Author: Vardanian Garo

The Toronto Sun
May 11, 2005 Wednesday
FINAL EDITION

CANNESCON;
CANUCK SPOTLIGHT ON 3 TORONTO FILMMAKERS AT FEST

BY BRUCE KIRKLAND, AT CANNES

THE CANNES Film Festival launches today, rife with excitement over
everything from the Euro-debut of George Lucas’ final Star Wars movie
to edgy Jim Jarmusch’s latest opus with Bill Murray. For Canadians,
however, the focus is on three films, three filmmakers, all from
Toronto.

Here they are:

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES

(In competition)

THE DIRECTOR: Atom Egoyan, 45, born in Cairo of Armenian parents,
raised in Vancouver and based in Toronto.

THE STARS: Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman, Rachel Blanchard

THE GENRE: A psychological thriller.

THE STORY: Fifteen years after a naked hottie is found dead in a
hotel room, the two showbiz comics with whom she partied are
investigated by a reporter and events spin out of control. Bacon and
Firth play the comedy team under suspicion.

THE CANNES INSIGHTS: “It’s a great way to release the film,” Egoyan
tells the Sun. “It will be very exciting.” And the head-to-head
competition with his pal David Cronenberg has Egoyan revved up. “It
certainly is a rarity.”

Six Egoyan films launched here before, three in competition. “But you
can’t take it for granted,” he says of being selected again after he
and his producer Robert Lantos hesitated before submitting the new
film.

“We’ve become blase, but we have to remind ourselves that it is a
very, very privileged position. Every time that you submit a movie,
you know that the standards are really high. There is no guarantee.
This film is a new direction for me and you don’t know how people are
going to respond.”

In the film, Egoyan examines what he calls “the spectacle” of
performance.

“It’s very much a view of U.S. popular culture. It’s a different
alchemy for me. It’s been fun to make and it will be a different ride
for people.”

—

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

(In competition)

THE DIRECTOR: David Cronenberg, 62, born, raised and based in
Toronto.

THE STARS: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes,
Ed Harris.

THE GENRE: A classic vengeance saga.

THE STORY: An Indiana lawyer’s idyllic family life is shattered when
he kills two criminals during a violent robbery in the man’s diner.
Mortensen plays the lawyer-businessman.

THE CANNES INSIGHTS: “I’ve known that I was in for about a month, but
I wasn’t allowed to say,” Cronenberg tells the Sun about having to
hold back his enthusiasm until the official release. He is eager to
participate. Cannes has not lost its allure. “No, it hasn’t. I’m
actually jealous when I’m not here. I’m telling the truth now. I
always like to be here, but it’s not as much fun if you don’t have a
film — so you have to make a movie. It’s just pure fun. It’s a great
way to introduce your film to the world. That’s the key. I just
finished it and I’m desperate to show it.”

Like Egoyan, Cronenberg says he is proud to be selected from the
1,540 films submitted to Cannes programmers, especially because the
decision came quickly, unlike the waffling on selecting his Spider in
2002. “(The odds) are staggering. And there’s no fooling. They really
did look at all of those and they really wanted ours, you know. They
weren’t doing anybody any favours. It wasn’t payback or anything.
They love the films that they have chosen.”

—

MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM

(Out of competition)

THE DIRECTOR: Stuart Samuels, 65, born in Manhattan, taught film and
culture at the University of Pennsylvania, emigrated to Canada and is
now based in Toronto as a dual citizen.

THE STARS: David Lynch, John Waters, George Romero, Perry Henzell,
Richard O’Brien and Alejandro Jodorowsky.

THE GENRE: A documentary based on his own 1981 book.

THE STORY: Six cult-famous directors explain the now legendary impact
of their early midnight hits, Eraserhead, Pink Flamingos, Night Of
The Living Dead, The Harder They Come, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
and El Topo.

THE CANNES INSIGHTS: “I was an historian of ideas — that was my
degree — so I write from that perspective,” Samuels tells the Sun
about his ambition to turn his documentaries into cultural insights.

His past work includes Visions Of Light: The Art Of Cinematography
and Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies, And The American Dream.

“This movie, Midnight Movies, closed the circle. I had the chance to
do it on something that I wrote 25 years ago.

