Author: Nahapetian Zhanna

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS GEORGIA: US ‘CHALLENGE’ AID FOR TBILISI SEEN AS
CATALYST FOR DEVELOPMENT
Robert McMahon 4/29/05
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from RFE/RL
For more than a decade, Georgia fostered a reputation as one of the
most corrupt states of the former Soviet Union.
But the leaders who took power after the 2003 Rose Revolution
impressed officials running a new U.S. aid agency focused on rewarding
poor countries fighting corruption.
Georgia is now near the top of the candidate list for the alternative
U.S. aid program — the Millennium Challenge Account — and is likely
this summer to sign a compact for up to $200 million aimed at
infrastructure improvements.
Paul Applegarth is chief executive of the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC). He told a U.S. Congressional panel this week that
Georgia’s leadership change made a crucial difference.
“You had true leadership clearly reinforcing the principles of the
Millennium Challenge — to fight corruption, to clean up the
government, to put effective procedures in place,” Applegarth said.
Under the Millennium Challenge program, the Bush administration says
it will give money only to poor countries with proper governance. The
program chooses states that maintain rule of law, pursue sound
economic policies, and demonstrate a commitment to investing in their
people. Local officials decide how to use the grants but must show
some impact on economic growth.
Madagascar signed the first agreement in April and will receive $110
million for initiatives that include a reform of land-title
procedures.
Sixteen other countries, including Armenia, have been invited to
submit proposals.
Georgia, like Madagascar, devised its development plan after a
thorough consultative process. It included organizing eight regional
forums, establishing a website for public input, and involving local
civil society. The government received more than 600 proposals for
projects to spur economic growth.
Lasha Shanidze, chief executive of the body organizing Georgia’s
effort to sign with the MCC, told RFE/RL during a recent visit to
Washington that the nearly year-long campaign has created new thinking
in the Georgian government about development. He said the process has
also drawn the interest of private banks and other international
funding sources.
“MCC is becoming a catalyst within the country of not only organizing
and [bringing a] more focused approach to particular projects, but
bringing more financing into a country — and that is visible even
without having this compact signed,” Shanidze said. “People are in
line to be with you to co-finance projects, because they believe in
it.”
MCC and Georgian officials expect to sign a compact by this
summer. After talks in April with MCC officials in Washington,
Shanidze was hopeful that Georgia will get approval for a five-year,
$200 million package.
The country’s proposal includes a road project to connect the isolated
southern Akhalkalaki region with the rest of Georgia. Shanidze said
the project is designed to open the region for development as well as
facilitate trade routes between Turkey and Armenia.
Another project would use MCC funds to rehabilitate the north-south
gas pipeline from Russia. The Georgian government earlier this year
had discussed selling the pipeline to Russia’s state company
Gazprom. But Shanidze said the government is now committed to
refurbishing the crucial pipeline itself with the help of the
U.S. program.
“It’s problematic. We’re losing a lot of gas; Armenia is dependent on
this pipeline’s gas,” Shanidze said. “Our electricity-generation
companies are dependent on this gas, and generally investors — to
attract foreign investors into Georgia, large investments — are
always looking for reliable gas supply. It’ s all interlinked, this
chain, which we need to put in shape and itâ=80=99s of course better
if put into shape and owned by us.”
Georgia is also proposing to use a portion of the MCC funds to provide
equity capital for investments in agriculture and tourism in the
country’srural regions.
Louise Shelley is director of the Transnational Crime and Corruption
Center at American University in Washington, which has reported
extensively on corruption in Georgia. She told RFE/RL she is impressed
by the list of initiatives the government has proposed for the
Millennium Challenge funds.
“I think in terms of what they’re targeting — in terms of rebuilding
their agricultural sector, tourism, transport, and energy — those are
just absolute priority areas for Georgia’s development,” Shelley
said. “[They are] things that we’ve been identifying as what is
possible and what is key if it’s going to get out of this cycle of
poverty.”
Shelley and other Georgian monitors argue that the government has
begun to show its seriousness through crackdowns on money laundering
and reform of police patrols.
The World Bank’s country manager for Georgia, Roy Southworth, credited
Tbilisi with developing a home-grown process to identify the most
crucial areas for reform. Southworth told RFE/RL the Georgian
government is sending the right signals on correcting years of abuses.
“It would be naive to say that Georgia in one year has managed to
eliminate corruption, because it was endemic before under the old
government and it existed pretty much at all levels of government,”
Southworth said. “But what the new government has come in on is
essentially a mandate from the population to fight corruption. And
they have made, I think, very good progress in that in a year.”
Georgian and World Bank officials are discussing cooperation between
the bank’ s Municipal Development Fund, which has already created a
structure for funding urban infrastructure, and the anticipated
Millennium Challenge funds.
Overall, the World Bank has spent nearly $800 million on development
projects in Georgia during the past 10 years. One-third of that amount
has gone to infrastructure improvements.
Editor’s Note: Robert McMahon has been RFE/RL’s UN correspondent since
January 2000. He served previously as RFE/RL’s director of news
andcurrent affairs and helped to guide the division’s move to Prague
in the spring of 1995. He joined RFE/RL in Munich in 1992 after
working as an editor on the international desk of the Associated Press
in New York.
Posted April 29, 2005 © Eurasianet

Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 27 2005
1915-1916 saw the displacement of not just Armenians but 702,905
Turks
by Murat Bardakci
source: Hurriyet
Ottoman Grand Vizier and Interior Minister Talat Pasha, in black
books that he kept from the period he was in office, recorded that in
the years between 1915 and 1916, not only Armenians but hundreds of
thousands of Turks were displaced from their homes in eastern Turkey.
The notebooks show that up to 800,000 Turks from provinces under
invasion threat from Russian forces took to the road as “emigrants,”
and that a corridor stretching from Izmit to Halep was used to
resettle up to 702,905 Turkish citizens.The area most emigrated to
was Mosul, with 150,000 resettled, and the least emigrated to was
Icel, with only 426 people.
The so-called “black books” from the archives of Grand Vizier Talat
Pasha record not only the migrations that took place from the Eurpean
side to Anatolia during the Balkan War, but also lists of citizens
displaced by the Russian invasion of eastern provinces during World
War I. The lists of people removed from their homes and out of the
way of fighting between Turkish and Russian forces reveal that while
Armenians were moved, Turks were also moved.

Spiegel Online, Germany
April 25 2005
Armenian Genocide Plagues Ankara 90 Years On
By Bernhard Zand
This weekend, Armenians commemorated the 90th anniversary of the
genocide of 1915. But Turkey has yet to recognize the crime — the
first genocide of the 20th century. By refusing to use the word
“genocide,” Turkey could complicate its efforts to join the European
Union.
AFP photo:
Genocide in Armenia: Many Turks view the perpetrators as their
fathers.
Typhoid, the Russians, imperialism and Kaiser Wilhelm II in far away
Berlin — all were responsible for the mass deaths of Anatolian
Armenians. At least that’s the case if you read the official Turkish
history books. According to the Turkish version, the only group that
didn’t bear any responsibility were the Ottomans, the
great-grandfathers of modern-day Turkey, which is now on the cusp of
joining the European Union.
On Sunday, Armenians all around the world remembered the 90th
anniversary of the start of the genocide. This year brought the last
decennial memorial in which survivors of the crime, one of the worst
of the past century, will still be alive to attend. Never before has
the international pressure on Turkey as stronger as it is now for
Turkey to address its own history. And Ankara’s political elites have
never been more steadfast in their efforts to defend the myths Turkey
has used to explain the crime or to stamp critics as traitors.
The assertion that what happened to the Armenians was genocide is
“categorically unacceptable,” said Yüksel Söylemez, the chairman of a
group of former Turkish ambassadors who are seeking to promote the
official Turkish version of events abroad. Turkish president Ahmet
Necdet Sezer said the accusations are baseless and “upset and hurt
the feelings of the Turkish nation.” It is wrong, he added, for our
European friends to press Turkey on this issue.”
At least one of the arguments of the modern apologists evokes the
same motives of those which led to the order to deport the Armenians:
the leaders of the declining Ottomon Empire saw themselves in 1915 as
surrounded by enemies on all sides and created a case for the
self-defense of the state. It’s an argument that is still used by
modern Turkish defenders today. Be it the Kurds, the Armenians,
Greece, Europe or even the US — inside, like outside, the country
has nothing but opponents, they claim. “From the first day of its
existence,” Ankara Chamber of Commerce chief Sinan Aygün said, time
and time again people have tried to “unsettle and destroy” Turkey.
The fact that Ankara as an EU candidate won’t be able to use this
line of argumentation for much longer is only gradually dawning on
representatives of the Turkish government.

