Author: Toneyan Mark

TURKISH EU MINISTER ON THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE CONTROVERSY: ‘WE ARE VERY SENSITIVE ABOUT THIS ISSUE’

Spiegel Online
,1518,683701,00.html
March 16 2010
Germany

In a SPIEGEL interview, Ankara’s Minister for European Affairs
Egemen Bagis discusses Turkey’s journey to the West and his country’s
dispute with the United States over a resolution on the genocide of
the Armenians recently passed by Congress.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Bagis, why does Turkey still need a minister for European
Union affairs? Isn’t Europe a dead issue in your country?

Bagis: Absolutely not. My government is investing more energy in the
reform process than any other government. In 2013 we will be ready
for accession.

SPIEGEL: But do Turks share your enthusiam? Three out of four
Turks believe that the EU wants to divide your country and spread
Christianity.

Bagis: I have other figures: If Turkey held a referendum today on
accession, 60 percent would vote for it. On the other hand, only 40
percent of Turks believe that accession will definitely take place. In
Europe it is the other way round: Forty percent want to take Turkey
in, but 60 percent believe the country will join the EU one day.

SPIEGEL: In other words: There is skepticism on both sides.

Bagis: Let’s put it this way: Some countries like Malta apply
for membership and are in the next day. Others need a little more
time. I have no problem with the fact that some Europeans say they
want negotiations with an open-ended outcome. Today everything has
an open-ended outcome, even Catholic marriages.

SPIEGEL: Turkey has been seeking EU membership since 1959. Is it not
humiliating to be held at bay for so long?

Bagis: No, because we also made mistakes. There have been three
military coups since 1959, and many Turkish government’s didn’t have
a clear vision or idea of Europe. It was the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that
first made the necessary constitutional amendments between 2002 and
2004 so that we could finally start accession negotiations.

SPIEGEL: Only 17 percent of Germans support Turkish membership in
the EU.

Bagis: Believe me, one day Europeans will have to appeal to the
Turkish public to support EU membership. Europe has many problems.

Tell me, for example, how the EU plans to solve its energy crisis
without Turkish help? A large part of the future energy resources
Europe needs will flow through Turkey. And tell me how you are going
to solve your economic and demographic problems? The average age in
Europe is 40, while in Turkey it is 28. Where are you going to get
your work force from? Who is supposed to pay your pensions?

SPIEGEL: As long as declared opponents of Turkish accession like
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France President Nicolas Sarkozy
are in office, you won’t get very far with such arguments.

Bagis: I am very thankful that German Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle has publicly stated that he wants accession talks to
continue. With regards to President Sarkozy: He used this horrible,
insulting phrase, "privileged partnership" …

SPIEGEL: … a term that was actually coined by Germany’s conservative
Christian Democratic Union party.

Bagis: But Sarkozy repeated it often enough. My government has only
one answer: We will only accept full membership — nothing more,
nothing less. We want the same chances as every candidate country.

SPIEGEL: Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, said: "The Turks have
only ever gone in one direction — towards the West."

Bagis: And that is still true. But at the same time, we are also a
bridge and have four strong pillars, one in each direction …

SPIEGEL: … of which you recently pulled out two by recalling your
ambassadors to the United States and Sweden. The move was triggered
by the decision of a Congressional committee to pass a resolution
recognizing the death of more than a million Armenians in 1915-16 as
genocide. A similar resolution was passed by Sweden’s parliament.

Bagis: With this decision, Sweden has become slave to a thesis that,
unfortunately, is based on falsehoods. The voting in the US on the
so-called genocide was a success for Turkey. The Congressman from
California, who got support from the Armenian lobby, made a fool out
of himself. He tried to scratch the back of every Representative in
the corridors of Congress in order to get their vote. But then he
only won by a single vote.

SPIEGEL: Still, a Congressional committee approved the resolution.

Bagis: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton later declared that the
resolution will not be passed by the entire House of Representatives.

As you know, the French parliament passed a similar law on the
so-called Armenian genocide in 2006. Afterwards there was a ban on
French airforce flights over Turkey. We are very sensitive about
this issue.

