Author: Madatian Greg

Memorandum signed in Yerevan for protection of small- and mid-scale businesses

YEREVAN, October 17. /ARKA/. Armenian State Commission for Protection
of Economic Competition, the Center for European Law and Integration
of Yerevan State University and Brave juridical company signed a
trilateral memorandum on Friday.

The memorandum implies protection of small and medium enterprises from
monopoly abuse.

`This memorandum implies completely new state approach to small and
medium enterprises’ problems,’ said Ashot Shahnazaryan, the chairman
of the antitrust commission.

Arthur Ghazinyan, the director of Center for European Law and
Integration of Yerevan State University, said the center provides
consultations to the commission as well as small and medium
enterprises.

`Our commitment is to provide our partners with necessary information
and studies to make competition more effective,’ he said. -0–

ARMENIA IS NO LONGER A SAFE PLACE FOR PPK: ZAMAN

News.am
12:54 / 10/17/2009

Armenia-Turkey rapprochement "put the outlawed" Kurdistan Worker’s
Party (PKK), Sedat Gunec writes in Turkish Zaman daily.

"Many PKK members traveled to Armenia after the Turkish Armed Forces
(TSK) launched cross-border operations in northern Iraq in February
2008 to eliminate PKK camps in the region. But as relations develop
between Armenia and Turkey, members of the PKK currently living in
Armenia are making plans to leave the country in search of a new safe
haven. A pro-PKK radio station that airs regular broadcasts for PKK
circles recently announced on its Web site that Armenia is no longer
a safe place to live and that PKK members should leave the country
as soon as possible," Gunec said.

Special services have information that the next destination for
terrorist organization may become Cyprus.

"It has also been reported that the PKK has camps called Gyumri,
Yerevan, Lachin and Kalbajar – all named after cities in Armenia and
Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territory – near the Armenian-Turkish
border. The PKK reportedly operates organizations including the Kurdish
People and Religious Association, Yezidi Kurds Women Association and
Kurdish International Cultural and Information Association to help
sustain the PKK both financially and otherwise.

Observers hypothesize that Armenian-Turkish diplomatic relations may
grow to encompass bilateral cooperation on security measures after the
Zurich Protocols are ratified by the two countries’ parliaments. The
fight against terrorism and drug trafficking will be leading items
on the agenda for cooperation measures between Armenia and Turkey,"
Gunec concludes.

TV SHOW DEEPENS SPLIT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND TURKEY
By Nicholas Birch, Charles Levinson And Marc Champion

Wall Street Journal
October 17, 2009

A war of words ignited by a new Turkish TV series depicting Israeli
military atrocities escalated Friday, shaking what is probably Israel’s
strongest partnership in the Middle East.

The first episode of the series, "Separation," aired Wednesday on the
public channel TRT, showed what appeared to be an Israeli soldier
gunning down an unarmed Palestinian girl in a cul de sac. Shortly
afterward, another soldier shoots a newborn baby.

The images sparked outrage in Israel. Labor unions said they would
boycott Turkey as a vacation destination, and Israel summoned
Turkey’s ambassador Thursday to lodge a protest. Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a statement Thursday the series
"would not be appropriate in an enemy country and certainly not in
a state which maintains diplomatic relations with Israel."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu responded Friday by
criticizing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. He said a recent
decision to exclude Israel from planned North Atlantic Treaty
Organization exercises in central Turkey was made in response to
public outrage in Turkey over Israel’s treatment of Palestinian
civilians in the Gaza Strip.

"While the tragedy in Gaza continues, nobody should expect us to put
on military displays of this sort," Mr. Davutoglu said.

As for the TV series, Mr. Davutoglu said: "Turkey is not a country
based on censorship."

Officials and analysts in both countries said the split reveals Ankara
no longer needs or wants Israel the way it once did.

The two countries have long had strong diplomatic and trade relations,
and Turkey has been a substantial buyer of Israeli military hardware.

For years, Israeli pilots trained in Turkish airspace. As recently
as August, Turkey took part in joint naval exercises with Israel.