“The thesis is that between 1970 and 1977, these six films — all
low-budget, all marginal — were launched at midnight or became
famous at midnight. I tell their stories from the inside. The
conclusion is that everything that was in midnight movies is now in
mainstream comedy. Midnight movies were the opening wedge in the
birth of irony. That’s when things changed.”

GRAPHIC: 1. photo by Vincent Kessler, Reuters 2. photo of DAVID
CRONENBERG 3. photo of ATOM EGOYAN
.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
May 10 2005

Turkish PM Erdogan calls for restarted Cyprus talks
The New Anatolian / Ankara

Erdogan’s diplomatic marathon at VE Day ceremony
A new process may start in Cyprus issue under the United Nations
aegis, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Erdogan yesterday was in Moscow to attended 60th anniversary
ceremonies for the end of World War II, which turned out to be a
diplomatic marathon for him.

Upon his return Monday evening, Erdogan told reporters that the trip
had been very beneficial.

Asked whether there had been developments on the Cyprus issue during
his meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Greek Cypriot
leader Tassos Papadopoulos, Erdogan said that Annan had told him that
there may be a new processin Cyprus.

`In our tri-partite meeting with Mr. Annan and Mr. Papadopoulos, Mr.
Annan said that the referendum and the subsequent process had been
left behind and that a new process may now start,’ he said. “I
observed that Southern Cyprus is not negative on this and contrary to
their past statements, they see such a process positive. I will have
the opportunity to meet with Annan during my visit to the U.S. We
will have a chance to discuss these issues in details.”

Erdogan had the opportunity on Monday to speak with other with world
leaders, including U.S. President George Bush and Russian President
Vladimir Putin.

During his talk with Bush, Erdogan spoke about his trip to the U.S.
scheduled for next month. Erdogan will go to the U.S. to attend the
college graduation ceremony of his daughters.

When asked about this trip, Erdogan said that the visit may take
place in the first half of June, adding that the final date would be
clear following official contacts.

Norwegian apology

During talks with Putin and Polish Prime Minister Kwasniewski, Prime
Minister Erdogan brought up the decisions of their respective
parliaments to recognize the so-called genocide claims of the
Armenians.

Both the Polish Parliament and the lower house of the Russian Duma
recently approved decisions recognizing the genocide claims that
Turkey has never accepted.

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, on the other hand,
apologized to Erdogan for the egg attacks made against him by
demonstrators during his visit to Norway last month.

Turkey had criticized and denounced Norway over substandard security
measures to protect the Turkish Prime Minister against such attacks.

Handshake with Armenian president

Despite expectations, the Turkish Prime Minister and the Armenian
President Robert Kocharian didn’t meet during the ceremonies in
Moscow. The two leaders only shook hands and didn’t exchange words,
according to Turkish sources.

The exchange of letters between Erdogan and Kocharian last month on
the establishment of a joint commission to study the genocide claims,
and the positive response from both sides, raised expectations of
such a meeting.

Turkish diplomatic sources said that the two leaders could meet
during the Council of Europe summit in Warsaw next month.

Türkei an Völkermord 1915 erinnern
oberpfalznetz – 10.05.05 04:38 Uhr
Der Kreisverband der Union der Vertriebenen (UdV), eine Arbeitsgemeinschaft
der CSU, bleibt unter der bewährten Führung von Norbert Uschald. Bei der
Kreishauptversammlung mit Neuwahlen im “Ratskeller” bestätigten die Mitglieder die
Vorstandschaft. … Später erinnerte Uschald an den Völkermord an den Armeniern
im Osmanischen Reich im Jahre 1915 und würdigte den Einsatz der CDU/CSU …

“Holocaust” steht für “Brandopfer”
Rheinpfalz.de (Abonnement) – vor 10 Minuten gefunden
… verwendet worden. So wurde damit etwa Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts das
Massaker an den Armeniern bezeichnet. Im angelsächsischen Sprachraum …

“Holocaust” steht für “Brandopfer”
Kurier – vor 2 Stunden gefunden
… verwendet worden. So wurde damit etwa Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts das
Massaker an den Armeniern bezeichnet. Im angelsächsischen Sprachraum …

