Author: Zargarian Hambik

Christian Science Monitor, MA
Oct 13 2006

French bill complicates Turkey’s EU bid

The French National Assembly’s move to outlaw denials of an Armenian
genocide has enraged Turkey.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – By a wide margin, the French parliament voted
Thursday to make it a criminal act to deny an Armenian genocide at
the hands of Ottoman Turks, enraging Turkey and further deepening its
suspicion of the European Union.
Islamic Turkey – which has sought for decades to join the EU and is
now in membership negotiations – vowed retaliation against France
that could disrupt billions of dollars in trade, even as both sides
explore the limits of free speech.

The vote came the same day that Orhan Pamuk, the celebrated Turkish
novelist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Charges of
"denigrating Turkishness" against Mr. Pamuk – brought after he
publicly spoke of the killing of 1 million Armenians during World War
I, and 30,000 Kurds – were dropped earlier this year in a case seen
as a test of Turkey’s commitment to EU-driven reforms.

The two events get at the heart of contradictions in modern Turkey,
where democratic and West-leaning EU aspirations often clash with
history. The staunchly secular state – a full member of the NATO
military alliance – casts itself as an indispensable bridge between
East and West, but has yet to be accepted as such by Europe.

Many Turks see the genocide vote – a hot- button issue – as just one
more obstacle to keep them out of the 25-member EU club.

"Turks find it very hard to swallow this; even Francophile Turks
educated there are turning their backs on France," says Sami Kohen, a
foreign affairs columnist for Milliyet newspaper. "A lot of us fear
this will further encourage critics of the EU [who] will say: ‘Enough
is enough; we should give up on this EU.’ "

Turkish lawmakers Wednesday proposed a counter-bill that would
recognize an "Algerian genocide" carried out by colonial French
forces in 1945.

Turkish columnists are also raising France’s considerable role in
Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, as they seek to even the moral playing field.

Analysts say the French vote is likely to embolden Turkish
nationalists and those who oppose EU membership for Turkey. Recent
polls show that Turkish support for joining the EU has dropped from
nearly 70 to around 50 percent now.

To become law, the bill must pass the French senate, which is not
certain, and be signed by President Jacques Chirac. Punishment would
include a one-year prison term, and a 45,000 ($56,500) fine, the
same penalty now on French books for denying the Holocaust.

One Turkish newspaper headline took aim at France’s reputation as the
home of human rights and justice. It read: "Liberté, égalité,
stupidité."

"Fr ench-Turkish relations, which have developed over centuries …
have been dealt a blow today as a result of the irresponsible false
claims of French politicians who do not see the political
consequences of their actions," Turkey’s foreign ministry Abdullah
Gul said in a statement.

"If this bill is passed, Turkey will not lose anything but France
will lose Turkey," Mr. Gul had warned before the vote. "[France] will
turn into a country that jails people who express their views."

The vote has become a political issue in France, where a majority is
against Turkey’s membership in the EU, where 400,000 ethnic Armenians
live, and presidential elections are to be held in seven months.
French exports to Turkey in 2005 totaled $5 billion.

During a visit to Armenia last week, Mr. Chirac stated that Turkey
should not be allowed to join the EU unless it officially accepts
that the death of more than 1 million Armenians, which took place in
the last years of the Ottoman Empire, constitute a "genocide."

Though the French government said Thursday it opposed the legislation
as "unnecessary and untimely," Chirac says Turkey must recognize the
genocide before it joins the EU.

But while EU officials have been at pains to note that no such
genocide criterion applies to Turkey, the sentiment matches widening
unease in Europe over Turkey’s EU application. Such fears in France
are believed to be one reason the French last year rejected the
proposed EU constitution.

"France has done its best to hamper Turkey’s relations with the EU"
and has been seeking "a kind of vengeance" against Turkey since the
EU constitution failure, says Seyfi Tashan, director of the Turkish
Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara, Turkey’s capital. "So
politically, the more damage they do to Turkey, the better."

Armenians say that 1.5 million died in 1915 in the first systematic
genocide of the 20th century, though historians often count 1
million. Turkey officially argues that some 300,000 Armenians died in
a partisan conflict that took just as many Turkish lives, when
Armenians sided with invading Russian armies during World War I.

