Author: Vanyan Gary

Hürriyet, Turkey
Oct 13 2006
French Parliament deaf to advance warnings
Yesterday’s newspapers in France were filled with warnings of the
result of an approval vote in the Parliament for the so-called
“genocide denial” bill. EU Commissioner for Expansion, Olli Rehn, had
written a letter printed in the “Liberation” newspaper warning “don’t
kill off dialogue with Turkey.”
In the end though, it appeared that the members of the French
Parliament had blocked their ears to these warnings. Following the
vote, which overwhelming approved the controversial bill, the EU
Commission issued clear criticisms of France.
Speaking after the vote, spokesperson for the EU Commission on
Expansion, Khristina Nagy, said “Unfortunately, this decision will
make EU harmonizing reforms in Turkey more difficult. And if the
approved bill goes into implementation, it will mean a deadend for
Armenian-Turkish relations.”
Olli Rehn: This bill puts millions of Turks into position of being
suspect
In a letter to the “Liberation” newspaper, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn
warned “This bill, with its historical opinion it is trying to
impose, puts millions of Turks and their country into the position of
being suspect.”
European Parliament MP Duff: Dark day for freedom in France
Another voice condemning the French vote came from European
Parliament member Andrew Duff, who said “The French Parliament has
rejected freedom of thought and expression. It is a dark day in
France for freedom.” Duff added “How can France insist to Turkey that
it develop its own freedoms and laws when it finds itself in the
exact opposite situation?”
Le Figaro warns: Don’t make mistake
And finally, yesterday’s Le Figaro printed a warning yesterday to the
members of the French Parliament not to “make a mistake.” Calling the
“genocide denial” bill an “opportunistic” initiative, Le Figaro urged
MPs not to push France into a situation of absurdity with an approval
vote.

NOBEL PRIZE FOR PAMUK GETS MIXED REVIEWS IN TURKEY
By Vincent Boland in Ankara
Financial Times, UK
Oct 12 2006
Turkey reacted with a mixture of pride and cynicism on Thursday to
the awarding of the Nobel prize for literature to Orhan Pamuk, the
country’s most controversial novelist.
In literary and academic circles the announcement that Mr Pamuk had
become the first Turkish person ever to win a Nobel prize was greeted
with joy. “He is a representative of modern Turkey,” said Cengiz Aktar,
an academic in Istanbul. “He will probably now become the conscience
of modern Turkey.”
But nationalists who have accused Mr Pamuk of being unpatriotic
said the award was a political gesture by the Swedish Academy. Kemal
Kerincsiz, leader of a group of ultra-nationalist lawyers that brought
charges against Mr Pamuk, said he was ashamed at the award.
“The prize that was given was not a source of pride. As a Turkish
citizen I am ashamed,” he said.
Less than a year ago Mr Pamuk, whose elegantly descriptive yet
melancholic books partly focus on how modern Turkey deals with
its past, was on trial in Istanbul for “insulting Turkishness”. At
issue were remarks he made about the need for Turkey to confront
its historical role in the massacres of Armenians and Kurds in the
last century.
The comments enraged a section of hardline nationalist opinion and
led to a chaotic trial that caused violent scenes on the streets and
was eventually abandoned. Importantly, he was not acquitted and for
many of critics he is still on trial.
Adding to the political significance of the award to a Turk, and
to Turkish sensitivities about Armenian claims of genocide during
the collapse of the Ottoman empire, the Nobel prize was given to Mr
Pamuk on the day the lower house of the French parliament voted to
make denial of the genocide claim a crime. The vote has infuriated
many Turks, who blame Mr Pamuk, among others, for stoking the debate
against Turkey abroad.
Other writers have been prosecuted in Turkey this year under a clause
in the penal code that is aimed at stifling criticism of the state
and its institutions. The European Union, which Turkey wants to join,
is urging Ankara to amend or abolish the law, a move that is made
more unlikely by the French parliamentary vote.
Mr Pamuk said he was honoured by the Nobel award, given by the Swedish
Academy and worth SKr10m ($1.35m) ([email protected]) (£730,000).
