Author: Zakarian Garnik

SUPPORT DECLINES FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

Voice of America
Oct 17 2007

Protestors in Istanbul demonstrate against US Congressional committee’s
vote on Armenian genocide, 17 Oct 2007 Several U.S. lawmakers have
changed their minds about supporting a pending resolution that labels
Turkey’s 1915 killing of Armenians as genocide.

The decline in support of the resolution casts doubt on whether it
will be approved by Congress.

At a news conference in Washington Wednesday, President Bush
called on Congress to drop the resolution, which he describes as
counterproductive.

Turkey’s military chief General Yasar Buyukanit has warned the United
States that the alliance between the two nations will be at risk if
the House of Representatives approves the non-binding measure. The
resolution’s passage could also prompt Turkey to scale back its
assistance in the Iraq war.

The measure was approved last week by the House of Foreign Affairs
Committee.

Armenians accuse Ottoman Turks of massacring 1.5 million Armenians
from 1915 to 1923 in systematic deportations and killings to drive
them out of eastern Turkey. Turkey denies that genocide took place.

It calls the death toll exaggerated and says the Armenians died in
civil unrest during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

BRITISH EMBASSY YEREVAN ANNOUNCES INTRODUCTION OF NEW VISA APPLICATION FORMS

Lragir
Oct 16 2007
Armenia

With effect from 29 October 2007, all visa applicants applying for
a visa/entry clearance to the United Kingdom should apply using the
new application forms. These forms will be available free of charge
from the British Embassy, local Visa Application Centres and from
the UKvisas’ website: .

Mark Sedwill the Director of UKvisas said "We at UKvisas want to
encourage tourists, students and key workers to apply for visas to
go to the UK. We have redesigned our visa application forms to make
them as straightforward and as simple as possible. This will help
us to maintain and enhance our position as the destination of choice
for our high value legitimate travellers in what is an increasingly
competitive global market. "

BACKGROUND

UKvisas have updated the visa application forms to make them easier
to understand and fill in. The forms are written in plain English to
make them as simple as possible for applicants to complete. The forms
must be completed in English but there are step by step instructions,
directing you to the next question and explaining how to complete
each section. There are also comprehensive guidance notes with each
form. These explain how to fill in the questions and what documents
you need to submit with your application. This means that we are
less likely to ask applicants for more information or call them in
for an interview.

The new forms will help UKvisas to identify high-risk applicants,
which means we can also more confidently identify and welcome our
low-risk, high-value customers – who play a vital role in boosting
Britain’s economy.

There is a dedicated application form for each type of traveller. In
total there are eight standard application forms and three forms
for Diplomats:

VAF1 – Visitor DIP1 – Diplomatic Posting

VAF2 – Employment DIPDEP1 – Diplomatic Posting Dependant

VAF3 – Student DIP2 – Official visit/Transit

VAF4 – Settlement

VAF5 – EEA Family Permit

VAF6 – Direct Airside Transit

VAF7 – Right of Abode

VAF8 – UK Overseas Territories

Visa Application Centres will continue to accept the old forms until
9 November 2007. After this date applicants must complete a new
application form, as old forms will not be accepted.

Starting 29 October all new visa application forms will be available
on line on the Application forms page of the British Embassy website.

For further enquiry please contact the British Embassy Visa Section
to the following telephone number (+374 10) 26 43 01.

British Embassy Yereavn

LOAN IS OK BUT KARABAKH POSSESSES POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCTION

Karabakh Open
Oct 15 2007

On October 13 President Bako Sahakyan met with the prime minister of
Armenia Serge Sargsyan visiting Stepanakert. After the meeting the
members of Armenian and Karabakh governments held a consultation. The
social and economic state of the country was discussed, namely
agriculture, education, energy, finance, banks. The participants
emphasized the necessity for promoting relations between the two
countries, and agreement was reached on holding meetings more
frequently.

After the consultation the Armenian prime minister told journalists
they discussed the annual interstate loan from Armenia to Karabakh.

In 2008 the size of the loan will be greater, Serge Sargsyan said. In
addition, he emphasized that the interstate loan is OK but Karabakh
possesses potential for boosting agricultural output. The loan is
mere assistance, and it is necessary to produce more in Karabakh,
said the prime minister of Armenia.

NKR President Bako Sahakyan said during the meeting they focused on
agriculture in Karabakh. "We reached agreement with the president
of the Central Bank of Armenia visiting Stepanakert to work out a
new finance and credit policy for Karabakh," Bako Sahakyan said. He
reminded that on Sunday the government will extend its program to
the parliament and it was necessary to learn the exact size of the
interstate loan before presenting the program. By the way, if the
parliament disapproves the program, it is a vote of no confidence to
the government.

