Author: Torgomian Varazdat

NKR NA SPEAKER: “PARLIAMENT OF NEW CONVOCATION TAKING ACTIVE PART IN BROADENING POLITICAL TIES”
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 13 2005
Previous period of Nagorno Karabakh Republic National Assembly’s
activity should be treated just as a starting point for the further
five years of the Parliament’s work. Today the NKR NA Speaker
Ashot Gulyan has stated it in the course of the press conference
in Stepanakert.
According to Ashot Gulyan, the NKR NA of the new convocation will
continue traditional ties with RA Parliament.
In his words, the new Parliament is taking an active part in the
process of broadening political ties. He added the fact that Karabakh
parliamentarians were taking part in the various international and
regional measures testified to his words.
While commenting on the political situation in Azerbaijan in the run
– up to the Parliamentary elections Ashot Gulyan stated “it fully
coincides with our forecasts”. In his words, “we were sure violations,
non – authorized meetings, pressure upon the opposition and dispersal
of the demonstrators would accompany the electoral campaign”. He noted
Nagorno Karabakh was interested in the stability in Azerbaijan; however
he is skeptical to such events. “I guess international observers will
have a chance to evaluate pre – election situation in Azerbaijan and
compare it with that in Nagorno Karabakh”, stated Ashot Gulyan.
In his words, the NKR citizens are not going to participate in the
elections. “It is clear that we are not going to participate in the
elections, we conduct our elections ourselves”, stated Ashot Gulyan.
Touching upon the process of Karabakh settlement, he noted the
impossibility of the conflict settlement in the atmosphere of mutual
distrust between the Karabakh and Azeri nations. Speaker said the
Karabakh party’s stand based on the NKR people’s will would not
be changed.

Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933

Armenian National Committee of America – Eastern Region
PO Box 1066
New York, NY 10040
Tel: (917) 428-1918
Fax: (718) 478-4073
[email protected]

PRESS RELEASE
October 10, 2005
Contact: Sossi Essajanian
(617) 923-1933
[email protected]
AYF, ANC Members Say ‘Never Again’ at Rally to Save Darfur

WATERTOWN, Mass.?On October 16, the Greater Boston chapter of the
Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) joined the Armenian National Committee
(ANC) of Eastern Massachusetts, and local Armenian community members
at Boston’s City Hall Plaza, in calling for an end to the genocide in
Darfur, Sudan.
The two organizations are part of the coalition organizing the
rally?the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur (MCSD), a
collaboration of humanitarian organizations and concerned individuals
working to raise awareness of the atrocities occurring in Darfur. This
month’s rally was also co-sponsored by the Students Taking Action Now:
Darfur (STAND) for Boston area universities.
As members of the MCSD, the AYF and ANC took an active role in the
preparations and execution of the rally. Flyers were prepared and
distributed throughout the local Armenian community, highlighting the
reasons for attending the rally. “As you read this, there is an active
genocide occurring in Darfur, a western region of Sudan. Over 400,000
men, women, and children have died as a result of this strife. The
ongoing murder and rape have displaced over 2.5 million people. As
descendents of survivors of the Armenian genocide, it is incumbent on
us to take action to end this cycle of genocide and move us to finally
realize the call?’Never again,'” read a portion of the flyer.
The Armenian representatives to the coalition also invited Worcester
State professor Henry Theriault as one of event’s keynote
speakers. Theriault, an active member of the ANC of Worcester,
coordinates the Center for the Study of Human Rights at the college.
Theriault spoke on the connection between the first genocide of the
20th century, the Armenian genocide, and today’s genocide in
Darfur. “Ninety years ago, the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire
looked very much like Darfur today, with deportations, squalid
encampments of victims wracked by epidemics of diseases and
governmentally-imposed starvation, roving death squads, rampant rape
and enslavement, and corpses. Ninety years ago, the world community
stood by as the Ottoman Turkish government systematically killed more
than 1 million Armenians and hundreds of thousands of Assyrians and
Greeks. It is standing by once again as the carefully organized
butchers in Sudan kill hundreds of thousands in Darfur,” said
Theriault.
Other speakers at the rally included Susannah Sirkin of the Physicians
for Human Rights who discussed the daily life of refugees in Sudan;
and Rebecca Hamilton of the Harvard Darfur Action Group who spoke on
steps that can be taken to encourage companies to divest in Sudan.
The current situation of genocide in Darfur, and what can be done
today to help end the atrocities were also discussed, as well as the
role played by the Sudanese government, the United States, the African
Peacekeeping Union, in the genocide.
The event also included musical selections by the Tufts University
student band Moksha and Farah Siraj from the Berklee School of
Music. A poem was later read by Brandeis University Dean of Diversity
Jamile Adams, highlighting the severity of the atrocities and the
effects of apathy towards the situation.
Later, attendees were asked by rally leaders to hold up their cellular
phones, call the White House and the State Department and urge them
through legislation and policy, to help end the genocide in Darfur.
“We need Armenians and non-Armenians to unite to stop genocide all
around the world,” said Greater Boston AYF member Jirair Barsoumian,
who attended the event. “By being at this rally, we (Armenians) are
contributing to the effort to bring international attention to the
plight of the Sudanese people who are being massacred today in
Darfur. By supporting similar struggles, we support our own. All the
people that saw Armenians at the rally will now have a clearer
understanding of why the Armenian genocide is an international human
rights issue. We, as Armenians need to show that we are willing and
able to help fight any crime against humanity, not just the Armenian
genocide.”
For more information, visit