AP/ Armenian National Archives
Victims of the 1915 massacre: Finding out the truth about the
Armenian genocide is an uphill battle.”
Confronted with more and more Armenia resolutions in European
parliaments, opinion is growing among some that Ankara’s position on
the Armenian issue could ultimately endanger its prospects for EU
membership. Although there is no formal requirement that Ankara
recognize the murder of the Armenians as “genocide,” politicians
including French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier have made clear
comments in that direction. “I believe that when the time comes,
Turkey should come to terms with its past, be reconciled with its own
history and recognize this tragedy,” he said. “This is an issue that
we will raise during the negotiation process. We will have about 10
years to do so and the Turks will have about 10 years to ponder their
answer.” Recently, Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union,
filed a resolution on the Turkey-Armenia issue in its own parliament,
the Bundestag, where it will be discussed this week and voted on in
June.
In an effort to counter the pressure coming from Europe on the 90th
anniversary, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
opposition leader Deniz Baykal agreed to a common position at the
beginning of March. Turkey is prepared, Erdogan said, to address its
past. He added that the state archives in Ankara and Istanbul are
open to everyone and that he could imagine an independent entity —
like UNESCO — participating in an historical fact-finding mission.
Two opposition members of the Republican People’s Party, former
ambassadors Onur Öymen and Sükrü Elekdagi, conceived the idea. The
fact that the action originated from the pair has created its own set
of problems, since they are both outspoken hardliners on the Armenian
issue. Their aim is to prove that the deportation and massacre during
World War I can in no way be compared to a genocide, that the number
of victims was considerably lower than the Armenians claim, and that
Anatolya’s Muslims were actually the ones who suffered the most from
the tragic events.
Why is it so hard for modern Turks to deal with this part of their
history? The crimes of 1915 were committed by the then-government of
the Ottoman Empire — a government from whose leading members Mustafa
Kemel clearly distanced himself from when he became the founding
father of the Turkish Republic.
Kemal, who later became known as Atatürk, broke with all of the
traditions of the Ottoman times when he took power in the 1920s. He
did away with the sultanate, the caliphate and sharia law. He added
the Latin alphabet, a European legal system and introduced the
Christian Sunday as one of the weekly public holidays. In addition,
he had a very tense relationship with the three young Turkish leaders
of the Ottoman Empire — Talaat, Cemel and Enver Pasha. He didn’t
want to include a single one of the three, who were considered the
primary culprits of the deportation of the Armenians, as part of the
Turkish national movement after the war. He considered Envers to be
especially dangerous because he saw in his pan-Turkish expansionist
agenda a suicide adventure.

