Author: Nalbandian Albert

PETER SEMNEBY: EUROPEAN IDENTITY CAN UNITE THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH CAUCASUS

Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 2 2006

EU Special Envoy for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby declare din
Yerevan today that "the European identity can unite the countries of
the South Caucasus."

Speaking at the "South Caucasus 2006: new trends of development,
threats and risks" international forum, Peter Semneby said that
the interest of the international community towards the region has
considerably increased recently.

According to the EU Special Envoy, the three countrie sof the South
Caucasus are fighting for their national identity, but the European
Union suggests them a "European identity."

Peter Semneby noted that after Romania’s and Bukgaria’s accession to
he European Union EU will get immediately involved in the Black-Sea
region and will be able to play a greater role in stabilization of
the South Caucasus. RA Deputy Foreign Minsiter Arman Kirakosyan said
in his speech that the three countries of the South Caucasus should
work jointly and develop economic ties. In his words, this is the
key for the region’s prosperity.

The Deputy Foreign Minister confessed that there are still a number of
factors that hinder the regional cooperation – the problems between
Armenia and Turkey, Russia and Georgia, as well as the unsettled
conflicts. "However, economic cooperation can settle many of these
questions or at least create conditions for reduction of the tension,"
Arman Kirakosyan said.

STATEMENT BY VARTAN OSKANIAN

Panorama.am
16:28 02/10/06

On the occasion of the signing of the joint statements on the
conclusion of consultations on the ENP Action Plan: We welcome the
Finnish Presidency here, in the person of my friend, Erkii Tuomioja,
the Finnish FM, and the representative of the European Commission,
Torben Holze, representing Benita Ferrero Waldner who called to
say she could not be here, because of local political commitments
in Austria. Thanks also to Ambassador Terhi Hakala whose tireless
efforts have brought us to this day, and also want to recognize
Ambassador Peter Semneby, the EU Special Representative to the
South Caucasus. Although this document will be signed in November,
in Brussels, we appreciate the delegation’s coming here to Armenia,
so that our public can share in this historic occasion.

I would also like to thank the NGOs and civil society for their
engagement and involvement in enhancing the content and make it more
representative of the wishes of our society.

Once the document is signed, we’ll be able to publicly present the
entire document. Let me just tell you that it says clearly, at the
outset, that through this Action Plan, Armenia is invited to enter into
intensified political, security, economic and cultural relations with
the EU, enhanced regional and cross border co-operation and shared
responsibility in conflict prevention and conflict resolution.

And the document, goes on to detail each of these categories, and
sets a 5-year time period during which each of these actions will
take place. This is a huge opportunity for Armenia to become the
beneficiary of a tried and true process to change what needs to be
changed, re-enforce and confirm that which needs to be affirmed –
in a word to strengthen the institutions of state.

The distinction of this document, as the joint statement clearly says,
is that it involves significant measures of economic integration
and political cooperation. It’s called an Action Plan and rightly
so. It is not just a document of intentions, but of concrete actions
to bring Armenia’s social, political, economic systems more in line
with Europe’s since the premise is that we do in fact live in the
same neighborhood and interact together. It opens new partnership
perspectives in very basic fields such as science, education, culture,
and of course in economic development.

These reforms are extremely important for Armenia. We are where we
are today, exactly because we made the courageous economic reforms on
Day 1 of our independence. We knew then and we know even better today
that reforms are our only resource, they are what will strengthen and
empower our society. This document provides the opportunity to move
forward with reforms in a focused, strategic way. It gives us a way
and a means to do what we know we must do – revamp our institutions,
retool our society, rethink our methods and assumptions. We are signing
this on the 15th year of our independence, it will be concluded on
the 20th year of our independence, and we will be able to mark a
new turning point in Armenia’s future as a more democratic, open and
prosperous society.

ARMENIA ALMOST READY FOR LEBANON MINE CLEAR-UP

Bahrain News Agency, Bahrain
Sept 29 2006

Yerevan Sept. 29 (BNA)– Armenian foreign affairs minister Vartan
Oskanian announced his country’s conditional readiness to participate
in clearing Lebanon from mines.