Die Türkei und die Chancen als EU-Mitgliedsland
Neue OZ Online – vor 8 Stunden gefunden
… Solange sich die Türkei zudem nicht mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander
setze und etwa den Völkermord an den Armeniern anerkenne, sehe er keine
Möglichkeit …

Die Türkei und die Chancen als EU-Mitgliedsland
Neue OZ Online – vor 8 Stunden gefunden
… Solange sich die Türkei zudem nicht mit ihrer Vergangenheit auseinander
setze und etwa den Völkermord an den Armeniern anerkenne, sehe er keine
Möglichkeit …

Vergessenwollen ist dumm und sinnlos
Der Standard – vor 15 Stunden gefunden
… will der EU beitreten, aber sie leugnet akut und mit feierlichen
Erklärungen des Parlaments sowie Bestimmungen des Strafrechts den Völkermord an den
Armeniern …

Die Türkei, das Abendland und das “Neue Europa”
haGalil onLine – vor 23 Stunden gefunden
… Autonomie an, der Deutsche Bundestag pflegt das Gedenken an den vor 90
Jahren von der osmanischen Armee vollzogenen Völkermord an den Armeniern,und
die

Siegesparade nach 60 Jahren
Neues Deutschland – 09.05.05 22:42 Uhr
Staats- und Regierungschefs erwiesen Veteranen ihre Referenz Als Feiertag mit
Tränen in den Augen beschreibt ein sowjetisches Lied, das gleich nach dem
Krieg entstand, den Tag des Sieges. Auch zum 60. Jahrestag mag in Moskau manche
Träne geflossen sein. Zumindest auf dem Roten Platz aber schien überwiegend
Freude zu herrschen. … Damit nicht genug: Aserbai-dshans Präsident Ilham Alijew
wollte wegen des Konflikts um Berg-Karabach nicht neben dem Armenier Robert
Kotscharjan …

Auf dem Roten Platz und vor dem TV
Die Presse – 09.05.05 20:37 Uhr
Siegesfeiern. Wie eine Kriegsveteranin Putins große Moskauer Show miterlebte.
… Aserbaidschans Ilham Alijew wiederum wollte wegen des Konflikts um
Berg-Karabach nicht neben dem Armenier Robert Kotscharjan sitzen. Solche …

Helden für einen Tag
Tagesspiegel – 09.05.05 20:02 Uhr
Das ist nur was für feine Leute, sagt Alexej Wassiljewitsch, für welche, die
alles haben. Gekochte Möhren und Kartoffeln werden in kleine Würfel
geschnitten, mit jungen Erbsen vermengt, mit Salz und Pfeffer abgeschmeckt und dann wird
das Ganze mit Mayonnaise … … dem Armenier, gehört der alte Plattenspieler
und Alik Abbassow, dem Aserbaidschaner, gehören die abgenutzten Schallplatten
mit den Liedern des …

Haßtirade einer türkischen Zeitung auf Schriftsteller
Welt – 09.05.05 19:19 Uhr
Istanbul – Roter Alarm. Das Telefon brennt in der Hand, am anderen Ende ein
Kollege der türkischen Zeitung “Hürriyet”. Seine Worte schneiden tiefe Wunden,
der Alptraum eines jeden Journalisten wird wahr: Ich habe falsch zitiert. In
der WELT war zu lesen, “Hürriyet” … … daß eine Million Armenier und30 000
Kurden in der Türkei ermordet wurden. Jedoch: “Hürriyet” nannte Pamuk nur
einen miserablen (genauer …

Hintze: Türkei-Euphorie beenden!
[bumper.gif]
03.05.2005 – 13:55 Uhr

Berlin (ots) – Zum heutigen Türkei-Besuch von Bundeskanzler
Schröder erklärt der europapolitische Sprecher der
CDU/CSU-Bundestagsfraktion, Peter Hintze MdB:

Angesichts des besorgniserregenden Reform-Stillstands am Bosporus
sollte Bundeskanzler Schröder seine Beitritts-Euphorie im Hinblick
auf die Türkei beenden. Es ist höchste Zeit, dass die Bundesregierung
den Tatsachen ins Auge sieht. Die Türkei ist weit von europäischen
Standards entfernt. Dass die Regierung Erdogan das EU-Mitglied Zypern
weiterhin nicht anerkennt und völkerrechtswidrig mit Truppen besetzt
hält sowie wichtige Reformen auf die lange Bank schiebt, ist ein
Alarm-Signal für die Europäische Union.

