Category: News

Hellenic Resources Network
Tuesday, 26 October 2004
Turkish Press Review, 04-10-26
TURKISH, ARMENIAN SCHOLARS TO DISCUSS GENOCIDE ALLEGATIONS IN VIENNA
In the first half of 2005, Turkey and Armenia are set for the first time to
discuss the so-called Armenian genocide on an international stage. The
historical evidence will be examined and discussed at an international
seminar in Vienna, Austria with Turkey represented by Institute of History
Professor Yusuf Halacoglu along with government officials. “We’ve been
working hard to get prepared for the meeting,” Halacoglu said. “Its findings
will be seen by the whole world.” /Hurriyet/

Hellenic Resources Network
Tuesday, 26 October 2004
Turkish Press Review, 04-10-26
ONE SIDED OR MUTUAL? BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)
Columnist Taha Akyol comments on the so-called Armenian genocide. A summary
of his column is as follows:
“In 1919, writer Ziya Gokalp told the following to a military court
about the Armenian issue: ‘It wasn’t one-sided, the massacre was
mutual!’ In two books, ‘Death and Exile: The Ethnic Cleansing of
Muslims 1821-1922’ and ‘Muslims and Minorities,’ Professor Justin
McCarthy wrote about Muslim- Christian clashes and massacres between
which resulted in 5 million Muslim deaths. He researched not only
the Ottoman archives, but also made extensive use of reports of the
British Consulate. McCarthy characterizes the incidents which began
with the 1915 Armenian revolt as a ‘war between communities.’ The real
issue is the ‘Ottoman response’ to the massacres which the Armenians
started. There were more Muslim deaths (Death and Exile, p. 217).
The Bosnians lived through the last massacre in the Balkans. Europe
just sat and watched this until NATO intervened! In his book ‘The
World’s Banker, ‘ Sebastian Mallaby wrote about the World Bank’s
failure to respond and the efforts of Kemal Dervis, later an economy
minister but then a WB official, to save the Bosnians. Through Dervis’
efforts, the WB eventually decided to help Bosnia’s reconstruction,
which encouraged NATO to intervene.
French daily Le Monde asked Dervis his opinion about the so-called
Armenian genocide. Dervis expressed his concerns about the incidents
and reminded them of Muslim massacres. The truth about the Armenian
question is that it wasn’t a one-sided reaction, but a mutual
massacre. If you act as if nothing happened, then people label the
incidents ‘genocide.’ Moreover, we have to remind the West of the
‘Muslim Massacre.’ The massacre, which began in 1821 on the Danube
and continued until 1995 in Bosnia… I wish there were more Turkish
people like Dervis working in the WB, the International Monetary Fund,
the UN and OECD.”
–Boundary_(ID_UNaTbXeJko6QmR6o3x/vMQ)–

