lengthy or troublesome than discussion about the Constitution.

Other key laws crucial to the EU harmonization process Parliament
must deal with this year include a 44-article law on the protection
of personal data that will be voted also in one of the next weeks.
The Foundations Law, which returns Turkey’s religious minority
foundations goods unjustly confiscated from them decades ago, will
also be in Parliament shortly. This law is crucial for minority
rights in Turkey and the EU has been pressing for its adoption for a
long time. It was earlier approved by Parliament, but vetoed by
nationalist President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who preceded Abdullah Gül.

Changes in other panel laws, such as the Notary Law, Bankruptcy Law,
Legal Arbitration Law and changes to many parts of the penal code are
also to be taken up very in Parliament soon — all as part of the EU
harmonization process.

The year of party congresses

Most of Turkey’s political parties have congresses scheduled for
different dates in 2008. Some will be searching for new leaders, as
many suffered defeat in the July 22 election, in which the AK Party
received almost half of the total vote. The Democrat Party (DP) has
the earliest congress of the year, scheduled for Jan. 6. The only
candidate for party leadership is Süleyman Soylu, the head of the
party’s Ýstanbul branch. This means that this will not be the last
congress of the year for the DP, whose leader, Mehmet Aðar, resigned
after his party’s defeat on July 22. In fact, it is more likely to be
the first of many to come.

The CHP has scheduled its congress for March. Þiþli Mayor Mustafa
Sarýgül, who challenged the current leadership, is now out of the
picture, as he was expelled from the party. But Samsun deputy Haluk
Koç, Deputy Chairman Eþref Erdem, Gülsüm Bilgehan Tokar — the
granddaughter of Turkey’s second president, Ýsmet Ýnönü — and Ýzmir
deputy Oðuz Oyan have taken out their swords to challenge the party
leadership.

Although the CHP has more seats in Parliament than any other
opposition party, the role of the main opposition party has been
played by the MHP for a long time, since the CHP has been struggling
with inner-party conflict.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli was criticized by some in his party for
supporting Abdullah Gül’s presidency. It is likely that contenders
might challenge him in a congress this year, although the party does
not have a scheduled congress for 2008 as of yet.

The Democratic Society Party (DTP) will be having its next congress
in June this year. The DTP will vote for a new chairman, as its
current chairman, Nurettin Demirtaþ, is facing a jail sentence for
forging documents to avoid fulfilling his mandatory military service.

01.01.2008

ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA

A1+

VAZGEN MANUKYAN WILL HAVE AN INTOLERABLE FUTURE
[04:31 pm] 27 December, 2007

more images `My political future will be intolerable
after the elections’, said Chairman of the `National
Democratic Union’ Vazgen Manukyan. He is convinced
that after the elections he will continue his career
as the RA President, whose commitments and amount of
work will be great. `What if you are not elected? What
career perspectives do you have?’ Manukyan did not
respond to these questions.

Vazgen Manukyan’s confidence is agreed with the fact
that he has always won. He won even when he was the
Minister of Defense. As to the consideration that
Vazgen Manukyan did not win during 1998 and 2003
elections, the Chairman of the `National Democratic
Union’ agreed partly: `In 2003 the feeling to revenge
was great and that wave brought new heroes’. Vazgen
Manukyan ensured that in 1998 Karen Demirchyan would
win in the first stage, or he and Karen Demirchyan
would compete in the second stage, but not Robert
Kocharyan. According to him all powerful structures,
Vano Shiradeghyan, Vazgen Sargsyan, the `All Armenian
Movement’ party supported Robert Kocharyan and all
administrative resources fought against Vazgen
Manukyan in order not to promote the continuation of
1996.

My and the nation’s motives coincide, our motive is to
establish a modern national state. Four powers support
Vazgen Manukyan: `I am proud that these parties
support me, of course, I would like other parties also
to support me as well’, said Vazgen Manukyan. Among
Manukyan’s supporters are the `National Democratic
Alliance’ party headed by Ashak Sadoyan, the `National
Democratic Party’ headed by Shavarsh Kocharyan, the
`National State’ party headed by Samvel Shahinyan and
Hrant Khachatryan’s `Constitutional Rights Union’.