ARMINFO News Agency
October 8, 2005
TURKISH SCIENTIST DOES NOT DOUBT THAT THERE WAS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IN
OTTOMAN TURKEY IN EARLY XX
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8. ARMINFO. There is no doubt that there was
thoroughly organized Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey in 1915,
professor of Saban University (Turkey) Halil Bargtay said during the
Yerevan NATO Rose Roth seminar.
Armenians were massacred just because they were Armenians and
Turkey’s claims that it was a result of Armenian revolt are a lie.
There was no word “genocide” in the international legal terminology
in early XX but today this cannot be called otherwise. The only
difference between the Jewish Holocaust and Armenian Genocide is that
the Jews of Western Europe had no revolutionary organizations while
the Armenians of Ottoman Turkey had several revolutionary groups. But
this is not an excuse, says Bargtay.
In response Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Vahan
Hovhanissyan said at the Jews of Western Europe were immigrants while
present day Turkish Anatolia is a historical territory of Eastern
Armenia as the early XX revolutionary moods by Armenians were quite
understandable – they struggled for the liberation of their
historical homeland.
Bargtay said that there is certain progress in the Turkish public
opinion but the political authorities cannot just get up one morning
and recognize one thing they have been denying for decades. This
requires time. Bargtay said that it is not right to pressure Turkey
in the issue. International pressure may only lead to escalating nazi
and fascist moods.
Turkey should come to this on its own. At the same time both Armenia
and Turkey should overcome antagonism and the ghost of the past.
There already are some signs of tolerance. Many Turkish scientists
have already begun to publicly acknowledge the fact of massacres and
some of them even call this genocide, says Bargtay noting that he is
one example of this.

Whittier Daily News, CA
San Gabriel Valley Tribune, CA
Oct 9 2005
Armenian pope pays visit to Montebello
By Bridget Schinnerer, Correspondent

MONTEBELLO – Area Armenians and local officials attended a prayer
service conducted by His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great
House of Cilicia, at the Armenian Martyrs Memorial Monument at
Bicknell Park.
The monument, which sits on a hill, was erected in 1968 and is
dedicated to the memory of Armenians who lost their lives at the
hands of the Ottoman Turkish Government from 1915 to 1921, a period
many call the Armenian genocide.
“This is a service that honors their memory and blesses their souls
so that they may rest in peace,” Armenian National Committee
spokesman Raffi Hamparian said.
Montebello is one of the many cities the pontiff will visit during
his month-long tour of North America. This is his second visit to
California in seven years.
Several hundred people attended Saturday’s event and eagerly
applauded when he spoke of the importance of the commemorative
monument.
“This memorial that stands at the heart of the state of California is
a reminder of the Armenian genocide that happened during World War
I,” the pontiff said. “I consider this living monument a challenge of
all people that we must join our forces for the promotion of human
values.”
Values, he said, that are not just Armenian values, but human ones.
The pontiff’s visit occurs at a time when the United States
government is considering two pieces of legislation that urge the
current Turkish government to recognize the role of its predecessors
in the mass killings and acknowledges the United States’ opposition
to recognizing it as a genocide.
The resolutions, supported by the House International Relations
Committee, await action by the House of Representatives.
Attendees at Saturday’s service said the pontiff’s message reinforced
their own beliefs.
“It is very important to recognize our genocide because if we don’t
recognize this one, we cannot prevent the next one,” Mourad
Iskadhian, 43, of Montebello said.

