Author: Nadirian Emma

FACTBOX-TURKEY HAS ADOPTED SWATHE OF EU-INSPIRED REFORMS

Reuters
10/02/05 07:21 ET

Turkey is due to begin European Union membership talks on Oct. 3 after
carrying out a series of political and human rights reforms to fulfil
EU criteria.

Here is a summary of the main reforms Turkey has introduced over the
past few years as part of its drive for EU membership.

DEATH PENALTY

– Turkey’s parliament abolished capital punishment in peacetime in
August 2002 and removed all residual references to the death penalty,
including in time of war, last year.

Parliament’s move brought a reprieve for Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah
Ocalan, who was captured in 1999 and is now serving a life sentence
on an island near Istanbul.

MINORITY RIGHTS

– Turkey removed bans on Kurdish-language broadcasting and instruction
in 2002 but bureaucratic resistance delayed their implementation. In
June 2004, state TV and radio began regular, albeit limited,
programming in Turkey’s two main Kurdish dialects and several other
minority languages.

For decades Turkey denied the very existence of its Kurdish minority,
referring to them as “mountain Turks”. Kurdish is an Indo-European
language unrelated to Turkish.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

– Turkey banned sexual discrimination under constitutional amendments
approved in May 2004. A new penal code sets tougher penalties for
those convicted of rape and also of “honour killings”, which involve
the killing of women by male relatives — for example for giving
birth outside wedlock — to protect the family name. The government
is also encouraging families in rural, conservative areas to send
their daughters to school.

TORTURE

– Turkey has outlawed all forms of torture and imposed tougher
penalties for it, ranging from three to 12 years in jail. Some rights
activists say torture remains widespread and systematic, charges the
government strongly denies.

ROLE OF MILITARY

– Turkey’s powerful generals have lost some influence through reforms
of the once-mighty National Security Council, (MGK) now reduced to
an advisory body. Parliament has also gained control of the military
budget. Last year, the government scrapped State Security Courts —
a vestige of the military-inspired constitution which followed a
1980 coup. The courts were used to try political and security-related
crimes.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOMS

– Turkey has moved to ease bureaucratic restrictions on minority
non-Muslim religious groups, though some — including the head of the
world’s Orthodox Christians, Istanbul-based Patriarch Bartholomew —
still complain of administrative obstacles. The government is still
weighing whether to allow the reopening of an Orthodox Christian
seminary near Istanbul, shut in 1971 under a law limiting activities
at post-secondary religious schools, including Muslim ones.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

– Turkey has relaxed a number of restrictions on freedom of thought
and expression, though rights activists say the new penal code still
contains too many loopholes. For example, internationally renowned
Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk faces the possibility of up to three years
in jail for backing allegations that Armenians suffered genocide at
Ottoman Turkish hands 90 years ago. The first hearing in his case is
set for Dec. 16.

WAM – Emirates News Agency, United Arab Emirates
Oct 1 2005

Armenian FM visits Zayed’s tomb

Oct 1, 2005 – 12:36 –

Abu Dhabi, 01 Oct. 05 (WAM)–Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanian has paid a visit to late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s
tomb.

“We bow our heads in honour and respect for your leadership, which
was abounded with great achievements in the best interest of your
country and towards enhancement of friendship and cooperation with
various countries of the world,” Oskanian, who arrived here Friday
night for a visit to the UAE, wrote in the register.

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 30 2005

KAREKIN II: NUMEROUS DREAMS FOR FUTURE ARE ANALOGOUS FOR ARMENIAN AND
GREEK PEOPLES

ETCHMIADZIN, SEPTEMBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. On
September 29, at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Karekin II,
Catholicos of All Armenians received Antnios Vlavianos, the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of
Greece finishing his diplomatic mission to the Republic of Armenia,
and Dimitrios Furlemadis, the Executive Director of the “Development
Solidarity” organization of the Greek Orthodox Church.