Die Weigerung der Türkei, die historische Tatsache des
Massenmordes an den Armeniern anzuerkennen, der grassierende
Nationalismus in der türkischen Bevölkerung und erschreckend hohe
Verkaufszahlen von Hitlers ~DMein Kampf~S sind bedrückende Belege für
den tiefen kulturellen Graben, der die Türkei von Europa trennt.
Sprechverbote und Abwehrreflexe mit Blick auf die dunklen Kapitel der
eigenen Vergangenheit sind unvereinbar mit dem Selbstverständnis und
der Erinnerungskultur in der Europäischen Union.

Die Frage eines Türkei-Beitritts ist eine Schicksalsfrage für die
EU. Es wäre ein historischer Fehler, wenn Bundeskanzler Schröder der
türkischen Regierung jetzt im Alleingang die Aufnahme von
Beitrittsverhandlungen am 3. Oktober 2005 in die Hand verspricht,
obwohl die Voraussetzungen dafür klar verfehlt werden.

Originaltext: CDU/CSU – Bundestagsfraktion
Digitale Pressemappe:
Pressemappe via RSS: feed://presseportal.de/rss/pm_7846.rss2

–Boundar y_(ID_r/Hr3C/z0eYbOM4FpUIOLg)–

Return of the veteran raiders

As their former dominance wanes, General Motors and Blockbuster have
become targets of fearsome predators

The Guardian (UK)
Monday May 9, 2005

By David Teather in New York

Like vultures sensing wounded prey, they are circling two of America’s
best-known and badly troubled companies. At an age when most are deeply
into retirement, the billionaire financiers Kirk Kerkorian and Carl
Icahn – two of the most notorious corporate raiders during the hey-day
of hostile takeovers on Wall Street – are back in the headlines.

Mr Kerkorian, 86, disclosed last Wednesday that he had made an offer
for 9% of General Motors, the world’s largest carmaker, which is facing
a worsening financial crisis. Mr Icahn, a relatively sprightly 69,
is simultaneously engaged in an increasingly ferocious attack on the
management at Blockbuster, the video rental chain.

Both men cemented their reputations in the 1980s when their
combative investment style made them among the most feared men in
corporate America, launching hostile takeovers, forcing break-ups
and overthrowing boards.

In his own recent marketing materials to raise money for a planned
hedge fund, Mr Icahn boasts of his spine-chilling effect on chief
executives. “Mr Icahn has a reputation as a formidable adversary,”
it reads. “Companies take him seriously and often take actions to
enhance shareholder value when they know Mr Icahn has a position in
their securities.”

Their pursuit of broken or undervalued companies also made them
enormously wealthy. According to the Forbes rich list, Mr Kerkorian is
worth $8.9bn (£4.7bn), making him the 41st richest man in the world. Mr
Icahn is a few places below, at number 49, with wealth of $7.8bn.

The power that the two billionaires wield has clearly not diminished
with age.

Last week’s disclosure that Mr Kerkorian was taking a sizeable stake
in GM sent shares in the company 18% higher to $32.80. In a statement,
his investment group Tracinda said it had bought 22m shares, around
3.9%, in the past few weeks and was offering $868m for another 28m.

The financier’s lawyer, Terry Christensen, said the investment
was intended to be a passive one. Mr Kerkorian, he added, did not
intend to lift his stake further at present and had confidence in
the carmaker’s management, led by Rick Wagoner, the chief executive.

“He’s not really trying to judge management,” Mr Christensen told
the New York Times. “He’s trying to judge the assets of the company,
the ability of the company to right itself and get going strong again.”

Falling SUV sales

GM’s woes have been widely reported. The company reported a $1.1bn
loss in the first quarter, its worst performance in a decade. It
faces dwindling market share in the US, a worsening product mix as
sales of sport utility vehicles plummet, rising raw material costs
and the soaring cost of providing healthcare for its American workers.

Wall Street, dismissing the comments of Mr Kerkorian’s lawyer, is
anticipating further action.

