ANKARA: General Convicted For Defamation Of Assassinated Hrant Dink

GENERAL CONVICTED FOR DEFAMATION OF ASSASSINATED HRANT DINK

BIAnet
Nov 9 2009
Turkey

Brigadier General Karaduman was sentenced to pay 2,000 Turkish Lira
in compensation for hate speeches against assassinated Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink.

Erol ONDEROÄ~^LU [email protected] Istanbul – BİA News Center09
November 2009, Monday The Bakırköy 4th Court of First Instance in
Istanbul adjudged Brigadier General Dursun Ali Karaduman from the
Giresun Gendarmerie Regional Command on the eastern Black Sea Coast
to pay 2,000 Turkish Lira (approximately â~B¬ 900) in compensation
for damages for mental anguish. Karaduman had targeted assassinated
editor-in-chief of the Armenian Agos newspaper Hrant Dink in a poem
he read out at a soldier’s funeral. Furthermore, he was quoted as
saying at another soldier’s funeral, "They even condemn it and raise
their voices when a traitor is killed".

The Dink family symbolically set the amount of the compensation to
1 TL. Yet, in order to be able to hear the case the court raised it
of 6,000 TL

"Dink family plans to donate compensation to Nezin Foundation" Lawyer
of the Dink family Deniz Tuna told bianet that the family partially
accepted the amount claimed by the court and said that the family
plans to donate the 2,000 TL decided by the court on 6 November to
Nesin Foundation to support victims of the flood that hit parts of
Istanbul in September this year.

Karaduman allegedly defamed Dink twice after the journalist had been
assassinated on 19 January 2007. The first time he targeted Dink in
a speech Karaduman made at a soldier’s funeral on 9 April 2007. The
second time he mentioned Dink’s name to his disfavour in a poem he
read out at another soldier’s funeral on 20 June 2007.

The court found Karaduman guilty of attacking Dink’s moral integrity
on the grounds of his speech and his poem.

Hate speeches on 2 funerals In his speech in April 2007 Karaduman said,
"…the ones who panned this games and who was nominated for it must
have been informed very well that the country and the nation of the
Turkish Republic is an indivisible whole. Our fight will continue until
there is not a single terrorist left. Today the American Senate, the
French Parliament, the English House of Lords and the EU Parliament
in Brussels have condemned the ones who killed you. They even condemn
it and raise their voices when a traitor is killed. The immortal
heroes who shed holy blood, who made this geography our homeland
and who entrusted it with us; I condemn all the traitors and their
supporters for you here today".

In June Karaduman implemented elements of hate into a poem he read
at the funeral of soldier Kadir Aydın. He complained about the
"world’s indifference" and compared the situation of Aydın, who
"carried a thoroughly original Turkish name" as Karaduman put it,
with journalist Hrant Dink.

A total number of 20 defendants are tried before the 14th High
Criminal Court in the context of the Dink murder., 8 gendarmerie
officials of the Trabzon Gendarmerie Command are prosecuted under
charges of "neglect of duty" because they did not prevent the murder
despite referring information of the Intelligence Office prior to
the assassination.

Bako Sahakyan: Karabakh Telecom Is One Of Key Factors Promoting Econ

BAKO SAHAKYAN: KARABAKH TELECOM IS ONE OF KEY FACTORS PROMOTING ECONOMIC GROWTH

PanARMENIAN.Net
08.11.2009 15:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On November 7, NKR President Bako Sahakyan met
with Karabakh Telecom CJSC’s General Director Ralph Yirikyan. Parties
discussed issues concerning 2010 mobile communication public programs
for Artsakh.

As noted by Mr. Sahakyan, Karabakh Telecom is one of key factors
promoting economic the country’s economic growth. The meeting was
attended by NKR Prime Minister Ara Harutyunyan, NKR President’s press
service reports.