Writers’ clubs in Turkey said it would raise the profile of Turkish
literature.
Mr Pamuk is feted as his country’s most widely read writer, read
as much abroad as at home. He is also something of a celebrity in
literature circles in Europe and the US.
Erda Gocnar, assistant professor at Duke University, said the court
case against Mr Pamuk became an international cause celèbre because
“it was really about a struggle over Turkey’s political identity as
an EU and Muslim country”.
Others, however, questioned the political dimension of awarding the
prize to Mr Pamuk within months of his trial. Suat Kiniklioglu, head
of the Ankara office of the German Marshall Fund of the US, said:
“A lot of people in Turkey, including me, will think it was awarded
not for his artistic merits but because of his remarks about Armenia,
which did great damage to the perception of Turkey.”
As well as looking at how Turkey’s past is mirrored in the present,
Mr Pamuk’s books, including Snow and My Name is Red, address the
clash between east and west inside the country. He has won numerous
other awards, both in Turkey and abroad.
The Swedish Academy said it had given Mr Pamuk the award because “in
the quest for the melancholic soul of his native city [Istanbul], he
has discovered new symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures”.
Horace Engdahl, the academy’s head, said Mr Pamuk understood the
reasons why he won the award. “I believe this will be met with delight
by all readers and lovers of novels,” Mr Engdahl said.
“But it can naturally give rise to a certain amount of political
turbulence. That is not what we are interested in.”
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ARMENIANS AND AZERIS BEING EXPELLED FROM MOSCOW
PanARMENIAN.Net
11.10.2006 12:51 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The search for illegal migrants resulted in
toughening of document examination of Armenians and Azeris, reports
the Echo of Moscow.
According to the source, last Tuesday a check was conducted in one
of the Moscow cafes. Witnesses say the policemen told they “were
ordered to expel Armenians and Azeris from Moscow.” As result, four
people were taken to the police station. It should be noted that the
documents of those detained were in complete order.

MARINA VARDANIAN WINS MISS ARMENIA TITLE
Armenpress
Oct 10 2006
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 10, ARMENPRESS: Marina Vardanian from Yerevan was
recognized yesterday Miss Armenia 2006. She was also declared Miss
Media and was the beauty that won also the sympathies of the audience.
On October 27 she will represent Armenia at Miss Europe beauty pageant
in Kiev, Ukraine.
Marina Vardanian was selected from a pool of 23 beauties from Armenia
and Nagorno-Karabakh. Rita Tsaturian, a beauty from Nagorno-Karabakh,
was declared Vice Miss Armenia.

Armenian Army Best in Post Soviet Space
PanARMENIAN.Net
05.10.2006 18:36 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ This year Georgia followed by Azerbaijan will fix
the biggest budget, military and political expert Richard Giragossian
said in Yerevan today. When speaking of the military constituent of
security he remarked that “the Armenian and Nagorno Karabakh’s Armed
Forces are very strong, both in armament and morally. “The Armenian
army is the best one in the post soviet space, but Armenia should be
ready for a higher level and start reforms and modernization of the
army so as not to allow the Azeri army become stronger in 10 years,”
he said.
When touching upon the American-Turkish cooperation the expert remarked
that during many years it was rather successful and close. “However
after the Iraqi war the situation has changed and now the U.S. State
Department collaborates with the Turkish government rather than with
the Defense Ministry,” he said. As for Iran, Richard Giragossian
considers that Iran is neither Iraq nor Afghanistan. Language of
weapon should not be used for talk with this country.

A1+
STRASBOURG DIARY
[12:47 pm] 06 October, 2006
REJECTED LAW WILL BE ADOPTED
NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan who is also the head of the Armenian
delegation to the PACE met Per Sogren, the head of the Ago group. The
representatives of the Venice Commission also participated in the
meeting. Mr. Torosyan represented the course of honoring commitments
since the last visit of the reporters. The members of the Ago group
were especially interested in the ten laws they had passed on to
the Parliament.