Among the many suggestions: he could attempt to pressure the company
into selling its profitable finance arm, force his way on to the
board, increase pressure to cut costs, or strong-arm the firm into
handing some of its cash pile back to shareholders. He could also be
just enough of a thorn in the company’s side that it buys his shares
back – delivering him a quick profit.

Mr Kerkorian, born in Fresno, California, to Armenian immigrants,
does have a history of highly active investing.

A boxer and then a civilian pilot for the Royal Air Force during the
second world war, he made his first million in the airline business
when he started out flying charters to Las Vegas after the war.

He built some of the largest hotel casinos in Las Vegas, including
the MGM Grand. He sold his empire there once but returned to build the
MGM Mirage business, in which he still has a controlling interest. The
company earlier this year bought a rival, Mandalay, for $8bn.

He bought and sold the MGM film studio three times. In the most recent
transaction, he sold the business to a group of investors led by Sony
for $5bn.

Mr Kerkorian has already had a brush with the auto industry. In the
mid-1990s he launched a failed takeover bid for Chrysler that left him
with a large stake in the company. When it then merged with Daimler
he made about $3.5bn.

Earlier this year he lost a lawsuit claiming that Daimler’s deal
with Chrysler had robbed shareholders of billions of dollars more by
casting it as a merger when it was really a takeover.

At Blockbuster there is no pretence at civility. Mr Icahn has
attacked the firm’s chief executive, John Antioco, over the size of
his compensation and railed against his strategy to find new revenue
streams to replace the diminishing video rental market.

Mr Icahn, who owns almost 10% of the company, has proposed a slate of
his own directors to be voted on at the firm’s annual meeting. He
hijacked an analyst conference call to discuss Blockbuster’s
first-quarter results and grilled Mr Antioco over his bonuses. He
wants Blockbuster to focus on its core business, pay out huge dividends
and to put itself up for sale.

Poker winnings

Mr Antioco said last week there was no justification for Mr Icahn’s
actions. “Mr Icahn doesn’t know our business,” he said. Blockbuster
reported a first-quarter loss of $57.5m, in large part due to higher
marketing costs. The company is attempting to build an online delivery
service and recently scrapped late fees.

Mr Icahn, who graduated from Princeton University with a philosophy
degree, is said to have arrived on Wall Street with just $4,000 in
poker winnings that he parlayed into his massive fortune.

He is best known for taking over TWA, the airline, in the mid-1980s,
although his skills as a manager are less certain than his abilities
as an investor. The airline went bankrupt under his aegis in the
early 1990s. He also made tilts at US Steel and Texaco. In another
famous assault, he tried to gain control of RJR Nabisco and failed –
but still pocketed $893m when the company, under pressure, spun-off
its tobacco arm and sought a deal with Philip Morris.

Mr Icahn has been active again of late and is living up to his
reputation for being irascible.

While the drug company Mylan Laboratories was pursuing an unpopular
takeover deal of King Pharmaceuticals, he took advantage of the
depressed Mylan share price to snap up 10% and then successfully
campaigned against the deal.

The US energy firm Kerr-McGee thwarted a challenge from Mr Icahn only
after promising last month to carry out a series of disposals and
buy back $4bn of its own shares. The announcement led to an immediate
jump in the share price and a $57m profit for Mr Icahn.

He acquired a stake in the scandal-hit financial services group
Skandia of Sweden at the end of last year and also owns a big chunk
of Eastman Kodak, the struggling photographic firm.

There had been some speculation that Mr Kerkorian was finally looking
to tidy his portfolio ahead of retirement but the GM investment says
otherwise. Mr Icahn clearly has no such plans. He is in the process
of raising $3bn for a hedge fund.

With the fortunes they have already amassed, it seems reasonable to
ask why both men are still happily creating trouble. Mark Stevens,
author of King Icahn, took a stab at an explanation of Mr Icahn’s
motivation at least to a Fort Worth newspaper, close to Blockbuster’s
home town of Dallas. “His motive is always the same, ultimately;
to: A, make money, and B, demonstrate his intellectual and macho
superiority to the people he’s dealing with. It comes out of pride.”

