Author: Torgomian Varazdat

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
29 Sep 06
AGENDA OF FRENCH LEADER’S VISIT TO ARMENIA
Yerevan, 29 September: [French President] Jacques Chirac will attend
the opening of the France Square in Yerevan during his three-day
official visit to Armenia which starts today.
It is expected that Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and French
President Jacques Chirac will hold one-to-one talks that will be
followed by a joint news conference. A major concert called “Charles
Aznavour and friends” will be held in Yerevan’s central square –
Republic Square – on Saturday [30 September] evening. This event will
launch the Year of Armenia in France which will last until July 2007.
Chirac will also visit the memorial to the victims of the 1915
genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the Holy See of
Echmiadzin where he will meet the head of the Armenian Apostolic
Church, Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. A meeting with French
nationals living and working in Yerevan will be held at the French
embassy in Yerevan.
This is the first-ever visit to Armenia by the head of the French
state. The delegation headed by him includes Foreign Minister
Philippe Douste-Blazy; Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Tourism
and Maritime Affairs Dominique Perben; Minister of [Civil Service
and] Administrative Reform Christian Jacob; and Minister of Culture
and Communication Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.

Agence France Presse — English
September 28, 2006 Thursday 9:28 AM GMT
EU enlargement chief to visit Turkey ahead of key report
ANKARA, Sept 28 2006
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn is scheduled to visit Turkey
next week ahead of a crucial report on the country’s struggling
membership bid, officials said Thursday.
Ankara has faced increasing warnings that its bid may be derailed,
only a year after accession talks started, if it fails to ensure
freedom of speech and grant trade privileges to EU member Cyprus
under a customs union accord with the bloc.
Rehn, who will arrive here late Monday, is expected to have talks
with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul, Turkey’s chief EU negotiator, Economy Minister Ali Babacan, and
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek on Tuesday and Wednesday, a spokeswoman
for the EU Commission told AFP.
He is also expected to visit the Turkish parliament, address a
conference on union rights organized by one of Turkey’s biggest trade
unions, Turk-Is, and make a speech at Ankara’s Middle East Technical
University, she said.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, will issue on
November 8 a report on Turkey’s progress towards membership, which is
widely expected to be critical.
“The momentum for reform has slowed down in Turkey in the past year,”
Rehn said Tuesday.
Last week, Brussels slammed Ankara for failing to ensure free speech
after best-selling novelist Elif Shafak went on trial for insulting
the Turkish nation in a book about the massacres of Armenians under
the Ottoman Empire.
Even though Shafak was swiftly acquitted, the European Commission
said “a significant threat to freedom of expression” remains in
Turkish law and urged amendments in penal code articles that have
landed a string of intellectuals in court.
In another major sticking point, Ankara insists that its sea and air
ports will remain closed to Greek Cypriot use unless Brussels
delivers on promises to ease trade restrictions imposed on the
breakaway Turkish Cypriots in the north of the divided island.
The dispute stems from Ankara’s refusal to endorse the Greek Cypriot
administration in the south, which is internationally recognized as
the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
Babacan said earlier this month that the EU was making “serious
efforts” to find a formula for a “provisional or partial” solution to
the row.

AZERBAIJAN AND KARABAKH HAVE EQUAL RIGHTS TO TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
PanARMENIAN.Net
28.09.2006 17:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The main problem in the Karabakh process lies in the
fact that Azerbaijan insists on keeping its territorial integrity, and
it considers Karabakh to be part of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan,
Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated in an interview to Al
Jazeera TV company. In his words, the fall of the Soviet Union resulted
in radical changes, the whole map of Europe changed. “We have never
been against any country’s territorial unity and integrity because
we also have a country.
However, we believe that Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh each have
equal rights for territorial integrity. Both are countries with
the right to exist independently. This is the obstacle that the
negotiations have been facing for the past 15 years.
Nagorno Karabakh is an independent state. It was never part of
independent Azerbaijan. Today, a generation has emerged that does
not relate to Azerbaijan and cannot even imagine living under another
country’s rule,” Kocharian stated.
Answering a question on Baku statements on “occupation of 20% of
territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia,” Kocharian said, “There exist
two lies. The first is that 20% of Azerbaijan territory is occupied,
and the second is that there are one million Azeri refugees.
The true numbers are totally different. However, the numbers made up
by Azerbaijan have been repeated so many times that it is now believed
to be the reality.
The number of refugees actually includes people from both sides:
Armenians and Azeris. During Soviet rule, there lived half a
million Armenians in Soviet Azerbaijan, excluding those living
in Karabakh. Where are they now? Part of those Armenians are now
in Armenia, another part are living in Russia, and a third group
are scattered around the world. As for the Azeri lands, we have
repeatedly stated that, except for the narrow strip of land (Lachin)
between Karabakh and Armenia, we are prepared to negotiate the terms
of returning territories to Azerbaijan. If Azerbaijan truly cared
about its refugees and the situation in those lands outside the
administrative borders of Azerbaijan, it could have restored them
a long time ago if the Azeri president had signed the agreement in
Minsk and which was drawn up by the OSCE Minsk Group.”

