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05/17/2005
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1) ARF Lebanon Boycotts Beirut Elections
2) Oskanian Rejects Azeri Idea for Karabagh
3) Amnesty International Concerned about Turkish Penal Code Draft
4) Armenian, Georgian Prosecutor Generals Discuss Cooperation
5) Erdogan Complains to Council of Europe about Genocide ‘Lobbying’
6) Minsk Group Content with Aliyev, Kocharian Meeting
7) Aliyev Calls for International Attention to Karabagh Conflict
8) Abkhazia Willing to House Russian Bases
1) ARF Lebanon Boycotts Beirut Elections
BEIRUT–Lebanon’s Armenian Revolutionary Federation Central Committee (ARF-CC)
on Monday, effectively called for a boycott of the Beirut elections due to
begin May 29.
The ARF, which enjoys widespread support among Beirut’s significant Armenian
minority, held a special session to review recent, sudden developments,
including the exclusion of ARF candidates from Saad Hariri’s electoral list
for
Beirut’s three constituencies in the Lebanese general election. Hariri is the
son of the slain former premier Rafik Hariri.
At a press conference organized by the party, ARF CC member Hovhannes
Taslakian said that the list ignores those forces that hold actual political
weight in Beirut. Hariri has also disregarded calls by various sectors of
Lebanon’s community for the adoption of a new and more equitable electoral
law.
In order to remedy the issue of unfair representation and to promote actual
participation in the electoral process, the ARF said in its statement it would
spare no efforts to seek a lawful and political resolution to reforming that
law.
The statement also says the party will oppose biased policy that rejects
certain sides and opinions that are, in fact, based on democratic principals.
As a result, the ARF has decided to boycott the Beirut elections, and called
on supporters to do the same. The party hopes to send a strong message that it
rejects those candidates put forth by Hariri because they represent the
smallest sector of Lebanon’s Armenian community–and not the majority will.
Taslakian told reporters the Hariri does not want to take into consideration
individuals based on their faction or party affiliation, which suggests
that he
does not want to deal with political parties, but individuals.
2) Oskanian Rejects Azeri Idea for Karabagh
WARSAW (Armenpress)–Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian rejected on Monday Azeri
president Ilham Aliyev’s proposal to grant Karabagh “the highest status of
autonomy.” Talking to correspondents in Warsaw on the sideline of a Council of
Europe summit, Oskanian said autonomy is “a stage which is over” for the
Armenians of Karabagh.
“They had this autonomy as part of Azerbaijan under the Soviet Union and were
discriminated against by the Azerbaijani authorities,” Oskanian said.
He also criticized Aliyev for saying that Armenia has occupied Azerbaijan’s
territory. “Armenia had to intervene after Azerbaijan waged a war against the
peaceful population of Karabagh in their drive towards self-determination,” he
said. “We are conducting talks with Azerbaijan today only because the
authorities of this country strongly reject any contact with the Nagorno
Karabagh authorities.”
He described as “positive” the meeting between the Armenian and Azeri
presidents, which took place in Warsaw on May 15. Oskanian expressed hope that
bilateral efforts aimed at finding a long-term solution to the Karabagh
conflict would continue.
3) Amnesty International Concerned about Turkish Penal Code Draft
In an action alert issued on May 13, Amnesty International expressed its deep
concerns about some of the worrying provisions of the draft law in the Turkish
Penal Code, much of which may be used to unnecessarily restrict fundamental
human rights and which may lead to people being imprisoned for the peaceful
exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
One particular concern of the Penal Code has been the domain of Art 305 that
would, in essence, criminalize any statements regarding the Turkish occupation
of northern Cyprus or the Armenian genocide as being against the national
interest of the Republic of Turkey.
Amnesty International said in its statement that a new version of the Turkish
Penal Code (TPC)–currently before the Turkish parliament for approval in June
2005–may be used to unnecessarily restrict the right to freedom of expression
and could result in people being jailed as prisoners of conscience. It also
leaves open the possibility of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation
within the law, and retains obstacles to prosecutions for torture.
The new TPC has been presented as a reforming measure designed to improve
human rights protection in Turkey, as it attempts to bring its laws into line
with the requirements for membership of the European Union, the statement
said.
While the new TPC does propose many positive changes–for example, it
increases
the punishment for those convicted of torture–it contains numerous
restrictions on fundamental rights. Provisions covering freedom of expression,
which have been used in the past to prosecute people or imprison them as
prisoners of conscience, remain.