The Indian Express
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Men go down to Russia, women move up to second
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Posted online: Tuesday, October 26, 2004 at 0000 hours IST
MALLORCA, OCTOBER 25: Fighting hard, the Indian men suffered a 1.5-2.5
defeat against top seed and defending champion Russia in the 9th round of
the 36th Chess Olympiad at the gran casino here. There was cause for cheer
in ghe women’s section, however, with India, led by Grandmaster Koneru
Humpy, beating Ukraine to be placed second.
World rapid champion Viswanathan Anand crashed through the defences of
Grandmaster Alexander Morozevich and gave India an early lead while Krishnan
Sasikiran also came good on the second board, getting an easy draw playing
black against Russian champion Peter Svidler. But while Surya Sekhar Ganguly
was outdone from a complicated position by Vadim Zvjaginsev, P Harikrishna
missed out against Alexander Dreev.
Russia, with 24.5 points, moved closer to leaders Ukraine after the win but
remain 2.5 points adrift.
With just five more rounds remaining, the US was the biggest gainer of the
day, moving to sole third spot with 24 points after drubbing Spain ‘A’
3.5-0.5. Armenia and third seed Israel are joint fourth with 23 points while
the Indians share the sixth spot on 22.5 along with Switzerland, Bulgaria,
France, Slovenia, Azerbaijan and Cuba. Poland and Moldova are next in line
on 22 points each.
Anand was brilliance personified as he outplayed Morozevich in an extremely
complicated game arising out of a Sicilian Defence and leading to a hedgehog
setup. Going for an opening surprise, Sasikiran employed the Tchigorin
variation in the Ruy Lopez rather than his normal Brayer and it appeared as
if Svidler was not well-prepared. Getting the normal complications in the
middle game, Sasikiran was the first to simplify matters as he went for
routine exchanges on the queen side to maintain the balance. In the women’
section, GM Koneru Humpy guided India to a 2-1 victory to elevate the team
to joint second spot. Playing on the top board, Humpy was undeterred by some
near ominous defence by Natalia Zhukova and recorded an impressive victory
for India, Vijayalakshmi managed a draw with Inna Gaponenko, while
Dronavalli Harika did well to hold Kateryna Lahno on the third board to
complete the Indian victory.
The battle for gold, though, appears almost over for the other teams as
China scored a comprehensive 3-0 victory, cruising past Lithuania in another
one sided contest. China’s tally now stands at 23.5 points, a massive
six-point lead over nearest rivals Russia, USA, Hungary and India.

Armenian premier and UN official discuss cooperation
Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
25 Oct 04
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan has received UN Deputy
Secretary General and UN Development Programme [UNDP] regional
director in charge of the CIS states and Europe Kalman Mizsei. During
the meeting the prime minister noted that the development programmes
worth 16m dollars are being implemented in Armenia. These means are
being mainly channelled into the implementation of the Millennium
Challenge programme and poverty reduction till 2015.
Congratulating the prime minister on Armenia’s indices for last year,
Kalman Mizsei suggested that the profit from the economic growth be
directed to the regions, where there are many social problems which
need to be resolved.
The programme will also assist the development of small and
medium-sized business, high technologies and the struggle against
corruption.
During a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan,
Kalman Mizsei spoke highly of Armenia’s efforts in the struggle against
corruption. Vardan Oskanyan expressed satisfaction with the work of the
Yerevan office of the UNDP which is especially aimed at developing the
economy and has a positive impact on the county’s economy and peoples’
social conditions.
[Video showed the meeting]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Israel’s chief rabbi meets Christian leaders to ease tensions
By LAURIE COPANS
AP Worldstream
Oct 26, 2004
An Israeli chief rabbi held an unprecedented meeting Tuesday with
Christian clergy in Jerusalem in an effort to ease tensions after
an Orthodox Jew spat at an Armenian bishop near a holy site in the
Old City.
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, who sat at the head of a table surrounded
by clerics with gold crosses, black robes and silver staffs, denounced
any attacks on religious clergy in Israel.
“As sons of Abraham, we are brothers,” Metzger said. “We denounce
any act that is meant to degrade religious people.”
The meeting was called after the Oct. 10 incident in which a Jewish
seminary student spit on an Armenian archbishop carrying a cross in
Jerusalem, sparking a fist fight that damaged the cleric’s medallion.
Many of the 14 church representatives at the meeting Tuesday complained
that the incident was just one of dozens of similar attacks every year.
“Unfortunately this incident was not an isolated incident,” Armenian
Bishop Aris Shirvanian said. “Quite frequently we suffer some kind
of indignity … at least once a week.”
Shirvanian said Israeli rabbis needed to do a better job of educating
their followers not to participate in such attacks.
Metzger promised to ask rabbis in the Old City to give sermons on
religious tolerance. An Interior Ministry official said Jerusalem
police understood the importance of cracking down on anti-Christian
behavior among Orthodox Jews.
Although officially relations between Jewish and Christian clergy
are good in Jerusalem, tensions sometimes escalate over what church
leaders say are a disregard by Israel for their interests.
In a sign of the seriousness of the spitting incident, Tuesday’s
meeting was the first time in years a chief rabbi had met with so
many Christian clergy, said Efrat Orbach, a spokeswoman for Metzger.
In a sign of their excitement over the meeting, many church
representatives took pictures throughout. The gathering was initiated
by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which was
founded by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who moved to Israel from Chicago
in 2001.