But the ties were built in a period when Turkey felt hemmed in on all
sides, analysts say. In the 1980s and 1990s, Turkey had poor relations
with Iraq and shared with Israel a deep suspicion of Iran. It was
also fighting a guerrilla war with Kurdish militants. In 1998, it came
close to war with Syria. Turkey was also in conflict with Greece over
Cyprus, while then communist Bulgaria and Armenia were historical
and Cold War rivals. Ankara needed Israel’s military hardware and
intelligence sharing.

"In the 1990s, Turkish foreign policy was guided by security issues,
and that pushed Turkey closer to Israel," says Kadri Gursel, a
columnist for the centrist daily Milliyet.

But under Mr. Davutoglu and his boss, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, Turkey has worked hard to fix those problems and reintegrate
into the region. This month, Turkey signed significant agreements
with Armenia, Syria and Iraq.

"There is no need for this [partnership with Israel] anymore," said
Huseyin Bagci, professor of International Relations at the Middle
East Technical University in Ankara.

Mr. Bagci predicts that Turkey increasingly will look to Italy,
France and other suppliers to buy arms, rather than Israel.

The breakdown in relations also appears personal. Mr. Erdogan walked
off the stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January after
clashing with President Shimon Peres of Israel over the conflict in
Gaza. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Erdogan
was still simmering.

"If you look at Gaza, 1,500 people died, 5,000 people were wounded,
infrastructure, the superstructures were all demolished. … What
happened afterwards? There was nothing," said Mr. Erdogan.

Israel and some Turkish analysts see an ideological component to
the dispute, noting the Islamist roots of the ruling Justice and
Development Party. "We’ve seen Turkey evolve and change since Erdogan’s
Islamic party took power," the senior Israeli official said.

Mr. Erdogan, in the interview, insisted his position wasn’t driven by
identification with Muslim Palestinians, but by the need for honesty
and fairness.

Turkish officials insist the relationship is far from dead. "Let’s
make no mistake. We value a continuation of relations with Israel,
but not at any cost," said ruling-party official Suat Kiniklioglu.

Write to Charles Levinson at [email protected] and Marc Champion

TURKEY’S EU BID FADES WITH LITTLE DRAMA
Paul Taylor

Reuters Blogs (blog)
09:16 October 15th, 2009

Turkey’s bid to join the European Union is fading away with
surprisingly little drama because investors no longer see the prospect
of accession as an essential policy anchor.

But EU leaders should keep Ankara’s entry negotiations alive on the
back burner rather than trying to engage Ankara on alternatives to
membership, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy would like to do.

In a version of the old Soviet workers’ joke, "they pretend to
pay us and we pretend to work," the buzz on Turkey in the European
Commission’s enlargement department is, "they pretend they’re reforming
and we pretend we want them".

The EU’s biggest candidate began accession talks on the same day as
Croatia in 2005. At that time, optimists on both sides reckoned the
negotiations might be concluded within a decade.

But while Zagreb was told by Brussels on Wednesday that it can expect
to wrap up its entry talks next year, Ankara has not even advanced
one-quarter of the way. The Turks got another C-minus "must try harder"
annual progress report.

The unresolved Cyprus conflict has shackled their progress,
prompting the EU to freeze eight of the 36 policy chapters in the
negotiations. The election of Sarkozy, who is openly hostile to
Turkish membership, forced the EU to take another five policy areas
off the table.

The changed political mood in France and Germany, the EU’s two central
powers, has dimmed prospects of the overwhelmingly Muslim nation of 71
million ever joining the 27-nation bloc. Any further accession treaty
after Croatia’s will be subject to a referendum in France, where public
opinion is strongly against Turkish accession, unless a three-fifths
majority of both houses of parliament improbably decides otherwise.

Without the magnet of membership, the EU’s ability to spur political
and economic reform in Turkey is ever weaker. Some in Brussels fault
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for faili ell if most Turks rightly
surmise that they have no prospect of EU entry.

Five years ago, Turkey’s accession process was seen, along with its
International Monetary Fund standby loan programme, as a guarantee
of monetary, fiscal and economic stability, drawing huge inflows of
foreign direct investment and portfolio funds.

