Author: Tatoyan Vazgen

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
28 Sep 05
US OFFICIAL MEETS RELIGIOUS REPRESENTATIVES IN TURKEY
Istanbul, 28 September: Karen Hughes, undersecretary in charge of
public diplomacy at the US Department of State, has met religious
representatives in Istanbul today.
Hughes met the Istanbul Director of Religious Affairs Mustafa
Cagrici, Vatican’s Representative in Turkey George Marovich, Turkish
Armenians Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan, Turkish Rabbi Ishak Haleva,
Turkish Asyrian Orthodox Deputy Patriarch Yusuf Cetin and Fener Greek
Patriarchate Spokesman Peder Dositheos at the Topkapi Palace.
Hughes told reporters before holding a meeting with the religious
representatives that it was US President George Bush’s wish for her
to meet with religious representatives. “This is because the
religious leaders can offer a hand to thousands and can contribute to
a multi-religious atmosphere,” said Hughes.
Huges stated that, although she has been in Turkey for a little
while, she has been impressed by Turkish warmth and hospitality. “We
are identical in many ways. Our peoples give high priority to
democracy, family life and religion,” stressed Hughes.
Huges noted that the American people appreciate the aid sent to the
US after the devastating Hurricane Katrina.
Istanbul Director of Religious Affairs Mustafa Cagrici has commented
that Turkey and the US are identical societies which value democracy
and family life.
Turkish Armenians Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan has indicated that the
clash of civilizations between the West and East is a matter of
concern for his church. “We have to discuss ways to prevent clashes.
For this reason, I find it highly essential to continue meetings of
religious leaders,” told Mutafyan.
Vatican’s Turkey Representative George Marovich has noted that Turkey
is like a garden of different flowers. “In the 1800s, the Ottoman
Sultan ordered the construction of a mosque, synagogue and church
next to each other. Such a practice did not exist in Europe then.
Such a tolerance comes from the Holy Qu’ran.”
Karen Hughes commented after the meeting that Turkey and its society
will be a source of inspiration for the rest of the world with regard
to tolerance.

MEETING WITH THE SPEAKER
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Sept 28 2005
On September 26 the speaker of the National Assembly of NKR received
the delegation of the USA Western Region branch of the Democratic
Liberal Party. According to the head of the delegation, the chair of
the department Ara Aharonian, the aim of the visit was to decide the
further plans of the department. “All that was carried out in Artsakh
in the past years should be developed consistently. This is a rather
complicated and intensive process and in this we need the support of
our compatriots abroad,” said the NA speaker in his greeting speech.
In this context he emphasized the importance of the Armenian Diaspora
and the role of its political, religious and other organizations,
including the Democratic Liberal Party in the projects of Hayastan
Foundation. Then the speaker dwelled upon the tendencies in the
public, political, social and economic life in NKR. The chairman
of the standing committee for foreign relations Vahram Atanessian
and the head of the administration of the National Assembly Arthur
Sarghissian were also present at the meeting.

HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN TURKEY HIGHLIGHTED AS EU MEMBERSHIP TALKS APPROACH
Christian Post
Sept 27 2005
Ahead of the historical European Union accession talks with Turkey next
month, the human rights situation of the predominantly Muslim nation
has again been highlighted as a major obstacle. Most recently, the
President of Greece openly urged Turkey to respect religious freedom.
“If Turkey hopes to sincerely and substantially enter into the EU on
the basis of its principles and values, it should adopt the fundamental
principles of democracy,” the Greek President Carolos Papoulias said as
he greeted the visiting Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I on Thursday,
according to the Middle East Times.
Turkey’s membership in EU has provoked a vigorous debate. In the midst
of many different opinions, the most fundamental and common concern
regarding its entry to EU is the country’s poor human rights record.
In a statement issued by the EU last December, the bloc mentioned
that in Turkey, “religious freedom is subject to serious limitations
as compared with European standards.”
Religious freedom is often under threat in Turkey, the most populous
Muslim country in Europe with very small Christian communities.
According to the 2004 International Religious Freedom Report prepared
by the U.S. Department of State, 99 percent of the population in Turkey
consists of Muslims. The Turkish Government officially recognizes only
three communities of religious minorities – Greek Orthodox Christians,
Armenian Orthodox Christians, and Jews.
Under the law, religious services may take place only in designated
places of worship; only the Government can designate a place of
worship; and if a religion has no legal standing in the country,
it may not be eligible for a designated site. Police occasionally
raid unauthorized Christian gatherings meeting in private apartments.
Many churches in Europe had expressed vocal opposition to Turkey’s
bid for membership in the EU. The president of the Bishops’ Conference
of France Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard wrote a letter to the France
President Jacques Chirac last December, stressing his concern that
“some fundamental rights, in particular religious freedom, are not
totally respected in Turkey, despite the reforms undertaken.”
The archbishop also expressed his regret that “the opening of eventual
negotiations with Turkey was not subordinated to complete respect for
all fundamental rights, whether freedom of expression and association,
the status of women, or religious freedom, rights that constitute
the foundation of the European Union’s cohesion.”
CNN reported that before Pope Benedict XVI was elected as Pope,
he had made statement showing his dismay to Turkey’s EU membership.
“The roots that have formed Europe, that have permitted the
formation of this continent, are those of Christianity,” CNN quoted
the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as saying. “Turkey has always
represented another continent, in permanent contrast with Europe.”
“Turkey is founded upon Islam … Thus the entry of Turkey into the
EU would be anti-historical.”
According to a report from CNN, the foreign ministry of Turkey said
last Thursday it had invited Pope Benedict to make an official visit
to the country in 2006. It is believed to be an attempt to gain the
Pope’s support for the membership in EU.
On Sept. 23, an Istanbul court’s decision to block a conference on the
World War I massacre of Armenians embarrassed Turkey at a sensitive
moment and angered EU states less than two weeks before the planned
start of EU entry talks on Oct. 3, Reuters reported.
Turkey is alleged of carrying out a systematic genocide against
Armenians in 1915 in an attempt to eliminate them and create a
homogeneous Turkish state. Turkey has always denied the claim
of killing the Armenians and said they were victims of a partisan
conflict that also claimed thousands of Turkish lives.
The Armenian people had lived in the Turkey homeland for nearly 3000
years and were traditionally Christian.
“The absence of legal motivations and the (timing) of this decision
a day before the conference looks like yet another provocation,”
Krisztina Nagy, the EU executive’s spokeswoman for enlargement,
said to Reuters on Friday.
Meanwhile, those supporting Turkey’s EU membership believe that the
predominantly Muslim nation in the EU can become a bridge between
Europe and the Middle East, therefore spreading stability and security,
and promoting dialogue with the Islamic world.
Turkey has been waiting for the accession talk with the EU for 40 years
since Ankara first signed an association deal in 1963. Last December,
the 25-member bloc finally approved the talk, which is scheduled on
Oct. 3, 2005.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIAN CULTURE DAYS IN POLAND
Pan Armenian News
27.09.2005 02:59
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ September 21-22 Armenian Culture Days were held in
Pruj Gdansk, Poland. These marked the Independence Day of Armenia
and the 1600th anniversary of Armenian written language. The event
was organized by the Pruj Gdansk administration, Armenian national
cultural autonomy of Kaliningrad region and artist Gagik Parsamyan,
who lives in Poland. Within the framework of the Armenian Culture
Days exhibition of Gagik Parsamyan’s works, facsimile copies of
Armenian ancient manuscripts and icons from Matenadaran depository
was organized. A large concert program of creative groups of the
Armenian community of Kaliningrad and tasting of Armenian national
meals were also arranged. September 22 an Armenian Apostolic Church
service was held at St. Jacek church. It was offered by archimandrite
of Armenian Diocese of Germany Serop Isahanyan, who had arrived from
Frankfurt am Mein specially for the celebration. The province governor,
Armenian Ambassador to Poland Ashot Hayrapetyan, head of the Polish
Catholic Church of Gdansk, MPs, representatives of national minority
communities, prominent public figures and creative intelligentsia
took part in the holiday.
Armenians and Poles gathered at a friendship party at the end of the
festivities. Local authorities have organized a large trip program
for the Kaliningrad guests, reported the Nairi Kaliningrad newspaper.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

THE PROBLEMS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC MONITORING, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTREPRENEURSHIP DISCUSSED
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Sept 27 2005
On September 26, NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan received Consuelo Vidal,
UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia.
During the meeting the issues of deepening the cooperation of NA and
UN were discussed in the atmosphere of mutual understanding. Both
sides expressed readiness for the fulfillment of joint programs.
NA Speaker Artur Baghdasaryan highlighted the fulfillment of the
regional programs in Armenia with the emphasis of the development
of the marzes, the organization of the consultative assistance for
the development of the small and medium entrepreneurship and the
fulfillment of the aid projects to the poor families. During the
meeting an agreement was reached to continue the dialog on the public
monitoring and fulfillment of the corruption fighting projects. The
peoples’ awareness about their rights and the organization of the
consultative service, as well as the UN assistance to the electoral
processes: in training the electoral committee members, proxies and
local observers were highlighted.
During the meeting other issues were also discussed.

