Author: Kanayan Tamar

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E-mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version:
Son Excellence
Monsieur Jacques Chirac
Président
de la République Française
Paris
Monsieur le Président,
En tant que Catholicos et Chef Spirituel de l’Eglise Arménienne Orthodoxe,
Siège de Cilicie, je salue, avec une joie particulière, votre dernière
déclaration à Erévan concernant le Génocide Arménien, où vous exprimez,
encore une fois, la position ferme et claire du peuple français à l’égard de
cette réalité historique.
Les Arméniens de Cilicie ont subi particulièrement le Génocide et ses
effets, suite auquel le Catholicossat Arménien de Cilicie a été forcé de
quitter son siège historique à Cilicie et s’est établi à Antélias, Liban.
La France, par sa fidélité aux valeurs humaines et aux principes de Droit et
de Justice est un modèle pour tous les pays qui continuent à dénier le
Génocide Arménien.
Le négationisme ne peut générer que de nouvaux génocides et par suite la
Communaute Internationale doit traiter sérieusement la question du Génocide
Arménien, qui reste toujours impuni. Je crois au dialogue entre les
cultures, les religions et les nations. C’est un thème que j’ai constamment
soulevé dans mes messages, mes interventions publiques et mes livres.
Cependant, c’est la proclamation de la vérité qui doit conduire au dialogue
et à la réconciliation.
l’Europe n’est pas un continent géographique, ni même une entité politique.
L’Europe est essentiellement une communauté de valeurs culturelles et
morales fondé sur les Droits de l’Homme. Par suite, je pose la question: où
est la place de la Turquie dans cette communauté?
Monsieur le Président,
Votre position en faveur d’une reconaissance du Génocide Arménien est digne
de la France, digne des principes relevés et défendus par la France, et du
rôle unique joué par la France dans le monde, en faveur de la défense des
Droits de l’Homme.
Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur le Président, mes remerciements les plus
profonds.
Avec mes
prières et mes bénédictions,
ARAM I
CATHOLICOS DE CILICIE
Antélias, Liban
##
The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of the
Catholicosate, The Cilician Catholicosate, the
administrative center of the church is located in Antelias, Lebanon.

CELEBRATION OF YEREVAN DAY TO START OCTOBER 13
Public Radio, Armenia
Oct 9 2006
Yerevan Day celebrations will start on October 13 with the “Culture
of Ancient Yerevan” exhiition to open in the Yerevan History Museum.
Items representing 4-1st centuries B.C. will be exhibited. The same
day the annual photo exhibition will start in Yerevan City Hall.
The festive opening of the Yerevan’s Day will e held in the State
Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiaryan.
Festive events and concerts will be held in all communities of Yerevan.
The events dedicated to the 2788th anniversary of the capital will
be concluded with a concert at Karen Demirchyan complex, which will
be followed by a salute.

SARKOZY SETS TERMS TO AVOID FRENCH ARMENIA VOTE
Gulf Times, Qatar
Oct 10 2006
Some 500 of the leftist Turkey’s Worker Party hold a black wreath
reading “France stop! Massacres of Armenians is a lie” as Turkish
riot police block their way to French Consulate in Istanbul yesterday
PARIS: French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday set three
conditions for Turkey to avoid a vote by French deputies on a bill
making it a crime to deny Armenians suffered genocide at the hands
of Ottoman Turks. Parliament, dominated by the Union for a Popular
Movement that Sarkozy leads, is due on Thursday to discuss an
opposition Socialist bill on Armenian deaths during World War I.
Turkey strongly denies the 1.5mn deaths constitute genocide.
Though the conservative majority in parliament opposes the bill, Turkey
fears many opponents will vote for the bill for fear of upsetting
France’s 400,000-strong Armenian diaspora ahead of presidential and
parliamentary elections next year.
Sarkozy, conservative frontrunner for the presidential race and
a long-standing opponent of Turkey’s EU entry, said he had set out
conditions for avoiding a vote in a telephone call with Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan.
“The first is that there is a bilateral commission between Armenia and
Turkey which has equal representation, so that these two countries can
conduct the work of acknowledging history,” he told France Inter radio.
“The second condition is that Turkey reopen its borders with Armenia.
And the third condition is that Turkey gives up its penal law which
forbids people speaking of the genocide in Turkey.”
He said he was not sure whether he had convinced Erdogan but added
that the Turkish premier had taken note of them.
Erdogan on Sunday criticised the bill and Turkish lawmakers warned
last week that illegal Armenian immigrants in Turkey may be expelled
and French trade hurt if the measure were passed.
According to officials at the Turkish prime minister’s office, Erdogan
defended Turkey’s position in the phone conversation with Sarkozy.
“We are the open and transparent side. We have been unable to receive
the necessary response (from Armenia) to our well-intended proposal
to set up a joint commission, and Article 301 has nothing to do with
this issue,” the officials quoted Erdogan as saying.
Article 301 in Turkey’s penal code is used to prosecute writers and
journalists for insulting Turkish identity or state institutions. The
EU says the article must be scrapped, but Turkey has asked for
more time.
Ankara strongly denies estimates that 1.5mn Armenians perished at
the hands of Ottoman Turks in a systematic genocide, saying large
numbers of both Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks died in a partisan
conflict raging at that time.
Sarkozy also said Turkey was not guaranteed EU entry even if it
accepted calls for it to admit Armenians suffered genocide.
Turkey began its EU entry talks last year, though is not expected to
join for many years. – Reuters.

