Author: Tambiyan Samvel

EU ASSEMBLY ADOPTS CRITICAL REPORT ON TURKEY
By Darren Ennis
REUTERS, UK
Sept 27 2006
STRASBOURG, France, Sept 27 (Reuters) – The European Parliament warned
Turkey on Wednesday that it must speed up far-reaching reforms if it
wants to join the European Union.
EU lawmakers adopted a highly critical, non-binding report which
accused Ankara of failing to live up to promises it made to start
talks last October on joining the bloc.
“The European Parliament … regrets the slowing down of the reform
process,” the report said.
It noted Turkey had shown “insufficient progress” in the areas of
freedom of expression, religious and minority rights, women’s rights
and the rule of law since the start accession talks 11 months ago.
It demanded Turkey fulfil its obligation to open its ports and airports
to EU member Cyprus under an extended customs agreement.
Ankara has refused to do so unless the EU fulfils a pledge to end
the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.
But parliament voted to delete a clause which would have sought
to make recognition by Ankara of the mass killing of Armenians in
Ottoman Turkey as “genocide” a precondition for EU membership. The
clause had particularly angered Turkey.
However, parliament said it “reiterates its call on Turkey to
acknowledge the Armenian genocide, as called for in previous European
parliament resolutions”.
European Commissioner Louis Michel, speaking on behalf of the EU
executive, warned lawmakers on Tuesday that making this a precondition
for membership would be “moving the goalposts”.
“FIRM BUT FAIR”
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told an economic conference in
Istanbul that his government was “determined to work with the EU with
a constructive understanding” but would not accept any discrimination
or new criteria for membership.
“You cannot change the rules during the match. The rules of play are
clear. The game has begun,” Erdogan said.
The report by Dutch lawmaker Camiel Eurlings did not call for a halt
or suspension of talks with Turkey. Eurlings told parliament it was
“fair but tough” and urged Turkey to see it as as “a motivation to
speed up reforms”.
Any country wishing to become a member of the 25-member bloc, set to
become 27 when Romania and Bulgaria join on Jan. 1, must receive the
approval of the EU’s directly elected assembly.
Parliament has never sought to veto any past accession, but it has
played a role in pressuring EU hopefuls to speed up reforms in previous
enlargement rounds.
The 80 amendments put forward by different political groups highlighted
deep divisions within the assembly over Turkey’s possible membership.
Many members of the centre-right European People’s Party, the largest
group, are unconvinced about Turkey’s bid to join. The governing
parties of Germany and France, which dominate the group, favour
“privileged partnership” with Turkey rather than full membership.
Some experts fear a possible breakdown in accession talks with the
strategic, Muslim candidate country if it fails to solve the dispute
over Cyprus amid mutual public disenchantment.
The European Commission is due to deliver its next regular progress
report on Turkey on Nov. 8 and has promised to take parliament’s
views into account.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn will visit Ankara next week
to meet Turkish leaders.

RA PM RECEIVED PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE “GLOBAL STEAL HOLDINGS”
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 26 2006
RA Prime Minister Andrani Margaryan received today President of the
Board of Directors of the British “Global Steal Holdings” Company
Promad Mitali.
Mr. Mitali told the Prime Minister about the long-term programs in the
sphere of mining the Company is implementing in Armenia, Government’s
Information and PR Department reports. He noted that there are good
opportunities for accomplishment of serious prospective programs in
Armenia, which is rich in stones and metals.
Welcoming the initiative of the “Global Steal Holdings” Company,
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan mentioned that it is consistent
with RA Government’s Policy of promoting ore mining in the country.
The parties turned to the issue of development of infrastructures
necessary for the successful accomplishment of long-term programs.

Majority of Azeri MPs for Military Settlement of Karabakh Conflict
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 14:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ APA Azeri news agency has held a survey among
the Milli Mejlis members. “Should the Karabakh conflict be settled
peacefully or by force?” it asked. It was found out that the
majority of the Azeri MPs support the military settlement of the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict explaining their position by “exhausted
possibilities of the negotiation process”. A number of deputies stand
for a peaceful resolution but do not rule out resumption of war. And
only a small number of Azeri parliamentarians think that the Karabakh
problem should be resolved peacefully via talks.

NEW ENVELOPES AND STAMPS PRINTED TO 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENIA
Panorama.am
14:29 19/09/06
The Hay Post pavilion made a presentation of an envelope and
stamp dedicated to the 15th anniversary of Armenian statehood at
the sports concert hall Tuesday. These new postal items will be
functional starting today. Andranik Manukyan, minister of transport
and communication, sealed the first envelope. Edward Kurjinyan, postal
items department head at Hay Post, told that 100,000 envelopes and
stamps are printed. The envelope is sold at 480 Armenian drams and
the stamp – at 280 Armenian drams at the pavilion. The prices are
written on the envelope and are not subject for change, Kurjinyan
said.