His Holiness appreciated the Ambassador’s three-years activity in
Armenia. “Our peoples’ friendship and brotherhood have been created
within numerous suffers and difficulties caused by enimies. And today
numerous dreams for future are analogous for our peoples,” the
Armenian Catholicos mentioned touching upon ties of centuries present
between the two peoples. His Holiness wished the Ambassador numerous
years of well-being full of rich results of his service.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the Information System of the Mother
See, Dimitrios Furlemadis passed His Holiness Athens and All-Greece
Archbishop Crisodulos’s brotherly greeting and invitation to visit
Greece. Dimitrios Furlemadis presented His Holiness his
organization’s service to the Armenian people served under the
patronage of the Greek Orthodox Church, especially in the sphere of
health care. The Catholicos of All Armenians, in his turn, addressed
an invitation to visit Armenia to Archbishop Cristodilos,
recollecting his meeting with the Archbishop in Rome.

Warm relations between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Greek
Orthodox Church as well as possible ways of development of the
present cooperation were spoken about at the meeting.

Deutsche Welle, Germany
Sept 30 2005

Opinion: EU-Turkey Project Hardly Realistic

Turkey and the EU: Two incompatible constellations?

Negotiations for Turkey’s possible entry to the European Union are
rocky even before they have started. Deutsche Welle’s Baha Güngör
believes that the EU-Turkey project doesn’t have a realistic chance.

Whether membership talks with Turkey can begin, as planned, on Monday
will be decided at the last minute. After ambassadors from the 25
member states failed to agree on a negotiating mandate at their
meeting on Thursday, EU foreign ministers now have to attend a
special session in Luxembourg on Sunday, since unanimous approval is
mandatory for the negotiations to start.

None of the 25 EU member states, not even Cyprus, wants to be the
spoilsport, which is why there will probably be a last minute
agreement to go ahead with the negotiations. But even if that’s the
case, the EU-Turkey project is hardly realistic.

Anyone who still thinks that one day in the distant future, after 10
or 15 years of negotiations, Turkey will become an EU member, is
either naive or has no clue about the country’s inner workings.
Turkey is a country on the periphery of Europe and therefore, a
country whose stability means much politically, economically, and in
terms of security, to Europe. Those who are sensible would want to
include Turkey in the continent’s integration process and to get
Ankara to pursue the values and visions of Europe.

Domestic politics at the center

Yet before accession negotiations started, many EU countries turned
the process into a self-serve buffet, looking to further their own
national interests. The election campaign in Germany, as well as the
French rejection of the EU constitution, which to a great deal was a
rejection of Turkey, reveal this clearly.

Demands too high, too soon

If the negotiations indeed start on Monday, it will be less a
question of whether they will ever successfully be brought to an end.
Rather, the question will be when they can be deemed to have failed,
or at least be interrupted for a few years. Grounds for failure won’t
be the EU’s regulations, the so-called “acquis communautaire.” A
lengthy transition period or permanent security clauses could be
agreed. Turkey is by far the largest and most densely populated
country that has ever attempted EU entry. In many economic areas, it
still lags far behind the EU average. But for all of these problems,
solutions could be found.

But the EU is making a big mistake by demanding the maximum from
Turkey, i.e. recognizing Cyprus or dealing with the Armenian
genocide, right at the start of the negotiations. They’re playing
their trump cards wrongly, creating resentment and hardening the
country that could, and also has to, address such topics in the
course of drawing closer to European values.

Euphoria long gone

Turks’ enthusiasm for Europe has, for the most part, disappeared. The
country’s nationalists are gaining in popularity and are reconquering
territory it had lost before. It’s no secret that in the next
elections, expected in two years, Turkish nationalism will experience
a rebirth. The feeling is growing among Turks that the numerous
reforms in the past and the strengthening of democratic forces in
Asia Minor since the signing of the 1963 Association Agreement with
the EU have all been for naught.

It is a shame that the EU will have clumsily dropped its chance to
achieve its goal of becoming a “global player” and its credibility in
fostering dialogue between cultures and religions. For Turkey, it’s a
shame that the country’s development into a democratic state will be
threatened with large setbacks. For when the EU and Turkey start
negotiations as planned, the participants will already be sapped of
their strength. They will be short of breath for the long road ahead
— unless a miracle happens.