While Turkey has declared that it would open its files to historians,
a host of Turkish writers and academics who have challenged official
versions of events, sometimes using the word "genocide," have been
charged with insulting the state by hard-line prosecutors.

Treading that line has been Mr. Pamuk, whose novels have dug into
Turkey’s imperial past to explore the contradictions and dilemmas of
modern Turkey. The Nobel citation praised the work: "In the quest for
the melancholic soul of his native city, [Pamuk] has discovered new
symbols for the clash and interlacing of cultures." In February 2005,
Pamuk told a Swiss newspaper that "30,000 Kurds and a million
Armenians were killed in these lands and nobody but me dares to talk
about it."

"What I said is not an insult, it is the truth," Pamuk said during
his trial. "But what if it is wrong? Right or wrong, do people not
have the right express their ideas peacefully?"

ARMENIA HAS LOST OPPORTUNITY TO BE INVOLVED IN LARGE-SCALE REGIONAL PROJECTS DUE TO ITS UNCONSTRUCTIVE POSITION – AZERI FM
Author: E.Huseynov

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 12 2006

Armenia has lost its opportunity to be involved in large-scale regional
projects due to its uncooperative behavior with regard to talks on
the peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Foreign
Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov stated while hosting the
group of British Parliamentarians in Baku, Trendreports with reference
to the Press Service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Speaking officially on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
the Minister emphasized that primarily Armenia should withdraw its
Armed Forces from occupied Azerbaijani territories. International
peace-keeping forces should then be positioned and mine-clearing
activities carried out. Refugees and internally displaced persons
should then be allowed to return to their native land.

Mammadyarov updated the delegates on the co-operation and prospects
of relations with the international organizations including NATO and
the European Union, and the current situation in the region.

SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN MINISTER BAN KI-MOON IS ELECTED NEW UN SECRETARY GENERAL
By Petros Keshishian

AZG Armenian Daily
12/10/2006

South Korean foreign minister Ban Ki-Moon has been elected new UN
Secretary General. He is to replace Mr. Koffi Annan in his office
from January 1, 2007.

The representatives of 15 member states of the UN Security Council
voted for Ban Ki-Moon who is 62.

According to the UN regulation, in the course of the coming few
days the representatives of 192 UN member states should approve the
candidacy of Ban Ki-Moon and the decision of the UN Security Council.

As for his appointment, Ban Ki-Moon stated that the first goal he
attains is to settle the crisis with the nuclear program of North
Korea.

France-Presse informed that Ban Ki-Moon’s candidacy was predictable
already last week, as 5 members of the UN Security Council had given
their consent for his appointment in the course of the preliminary
voting.

This is the first time in the UN History that common agreement was
secured so briefly.

FRENCH AMBASSADOR: "I DO NOT THINK FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO ADOPT THE BILL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE"

Today, Azerbaijan
Oct 11 2006

France extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador to Azerbaijan
Bernard Amaudric du Chaffaut held a press conference on discussion
of false Armenian genocide in France parliament.

He said he does not believe that the parliament will accept the bill.

"This bill was suggested by Socialist Party. If the National Assembly
adopts the bill it will be presented to the Senate. The Senate
may adopt ore refuse it. The president cannot override veto to the
decision of the Senate. If National Assembly does not adopt the bill
the problem will end. Turkey and France Foreign Ministers talked over
the phone today. They discussed bilateral relations," he said.

The Ambassador also said that there exists a law for punishing
those who deny Armenian genocide in France, but it was not applied
to anybody.

He also touched upon France Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s
statement on the problem, APA reports.

"Sarkozy said this not as the government representative, but as
party leader. I do not want to comment on his statement. As concerns
Minsk Group French co-chair’s activity, I would like to say that the
co-chair represents neither the parliament nor the opposition. He
tries to solve Nagorno Garabagh conflict," the Ambassador said.

URL:

THE ARMENIAN ISSUE IN THE NETHERLANDS: THE REMOVAL OF THE THREE TURKISH-ORIGINATED MPS FROM THE CANDIDACY LIST
Nermin Aydemir

Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Oct 10 2006

The Armenian issue is nowadays quite popular in Europe. The French
brought a legislation regarding banning all the counter arguments
against the so-called Armenian genocide. If it is passed, rejecting the
so-called genocide, will be penalized either by casting into prison or
by substantial money punishments. Discussions go on in the Netherlands
after the three Turkish originated MP candidates (Erdin Sacan-labour
party, Ayhan Tonca and Osman Elmaci from Christian democratic party)
have been removed from the candidate list just because of not
accepting the existence of so-called Armenian genocide. A similar
thing had happened to Derya Bulduk, who was a candidate from the FDF
(Democratic front of the Francophones) in Belgium.