Yet the absence of an IMF programme and virtual deadlock in the
EU talks no longer spook the markets. Financial stability and
the rule of law, at least for foreign investors, have become more
self-sustaining. Turkey is set to exit the global financial crisis
in better shape than most other emerging markets. The fact that it
is still talking to the European Commission about adopting EU norms
is reassuring for investors.

The government is supporting negotiations for a solution on Cyprus,
even though it still refuses to open its ports and airports to Greek
Cypriot traffic. It has made a historic opening to Armenia (picture
shows the Armenian and Turkish presidents with UEFA president Michel
Platini at a soccer match) and now espouses a political and economic
solution, rather than a purely military one, for the Kurdish southeast
of the country. It has also gradually exerted more civilian control
over the military, despite frequent tensions.

Turkey has also built stronger ties with other neighbours — Russia,
Iran, Iraq and Syria — while maintaining good relations with Israel
and the United States.

The Turks may one day decide on their own that they don’t need EU
membership. The accession negotiations have helped them modernise
their economy and governance, But they have plenty of other strategic
options.

TURKEY SEES GROWING RESERVATIONS OVER EU BID

Deutsche Welle
14.10.2009
Turkey

eu and turkish flags in front of a mosque Groansicht des Bildes mit
der Bildunterschrift: Turkey still needs to step up reforms to join
the EU The EU’s annual report on Turkey’s membership bid has praised
Ankara for its reform and foreign policy initiatives. But this is
being met with little enthusiasm in Turkey as doubts over its bid
continue to grow.

The European Commission’s annual progress report on Turkey’s bid
to join the European Union will have been welcome reading for the
Turkish government. It was largely positive, stressing important steps
on reforms to improve freedom of expression, efforts to resolve the
conflict with Kurdish rebels and significant diplomatic initiatives,
like improving relations with Armenia.

Brussels did voice concerns about press freedom in relation to a
multi-billion-euro tax-evasion case against media group Dogan Media
Holding, a vocal critic of the current government.

Even so, Ergemen Bagis, the cabinet minister responsible for Turkey’s
bid to join the EU, welcomed the report’s largely positive findings.

"EU membership is one of the basic goals of our government," Bagis
said. "We will continue our efforts with great determination and will
work hard to get a more positive report next year."

No EU-wide support for Turkey

However, Bagis’ optimism is increasingly meaningless, according to
Professor Cengiz Aktar, head of European Union studies at Istanbul’s
Bachesehir University. Aktar said such reports from the EU executive
were merely becoming an academic exercise. He said the results
represented "total schizophrenia."

Armenian foreign minister Edouard Nalbandian and Turkish foreign
minister Ahmet DavutogluBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit
der Bildunterschrift: Armenia and Turkey’s foreign ministers have
just signed an agreement to normalize relations

"On the one hand, Turkey is now moving with this Kurdish opening
and this opening towards Armenia," Aktar told Deutsche Welle letely
stalled. It is like day and night."

Aktar said the rest of Europe was absent.

"The European Commission is there, but the European Union member states
are not," he said. "They are not supporting Turkey in its endeavors."

Currently, various EU members are blocking 15 of the 35 chapters –
areas where reforms may be necessary to bring a country in line with
EU legislation – that Turkey must complete to achieve membership. With
only a handful of chapters remaining, the entire process is threatening
to grind to a halt.

Cyprus is a major sticking point

Many of the chapters are blocked because of an impasse over the divided
Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Turkey has refused to open its ports
and airports to the Greek Cypriots until the EU lifts its embargo
against the Turkish side of the island. The EU accession report
warned that Turkey must meet its obligations to all EU members –
including Cyprus.

But Suat Kiniklioglu, spokesman for the Turkish parliamentary
foreign affairs committee, said Turkey won’t back down despite the
EU requirements that it open direct trade with Cyprus.

"There is no way we are going to open the ports to Greek Cyprus,"
Kiniklioglu said.

The row over the ports could come to a head at the end of this
year. Under a protocol signed by Turkey with the EU, it risks having
the talks suspended unless it opens its ports to Cyprus by December.

Richard Howitt, a member of the European Parliament’s committee on
Turkey, said that Ankara was in danger of throwing away all the good
work it had achieved with this year’s report.