PRESS RELEASE
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Information Services
Address: Vagharshapat, Republic of Armenia
Contact: Rev. Fr. Ktrij Devejian
Tel: (374 10) 517 163
Fax: (374 10) 517 301
E-Mail: [email protected]
October 8, 2005
Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II on the
1600th Anniversary of the Creation of the Armenian Alphabet
On Saturday, October 8, 2005, the Armenian Church and Nation dispersed
throughout the world celebrated the Feast of the Holy Translators. The
Pontifical Encyclical of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians appears below:
Karekin II, Servant of Jesus Christ,
By the Mercy of God and the Will of the Nation,
Chief Bishop and Catholicos of All Armenians,
Supreme Patriarch of the Pan-National Pre-Eminent Araratian See,
the Apostolic Mother Church of Universal Holy Etchmiadzin
Christ-bequeathed greetings of love and Pontifical blessings
to the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia,
to the Armenian Patriarchates of Holy Jerusalem and Constantinople,
to the Archbishops, Bishops, Archimandrites, Priests and Deacons,
to the Diocesan Delegational Assemblies, Diocesan and Parochial Councils and
Officers,
and to All Beloved Faithful Armenian People.
“The Lord hath been mindful of us; he will bless us”
(Psalms 115:12)
Beloved devout Armenians,
The Grace of God and heavenly mercy visited our Nation and the Land of
Armenia through the remarkable creation of the Armenian Alphabet, the 1600th
Anniversary of which we celebrate today. Let us offer praises to heaven,
because “The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us”, granting us
crowning individuals, “who decorated the wisdom of the Uncreate,
establishing the living letters upon the earth.”
The memories which are called to mind are brilliant and praiseworthy.
>From a distance of sixteen centuries, that joyful day of Armenian history
becomes clear before our soul, when the Learned Doctor Mashtots was
returning to Vagharshapat, holding the newly discovered Armenian characters
near his heart – to his heart aching for his nation, for Armenia. He was
happily returning from the distant journey, for God had heard his unceasing
prayers and had blessed his vigilant endeavors, and had blessed his mission.
“²” and “ø” – beginning with “²ñ³ñÇã” (Creator) and ending with “øñÇëïáë”
(Christ), the alphabet of 36 characters was born, so that the Armenian
people could read the Breath of God in their native tongue, “and the
Christ-given salvation would reach all people”, wisdom and instruction be
recognized, and words of insight be understood.
Mashtots was passing through the stations of the road full of hope, because
he knew that they were awaiting him in the homeland to receive the fruits of
his efforts. Even Moses was not as happy, says Koriun – the disciple and
biographer of Mashtots, because when Moses descended Mount Sinai holding the
God-inspired tablets in his arms, the people were worshipping the gold-cast
idol. In contrast, waiting impatiently for Mashtots were Catholicos Sahak
Parthev, King Vramshapuh, the royal court, nobility and the compassionate
clergy; and when they heard that he had neared the capital, they went to
greet him with the multitude of people. Thus, the waters of the river Arax
became witness to the joys of the encounter, the songs of blessing, and the
prayers of praise and thanksgiving.
To make the timeless word of God be heard, the teaching of the Armenian
language was embarked upon. Schools were opened in all provinces of the
land of Armenia through the sponsorship of the king and the care of the
pontiff. Children and the Army of free nobles were educated, and the people
themselves were coming to the “opened source of divine knowledge”. The
letters of Mashtots became the stewards serving the Living Word, and “Moses
the lawgiver and the ranks of prophets; Paul leading the regiment of the
apostles, as well as the life-giving Gospel of Christ, began to speak in
Armenian, to utter in our native tongue.” And the endless stream of souls
was opened; disciples became teachers, translators, commentators,
hymn-writers, historians and philosophers. With the perceptible arch of
light, the dissociated national life and detached lands of Armenia were
united. In our homeland, the word of God adorned and ornamented souls; it
brought to life the hope of salvation and the faith in the resurrection.
God blessed His inheritance, which the holy apostles of the Lord and our
apostolic father of faith, Saint Gregory the Illuminator, had secured with
their witnessing lives. Truly, “the Lord has been mindful of us; he will
bless us.” In difficult times for Armenia, our loyal clergyman and lay
authorities became the guardians and leaders of the nation, “who by the