SPIEGEL: What options do you have if the Americans do, in the end,
recognize the genocide officially? Would you want to close the Incirlik
airbase? Leave NATO?

Bagis: I will leave that up to your readers’ imagination. But allow
me to remind you of one thing: Seventy percent of the logistical
support for the Iraq deployment comes through Incirlik.

SPIEGEL: Why is it so difficult for Turkey to recognize the genocide
of the Armenians?

Bagis: It is up to the historians, not politicians, to judge what
happened in the past. Politicians look into the future. We have offered
to create a joint commission of historians together with the Republic
of Armenia — so far without success. Besides, you should know that
the Ottoman Empire was an ally of the German Reich. Nothing that
happened back then happened without consultations with the Germans.

SPIEGEL: If you dont accept the word "genocide," then how can you
have a "Genocide Museum" in the city of Igdir in eastern Turkey,
dedicated to the Turks who died in 1915?

Bagis: That’s very easy: Every action leads to a reaction. But I
don’t want to rule out the possibility that, someday, this museum
could be transformed into a "Museum of Coexistance" or a "Museum of
Mutual Pain." I do not want to deny that the Armenians went through
very difficult times …

SPIEGEL: You call it "difficult times"? We are taking about 1.5
million Armenians who perished between 1915 and 1917.

Bagis: According to American historian Justin McCarthy, 600,000
Armenians died at the time — and at the same time, 2 million Kurds
and Turks. There was a civil war in Turkey, right in the middle of
World War I.

SPIEGEL: The interior minister at that time, Talat Pascha, told the
then US ambassador, Henry Morgenthau, that the "physical extermination"
of the Amernians was a necessary goal of the war.

Bagis: According to McCarthy, this quote isn’t entirely accurate. But
I am not a historian. I wasn’t there, you weren’t there. Why don’t
we leave this question to a mutual commission of historians comprised
of Armenians and Turks?

SPIEGEL: There was a time when Turkey seemed further along the road
toward confronting its past. In 1919, the three men mainly responsible
for the Armenian genocide — Talat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Cemal Pasha
— were all sentenced to death in absentia. Ataturk wanted nothing to
do with them. Nevertheless, there are still three large, magnificent
tombstones for these men in Istanbul.

Bagis: It is traditional in our culture to commemorate the dead. Like
all of us, these men surely did some good and some bad things in
their lives and for their country.

SPIEGEL: Is Turkey worried the Armenians will demand reparations?

Bagis: You know, there are an estimated 100,000 illegal Armenian
immigrants in our country, who work here providing care for the elderly
and children. For me, this shows that there is no hate between our
people. On the contrary: We are attempting to achieve rapprochement,
there is a peace process between our countries …

SPIEGEL: … which is stagnating at the moment.

Bagis: That is not our fault. We have attempted to bridge our
differences; we want to open all archives. But when you see that the
other side is blocking all your attempts, it makes you skeptical.

SPIEGEL: This issue represents one of the few on which the AKP
government, the military and the secular elite are all on the same
page. Doesn’t that bother you?

Bagis: No. My government focuses on solving problems. We want good
neighborly relations, also with Armenia.

SPIEGEL: Turkey’s new foreign policy earned considerable praise, but
the country’s domestic policies have been enigmatic for some people
in the West. Isn’t your government overplaying its hand in its power
struggle with the army? You are no longer arresting only potential
putschists, but also critics of the government.

Bagis: The investigations in the so-called Ergenekon case, where
men are suspected of having planned a putsch against the government,
are an issue for the judiciary. In the latest progress report, the
European Union assesses the investigation as an opportunity for Turkey
to further democratize itself.

SPIEGEL: Others see signs of continuing Islamization. Restaurants are
losing their alcohol licenses, young people are being harassed for
holding hands in public and Family Minister Aliye Kavaf has described
homosexuality as a "disease."

