Author: Maghakian Mike

AZG Armenian Daily #205, 27/10/2006

Home
VARTAN OSKANIAN UNAWARE OF AIM OF FUSS ABOUT
DEMARCATION OF ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER
RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said Wednesday at
the Armenian Parliament that he isn’t aware of the
fuss about the demarcation of the Armenian-Georgian
border.
He stated that the map of the Armenian-Georgian border
published in 1939 is taken as a ground. He said there
are some areas where either the Armenian or the
Georgian parties “have crossed” the borders and the
delimitation is necessary to avoid territorial losses.
The negotiating sides have quite a positive view of
the process despite the current difficulties. The
ultimate statement rests upon the Parliament here. Mr.
Oskanian said that anything that may infringe the
national interests of Armenia in this process is
excluded. He added that the sides had agreed
everything at the negotiations.
As for the Armenian citizens who have been persecuted
by the Georgian authorities for crossing the
Georgian-Abkhazian border, the minister said this
problem is being gradually settled. A month ago, the
number of arrested RA citizens amounted to 30 people,
now it has reduced to 3. Negotiations are still under
way and these 3 persons will also be soon released, he
said. He believes the problem is that Georgia resolved
to apply a law that has not been applied for a long
time. Hence, these arrested RA citizens were likely to
have no idea of this law on the Abkhazian border.
By Marietta Khachatrian

DECISION WOULD AFFECT CULTURAL DIALOGUE, PROF. DUMONT
Turkish Press
Oct 25 2006
ANKARA – “The bill adopted by the French National Assembly is a barrier
against freedom. It seems impossible for the cultural dialogue not
to get affected by this,” Turkish History Professor Paul Dumont said
on Thursday.
Attending a conference organized by Hacettepe University in Ankara,
Professor Dumont answered the questions of the A.A reporter on French
National Assembly’s today’s decision.
Dumont reminded that he teaches Ottoman and Turkish history classes
at Strasbourg University and he also instructs Armenia-Turkey
relations. He said that the decision of the Assembly would affect
the freedom of speech.
“It is so bizarre in a free country like France that the scientists
cannot study on some issues and can get pecuniary penalty or jail
sentence if they talk on these issues,” he said.
Prof. Dumont noted that the decision would be a barrier for the ones
who defend Turkey and would affect the cultural dialogue.
-FRANCE MADE A BIG MISTAKE, PROF. HALMAN-
Meanwhile, Dean of Humanities and Letters Faculty of Bilkent University
Prof. Dr. Talat Halman who attended the conference also answered the
questions of A.A on French National Assembly’s decision.
Halman said that France made a big mistake and Turkey has a justifiable
disappointment. “Turks always respected and admired French. French
culture affected our culture a lot. From now on probably there would
be a big resistance. This won’t be only an economic resistance. France
will face difficulties in terms of political agreements. We won’t
support them easily from now on. But the worst thing is that our
perfect cultural relations were damaged.
They wounded us, we did not deserve this. This is an injustice. I
hope France would correct this mistake somehow.”