APRIL 24 MAY BE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE COMMEMORATION DAY IN ARGENTINA
PanARMENIAN.Net
07.10.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ April 24 is not ruled out to become a Commemoration
Day of Armenian Genocide Victims at the state level, Armenian
Ambassador in Argentina Vladimir Karmirshalyan stated. In his words,
the local Armenian community joins efforts to that end, including work
with representative of various states in the Senate. Within past month
two major states of Argentina – Buenos Aires and Cordoba – announced
April 24 as a Commemoration Day of Armenian Genocide Victims. According
to the law adopted in those states, the Armenian Genocide is included
in curricula. The city of Buenos Aires has also announced April 24 as
a Day of Armenian Genocide, reports the Public TV Company of Armenia.

MARXISTS SAY CANDIDATES SHOULD PASS AN EXAM
Panorama.am
17:36 05/10/06
Davit Hakobyan, chairman of Marxist Party, said “it is a national
tragedy” that we formulate our Election Code on the advice of Venice
Committee, quoting a national proverb which says that a person should
not be guided by what his neighbor says. The chairman suggested
to set the election deposit in the amount of 10% of income. The
Marxists also says that those who will not go to elections should
be called for responsibility. He believes that this step may
reduce election fraud. Hakobyan favors 40 majoritarian and 90
proportional rate. Moreover, he suggests that the candidates pass
special examination from world history, evolution of state and law,
world public science and rhetoric. He suggests to register only those
candidates who will get “pass.” /Panorama.am/

Yerevan Considers Consultations between Armenian and Azeri FMS as Useful
PanARMENIAN.Net
06.10.2006 19:08 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian and Azeri FMS Vartan Oskanian and Elmar
Mammadyarov meet under the aegis of the OSCE MG co-chairs in Moscow
October 6. During consultations in the Russian MFA the Ministers
referred to issues that are still unsolved in the Karabakh talks,
as well as ideas of the co-chairs regarding overcoming those
differences. According to Oskanian, the Armenian party evaluates
the consultations as positive, noting that the issues raised by the
co-chairs during these will be seriously discussed in Yerevan before
the next meeting that is scheduled in late October.

Turkish economy may become growth engine of Europe
FreshPlaza, Netherlands
Oct 6 2006
Turkish Industrialists & Businessmen Association (TUSÝAD) Chairman Omer
Sabancý has stated that Turkey could not be a member of the European
Union without convincing the European public opinion, and added “Truths
about Turkey should be told. A fair evaluation should be made. Turkey’s
membership in EU is an additional value for all. Turkish economy may
become growth engine of Europe. ” TUSÝAD Chairman delivered a speech
in Paris, France at a panel titled ‘Global Challenges of Europe and
Turkey’ within the scope of Turkish Week.
Reminding that the TUSÝAD demanded the abolition of article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code within the context of freedom of expression, Sabancý
went on to say, “When we make steps toward more freedom of expression,
I cannot comprehend the attitude on freedom of expression in France”,
referring to recent attempts in France to legislate a prohibition on
any speech against alleged Armenian Genocide issue. Sabancý added
he thinks such an attitude befitted a country fearing the truths.
–Boundary_(ID_WRRHv8aPhRO4BctAvft1pA)–