Baha Güngör (jdk)

,1564,1725263,00.html

A1+

| 15:00:42 | 29-09-2005 | Official |

RA PRESIDENT MET HEIKKI TALVITIE

Today Armenian President Robert Kocharian received EU Special Representative
for the South Caucasus Haikii Talvitie to discuss cooperation within the New
Neighbors EU Program.

The parties also touched upon the Karabakh conflict settlement, some
regional problems and development programs. The process of constitutional
reform was as well considered.

Robert Kocharian and Mr. Talvitie stressed the importance of the
constitutional amendments rating them as a new possibility for developing
and strengthening democracy in Armenia.

ARMENIAN CANDIDATE PLEDGES TO BRING A BREATH OF FRESH AIR TO THE HOUSE

Cyprus News Agency, Cyprus
Sept 29 2005

Nicosia, Sep 29 (CNA) – Candidate for the position of the Armenian
representative in the Cyprus House Antranig Ashdjian has pledged to
bring “a breath of fresh air” to the way the minority is represented
in the House of Representatives.

Speaking at a press conference, Ashdjian said that the change in
mentality and the way of thinking of the representative of the
Armenians will come with the election of a young person who had
absolutely no involvement in the decision making process the last
years.

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2005

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BECOMES BOTH DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLITICAL PROBLEM
FOR ANKARA: ANDRANIK MIHRANYAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28. ARMENIA. The recognition of Armenian Genocide
has become both domestic and foreign political problem for Ankara,
member of All-Armenian Congress Board and Armenians’ Union of Russia,
known Russian political scientist Andranik Mihranyan stated in an
interview to journalists at the RA National Academy of Sciences, Sept
28.

In his opinion, the heated discussions on Genocide problem in the
Turkish society prove it. “The pressure upon Turkey’s authorities
both from the outside and on the inside the only way out for settling
the matter”, Mihranyan stated.

Agence France Presse — English
September 28, 2005 Wednesday 4:20 PM GMT

Turkey hints may shun EU talks, Britain urges compromise

ANKARA

Turkey hinted Wednesday that it may shun the start of EU membership
talks next week as political tensions rose over the country’s place
in Europe, leading Britain to warn of a “huge betrayal” if the door
was slammed shut on Ankara.

Raising the risk of a political showdown, the European Parliament
issued a stern warning to Ankara to recognize Cyprus and acknowledge
that the Ottomans committed “genocide” against Armenians during World
War I, two highly sensitive issues that have already strained ties.

The parliament did, however, endorse the start of talks set for
Monday.

The EU’s British presidency, meanwhile, battled to resolve a deadlock
over the negotiating framework — the guiding procedures and
principles of the talks — with Austria insisting on a reference to
an eventual “partnership” instead of full membership for Turkey.

“It is natural that we shall make the necessary evaluations following
the clarification of the negotiating framework and take our final
step accordingly,” Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan told
reporters.

“It is out of the question that we accept any formula or suggestion
other than full membership,” he said.

EU ambassadors were scheduled to meet later Wednesday and throughout
Thursday to try to end the dispute before the talks, which were given
a green light by the EU at a December 17 summit, get under way in
Luxembourg.

Noting the atmosphere of uncertainty and possible last-minute
wrangling, a senior Turkish diplomat said that it was not even clear
when Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul would fly to Luxembourg.

“The airplane will be waiting at the airport and when everything is
resolved, we will go,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Other than the Austrian obstacle, he explained, some EU countries are
pushing for tougher terms that go beyond the principles outlined in
the EU’s December 17 decisions concerning Turkey, but declined to
elaborate.

Turkish newspapers reported that one draft provision that
particularly irked Ankara was a demand that Turkey abstain from
obstructing the membership of EU countries in other international
organizations.

The provision is widely interpreted as an attempt to block a Turkish
veto to an eventual bid by Cyprus to join NATO.

Turkey’s refusal to recognize Cyprus is a major obstacle to its EU
hopes, with the EU demanding that Ankara endorse the
internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government of the
long-divided island during the accession process.

Throwing Britain’s weight behind Turkey, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
warned that “it would now be a huge betrayal of the hopes and
expectations of the Turkish people and of Prime Minister (Recep
Tayyip) Erdogan’s program of reform if, at this crucial time, we
turned our back on Turkey.”