RUSSIA’S FUTURE DEPENDS ON STREAMLINED IMMIGRATION
RIA Novosti, Russia
Oct 24 2006
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yury Filippov).The lower
house of Russia’s parliament has adopted harsh amendments to the
immigration legislation in a majority vote.
The ruling is expected to be approved in the upper house and by the
president, and to come into force by the end of this year.
Foreigners and stateless persons who violate the rules of entry into
Russia, the registration and immigration regime will be fined $200,
and may be also ordered to leave the country.
Western tourists who come to Russia for a couple of weeks to do some
sightseeing and book their trips through reputable travel agencies
have nothing to fear. The law is aimed primarily at curbing the
uncontrolled illegal immigration from the former Soviet republics in
the South Caucasus and Central Asia.
Russia, as the main legal successor of the Soviet Union, has inherited
from it the informal status of the “common home” for its former
citizens. Ethnic purges in neighboring republics, some of them soft
and other quite ruthless (as the anti-Armenian movement in Baku,
the capital of Azerbaijan, in 1990), forced millions of non-titular
people to leave their homes. Russia welcomed everyone who wanted to
live, work and do business on its territory.
It was a deliberate policy designed to turn Russia into the pivotal
point for post-Soviet republics. Judging by the number of immigrants,
which is estimated at 8-12 million, it has succeeded.
However, that policy was not fully consistent, and its drawbacks
have recently become apparent. The Kremlin willingly helped its
neighbors cope with unemployment and raise living standards with the
incomes their immigrants earned in Russia, without any reciprocal
requirements. The liberal immigration legislation, and its even more
liberal implementation, did not help Russia to become a political
center or at least a country whose opinion is respected without fail,
the way the Untied States is for its North American neighbors.
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which incorporated
nearly all post-Soviet countries, is a feeble organization, a kind
of “presidents’ club” whose meetings are increasingly neglected by
club members.
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are working hard to create a political
alternative to the CIS. Ukraine is hindering economic integration on
the basis of a customs union, and Azerbaijan and Georgia did their
best to promote the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline via Georgia, although
its economic expediency is questionable and Russia had proposed its
territory for oil transit.
Russian-Georgian relations seem to be breathing their last, with
arguments ranging from NATO and the European Union to Georgia’s
conflicts with the former Soviet autonomous republics of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, and the low quality of Georgian wines exported to
Russia. Taken together, this shows that truly neighborly relations and
a border open to uncontrollable immigration are two different things.
It has been believed until recently that Russia had political
and economic reasons for keeping its southern and eastern borders
open. A demographic crisis is reducing the Russian population by
about 700,000 annually, and the Kremlin firmly believes that it needs
labor immigrants to accelerate economic growth. President Vladimir
Putin spoke about this in this year’s state of the nation address
to parliament.
But the absence of immigration control is a drawback, not an
advantage. Immigrants are flocking to big and rapidly developing
cities, where they mostly trade (and also work in construction,
transport and utilities), avoiding the provinces, which direly need
them to overcome the consequences of an economic depression.
Unregistered immigrants do not pay taxes, and the employers’ desire
to use cheap labor bypassing the law creates fertile ground for
corruption.
Russia does not intend to erect a new Iron Curtain, but it must
streamline its immigration legislation to prevent chaos and
uncontrollable developments. The time is ripe for this, as proved
by the fact that Putin has addressed the issue. At a recent meeting
with the government, he asked for detailed reports from the ministers
of the economy, labor, the interior and agriculture. The problem
is hugely complicated and needs a comprehensive solution using all
available possibilities of the state.
This may take several years, but the objective is worth the hard
work. Fifteen years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia
is still trying to draft the optimal principles of relations with its
sovereign neighbors, from which the majority of immigrants come. It
is still trying to form a comprehensive strategy for its economic
development, with due regard for the resources it may receive from
the former Soviet countries.
Russia must advance firmly along this path to resolve its problems
without keeping borders wide open.

BARROSO’S MESSAGE TO FRANCE
Turkish Press
Oct 23 2006
BRUSSELS – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has
indicated that there must not be new criteria and conditions for
Turkey, referring to discussions on so-called Armenian genocide
in France.
At a news conference in Brussels, Barroso noted that Turkish
authorities should respect Ankara Protocol, stating that the pace of
reforms on public freedoms was not satisfactory.
On the other hand, EU commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn criticised
the bill on so-called Armenian genocide in French Parliament and
pointed out to the possible harm that will be caused by steps taken
to that end.
Expressing his views to the press, Rehn said that while the draft in
question was French parliament’s problem, it might however would lead
to serious problems in EU-Turkey relations.
Rehn said he is worried about the possibility of adoption of the
draft legislation punishing those who didn’t acknowledge the so called
Armenian genocide, and said such a development would harm the dialogue
between Turkey and EU.

Armenian Businessmen Suffer from Russia’s Georgia Embargo
Civil Georgia, Georgia
Oct 19 2006
Armenian businessmen have to redirect import routes as a result of
Russia’s sanctions on Georgia, which increases expenditures from 7%
to 20%, Armenian Trade and Economy Minister Karen Chshmaritian said
on October 19, according to the Novosti-Armenia news agency.
He said that Armenian importers redirect their cargo travelling from
Russia to ports – mainly Varna in Bulgaria and Ilichevsk in Ukraine –
from where it is possible to access Georgia and then Armenia.
Meanwhile, RFE/RL Armenian Service reported on October 17 that Armenian
Parliamentary Chairman Tigran Torosian told visiting group of Russian
parliamentarians in Yerevan that Russia is ignoring the interests of
Armenia while dealing with Georgia.
Russian MP Konstantin Zatulin told the Armenian daily Haykakan Zhamanak
that Yerevan has to make a choice between Russia and Georgia. “If
you don’t do that, you have no moral right to blame Russia for not
taking into account Armenia’s interests in our conflict with Georgia,”
MP Zatulin said in the interview, according to the RFE/RL Armenian
Service.