UN helps Armenian women have say in politics
Noyan Tapan news agency
25 Oct 04
Yerevan, 22 October: The involvement of women in political affairs,
the issue of trafficking and other issues were discussed at a two-day
international conference entitled “To assist women’s progress: the
national programme in action” which started in Yerevan on 22 October.
A nationwide programme for 2004-10 of improving the life of women
and increasing their role in society was presented at the conference.
Armenian Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Security Karine
Akopyan noted that the programme will ensure that men and women have
equal rights and possibilities which is a condition for building
a democratic, legal, and social state. The programme, the deputy
minister said, will help to tackle socioeconomic problems that women
face and to overcome poverty in the country.
According to data cited by the national programme, the republic’s
rate of population growth reduced by a factor of eight and the rate
of birth dropped by a factor of two in the last 10 years.
One of the main reasons for that is infertility which constitutes 31.9
per cent in the republic today. According to the Armenian police,
correspondingly 52, 51 and 55 women apparently became victims of
violence in the republic in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
The conference is being held within the framework of the programme
“Gender policy in the South Caucasus”. The latter is being implemented
in Armenia by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the UN
Development Programme [UNDP].

Russia’s former Karabakh mediator stands for “multi-stage” solution – agency
MPA news agency
26 Oct 04
Baku, 26 October: Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov, the former Russian
co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, is surprised at the “time-out”
taken in the Nagornyy Karabakh negotiations, because he believes that
the pace of the talks does not reflect the importance Azerbaijani and
Armenian attach to the solution of the conflict, MPA quoted Kazimirov
as telling the Regnum news agency.
“The time-out must be particularly alarming for Azerbaijan because it
has lost something in the military action. Baku insists that Karabakh
continues to be problem number one but when it comes to action,
it becomes passive,” Kazimirov said.
He has identified five possible scenarios for further developments:
the resumption of hostilities, the preservation of the status quo,
a package solution and two stage-by-stage solution alternatives.
The Russian diplomat believes the first three are hopeless and
perilous. Kazimirov described as attractive the “multi-stage” solution
which envisages the discussion on the whole range of issues “without
confining the talks to two key issues – the status for Nagornyy
Karabakh and the liberation of the territories outside it”. In the
meantime, the parties to the conflict could gradually attend to a
number of small but important issues which are currently blocked by
the dispute over the status and territories, he said.
The multi-stage alternative, Kazimirov says, envisages regular and
intense negotiations in four directions. The most important issue
is to strengthen the cease-fire and make it impossible to resume
hostilities even in five-10 years from now. The second direction is
the status. Kazimirov thinks that a compromise decision might be taken
on this issue. For example, all the parties involved could regard the
regime in Nagornyy Karabakh as temporary. “Then they could continue the
talks for the status, but a final agreement will not quick,” he said.
Kazimirov vigorously opposes the Armenian definition of the “liberated
territories”. The Russian diplomat thinks that “even if the Armenians
were historically right in some respects, modern issues must not be
resolved with the use of old maps. Then, for example, the Crimea
would have to be returned to the Greek – not to the Ukrainians,
Russians or Turks – but to the Greek”.

Turkish TV: Kurdish officials tell EU “systematic torture exists”
NTV television, Istanbul
26 Oct 04
The European Parliament [EP] Human Rights Subcommittee has discussed
Turkey. [Kurdish] DEHAP [Democratic People’s Party] Chairman Tuncer
Bakirhan and IHD [Human Rights Association] Diyarbakir leader
Selahattin Demirtas maintained that there exists systematic torture
in Turkey. Demirtas and Bakirhan called on the EU to decide on 17
December to start accession talks with Turkey, but maintained that
systematic torture continues in Turkey. Bakirhan accused the [ruling]
AKP [Justice and Development Party] government of not taking any
action regarding the clashes in the southeast.
Leylekyan who was invited to the meeting as the representative of
European Armenians stressed that the recognition of the Armenian
genocide by Ankara should be a condition for the start of Turkey’s
accession talks.
A report on Turkey drawn up by Dutch MEP Eurlings will be discussed
at the EP Foreign Relations Committee. The report recommends many
conditions and an open-ended negotiation process for Turkey.