Bagis: I do not agree with her, I do not consider homosexuality to
be a disease. But I am neither a historian nor a doctor. Besides,
I really don’t think that Turkey has become more conservative. It
just so happens that the conservatives are a lot more visible today
than they were previously.

Interview conducted by Bernhard Zand and Daniel Steinvorth

OSCE REPRESENTATIVES WISHING TO MONITOR CONTACT LINE OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN TROOPS STUCK IN SWAMP

APA
March 16 2010
Azerbaijan

Baku – APA. The OSCE’s monitoring on the line of contact of Azerbaijani
and Armenian troops failed today.

Defense Ministry’s press service told APA that under the mandate
of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the
contact line of troops in the south of Tezekend village of Azerbaijan’s
Aghdam region was to be monitored on March 16. Before the monitoring
Azerbaijani Defense Ministry had told the OSCE representatives that
it was unfavorable, swamp area.

But they insisted on monitoring the contact line of troops in the
south of Tezekend village. After their insistence permission was
given to conduct the monitoring.

Today the vehicles carrying OSCE representatives stuck in the swamp
in that area. The vehicles were removed from the swamp with the help
of the local residents and equipment.

As a result of it the monitoring failed.

Field assistants of the Personal Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office Imre Palatinus and Jaslan Nurtazin were to conduct
the monitoring in Azerbaijani side.

Field assistants of Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Peter Ki, Vladimir Chountulov and Antal Herdich were to conduct the
monitoring in the opposite side of the line of contact recognized as
territory of Azerbaijan on the international level.

MINISTER NALBANDIAN VISITS GERMANY

armradio.am
16.03.2010 11:36

On March 15 Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian paid a one-day
official visit to Berlin. Minister Nalbandian had a meeting with the
Deputy Prime Minister of Germany, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Minister Nalbandian said "Armenia attaches great importance to the
further deepening and reinforcement of relations with Germany, one
of the founders and leading countries of the European Union."

The parties hailed the high level of the political dialogue established
between the two countries, the firm business ties, the cooperation
in the cultural and educational spheres.

The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Germany discussed the details
of the Armenian President’s forthcoming official visit to Germany.

The parties touched upon issues of reinforcing security and stability
in the South Caucasus. At the request of the German FM, Minister
Nalbandian presented the latest developments in the settlement of
the Karabakh issue. The two Ministers attached importance to the
peaceful resolution of the issue in line with the statements of the
OSCE Foreign Ministers in Helsinki and Athens.

Touching upon the Armenian Turkish relations, Edward Nalbandian said:
"If Turkey really wants the process to continue and succeed, it should
refrain from speaking in the language of preconditions and seeking
for artificial reasons to drag out the ratification of the protocols."

Minister Westerwelle assured that "Germany welcomes and supports all
the efforts that will lead to the establishment of normal relations
between Armenia and Turkey and opening of the border."

ISRAELI AMBASSADOR’S DIPLOMATIC MISSION NEARING COMPLETION

Gov.am
March 16 2010
Armenia

Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received outgoing ambassador of the
State of Israel to the Republic of Armenia Shemi Tzour.

Greeting the guest, Tigran Sargsyan thanked him for the work done
during his tenure of office. The head of government emphasized the
huge potential inherent in bilateral relationship.

Tigran Sargsyan assured of Armenia’s interest in deepening and
expanding the existing ties of cooperation. Both sides emphasized the
need for exchange of know-how and implementation of joint programs
in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, culture and diaspora affairs.

The parties next referred to regional issues.

In conclusion, the Prime Minister wished the ambassador every success
in his future activities.

TURKISH FM INFORMS PARLIAMENT OVER ARMENIA BILLS

March 15 2010
Turkey

Davutoglu informed the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs on
resolutions about the incidents of 1915, which were brought onto
agenda of parliaments of several countries.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu informed on Monday the
Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs on resolutions about the
incidents of 1915, which were brought onto agenda of parliaments of
several countries.

Davutoglu said members of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign
Affairs and Turkish-American Friendship Group members had a close
cooperation and conducted a good work in regard to developments at
the U.S. Congress.