BAKU: Aliyev discusses NK conflict settlement with OSCE MG co-chairs

news.az, Azerbaijan
Nov 7 2009

President of Azerbaijan discusses Karabakh conflict settlement with
OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
Sat 07 November 2009 | 05:24 GMT

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received Friday the OSCE’s Minsk
Group co-chairs mediating the Karabakh conflict settlement. At the
meeting the sides exchanged views on the current state of the
negotiation process and its prospects

The meeting was also attended by personal representative of the OSCE’s
chairman-in-office Anzhey Kaspshik. This is the second meeting of the
co-chairs with I.Aliyev after their current visit to the region and
this time their meeting was held justafter their return from Yerevan.

Leyla
News.Az

Balkans: US-Style Wahhabism

BALKANS: US-STYLE WAHHABISM
Vladislav Gulevich (Ukraine)

en.fondsk.ru
04.11.2009

Over a year ago the US and its European vassals had recognized
the independence of Kosovo. What will not be forgotten are the
fortitude of Serb patriots and the disgusting Hague trials during
which unbelievably unfair sentences were handed out to them. Yet, the
story is far from over. These days hundreds of NGOs based in the US,
Europe, and Arab countries are "promoting democracy" in Kosovo. It
should be realized to what extent their activities mesh with those
of the Albanian criminal underworld.

In Kosovo a dense network of mostly Islamic non-government foundations
and organizations are establishing numerous schools, ostensibly
to study Koran but practically to pursue an agenda not limited to
the dissemination of religious knowledge. In particular, the system
includes a number of Saudi organizations such as Al-Haramain Islamic
Foundation, Joint Committee for Rescuing Kosovo and Chechnya, and The
Saudi Joint Committee for the Relief of Kosovo, as well as Muslim
NGOs from other countries – Al Vakh Al Islami, The World Assembly
for Muslim Youth, The International Islamic Relief Organization,
The Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage, and Kaliri il Merilis.

All the Saudi foundations are operated by the Saudi Relief Committee
headquartered in Riyadh. Its Kosovo office is located on the Bill
Clinton Boulevard in Pristina. The Kosovo branch is headed by
Jael Hamza Dzalaidan, an individual linked to Osama Bin Laden. The
mission of the Committee is to coordinate the efforts of all Saudi
NGOs in the former Yugoslavia aimed at spreading the Wahhabi brand
of Islam, with which the population of the geographic region was not
even familiar prior to the NATO occupation. The Committee provides
financial support to a range of Albanian organizations espousing
extremist views such as the Islamic Student Front, Prizren Youth,
and Albanian Youth of Kosovo and is also known to have sponsored the
terrorist Albanian National Army.

When Arab charities in Kosovo offer aid to villages and towns,
the consent of their residents to the construction of new mosques
is set as the prerequisite. Agents of Saudi intelligence services
establish contacts with the imams of the new religious centers, and
the believers attending them are subsequently regarded as candidates
for recruitment. Routinely the mosques are visited by Arab preachers
– typically individuals with combat experience from Lebanon, Iran,
Iraq, and Pakistan – who also act as military instructors. Along with
religious indoctrination they teach the younger generation of Kosovars
combat in urban settings and sabotage. Liaison officers of the Islamic
Jihad terrorist group based in Egypt were spotted in Kosovo. There
is a community of Albanian students at the Cairo University, a school
notorious for serially bringing up Muslim terrorists.

Muslim terrorists are especially active in the Prizren and Pec
regions. Communities of followers of the most aggressive Islamic
movements reside in Pec, and, unfortunately, support for them at
the Balkans is broadening. It is generally believed that there exist
three main centers of Islamic extremism at the Balkans – in Skopje
(Macedonia), Tirana (Albania), and Kosovo.

US security expert and OSCE Kosovo mission officer Thomas Gimble
asserts that Kosovo has grown into a heaven for Islamic terrorist
organizations and that Al Qaeda is massively pouring money into
the region. The Saudi Arabia, Iran, Bahrain, and Qatar as well as
the Hezbollah terrorist group are jointly forming a whole army of
jihadists potentially numbering up to 75,000 people.