IDFA Sets ’06 Competition Slate for Annual Amsterdam Doc Festival
Indiewire.com
by Eugene Hernandez
October 19, 2006
Considered the leading international documentary festival, Amsterdam’s 19th
annual IDFA will kick off on November 23rd with Dutch filmmaker Jiska
Rickels’ first feature-length film “4 Elements.” The film is one of 18
documentaries set for IDFA’s Joris Ivens Competition, which includes just
two U.S. project this year, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s “Jesus Camp” and
Andrew Berends’ “When Adnan Comes Home.” Also announced is the roster for
the First Appearance competition, which features films by emerging
directors. Three films from the United States are included in the First
Appearance linenup, including Andrew Jenks’ “Andrew Jenks, Room 335,”
Socheata Poeuv’s “New Year Baby,” and Mohammed Ali Naqvi’s “Shame.” (The
complete lineup for both competitions is included below.)
Opening the International Documetary Film Festival Amsterdam is the poetic
four-part film “4 Elements,” described as a, “documentary about man’s
struggle with the primordial elements.” In the film she looks at professions
in which the elements — earth, air, fire and water — play a crucial role.
In the words of a festival description, “In Fire, Russian firemen fight
forest fires in Siberia, while in Water, fishermen in Alaska hoist up king
crabs from the Bering Sea. Earth, a shortened version of ‘Untertage’
[Rickels’ student film], follows two German mineworkers as they go about
their business. In Air, which concludes the tetralogy, cosmonauts and
astronauts prepare their launch of the International Space Station.”
Other IFDA plans include a showcase of work from China and doc director Alan
Berliner presenting ten favorites at this year’s festival, while the event
will also screen a number of his films. The festival will continue through
December 3rd in the Dutch city, while the IDFA Forum, the largest
international documentary co-financing market, will run from November 27 –
29 during the festival.
IDFA feature competition lineups follow:
Joris Ivens Competition
“4 Elements,” directed by Jiska Rickels (The Netherlands)
“9 Star Hotel,” directed by Ido Haar (Israel)
“Feet Unbound,” directed by Khee-Jin Ng (Australia)
“The Grandmother of Revolution,” directed by Petra Seliskar (Slovenia,
Macedonia, Cuba)
“Jesus Camp,” directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (USA)
“Life as a Corporate Holiday,” directed by Paolo Muran (Italy)
“The Monastery – Mr. Vig & The Nun,” directed by Pernille Rose Grønkjær
“My Father The Turk,” directed by Ariane Riecker and Marcus Vetter (Germany)
“The Planet,” directed byJohan Söderberg, Michael Stenberg, and Linus
Torell (Sweden, Norway, Denmark)
“Primo Levi’s Journey,” directed by Davide Ferrario (Italy)
“The Red Card,” directed by Carte Ghermez and Mahnaz Afzali (Iran)
“Satul Sosetelor (Village of Socks),” directed by Klaudia Begic and Ileana
Stanculescu (Germany, Romania)
“Souvenirs,” directed by Shahar Cohen and Halil Efrat (Israel)
“A Story of People in War and Peace,” directed by Vardan Hovhannisyan
(Armenia)
“Tender’s Heat. Wild Wild Beach,” directed by Alexander Rastorguev (Russia)
“Tomorrow Never Knows,” directed by Kirsi Nevanti (Finland, Sweden)
“The Value of Utopia,” directed by Yanara Guayasamin (Belgium, Ecuador)
“When Adnan Comes Home,” directed by Andrew Berends (USA)
First Appearance
“Andrew Jenks, Room 335,” directed by Andrew Jenks (USA)
“Can Tunis,” directed by José González Morandi and Paco Toledo (Spain)
“Carnival,” directed by Alen Drljevic (Bosnia Herzegovina)
“Children Of The Prophet,” directed by Sudabeh Mortezai (Iran, Austria)
“The City Of Photographers,” directed by Sebastián Moreno (Chile)
“Daguanying,” directed by Liu Juexin and Tang Xiaoliang (China)
“Dead Man Walking,” directed by Petar Oreskovic (Croatia, Bosnia
Herzegovina, Serbia)
“Demolition Men,” directed by Eldar Gross (The Netherlands)
“The End Of The Neubacher Project,” directed by Marcus John Carney (Austria,
The Netherlands)
“Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears,” directed by Simon Chambers (United
Kingdom)
“Let The Street Be Heard,” directed by Itzel Martínez Del Cañizo
“The Lost Village,” directed by Manuel Jiménez (Spain)
“New Year Baby,” directed by Socheata Poeuv (USA)
“Prirechnyy,” directed by Tone Grøttjord (Norway)
“Shame,” directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi (USA)
“Sugartown: The Bridegrooms,” directed by Kimon Tsakiris (Greece, Germany)
“We Are Together,” directed by Paul Taylor (United Kingdom)
“With Much Love And Kisses,” directed by Anastasia Cherkassova (Russia)
–Boundary_(ID_MKNVlY6KYld9gKLs7gQAUw)–