Although Vazgen Manukyan is convinced that he will be
elected, he is confirmed that the elections will not
be conducted without frauds. `No free and fair
elections have been conducted in Armenia’. The
opposition will win only `if a united power is set up,
which in 1996 de facto defeated authorities’. Vazgen
Manukyan also underlined that the powers should unite
not only for victory, for coming to power, but for the
state they wanted to establish after the elections. To
the question who the five parties would support if
Manukyan was not elected, the latter insisted that he
would definitely win and did not want to think of
anything else.

Vazgen Manukyan prioritizes sociological surveys, but
he believes in the surveys carried out by his party on
the phone, which showed the true image both in 1996
and in 2003. Manukyan also noted that crowded
gatherings did not speak of a leader’s rating, since
people came for interest. He reminded 2000-2001 Arkadi
Vardanyan’s movement.

RUSSIA’S SUKHOI SLIGHTLY DELAYS FIRST FLIGHT OF SUPERJET 100

Prime-Tass English-language Business Newswire
December 25, 2007 Tuesday 12:19 PM EET
Russia

Major Russian aircraft holding Sukhoi Company has slightly delayed the
first flight of the SuperJet 100 regional aircraft, Olga Kayukova,
PR director of the holding’s subsidiary Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, told
Prime-Tass Tuesday without providing an exact timeline.

The first test flight of the SuperJet 100 was expected to take place
by the end of 2007 and mass production was expected to start in 2008,
the company said earlier.

The rolling out of SuperJet 100 aircraft took place in the city of
Komsomolsk-on-Amur on September 26. Kuyakova noted that in general
aviation practice, the period between the rolling out of a plane and
its first test flight is usually four to five months.

As of now, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has firm orders to supply 73 SuperJet
100 aircraft.

In particular, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has contracts to supply 30
SuperJets 100s to Russian flag carrier Aeroflot Russian Airlines,
15 aircraft to Russian airline alliance AiRUnion, six aircraft to
Russian airline Dalavia, 10 aircraft to Russia’s Financial Leasing
Company, 10 aircraft to Italian airline ItAli and two aircraft to
Armenian airline Armavia.

Sukhoil Civil Aircraft is a subsidiary of Russian aircraft maker
Sukhoi, which is in turn controlled by the United Aircraft Building
Corporation (UAC).

It is developing the SuperJet 100 aircraft in cooperation with U.S.

aircraft company Boeing. The SuperJet 100 is expected to replace
Tu-134 passenger aircraft.

OSCE/ODIHR TO DELEGATE 24 LONG-TERM AND 250 SHORT-TERM OBSERVERS TO ARMENIA

armradio.am
24.12.2007 17:08

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(OSCE/ODIHR) intends to delegate 24 long-term and 250 short-term
observers to Armenia.

Press secretary of OSCE/ODIHR Urdur Gunardodir told Armenpress that
the long-term observers will arrive in Armenia early January to follow
the process of registration of candidates, the election campaign,
the accessibility of mass media. The short-term observers will follow
the process of voting.

To remind, 387 short-term and long-term observers of the OSCE/ODIHR
followed the parliamentary elections in Armenia in May 2007.

Insurer’s U-turn too late to save life of transplant teenager

· Lawyer wants company to be charged with murder
· Death inflames debate over US healthcare system

Ed Pilkington in New York
Saturday December 22, 2007
The Guardian

The family of a California teenager plan to sue her health insurer
which refused to pay for a liver transplant until hours before and she
died on Thursday night.
Her family’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, will ask the Los Angeles district
attorney to press murder or manslaughter charges against Cigna
HealthCare, arguing that the firm "maliciously killed" Nataline
Sarkisyan by its reluctance to pay for her treatment. The company
reversed its stance after protesters called for a rethink, but the
decision came too late.