The process underway in Kosovo is not an Islamic renaissance but the
advent of Wahhabism which is the most aggressive and irreconcilable
aberration of Islam. It is driven not only by the Saudi Arabia
but also by its "big brother" – the US. The latter may claim to
be uprooting Wahhabism in Afghanistan but, strange as it may seem,
the US has no problem coexisting with it in Kosovo. Manipulations
perpetrated by the US are meant to create a source of permanent
tension and destabilization in Europe. It is not surprising, therefore,
that Western humanitarian missions – Charles Stuart Mott Foundation,
East-West Management Institute, Foundation for Democratic Initiatives,
The Balkan Trust for Democracy, The German Marshall Fund, Rockefeller
Brothers Fund – are working side by side with Wahhabi preachers.

It is stated proudly at the site of the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation
that currently NGOs are mushrooming in Kosovo. According to Kosovo
branch head Bakshim Rahmani, the number of NGOs registered in the
province has reached 5,000!

Implementing its political projects in the region, the US cooperates
tightly with the leaders of the Albanian mafia. Curiously, "the
world’s foremost democracy" and the Albanian criminal groups seem
to have common objectives. The most influential leaders of Albanian
criminal underworld are Rami Mustafi, leader of the Rami-Guys group
controlling the east of Kosovo (Kacanik-Gnilana-Vitina), Albanian
politician Hashim Thaci, Recep Salemi, and Agim Cheku. The merger of
the Albanian politics and organized crime brought to life a monster
which poses a threat to the entire Central and South Europe. Backed
by Tirana and Washington, the Albanian organized crime is forging
political parties to infiltrate the Kosovo administration. For example,
Thaci, Salemi, and Cheku established the Kosovo Democratic Party. Their
allies are notorious individuals like Havit Haliti, Suleyman Semimi,
Agim Shyla, and Samid Lushtaku. Lushtaku and Semimi are the founders
of the Kosovo Liberation Army and former field commanders of the
Defense Corps Kosovo. All of these people have individual sectors
of responsibility in the politics and organized crime spheres while
acting under the control of the Democratic Party of Kosovo. So,
Thaci is the party leader, and Haliti is the director of secret
service and financial operations.

Currently the top criminal positions in Kosovo are shared by the
Rami-guys and several other groups having links with US and Albanian
intelligence services. Some of them are characterized below.

The Brakai group is led by brothers Albert, Ilin, and Fatmir Brakai.

They maintain close ties with former Albanian Prime Minister and
present-day parliamentarian Fatos Nano. Information about the
connections between Nano and the Albanian mafia in Italy surfaces
regularly in the Italian media. The Brakai group controls Pristina
and the territories along the Drenica Valley.

The dominion of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj’s
group spans Pec-Decani-Dakovica. It is sponsored by major Albanian
businessman and arms smuggler Ekrem Luka. The arms deliveries are
controlled by Luka’s trustee Ali Haski who is linked to Albania’s
SHIK security service. Luka is an ally of Thaci’s clan connected to
it via Haliti.

Several other groups are also dominant in the formerly Serbian Kosovo.

Florim Maloku controls the smuggling of cigarettes, cars, and alcohol
into Kosovo (he is known to have donated $300 to the Kosovo Liberation
Army in the past). Ismet Aslani, an individual linked to Thaci and to
Kosovo’s number one smuggler Nuredin Ibishi, controls the deliveries
of marijuana, heroin, and fuel to the region. Salli Nimani, whose
donations to the cause of the Kosovo Liberation Army totaled $3 mln,
supplies firearms from Albania, occasionally transiting them by cars
with diplomatic license plates. He also helps former Kosovo Liberation
Army guerrillas find jobs in Presevo, Medveda and Bujanovac, thus
broadening the niche of his criminal activity. As a result, currently
Nimani is also smuggling firearms into the above regions. Shukri Buya,
a smuggler and a confidant of SHIK and the Albanian mafia, sponsors
the Black Eagle paramilitary formation.