He said in a statement today this his country will only do so if
Israel submits the mine fields map and when conditions in Lebanon
are stable. Armenias participation with unifil forces in Lebanon is
still on its agenda, Oskanian affirmed as he emphasised his countrys
intention to join the forces.

FRENCH SOCIALIST PARTY INSISTS ON ARMENIAN BILL
By Cihan News Agency

Zaman Online, Turkey
Sept 29 2006

French opposition Socialist Party (PS) has brought up again a
controversial draft bill, which will penalize the denial of the
so-called Armenian genocide, to the agenda of the French Parliament.

The draft bill, which will bring up to a year’s imprisonment and a
fine of up to ~@45,000 for those who deny the existence of "Armenian
genocide", will be discussed and voted in the French Parliament on
October 12, in line with a proposal by the opposition party.

In May, the French Parliament postponed the vote of the controversial
draft bill. The approval of the Senate is required for the bill to
come into force.

The French Parliament passed a bill in 2001 recognizing the mass
killing of Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire.

The fate of the Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during WW1 and
after is still a sensitive issue in Turkey.

Armenians claim that 1.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman
Empire were killed as part of an intentional and systematic campaign
of genocide during World War I.

Turkey denies the allegations claiming that 200,000 Armenians died
during forced migrations due to cold weather and bad transportation
conditions.

CHIRAC: I STRESSED NEED TO OPEN ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER MANY TIMES

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.09.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I believe that the prospect of EU accession
is an important element for keeping Turkey on a way, linking that
country with the West, which Turkey chose itself," French President
Jacques Chirac stated in an interview to the Hayastani Hanrapetutyun
(Republic of Armenia) newspaper. In his words, the accession to EU
itself provides for necessary reforms.

"This is a long way. I am sure that seeing Turkey declined towards
European values, human rights, peace, democracy in interests of both
EU and Armenia," the French President said. He emphasized that he
had urged Turkey to open the border with Armenia many times.

"However, evidently the issue is closely related with solution of the
Karabakh conflict and progress in the Karabakh settlement may have huge
importance for solving that issue. I believe it is possible today,"
Chirac said. As of the Armenian Genocide the French leader said that
European values provides for working for reconciliation, peace and
respect. "I believe in Turkey’s ability to pay historical tribute,
as the spirit of Europe lies in that," Chirac underscored.

FIRST ARMENIAN 24-HOUR WEB OPEN SOURCE (WEBOS) PROGRAMMING MARATHON

Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 27 2006

Enterprise Incubator Foundation (EIF) and Open Soft Consult teams
announce the launch of first Armenian 24-hour Web Open Source (WebOS)
programming marathon, which will take place 14 October 2006.

Armenia IT industry is considered one of the most prominent and
progressive economic sectors with deep historic roots and traditions
in high tech R&D areas. Armenian programmers and engineers had
long started forming alliances and getting engaged in international
contracts with companies in neighboring countries and off-shore.

Open Source 24-hour programming marathon is scheduled to launch 14
October 2006 with an ambitious but realistic goal to promote Armenia’s
potential as one of attractive destinations of highly developed
information technology sector and professional young specialists.

Open Source 24-hour Marathon will once again motivate the IT
area professionals and engage them in open source development. The
objectives of the marathon is to discover Armenian young IT talents,
new ideas and specialists, help to form businesses in open source
technologies, provide them modern knowledge as well as promote open
source programming in Armenia.

PERVEZ MOUSHARAF: RECOGNIZING ISRAEL WILL MEAN A POLITICAL SUICIDE
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
28/09/2006

‘Recognizing Israel will mean a political suicide," President of
Pakistan Pervez Mousharaf stated this in New York, yesterday. CNN-TURK
informed that in particular, Mousharaf said that, recognizing Israel,
Pakistan would lose the role of a bridge that it takes between the
Islamic world and the West. He said that they cant’ take an initiative
that would lead to Pakistan’s isolation from the Islamic world. At
the same time, Mousharaf added that they might recognize Israel,
only after Palestine is declared an independent state.