Mr. Torosyan mentioned that six of them have been adopted, and one of
them has been discussed and rejected due to its numerous shortcomings,
but the Parliament will adopt it till the end of the year.
The amendments to the Electoral Code were also
represented. Mr. Torosyan briefed the members of the Ago group on
the main approaches of the draft. The representatives of the Venice
Commission were content with several solutions in the draft Electoral
Code.
Head of the Ago group Per Sogren voiced hope that the developments
will contribute to the organization of 2007 Parliamentary elections
in compliance with the internationally accepted standards.
THE VISIT WILL PROBABLY BE POSTPONED
During the meeting of Tigran Torosyan, President of the ad-hoc
committee on Karabakh affairs adjunct to the CE Lord Russell Johnston
and head of the Azeri delegation to the PACE Samad Seidov, Mr. Johnston
mentioned that the period of time meant for the visit of the members
of the committee to the region is not very favorable. He said it
would be better to postpone the visit till the next year.
Before that, during the January sitting, discussions will be held in
Strasbourg in which the members of the Armenian and Azeri delegations
will participate.

The Age, Australia
Oct 6 2006
The folly of dangerous and foolish patriotism
By Tony Coady
October 7, 2006
Samuel Johnson famously declared that patriotism was the
last refuge of the scoundrel, but the American satirist Ambrose
Bierce may have been closer to the mark when he said that it was the
first. In any case, the fog of patriotic fervour now lies so heavy on
the Australian political landscape that it is necessary to clear some
of it away lest we lose direction entirely.
Attachment to the good habits and institutions of one’s country and a
modest pride in the genuine achievements of one’s co-nationals is a
commendable attitude, capable of forging ties and cementing community
feeling. But patriotism has a strong tendency to go beyond this. The
slogan, “My country, right or wrong” is palpably absurd, but the more
seductive, though equally foolish, idea is that my country can
actually do no wrong, or, at any rate, no serious wrong. The emotions
of patriotism all too often blind us to the moral crimes and follies
that “we” have committed and can again commit. When this is combined
with the political advantages of populism, the mixture can be lethal.
It is not only scoundrels who misuse patriotism; the foolish and
opportunistic also do it.
Our politicians are falling over themselves to reach the peak of
Patriot Hill. They vie with each other to make new and more dramatic
proposals for pulling the rest of us into line with some opaque
vision of Australian values. The proposals range from the
conspicuously silly, such a Kim Beazley’s visa pledge to Aussie
values for tourists to the downright unpleasant, such as Andrew
Robb’s proposal to force migrants to wait four years for citizenship
instead of the present two. There is even a whiff of it in Julie
Bishop’s call for a common national school curriculum designed to
fend off Marxist, feminist and even (God help us!) Maoist
interpretations apparently being foisted on our unsuspecting Aussie
kids by ideologues in state education bureaucracies.
Much of this combines exaggerated fear with extravagant attachment to
a comforting fantasy of a stereotypical Australia. The fantasy is
supposed to protect us from the fear. The fear itself is partly a
genuine if overwrought fear of terrorist acts, and partly a formless
dread of unusual foreigners, especially, nowadays, Muslims.
I remember when Australian patriotism used to be a quiet and modest
affair. The 1950s that our Prime Minister is so fond of was actually
a time when loud affectations of “Aussie values”, condemnations of
“anti-Australian behaviour”, and indulgence in flag-worship would
have been greeted with astonishment and scorn. I can only hope that
some of that earthy, cynical realism remains in our make-up, but
decades of exploitative advertising (“C’mon Aussie, c’mon”) and
imitation of the most sentimental elements in American culture have
undoubtedly had their effect. The idea that respect for law, regard
for justice (“fair go”), and concern for women’s rights somehow
flourish distinctively here (“Aussie values”) and languish everywhere
else is of course nonsense, but that is the impression regularly
conveyed by many of our political leaders, and reinforced in much of
the media.