As it follows from all of the above, the Islamization of the formerly
Serbian territories is paralleled by their criminalization. The
Albanian mafia patronized by Washington is penetrating the Kosovo
administration and propelling its agents to significant political and
government positions. Given the current disposition, the abandoned
Serbian minority in the region has practically no chances to survive.

"My beloved Serbia, I am ready to sacrifice my life in your name. I
am aware what I give away and for what". This was the vow of Serbian
volunteers preparing to fight the enemies of their country. Hopefully,
Serbs will find the strength not to give in at the face of new
hardships.

President Of National Academy Of Science Of Armenia Concerned Over ‘

PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCE OF ARMENIA CONCERNED OVER ‘FINANCIAL’ FUTURE OF ARMENIAN SCIENCE

ArmInfo
2009-11-04 16:28:00

ArmInfo. Science Development Strategy in Armenia for 2020 will be
discussed at the National Academy of Science (NAS) on December 4.

NAS President Radik Martirosyan said in a press conference at
the National Press Club on Wednesday that the Strategy suggests
increasing the share of science in GDP to 2% instead of the present
0.2%. The share of science in the budgetary expenditure is less than
1%, NAS president said. He highlighted that financing of science in
Armenia is far behind not only developed states (France and Sweden
where share of science in GDP is 4%) but also neighboring Georgia and
Azerbaijan where this figure is 0.5% of GDP. In Europe the government
provides over 100,000 euros per every scientist whereas in Armenia
this financing makes up just 3,000. Whether the country will reach
the indicators set forth in the Science Development Strategy in 11
is not clear even for the NAS President. "Such documents are often
declarative," he admitted. Despite little financing, science keeps on
stability developing in the country, R. Martirosyan said. The most
significant results have been registered in physics, astrophysics
and biology. R. Martirosyan highlighted that scientists are actively
establishing contacts with their foreign colleagues. For instance, an
agreement has been recently achieved with France for provision of 10
grants and establishment of 3 joint labs for research in the sphere of
physics, geology and ethnography. A total of 52 international programs
were implemented in Armenia in 2008 and a total of $5 million grants
were provided for 2005-2008.

The state budget allocated 8.3 billion drams (over $27 million)
for science in Armenia in 2009.

BAKU: OSCE Minsk Group Chairmanship Is Open For Turkey: Armenian MP

OSCE MINSK GROUP CHAIRMANSHIP IS OPEN FOR TURKEY: ARMENIAN MP

Today
html
Nov 4 2009
Azerbaijan

"European politicians link the Armenian-Turkish relations with the
solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict", – leader of the opposition
Heritage faction of Armenian parliament Stepan Safaryan said after
his meetings with EU officials in Brussels and Strasbourg.

He said Europe welcomes Turkey as a sunrise of the region and OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairmanship is open for this country.

Safaryan said there was no single attitude to the Armenian-Turkish
relations and called the protocols a deadlock for Armenia.

"Turkey aims to achieve solution to Nagorno Karabakh conflict until
April, 2010 and to prevent recognition of "Armenian genocide" by
the U.S. Congress. The second minimal goal is the making Turkey the
regional leader", – he said.

"For that reason, Turkey will delay ratification of the protocols.

Ankara is trying to solve the Karabakh conflict in line with interests
of Azerbaijan using its diplomatic opportunities", – the Armenian
MP said.

http://www.today.az/news/politics/57207.

Results Of The Second Day Of The Armenia’s Judo Championship

RESULTS OF THE SECOND DAY OF THE ARMENIA’S JUDO CHAMPIONSHIP

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2009 18:08 GMT+04:00

Results of the second day of the Armenian Judo championship among
youths and adults are known. As the youth national team coach Martin
Sargsyan told PanARMENIAN.Net, all winners today represent Yerevan,
except one sportsman from the city of Gyumri.