Governments’ influence on parliaments should be increased, he said.

Relations between parliaments of several countries and members of
the Committee on Foreign Affairs should be improved, he said.

Turkish Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Namik Tan and Ambassadress in
Stockholm Zergun Koruturk also attended the meeting which was later
closed to press.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted
a resolution on Armenian allegations related to the incidents of 1915
in a voting of 23-22 on March 4.

On March 11, Swedish Parliament also approved a similar resolution on
1915 incidents. The resolution was approved with 131 votes against 130.

Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols on October 10, 2009 to
normalize relations between the two countries. The protocols envisage
the two countries to establish diplomatic ties and open the border
that has been close since 1993.

Turkey and Armenia also agreed to take steps to operate a
sub-commission on impartial scientific examination of the historical
records and archive to define existing problems and formulate
recommendations, in which Armenian, Turkish as well as Swiss and
other international experts would take part.

However, on January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of Armenia
declared a decision of constitutional conformity on the protocols.

Turkey thought the fifth article of Armenian Constitutional Court’s
verdict regarding the protocols was against the target and basis of
the protocols.

Also, in 2005, Turkey officially proposed to Armenian government the
establishment of a joint commission of history composed of historians
and other experts from both sides to study together the events of
1915 not only in the archives of Turkey and Armenia but also in the
archives of all relevant third countries and to share their findings
with the public.

Interfax, Russia
March 11 2010

Armenian speaker urges solving Karabakh problem with self-determination

YEREVAN March 11

It is necessary to settle the Karabakh conflict through
self-determination of the Karabakh people, Armenian Parliament Speaker
Hovik Abrahamyan said at the Yerevan seminar of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly on Thursday.

"The Karabakh conflict must be settled on principles of
self-determination of the Karabakh people, in keeping with
international laws," he said.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the right of peoples
to self-determination at the 64th session on December 18, 2009, the
speaker noted.

"The resolution once again confirmed the need for applying this
international legal principle to the solution of the Karabakh
conflict," he said.

Armenia FM to meet the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in Paris

armradio.am
13.03.2010 12:05

On March 15 the Foreign Minister of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, will
pay an official visit to Berlin, Press and Information Department of
the ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

On March 16 Edward Nalbandian will visit Paris, where he is scheduled
to meet the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

news.am, Armenia
March 13 2010

Armenian-Azerbaijani societies’ ties to assist Karabakh conflict
settlement: Sammut

15:23 / 03/13/2010Azerbaijani opposition is splitted and weak, which
negatively affects the domestic situation in the country, Executive
Director of London Information Network on Conflicts and State-building
(LINKS) Dennis Sammut said at the 73rd NATO PA Rose-Roth seminar in
Yerevan, speaking of the Political developments in Azerbaijan.

He emphasized that all the three countries in South Caucasus have a
long and complicated way in the process of democratization. `Shortly,
all three states will have a chance to see EU’s increasing role in the
process,’ Sammut stated.

According to him, South Caucasian countries will be unable to take an
independent line on the way to democracy and here Europe can aid them.
Touching upon the conflict resolution, particularly Karabakh issue,
Sammut emphasized the necessity of the intensification of ties between
Armenian and Azerbaijani civil societies. He maintained that it will
greatly contribute to the conlifct settlement.

Executive Director of the International Center for Human Development
(ICHD) Tevan Poghosyan pronounced for the issue.

L.A.

TURKISH RATIFICATION OF ARMENIA ACCORDS ‘ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE’ NOW
Sargis Harutyunyan

Radio Liberty
March 11 2010

Turkey – Suat Kiniklioglu, a deputy chairman of the ruling Justice
and Development Party, undated.

Turkey is extremely unlikely to ratify its fence-mending protocols with
Armenia at this juncture, a senior Turkish lawmaker and deputy chairman
of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said on Thursday.

In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service in Yerevan, Suat
Kiniklioglu made clear that Ankara continues to make the normalization
of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on a Karabakh settlement. He
said the passage of an Armenian genocide resolution by a U.S.

congressional committee has rendered Turkish ratification of the
protocols even "more difficult."