The Steve Irwin phenomenon is instructive. His death was sad and
shocking, but the hysterical sentimentality of the media reactions to
it, and the casting of Irwin as a heroic embodiment of Aussie-ness
were bizarre. Irwin’s high-voltage buffoonery and loud, extroverted,
continuous talking are quite unusual characteristics in this country.
It is indicative of the Prime Minister’s tin ear for Australian
dialect that he should have described Irwin as a “larrikin” when the
more accurate colloquialism would have been “bit of a ratbag”. In
fact, the crocodile man was better known and more loved in America
than Australia, which may explain some of the Prime Minister’s
infatuation with his image.
The really impressive thing about the celebration of Irwin’s life was
not the media hyperbole, the politicians’ gushing, or the
professional sincerity of various celebrity actors. No, it was the
quiet dignity of his family, especially his father, whose brief
speech was understated and genuinely moving. The family’s rejection
of the absurd offer of a state funeral injected a rare dose of common
sense into the aftermath of Irwin’s sad death.
The dangers of patriotism have just been dramatically illustrated by
the recent criminal indictment in Turkey of the novelist Elif Shafak
for having insulted “Turkishness”. Her alleged crime consisted in
writing a novel that explores the dark secret of Turkish crimes
against Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire when thousands of
Armenians were massacred in an outrageous ethnic cleansing. We are
still some way from criminalising criticism of our past (and to the
credit of the Turkish courts, she was acquitted) but the price of
massive self-deception and manipulated sentiment so often inherent in
the patriotic voice is very high. We need to confront our urgent
problems calmly, rationally and with an eye to empirical facts and
universal values. Patriotic posturing is at best a distraction, and
at worst a dangerous folly.
Tony Coady is professorial fellow at the Centre for Applied
Philosophy and Public Ethics at Melbourne University.
The Steve Irwin phenomenon is instructive. His death was sad and
shocking, but the hysterical sentimentality of the media reactions to
it, and the casting of Irwin as a heroic embodiment of Aussie-ness
were bizarre. Irwin’s high-voltage buffoonery and loud, extroverted,
continuous talking are quite unusual characteristics in this country.
It is indicative of the Prime Minister’s tin ear for Australian
dialect that he should have described Irwin as a “larrikin” when the
more accurate colloquialism would have been “bit of a ratbag”. In
fact, the crocodile man was better known and more loved in America
than Australia, which may explain some of the Prime Minister’s
infatuation with his image.
The really impressive thing about the celebration of Irwin’s life was
not the media hyperbole, the politicians’ gushing, or the
professional sincerity of various celebrity actors. No, it was the
quiet dignity of his family, especially his father, whose brief
speech was understated and genuinely moving. The family’s rejection
of the absurd offer of a state funeral injected a rare dose of common
sense into the aftermath of Irwin’s sad death.
The dangers of patriotism have just been dramatically illustrated by
the recent criminal indictment in Turkey of the novelist Elif Shafak
for having insulted “Turkishness”. Her alleged crime consisted in
writing a novel that explores the dark secret of Turkish crimes
against Armenians at the end of the Ottoman Empire when thousands of
Armenians were massacred in an outrageous ethnic cleansing. We are
still some way from criminalising criticism of our past (and to the
credit of the Turkish courts, she was acquitted) but the price of
massive self-deception and manipulated sentiment so often inherent in
the patriotic voice is very high. We need to confront our urgent
problems calmly, rationally and with an eye to empirical facts and
universal values. Patriotic posturing is at best a distraction, and
at worst a dangerous folly.
Tony Coady is professorial fellow at the Centre for Applied
Philosophy and Public Ethics at Melbourne University.

RUSSIAN DM-RUN SCHOOLS NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO GEORGIAN CITIZENS
by Tengiz Pachkoria
ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
October 4, 2006 Wednesday
Starting from Wednesday children of Georgia’s citizens will
be deprived of the opportunity to study at any of the three
Russian-language schools of Russia’s Defence Ministry in Tbilisi,
Batumi and Akhalkalaki, a source at the headquarters of the group of
Russian troops in Transcaucasia told Itar-Tass.