“Anchor Turkey in the West and we gain a beacon of democracy and
modernity, a country with a Muslim majority, which will be a shining
example across the whole of its neighboring region,” he told the
Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton.

Turkey has been trying to join the EU for decades but its place in
Europe has come increasingly into question, particularly since French
and Dutch voters rejected a planned EU constitution, partly over
concerns about the membership of this sizeable and relatively poor
Muslim country.

Underscoring increasingly hostile public opinion in parts of Europe,
the heated debate Wednesday at the European Parliament also saw
deputies harshly criticize Turkey’s record on human rights and
religious freedoms.

Ankara urged EU countries to reflect on a “strategic vision.”

“Our membership carries great importance with respect to the
contribution (it would make) to the future of Europe as well as the
Middle East and the Caucasus and particularly to the building of an
alliance between civilizations,” Tan said.

Armenian parliament adopts constitutional changes

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
28 Sep 05

Yerevan, 28 September: The Armenian National Assembly adopted the
draft constitutional amendments in its third, final reading today.
The draft will be put up for a nationwide referendum [in November
this year].

The draft was adopted by 90 votes to none. The factions of the
opposition Justice bloc and the National Unity Party did not take
part in the voting, Mediamax news agency reported.

Addressing the parliament on 27 September, the Armenian president’s
representative for constitutional amendments, Armen Arutyunyan, said
that the draft constitutional changes “is a step forward from the
semi-presidential form of rule to parliamentarism”. He expressed the
hope that the constitutional reforms will unite society and play a
positive role in the country’s future development.

The draft constitutional changes will be submitted to the president
for approval and then he will set a date for the referendum.

The draft constitutional changes were prepared by the ruling
coalition and agreed with the Venice Commission of the Council of
Europe. The main purpose of the reforms is to ensure the equality of
all branches of power.

The constitutional reforms were one of the key points of Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s election programme and one of the
country’s basic commitment to the Council of Europe.

The role of the parliament will increase in the country if the
constitutional reforms are adopted in the referendum. In particular,
the National Assembly will play the main role in forming the
government, appoint the prosecutor-general, and the president will
not be able to individually adopt a decision to dismiss the prime
minister.

Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary
Contact: Anna Ghukasyan
General to Armenia, Tel: +374 10 24 33 85
Tatyana Mychelova, External Relations Officer, Venice Commission,
Tel.:+33 388 41 3868

The best way to achieve democratic change in Armenia – Venice Commission
round table on constitutional reforms in Armenia

Strasbourg, 29.09.2005 – Experts of the Council of Europe’s Venice
Commission and representatives from other international organisations
are to hold a round table with representatives of Armenian political
parties, media and civil society on constitutional reform.

They will discuss the proposed new constitution at a meeting in Yerevan
at 4pm on Friday 30 September 2005, at the offices of the National
Assembly. This text, which was finalised by the National Assembly on 28
September, is the result of five years of continuous efforts. It will be
put to a referendum at the end of November.

The Venice Commission considers the proposed constitution to be a
decisive step forward for a number of reasons:

* It provides a much better balance between the powers of the President
and the Parliament
* It also provides for the abolition of the death penalty and for better
recognition and protection of other human rights
* A more independent judiciary and a stronger local self-government are
among other major improvements.

The Venice Commission’s positive assessment of the draft constitution is
shared by the European Union and the OSCE. At the same time certain
issues are not considered to be addressed clearly by the current draft
and the international experts attending the round table are ready to
explain how the proposed new constitution can nevertheless provide
viable solutions.

Among the Armenian participants will be representatives of civil society
and a large spectrum of political groups, including those who oppose the
referendum and who are not represented in the National Assembly.

The round table is open to the press.

See the assessment of the Armenian draft constitution on the Venice
Commission’s website .

Contacts for more information:
Anna Ghukasyan, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary
General to Armenia, Tel: +374 10 24 33 85
Tatyana Mychelova, External Relations Officer, Venice Commission,
Tel.:+33 388 41 3868

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