"[Ratification] is very difficult right now," Kiniklioglu said,
speaking on the sidelines of an international seminar organized in
the Armenian capital by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. "It’s almost
impossible. Especially after [the progress of the House Resolution]
252, it’s almost impossible."

Turkey has strongly condemned the draft resolution approved by the
Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on March
4. It calls on President Barack Obama to "accurately characterize
the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1,500,000 Armenians
as genocide."

Kiniklioglu headed one of the two Turkish parliamentary delegations
that traveled to Washington last week to lobby against the bill’s
passage. They were present at the committee debate and vote on the
measure along with fellow parliamentarians from Armenia.

"Neither the Turkish parliament nor any other parliament should be
judging on other peoples’ history," Kiniklioglu told RFE/RL. "We
continue to propose the history commission that was part of the
protocols, and I think that’s the best way to go about.

Turkish-Armenian relations do not need the American Congress to be
approved or to be condoned. I think Turks and Armenians are mature
enough to resolve their problems on a bilateral level."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has publicly warned Washington
against exploiting the genocide bill to pressure Ankara to validate
the U.S.-brokered agreements envisaging diplomatic relations between
Armenia and Turkey and the opening of their border. U.S.

officials have repeatedly called for a speedy and unconditional
ratification of the protocols.

Kiniklioglu indicated that the Turkish government, which has a clear
majority in parliament, persists in linking the ratification with
an Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement on Karabakh. "In our view, there
is a connection [with Karabakh,]" he said. "You can not normalize
[relations] with a country when there is an abnormal situation going
on right next door to you."

"All sides, especially the American side, the Minsk Group, are working
on the Karabakh issue," said the lawmaker. "I hope something positive
will come out of it because as soon as something positive comes out,
I think we will push the protocols through the parliament."

Meeting with Davutoglu in Kiev late last month, President Serzh
Sarkisian threatened to walk away from the deal if the Turks fail
to honor it "within the shortest period of time." U.S. and European
Union officials have likewise said it should be ratified within a
"reasonable" timeframe.

"I think eventually it will happen, but we should not put artificial
deadlines on the process and should continue in a determined fashion
towards finalizing the reconciliation process," countered Kiniklioglu.

"I am on the optimistic side," he said. "One year ago or two years ago,
there were no protocols whatsoever. Right now we have two documents
that outline in detail how the normalization should take place. I
think it’s still a success."

"True, they are still awaiting ratification by the Turkish and Armenian
parliaments," added the AKP vice-chairman for foreign relations. "But
I think if we show enough patience — and hopefully there will be some
movement on Karabakh, we don’t know — I’m confident that normalization
will eventually take place."

Kiniklioglu went on to describe the Armenians and the Turks as
"very similar people" who can put an end to their long history of
mutual hostility. "This is my fourth visit to Armenia," he said. "I
have lots of friends here and I see more and more commonalities and
similarities between us."

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SPECIAL CONTROL DEPARTMENT OF IMPORT AND EXPORT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN ARMENIA

ARKA
March 9, 2010

YEREVAN, March 9. /ARKA/. Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Armenia
met with the members of National Association of Farmers and assigned
the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture to establish special department
jointly with the Association which will deal with regulation of import
and export.

Sargsyan emphasized the importance of development of effective
cooperation model which will control implementation of joint programs.

The Department will deal with the issues of agriculture, particularly
livestock breeding.

"Today we should discuss your visions of the problems and priority
issues of the State for the provision of serious progress in the
sphere of livestock breeding", said Sargsyan.

Members of the Association thanked the Prime Minister for the attention
of the government regarding agriculture sphere.

They raised a number of issues, mainly related to the sphere of poultry
keeping, potato growing, fruit-growing, bee keeping and sheep breeding.

Priority issues were expansion of export opportunities for agricultural
products, improvement of legislative field and long-term development
model in agriculture.

Sargsyan made relevant assignments to Gerasim Alaverdyan, Armenian
Minister of Agriculture for solving the main problems.