ARMENIAN CONFERENCE AT ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY IN MARCH 2006
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Sept 26 2005
ISTANBUL – An “Armenian Conference” will take place at the Istanbul
University in March 2006, said university sources today.
In a press release, the IU Rector’s office said that Istanbul
University will hold a conference on the Armenian problem by wide
international participation and on basis of international criteria.
“The participants, including lawyers, scholars and politicians, of
countries who have adopted resolutions accepting and remembering the
so-called Armenian genocide will be invited.
The Istanbul University will study the matter based on its historical
mission and with an objective look. The Armenian problem will not
only be handled from an historical perspective but also from a legal,
political and sociological perspectives.
“The participants will handle the topic from various angles possible
scientifically,” said the IU press release.

JUSTICE MINISTER ATTENDS ARMENIAN EMBASSY RECEPTION
WAM – Emirates News Agency, United Arab Emirates
Sept 25 2005
Abu Dhabi, 25 Sept. 05 (WAM) – Mohammed bin Nakhira Al Dhahiri,
Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf attended here today a
reception hosted by Arshak Poladian, Armenian Ambassador, to celebrate
his country’s national day anniversary.
The reception was also attended by Abdullah Al Masoud, Speaker of
the National Consultative Council, Obeid Salim Al Zaabi, Director of
Protocol at the Foreign Ministry and heads of the Arab and foreign
missions accredited in the UAE.
;pagename=WAM%2FWamLocEnews%2FW-T-LEN-FullNews&c=WamLocEnews&cid=1126589546736&p=1041248621847

STADIUM THREAT
by John Todd
Warsaw Business Journal, Poland
Sept 26 2005
>>From Warsaw Business Journal
Law and Justice (PiS) has Warsaw’s world-famous stadium bazaar in
its sights.
Will the Russian market be closed down?
The traders at the stadium market – described by organizers as the
biggest in Europe – are under threat from the conservative Law and
Justice (PiS) party set to form a coalition government after last
weekend’s election.
“The stadium is known for unsanitary conditions, crime, a lack of any
standards. If we want to be a modern capital city, it can’t go on,”
says Jan O³dakowski of Law and Justice.
Traders from around the world hawk everything from sofa sets to
pirated DVDs and icons to baby ferrets at the defunct football stadium
in Praga.
Warsaw’s mayor Lech Kaczyñski, a fellow PiS member and the party’s
candidate in next month’s presidential election, wants the central
government to shut down the illegal traders, move the legal ones to
a new site and rebuild the stadium.
It’s estimated that 4,500 merchants ply their trade, compared to the
estimated 4,000 at Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Music, film and software
groups say the stadium accounts for 25 to 30 percent of all pirated
material – excluding internet piracy – sold in the country.
Once known as the Russian Market, dominated by traders from the former
Soviet Union selling souvenirs such as nesting dolls and Lenin pins,
today the stadium is a global village.
A Polish woman, who gave her name as Ma³gorzata and who paid her
way through four years of university by selling pirated DVDs, said
the Armenians, Poles and Vietnamese who control the three main areas
don’t stray onto each other’s turf.
Dominic Kinoulty of market-research firm Kinoulty Research says people
who do their daily shopping in expensive malls still visit the stadium
for black-market bargains.
“The people buying clothes there are bazaar buyers because that’s
where you get the cheap stuff,” he said.
“The others are really saying ‘Why am I paying Microsoft … when
I can get 63 programs on a CD-ROM for five z³oty?’ It’s more an
anti-establishment thing than a lack of money.”
The traders aren’t the only foreigners at the stadium, listed in
guidebooks as a tourist attraction, says Janusz Grobicki of the Adam
Smith Center, an economic think-tank.
“I used to live nearby, and I would meet employees from Western
embassies and even the odd ambassador. I don’t think they were there
out of economic necessity.”
In a 2005 report on crime in Warsaw, the stadium was mentioned as a
reason for high crime rates in surrounding areas.
Bazaar operator Damis estimates the market’s annual turnover at
z³.1.5 billion.
After several previous attempts to shut the bazaar failed, Ma³gorzata
is skeptical about the new drive to close it down. “The stadium is an
embarrassment for Warsaw. But there’s just too much money involved –
they’ll never shut it down.”
–Boundary_(ID_xKZtmX7od3nRa+0yLZj3MA)–