,3604,1479349,00.html

–Boundary_(ID_W2VO4X5Sks/EdoWWmhhFCA)–

Kuwaiti writer on Armenian Genocide

Azad-Hye, Dubai
May 4 2005

Kuwaiti writer Ahmad Al Rabe’e has published an interesting article
in the 25th April 2005 issue of the well-known Saudi international
daily “Asharq Alawsat”. Below is a translation of the article from
Arabic:

Commemorating the Armenian Genocide

It is already the 90th anniversary of one of the most brutal mass
annihilations in the history of mankind: the Armenian Genocide, a
chain in a series of crimes against humanity, involving many peoples:
massacres against Jews, Kurds, Palestinians and Armenians.

A short while ago was the anniversary of the Holocaust, the crime
that Hitler committed against the Jews. Newspapers, radio and TV
stations conducted many interviews and discussions on the subject of
Holocaust. It is true that our human duty is to express solidarity
with the Jewish victims of Nazism, but it is pity that human beings
are still selective, even when it comes to the past: for example the
killings of the Jews have become an international event,
commemorative monuments are erected and museums for the victims are
built, acts that are required indeed. But what about the Armenian
Genocide? Why this appalling silence every year? Why the Turkish
insistence on not publicly apologizing to the Armenian people,
although the current Turkish generation is not guilty and the apology
would be for a historical crime, all of whose victims and
perpetrators have passed away by now.

I am used to write on the occasion of the Armenian Genocide. I am
also used to receive every time a letter from the Turkish Embassy in
Kuwait, in which an attempt is made to explain the Turkish point of
view, running away from self-confrontation and telling the truth.

There are other tragic events in the history of mankind, dealt also
with a selective method: The anniversary of the Kurdish Halabja
passes silently, although a crime with chemical weapons have been
committed there against innocent families. The day of Sabra and
Shatila and before that Deir Yassin: people were killed brutally like
sheep. The anniversary of Saddam Hussein’s invasion to Kuwait: the
killing of people, the destruction of a country and the burning of
more than five hundred oil wells, one of the greatest crimes against
the environment.

I hope that we all read the message of the Prime Minister of Japan,
in which he is apologizing to all the nations who were victims of the
Japanese colonial period. He apologized in frank, clear and
comprehensive way, with pride. It is a great human merit to act so,
especially all we are asking is a mere apology … the least a
faithful can do.

for Arabic version, go to
;file=article&sid=183

French lawmaker meets with ARF members

04.05.2005  16:05    

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Bernard Piras, mayor of the French Burg le Valance
and the chairman of the French Senate’s Armenian caucus, met with
top members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation on Thursday.

The meeting held at the Simon Vratsian Center in Yerevan, was initiated
by the French senator, who is a member of the French Socialist Party.

ARF Bureau member and National Assembly Vice speaker Vahan
Hovhannisian, ARF Supreme Body of Armenia representative and NA’s
Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Armen Rustamian, ARF Supreme Body
member Mikael Manukian, NA’s ARF faction secretary Hrair Karapetian,
Agriculture Minister David Lokian, Labor and Social Affairs Minister
Aghvan Vardanian, Urban Development Deputy Minister Karlen Gevorkian,
and ARF Bureau’s Hai Dat and Political Affairs Office Director Kiro
Manoyan represented the ARF at the meeting.

The parties discussed the issues related to Turkey’s membership in the
European Union, the Karabakh conflict, as well as possible projects in
the Armenian town of Talin which is the sister-city of Burg le Valance.

–Boundary_(ID_Lp6GnpOXP7TaLC0bobPUkA)–

Le Temps, France
3 mai 2005

Nouvel accroc entre la Suisse et la Turquie;
TENSIONS. Enquête ouverte contre un historien turc pour négation du
génocide arménien.

Micheline Calmy-Rey était rentrée satisfaite de son voyage en
Turquie, à fin mars. Un voyage qui a permis de réchauffer les
contacts entre Berne et Ankara, après plusieurs épisodes tendus
dont la reconnaissance du génocide arménien par le Grand Conseil
vaudois qui avait poussé les autorités turques à déclarer la
ministre des Affaires étrangères persona non grata.

C’était en septembre 2003. Mais voilà qu’un nouvel accroc fait
surface.