Article 159 of the old TPC, which criminalized acts that “insult or belittle”
various state institutions, is one that Amnesty International has repeatedly
called on the authorities to abolish. It reappears as Article 301 of the new
TPC in the section entitled “Crimes against symbols of the state’s sovereignty
and the honor of its organs” (Articles 299-301). Amnesty International is
concerned that this section could be used to criminalize legitimate expression
of dissent and opinion.
New articles have been introduced which appear to introduce restrictions to
fundamental rights. Article 305 of the new TPC criminalizes “acts against the
fundamental national interest.”
The explanation attached to the draft, when the law was first presented to
Parliament, provided as examples of such crimes, “making propaganda for the
withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or for the acceptance of a
settlement in this issue detrimental to Turkey…or, contrary to historical
truths, that the Armenians suffered a genocide after the First World War.”
Amnesty International considers that the imposition of a criminal penalty for
any such statements–unless intended or likely to incite violence–would be a
clear breach of international standards safeguarding freedom of expression.
The law was supposed to enter into force on April 1, 2005; however, in the
face of forceful objections by Turkish journalists that the TPC could be used
to greatly restrict their activities and even imprison them, the government
agreed to delay this until 1 June 2005 in order to make amendments.
On May 3, the ruling Justice and Development [AK] party submitted its
proposed
changes to the draft TPC. While some small changes have been made–mainly the
removal of provisions that allowed for increased sentences when breaches of
the
code took place in the media–most of the restrictive articles remain and have
not been changed. In at least one instance, the ruling party is apparently
trying to introduce even greater restrictions: for example, the proposal
suggests that Article 305 should be altered to explicitly allow for the
prosecution of “foreigners” as well as Turkish citizens.
Article 122 of the draft, which forbids discrimination on the basis of
“language, race, color, gender, political thought, philosophical belief,
religion, denomination and other reasons” originally listed “sexual
orientation,” but this was removed from the draft at the last moment. Amnesty
International is disturbed that discrimination on the basis of sexuality is
not
criminalized in the new law.
In addition, Amnesty International said that the statute of limitations still
applies in trials of people accused of torture. While the new law has extended
this time limit from seven-and-a-half years to 10 years, it is common for
trials of alleged torturers to be deliberately protracted and ultimately
abandoned because of this provision, thereby contributing to a climate of
impunity. Given the frequency with which this happens, Amnesty International
considers that there should be no statute of limitations for the crime of
torture.
4) Armenian, Georgian Prosecutor Generals Discuss Cooperation
–Desecration of Armenian churches in Georgia to be examined
YEREVAN (Yerkir)–Georgia’s prosecutor general Zurab Adeiashvili said the
facts about the desecration of Armenian churches and sanctuaries in Georgia
will be adequately examined. During a news conference held jointly with
Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian, Adeiashvili announced that one
such criminal case has already been launched.
Hovsepian also said that Armenian law-enforcement officers face serious
problems when investigating cases stolen cars–usually brought to Armenia from
Georgia. He said investigations have revealed that this “business” is run
mainly by residents of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Praising his Georgian counterparts for their assistance in tracking down and
apprehending Armenian criminals who flee to Georgia, Hovsepian said Armenian
investigators dispatched to Georgia are given enormous support by their
Georgian colleagues.
Adeiashvili and his delegation arrived in Yerevan on May 16.
5) Erdogan Complains to Council of Europe about Genocide ‘Lobbying’
(dpa, Reuters)–Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday
criticized parliamentary resolutions by European states honoring up to 1.5
million Armenians who died or were killed in massacres and deportations by
Ottoman Turks during 1915-23.
Speaking at the Council of Europe Summit in Warsaw, Erdogan termed the
killings the “so-called Armenian genocide” and said current discussions
amounted to “lobbying” which Turkey would not support.
“We say that we do not appreciate any lobbying efforts that do not find their
basis in documents,” he said, speaking through an interpreter. “By taking
action in other parliaments, this will not have positive effects on the
issue.”
The Turkish leader also declared his country was prepared to open its
archives
and called on Armenia and other states to do the same to review the events of
90 years ago.
“We opened our archives, one million classified documents. We ask Armenia to
open its archives and we ask other countries to contribute too…If there are
decisions to be taken after that, they will be taken. But not on the basis of
lobbying and parliamentary decisions based on such lobbying,” he said.