The 17-year-old from Glendale, California, had been in a coma for weeks
after complications following a bone marrow transplant to counter
leukaemia.
After the operation, her liver failed and doctors referred her for an
emergency transplant. Although she was fully insured and had a matching
donor, Cigna refused to pay on the grounds that her healthcare plan
"does not cover experimental, investigational and unproven services".

Cigna’s rejection on December 11 led Sarkisyan’s doctors at UCLA
medical centre, including the head of its transplant unit, to write a
letter to protest that the treatment which they proposed was neither
experimental nor unproven. They called on the firm to urgently review
its decision.

In the absence of a response from Cigna, doctors told the Sarkisyan
family that the only alternative would be for the family to pay. But
they could not afford the immediate down payment of $75,000 (£38,000).

The family, backed by nurses, relatives and Sarkisyan’s friends,
mounted a protest of 150 people outside Cigna’s Glendale offices.
"Cigna cannot decide who is going to live and who is going to die," the
teenager’s mother, Hilda Sarkisyan, told the crowd.

The demo was amplified by an internet campaign orchestrated by the
liberal Daily Kos website and other blogs that bombarded Cigna’s HQ in
Philadephia. In the middle of the rally, a note was handed to Mrs
Sarkisyan saying that Cigna had decided to reverse its decision.

"Cigna HealthCare has decided to make an exception in this rare and
unusual case and we will provide coverage should she proceed with the
requested liver transplant," it said in a statement.

The news drew cheers from the crowd, but they quickly grew sombre when
they heard Sarkisyan’s condition had deteriorated. A few hours later,
her life support was switched off.

"She passed away, and the insurance [company] is responsible for this,"
Mrs Sarkisyan told the Los Angeles Daily News.

"Why did it take public humiliation for a multibillion-dollar insurance
company to force them to provide appropriate medical care?" asked
Charles Idelson of the California Nurses Association.

"This is what’s wrong with our health system – insurers decide
treatment, not doctors."

The protests over Sarkisyan’s case point to growing public
disenchantment with the healthcare system in America.

Politicians vying to be the Democratic candidate for the presidential
race next year have prepared plans for reform to bring the 47 million
uninsured Americans into the healthcare net, and to improve terms for
those already insured like Sarkisyan.

The subject was given an added boost this summer by Michael Moore’s
documentary on the state of the American health service, Sicko.

Moore refers to the case of Sarkisyan on his website, under the simple
banner: "Justice delayed is justice denied."

Following the teenager’s death, Cigna issued another statement
yesterday.

"Their loss is immeasurable, and our thoughts and prayers are with
them," it said. "We deeply hope that the outpouring of concern, care
and love that are being expressed for Nataline’s family help them at
this time."

The company recently posted figures for its third-quarter performance
this year, which showed profits up 22%. Next year it expects to earn an
income of up to $1.2bn.

Interfax, Russia
Dec 22 2007

Armenia’s first post-Soviet leader backed by various groups

YEREVAN. Dec 22 (Interfax) – Seventeen political parties as well as
some other nongovernmental groups on Saturday urged the Armenians to
cast their votes at the February 19 presidential election for the
first post-Soviet Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, who held
the office in 1991-98 and is seeking re-election.

The Armenian people need to get rid of the current regime, Stepan
Demirchian, leader of the People’s Party, told a meeting that groups
backing Ter-Petrosian presidency bid held in Yerevan.

The fact that groups espousing different kinds of ideologies are
rallying around Ter-Petrosian makes this goal easier to achieve,
Demirchian argued.

"Levon Ter-Petrosian is a politician who will be able to take on the
challenges facing Armenia," he said.

"The goal of all the parties and public organizations supporting the
first Armenian president, Levon Ter-Petrosian, is not his victory at
the presidential election but the victory of the Armenian people,"
said Ararat Zurabian, chairman of the board of the Armenian
Pan-National Movement.

"As early as February 20, the day after the Armenian presidential
election, we will be celebrating the victory of Levon Ter-Petrosian,
and consequently the victory of the entire people," Zurabian said.

Ter-Petrosian, who also took the floor at the meeting, announced his
bid for re-election in October 2007.