PURSUIT OF OYP OR ECONOMY OF THREE MILLION AMD?
A1+
[08:37 pm] 28 September, 2006
Forty state workers of the National Assembly will be dismissed starting
from October 2.
Souren Mamikonyan, member of Orinats Yerkir Party, head of the NA
legal service, told the journalists today that the mass reductions
are accompanied by breeches of constitutional rights.
“It is noteworthy that the main cause is kept secret.
They announce that they will economize three million AMD by dismissing
40 workers. They also say that the institutions opened during the
office of Arthur Baghdasaryan, former NA Speaker will be liquidated,”
announced Souren Mamikonyan.
Mr. Mamikonyan sees elements of political pursuit in the
dismissals. Court of First Instance of Kentron and Nork-Marash will
find the respondent of this mess during the court trial on October 11.

EU OFFICIAL HOPES “UNJUST” REPORT ON TURKEY WILL BE MADE MORE BALANCED
Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
26 Sep 06
Strasbourg, 26 September: Joost Lagendijk, copresident of the Joint
Parliamentary Commission between the Turkish parliament and the
European Parliament, expressed his hope that the report on Turkey,
which would be debated today and approved by the European Parliament
tomorrow, would be made more balanced.
At a news conference prior to the debates on the report, Lagendijk
said that the report became tough, unjust and unbalanced as a result
of proposals on the Armenia and Cyprus issues, which were approved
by the Foreign Affairs Commission.
Supporters of the EU in Turkey would suffer the most if the report
was approved without any changes, he said.
Meanwhile, Cem Ozdemir, a member of the Greens Group, said that forcing
Turkey to recognize the socalled Armenian genocide as a precondition
for its EU membership was unacceptable.
“We also criticize that while Turkey is expected to fulfil its
commitments stemming from the Ankara Treaty, no one calls on the
EU to lift isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Turkey has legal
responsibilities to fulfil the Ankara Treaty while the EU has political
responsibilities to lift the isolation,” Ozdemir added.

ADVICE FOR MR. EURLINGS
by Recep Guvelioglu
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 25 2006
Opinions
The European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey, Camiel Eurlings, said
that “Turkey must reconcile with its history and have good relations
with its neighbors.” It is a nice remark. Personally I agree with him.
Digging up the ashes of history will not do any good for the future. We
should forget the atrocities of the Bulgarians in the 19th century
Balkan Wars, we should wipe out our memories about what the Arabs
did to the Ottomans with British gold during World War I. We should
bury the inhumane atrocities committed by Arabs in Damascus and other
parts of the Islamic holy land in 1916-17.
We shouldn’t even take events of the past into account when dealing
with them in 2006. Let bygones be bygones. However, I think that this
advice should also be given to our neighbors.
Let me remind you of some events to clarify what I’m trying to
say. Saudi Arabian authorities decided to demolish a Turkish castle
in Mecca called Ecyad which was built by the Ottomans to defend the
holy Kaaba. And they did it.
Can anyone explain to me the reason for dismantling that historical
castle other than the greed for money?
Turkish words praising the holy prophet and Islam carved in the
columns of the Holy Prophet’s tomb in Medina were covered over in
cement by the same Arabs. Only one was left uncovered and readable:
“Visitors greet and pray your pure existence with thousands of
salutes”(Bin salat ile selam eyler zuvvar pakine).
Is there anything in these words that offends Arabs?
The covered words were also carved over with almost the same words,
only in Arabic. Again, what was wrong with them other than the fact
that they were in Turkish?
These few examples basically show the Arab view of Turks.
Now let me give you another example.
According to the news, a poll was recently conducted in Armenia
about the people’s opinion of other countries. According the poll,
79.6 percent of Armenians have a positive opinion of Russia and 49
percent of the United States. But they consider Turkey (80.1 percent),
Azerbaijan (86.5 percent) and Georgia (54.7 percent) as their “enemy
countries.” A total of 57.7 percent of respondents advocated the
opening of Armenia-Turkish borders, and one in three Armenians is
against this.
I have nothing to add to that.
Let’s say that same type of poll was conducted in Greece; the result,
I am sure, would be close to the Armenians’. They might not say
“enemy,” but will never say friend.
But believe me, I understand Arabs, Armenians and Greeks.
What if we did the same thing in Turkey?
The result would be nearly the same.
That reminds me of a story told by Zulfu Livaneli. He was giving a
concert with a Greek singer in a town on Crete. In the audience was a
heavily built old man wearing traditional Cretan clothes. The German
TV station covering the concert did an interview with him. He said
that he came to the concert to watch “the Turco.”
When they asked his opinion of Turks, he said, “They are our
enemies.” Then the reporter asked why he came to watch Livaneli. “Are
you a German?” the old man asked. The reporter said he was. Then the
old man concluded, “You can’t understand.”
Now, Mr. Eurlings. This is the Middle East. “You can’t understand.”