AFP
Decapitated heads of Armenians: Why is it so difficult for modern
Turkey to deal with its past?
Many of the accomplices to the Ottoman war crimes nevertheless fared
well in the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923. Surprisingly, Atatürk
himself, spoke with such openness about the crimes that his comments
could be enough to land him behind bars today. In 1920, in
parliament, he condemned the genocide of the Armenians as an
“abomination of the past” and pledged to dole out severe punishments
to the culprits.
Repeatedly, representatives of Armenia have offered to accept the
version of events as told by Atatürk. In vain. When historian Halil
Berktay of Istanbul made similar statements earlier this month, he
was attacked. It was not unlike the way the nation’s best-known
author Orhan Pamuk was vilified after he told a Swiss newspaper in
February that, “one million Armenians were killed in Turkey.” Since
then, Berktay has refused to make any statements about the Armenian
issue.
Historians like Berktay are unfit to participate in the process of
historical fact-finding, said Onur Öymen, who was Turkey’s ambassador
to Germany and is now the deputy opposition chief and one of the two
initiators of the Turkish parliamentary offensive. They claim the
historians have been susceptible to prejudices spread by the
“Armenian propaganda machine.” However, the two do endorse the
version of events proffered by the American historian Justin
McCarthy, who spoke in March before the Turkish National Assembly and
later in a round with scientists and foreign diplomats.
Diplomats viewed McCarthy’s presentation skeptically, but Turks
welcomed it jubilantly. First, he said, the number of victims claimed
by the Armenians (1.5 million) is based on falsified census figures:
Only 1.1 million people could have lived in the Eastern provinces of
the Ottoman Empire affected by the deportations, he said. Of these,
close to 40 percent died and of those deaths, 80 percent were from
natural causes.
The Turks are fighting a tough battle, says McCarthy, who teaches in
Louisville, Kentucky, and has been largely unknown in his field until
now. “They’re fighting against prejudice, and their opponents are
politically strong, but the truth is on their side,” he told the
crowd.
“Would you admit to the crimes of your grandfathers, if these crimes
didn’t really happen?” asked ambassador Öymen. But the problem lies
precisely in this question, says Hirant Dink, publisher and
editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian weekly Agos. Turkey’s
bureaucratic elite have never really shed themselves of the Ottoman
tradition — in the perpetrators, they see their fathers, whose honor
they seek to defend.

AFP
Turkish soldiers stand next to Armenians who have been hanged: Today
Atatürk would wind up behind bars for his criticism of the crimes
against the Armenians.
This tradition instils a sense of identity in Turkish nationalists —
both from the left and the right, and it is passed on from generation
to generation through the school system. This tradition also requires
an antipole against which it could define itself. Since the times of
the Ottoman Empire, religious minorities have been pushed into this
role.
At the beginning of April, Dink was invited along with other
representatives of the approximately 60,000 members of the Armenian
minority in Turkey to appear before the parliament’s EU Committee. He
came with a passionate appeal for reconciliation. He also had some
sharp-tongued words for Germany’s main opposition, which recently
took up the issue of the Armenian genocide in parliament. “Ms.
(Angela) Merkel (of the Christian Democratic Union), isn’t bringing
this instance up in the German parliament because she likes black
eyebrowed Armenians,” he said. “She’s playing this card because she’s
against EU membership for Turkey.”
Turkish-Armenian journalist and sociologist Etyen Mahcupyan also
wants to see the rhetoric toned down in this war of words. Whatever
the historical truth, he said, “The term genocide is only of use to
extremists. I would have nothing against it if this word wasn’t
used.” Rarely in recent decades, says Hirant Dink, have the
opportunities for an improvement in Turkish-Armenian relations been
as good as they are today. Erdogan’s government, dominated by
Muslims, is far less a product of the nationalist spirit of the
Turkish bureaucracy than its predecessors. And that’s something
Europe should seek to exploit.
Germany, especially, which as a former ally of the Ottoman Empire
also carries its share of blame in the tragedy, would be well advised
against writing any resolutions. Instead, it should make concrete
proposals: “Why don’t the Germans challenge Eriwan to make the old
nuclear reactor in Metsarot safer or put pressure on Ankara to reopen
its borders to Armenia?” Berlin could help economically and
diplomatically and support the moderates who exist on both sides,
Dink said. “Truly, the possibilities are endless.”
,1518,353274,00.html

Armenian president, Canadian MPs discuss boosting ties
Arminfo
25 Apr 05
YEREVAN
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan today held a meeting with a group
of members of the House of Commons and the Armenian community of
Canada.
Expanding Armenian-Canadian relations was discussed during the
meeting, the Armenian presidential press service has told Arminfo news
agency. It was noted that the opening of a Canadian embassy in Armenia
could boost economic cooperation.
Members of the Armenian community of Canada noted that they often
visit their motherland, but every time they see something new and this
inspires confidence that Armenia is moving forward.
They assured the president that the community is ready to develop
cooperation with the motherland and raise it to a qualitatively new
level. The international recognition of the Armenian genocide was also
discussed. In this context, they emphasized the adoption of a
resolution by the Canadian parliament in 2002 condemning the Armenian
genocide and the efforts of the Armenian lobby aimed at making it into
law.