Turkey defined sanctions against France
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 20 2006
[ 20 Oct. 2006 17:47 ]
Turkey defined the preliminary sanctions against for the adoption of
law by France Parliament that makes it crime to deny false Armenian
genocide, APA reports.
Official Ankara decided to freeze all bilateral relations, mainly
political and military relations with Paris. France organizations
will be deprived of the rights to participate in the defense and
energy projects of Turkey. France companies will not be involved in
the projects on construction of Atomic Power Plant which costs US
$5bn. Besides it was decided to remove French firms from the tenders
announced by Turkey Armed Forces.
-Eurocopter Company of France submitted bids in the tender for
purchase of 12 helicopters for Gendarme Forces. The Offer will not
be considered.
-France companies will not be let to the tenders for purchase of 54
helicopters for Turkey Armed Forces on different goals.
-The bids for purchase of submarine for Navy will not be considered.
-France company GIAT’s bids for purchase of tank for Land Forces will
not be considered. /APA/

Turkish soldiers arrive in Beirut to join peacekeeping force
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
October 20, 2006 Friday 4:02 PM GMT
Turkish soldiers arrived Friday in Beirut to join the U.N.
peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, making Turkey the first Muslim
country to contribute ground troops since the mission was expanded
after last summer’s war.
Two military ships docked at 9 a.m. in Beirut’s harbor. Turkish
officials said they carried some 95 soldiers and civilian engineers,
as well as 46 trucks, four armored personnel carriers and several
bulldozers and other machinery.
More soldiers were scheduled to arrive later in the day, bringing the
number of Turkish soldiers and civilian engineers in Lebanon to 261.
The troops were expected to deploy near the southern port city of Tyre
to help rebuild bridges and roads damaged in the summer’s 34-day war
between Hezbollah and Israel.
The conflict ended Aug. 14 after a U.N.-brokered cease-fire resolution
that calls for an expanded international peacekeeping force to create
a weapons-free zone in the south.
A Turkish government spokesman said earlier this month that the total
number of Turkish personnel in Lebanon would ultimately reach 681,
including sailors and engineers. A vanguard of seven Turkish military
officers arrived in Beirut earlier this week, and a Turkish frigate
is already helping patrol Lebanese waters.
Turkey is NATO’s only predominantly Muslim member, and the country
has close ties to both Israel and Arab states. Its contribution to the
peacekeeping force was met with opposition in the Turkish parliament,
where some lawmakers feared Turkish troops would be drawn into fighting
against fellow Muslims to protect Israel.
Armenians in Lebanon also protested Turkish participation in the
peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, because they blame Turkey’s
Ottoman rulers for the mass killing of Armenians in the early 20th
century.
Many of Lebanon’s Armenian residents fled Turkey.
Turkish peacekeeping troops have served in Bosnia and Kosovo and have
led operations in Somalia and Afghanistan.