Ankara a convoqué la semaine dernière l’ambassadeur suisse en
Turquie, a confirmé le Ministère turc des affaires étrangères à
l’ATS. Motif de son courroux: une enquête ouverte par un procureur de
Winterthour contre l’historien turc Yusuf Halacoglu pour négation du
génocide arménien. Le ministre Abdullah Gül, cité par le journal
Hürriyet, estime que les autorités suisses commettent une «grave
erreur». Des propos menaçants qui tranchent singulièrement avec ceux
adoptés à Ankara devant la conseillère fédérale. Le ministre lui
avait déclaré être prêt à mettre une commission indépendante
d’experts sur pied «pour élucider les événements de 1915»,
initiative saluée par Micheline Calmy-Rey.

Une enquête pénale a été ouverte contre l’historien suite à un
discours tenu le 2 mai 2004 à Winterthour. L’ambassade turque à Berne
a rapidement fait part de son indignation. Contacté lundi après-midi,
Alessandro Delprete, porte-parole du Département fédéral des
affaires étrangères (DFAE), a refusé de commenter la réaction de
Berne. «Des entretiens ont eu lieu il y a quelques semaines entre
le Ministère turc des affaires étrangères et nos représentants
en Turquie d’une part, et entre nous et les représentants turcs à
Berne d’autre part. C’est tout ce que je peux vous dire.»

–Boundary_(ID_JUtKnuIsD9iu02GO/aRYEw)–

Azeri, Turkish cities become fraternal

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 3 2005

Baku, May 2, AssA-Irada – Seven cities of Azerbaijan and Turkey will
become fraternal. Heads of Turkey~Rs Ceyhan, Dordyol, Iskandarun,
Bayat, Sarimazi, Lapseki and Toroslar city municipalities arrived
in Baku on Monday to sign protocols for the purpose with Mayor~Rs
Offices of Sumgayit, Salyan, Lankaran, Aghdash, Gabala, Shaki and
Yevlakh districts.

The Turkish representatives honored the national leader Heydar
Aliyev and paid tribute to the graves of those who perished for the
independence of Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev received the Turkish representatives on the
same day.*

Pan Armenian News

AZERI CONFLICT ANALYST: RUSSIA PREVENTS US FROM SOLVING KARABAKH ISSUE

30.04.2005 04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ With some delay the Bush Administration welcomed the
outcomes of the latest summit of GUUAM leaders in Kishinev. It is remarkable
that almost half of the statement text is dedicated to the settlement of the
conflict in Transdniestria, reported the Echo Baku newspaper. The statement
notes, `The U.S. welcomes Ukraine’s interest and its efforts to search for a
settlement of the Transdniestrian conflict.’ When making this statement U.S.
Permanent Representative to the OSCE Paul Jones called Transdniestria
representatives to resume talks over the conflict settlement, demanding that
`the separatist authorities to refrain from provocative actions.’ When
commenting on this statement by the U.S., head of the Center for Peace and
Conflict Resolution of Azerbaijan Elhan Mehtiyev said that in his opinion
along with the Transdniestrian issue Washington will display strong interest
toward settlement of other conflicts in the territory of GUUAM in the
future. However, this will be the case only under certain conditions. `In
the future the U.S. interest toward the solution of the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict may increase, – stated the conflict analyst, – however in this case
they support the initiative of solving the Transdniestrian conflict as it is
authored by Yuschenko. At present the Western countries strongly sympathize
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, as democratic election and revolutions were
held there. The U.S. takes those countries as independent states heading for
the West to get integrated with the Euro-Atlantic structures and the EU.
Within this context Americans approach to the Transdniestrian settlement.’
One cannot say that the U.S. does not does not pay attention to the Karabakh
issue, the conflict analysts says, `however they show greater interest
toward the Transdniestrian and South-Ossetian problems at present, as the EU
closely works over the draft of their settlement as well. As of Azerbaijan,
they always say they are dealing with the issue within the Minsk Group
framework.’ At that E. Mehtiyev is convinced that `if radical democratic
reforms are held in Azerbaijan, our country will gain the upper hand with
the assistance of the Americans. The availability of authoritarian systems
in our country and Armenia and the strong influence of Russia prevents the
US from engaging in the solution of the Karabakh issue to its full
capacity.’

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