SwissInfo, Suisse
23 Avril, 2005
10 000 Arméniens dans les rues d’Erevan por les 90 ans du génocide

EREVAN – Plus de 10 000 personnes ont défilé dans les rues d’Erevan à
la veille du 90e anniversaire du génocide arménien de 1915 sous
l’Empire ottoman. Ils ont réclamé qu’Ankara reconnaisse ces massacres
comme “génocide”.
Le président Robert Kotcharian a fait au même moment un geste de
bonne volonté en excluant de demander des compensations matérielles à
Ankara en échange de sa reconnaissance du génocide. Les massacres ont
fait 1,5 million de morts, selon Erevan, et 300 000 à 500 000, selon
Ankara.
“Arménie. Reconnaissance!”, ont scandé des milliers de manifestants,
essentiellement des jeunes, défilant torche à la main et formant une
grande marche aux flambeaux dans le centre d’Erevan.
Les représentants de la diaspora arménienne étaient nombreux à
participer à la marche aux flambeaux d’Erevan, avant les célébrations
de dimanche, où les organisateurs attendent 1,5 million de
participants.
Les cérémonies doivent débuter dimanche avec un dépôt de gerbe devant
le mémorial en présence du président Robert Kotcharian. Une messe
sera célébrée en fin de journée à Erevan et une minute de silence
observée à 19h00 (16h00 suisse) à travers tout le pays.
Le parlement polonais, à l’instar de 15 autres, vient de condamner ce
massacre, le qualifiant de génocide, suscitant la colère de la
Turquie, pays candidat à l’entrée dans l’Union européenne. Un débat
sur le sujet s’est ouvert jeudi dernier au parlement allemand.

SwissInfo
24 April 2005
Armenien: Hunderttausende gedenken des Völkermords vor 90 Jahren
(Hundreds of thousands remember the Genocide)
ERIWAN – In Armeniens Hauptstadt Eriwan haben über eine Million
Menschen des Völkermords im damaligen Osmanischen Reich vor 90 Jahren
gedacht. Die Türkei wurde erneut aufgefordert, den Tod von rund 1,5
Millionen Armeniern als Völkermord anzuerkennen.
In der Hauptstadt Eriwan legten die Trauernden Blumen an der
Gedenkstätte Zizernakaberd nieder. In dem auf einem Hügel gelegenen
Mahnmal türmten sich die Blumen meterhoch.
Armenien und weite Teile der internationalen Öffentlichkeit sprechen
von Völkermord. Die Türkei als Nachfolgerin des Osmanischen Reiches
bezeichnet die Massaker, welche am 24. April vor 90 Jahren begonnen
hatten, als kriegsbedingte Zwangsumsiedlungen.
Dieses Verbrechen habe “nicht einmal einen Namen”, sagte Armeniens
Präsident Robert Kotscharian mit Blick auf die Weigerung der Türkei,
die Massaker zwischen 1915 und 1917 offiziell als Völkermord
anzuerkennen.
Er forderte Ankara zu einem entsprechenden Beschluss auf. Doch auch
90 Jahre nach dem Beginn der Massaker und Todesmärsche ist das Thema
in der Türkei ein grosses Tabu. Die Türkei sieht die Forderungen nach
Anerkennung eines Völkermords als Versuch, sie international zu
ächten und ihr womöglich sogar Gebiete im ehemals armenisch
besiedelten Osten des Landes streitig zu machen.
Die türkischen Beziehungen zu Ländern wie Frankreich oder der Schweiz
wurden in den vergangenen Jahren belastet, weil deren Parlamente
offizielle Resolutionen mit dem Wort “Völkermord” verabschiedeten.
Die UNO-Menschenrechtskommission wie auch Papst Johannes Paul II.
werteten die Gräueltaten an den Armeniern als Völkermord. Auch
EU-Mitgliedstaaten wie Italien, die Niederlande, Belgien, Schweden,
Griechenland, Polen oder Slowakei sprechen offiziell von Genozid.