VARTAN OSKANIAN: WE DO NOT ENDEAVOR TO ABASE OR DRIVE TURKEY INTO A CORNER
AZG Armenian Daily #201, 21/10/2006
Meeting
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian who is currently paying a
working visit to Canada met is Canadian counterpart Peter MacKay on
October 18.
According to a press release of the Armenian National Committee of
Canada, the sides emphasized the importance of Armenian-Canadian
relations and touched upon Armenian-Turkish relations.
Speaking about the recent bill adopted by the French Parliament
penalizing denial of the Armenian Genocide, Oskanian underscored that
Armenia always was for a dialogue and for establishment of diplomatic
relations between Armenia and Turkey without any precondition.
“We do not endeavor to abase or drive Turkey into a corner,” Vartan
Oskanian said.
Oskanian also met the members of Canada-Armenia parliamentary group
and spoke about issues of cooperation between the two countries.

REWRITING THE PAST
Agnes Poirier
The Guardian, UK
Oct 18 2006
Despite what the French left wants us to think, we cannot legislate
on how we should remember history.
Last Thursday, the French national assembly passed a bill that, if
approved by the French senate, would make the denial of the Armenian
genocide between 1915 and 1917 a criminal offence. Even if the senate
knows better and finally rejects this bill, the question remains:
how on earth have we even got to the point where such a bill could
be proposed, let alone adopted by a majority of MPs?
If this sad affair shows anything, it is the disrespect in which
the French prime minister is held by his own majority (Dominique de
Villepin is so badly considered within his own ranks that rightwing
MPs prefer to play a silly and dangerous game: passing a bill which
will make Villepin look even more of a fool to the French and the
world, and present Nicolas Sarkozy as the only adept runner to the
presidential elections). Secondly, the whole affair has proved how
inept and remote from the nation’s real concerns the French left is.
Not that it is news but it simply gets worse – and we naively thought
we had reached the bottom.
The international community reacted promptly to the news, condemning
the stupidity of the act and warning against its potential disastrous
effects. It would be fair to add that many international publications
also chose to mislead their readers by implying that the bill was,
in effect, passed as law. Some commentators shouted so loudly that
one couldn’t help but be perplexed by such venom.
The French socialist MPs who drafted the bill showed once more how
detached they are from the people they are supposed to represent.
They demonstrated once more their debilitating grasp of reality and
history. Is it the vote of the 450,000 French citizens of Armenian
origin they are after? The more problematic aspect of it all is not
the moral lesson the French MPs seem to be giving to Ankara – no,
that’s just childish; the real tragedy lies in what it says about
the way some of us now think. Instead of addressing issues, which
concern the whole nation (education, reforms, pensions, immigration,
security, globalisation), the French left prefers catering for groups
of clients, embracing cultural relativism. Truth and historical facts
now apparently change according to who speaks and from where.
When communities within a country start asking for laws to be amended
so that they include “their truths”, it is the whole nation that
suffers. Many today want to be seen as victims of colonialism, of
past injustices, of forgetfulness, of past disrespect. In fact, they
are victims by proxy, indulging in the suffering of their ancestors.
This is not to say that the Armenian genocide didn’t take place;
we all know it did. But we simply cannot legislate on how we should
remember history, and France should certainly not be doing it on a
Turkish issue.
History is being rewritten; as journalist Eric Conan points out,
“by focusing too much on the shadows of history, the shadows have
blackened and obtruded the whole picture. Crimes alone are kept in
the frame while acts of heroism exit the scene. Let’s concentrate on
Vichy and forget the Nazi occupation. Let’s consider colonisation as
the essence of the republic. And so forth.”
This unworthy trend in France is clearly here to divert our attention
from the real issues and the real debate. It offers a sickening
show played by some of the elite who find a narcissistic pleasure in
charging previous generations and asking to be whipped in public for
crimes they didn’t commit. They will tell you that the riots last
November were the heritage of colonisation, when they are actually
the direct result of 25 years of dire education and urban planning
policies, which have led to the rioters living in ghettoes of poverty.
They will tell you that the problem with Turkey is that they don’t
recognise the Armenian genocide at the precise moment when, in Turkey,
a national debate is opening up on the subject. What is the French
left trying to divert us from? Its own inanity? What an undignified
and pitiful spectacle.