power of the Uncreate Being, the Wisdom of the Father, established the See
of Saint Gregory, by translating the writings.”
The blessed generation of the Sahak-Mesropian school molded Armenian history
of the fifth century with the inspired and ingenious awakening of mind and
soul, victorious in dedication and fidelity, and gloriously attired in
martyrdom. Those educated by the spirit educated others. All succeeding
centuries of our history were led by the generation of the golden harvest of
the Armenian culture, the Christ-loving and homeland-devoted, kindhearted,
enlightened and intellectual generation, who during times of trial did not
hesitate to defend their faith and homeland with their very lives. Fathers
and sons, recognizing the eternal within the temporal, journeyed the path
from Avarayr to Nvarsak with the sanctified, blessed name of our Lord on
their lips. “The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us”, granting
us a century of valor, a century of heroism, when among the few, many were
found to be virtuous, “who called the glorious earthly grandeur ‘darkness’,
relying on the hope of the immortal bridegroom, becoming worthy of the
Ineffable Word”. “The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us.” The
sun shone over the plain of Shavarshan and forever united the faith and the
homeland of the Armenians. Regardless if the land of Armenia was protected
or being trampled, if Armenian statehood was existing or overthrown, the
Armenian spirit remained steadfast and secure with the 36 letters of life,
because the characters of Mashtots aligned on parchment had written upon the
souls of our people the purpose and mystery of their very existence.
Through the letters of Mashtots, the exquisite Armenian language has been
immortalized and the fertile tree of Armenian culture has grown tall from
the seed of a golden root, and thereby the Armenian nation dispersed
throughout the world with its Christian identity and with its faithful,
creative and progress-driven spiritual introspection is forever one and
unified. In everything that our people have created throughout sixteen
centuries, our great and blessed learned doctors Saint Sahak and Saint
Mesrop – the first Armenian teachers – are present. As long as their
luminous memory and the spiritual mystery of the Armenian letters are still
alight, they will continue to live and work – preparing invincible minds and
liberated souls by dispensing infinite treasures and divine light that
overcomes the darkness.
Beloved Armenians, guard our native letters of Mashtots, holding them close
to your heart, and our homeland and Holy Church will always remain hallowed.
Love our mother tongue and the glories of our ancestors will be praised;
grace, noble and pure visions, and lofty aspirations will flourish in the
life of the homeland. Keep the Armenian school luminous and bright, and our
future generations will converse about eternity with Free Ararat, Mother
Arax and the Mother Cathedral, which always remember the bliss of those
happy days when our venerable teachers turned the land of Armenia into a
blessed, desirable and magnificent place through the words of God resounding
in Armenian.
>From the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, we exhort our hierarchal sees, our
diocesan primates, our oath-bound clerical order and all our faithful people
in Armenia and in the communities of the dispersion, to celebrate the
glorious memories of the God-sanctified discovery of the Armenian Alphabet
in the year 2005 with pan-national festivities and splendor. Let the
exultant prayers of our souls reach heaven from the four corners of the
world, because “The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us”, granting
us crowning individuals, “who decorated the wisdom of the Uncreate,
establishing the living letters upon the earth.”
May the peaceful and righteous gaze of God look upon Armenian life, in our
free and renewing homeland and in all corners of the Armenian Diaspora.
Before the Holy Altar of Descent, we offer prayers to heaven, asking that
God, through the intercession of our learned doctor-translators who dwell in
lights, bestow abundant grace upon our faithful people, so that love and
devotion to the homeland and to our Holy Church be everlasting and our faith
be unshaken that, “Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will
yield its increase”. (Psalms 85:12).
May the grace, mercy and peace of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, be with you in truth and in love. Amen.
KAREKIN II
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS
Encyclical given on the 29th of January
In the Year of our Lord 2005, and in the date of the Armenians 1454
At the Mother Monastery of Holy Etchmiadzin
Number 283