By the way, Mousharaf’s "Line of Fire" book has won large-scale
popularity in the world. In New York Mousharaf stated that Pakistan was
forced to participate in the anti-terrorism war under the pressure of
the USA. In the abovementioned book, he specifies about the threats of
USA directed to Pakistan. "After September 11, Washington warned us:
either you are with us, or we will make your country return to the
stone age," Mousharaf emphasized.

OSKANIAN ‘REASSURED’ BY KARABAKH MEDIATORS OVER UN ROLE
By Harry Tamrazian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 27 2006

International mediators have all but dispelled Armenian concerns
about the United Nations’s involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace
process sought by Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said
after meeting them late Tuesday.

Speaking to RFE/RL from New York, he confirmed shunning his Azerbaijani
counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in retaliation for the Karabakh issue’s
inclusion on the UN General Assembly. The two men were due to meet
in the presence of the French, Russian and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group on the sidelines of the assembly’s ongoing session.

"The meeting [with Mammadyarov] was cancelled at our initiative because
we found it necessary to clarify the situation to see what possible
developments might unfold there," he said. "This is what was done at
my meeting [with the co-chairs].

"In that sense, I am satisfied with explanations given to me. We
now have a better idea of the situation and will make an appropriate
decisions as to what our next steps are."

Oskanian added that Yerevan still has some unanswered questions
regarding the UN’s role in the peace process and expects the mediators
to address them in the coming weeks. "I can say for sure that there
will be more separate meetings with the co-chairs," he said. "I don’t
rule out their visit to the region. Also possible — and desirable —
is the resumption of direct negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan
both at the ministerial and presidential levels."

Presidents Ilham Aliev and Robert Kocharian plan to attend a summit of
the Commonwealth of Independent States which is scheduled to take place
in Belarus next month. Officials in Baku and Yerevan have not ruled
out the possibility of their encounter on the fringes of the summit.

Addressing the General Assembly on Monday, Mammadyarov cited
Oskanian’s refusal to meet him as proof of Armenia’s failure to take a
"constructive approach to solve existing problems." He charged that the
Armenians are defying international norms by insisting on international
recognition of the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination.

But according to the Armenian side, that right is at the heart of the
Minsk Group’s existing peace plan which envisages that Karabakh’s
status will determined by the disputed territory’s population in
a referendum. Oskanian again claimed that Azerbaijan "seems to be
constantly trying to renounce" the idea. The only way out of the
deadlock is to "revive the Minsk Group document and force Azerbaijan
not to renege on its pledges," he said.

"My meeting with the co-chairs was quite productive," said Oskanian.

"There are some positive movements. We will decide our next steps
upon our return to Yerevan."

ASSIST News Service (ANS) – PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: — E-mail: [email protected]

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

`The sunrise of Christianity’
Is this barren former minefield, close to the Dead Sea in Jordan, the
birthplace of Christianity?

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

[Prince Charles is shown around the Baptism site by Rustom Mkhjian]

BETHANY-BEYOND-THE-JORDAN, JORDAN (ANS) — It was once a minefield and it’s
hot, humid and covered with scrub, but the significance of this unlikely
place close to the Dead Sea in Jordan may be the greatest discovery for
Christians in the Middle East for many centuries.

The startling discovery is at Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan where many believe
that John the Baptist baptized Jesus and so began His earthly ministry that
took him to the cross and then the resurrection, and birthed the largest
religion in the world.

What is thought to be the actual baptism spot is now a dusty hole about 100
yards or so from the Jordan River, but experts believe that is where the
river once ran and the baptism took place.

[Rustom Mkhjian makes a point by the River Jordan]

Along with a small group, I was shown around the site by Rustom Mkhjian, an
Armenian Christian who is the deputy director of the site and possibly the
greatest expert on it. As we stood just across the River Jordan from Israel,
I as this enthusiastic champion of the site to explain about how it was
discovered and its significance especially for Christians.

