Author: Nanijanian Alex

NKR PRESIDENT: THERE IS CERTAIN PROGRESS IN KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 6. ARMINFO. There is certain progress in the
Karabakh peace process, President of Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arkady
Ghoukassyan said Monday commenting on his Yerevan meeting with OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel.

The fact that the meeting turned out longer than planned proves that
OSCE is interested in the process while OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s
visiting the region for the second time is unprecedented at all. Such
issues cannot be resolved in one meeting, says Ghoukassyan noting
that it is hard to speak about success yet but some progress is
evident. Particularly Azerbaijan is already speaking about the status
of Karabakh, is ready to acknowledge NKR’s self-determination right
and is discussing the issue of referendum. Azerbaijan’s position has
obviously become more constructive, says Ghoukassyan. But one should
hardly expect resolution this year – this is a very long process
as there are many issues that remain unsettled exactly because of
Azerbaijan’s position, says Ghoukasyan.

SELF-PROCLAIMED REPUBLIC LEADER DOES NOT EXPECT ‘SPEEDY CONFLICT SETTLEMENT’

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Sept 7 2005

Baku, September 6, AssA-Irada — Leader of the self-proclaimed
Upper Garabagh Republic Arkadi Gukasian has said he does not expect
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper Garabagh to be settled
soon. Gukasian told a news conference held jointly with the OSCE
chairman-in-office, Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel in
Yerevan on Tuesday that official Baku is refusing to compromise
on several issues. “The sides should take risks to settle the
conflict. You must give something to get something in return. But
Azerbaijan does not want to give anything.” Gukasian said, however,
that ‘Baku is adhering to a constructive position, unlike in previous
years’. Rupel highly assessed the ongoing talks on the resolution of
the Garabagh problem. He said that the OSCE does not back either party
to the conflict, as the organization is a partner of both countries
and its goal is to settle the conflict peacefully. The OSCE chairman
cited some progress in the negotiations, saying that efforts in this
area should be continued.*

ARMENIA-RUSSIA VISIT ORDER CHANGED

A1+

| 20:51:09 | 06-09-2005 | Politics |

Documents referring to the agreement “On non-visa visits of RF and
RA citizens” underwent some changes.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs since September 24,2005, the citizens of both countries can
enter or leave the country, move inside the country or stay on the
territory of the other state only in case of possessing the following
documents.

For the RA citizens:

Valid passport of RA citizen, diplomatic passport, certificate on
return /only for entering Armenia/, birth certificate /for children
under 16/. The document is in force till March 23, 2005.

For Russian citizens:

Foreign passport of Russian citizen, service passport, diplomatic
passport, certificate on return /only for entering the RF/.

NKR PRESIDENT: KARABAKH CONFLICT CAN’T BE SETTLED WITHOUT NAGORNO KARABAKH PARTICIPATION

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 6 2005

YEREVAN, September 6. /ARKA/. Karabakh conflict can’t be settled
without Nagorno Karabakh participation, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
President Arkady Ghukasyan said at a press conference held after
his meeting with the OSCE Chairman Dimitrij Rupel Monday night in
Yerevan. Ghukasyan said the OSCE Chairman meeting with NKR President
shows that the republic is a part of the OSCE Minsk Group’s format.
He pointed out that Azerbaijan started speaking about NKR status
and said he viewed that as a sign of progress in Karabakh conflict
settlement process, as never before Azerbaijan has taken this into
consideration. “However, it is still difficult to gauge the progress,
because so many problems remain unsolved”, NKR President said. In
his words, solving his internal state problems, President Aliev is
hampering Karabkh conflict settlement process and is becoming the
hostage of its own statements. M.V. -0–

NKR PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS ON THE INDEPENDENCE DAY