CIS MARKS 16TH ANNIVERSARY

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.12.2007 15:26 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) marks
its 16th anniversary on December 21.

Initiating the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the autumn of 1991,
the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine met on December 8 in the
Belovezhskaya Pushcha Natural Reserve, about 50 km north of Brest in
Belarus, and signed an agreement establishing the CIS.

At the same time they announced that the new alliance would be open
to all republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as other nations
sharing the same goals.

On December 21, 1991, the leaders of eleven of the fifteen constituent
republics of the Soviet Union met in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, and signed
the charter, thus de facto ratifying the initial CIS treaty. The
Soviet government had already recognized the independence of Estonia,
Latvia, and Lithuania on September 6, 1991, and the three Baltic
nations refused to join the CIS.

Georgia and Azerbaijan were initially reluctant to join the CIS but
eventually did so. The CIS charter stated that all the members were
sovereign and independent nations and thereby effectively abolished
the Soviet Union.

The ten original member states were Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and
Uzbekistan. Azerbaijan joined the CIS in September 1993 and Georgia
joined in December.

Presently, over 60 coordinating and consultative bodies function within
the CIS, the major being the Council of Heads of State, Council of
Heads of Government, Council of Foreign Ministers, Council of Defense
Ministers, Economic Court, Interparliamentary Assembly, etc.

Organizations like the EurAsEC, CSTO, GUAM also function within the
Commonwealth.

EXAGGERATION A LIE OF WELL-BRED PEOPLE

Panorama.am
15:25 21/12/2007

Mrs. Yelena Tevdoradze, deputy of Georgia parliament and member
of PACE monitoring committee, made a statement at TV Company "Mze"
that the Armenian party has required reconsideration of territorial
conflicts in Georgia in the PACE winter session. She said Armenia
also demanded the presence of de-fact presidents of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia Sergei Bagamsha and Eduard Kokoiti during such discussions.

In this relation, David Harutunyan, PACE delegation head and member
of monitoring committee said: "First, the Armenian delegation did not
propose any suggestion at PACE winter session in Paris relating to
territorial conflicts in Georgia. In fact, PACE monitoring committee
held a session in Paris and one of the agenda issues was the
continuation of the committee’s activities in relation to "frozen"
conflicts, taking into consideration the positive assessment given
to the committee members in Berlin Conference in 2007. Particularly,
the issue on organization of regular hearings was discussed dedicated
to the progress in peace settlement of Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhaz and
South Ossetian conflicts.

Secondly, the draft document prepared by the secretary of the
committee, there was a point saying the committee may consider the
expediency of attracting representatives of parties interested in
peace settlement, including representatives of civil society. The
Armenian party supported that approach approving the expediency of
inviting conflicting parties to the hearings and expressed assurance
that their participation in such hearings will serve the effectiveness
of the dialogue and creation of atmosphere of trust as well as mutual
understanding.

To my regret and amazement, the approaches mentioned by me were
changed and distorted up to the level of being unrecognized by
Mrs. Tevdoradze. I believe such a distortion is out of constructive
realm and does not comply with the spirit of friendly relations
between our countries."

PARTICIPANTS OF RALLY IN DEFENCE OF SPEECH FREEDOM AND "GALA" TV COMPANY DEMAND ENDING PERSECUTIONS OF "GALA"

Noyan Tapan
Dec 20 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, NOYAN TAPAN. "Free People of Yerevan are with
You" – this and other placards were carried by participants of the
December 19 rally in Gyumri: students from Yerevan, numerous residents
of Gyumri and those from about 30 settlements of Shirak marz who came
to express their support for "Gala" TV company. Speeches were made in
particular by the chairman of the "Asparez" club Levon Barseghian,
the leader of "Aylntrank" inititaive Nikol Pashinian, member of the
"Orinats Yerkir" party, NA deputy Hovhannes Margarian and the chairman
of the "Democratic Homeland" party Petros Makeyan.

"Those who infringe on our rights will be punished under the law. They
will be punished by God and by the public’s comtemp. This day will
come," Levon Barseghian stated.