Champions among girls:

w/c 44 Emma Akilyan (Yerevan) w/c 52 Roza Khachatryan (Yerevan).

Champions among youths:

w/c 58 Hovhannes Alexanyan (Gyumri) w/c 60 Albert Lazarian (Yerevan)
w/c 73 Minas Maloyan (Yerevan) w/c 90 Arthur Sirekanyan (Yerevan).

Tomorrow will youth in 4 weight classes will compete, and girls in
2 weight classes.

Turkish-Azerbaijani "Cold War:" Moscow Benefits From Washington’s In

TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI "COLD WAR:" MOSCOW BENEFITS FROM WASHINGTON’S INDECISIVENESS
Fariz Ismailzade

Jamestown Foundation
Nov 2 2009

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) and his Armenian
counterpart Eduard Nalbandiana complete the signing of the protocol.

Recent weeks have seen unprecedented and potentially far reaching
damage to the Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic partnership. Ever since
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) announced its
intension to normalize relations with Azerbaijan’s arch-rival Armenia,
the relationship between Ankara and Baku has cooled. The Azerbaijani
leadership sent a strong message to Ankara in April, when President
Ilham Aliyev refused to accept Turkish President Abdulah Gul’s
invitation to attend the U.N. conference "Alliance of civilizations,"
held in Istanbul.

Yet, it was after the signing of the protocols on the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia that Baku’s outrage
spiraled. Both the Azerbaijani public and its political leadership
openly condemned this one-sided Turkish policy. Indeed, the Azeri
foreign ministry immediately issued a press release in which it said
that the signing of the protocols "directly contradicts the national
interests of Azerbaijan and overshadows the spirit of brotherly
relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey built on deep historical roots"
(, October 12).

That apparent cooling of the bilateral relationship, moved toward a
cold war when Azerbaijani flags were banned during the Turkish-Armenian
soccer match in Bursa on October 14 and Azerbaijani media outlets
broadcast images of the Azerbaijani flag being torn apart and thrown
into trash bins by Turkish police officers. In addition, the Azeri
public was outraged by reports that the Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, whom Azerbaijanis view as one of the main organizers of the
Khojali massacre in 1992, was warmly embraced by President Gul and
his wife during the soccer match. Gul’s wife, reportedly, even cooked
for Sargsyan and Gul offered his bedroom to his Armenian counterpart.

Such news has caused deep anti-Turkish sentiments to flourish in Baku.

Traditionally an ally, brother and last resort of hope, Turkey is
no longer trusted in the Azerbaijani capital. In an effort to gain
an additional friendly neighbor, Ankara seems to have overstretched
and nearly ruined its strategic relations with Azerbaijan.

The reaction in Baku was swift. Turkish flags, hanging in the
memorial for martyred Turkish soldiers, were lowered. Youth groups
and opposition parties lashed out at the Turkish leadership for the
humiliation and disrespect shown to the Azerbaijani flag in Bursa. And
parliament held heated debates about the "flag incident," during
which Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov said, "I take the disrespect shown
against the Azerbaijani flag as a personal insult" (AZTV, October 16).

Moreover, on October 16 Aliyev announced during his cabinet meeting
that Azerbaijan would consider alternative options to export its gas,
since Turkish-Azerbaijani talks on gas transit have not produced
concrete results (, October 16). He accused Turkey of
stalling these negotiations by offering unacceptably low prices
for Azerbaijani gas and did not hesitate to mention that until now,
Azerbaijan has been selling natural gas to Turkey at 30 percent of
its value on international markets. Aliyev also mentioned Russia,
Iran and the Black sea as alternatives routes for Azeri gas and
coincidently, in the same week, Gazprom and Azerbaijan’s State Oil
Company SOCAR signed an agreement in Baku for the export of 500 million
cubic meters of Azeri gas to Russia at the price Aliyev described as
"mutually beneficial" (Trend News Agency, October 16).