Paper criticizes Azeri Foreign Ministry’s stance on British MPs’ Karabakh visit
Zerkalo, Baku
23 Oct 04
Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov has refused to attend
a conference entitled “Armenia – the South Caucasus and foreign
policy challenges” because of provocative actions of its organizers,
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Matin Mirza told journalists on
22 October. He said that Azimov had refused to attend the conference in
the University of Michigan on 21-23 October because a representative
of the separatist regime of the so-called Nagornyy Karabakh Republic
was attending it.
Mirza said that representatives of the Karabakh separatists had not
been included in the list of the conference participants attached
to an invitation sent to Azimov. When it became known that they will
attend the conference after all, Azimov demanded that an invitation be
sent to Nizami Bahmanov, the leader of Nagornyy Karabakh’s Azerbaijani
community. The organizers, however, did not accept this proposal and
Azimov refused to attend the conference.
Mirza said that this position of the organizers testified to their
pro-Armenian stance. Their aim was to bring a representative of
official Baku and Karabakh separatists together at the aforesaid
conference and then make use of this event with all its political
consequences. [Passage omitted: other issues reported at the press
briefing]
At the press briefing Mirza also spoke about a British parliamentary
delegation’s visit to Nagornyy Karabakh on 20 October. The delegation
was led by Deputy Speaker of the British House of Lords Baroness
Caroline Cox, who is known for her pro-Armenian stance. [Passage
omitted: Britain says this was a private visit]
One should pay attention to some aspects of Mirza’s remarks which have
a direct link with the situation around Nagornyy Karabakh, to be more
precise, with the weakness of our position. Let us start with the
visit of the British parliamentary delegation to Nagornyy Karabakh
which is, in fact, a minor, but not less painful fact. It appears
that if Baroness Cox and Co. visited Nagornyy Karabakh at their own
initiative and this visit does not reflect London’s official position,
everything is normal and there is no problem here. Well, gentlemen,
what a careless or, to be more precise, criminally careless attitude
to your own sovereignty over the country’s territory?
[Passage omitted: Azerbaijan has visa-free regime only with CIS
countries]
But this is very simple issue. Instead of expressing satisfaction with
the explanations from the British side, there was a need for informing
the British Foreign Office that Baroness Cox committed a crime under
the Azerbaijani Criminal Code with all ensuing consequences. No
matter in this case whether the positions of Baroness Cox and of
official London on the Karabakh settlement coincide or not. How one
could trust our decisiveness to thwart illegal activities on the
territories occupied by Armenia, if the aforesaid is our attitude to
observing Azerbaijan’s sovereignty?
[Passage omitted: more criticism on the Foreign Ministry’s activity]

Azerbaijan not planning to increase troop numbers in Iraq
AP Worldstream
Oct 26, 2004
Azerbaijan does not intend to increase the number of its troops
currently serving in Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition, Foreign
Minsiter Elmar Mammadyarov said Tuesday.
“We don’t have the technical abilities to expand the contingent,
that is people who have received the corresponding preparations,”
Mammadyarov told reporters in Baku.
Azerbaijan has 150 troops deployed in Iraq, where they are serving
mainly as sentries and on patrols. The Caucasus nation and former
Soviet republic is the only predominantly Muslim country that has
contributed troops to the U.S.-led coalition.
Azerbaijan, which also has 22 troops in Afghanstian, is seeking
U.S. support in modernizing its military and resolving a territorial
dispute with neighboring Armenia.