KONDOPOGA SCENARIO
by Kira Latukhina
RusData Dialine – Russian Press Digest
September 18, 2006 Monday
New cases of ethnic conflicts registered in the Volga Federal District
Stoking fears of escalating xenophobia, a man died in a brawl
involving ethnic Armenians in the Saratov region last week and three
people were hospitalized after an attack on an anti-migration rally
in St. Petersburg on Sunday. State Duma deputies sounded the alarm
about a surge in violence. But they also approved legislation that
would increase penalties for those who employ illegal migrants –
a populist vote, critics said, that tapped into widespread xenophobia.
The country is on edge after clashes and riots targeting Chechens in
the Karelian town of Kondopoga killed two people earlier this month.
Local residents clashed with four ethnic Armenians in a cafe in the
town of Volsk on Sept. 10, Saratov regional police said Friday. Three
ethnic Russians suffered knife wounds, and one later died in the
hospital. Police and the local Armenian diaspora downplayed suggestions
that the fight was racially motivated. But Ekho Moskvy radio reported
the fight was followed the next day by an attack on ethnic Armenians
at a Volsk technical college that injured one student. Police denied
the report and said two ethnic Armenians involved in the cafe fight
had been placed on a national wanted list.
On Sunday, masked people attacked a rally by the radical Movement
Against Illegal Immigration in St. Petersburg, sparking a fight
that led to three people being hospitalized. About 30 activists were
attending the rally to demand the expulsion of Caucasus natives from
Kondopoga, where people raided and destroyed small businesses run by
Caucasus natives after two locals were stabbed to death in a fight
with Chechen migrants. St. Petersburg police said 21 attackers,
who identified themselves as members of an anti-Nazi movement,
were detained.
One of the victims was stabbed with a knife, while the other two
suffered head injuries. It was unclear whether the victims were
protesters or attackers. The Movement Against Illegal Immigration also
organized a rally Thursday in Moscow to protest Caucasus natives in
Russian universities. Police tried to prevent the rally by detaining
about 200 young men near the Dobryninskaya metro station.
Also Thursday, several dozen young men, some of them described by
witnesses as skinheads, participated in a fight inside the Oktyabrskaya
metro station. No one was detained.

WHY RUSSIA IS REALLY WEAK
Kavkaz Center, Turkey
19.09.2006
News stories about Russia these days follow a predictable theme. The
country is resurgent and strong, and the West must adjust to this
new reality.
But that story line is wrong. Russia is weak and getting weaker.
Take the conventional index of power-military might.
Yes, Moscow is testing advanced missiles systems and talks buoyantly
about countering a U.S. antiballistic-missile system with a
new generation of warheads that can evade interceptors. Yet
note the failure earlier this month of the highly touted Bulava
submarine-launched missile. The United States experiences such mishaps,
too, of course. But in Russia they are signs of something deeper. It’s
no secret that, for all Russia’s new oil wealth, its Army remains
poorly trained, malnourished and demoralized.
Alcoholism, suicide and corruption are rife. Weaponry is aging and
newer models arrive at a trickle: India has bought more Russian tanks
since 2001 than the Russian Army.
Russia gets credit for economic growth-nearly 7 percent this year,
according to the IMF. But the boom has been propelled mainly by rising
energy prices.
What happens when-not if-oil and gas prices begin to retreat? New
investment in production capacity is insufficient to sustain current
levels of exports.
Meanwhile, economic reform has stalled, state control over strategic
economic industries has increased and foreign investment remains
low. Of the 8.1 billion in foreign investment worldwide in 2004, only
.6 billion went to Russia. Not surprisingly, Russia rates poorly in
globalization rankings. The 2005 Foreign Policy/A.T. Kearney survey
placed it 52nd in a list of 62 countries-a drop of five places
from 2004.
Russia’s human capital is being ravaged. The population is declining
by some 750,000 annually because of low birthrates and unusually high
death rates among males; it’s also aging rapidly and will therefore
become increasingly less productive.
Alcoholism remains pervasive, as does drug use. Russia has the highest
rate of tuberculosis in Europe. AIDS has yet to crest. Suicide is
one the rise. According to WHO data on 46 countries between 1998
and 2003, Russia, with 71 cases per 100,000 of the male population,
topped the list.
A nation’s power also rests on the strength of its institutions. Here,
too, Russia is growing weaker.
Putin’s authoritarianism has brought order to a once chaotic political
scene. But Parliament has been neutered. So have independent civic
organizations, political parties and media. The secret police,
military and security services-no friends of the rule of law-occupy
prominent political positions. Official corruption flourishes.
Abroad, Russia’s influence continues to ebb. Its closest
allies-Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan-are poor and politically
unstable.
Energy-rich Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan resent Russia’s grip on
their exports. Armenia, loyal but penurious, remains embroiled in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with increasingly prosperous Azerbaijan. The
Kremlin’s meddling in Georgia has deepened Tblisi’s determination
to join NATO and strengthened anti-Russian sentiment. Belarus’s
dictatorial president envisions union with Russia, but his Soviet-style
political order repels many ordinary Russians.
On the wider global stage, Putin displays seeming strength and new
confidence. Russian support is key to the negotiations over Iran’s
nuclear program. Its Security Council veto gives it an important say
on various international issues, from Kosovo’s independence to the
United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Yet Putin’s rhetoric
increasingly strikes themes of Great Russia-imperial, nostalgic,
nationalistic. However much it resonates with a particular Russian
political class, that rhetoric can itself breed weakness.
You see this in the sharp rise of race-related hate crimes in Russia,
most recently the clash between Russian xenophobes and Chechens
in the north- western town of Kondopga, when a bar brawl triggered
huge rallies of ultranationalists demanding the expulsion of ethnic
minorities. Right-wing racism and Russia-for-Russians chauvinism augur
ill for a multiethnic, multiconfessional Russia, which has near 25
million Muslims.