It is clear that the recent developments in the South Caucasus
and the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement have seriously damaged the
Turkish-Azerbaijani strategic partnership. This partnership has
been the backbone of East-West energy and its future transportation
corridors, security, political and geostrategic balance in the region
as well as the overall Turkish (or Western) entrance into the Caspian
region. Without this strategic partnership, the Turkish, E.U. and U.S.

axis of influence in the South Caucasus and further into the Central
Asian region is at risk. This geopolitical miscalculation on the part
of Turkish, E.U. and U.S. officials, all of whom have actively pushed
for a one-sided normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations without
the consideration of Azerbaijan’s interests and the resolution of
the Karabakh conflict will see a boomerang effect.

Russia may utilize this excellent opportunity to further advance its
political agenda in the region: the isolation of Georgia by cutting
it off from new transit routes; shelving the E.U. and U.S.-backed
Nabucco gas pipeline project by destroying the Azerbaijani-Turkish
strategic partnership and thus forcing Azerbaijan to sell its gas to
Russia; drawing Turkey into its own orbit of influence undermining the
E.U.-U.S.-Turkey axis of influence in the region. Before Washington
realizes, it will be too late to protect the South Caucasus as
a sovereign and independent region. For the first time since the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. appears to underestimate what
is unfolding in the region. A lack of clear vision on the part of the
U.S. administration clearly plays into Russian hands. It is perhaps no
coincidence that the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov so actively
pushed his Armenian counterpart to sign the protocol with Turkey.

www.mfa.gov.az
www.day.az

Turkey Realizes It Can Play Crucial Role: Semneby

TURKEY REALIZES IT CAN PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE: SEMNEBY

news.am
Nov 2 2009
Armenia

The current situation in Armenia-Turkey relations as it is cannot take
forever, as everyone should adapt to the normalization prospects,
border opening and etc., EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semneby told Russian Vremya Novostey daily. According
to him, certain dynamics in solution to the territorial conflicts
and Armenian-Turkish relations after August 2008 war in Georgia
is registered.

As for Russia’s interest in Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, Semneby
said that "this country started to take steps demonstrating it expects
changes in the Caucasus long ago." In addition, all current investments
in Armenian infrastructure by Russia will get payback only in case
Armenia-Turkey border opens.

Asked whether present progress in relations’ normalization is the
achievement of Armenian diplomacy, Semneby replied: "The impetus to
reconciliation was given not only by Armenia." Though the interest
of Armenian side is "irrefutable," Turkey realizes that "can play
crucial role in the region only if this issue is defused". After all,
conflict with Armenia "restricted to a large extent chances of Turkey
in South Caucasus."

Semneby also touched upon Karabakh issue and endeavors to link the
two regional issues’ settlement, stating similar attempts might
reverse both processes: "It is easy get involved in the situation,
when chances to normalize relations are re-blocked." However, the
official considers that probably the developments in one of the
conflicts will affect the whole tone and "we should assist their
positive interaction as far as possible."

Brandy Production In Armenia Over Jan-Sep, 2009, Reduced By 40,4%

BRANDY PRODUCTION IN ARMENIA OVER JAN-SEP, 2009, REDUCED BY 40,4%

ArmInfo
2009-11-02 12:02:00

ArmInfo. Brandy production in Armenia over Jan-Sep, 2009, reduced by
40,4% to 6801 thsd liters, as compared to the similar period of 2008,
National Statistical Service of Armenia reports.

To note, the rates of brandy production decline started to slow down,
heaving reached the peak 50,4% over the first half year, 2009. The main
reason of drop in production has been caused by the global financial
crisis which led to reduction of consumption of the Armenian brandy in
the traditional Russian and Ukrainian markets. According to the source
data, production of liqueur and vodka over 9 months of 2009 reduced
by 1,4% to 8299,4 thsd liters. At the same time, wine production grew
by 12,7% to 2330,7 thsd liters. Production of champagne wines reduced
by 9,4 % to 144,8 thsd liters. Beer production over the reporting
period did not change and made up 26413,8 thsd liters.