Azat Artsakh Nagorno Karabakh Republic [NKR]
05 Sept 05

Dear fellow countrymen, Today on September 2nd Nagorno Karabakh
Republic celebrates the 14th anniversary of proclamation of NKR. We
celebrate our chief holiday in ceasefire, which enables us to develop
free and independent Artsakh which has chosen the way of democratic
development in a comparatively quiet situation. And though NKR has not
been recognized yet, our country proved to the world that not only
did it de facto accomplish itself but also left behind many of its
neighbours in adopting the standards of the European community. The
evidence to this is the recent election to the National Assembly in
June, highly evaluated by the independent international observers. No
one taught lessons of democracy to the people of Artsakh as it
is constantly done in Azerbaijan where no election held so far,
be it presidential, parliamentary or local, corresponded to the
basic rules of the modern democratic societies. Today Azerbaijan is
even unable to defend the rights of its own people, let alone the
ethnic minorities living in this country. This sole fact is enough
for the progressive international community to recognize the right
of the people of Karabakh to have a sovereign state independent of
Azerbaijan. This is the reality, and the world, including Azerbaijan,
cannot but take it into consideration. And it is not accidental that
the Baku authorities do their best to conceal from their people the
achievements of Nagorno Karabakh in building a legitimate democratic
state, preventing their citizens from visiting NKR, communicating with
the people of Artsakh. However, this kind of behaviour has no prospect
because it causes alienation of the two peoples thus delaying the day
of the overall and mutually acceptable resolution. What is more, the
steps of the Azerbaijani government and its defiance of negotiations
with Karabakh stake the resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
in a civilized way, on the basis of reasonable compromise. Therefore
the unresolved conflict remains a factor which threatens to destabili!

ze the situation in the region. Using the opportunity I want to
assure you once again that the NKR government is only for the
peace resolution of the conflict with Azerbaijan. At the same
time our people can be sure that no one will be able to take away
from Artsakh the independence won at the expense of irretrievable
losses. The truly popular Defence Army of NKR is able to counteract
to those who will intrude into our fatherland. It has all the
necessary means and possibilities. However, we have no right to be
satisfied with what we have. By merely praising the way we already
passed, we are likely to lose all we acquired without a clear and
precise perspective of tomorrow, and the future generations will
never forgive us. In the future too we must promote the country’s
ability to defend itself, foster the rates of economic, social and
cultural development. It is necessary to put to use our main wealth,
the physical and mental potential of the people of Artsakh, their
professionalism and assiduity, multiply the cultural heritage of
Artsakh. The successful realization of these objectives is pointless
without further democratization of the public and political life
of NKR and building a civil society. There can be no alternative to
this. The development of the sovereignty of Karabakh is impossible
without the support of Armenia and the Diaspora. However, we do not
use the political and economic potential of the triangle Armenia –
Artsakh – Diaspora at full yet, for the international recognition of
NKR either. Certainly we have much to do in this regard. Dear fellow
countrymen, on this day each of us should feel responsible for the
future of Artsakh. We still have many unsettled problems. However,
we can overcome the difficulties only through joint efforts, honest
work, mutual trust and thoughtfulness towards the concerns and needs
of each Artsakh man. Congratulations, dear friends. I wish you all
the best. Peace and prosperity to our fatherland, Nagorno Karabakh
Republic.

GHUKASYAN: PARTIES SHOULD RUN CERTAIN RISK TO SOLVE KARABAKH CONFLICT

Pan Armenian News
06.09.2005 03:12

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ President of Nagorno Karabakh Arkady Ghukasyan
does not consider forecasts on the prospect of solution of the NK
conflict within 2005 realistic. “There are many issues that are
not arranged yet,” the NK leader told journalists in Yerevan after
a meeting with OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel September
5. At the same time the NKR leader positively evaluated the fact
that official Baku “speaks of referendum on the NK status.” In
Mr. Ghukasyan’s words, earlier Azerbaijan did not touch upon these
issues at all. “Today Azerbaijan works in a more constructive field,
than earlier, however is it hard to imagine a material progress yet,”
he noted. The NK President considers that the meetings at the level
of Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as FM of the two
countries cannot substitute for the OSCE MG format, which provides
for participation of Stepanakert representatives in the talks. Having
given a positive evaluation to any contacts between leaders of Armenia
and Azerbaijan, Ghukasyan considers that “it is hard to solve the NK
problem without participation of Nagorno Karabakh.” The fact that the
OSCE Chairman-in-Office meets with NK leaders means we make part of
that format,” he underscored. As A. Ghukasyan told journalists, he
has drawn the attention of the OSCE leader to “militarist statements
of the Azeri President.” “I think Aliyev this way fulfills domestic
political tasks, however on the other hand this hampers overall
process, as by solving domestic issues Aliyev becomes entrapped by his
own statements,” Ghukasyan noted. “To solve the conflict the parties
have to run a certain risk – give something to get something. Today
Azerbaijan is not ready to such risks. It seems to them that they can
get everything, however it is impossible. We realize that unpopular
decisions may be made. However, these unpopular decisions should refer
to everyone – not only us. We are ready to pass our part of the way,
if Azerbaijan does the same,” Ghukasyan stated. Answering a question
what can be an unpopular decision for Karabakh people, Ghukasyan
stated, ” There is a category of people in Nagorno Karabakh today,
for whom even talks with Azerbaijan are not popular.” Touching upon
the supposition that the NK status can be a step beyond independence,
A. Ghukasyan said, “I cannot imagine that option – it is the same as
being a bit pregnant,” reported IA Regnum.