GUL – REHN JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE
Turkish Press
Oct 5 2006
ANKARA – “Turkey is aware of its deficiencies in the EU membership
process. The most important things are the determination, the capacity
of overcoming difficulties and showing everyone that we have that
capacity,” said Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul on Wednesday.
Gul held a joint news conference together with EU Commissioner for
Enlargement Olli Rehn.
“Mr. Rehn’s visit coincided with the first anniversary of the opening
of entry talks between Turkey and the EU. We have recorded important
developments last year. Turkey has maintained the screening process
successfully. We consider the negotiation process a transformation for
Turkey. We also consider this process a period of modernization and a
period of increasing our standards to the level of EU-member states,”
he said.
“Turkey is aware of its deficiencies in the EU membership process.
The most important things are the determination, the capacity of
overcoming difficulties and showing everyone that we have that
capacity. Therefore, we need the negotiation process,” he said.
Gul kept on saying, “Turkey has become a center of economic
attraction since October 3rd, 2005. We will continue fulfilling our
commitments. We expect the EU to contribute to our efforts in this
process.”
Upon a question about the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
Gul said, “we have a long negotiation process ahead of us. We will
increase all standards in Turkey.”
When asked whether the resolution in France envisaging to punish
those who deny the so-called Armenian genocide was against freedom of
thought, Gul said, “during my meetings in France, I stressed that the
resolution was nothing but a contradiction. I hope that the resolution
will be rejected.”
Upon another question about proposal of Finland on the Cyprus issue,
Gul told reporters, “if we succeed in resolving the Cyprus issue,
it will be beneficial for everyone. Together with Greece and Cyprus
as a whole, we can create an area of cooperation in the eastern
Mediterranean. Turkish Cypriots have fulfilled their responsibilities
to this end. We expect the same positive attitude from the other
party. We told Finland which holds the rotating EU presidency, that if
isolation of Turkish Cypriots was lifted, we could take some tangible
steps. However, no one should expect Turkey to take unilateral steps
as long as the isolation continued.”
Speaking at the news conference, Rehn said that there was a difficult
and long period ahead of Turkey. He said that both Gul and he was
determined to this end, adding that Turkey and the EU would work
together to find solution to several problems which would enable the
parties to maintain the negotiation process.
Noting that he came to Ankara to mark the first anniversary of the
opening of entry talks between Turkey and the EU, Rehn said that the
Progress Report to be released in the coming weeks would include many
developments and several deficiencies.
Rehn told reporters that they were aware of the current threat of
terrorism, adding that terrorism jeopardized not only Turkey but the
whole world.
He said that they appreciated the reform process in Turkey, noting
that there were still many things to do.
Rehn stressed that his meetings in Ankara focused on freedom of
expression and freedom of religion.
He highlighted importance of Turkey’s fulfilling its commitments
stemming from the additional protocol extending the Customs Union
deal to cover the whole EU-member countries during the presidency
of Finland.
Referring to the Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK),
Rehn said some people in Turkey were tried because of their critical
attitude. He said that those trials stemmed from indefinite expressions
in the article.
Upon a question about the so-called Armenian genocide, Rehn said that
recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide was not a pre-condition
neither in Turkey’s negotiation process nor in the full membership
process. He highlighted importance of creating an appropriate
atmosphere for discussions over the issue in order to provide an
atmosphere of compromise between Turkish and Armenian societies.

TUSIAD HEAD SABANCI: “FRANCE’S STANCE SHOWS ITS FEAR”
Turkish Press
Oct 5 2006
Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD)
Chairman Omer Sabanci yesterday criticized the French bill proposing
punishment for people who question the so-called Armenian genocide,
saying that he couldn’t see a French measure restricting expression as
suitable while on the contrary Turkey is taking steps to expand freedom
of expression. “This stance belongs to societies which are afraid
of the truth,” said Sabanci. TUSIAD held a panel called “Europe’s
Global Difficulties and Turkey” in Paris as part of Turkish Week,
marking the first anniversary of the beginning of Ankara’s European
Union membership talks. Taking the floor at the panel, French Trade
Minister Christine Lagarde pointed to Turkey’s importance and said,
“France trusts in Turkey’s future.”