`I’ve been working here for around ten years and we began to uncover the
site after Jordan signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1994,’ he began.
`This area was cleared of landmines and prepared for us to come and
investigate and look for archeological sites because we heard from a lot of
experts plus our documents that this was a holy site. Even the local
community, the people living round us called this site here Elijah’s Hill,
for it believed to be the place where Elijah ascended into the heavens.’

I then asked Mkhjian how could he know that this spot was the actual baptism
site for Jesus Christ?

[On the front left is the spot where some say Jesus was baptized when the
river was much wider]

He replied, `When we started our studies, our first reference was John,
Chapter One, verse twenty-eight, where it says that Jesus came to
Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan where John was baptizing. Now, as experts in
archeology, we generally have to have our sources and here let me refer to
something that Jesus himself said, `Build your house on a rock’ and we in
Jordan, the local group that have worked here, are dependent on four issues
to show that this is the site where so many biblical events took place.

`Not only the baptism of Christ — that was the most important of course —
but so many important events took place. So these four foundations are the
Gospels, and then the pilgrims occurrences because this site was on the
pilgrimage rout between Jerusalem and Bethlehem and up to Mount Nebo where
Moses died. The archeological discoveries that go along the description of
the pilgrims was the exciting part actually; and according to what we have
in the Gospels and the fourth issue is what we have depicted in the Mosaic
map of the Holy Land that was prepared in five-hundred-sixty-two AD. So that
was a very good reference to us on which so many things were depicted that
we can talk about later.

`But let me briefly say about what we have in the Gospels actually. When
Moses died Joshua took over as we knew in Joshua chapter one up to five we
have the story of Joshua crossing the Jordan towards Jericho city with the
twelve tribes of Israel of course turning around the walls of Jericho city
blowing the horn and it comes down. So therefore, that’s the first instance
where the River Jordan was crossed by the head of a community from the east
to the west.

`As we said earlier in Second Kings chapter two, we read about Elijah and
Elisha coming from Jericho and Elijah’s mantle touches the River Jordan and
it splits and they walk on dry ground toward the east eventually Elijah
ascends to the heaven. Elisha takes his mantle, goes back to Jericho again.
`Between the Old and the New Testament is John or as we know him — John the
Baptizer who was called John the Baptist. That’s an important issue because
in Luke chapter one verse seventeen says that John came in the spirit and
strength of Elijah. So that’s actually the first reason why he came and
dwelt and prepared the way for the Lord at the place from where Elijah
ascended to the heaven.

`As we know the second reason was water because John was clear too when he
said, `I’ll baptize with water but the one coming after me will baptize in
the Holy Spirit.’ This all happened in Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan where John
was baptizing. Now this is in brief what we have in the Gospels but if you
want to end the story of John the Baptist we know Matthew chapter fourteen
tells us about how Herod Antipas who married his brother’s wife Herodias
when Salome danced in an area so close from here about forty kilometers
south east the castle; that’s where Salome danced and eventually they asked
for the head of John the Baptist. That’s where John the Baptist was beheaded
about forty kilometers from here.’

As we stood in the sweltering heat overlooking the River Jordan, which
certainly didn’t look today like a great place to swim in with lots of
pollution in it, I asked if it seemed ironic that Christianity would begin
in such a barren wilderness?

`Not at all sir,’ he said. `Depending on what we have in the Gospels,
depending on what we have so close from us about twenty kilometers to the
south west in an area that’s called the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea
Scrolls were found a lot of things were referred to wilderness. The sound of
the wilderness that came at the east bank of the Jordan that was the
wilderness. Not only that crossing from evil to good or from good to evil
that’s what resemble the crossing of Joshua first of all running away from
evil to good.
 
[Jordan River sign close to baptism spot]

`And eventually Jesus came to the east part crossing from the evil things
that took place in the west to the east. So this was a refuge place if you
like. And regarding the place Christianity started well we are only a
hundred meters south of a site where we have remains of five churches that
were built uniquely and I underline uniquely just at the bank of the River
Jordan eastern bank of the Jordan described carefully by so many pilgrims
and we have all this mentioned in a series of books called Palestine
pilgrims text society volumes one to six. It talks about so many pilgrims
that visited Palestine and came to the place where Jesus was baptized even
being baptized at the spot they believe Jesus was baptized and eventually
the early Christians built the only cruciform baptismal font on earth that
used the River Jordan as a water to baptize in running water.