“That’s the decision made by Russia’s Defence Ministry,” the source
said.
“It is not ethnically motivated. It applies to the children of all
Georgian citizens – Russians, Armenians, Georgians and other ethnic
groups. From now on they will have to attend classes elsewhere,”
the source said.
To a certain extent this decision was prompted by the gradual reduction
in the number of school students, as Russian troops leave Georgia. The
Russian military base in Akhalkalaki will be closed down before
October 1, 2007, and that in Batumi, as well as the Tbilisi-based
headquarters of the group of Russian troops in Transcaucasia will
stop operating during 2008.
After the withdrawal is completed, Russia’s Defence Ministry will
close all schools it runs altogether.
Currently, Georgia has a total of 3,000 schools. Instruction in most
of them is in the official language. Along with Georgian schools,
there are about 100 Russian language ones and several hundreds of
Armenian and Azerbaijani schools.

EU COMMISSIONER WARNS AZERBAIJAN AGAINST STEEP RISE OF MILITARY SPENDING
Armenpress
Oct 03 2006
BAKU, OCTOBER 3, ARMENPRESS: EU External Relations Commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner warned Azerbaijan that its plans to drastically step
up its military spending may result in further escalation of situation
in the volatile region, reminding that the European Union wants the
tension in the South Caucasus to ease as soon as possible.
Finish foreign minister Erki Tuomioja, who visited Baku as head of
EU Troika delegation, expressed hope that the Karabakh conflict will
be solved peacefully.
On Monday Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan will
never sign a peace agreement that would not meet the national interests
of the country.
“As a president, I will never sign it,” he was quoted as saying by
Azeri news agencies. He also said that under a 2007 draft budget,
Azerbaijan’s defense expenditures will grow 17.8 percent to reach
900 million U.S. Dollars.
Trend news agency said in Baku the Finnish foreign minister whose
country holds now the rotating EU presidency, praised the OSCE Minsk
group for its efforts to help Armenia and Azerbaijan end their dispute.

AZNAVOUR, UN GRAND MOMENT D’EMOTION A EREVAN
Par Anne-Marie Romero
Le Figaro, France
02 octobre 2006
” ILS SONT VENUS, ils sont tous la “, les Armeniens d’Armenie, toutes
generations confondues, mais aussi ceux de la diaspora, comme Michel
Legrand, lui aussi fils d’une emigree armenienne, ses amis de toujours,
Line Renaud, Jean-Claude Brialy – dans le rôle du presentateur -,
sans oublier les couples presidentiels des deux pays et une foule
d’invites de marque. Ils etaient, en effet, près de 50 000, samedi
soir, sur l’immense place de la Republique d’Erevan, pour acclamer
l’Armenien le plus adule de la toute jeune Republique caucasienne,
Varenagh Aznavourian, plus connu sous le nom de Charles Aznavour,
dans un concert exceptionnel et benevole, marquant l’inauguration de
l’Annee de l’Armenie en France.
Dans une première partie du spectacle, Nana Mouskouri, Dany Brillant,
Isabelle Boulay, Michel Legrand et sa soeur, Helène Segara, venue
avec sa mère et sa grand-mère armeniennes, ont chante chacun deux
chansons, benevolement aussi, et par amitie pour Charles. Puis,
sous un tonnerre d’applaudissements, celui que Jacques Chirac avait
qualifie, le matin meme, dans son discours, de ” grand Francais,
grand Armenien et immense artiste “, est enfin monte sur la grande
scène dressee devant le Musee national et il n’a pas decu son public.
Loin de la.