President Robert Kocharian, who also attended the summit, called for the
1915-23 killings to be recognized as genocide. Turkish media said Erdogan had
cancelled a planned meeting in Warsaw with Kocharian, which had been designed
to underline Turkey’s desire for better ties with Armenia, as a protest
against
the reference to the genocide issue.
While most historians say between 1.2 and 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were
killed by Muslim Turks in a bloody wave of deportations and massacres, Turkey
says there were no more than 300,000 dead and that the deaths were not
deliberately planned or desired.
Turkey insists the events are being used as a black mark against its bid for
European Union (EU) membership. Ankara is due to start membership negotiations
with the bloc in October but EU officials caution that talks could last
some 15
years.
A number of European parliaments have adopted resolutions honoring Armenian
victims and which mainly define the killings as genocide including Greece,
France, Sweden, Italy, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland and Cyprus.
Germany’s parliament plans to adopt a resolution by this summer but a draft
text expressly leaves out the word “genocide.” German sponsors say they do not
want to make life more difficult for those in Turkey seeking an open
discussion
of the Armenian question.
6) Minsk Group Content with Aliyev, Kocharian Meeting
MOSCOW (Itar-Tass)–President Robert Kocharian and Azeri president Ilham
Aliyev
showed serious interest in reaching a settlement in the Karabagh conflict,
co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group said in a statement after the meeting of
the two countries’ leaders in Warsaw on Tuesday.
“Orders have been given to chiefs of foreign ministries of these states to
continue the interaction with the co-chairmen on the basis of the positive
results that have been achieved during the talks that took place last year
within the framework of the Prague process in order to approach the working
out
of mutually acceptable proposals for settlement of the conflict,” the document
said.
The co-chairmen of the Minsk group “are compiling a schedule of consultations
with the sides for the nearest months.”
Kocharian and Aliyev held two-hour face-to-face talks in Warsaw, and
presented
“their considerations and conclusions” to the co-chairmen after their
meeting.
The Russian and French foreign ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Michel Barnier,
spoke at the opening of the meeting and expressed on behalf of the states
“support to the activity of the Minsk group and commitment to a peaceful
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
7) Aliyev Calls for International Attention to Karabagh Conflict
WARSAW (Itar-Tass)–Addressing the meeting of the Council of Europe in Warsaw
on Monday, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said that international attention to
the Karabagh conflict may help resolve it.
“The European Union, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe should give more attention to the problem of
Nagorno-Karabagh that destabilizes the situation in the Caucasus and is an
obstacle to Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe,” Aliyev said. “We are for a
peaceful settlement of the conflict and we fulfill all the obligations we
assumed when entering the Council of Europe.”
He said Azerbaijan “is ready for a compromise, for granting a high level of
autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh, and ensuring security of the citizens of the
region.” Baku and Yerevan, Aliyev believes, “may achieve progress regarding
the
territorial integrity of our country.”
“We demand the restoration of the territorial integrity,” Aliyev said. “In
the
21st century, it is impossible for one member-country of the Council of Europe
to occupy the territory of another country.”
The Azeri president also noted that Baku “is heartened by the approach of the
Council of Europe to the matter.” Aliyev expressed his belief that it is
possible to achieve a peaceful solution by the implementation of the
resolution
of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that was passed in
January of this year.
Aliyev noted, “The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh led to large loss of life, to
the occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, and to the
violation of
one of the principles of the Council of Europe–human rights.”
8) Abkhazia Willing to House Russian Bases
TBILISI (Itar-Tass)–Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed republic of
Abkhazia
Alexander Ankvab expressed readiness to house the two military bases that
Moscow is pulling out from Georgia.
“We are ready to accommodate the Russian military bases in Abkhazia. We have
the appropriate infrastructure,” Ankvab said in an interview with the
Tbilisi-based Rustavi-2 television company in Moscow.
He did not indicate the Abkhazian districts where the bases might be deployed
or the number of the Russian personnel Abkhazia was ready to accommodate.
Commenting on this statement, Georgia’s State Minister for Conflicts
Settlement said Abkhazia is a part of Georgia, therefore the issue of the
Russian bases in Georgia is not within its capacity.
“This issue is a subject of talks foremost between Moscow and Tbilisi,”
Khaindrava stressed.
He said the wish of Sukhumi’s leadership to deploy Russian military bases in
Abkhazia is unrealistic, and hardly surprising amidst the “militaristic
rhetoric and various exercises” held in the self-proclaimed republic in the
recent months.
“Regrettably, it shows that the peace process is not yet as intensive as one
would wish to see,” the minister said.
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