LENMARKER: “EU’S IDEOLOGY IS OPEN BORDERS”
Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Oct 6 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 6, NOYAN TAPAN. Artur Baghdasarian, RA NA Speaker,
and Goran Lenmarker, OSCE PA Special Representative on Nagorno Karabakh
issue, attached importance to peaceful settlement of conflicts and
extension of democracy in the South Caucasian region at the October
5 meeting mentioning that it will enable the regional countries to
develop with a prospect of integration to the large European family.
RA NA Speaker informed his interlocutor about the process of
constitutional reforms taking place in Armenia, after the successful
end of which the other laws will be also reformed and will be brought
in correspondence with the European standards. Both of them attached
importance to the integration of the whole society to the process of
constitutional reforms.
In connection with the current stage of Nagorno Karabakh peaceful
settlement Goran Lenmarker mentioned that the report on this issue
made by him in Washington was entitled “Golden Chance” and it is very
symbolic as he really considers that a golden chance is created for
both Azerbaijan and Armenia for overcoming the conflict and achieving
progress. Artur Baghdasarian noted that Armenia has always hold the
position of peaceful settlement of the conflict and expressed hope
that the problem will get a peaceful and fair solution.
Issues concerning establishment of Armenian-Swedish interparliamentary
contacts were also discussed at the meeting.
As Noyan Tapan was informed by RA NA Public Relations Department,
the same day the delegation led by Goran Lenmarker met with the
members of OSCE PA Armenian delegation at the NA.
Vahan Hovhannisian, head of OSCE PA Armenian delegation, NA
Vice-Speaker, noted that Lenmarker’s report on Nagorno Karabakh
issue made at OSCE PA Washington session provoked serious interest in
Armenian and Azeri societies and it was noticeable that report’s brave
proposals corresponding to the changes of time on the one hand were
attractive an on the other hand gave rise to additional caution, which
can be considered a high estimation for the report. As a result of the
propaganda the report had rather a positive reaction in the Armenian
society. All the political forces in Armenia realize the necessity of
bilateral concessions in the issue of final solution of the Karabakh
problem. It’s difficult to find a political force ready for mutual
concessions in Azerbaijan, so, in Vahan Hovhannisian’s affirmation,
searching for such a political force within the framework of OSCE
PA can bring positive results. NA Vice-Speaker highly estimated the
direct negotiations held between Armenian and Azeri delegations in
Brussels, a well as the meeting of the delegations and OSCE Minsk Group
representatives in Washington on Lenmarker’s initiative. An opinion
was expressed that the work in this direction must be continual.
Vahan Hovhannisian suggested that taking as a basis Goran Lenmarker’s
studies, an ad hoc working group be created. The working group will
be headed by Goran Lenmarker and will involve Armenian and Azeri
sides, as well as OSCE PA Deputies well-aware of the conflict. The
group will work at a joint resolution. He suggested that the issue
about coming to agreement on creating a joint resolution be discussed
with participation of the 2 delegations on the eve of Vienna summit,
which can be considered the first coordinated step by EU new neighbors.
Lenmarker was pleased to accept Vahan Hovhannisian’s proposals and
noted that this golden chance must be taken by the parliamentarians.
As regards Turkey-EU relations, in Goran Lenmarker’s estimation,
Turkey-EU negotiations will be positive for Armenia, too. And in
connection with Armenia’s blockade by Turkey Lenmarker gave assurance
that Turkey must open the borders, as European Union’s ideology is
open borders.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EMBARRASSED MARKARIAN PROMISES ‘STRICTER’ GUN CONTROL
By Astghik Bedevian
Armenialiberty.org, Armenia
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 6 2005
Prime Minister Andranik Markarian pledged late Wednesday to be more
careful in presenting government officials and friends with firearms
and effectively admitted that one of those “gifts” was used in a
recent high-profile murder.
He said he asked the Armenian police to screen prospective recipients
of such presents “more strictly.”
Markarian has faced embarrassing questions about his weapons-giving
practices since an extraordinary crime committed in a small town near
Yerevan on September 27. The mayor of Nor Hajn, Armen Keshishian,
reportedly shot dead a local businessman in broad light after a
bitter argument over what police describe as “illegal construction”
financed by the latter.
The dead man supported Keshishian’s challenger in the local election
scheduled for this Sunday. The mayor, who was close to Markarian’s
Republican Party (HHK), is currently under arrest pending trial.
Armenian media have reported that the pistols used in this and
several other crimes had been given to their perpetrators by the
Armenian premier.
Markarian did not deny those reports. “We will try to make things
stricter from now on,” he told reporters. “The police have already
been given a corresponding instruction.”
Markarian at the same time insisted that the existing legal procedures
allowing him to award handguns to citizens are not flawed.
“In this country only I present weapons,” he said. “But I don’t give
anyone such presents until the police check the origin of a weapon,
the identity and credibility of its recipient.”
According to some press reports, there are more than 500 such
recipients. President Robert Kocharian is said to have ordered
law-enforcement agencies to double-check their identity and criminal
records following the Nor Hajn crime.
Under Armenian law, citizens can not possess any firearms without
police permission which is supposed to be given only in exceptional
circumstances. The controversial prime-ministerial “gifts” appear to
have been one of the easiest ways of obtaining such permissions.