NA CHAIRMAN TIGRAN TOROSYAN’S ADDRESS ON THE OCCASION OF INDEPENDENCE DAY
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 21 2006
Chairman of RA National Assembly Tigran Torosyan issued an address on
the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Independence of the Republic
of Armenia. The message says, in particular, “One and half decades
of independence have been full of hardest trials and struggle, great
losses and hardship, at the same time being a period of great victories
and achievements, self-determination and revaluation of national
identity. Due to the endless firmness of our people we managed to
resist all the difficulties, and today we have two Armenian states,
a full-fledged National Army, which successfully defends our borders,
an economy with firm roots. On this extremely cherished holiday for
all of us we should state also there are still many challenges and
problems on the way towards the fulfillment of the dreams of the
numerous generations of our people – international recognition of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, provision for the prosperous life of
the people, establishment of a social, legal and democratic state,
full integration into the international community.
Independence is an utmost happiness and a great responsibility.”

IBF CHAMP ABRAHAM SUSTAINS BROKEN JAW IN TITLE WIN
Agence France Presse — English
September 24, 2006 Sunday 12:49 PM GMT
Germany’s IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham will be out for
six months after it was confirmed that he needs an operation on a
broken jawbone.
The 26-year-old Abraham sustained the injury in the fifth round of
his successful title defence against Colombian challenger Edison
Miranda late on Saturday.
Abraham, who was born in Armenia, defeated Miranda on points to retain
his title and his record of 22 fights unbeaten.

NORTHWEST NATIVE 3RD IN JAZZ CONTEST
by Paul De Barros, Seattle Times jazz critic
The Seattle Times
September 18, 2006 Monday
Fourth Edition
A pianist raised in Seattle has snagged third place in the 2006
Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition.
Aaron Parks, 22, was one of three finalists selected Saturday from a
field of 12 semifinalists. The finals were held Sunday at the Kennedy
Center’s Eisenhower Theater, in Washington, D.C. First place went to
Tigran Hamasyan, from Armenia, and second place to Gerald Clayton,
son of bassist John Clayton, artistic director of the Jazz Port
Townsend Festival.
One of the most prestigious awards in jazz, the Monk competition has
launched the careers of Joshua Redman and Jane Monheit, among others.
The annual contest is presented by the Thelonious Monk Institute of
Jazz, founded in 1986, which sponsored the first competition in 1987.
A different instrument is showcased each year.
The first-place prize is $20,000; second place is $10,000; third
place is $5,000.
Parks grew up on Whidbey Island and in Seattle and began playing
piano when he was 10 years old. A prodigy, he went directly from
middle school to the University of Washington, where he studied
with pianist Marc Seales. At 16, Parks left the UW to study at the
Manhattan School of Music, in New York, and is currently a member of
trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s group.
This year’s Monk competition judges were pianists Kenny Barron, Herbie
Hancock, Andrew Hill, Danilo Perez, Renee Rosnes, Billy Taylor and
Randy Weston.

A MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR THE SAKE OF PEACE
A1+
[12:44 pm] 21 September, 2006
25 years ago the Assembly General declared September 21 the
International Day of Peace, as the Day of world armistice and combat
violence. The UN Secretary General mentions in his message that “It
calls on the people not only to think, but also to act for the sake
of peace”.
“The countries have started to really pay attention to preventing
diplomacy. The UN peace-keeping missions and efforts towards the
protection of human rights change the situation. Factually, there
are fewer wars today than in the previous decade. But still, there
are many of them. Each case of conflict is our failure which reminds
us about how many things there are to do.
I call on all the people of the world to celebrate this day with a
minute of silence for the sake of peace. Let’s remember the victims
of the war. And let each of us promise to do more for the sake of
everlasting peace”, the message said.