The two mainstream parties claim that the Netherlands accepted
the so-called Armenian genocide and base their[1] decisions on the
recommendatory decision on 21 December 2004, recognizing the existence
of the so called genocide.

According to the General Assembly decision of the UN in 1948, genocide
is defined as; killing members of a group, causing serious bodily or
mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the
group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction
in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births
within the group, and forcibly transferring children of the group to
another group.

The chair of ISRO, Sedat Laciner (Laciner, 2005) defines genocide as
the worst crime a human being can ever do, which I completely agree
with. Nevertheless, the ugliness of the case does not give the right
to accuse anyone with this crime and taking it for granted without
substantiating such arguments on valid evidences. Being against
genocide is one thing, and using genocide for some political ends is
another thing. Sometimes we put critical thinking completely aside
and defend democratic values and norms so blindly that this adherence
can become a deficit to democracy itself.

We have evidences of the Holocaust and see it as among the worst, maybe
the worst case in humanity. But do we really have such proofs regarding
the Armenian issue? What if, the Armenians were not tortured?!

Thousands of people die in Sudan right now, Israel killed thousands
of other just two months before. People died in Rwanda, former
Yugoslavia and many other places for just being a member of a
particular group. Why do we turn a blind eye to all these and are so
much insistent on restricting an unproven case?

The Turkish side has opened all its archives. And are very much
eager to form common committees for searching the issue. Turkish PM
Erdogan has underlined the willingness of searching this topic in
many occasions. Despite all these, keeping away from all scientific
enquiries and imposing such a heavy accusation leads to many
suspicions.

The Armenian state does not recognize the Lausanne treaty, on which
the Turkish Republic is grounded. In other words, Armenia does not
accept the current borders of Turkey. The Armenian state names the
North East part of Turkey as the West Armenia and makes claims on these
territories in its constitution. Robert Kocaryan, the PM of Armenia,
states that these territorial gains can be done in peaceful manners
(Ibid).

Are all these done for the sake of democracy or is the democratic
sensitiveness used for further aims?! It is highly confusing; why
do not we talk about what the Dutch did in Indonesia and Surinam,
French did in Algeria, Spain did in South America if we are so eager
to account for our faults in past ?

Apart from these, the migration policy of the Ottoman Empire is very
irrelevant to the genocide claims. Ottomans failed in providing healthy
conditions during this depart but why should a send all the members
of an ethnicity away if it really aims a genocide? The Nazi rule did
not send the Jews away, but brought the Jewish to its concentration
camps from all around the world.

The Netherlands

A very critical approach is on rise in the Netherlands in particular
and Europe in general. Although it is not very acceptable to
discriminate openly, discrimination becomes legalized when it is
made by reference to "democratic values". For instance, if someone
criticizes Moroccans in some way under the general classification of
Moroccans, s/he will probably be strictly criticized. Nevertheless,
when Fortuyn said that gays were under threat due to the Moroccan gangs
he was very much backed. Similarly, opposing Islam itself will be not
so much welcomed. But people get credit if they manage to hinder such
points of view under the democratic doctrine.

Specifically, the argument of the repression of women under the
Islamic doctrine is in many times welcomed without a slightest
degree of critical thinking. The same thing is valid for the expel
of the Turkish originated candidates. The party leaders are really
appreciated as the guardians of democratic principles!!!

With regard to the decisions of the CDA and the PvdA; has a party
have the right to ask its members to share a common vision on this
topic? Party members have more or less similar positions and it is
quite natural to demand from these people to share a common vision.

For instance, there is no point in defending capitalism in a highly
communist party. Nevertheless, we need different opinions in democratic
systems, also within the party.

The party position can not legitimize removing candidates from a party
list just because they have a point of view on a particular topic;
which is not a central in the party doctrine, open to debate, and
apparently not against the party doctrine. In the EP report, Turkey
is criticized due to the 301th article, which limits the freedom of
expression. It is true, Turkey has to improve its conditions in such
aspects just as the other European states have to.