"I warn them that there isn’t too much ambiguity, I would even argue
no ambiguity in that legal text agreed by the council ministers,"
Howitt said. "So don’t underestimate the threat of the talks being
suspended altogether."

But such a threat does not carry the weight it once did. For with
French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who opposes Turkey’s bid to join the
27-nation bloc on principle, there is a growing belief both among the
people and politicians that its bid is d o forever remain just that:
a bid.

EDITOR OF GIBRAHAYER EMAGAZINE INTERVIEWED ON PANARMENIANNET

Gibrahayer

PRICE FOR SIGNING PROTOCOLS IS TOO HIGH FOR ARMENIA

Saturday 10 October 10 pm – Over its whole existence of the Diaspora,
we have fought for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide
single-handedly, and signing of the Armenian-Turkish Protocols –
although affects our work – changes things very little in our agenda,
Editor-in-chief of "Gibrahayer" e-magazine Simon Aynedjian told a
PanARMENIAN.Net reporter from Nicosia, Cyprus.

Commenting on the three hour delay for the signing of the Protocols,
Aynedjian said that the last minute glitch did not affect the general
process of normalisation of the Armenian-Turkish relations – something
that was engineered not only with the present administration but with
government officials much before, even behind the scenes.

Aynedjian also said that before signing the Protocols, the Armenian
authorities should have consulted the representatives of Armenian
communities across the globe, since the Protocols affect the Genocide
recognition process, and the Armenian Diaspora is a direct consequence
of the genocide. "The President of Armenia began his Diasporan
tour when everything had already been decided. So, these meetings
in essence had no bearing and could not serve real purpose. It was
done for PR purposes by the Armenian government and echoed as such,
in the Armenian Media" the Editor-in-Chief said.

Aynedjian stressed that our compatriots in Armenia – and Turks for that
matter – have the impression that the Armenians in the Diaspora are
against normalisation of Armenia-Turkey relations. " We are not against
peace and normalisation of relations between Turkey and Armenia. The
question is, what will be the price of these relations with these
Protocols, and I am certain that with the signing of these specific
Protocols, unfortunately for Armenia, the price will be very high "
Simon Aynedjian concluded.

PRESIDENTS OF ARMENIA, TURKEY MEET IN BURSA: SECOND ROUND OF FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY
Karen Ghazaryan

"Radiolur"
15.10.2009 11:29

The Armenia-Turkey football match is something more than just
a sporting event. It has evoked a wide response and started the
Armenia-Turkey normalization process, the Foreign Minister of Armenia,
Edward, told reporters following the Turkey-Armenia football match
in Bursa on October 14.

The Armenian FM pointed out that the October 14 meeting proved to be
an excellent occasion for the two Presidents to discuss the way they
have passed, as well as the step that are to follow the signing of
the Armenian-Turkish protocols in Zurich on October 10.

"The presidents of Armenia and Turkey, Serzh Sargsyan and Abdullah
Gul discussed on Wednesday the results of what has been done over
the past year to normalize bilateral relations," Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandyan told reporters.

Summing up the results of the talks, he noted that the two presidents
had considered in particular prospects for ratifying Armenian-Turkish
protocols.

"They discussed what must be done to boost the implementation of
these documents (on the establishment of diplomatic relations and
the development of contacts between Armenia and Turkey)," the Foreign
Minister said.

"It will open the door that has for a long time divided our nations
and lay the foundations for further bilateral relations," the
Minister said.

FRENCH SARKOZY SAYS HIS SON IS THROWN TO WOLVES

Panorama.am
13:08 14/10/2009

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his 23-year-old son has been
"thrown to the wolves" over a bid to secure a top-level business job.

The younger Sarkozy has been under fire as commentators and opposition
politicians questioned his qualification for one of the most prized
and powerful jobs in local politics.

Weighing in for the first time, Mr. Sarkozy told journalists: "Throwing
someone to the wolves, without foundation and in excessive fashion,
is never good."

Amid calls of nepotism, more than 40,000 people signed an online
petition calling for Mr Sarkozy Jnr to pull-out.