ONE YEAR SINCE BUNDESTAG ADOPTS RESOLUTION ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Anahit Hovsepian
AZG Armenian Daily
19/09/2006
Today, September 19 at 7.00 pm, German companies invite to a dispute
titled “The reality of Memory” at the representative office of
Saxony-Anhalt in Berlin.
This discussion from the series of “Berlin Lectures” has an aim to
have retrospective look at the events in Germany after the historic
decision of Bundestag on June 16 2005.
Elvira Reit, chairman of German-Armenian Association, will deliver a
greeting speech, and writer, publicist Raffi Kandian will make a short
speech and will monitor the discussion. Among other participants will
be Bundestag deputies Dr. Christoph Bergner and Dr.
Markus Meckel, as well as Prof. Herman Goltz head of Johannes Lepsius’s
archives in Potsdam, Mari Karachiyan-Berndt and lawyer Stepan Taschian
from the Armenian community.

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Sept 15 2006
ARMEN RUSTAMIAN: ISOLATION BY NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES IS THREAT NUMBER ONE
FACED BY ARMENIA
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Development of
democracy, solution to the Nagorno Karabakh problem and
neutralization of foreign threats are the three main challenges faced
by Armenia. Armen Rustamian, Chairman of RA NA Standing Committee on
Foreign Relations, representative of ARF Dashnaktsutiun Armenian
Supreme Body, expressed such an opinion at the September 15 press
conference.
In his words, there are foreign threats not only before Armenia, but
also all other countries making part of the former Soviet Union. “All
countries had a problem of strengthening of independence, a problem
of independent creation of guarantees. But Armenia has its peculiar
challenges conditioned by its geographical position and relations
with its neighbors,” Rustamian said.
In the speaker’s words, threat number one is the neighbor countries’
policy aimed at Armenia’s isolation. In his words, when Armenia was
member of different international organizations and signed
multi-lateral agreements, Azerbaijan’s reservations pursuing the goal
to isolate Armenia were striking. Today also, in Rustamian’s
affirmation, relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan remind of a
“cold war” and relations with Turkey are rather complicated. “It will
be possible to contribute to establishment of regional security only
in case of normalization of these relations,” the parliamentary
committee chairman is convinced.
Another challenges, as Armen Rustamian said, are connected with the
so-called “Iranian dossier:” it can become a serious threat for
Armenia if the issue connected with the Iranian nuclear programs is
solved through force. “God forbid if a civil war breaks out in Iran.
We have a single completely operating land border with Iran and this
border can be endangered,” the speaker emphasized.

ARMINFO News Agency
September 15, 2006 Friday
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN CALLS ARMENIA’S DIPLOMATIC POSITION IN
SETTLEMENT ISSUE PASSIVE AND DEFENSIVE
The Head of the RA Parliament Constant Commission for Foreign
Relations, representative of the Supreme Body of ARF Dashnaktsutiun
party , Armen Rustamyan, calls Armenia’s diplomacy in the Karabakh
conflict settlement issue passive and defensive.
According to him, both diplomats and Parliamentarians have chosen the
passive line. Sometimes, at different forums, the RA Parliament
representatives orient themselves “by place” under absence of any
common concept on this problem.,m making ripostes to Azerbaijan,
while the latter claims the same at all international forums for many
years, i.e. about the occupied territories, millions of refugees and
so on. Much time has passed since the operations, the international
community is interested in the future not in the past, while
Azerbaijan accents just on them. Therefore, Armenia has to
sequentially achieve the international recognition of Nagorno
Karabakh by the international community, not by Azerbaijan.

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan, in Russian
12 Sep 06
US EMBASSY PRESENTS ARMENIAN AUTHORITIES WITH DOCUMENTS ON CORRUPT
OFFICIALS
The US embassy in Yerevan has presented the Armenian authorities with
documents that contain accusations of corruption against Armenian
officials, the Armenian news agency Mediamax has said.
The embassy said that they closely examined all these documents and
after becoming convinced that they contain serious accusations,
immediately raised the issue with the Armenian government, Mediamax
reported.
“We continue to expect that accusations of corruption against
officials should be taken seriously and investigated as is the case
in the USA,” Mediamax quoted the US embassy as saying. The embassy
thinks it irrelevant to make further comments on the nature of these
accusations until they are proven, it said.