FEATURE NEWS from COMPASS DIRECT
Global News from the Frontlines

Summary:
ISTANBUL, August 30 (Compass) — Persecution against Christians in
Turkey is becoming more overt. Along with the usual delays in granting
permits to Protestant churches, Christians are seeing signs of open
hostility — both verbal and violent — toward their faith. In a country
where the victims of abuse are sued and plainclothes policemen act like
thugs, it is easy for Christians to get into trouble.

**********
Turkey’s Mistreatment of Christians Becoming More Brazen
Persecution worsening even as the country seeks entry into EU.
by Peter Lamprecht

ISTANBUL, August 30 (Compass) — Bektas Erdogan never expected his
Christian faith of 11 years to jeopardize his career as a fashion
designer in Turkey.

Hired five months ago by a designer jeans company in the Beyazit
district of Istanbul, Erdogan was assured by his Muslim boss that he
would be evaluated on the basis of his work, not his religion.

After his first collection sold successfully in Russia, Erdogan thought
the phone call he received earlier this month from his employer —
asking him to come to work on a Sunday afternoon — boded well. Maybe
there was a surprise company dinner.

But that evening at the shop, his supervisor angrily accused him of
“missionary work” and “brainwashing.” With the help of two employees and
a relative, he beat Erdogan for two hours. The men repeatedly struck the
designer’s head and face with their fists and the butt of a pistol.
Three times Erdogan’s boss attempted to shoot him, but the gun failed to
fire.

“He really wanted to kill me. It wasn’t just to scare me,” said Erdogan,
who told Compass that he prayed for help and meditated on Bible verses
while his attackers threatened to murder him and hide his body.

His co-workers released the 32-year-old Erdogan with a swollen and
bloody face around 9 p.m., warning that they would kill him later. Since
then, he has received three anonymous phone calls threatening his life.

Erdogan did not report the August 7 incident to the police, fearing that
his boss’ ties with local officials might make him the target of further
aggression. He also felt that once the authorities learned he was a
Christian, they would be unwilling to help.

He believes that his employer’s anger stemmed from shop employees’
interest in Christianity. During his last three months at the job,
Erdogan said, “Almost every meal [at work] became a question-and-answer
session about my religion.”

Plainclothes Police Brutality
Erdogan is not the only victim of increasingly overt, anti-Christian
sentiment within Turkish society. On the same day that he was attacked,
Istanbul police beat two Protestant converts in their early twenties and
told them they could not be both Turks and Christians.

Umit and Murat-Can, who asked to have their last names withheld, were on
their way to one of Istanbul’s 25 Turkish-speaking Protestant churches
on August 7 when they saw American David Byle and his 3-year-old
daughter surrounded by a small crowd of police and civilians.

Byle had been exercising the legal right to distribute Christian tracts
on Istiklal Caddesi, one of Istanbul’s main pedestrian thoroughfares,
when two plainclothes policemen accosted him. One of them grabbed his
chin and shouted at him for distributing literature, quickly drawing a
crowd of police and passersby.

When the two Christians tried to intervene on behalf of Byle, whom they
recognized as a member of a local church, a scuffle broke out between
Umit and one of the plainclothes policemen. According to Murat-Can,
about 15 policemen forced Umit to the ground, where they kicked and hit
him before handcuffing him and carrying him inside a nearby building.