ISSUE OF REFUGEES IN AZERBAIJAN EXCLUDED FROM AGENDA OF PACE DISCUSSIONS
Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 5 2005
>>From the agenda of the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe (PACE) which started on 3 October 2005
debates on the report of refugees in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia
is excluded on the insistence of the Azerbaijani delegation.
A member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, a Milli Mejlis deputy
Bahtiyar Aliyev told Trend about it.
According to him, the sittings of the committees commenced first. The
report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population on the
problems of refugees in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia was heard.
“We voiced the protest on a number of the items of the report on the
state of refugees and internally displaced people in Azerbaijan.
The decision was taken to revise the issue with the rapporteur Boris
Shlevovitsch and then submit for discussion”.
Aliyev also underlined, the PACE Cabinet of Ministers adopted a
document recently. “It is a sort of a report on the OSCE Minsk Group
activities, which enables us to raise the issue in the subcommittee
being set up”. The PACE autumn session will last from 3 till 8 October.
URL:

DOCUMENT WORKED OUT BY EU FMS CONVEYED TO ANKARA
Pan Armenian
03.10.2005 15:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Today Turkey has received the final document worked
out at the sitting of the EU FMs, a reliable source reported. According
to it, presently the document is being examined by the Turkish party.

ONE MORE PUSH!
Selcuk Gultasli
Zaman, Turkey
Oct 3 2005
The rule that “every draft the EU prepares about Turkey does not get
its final form without getting toughened” did not change. Where did the
Cyprus declaration begin, and where did it end? The EU virtually said
to the Greek Cypriots “Write it down, we will put a signature on it.”
The declaration for which the Greek Cypriots, with the support of
the French, took EU as hostage turned out to be a legally binding
paper despite the British rhetoric that “it is not a legally binding
document and will be forgotten within six months, why give a damn?”
Moreover, even if the EU does ever forget something, it will be
decisions for the benefit of Turkey. The commitment given by Greece
back in 1981 that she would not interfere in Turkey-EU relations,
the declaration from France, Germany, Netherlands and Italy in 1998
declaring that “the Greek Cypriots will not become a member of the
EU before a solution is reached in Cyprus”, the Council’s decisions
that will bring an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots in
2004 were all too easily forgotten.
The framework document is also becoming more stringent. It has not
yet been approved, and it probably won’t be until the last days and
many elements -excluding the privileged partnership that Turkey cannot
accept- will be introduced into this document.
The situation is as follows: Those who had been promised for 46 years
will announce their engagement on October 3. The EU part does all it
can to ensure that the engagement will not end up with a marriage. It
will sit at the table of engagement, just because it promised once,
but it prepares many pretexts in order to toss the ring away just after
the engagement. Turkey, too, is not happy as it sits at the table,
she is convinced that the EU is unwillingly sitting at the table. In
this case, almost everybody foresees that the negotiations will fail
to continue even if they do start on October 3 and that this will halt,
anyway, in 2006 when the additional protocol is revised.
The EU made the negotiations “unsustainable” with the declaration of
Cyprus, and allowed the UN ground for a possible solution to erode
and most importantly confirmed that it now sees the issue from a Greek
Cypriot view. From now on, in the Cyprus issue the EU cannot go beyond
the parameters cited in the declaration. The Greek Cypriots will get
what they want unless the political atmosphere in Europe goes through
a radical change-which is impossible in the short term.
The next crisis pending between the EU and Turkey is the additional
protocol waiting to be approved in the Assembly. As the screening
process will start on October 3, negotiations will most probably
start at the end of the term presidency of the UK, namely in December.
And in the worst case scenario, the start of negotiations will take
place following the scanning process and this will happen in the
term presidency of Austria. There is no need to offer any detailed
explanation of how Austria, which has the hysteria that the Turks
besieged Vienna for the third time, will approach the negotiations.
As the Greek Cypriots will ask the additional protocol to be approved
and implemented immediately after October 3, Turkey will face a
serious dilemma before it can even start the real negotiations.
As the opponents in Europe have plenty of supporters in Turkey,
sabotaging the negotiations will become easier. The guardians of the
established system whose entire comfort will be overwhelmed with the
start of negotiations will clearly show their European allies that
“Turkey has not changed” with a few provocations just as happened
at the Armenian conference. And in the words of Fuat Pasha that are
even more relevant today, “They from the outside, we from the inside,
together” will obstruct the start of negotiations! Come on guys!