However, people can be sent to jail or removed from candidacy lists
in the founding member states. This is a shame indeed.

The Armenian lobby is certainly quite effective in the international
field. But I personally do not believe the high influence of an
Armenian lobby in the Dutch society. The so-called Armenian genocide
has become quite trendy (!) in European politics.

Nevertheless some interior political aspects take place, as well.

People still talk the rise of Pim Fortuyn in 2002. Even the most
liberal parties have shifted to an anti immigration perspective
afterwards.

The Dutch Christian Appeal and labour party make some miscalculations
at this point. According to the official givens, 300 thousand Turkish
people live in this country, and many have the Dutch citizenship. A
substantial number of Turkish originated people has the right to vote
in this country. Expelling Turkish candidates will evidently not give
way to support by the Turkish society in this country. It is not a
very well advised stance to annoy such a big proportion just before
the elections.

No doubt however, the Turkish minority in Europe is very less
interested in politics and away from defending their interests in
discussions. The Turkish MPs carry great importance for both their
ethnicities and their residual countries at this point. These people
need to be represented on the parliamentary level as well as many
other aspects of life. Integration of these people and a peaceful
co-existence in this country cannot only be provided by sociological
researches, no matter how successful they are. We need successful
Dutch-Turkish people in politics, academic field, business, sport,
arts, etc.

At this point, it is worth bringing into attention that while cars
were put into fire in France and several other neighbor countries, the
Netherlands was quite still. This was not a coincidence. All in all,
the minority groups in the Dutch society are much better integrated to
the major society in many aspects. However, we do not have a guarantee
that this will be the case forever. The removed MP candidates do not
only carry significance for the Turkish minority, but are also very
much important to the Netherlands. The Dutch government has gold in
its hands indeed. We cannot continue living within boundaries and
within just one culture in an era of globalization. Countries need
bilinguals in the contemporary world.

Concluding Remarks:

The Dutch society made important progression after the uneasy days
regarding the tension between minority and majority. The Dutch
establishment and society are among the most tolerable people with
their multicultural doctrine. Therefore, it is highly disappointing
that all these occur in this country. The decision of those parties
are rather ill-given in the stressful atmosphere of elections
than representing the Dutch opinion in general. The Netherlands is
geographically little, but there are many other indexes of measuring
how big a country is. A country, sending its soldiers to Uruzgan,
one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan, apparently has some
significant ambitions in the international arena. The Netherlands can
take many initiatives in line with its worldwide positive reputation
rather than just copying what the trends without searching the reality.

References:

Albayrak Nebahat and Timmermans Frans, Zie de Fouten uit het Verleden
onder Ogen, Trouw, 4 October 2006.

De Armenisch-Turksche Kwestie, Algemeen Handelsblad, 25.05.1920. (The
name of the reporter is not given)

Laciner, Sedat. (2004) Turkler ve Ermeniler, ISRO Publciations, 2004.

THREE GEORGIAN ANNOUNCEMENTS ABOUT RUSSIA

A1+
[02:29 pm] 10 October, 2006

Today the Georgian Parliament will discuss the Russian-Georgian
relations. The Committee dealing with Euro-integration issues will
release three announcements within the realm of the discussions.

The first announcement will refer to the hatred and ethnic
discrimination of the Georgians in Russia, the second one will touch
upon the economic punishment initiated by Russia towards Georgia and
finally the third one will cover the Russian-Georgian relations on
the whole.

Yesterday, the Georgian Parliament assigned the head of the Committee
on Economic issues to get information on the cases when Russia breeched
international agreements and treaties. The Committees engaged in
Euro-integration and Financial-Budgeting issues will render assistance
on this score. The working group is to make and present the report
within ten days.

EX-RULING PARTY PAVES THE WAY TO POWER

Panorama.am
14:51 10/10/06

Several like-minded persons from the ex-ruling party, All-Armenian
National Movement, formed a public-political initiative called
Alternative joining a number of renowned politicians, among them
deputy of parliament Yerjanik Abgaryan, chairman of Armat Babken
Ararktsyan, editor of Armenian Times newspaper Nikol Pashinyan and
some others. Leader of Democratic Motherland, Petros Makeyan said the
group has signed a statement attracting a dozen of political and public
figures around it. Makeyan said they are proposing an alternative to
the existing political system. As a primary goal the group aims to oust
a group of bureaucracy who is "protecting its own skin."