“That’s when I first realized they were police,” said Umit, whose
plainclothes attacker never identified himself as an officer. The
policemen continued to beat Umit for three minutes before taking him to
a local police station with Murat-Can, who had followed the group
inside.

“They never showed us any ID or read us our rights,” Murat-Can told
Compass as he described the following hour in the police station. After
finding 100 Christian tracts in Murat-Can’s backpack, police accused the
youths of being “missionaries” who were bent on “dividing Turkey.”
Although finally releasing them without filing any formal report, they
told the young men that they could not be both Turks and Christians.

In another incident last month in Eskisehir (120 miles southeast of
Istanbul), three strangers in Kanli Kavak park assaulted Protestant
Salih Kurtbas. They attacked him from behind at 6 p.m. as he waited for
an anonymous caller who had asked to meet and discuss Christianity.

Shortly after arriving home with a bloody nose, split lip, black eyes
and a swollen ear, he received an irate phone call from his attackers.
They accused him of missionary activity and threatened to kill anyone
associated with a local U.S. businessman whom they claimed was spreading
Christian propaganda.

Eskisehir evangelicals have faced constant delays in obtaining legal
permission to start the city’s first Protestant church. “We applied to
the governor and haven’t received an answer, and the city government has
said that the building is not up to earthquake safety standards,”
Kurtbas told Compass. “Everything’s kind of gone downhill.”

Kurtbas didn’t even think of going to the police, explaining, “If they
found out that I was a Christian, nothing good would have come of it.”
Umit also wanted to avoid further problems with authorities, fearing
that legal proceedings might hurt his brother’s chances of entering the
police academy.

Fear of Court
“These sort of attacks are not shocking for me,” admitted Orhan Kemal
Cengiz, legal consultant for Turkey’s Alliance of Protestant Churches
(APC). “I was expecting them . but [Christians] should take this very
seriously.”

With European Union (EU) accession talks looming on October 3, Turkey is
attempting to improve its human rights image. A package of legal reforms
passed in June reasserted freedom of religion, instituting a three-year
prison sentence for anyone obstructing the expression of religious
beliefs.

But the EU has remained skeptical, challenging officially
99-percent-Muslim Turkey to implement these religious freedoms among its
non-Muslim minority communities. Fewer than 100,000 citizens follow the
ancient Christian traditions of the Armenian, Greek and Syrian Othodox
churches, which remain exclusively ethnic congregations.

By contrast, the emerging community of an estimated 3,500 Turkish
Protestants challenges the centuries-old perception that to be a Turk is
to be a Muslim.

Over the last 10 months, violence against Protestant Christians in
Turkey has become publicly visible, prompting former U.S. Ambassador to
Turkey Eric Edelman to make formal inquiries with Ankara officials in
April and again in June regarding 10 incidents.

“Turkey is not aware of the gravity of the problem,” Cengiz said. “Some
officials have good intentions, but I have a strong suspicion that they
don’t really grasp the freedom of religion issues.”

While most Turkish Protestants remain reluctant to open court cases for
fear of further persecution, others feel that the church can gain from
aggressive legal action without undermining its message of love.

“I’m a big fan of opening a court case,” APC spokesperson Isa Karatas
told Compass. “When we look at things from a Christian perspective, of
course we need to be forgiving. But this is not an obstacle for us to
pursue our rights.”

Cengiz, the legal consultant to the APC, also advises that abuse victims
go to court to protect themselves. “If you do not file a case against
the police, you may find yourself before a court or even in jail, in
spite of the fact that you are the victim of police misconduct,” Cengiz
said. Turkish law enforcers often sue abuse victims preemptively, Cengiz
said, in order to shield officers from legal prosecution.

Turkish Protestant church leaders have opened seven libel cases this
year against three TV stations to combat accusations aired nationally.
Statements on the television programs claimed that local Christians spy
for foreign governments that pay Turks to change their religion.

In the face of anti-Christian rhetoric from some government officials
and the latest attacks against Protestants, many Turkish Christians
admit that they are not expecting either the government or society to
change overnight.

“There is a segment of the government that supports anti-Christian
sentiment, but along with this section is a larger segment that opposes
it,” Karatas of APC told Compass. He said that if Christians who
suffered persecution for their faith “would open court cases now, I
believe they would receive support from the government.”