Turkish organizations condemn 1915 massacre – Armenian agency
Arminfo
24 Apr 05
YEREVAN
Representatives of a number of Turkish public organizations are
handing out leaflets outside the Tsitsernakaberd memorial to the
victims of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey, demanding that
Turkey recognize the Armenian genocide.
The leader of the confederation of Turkish workers of Europe (FOIKA),
Ozgul Cem, told journalists that apart from his organization, the
action has also been joined by a number of other Turkish
organizations.
The leaflets handed out to Armenian citizens and foreign guests
visiting Tsitsernakaberd today condemn the genocide and demand that
Turkey unconditionally recognize and condemn it. “We regard Turkey as
a fascist state because it conceals historical facts. We are in favour
of recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide,” Ozgul Cem said,
adding that the members of the organizations participating in today’s
action have been declared persona non grata in Turkey for their
repeated demands to recognize the Armenian genocide.
“The Turkish people has a normal attitude to the issue of recognizing
the genocide,” he said.
We should point out that Yezids are also participating in today’s
action.

MUSICIANS OF 17 COUNTRIES CALL TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, APRIL 22. ARMINFO. Musicians are not politicians, however,
their voice has a significant influence to call the world and, first
of all Turkey to recognize Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in
1915, five foreign singers arrived in Yerevan to perform songs of an
Armenian composer Ara Gevorkyan on words of American Daniel Decker
“Adana” at the Memorial of Genocide victims in Tsitsernakaberd
expressed such an opinion during today’s press-conference.
A Finnish singer Inka noted that she is very honored to perform songs
about Turks’ barbarities. She thinks that Armenia is the country of
God, all the peoples went from Ararat and it is unimportant that this
sacred mountain is located on Turkey’s territory now. A Bulgarian
singer Tzvetan Tzvetkov also considers that Turkey must recognize
Genocide, “in fact, not only Armenians’ blood is on Turkey’s
conscience, they shed much blood of Bulgarians and other christian
peoples”. All the performers noted that they are not afraid to become
“persona non grata” for Turkey and will keep their opinion.
“Adana” is performed in Turkish as well. Gevorkyan did not mention the
name of a “valiant and democratic Turk” from considerations of
security. He also informed that “Adana” compact-disk in 17 languages
will be delivered all over the world. Proceeds from sales will be
directed to charity. “Adana” in 5 languages will be performed at the
Yerevan House of Chamber Music APr 23 at 15:00 and in Tsitsernakaberd
at Apr 23-24 night. -r-

A1plus
| 20:08:59 | 21-04-2005 | Official |
TERRITORIES OF FILM STUDIO SOLD
According to the law «On Governmental Non-Commercial Organizations» the
government decreed to convey the building located in Teryan Street 2 and
belonging to Armfilm film studio after Hamo Baknazaryan to the department
for state property under the RA government.
It was also decided on a competitive basis to amortize the organization’s
buildings and constructions occupying the territory of 24292.6 square meters
in Chavush 50 assessed in 266 million 968 thousand AMD.
CIRCUS AWAITING THE SAME FATE
The department for the state property under the RA government was ordered on
competitive basis to amortize the property belonging to State Circus
governmental non-commercial organization in the value of 40 million 882.1
thousand AMD. A commission headed by the chairman of the state property
department Ashot Markosyan was formed.
The commission was ordered within 2 months to organize and carry out the
amortization of the above mentioned property, fixing the minimal price at 40
ìëí 882.1 thousand drams.
–Boundary_(ID_tyrPObpTME428QFnLGBEbg)–

MATENADARAN RECEIVES FRAGMENT OF MANUSCRIPT SAVED BY VICTIM OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
YEREVAN, APRIL 20. ARMINFO. A fragment of “Gospel of John” ancient
manuscript dated by the 10th century, was donated today to Matenadaran
by a representative of “Friends of Matenadaran” Benevolent Foundation
of France Claude Armen.
Director of Matenadaran academician Sen Arevshatyan noted that this
gift was dated to the opening of an exhibition in memory of Genocide
victims. He noted that along with ancient manuscripts 11.700 fragments
of manuscripts and parchments of IV-V centuries, the least and the
biggest manuscripts in the world, as well as unique letters concerned
with the first journey of Christopher Columbus to America are kept
in Matenadaran.