POLICE CALLED AFTER CHAOTIC END TO WOMEN’S MATCH

The Northern Echo, UK
Oct 10 2006

Never a problem on Arngrove Northern League duty, but referee Ross
Joyce needed a police escort following a Women’s Premier League
cup-tie at the weekend.

It happened after the match between Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea,
in which 20-year-old Ross, from Middlesbrough, had ordered the Rovers
manager from the dug-out and sent off two of Blackburn’s unfair sex
for second cautionable offences.

[parts omitted]

Almost unnoticed amid the English breast beating, Armenia held Finland
to a goalless draw in Group A of the European Championship on Saturday,
before a crowd of 7,500.

The modern day Armenia is reckoned the likely site of the Garden of
Eden. For Ian Porterfield, it was probably only half way to paradise.

Sunderland’s goal scoring hero of the 1973 FA Cup final is continuing
his global football education, as we noted the other week, by becoming
Armenia’s national coach.

The Armenian league has just eight teams, three of which are
contemplating academies. There’s not a lot of choice.

"Armenian football is relatively new," says Porterfield. "The
future, if not the immediate future, is bright. It would be an
unbelievable feat for us to finish in the top two; I’d just like us
to be respected."

MICROSOFT SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH VIVACELL ON THURSDAY

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Oct 9 2006

YEREVAN, October 9. /ARKA/. Microsoft signed a cooperation agreement
with VivaCell on Thursday, Vahe Torosyan, Microsoft Vice-President
for Central and Eastern Europe, said Friday at DigiTec-2006 second
international exhibition opening in Yerevan.

Torosyan said this agreement gives VivaCell the right to use
Microsoft-provided services throughout three years.

In his words, VivaCell will receive technical support from Microsoft
and the company personnel will upgrade their skill by using Microsoft
technologies.

Commenting on DigiTec2006 opening in Armenia, Torosyan said that the
exhibition will present achievements in Armenia’s IT area.

In his opinion, the area has enough capacity for development. He said
IT sector ensures 40% of economic growth in European countries.

The three-day exhibition opened on Friday in Yerevan. Some 50 companies
were presented in the exhibition, of which 20% are foreign.

The exhibition information sponsors are ARKA News Agency and AMI
Novosti-Armenia.

AZG Armenian Daily #190, 06/10/2006

Visit

ROMANIA IS INTERESTED IN ARMENIA’S GETTING CLOSE TO
EUROPE

President of Romania Pays Official Visit to Armenia

Traian Basescu, President of Romania, arrived in
Yerevan on October 4. The official reception ceremony
of Romania’s President took place at RA President’s
residence. In the course of the meeting, the
presidents discussed the bilateral relations between
our countries, the cooperation within the framework of
European structures, issues of regional importance, as
well as international developments. After the
conversation, the sides held negotiations including
larger group of officials.

At the course of the joint press conference, RA
President Robert Kocharian stated that Armenia’s
relations with Romania are more developed as compared
with those with the rest of the Eastern European
countries. He added that Romania’s coming membership
to EU on January 1, 2007, and completion of
negotiations between Armenia and EU for the European
neighborhood policy will open new prospects for
cooperation. He stated that Romania’s geographical
situation, as well as the capacities of its sea
terminals create good opportunities for activation of
trade relations. He added that Armenia is very
interested in effective functioning and development of
that trade path.

In his turn, Traian Basescu, President of Romania,
stated that in the Black Sea basin the relations with
Armenia are priority relations among the foreign
policy issues. He added that Romania will assist
Armenia get closer to EU. Mr. Basescu stated that his
country is interested in Armenia’s entry to EU and
will represent its experience of becoming members to
NATO and EU to Armenia.

Besides, the president of Armenia and Romania signed a
joint statement. They also signed intergovernmental
documents on trade- economic relations and
scientific-technical cooperation, for supporting
investments and mutual defence. The sides also signed
programs for cooperation in the spheres of culture,
education and science in 2006-2010. The foreign
ministries of Armenia and Romania signed a memorandum
on European and Euro-Atlantic cooperation.

By Tamar Minasian