“In theory we have a free environment,” Umit told Compass only 10 days
after being beaten by the police. “I don’t think that there is a problem
with the state. But the Turkish people have not yet understood
democracy. They still see the state as a father. They don’t know that
it’s meant to serve us. Therefore, when people working for the state say
something bad about Christians, the people believe it.”

Despite ongoing death threats, Erdogan has no plans to leave the
country. When asked how he felt about losing his job, enduring a severe
beating and being threatened with death — all in one evening — he
smiled. Even if his situation doesn’t improve, he said, “God tells me to
rejoice, because He can bring glory to His name.”

END

**********
Copyright 2005 Compass Direct

Compass Direct Feature News is distributed as available to raise
awareness of Christians worldwide who are persecuted for their faith.
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DISCUSSIONS OF PROSPECTS OF ARMENIA’S DEVELOPMENT TO BE HELD IN
YEREVAN ON SEPTEMBER 3, 2005

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 2 2005

YEREVAN, September 2. /ARKA/. Discussions of the prospects of
Armenia’s development will be held in Yerevan on September 3, 2005,
the International Center for Human Development (ICHD) reported ARKA
News Agency. The discussion will be held in 25 different groups
simultaneously, and about 500 people are expected to participate
in these discussions. The goal of this event is to discuss possible
models of Armenia’s development, which were elaborated by “Armenia
2020” Program. The discussions will be held in two stages, where four
scenarios of Armenia’s development for 2005-2020 will be presented.
These scenarios are: “From Russia with Love”, “Armenia and the
European Union”, “From Being to Prosperity”, “Armenia: Sentenced to
30 Years with Correspondence”. This will be the fourth discussion
organized by Armenia 2020. The same discussions were held in Yerevan,
Ijevan and Yeghegnadzor. This round of discussions is organized by
the ICHD and is ordered and supported by Armenia 2020. Armenia 2020
program started in February, 2002 and its goal is to make Armenia
a competitive country, as well as to support strategic development
of Armenia through discussions of various scenarios of possible
development. USD 2mln was spent within the program till now. A.A. -0–

PRESIDENT KOCHARIAN ISSUES ADDRESS OVER NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC INDEPENDENCE DAY

Yerkir
01.09.2005 17:31

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – President Robert Kocharian issued a congratulatory
address over the Independence Day of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

“We are marking the 14th anniversary of Artsakh independence by
reiterating our dedication to freedom and democracy,” the address
reads. “The historic choice of the Karabakh people is irreversible.”

“This holiday was made possible first of all by those heroes who
fought the war forced on us. We must continue to act in line with
their great deeds.”

COUNCIL OF EUROPE HEAD CALLS FOR FAIR ELECTION IN AZERBAIJAN

Turan news agency
30 Aug 05

Baku, 30 August: There are a number of serious shortcomings in
Azerbaijan in the sphere of freedom of assembly and expression. These
freedoms are the fundamental human rights which should be observed
in democratic countries, Council of Europe Secretary-General Terry
Davis has said in an interview with the Baku-based Council of Europe
information office.

There are also other fields that have to be improved, the
secretary-general said. He said it was important to hold “a
constructive dialogue” between the authorities and the opposition. Both
sides have to show political will in order to normalize relations
and improve the political atmosphere in the country, he said.

After the previous election [presidential election in October 2003],
which was accompanied with flaws, there is no alternative to a free
and fair election in Azerbaijan. To this end, the Council of Europe
has drawn up an action plan in order to make sure that the [6 November
parliamentary] election is held in the right way. It consists of three
sections: revision of the Electoral Code and improvement of election
management; increasing of voters’ awareness with the aim of boosting
public involvement in the election process; promoting of Council of
Europe values through NGOs and the media.

Asked what the Council of Europe would do if the election
was falsified once again, Davis said much would depend on the
conclusion of PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]
observers. “Therefore, I do not want to make decisions in advance,”
he said.

Asked to comment on the situation around the Armenian-Azerbaijani
conflict as a former PACE reporter on Nagornyy Karabakh, Davis said
he regretted frequent truce violations and losses sustained by both
sides. In Davis’ opinion, the Prague process, which started a year ago,
has made settlement prospects much stronger.