`And this is important and regarding what you have in the Mosaic map when
you have the two fish five miles north of the dead Sea at this spot one
going to the south the other coming back up north we know that fish was the
secret sign of Christianity.

`When you have it here along the River Jordan that’s around a hundred
kilometers long from the Tiberius to the Dead Sea. When you have the fish at
this spot, Christianity because that’s where Christianity started. By the
way at the place where we have the churches discovered these are the lowest
discovered churches on earth too because they are situated four-hundred
meters below sea level. But we consider the site to be the closest to heaven
because when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended, the dove and the
voice of the Lord said, `This is my beloved son in whom I’m well pleased.’

`Let us not forget something else that took place at this point, when the
first time John met Jesus he pointed with his fingers saying, this is the
lamb of God so he was talking about sacrifice. He was talking bout the
crucifixion three or more years before it happened again so close just about
thirty-five kilometers to the west from where we are now. So I say again in
Arabic, welcome to Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan; the lowest point on Earth; the
sunrise of Christianity.’

When asked if tourists, particularly Christian pilgrims, were welcome at the
site, he replied, `Definitely sir; this site is open to everybody. Let us
remember our late majesty King Hussein who had a famous statement about
heritage. He said, `Heritage belongs to humanity.’ This site belongs to you,
me, everybody. Our duty in Jordan is to take good care of it depending on
the international charters regarding heritage and their well being and
eventually opening it to everybody because everybody deserves to see this
site.

It seems that many leaders from around the world are beginning to recognize
this site at the place where Jesus Christ was baptized. Among those who have
already visited it include: Pope John Paul II, Pope Shenouda III, head of
the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt and even Prince Charles, the heir to the
British throne and Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who according to my guide,
had one of his children baptized in a font by the River Jordan at the site.

For more information, go to

Note: An audio version of this interview is available for broadcast in MP3
form. To request it, please send a message to Dan Wooding at
[email protected].

Note: I’d like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
_______________________________________ _
Dan Wooding is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern
California with his wife Norma. He is the founder and international director
of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News
Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio
Network in Washington, DC. Wooding is the author of some 42 books, the
latest of which is his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is
published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to
[email protected]. Pictured: Dan Wooding
interviews Rustom Mkhjian besides the River Jordan.

________________________________________
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WHAT ELSE REMAINED TO BE PUT IN TURKEY REPORT OF THE EP?
Fatma Yilmaz

ISRO, Centre for European Union Studies
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 26 2006

The membership aspect of the EU is shaped in terms of the criteria
determined by the Union. The Copenhagen and Maastricht criteria are
the well-known ones among them to be carried out by the candidate
countries which are willing to join the EU. A negotiation process,
whose duration depends mostly on the capacity of the candidate
country to adopt the EU acquis, is also performed in order to pave
the way for the full membership. Even tough the process is named as
the ‘negotiation’ one; it is actually far from being a bargaining
process. Instead, it is more one-sided course of action undertaken by
the candidate country. This is mainly because it is not the EU who
invites the countries to be involved in the Union. On the contrary,
those who ask for membership status are the countries outside the
Union. This is then why the EU unilaterally determines the reforms
given under the responsibility of the candidates to be adopted and
has opportunity to monitor their progression progress.

One of the ways to monitor and evaluate the negotiation process
is the ‘Progression Reports’ published by the EU Commission and
Parliament periodically. Considering the EU membership criteria, these
reports determine the points on which the candidates make important
progress and the points on which they are lack of realization of the
progress. In fact, the reports in theory carry the importance for the
candidates to observe how they are close to the membership aspect
and how far they are from the realization of the implementation of
the EU reforms. In short, the EU criteria are a chain of ‘musts’ to
be implemented unilaterally. However, they are also expected to apply
for every candidate in same manner since they are common imperatives
for all. More importantly, it does not give the right to the EU to
adjust the criteria arbitrarily – at least expected to do so.