TURKEY AGAIN URGED TO STEP UP REFORMS, AVOID ‘TRAIN CRASH’
Doha Time
Gulf Times, Qatar
Oct 4 2006
ANKARA: Turkey faces a “train crash” in its relations with the European
Union if it fails to step up democratic reforms and resolve a trade
row with Cyprus, EU enlargement chief Olli Rehn said here yesterday.
The stern warning came on the first anniversary of the inauguration
of Turkey’s accession talks and just weeks before the EU issues
on November 8 a crucial report on the country’s progress towards
membership.
“I want to make sure that the first anniversary (of the talks) is
not the last one,” Rehn told a news conference. “I want to work for
avoiding a train crash in Turkey-EU relations.”
Highlighting the benefits of Turkey’s EU membership, the enlargement
commissioner said it would ease mounting tensions between the West
and Muslim countries if Turkey carries out the necessary reforms and
meets all EU criteria.
“In the current situation when… relations between Europe and Islam
is the greatest challenge of our time, it simply won’t make sense to
allow the things to lead to a train crash,” he said.
Rehn urged Ankara to pass reforms to ensure freedom of speech,
a major area of concern after dozens of intellectuals were charged
with denigrating the Turkish nation under a penal code article, and
to grant trade privileges to Cyprus under a customs union agreement.
“Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of our common democratic
values. I cannot even imagine a member of the EU that will not
respect such a fundamental European principle,” Rehn said earlier at
a conference on trade union rights.
A string of intellectuals, including best-selling writers Orhan Pamuk
and Elif Shafak, have stood trial under Article 301 of the penal code,
which envisages up to three years in jail for insulting “Turkishness”
and state institutions.
No one has yet been imprisoned under the provision, but the
appeals court in July upheld the suspended six-month sentence of
a Turkish-Armenian journalist, setting an alarming precedent for
pending cases.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he is open to proposals
to amend the article, but no action has been taken so far amid vocal
opposition by nationalist-minded Justice Minister Cemil Cicek.
Speaking after talks with Rehn, Cicek rejected EU pressure to
amend Article 301 before the crucial November 8 report, arguing that
“parliament is not under the government’s command,” and that an upsurge
in Kurdish rebel violence this year was making it harder for Ankara
to expand freedoms.
He also charged that freedom of speech was being breached in EU
countries, pointing to a French draft law that would make it a
punishable offence to deny that the massacres of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.
“While asking why freedom of expression is being restricted in Turkey,
one cannot turn a blind eye to a draft law that will be taken up on
October 12 in an EU country,” he said.
On the row over Cyprus, Rehn said he was hopeful that a formula
proposed by the EU’s Finnish presidency would resolve the stalemate.
Turkey is under pressure to open its air and sea ports to the
internationally recognised Cyprus government under a customs union
agreement with the EU, or face a suspension of its membership talks.
Ankara insists that Cypriot ships and planes will remain barred from
Turkish ports unless the EU unless delivers on its promise to ease
trade restrictions on the island’s breakaway Turkish Cypriot state,
recognised only by Turkey.
“The Finnish formula has not been rejected by any of the parties so
far, including Turkey,” Rehn said. “I trust all parties sense the
seriousness of the issue and try their best to find a solution.”
He also called on Ankara to improve the rights of women and non-Muslim
religious communities as “other very important issues of urgency.”
In another sticking point, Rehn urged the government to keep up reforms
to strengthen civilian control over the influential Turkish military
“like in any European democracy.”
On Monday, chief of staff Yasar Buyukanit angrily rejected EU criticism
of its influence in politics, saying that the charges had exceeded
“the limits of tolerance,” and asserted the army’s right to have
a say on issues concerning national security and the protection of
Turkey’s strictly secular system.
Rehn was scheduled to meet with Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul as well as other officials before he wraps up his visit tomorrow.