TURKEY HAS TO PROVE THAT IT IS NOT BLUFFING
Ilnur Cevik

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Oct 15 2007

Turkish leaders are acting with caution not to hurt the country’s
vital interests and harm Turkish-American relations. However,
neither the Americans nor the Iraqi Kurds should read this as a sign
of weakness. This would be a vital mistake that would force Erdogan
to take unwanted radical actions.

Turkey faces important decisions and actions on two important areas
where mistakes could prove fatal for Turkish interests.

One is the reaction to the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution
by the U.S. House of Representatives which has now been sent to the
House for a vote.

The other is the action Turkey is preparing against the PKK in
northern Iraq.

There are already mistaken views in the United States that we are
bluffing and that we may not carry out our threats.

U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi says Turkey has been
threatening action against the U.S. for the past several years if
an Armenian resolution is passed and says she does not expect any
serious action. She and her colleagues expect Ankara to make a lot
of noise and then just accept the facts of life…

People like Pelosi seem to think that just because Turkey made many
threats but could not do anything on Kirkuk when the Kurds occupied
the city it in 2002 in an example for Turkish impotence.

However, they are dead wrong.

Turkey does what it has to even at the cost of suffering an American
arms embargo. Pelosi and friends have to remember the Turkish military
intervention on Cyprus in 1974.

They have to see that the Armenian issue is not just a simple process
of recognizing an act of genocide committed by some people against
the others in 1915. They have to see that the recognition of such an
act will allow the Armenians to hold the Turkish Republic accountable
to what the Ottoman Turks allegedly did a century ago and will make
it pay economically and politically. The Armenians are after blood
not just the recognition of their historical mishaps.

So Turkey will put up a fight and if necessary Turkish-American ties
will suffer.

This is where our leaders are rightfully acting with caution. This
should not be seen as a sign of weakness. Turkish leaders want to show
they mean business but they also do not want to create an irreparable
situation. Pelosi and her colleagues should see this and appreciate
it. Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy has been called to Ankara for
consultations but he has not been "recalled" permanently.

He is expected to return to Washington before Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan visits the U.S. But no one should make any mistakes
that the Turkish government would be obliged to take strong measures
against U.S. interests if the resolution actually passes the House.

Pelosi says she is set to do this… Let us hope she too sees the
light because Turks will be in no mood to appreciate her whims.

On the PKK Turks are in no mood to listen to ifs and buts from
the Americans or the Iraqis. The PKK is seeing this and is further
escalating its violent campaign to further antagonize the Turkish
public and pill up the pressure on the government to act. This way
PKK hopes Turkey will enter northern Iraq with a massive force and
further strain its relations with the West and perhaps even stall
its full membership process in the EU.

We feel Turkey has to take steps to convince the Iraqi Kurdish leaders
not to allow the PKK to feel at home in northern Iraq and thus pacify
the terrorists. This can be done through friendly persuasion and
economic pressures rather than by military force.

Iraqi Kurdish leaders have to understand that Turkey is not bluffing
and Turkish leaders do not want blood but they do want results and
will be pushed even to order a military incursion if sides do not
understand the urgency of the current situation.

TURKISH DEFENCE CHIEF WARNS US AGAINST PASING ‘GENOCIDE’ BILL

Radio New Zealand, NZ
Oct 15 2007

Turkey’s military chief has warned that his country’s relationship with
the United States will never be the same again if Congress approves
a bill describing the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as
"genocide".

General Yasar Buyukanit told a newspaper in Turkey that public opinion
would not allow the ties between the NATO allies to continue as normal.

A vote on the Armenian resolution goes to the floor of the House of
Representatives in the United States next month.

Turkey denies that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during
World War I and the subsequent collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

The United States relies heavily on Turkish bases to supply its war
effort in Iraq.

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Alalam News
October 13, 2007

Turkey Troops on Alert

DUHUK, Iraq, Oct 13–Iraqi Kurdish military sources on Saturday said
that Turkish forces’ concentrations increased near Iraq borders and US
troops were watching on the situation, while local residents claimed
Turkish soldiers attacked an Iraqi village with machine guns.

The tension on the borders escalated after the Turkish Prime Minster
Rajab Tayyeb Erdogan expressed his country’s readiness to face
criticism on incursion into northern Iraq.

"Turkey deployed additional forces near the Iraq borders, particularly
in the areas of Shirnakh, Jazzera and Silopi," a Kurdish military
source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

Another Kurdish military source said that the US forces kept watching
on the Turkish concentrations, but he declined to say how.

On Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light
for a possible military incursion into northern Iraq to chase the
PKK’s fighters hiding there after a series of deadly attacks on
Turkish security forces.

Meanwhile, local residents from the Iraqi Kurdish villages near the
borders with Turkey said forces, believed to be Turkish, attacked,
Saturday before dawn, an Iraqi village with machine guns sending the
population into a panic.

Another local resident said "there were no human losses but the
villagers went in a panic."

Turkey claims 3,000 fighters from the Turkish banned Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) are using the mountainous areas of northern Iraq as base
to launch attacks on Turkish targets.

Turkish General Warns US Over Ties

The Los Angeles Times
By C. ONUR ANT
Associated Press Writer

6:09 AM PDT, October 14, 2007

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkey’s top general warned that ties with the
U.S., already strained by attacks from rebels hiding in Iraq, will be
irreversibly damaged if Congress passes a resolution that labels the
World War I-era killings of Armenians a genocide.

Turkey, which is a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces
in Iraq and Afghanistan, has recalled its ambassador to Washington for
consultations and warned that there might be a cut in the logistical
support to the U.S. over the issue.

Gen. Yasar Buyukanit told daily Milliyet newspaper that a
congressional committee’s approval of the measure had already harmed
ties between the two countries.

"If this resolution passed in the committee passes the House as well,
our military ties with the U.S. will never be the same again,"
Buyukanit was quoted as saying by Milliyet.

"I’m the military chief, I deal with security issues. I’m not a
politician," Buyukanit was quoted as saying by Milliyet. "In this
regard, the U.S. shot its own foot."

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey
as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there.
U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in overland by
Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers
in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads
vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps
reduce American casualties.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has "urged restraint" from Turkey
and sent two high-ranking officials to Ankara in an apparent attempt
to ease fury over the measure which could be voted on by the House by
the end of the year.

Buyukanit’s remarks were published a day after a visit by Dan Fried,
assistant secretary of state for European affairs, and Eric Edelman,
who is the undersecretary of defense for policy.

"Secretary of State Rice Condoleezza Rice asked us before we came here
to express that the Bush administration is opposed to this
resolution," Edelman said Saturday.

At issue in the resolution is the killing of up to 1.5 million
Armenians by Ottoman Turks. Many international historians contend the
World War I-era deaths amounted to genocide, but Turkey says the mass
killings and deportations were not systematic and that many Turkish
Muslims died in the chaos of war.

The congressional resolution comes as the Turkish parliament debates
authorizing a military campaign into northern Iraq to root out rebels
who seek a unified, independent nation for Kurds in the region.

U.S. officials have urged Turkey not to send troops and appealed for a
diplomatic solution with Iraq. The Kurdish self-rule region in
northern Iraq is one of the country’s few relatively stable areas and
the Kurds here are also a longtime U.S. ally.

A Kurdish rebel commander on Saturday said Turkey would face a long
and bloody conflict if it launched a large-scale offensive in northern
Iraq.

Speaking to The Associated Press deep in the Qandil mountains
straddling the Iraq-Turkish border, some 94 miles from the northern
Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, Murat Karayilan, head of the armed
wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, warned that an eventual
Turkish incursion would "make Turkey experience a Vietnam war."

The PKK has been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey since 1984.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives. Turkey says the
rebels use Iraqi Kurdish territory as a safe haven. Iraqi and Kurdish
authorities reject the claim.

* __

Associated Press writer Yahya Barzanji in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains
contributed to this report.

Source: /sns-ap-turkey-us,1,113172.story?coll=sns-ap-world -headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

Sound Politics, WA
Oct 13 2007

Credit Where Credit is Due

Cong. Adam Smith deserves recognition for prudently voting against a
resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee labeling near
century-old killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as "genocide." The
vote sparked a serious diplomatic row with one of our strongest
allies in an unstable region. Not good.

Sticking a sharp stick in the eye of a valued friend hardly seems the
best choice if this Congress is really as serious as some of its
members claim about improving U.S. relations with the world. Cong.
Jim McDermott has already said he’ll vote against the measure on the
House floor given its modern day complications, even though he
originally cosponsored the resolution. It will be interesting to see
if fellow cosponsors Reps. Brian Baird, Rick Larsen, Dave Reichert,
and Cathy McMorris Rodgers do likewise. It’s one thing to sign onto a
seemingly innocuous resolution after a little lobbying. It’s another
to cast a vote adding fuel to an already brisk diplomatic fire.