ITV, Baku, in Azeri
23 Sep 05
AZERI ELECTION: PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF
CORRUPTION
Aydin Quliyev, a parliamentary candidate from the opposition Azadliq
(Freedom) bloc, has accused the authorities of denying the opposition
access to TV channels.
In his election broadcast on Public TV on 23 September, Quliyev
blamed the Azerbaijani authorities for the lack of progress on the
Karabakh talks.
At the same time, Quliyev said Azerbaijan needs a “normal” parliament
to fight rampant corruption in the country. He urged people to
participate in the opposition rally scheduled for 25 September.
In turn, Sahlar Asgarov from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP)
said that Azerbaijan has become one of the world’s most powerful
states under President Ilham Aliyev. The Azerbaijani people should
say “no” to domestic and foreign enemies when they cast their votes
on 6 November, he said in his election broadcast on Public TV.
Asgarov stressed that Azerbaijan’s economy has grown significantly
under the NAP, pointing to projects worth billions of dollars like
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil export pipeline.
Meanwhile, Qaribbala Novruzov, a candidate from the opposition
Liberal Party of Azerbaijan, said in his election broadcast that
people are leaving the country’s southern districts to avoid poverty,
human rights violations, unemployment and the poor infrastructure.
The local authorities are indifferent to their problems, he said.
Touching on the problem of unemployment, Novruzov said that tourism
could help resolve it in the southern districts.
Yaqub Mammadov, former parliamentary speaker who is running for
parliament from the Yeni Siyasat (New Policy) election bloc, said
although Azerbaijan has seen some progress during its independence,
the country is still facing serious problems like poverty,
unemployment and corruption.
Mammadov said the most serious problem currently facing Azerbaijan is
that the Azerbaijani people is divided into several groups. The
country can cope with its manifold problems only when it is united,
he said.
In turn, non-partisan candidate Mikail Rahimov pointed to Nagornyy
Karabakh as Azerbaijan’s most serious problem. Azerbaijan should
develop a professional army to liberate its territories from Armenian
occupation, he said during his television appearance.
Another non-partisan candidate, Azar Amiraslanov, said he will push
for new and better laws required for Azerbaijan’s growing economy if
he is elected to the parliament.
At the same time, in his election broadcast, a candidate from the
ruling New Azerbaijan Party, Musa Musayev, accused opposition leaders
Isa Qambar and Ali Karimli of selling oil to Armenia in 1992-93. The
Azerbaijani people experienced hard times under their rule, he said.

New York Times
Sept 23 2005
Seminar on 1915 Massacre of Armenians to Go Ahead

ISTANBUL, Sept. 23 – After a Turkish court’s decision to cancel an
academic conference on the killing of hundreds of thousands of
Armenians during World War I, the conference’s organizers said Friday
that the event would go ahead at a new location on Saturday. The
organizers were encouraged by a wave of support from the European
Union and senior Turkish government officials.
A court on Thursday blocked Bogazici University in Istanbul from
holding the event, a debate and symposium on the killing of Armenians
by Ottoman forces in the eastern part of what is now Turkey. In its
ruling, the court called into question the credentials of the
scholars taking part.
It was the second time the courts blocked the conference at the
request of nationalist groups. The event was canceled in May as well,
and at that time Justice Minister Cemil Cicek condemned continued
attempts to hold the meeting as “treason” and a “stab in the back of
the Turkish nation.”
But the conference’s organizers said it would go ahead on Saturday,
after Bilgi University in Istanbul agreed to be the new host. One of
the leaders of the conference, Prof. Halil Berktay, said integrity of
scholars was “beyond the judiciary” to decide.
The conference is to be the first time in Turkey that the killings
have been publicly examined. More than 50 intellectuals, scholars and
writers are to analyze the massacres, which took place from 1915 to
1917 and have been recognized as genocide by several European
governments. Turkey has long maintained that the deaths were part of
a war in which an equal number of Turks died.
The court’s action on Thursday came as a blow to supporters of
Turkey’s application for membership in the European Union, who have
considered the conference as an opportunity to prove that the country
had the potential for greater democratization and freedom of speech.
Turkey’s chief negotiator with the European Union, Ali Babacan, said
the decision was part of an attempt by nationalists to sabotage
Turkey’s membership talks, which are to start on Oct. 3. The ruling
also was condemned by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.