LA TIMES – "THE TWO COUNTRIES MUST GET BEYOND THE 1915-1918 GENOCIDE BECAUSE IT’S IN BOTH OF THEIR INTERESTS"

2009/10/13 | 16:14

Politics

The following is an editorial that appeared in today’s edition of
the Los Angeles Times.

More than a million Armenians were massacred in the final years of
the Ottoman Empire, from 1915 to 1918. This bloody chapter of World
War I should be recognized as genocide and remembered, not only to
honor the victims but for its lessons to future generations.It should
not, however, prevent Turkey and Armenia from approving the historic
accords signed Saturday in Zurich to restore diplomatic ties and open
their shared border.

Nor should Armenia’s fraught relationship with neighboring Azerbaijan
– Turkey’s ally – derail a rapprochement. The Armenian and Turkish
parliaments must ratify the agreements hammered out with the help of
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton because reconciliation
is in the interests of both nations.

The slaughter is a painful issue for Armenians, particularly so for
the diaspora that has fought unsuccessfully for official Turkish and
U.S. recognition of the genocide. That is understandable, and they
should continue pressing Turkey for an accurate public accounting. Some
Armenians fear that the commission to be established under the accords
for an "impartial" examination of the massacre is simply a means
for Turkey to continue denying history. We also are concerned about
this part of the agreement, but we hope in the end it will offer an
opportunity for the two sides to face the issue together.

Turkey, meanwhile, should not condition ratification of the accord
to open its border on an Armenian withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave of Azerbaijan inhabited largely by ethnic Armenians and
occupied by Armenia since 1993. In fact, a thaw in bilateral relations
between Turkey and Armenia should make it easier to resolve the issue
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. If Armenia feels more secure, it is
likely to be more flexible.

As in all negotiations, both sides must give on important issues if
they are to alter the stasis. Armenia is economically strangled. Its
need for open borders and a lifeline to Western Europe was driven
home during the 2008 war in Georgia, when its main trade route was
blocked. The country is losing its best and brightest, who have no
real prospects at home. Turkey is seeking further integration with
Europe and incorporation into the European Union, and Armenia is one
of the issues standing in the way; the Turks must confront their past
to better their future.

Fortunately, leaders in Turkey and Armenia understand this and should
be applauded for the political risk they are taking at the bargaining
table – as well as in the soccer stadium. Last year, Turkish President
Abdullah Gul attended a World Cup qualifier between the two national
teams in Yerevan, Armenia, and now Armenian President Serge Sarkisian
says he plans to attend one on Wednesday in Turkey. Their sporting
spirit is sending the right message to nationalists in both countries.

BURSA GOVERNOR: WE WILL NOT LET ANY WRONGDOING DAMAGE THE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
13.10.2009 19:16 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ All precautions have been taken to prevent any
incidents during the upcoming national football game between Turkey
and Armenia, the governor of the host city said Thursday.

"A warm welcome here will earn prestige not only for Bursa but also for
the country and boost Turkey’s image," Sahabettin Harput, the governor
of the northwestern city of Bursa told the Anatolia news agency.

Ataturk Stadium in Bursa, the automobile and textile capital of
Turkey, will host a 2012 World Cup Qualifying Group 5 game between
Turkey and Armenia on Wednesday.

In light of both countries’ political history, there were worries
of trouble triggered by ultra-nationalist groups in Bursa, but the
government took a string of precautions to avoid them.

"The tickets to the game will not be sold," daily Hurriyet reported
on Monday, "and will be distributed to hundreds of policemen and
soldiers who will enter the stadium as civilians."

More than 2,000 police officials will be on duty on the match day,
and reinforcements can be called in from neighboring cities. Every
fan will be searched before entering the stadium, and nothing will
be allowed in but Turkish flags and red-white fabric. No provocative
chanting and banners will be allowed, said Harput. The spectators
will not even be allowed to bring in pieces of cardboard to sit on,
as they could write slogans on them.

"The Armenia game will be beyond an ordinary football match,"
said Gov. Harput. We will not let any wrongdoing happen before,
during or after the game that will damage the relations between the
two countries."