Bien sûr, il y a eu quelques couacs, quelques notes difficiles a
tenir en debut de concert, mais le petit homme frele d’apparence,
en veste de satin noir, a montre qu’a 82 ans il etait encore une
bete de scène. Depuis Les Emigrants – un must en la circonstance –
jusqu’a Emmenez-Moi, qui a clôture la soiree, chauffe par la foule,
de chanson en chanson, il recuperait en effet son punch, ses fameux
tremolos, et les intonations puissantes et eraillees qui ont fait son
succès. Et c’est l’Aznavour d’il y a vingt ans que l’on a finalement
retrouve dans Je me voyais deja et dans La Bohème par une ovation
du public, qui chantait avec lui des paroles dont il ne comprenait
pas le sens, mais que chacun, ici, connaît par coeur. ” Aujourd’hui,
c’est la fete de l’amour “, avait dit Jean-Claude Brialy en presentant
ce gala celebrant l’amitie indefectible entre la France et l’Armenie.
C’etait surtout la fete de l’emotion. Emotion due au choix des textes,
comme Les Emigrants, bien sûr, ou comme une chanson inedite, Un mort
vivant, qu’Aznavour a ecrite en memoire de Daniel Pearl, le journaliste
americain decapite au Pakistan, et en hommage a tous les journalistes
assassines pour avoir defendu le droit de dire la verite.
Mais ce qui a le plus touche ses compatriotes, c’est que le heros
vivant, dont une place d’Erevan porte le nom, a parle dans leur langue,
a plusieurs reprises et longuement. Et, en francais cette fois,
il a remarque : ” Je n’ai jamais parle armenien sur scène.
C’est la première fois et ca me plaît bien. Je crois que je
recommencerai, meme en France ! ”
L’integrale de ce concert (douze chansons), plus deux autres,
enregistrees la veille, au Memorial du genocide, Ave Maria et Ils sont
tombes – un hommage aux 1 500 000 victimes des massacres perpetres
par les Turcs durant la Première Guerre mondiale – sera diffusee sur
Arte, le 12 novembre, a 19 heures. Enfin, dernière contribution de
Charles Aznavour a l’Annee de l’Armenie : une soiree de gala, dont
le programme sera, paraît-il, complètement different, le 17 fevrier
2007, a l’Opera Garnier. Il est vrai qu’avec un millier de titres en
50 ans de carrière, il n’aura que l’embarras du choix.
n Lire egalement page 6
Temps forts de l’Annee de l’Armenie
n L’Annee de l’Armenie rend compte de l’histoire, du rayonnement et
du destin d’un peuple ancien dans toutes ses dimensions, de l’arche
de Noe echouee au sommet du mont Ararat jusqu’au genocide de 1915.
Cela a travers la richesse de son patrimoine (” Le Livre armenien
” a la BNF et a Strasbourg, l’art liturgique ” Armenia sacra ”
au Louvre, ” Lumières d’Armenie ” a Cluny ou ” Or et tresors ” a
Lyon). Dans l’ oeuvre de ses artistes contemporains, notamment Gorky,
père de l’expressionnisme abstrait americain auquel rend hommage
le Centre Pompidou, et du cineaste plasticien Sergueï Paradjanov
expose a L’ENSBA Paris et Saint-Etienne. En suivant les travaux
photographiques presentes a l’lnstitut du monde arabe, notamment de
la famille Boyadjian, de Varta et du grand Yousuf Karsh.
En assistant aux projections des films du Hollywoodien Rouben
Mamoulian, du Francais Henri Verneuil et de jeunes cineastes actuels
tant de la Republique d’Armenie que de la diaspora comme Artavazd
Pelechian, Atom Egoyan ou en France Robert Guediguian.
En ecoutant les sonorites de la musique traditionnelle, le tempo du
jazz armenien de Tigran Hamasyan ou du duo Mouradian-Tchmitchian,
les compositions du XX e siècle de Khatchatourian ou Komitas, ainsi
que les formations instrumentales comme l’Orchestre philharmonique
d’Erevan et l’Orchestre national de chambre d’Armenie, ou vocales
comme le choeur Hover, qui revèlent des jeunes talents, le violoniste
Sergueï Katchatrrian ou le pianiste Vahan Mardirossian.
Enfin, en decouvrant le theâtre et ses auteurs modernes comme Torikian,
Varroujean ou Tokatlian dont les textes sont traverses par le thème
de l’interrogation sur soi, et la danse avec les ensembles Yeraz
et Navasart.
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