H. Margarian said that residents of Gyumri are ready to take any
step in order to protect their dignity. In his words, "Gala" is an
island in Gyumri, and everybody capable of expressing his free will
in broadcasts of "Gala" needs it as much as air and water.

Stating once again that "Gala" TV company is being subjected to
pressure after it broadcast the September 21 speech of the first
Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian, the rally participants adopted
an application, in which they demand that the respective bodies stop
persecuations of "Gala".

JINGOISTIC CLIMATE HAS TAKEN GOVERNMENT HOSTAGE
By Lale Sariibrahimoglu

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Dec 20 2007

When we look at mainstream Turkish media reports, we get the sense
that Turkey has been waging an all-out war against another nation.

Exaggerated media coverage of Turkish raids into northern Iraq against
outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists only helps further
provoke the nationalistic sentiment that has already taken the form
of dangerous nationalism. The day a Turkish air raid into northern
Iraq was reported, another priest, this time in the Aegean coastal
town of Ýzmir, was stabbed — police apprehended a 19-year-old suspect.

Media coverage of the Turkish assault has also been full of misleading
information about the correct version of the Turkish military’s
capabilities and has once again highlighted the level of intellectual
capacity of some Turkish reporters in particular when it comes to
military affairs.

Even former military officers appearing in programs on Turkish
operations, deliberately or otherwise, made assessments that fell
short of enlightening their audience about the technical aspects of
the raids, and most of them, as usual, emphasized their political
views on the attacks staged against the PKK.

Normally, one expects former military authorities to enlighten the
audience about the technical features of the event in an attempt to
give the right picture of the military’s capabilities. Unfortunately
we have once again witnessed deception of the public about the air
raids by both mainstream media and by some retired military men.

Does Turkey really need to raid PKK hideouts in northern Iraq if
Turkish decision makers have long ago addressed the problem of
terrorists and terrorism in a more thoughtful and democratic manner?

Have Turkish decision makers spent any effort preparing the public
for a comprehensive democratic solution to the Kurdish problem?

On the contrary, we face today a public that overwhelmingly believes
in a military solution alone to resolve our disputes. This has led
to the public being more jingoistic and prone to being used by some
"dark circles" in violent acts against those who think differently
or who are not Muslims.

Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink in Ýstanbul were killed last year and this year, respectively,
while we witnessed the brutal murders of three Christians in Malatya
in the spring. These events were recently followed by the stabbing
of Adriano Francini in Ýzmir in the past week.

Then came the arrest of Nurettin Demirtaþ, the leader of the
pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), upon his arrival from
abroad over charges that he had illegally avoided military service.

On the one hand stand the Turkish operations taking place inside a
neighboring country while on the other an uncontrollable growing hatred
against those who think differently, be they Muslims or Christians.

In the midst of this dangerous trend is an image that the government
has been leaving as if it has been unable to give the right direction
to the nation with regards to these extreme nationalistic tendencies.

I have doubts now that the government, which has handled the northern
Iraqi crisis in a diplomatic manner, despite calls being made for
quite some time now by Turkish hawks for a unilateral invasion of
northern Iraq, can take courageous steps to find a comprehensive
solution to the Kurdish problem.

Unfortunately the government also seems to have been hijacked now by
ultra-nationalist sentiment, risking the exacerbation of an already
fragile economic situation, vulnerable to global negative trends.

Parliamentary opposition, in the meantime, pursues policies that can
only play into the hands of those who try to maintain their selfish
interests at the expense of the country’s normalization.

I have serious doubts over whether the political leadership has been
left with any room for maneuver to introduce a functioning partial
amnesty for the PKK militants while unveiling a package of measures
to heal the wounds of Turkey’s Kurdish citizens. The government does
not seem to be taking bold political steps in addressing the Kurdish
problem and displaying a determination to discourage ultra nationalism
that has taken a violent nature.

If there are no surprises, though I wish there might be, the political
leadership seems unable to take courageous political steps — at
least not until before local elections planned for March 2009.

–Boundary_(ID_QT1jxflHh+NjJ9pLpCPjpw)–