When Turkey’s membership aspect is on the case, the process
interestingly goes on in different manner. The ‘well-structured’
criteria of the EU of which they are proud show flexible features.

In this sense, adding the ‘good-neighborliness’ policy, the EU firstly
set forth the solution of the Cyprus problem and the problems about
the Aegean Sea with Greece implicitly in front of Turkey to be member –
although ‘good-neighborliness’ criterion was not applied for the Greek
Cyprus. Then, the ‘absorption capacity’ of the EU became the major
issue under discussion. Absorbing, in a short while, ten countries
some of which were in slower progress than Turkey, the EU began to
question its capacity to take in Turkey which has been waiting for
50 years in the EU queue. In order not to offend completely, the EU
opened negotiation process with Turkey but this time it began to
mention the possibility of permanent derogations which have never
been the case for other candidates. It is the fact that there have
been temporary derogations applied for the others in order that the
candidates manage to undertake a smooth transitional period. However,
the EU has never put forward any derogation permanently in front
of its members before. In such case, it would mean creation of
different status rather than the full membership prospect since the
candidate could not be allowed to get benefit from some parts of EU
regulations. In fact, this is possibly the way to give an implicit
partnership status to Turkey under the name of full membership.

What is more, the most striking issue on the agenda of the EU
is opening the Turkish ports to the Greek Cypriot ships for the
continuation of the negotiation process. It seems that the Cyprus
issue would become a constant benchmark for both opening and closure
of each negotiation title. Making connection between the port issue
and negotiation titles relevant to freedom of the movements of goods
can be regarded as reasonable to some extent, but the other way around
can not comply with common sense of the criteria of the Union.

The forthcoming European Parliament (EP) report about Turkey, which is
planned to be approved on 27 September, evaluates the reform process in
Turkey and lists on which subjects Turkey has still things to do. Not
surprisingly, it includes several issues which are mentioned in none
of the criteria of the EU membership. The EP has brought critics for
not only realization of the reforms but also for the issues that are
not relevant to the EU affairs in reality. For instance, it took the
so-called Armenian genocide issue in its agenda. What the most striking
point here is that together with the so-called Armenian genocide issue,
the EP also discussed a made-up genocide about Pontic Greeks. In that
sense, in the report, it reminded Turkey that "the denial of historic
facts such as the genocide of the Armenians and Pontic Greeks and the
infringement of the rights of the many minorities within its territory
can not be reconciled with its European prospects and direction". This
expression was put in the report as an amendment by the proposal
of Greek member of the EP. Actually, recently whoever wants to put
something in the report got an opportunity to do this wish. The latest
one became the insertion of the planned Pope visit to Turkey.

Instead of making evaluations within the perspective of standard
membership criteria, the EP is making up new assessments in accordance
with the orders of the EP members. Accordingly, the amendment about
the Pope visit was inserted in the report, expressing its expectation
about the contribution of the Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey to the
improvement of the intercultural and religious dialogue between
the Muslims and Christians. Thus, the religious affairs suddenly
attracted the interest of the EU’s official documents surprisingly –
actually this is my fault maybe to surprise because Turkey has to be
accustomed to the EU innovations about Turkey’s membership process.

If the EU can find more new issues to put into its official documents
about Turkey until the approval of the report in order to give
its final status at the end of September, I guess it will be its
creativeness and achievements. This is because I could never ever be
such kind of imaginative when there are enough issues to put pressure
such as implementation of reforms, attack to the Council of State,
the PKK terror, threshold of the election, human rights, minority and
the Alevi issues, relations with Armenia, the Cyprus issue…. What
else remained to be put in the EP report about Turkey? Maybe the
latest Greek claim about the Gagavuz Turks about which Greece claim
that they are originally the Greek Christian Orthodox and they are
oppressed under the Turkish propaganda(!) … .