On a related note, it will be interesting to see if Democratic
leadership even allows the measure to receive a vote of the full
House. The contrast of trying to make nice with Syria while enraging
one of our firmest allies in the same neck of the woods over a
nonessential matter would be more than just a little odd.

TURKISH PRESIDENT SLATES US ARMENIAN RESOLUTION

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Oct 11 2007

The committee’s decision is not binding and has yet to be put to a
vote of Congress.

ANKARA – Turkey’s President has described as unacceptable a decision
by the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee to adopt
a resolution acknowledging Armenian claims that the Ottoman Empire
committed an act of genocide during World War One.

Speaking on Thursday morning, just hours after the committee voted in
favour of adopting the resolution, President Abdullah Gul said the
move had been motivated by US domestic politics, not by historical
realities.

"Unfortunately, some politicians in the United States of America have
closed their ears to calls to be reasonable and once again sought to
sacrifice big problems for small domestic political games," Gul said.

"This unacceptable decision of the committee, like similar ones in the
past, is not regarded by the Turkish people as valid or of any value."

Turkey has warned that if the resolution was adopted, it would cause
harm to Ankara’s relations with the US.

US congress approves resolution calling killings of Armenians genocide

Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST

Oct. 11, 2007

A US congressional panel defied President George W. Bush on Wednesday
and approved a measure calling the killings of Armenians early in the
last century genocide. Bush had warned this would damage US goals in
the Middle East.

The measure that would recognize the killings of Armenians as a
genocide had been strongly opposed by Turkey, a key NATO ally that has
provided support to US efforts in Iraq.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s 27-21 vote now sends the measure
to the full House floor _ unless the Democratic leadership reverses
course and heeds Bush’s warnings.

Bush and other senior officials had made a last-minute push to
persuade lawmakers on the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs
Committee to reject the measure.

"Its passage would do great harm to our relations with a key ally in
NATO and in the global war on terror," Bush said hours before the
vote.

The dispute involves the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey
denies that the deaths constituted genocide, says the toll has been
inflated and insists that those killed were victims of civil war and
unrest.

Just ahead of the vote, Turkey made a final direct appeal to US
lawmakers to reject the resolution. The US vote comes as Turkey’s
government was seeking parliamentary approval for a cross-border
military operation to chase separatist Kurdish rebels who operate from
bases in northern Iraq. The move, opposed by the United States, could
open a new war front in the most stable part of Iraq.

Shortly before Bush spoke against the resolution, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates stood before
microphones on the White House driveway to express the administration’
s worries.

Gates said that 70 percent of US air cargo headed for Iraq goes
through Turkey, as does about a third of the fuel used by the US
military in Iraq.

"Access to airfields and to the roads and so on in Turkey would very
much be put at risk if this resolution passes and Turkey reacts as
strongly as we believe they will," Gates said. He also said that 95
percent of the newly purchased Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
vehicles are being flown through Turkey to get to Iraq.

Most Democrats and even some Republicans rejected the administration’s argument.

The committee’s chairman, Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos, expressed
concerns about security implications of the resolution but ultimately
voted in favor.

"The sad truth is that the modern government of Turkey refuses to come
to terms with this genocide," said Republican Rep. Chris Smith. "For
Armenians everywhere, the Turkish government’s denial is a slap in the
face."

The White House and Turkey are now expected to pressure Democratic
leaders to keep the measure from going to a vote. But Democratic
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has signaled that they will have a
hard sell.

Pelosi and the second-ranking Democrat in the House, Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer, met Wednesday with Turkish Ambassador Nabi Sensoy but
emerged from the meeting unswayed. Hoyer told reporters he expects a
floor vote on the measure before the House adjourns for the year.

Armenian-American groups, who have worked for decades to pass a
resolution, rejoiced at the committee’s work.

"The Foreign Affairs Committee’s adoption today of the Armenian
Genocide Resolution represents a meaningful step toward reclaiming our
right, as Americans, to speak openly and honestly about the first
genocide of the 20th century," said Aram Hamparian, executive director
of the Armenian National Committee of America.

>From the other side, Turkey’s ambassador to the United States, Nabi
Sensoy, said Turkey would now focus on preventing the measure from
coming to the floor.

"There is no doubt that there will be a setback in our relationship,"
he said after the vote.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the resolution’s sponsor, who is not on
the committee, said he hoped it would now move quickly to a vote on
the House floor. He said passage of the resolution would give the
United States "the moral authority it needs to take action against
other genocides like that taking place today in Darfur."

Source: 275987&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull