Category: News

Parish or perish: Armenians in Santa Clarita establish a new church
By Eugene Tong, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
May 24 2004
VALENCIA — Sweetened with incense and soft hymns, a drab hall at
Valencia High School was transformed into a house of God Sunday for
dozens of parishioners seeking solace at the only Armenian church
service in Santa Clarita.
“They couldn’t believe this thing finally happened,” said Vartan
Vahramian, who helped organized the parish that held its first service
earlier this month. “The first four that came through it was a one-time
thing, but we told them it was going to be every week.”
The parish is the latest outpost in the Western Diocese of the
Armenian Church of North America, and a testament to how faith and
demographic shifts are changing this increasingly diverse North Los
Angeles County suburb.
Bringing the church’s services to Santa Clarita has been a long-time
goal for Vahramian, who moved to Valencia from Van Nuys in 1984 in
pursuit of affordable housing and open space.
“I sold everything and bought a house here really cheap,” said
Vahramian, who runs a local escrow and loan firm. “Now I can’t even
buy the house I live in. We grew with the area.”
At the time, the Santa Clarita Valley was home to only 64 Armenian
families, according to diocese estimates. With too few worshippers
to support a local church, the faithful made weekly sojourns to the
San Fernando Valley or such ethnic hubs as Glendale for services.
“The closest one was St. Peter (Armenian Apostolic Church) on Sherman
Way in Van Nuys, and that’s at least half an hour,” said Vahramian,
president of the parish council. “It was a test, especially when the
kids were young. You have to get them all dressed up, put them in
the car, you’re driving and the kids beat up on each other.”
As Santa Clarita bloomed in over the last two decades into a city of
more than 150,000, its Armenian community also grew. By 1992, the
number of families has almost tripled to 180, Vahramian said. When
planning for the parish began last year, he tallied about 500.
Most of the families arrived after the 1994 Northridge earthquake,
when faced with the choice of either rebuilding or moving on, he said.
“They looked at what they have in the San Fernando Valley,” Vahramian
said. “They have a 30-, 40-, 50-year-old house, or with the money
they can get a brand new house and a brand new car, and all they have
to sacrifice was about an hour’s drive every day. That formula was
very attractive.”
But no community is complete without its own parish. Many Armenians
still take pride as one of the first ethnic groups to accept
Christianity, and religion has been central to forging together a
nation from a diaspora that has undergone centuries of upheaval.
“Traditionally, it’s been one country, one church,” Vahramian said.
“Armenians were held together for 1,700 years through their church
unity. … It’s the backbone of our beliefs, and it’s the center of
a nation that’s scattered all over. It’s to get together and thank
God that we’re still alive.”
Vahramian also credited Archbishop Hovnan Derderian with helping
to usher in the parish. Elected primate last May, he pressed the
formation of a dozen new parishes throughout the diocese, which covers
the western United States and Canada.
“It’s an obligation,” Derderian said. “We cannot ignore the fact
that there now exists a community (in Santa Clarita). We have to make
sure, in the shortest period of time, that we can reach out to those
families. … On a regular basis, you cannot expect them to drive
the distance to reach the (San Fernando) Valley and Glendale.”
Shepherding the fledgling congregation falls to Father Zareh Mansuryan,
who served at a church in Armenia for a decade before moving to the
United States in 2001. He is working on community outreach — only
60 people attended the first liturgy May 9 — and to eventually build
a permanent church.
“We are starting a new church so the Armenian spirit and Christianity
stays with the people in this community,” said Mansuryan, 40. “With
the help of the Armenians here, we want to establish an Armenian
church. … But we can’t do it quickly. The important thing is
for Armenians to come together and realize they are a family and
a community.”
Vahramian expects a parish church will be built within five years.
Meantime, he is searching for another home for the weekly services
before June 30, when most Valencia High buildings will be closed for
the summer.
“We’ll be looking for a piece of dirt to build on it soon,” he said.
“The money is there. If we shake down the diocese, they have the
money. But we have to show good cause — that there is plenty of
attendance. And it needs to be attractive — something more than a
high school.”
Staff Writer Naush Boghossian contributed to this story.
Eugene Tong, (661) 257-5253 [email protected]

Reuters, UK
May 24 2004
European Golden Shoe leading rankings
Mon 24 May, 2004 11:01
LONDON, May 24 (Reuters) – Following are the leading rankings for the
Golden Shoe, awarded to the leading scorer in the European leagues,
after the completion of the major leagues at the weekend.
Thierry Henry is set to become the first Frenchman to win the Golden
Shoe, and the first player from the English premier league to win the
award since Kevin Phillips in 1999/2000.
The final list will not be issued until mid-June when all the
European domestic leagues have been completed. Player, Team Goals
Value Total 1. Thierry Henry, Arsenal (England) 30 2 60 2. Ailton,
Werder Bremen (Germany) 28 2 56 3. Djibril Cisse, AJ Auxerre (France)
26 2 52 4= Andriy Shevchenko, AC Milan (Italy) 24 2 48 4= Ronaldo,
Real Madrid (Spain) 24 2 48 6. Mateja Kezman, PSV Eindhoven
(Netherlands) 31 1.5 46.5 7= Roy Makaay, Bayern Munich (Germany) 23 2
46 7= Alberto Gilardino, Parma (Italy) 23 2 46 9= Ara Hakobyan,
Banants (Armenia) 45 1 45 9= Henrik Larsson, Celtic (Scotland) 30 1.5
45
Note: A player’s league goals are multiplied depending on the “value”
of their league.
Only the leading five countries in the UEFA rankings are given a
multiple value of 2.

Lure of the Byzantine remains powerful
BY MICHAEL KILIAN, Chicago Tribune
Fort Wayne News Sentinel, IN
May 24 2004
NEW YORK – (KRT) – It was one of the most glorious of empires,
lasting 1,142 years, yet most Americans know little about it.
If anything, they associate its name, “Byzantine,” with political
intrigue.
Rightly enough. This successor to the Roman Empire ultimately failed
both politically and militarily, falling to invading Turks in 1453
(after lasting three times as long as the British Empire).
But as brilliantly illustrated by “Byzantium: Faith and Power”_a
sumptuous new exhibition at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art_the
Byzantine was a cultural empire as well, reaching from the
Mediterranean world to Asia, and later flourishing in medieval Russia
as well.
Founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 A.D., the Byzantine
Empire was Orthodox Christian but derived its culture from the Romans
and from classical Greece. It also drew from the Egyptians.
This becomes readily apparent when comparing the fabulous icon
paintings that dominate this new Met show with the lifelike portraits
of deceased Egyptians on view in a Metropolitan exhibition staged
four years ago: “Ancient Faces: Mummy Portraits from Roman Egypt.”
“There is a book arguing that they are a source of icons,” said Helen
Evans, curator of “Faith and Power.” “If you look at the mummy
portraits and you look at the earliest surviving icons from the
Monastery of St. Catherine and from the 6th century, the image of
Christ is painted exactly the same way the best of the mummy
portraits are, with the head barely turned so it’s not a completely
frontal pose and with one eye made slightly larger to keep the sense
of energy in the face.”
Eventually, she said, Byzantine art began to influence culture in the
West, as evidenced in the work of such artists as the Renaissance’s
Giovanni Bellini, Spain’s El Greco and 15th century Dutch painters.
It continues, of course, in modern-day Greece, the Balkans and
post-communist Russia.
“It is a tradition of great, glorious objects that were copied and
emulated within its own sphere and then transported vast distances,
where they still retained a great power and vibrancy,” Evans said.
“What this exhibition does is bring them all back together.”
There are more than 350 works in this show, drawn from Greece,
Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Italy, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Serbia,
Montenegro, Macedonia and 20 other countries. Some pieces rarely have
been seen and others not at all outside the churches and monasteries
that preserved them, Evans said.
“The only regret was that the monasteries of Mt. Athos [in Greece]
did not choose to participate,” Evans said, “but we have many works
from Mt. Athos that left the holy mountain in the 19th century and
went elsewhere.”
The third exhibition the Met has done on Byzantium, “Faith and Power”
covers 1261 to 1557, encompassing a period after the Turkish conquest
when Byzantine culture continued to flourish in the region.
While icon paintings predominate, the exhibition includes coins,
sculptures, tapestries and non-religious paintings, including a
pictorial map of Constantinople.
Among the more remarkable tapestries is a full-length portrait tomb
cover from Romania of a lady named Maria of Mangop, inscribed as “the
servant of God, the pious and Christ-loving lady of John, voivode of
the Land of Moldavia . . . who passed away to (her) eternal dwelling
in the year 1476, on the 19th (day) of the month of December, Friday,
at the fifth hour of the day.”
A sculpted 14th century reliquary of St. Nicholas from Armenia is in
the form of a silver-covered forearm and hand. A 14th Century
reliquary box from the Cleveland Museum of Art is painted with scenes
from the life of John the Baptist.
Among the most significant of the works in the show is a four-part
tempera on wood painting from the ancient city of Novgorod in Russia.
It deals with the 1170 siege of the city by Andrej Bogoljubovo,
prince of Suzdal, which was brought to an end when Novgorod’s
Archbishop John had an icon of the Virgin Mary brought from the
Church of the Savior to the wall of the city fortress, where it was
mounted.
As the painting’s second panel shows, an arrow fired by one of the
prince’s soldiers struck the Virgin, whereupon tears began to run
from her eyes. The skies darkened, and the besiegers became
frightened and confused, attacking one another. Novgorod’s soldiers
were able to make short work of them. According to another of the
panels, the Russian Saints Alexander Nevsky, Boris, Gleb and George
lent a hand as well.
“That icon with Alexander Nevsky is the argument of Novgorod that
Moscow should not be the pre-eminent city of Russia,” Evans said,
“but Novgorod should be the predominant city because of its history.”
Novgorod, lying between Moscow and St. Petersburg, remains so well
preserved that Evans called it “The Williamsburg of Russia.”
Constantinople, now Istanbul, fared not so well. The Turks besieged
the capital of “the new Rome” and it fell in May 1453. A contemporary
wrote: “The city was desolate, lying dead, naked, soundless, having
neither form nor beauty.”
Yet so much form and beauty continues on, and can be found through
July 4 at the Metropolitan Museum, 5th Avenue and 82nd Street;
212-879-5500 or
—
(Michael Kilian is a lifestyle columnist for The Chicago Tribune.
Write to him at the Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau, 1325 G St. NW,
Suite 200, Washington, DC, 20005.)

CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS REAFFIRMS ADHERENCE TO PEACEFUL
SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 24 2004
BUENOS AIRES, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – Catholicos of All Armenians
Garegin II, the supreme hierarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
is making his first ever official visit to Argentina.
“The purpose of my first patriarchal visit to Argentina is to meet the
Armenian community and bring blessing from Yejmiadzin, the residence of
the Armenian patriarchs (catholicoses),” Garegin II told RIA Novosti.
“I wanted to support my fellow countrymen and encourage them to
uphold their traditions and culture on the South American continent,
as well as make their contribution to the life of Argentina,” said
the patriarch.
“I was glad to see that Armenians enjoy freedom of worship in
Argentine, and that they can live here practising their religion and
cherishing their ethnic values and traditions,” said Garegin II.
“My compatriots came to South America fleeing the genocide of Ottoman
Turkey in 1915. They survived many ordeals and found their home here.
I am pleased with the fact that many Armenians are taking high
positions in Argentina’s government bodies. There are also a lot of
prominent businessmen of Armenian extraction in the country. They
work in all the domains and spheres of life in this country,” said
the Armenian church leader.
There are 7 Armenian schools in Argentina, each of which is attended
by some 350 students, recalled the patriarch.
“I was pleased to learn about an Argentine-Armenian school in Buenos
Aires for Argentine children, where they are taught the Armenian
language and even sing Armenian songs and dance Armenian dances. This
is a sign of gratitude to the country for the warm reception it
extended to Armenians in the turbulent period of their history. A lot
of /joint/ public, charity organisations have also been established
in Argentina.” The Armenian Church advocates a peaceful solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh problem.
“From the very beginning of the conflict we have believed that it can
be resolved by peaceful means alone,” Garegin II told RIA Novosti.
(Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian enclave on Azerbaijan’s territory,
declared independence and withdrawal from Azerbaijan in the early
1990s).
“This is our strong belief, and I think this is also the Azerbaijani
people’s desire. In a bid to settle the problem, we have held a meeting
with Sheikh Allakhshukyur Pasha-zade, head of the Ecclesiastical Board
of Muslims of the Caucasus, which was mediated by Patriarch of Moscow
and All Russia Alexis II,” said the Armenian church leader.
“At the meeting we expressed the opinion that the problem must be
resolved peacefully, while hostility between the neighbouring nations
must not be fuelled. We hope the problem will be resolved precisely
in this way,” said the Armenian church leader.
“We are therefore working to ensure favourable prerequisites for
peaceful settlement. Patriarch of All Georgia Ilya II has recently
joined in the process,” noted Garegin II.
The Armenian patriarch earlier visited the Armenian dioceses in
Brazil and Uruguay, the countries that are home to 15,000 and 10,000
Armenians respectively. Argentina’s Armenian community is the largest
one in South America as it consists of some 140,000 people.
While in Argentina, the Armenian church leader has been received by
President Nestor Kirchner and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship
Rafael Bielsa.
The Catholicos of All Armenians blessed believers at St Gregory’s
Cathedral, the residence of the Armenian Apostolic Church in
Argentina. Garegin II will round off his visit to the country on
Tuesday.

Why Hughes needs his stars to turn up May 24 2004
By Paul Abbandonato, The Western Mail
ic Wales, UK
May 24 2004
THIS time last year, 17 of Mark Hughes’ players suddenly found they
didn’t know the way to San Jose and pulled out of the “meaningless”
friendly against the United States in California.
Wales, at the time, were top of Euro 2004 Group Nine, having won four
games out of four in their bid to reach Portugal.
Hughes wanted to use the Californian clash to build on the team spirit
and buzz generated from that brilliant start and to work on new ideas
for the second half of the qualifying campaign.
His plans were shot to pieces when one by one the stars withdrew from
the US game. Coincidence or not, Wales did not win another match in
the race for Portugal.
Hughes has never said so in public, but privately he has confided to
being stung by what happened before that San Jose match and believes
it had an impact upon Wales’ Euro 2004 fate.
Roll on 12 months and Hughes will be hoping he is treated a bit
better this time around as Wales prepare for two more “meaningless”
May friendlies, first away to Norway on Thursday and then against
Canada in Wrexham on Sunday.
Meaningless? The sort of word Sir Alex Ferguson and a few other
Premiership managers would give to Wales friendlies.
And, to be fair, in the grand scheme of things the results of Norway
v Wales and Wales v Canada will mean next to nothing.
But just as Hughes wanted the US match to try out things – something
he was unable to do in the end – so he has handpicked these coming
games for a reason.
A Thursday night in Oslo and a balmy spring Sunday afternoon at the
Racecourse would appear at this stage to have little bearing on the
intensity and passion of our coming World Cup qualifiers with England,
Poland, Austria, Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan.
But what Hughes learns in the next few days could actually hold the
very key to our hopes of qualifying for Germany 2006.
And that is why Hughes, already shorn of John Hartson, probably Simon
Davies and play-off finalist Andy Melville, needs the rest of his
first-choice XI around him to work upon and implement his ideas.
So, what are these ideas? A bold new way of playing?
Four-three-three instead of Hughes’ rigid 4-5-1 system?
Ryan Giggs as a central midfield playmaker?
No. Hughes has gone hi-tech and scientific. He wants to know why,
when it comes to double-headed back-to-back games, Wales tend to tail
off in the second of those matches.
Is it down to diet? The hour at which his team train? What time they
fly to and from matches?
Response and recovery times. These are the issues Hughes will be
looking at after arranging back-to-back friendlies within the space
of a 72-hour time period for the first time I can remember for a
Wales team.
As I say, the results of the games themselves don’t really matter.
The results of what Hughes learns, by doing things a bit differently,
will, come the World Cup.
Hughes has noted that every single World Cup fixture is part of
a double header. Including England v Wales and Wales v Poland
on October 9 and 13, and Wales v England and Poland v Wales the
following September.
But he has also looked at what his team have achieved on the five
occasions they have played double-headers during his reign as boss.
Like the Russia play-offs last November, for example. Wales produced
a brilliant performance in drawing in Moscow, only to turn in a
tentative, insipid and weary display four days on at the Millennium
Stadium?
Why, and what can I do to change that, Hughes has been asking himself?
Prior to that, Wales lost to Italy on September 6 and four days
afterwards produced perhaps their worst display of the Euro 2004
qualifying campaign when they only drew with Finland at home.
Why were Wales so awful that night, Hughes has been asking himself?
Even before that, Wales drew with Armenia and lost to Norway in a
double header before World Cup 2002.
They drew with Armenia and the Ukraine; drew with Norway and Poland.
In other words, of 10 double-headed matches played, Wales have yet
to win a single one of them.
And Hughes wants that issue addressed before the World Cup qualifiers
kick in.
So, with results not really mattering, he will experiment with
preparation of the team for the Norway and Canada games.
He has changed training schedules. He will alter the times players eat.
Instead of flying straight back to Wales after the Norway game and
getting to bed at 3am, Hughes will keep his players in Oslo for an
extra night.
They will do an extra training session in Norway the following morning
before returning on a mid-afternoon flight.
Changes, Hughes hopes, which will give the players extra stamina,
keep them more refreshed, give them an extra buzz for the second game
with Canada.
It sounds boring and scientific. And to you and me it is. But at the
top level you need any edge you can get.
Hughes’ No 2 Eddie Niedzwiecki has an old motto; fail to prepare
properly and you prepare to fail.
However irrelevant these issues may appear to be, Hughes believes he
has to look at them in his bid to get it right for the World Cup.
Trouble is, if, like the United States last year, most of his stars
don’t turn up, the whole exercise will be rendered pointless.
Many of them didn’t know the way to San Jose. Let’s hope that come
11am this morning, when the Wales squad are due to assemble, most of
the World Cup stars to be are there.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

COE POLITICAL COMMITTEE TO HOLD HEARINGS ON NAGORNY KARABAKH CONFLICT
Azer Tag, Azerbaijan State Info Agency
May 24 2004
[May 24, 2004, 12:33:41]
Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is due
on May 24.
As was informed to the correspondent of AzerTAj from press-service of
Milli Majlis, the head of delegation of Azerbaijan in this
Organization Samad Seyidov will take part in the session.
At the session, discussed will be exchange of opinions with
candidates on the post of the Secretary General of the Council of
Europe, the agenda of June session of 2004 and results of the
conference of chairmen of parliaments of the Southern Caucasus
countries.
In the session of PACE Committee of political affairs on May 25, also
will participate the deputy of Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Vagif
Vekilov. On this action, the opinion of the special representative of
the Council of Europe on Nagorny Karabakh conflict Terry Davis,
concerning this conflict will be heard, also discussed will be the
exchange of opinions on activity of the Organization on Northern
Ireland, further development of democratic reforms in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, political conditions in the Chechen Republic and on
other questions.
The visit will come end on May 27.

Charles Aznavour a fêté son 80e anniversaire sur scène
Swiss Info
24 Mai 2004
PARIS – Charles Aznavour a fêté son 80e anniversaire sur scène au
palais des Congrès à Paris. Plusieurs personnalités dont le président
Jacques Chirac et son épouse ont assisté au concert au profit de
l’Institut national du cancer.
Ce concert exceptionnel était retransmis en direct sur les chaînes
de télévision privées françaises TFI et RTL. Le ministre de la Santé
Philippe Douste-Blazy était également présent.
De nombreux artistes étaient venus et Charles Aznavour a notamment
interprété ses chansons en duo avec Johnny Hallyday, Liza Minnelli,
le ténor Roberto Alagna, Patricia Kaas ou Nana Mouskouri.
Entouré de chanteurs de toutes générations qui lui avaient fait
la surprise de leur présence et d’un orchestre, Charles Aznavour a
interprété trois chansons seul. Il a commencé par «Je me voyais déjà»
et a terminé par «Mort vivant» une chanson sur le délit d’opinion
extraite de son dernier album intitulé «Je voyage», disque d’or.
Pour l’artiste international Aznavour qui se dit «mélodiste et non
compositeur», «la retraite c’est la mort». Il a été longuement
ovationné par la salle debout, y compris le couple présidentiel
tandis que tous les chanteurs réunis sur scène lui souhaitaient
«joyeux anniversaire».

NEWS Press
18 mai 2004
FIDH : La Turquie doit traduire ses réformes en vue de l’adhésion à
l’UE par une action concrète en matière de droits de l’Homme
FIDH Fédération Internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme
À l’occasion du Conseil d’association UE/Turquie du 18 mai 2004, la
FIDH souhaite manifester son inquiétude quant à la situation des
droits de l’Homme en Turquie, et attirer l’attention sur plusieurs
sujets alarmants, afin d’en faire une priorité dans les débats au
sein du présent Conseil.
Certes, le gouvernement turc met indéniablement en place une
politique intense de réformes législatives en vue la reprise de
l’acquis communautaire, préalable à l’adhésion à l’Union européenne.
Outre sept « paquets » de réformes politiques et une activité
législative intense durant ces derniers mois, le Parlement turc a
ratifié plusieurs traités internationaux et européens, tels que le
Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, le Pacte
international relatif aux droits économiques, sociaux et culturels ou
encore le Protocole n° 6 à la CEDH.
Si la FIDH accueille avec soulagement ces avancées, elle s’interroge
cependant sur les conditions de la mise en oeuvre de ces engagements,
et demeure vivement préoccupée par la situation de nombreux droits
fondamentaux qui continuent d’être systématiquement violés en
Turquie. La situation des défenseurs des droits de l’Homme Les
défenseurs des droits de l’Homme continuent de souffrir de nombreuses
formes de répression en Turquie, au mépris de la Déclaration de
l’Assemblée générale des Nations unies de 1998 sur les défenseurs des
droits de l’Homme : obstacles à l’enregistrement et fermetures
d’associations, perquisitions illégales et saisines de documents,
campagnes de diffamation, menaces et intimidations… Surtout, on
assiste à un accroissement dramatique du recours à la justice aux
fins de sanctionner les défenseurs. Ceux qui osent dénoncer les
violations perpétrées à l’encontre des Kurdes demeurent
particulièrement visés.
La persistance des actes de torture La FIDH dénonce les pratiques de
torture et de traitements inhumains et dégradants commis en Turquie
par la police et les gendarmes. Malgré l’engagement de l’État à mener
une politique de « tolérance zéro » à l’égard de la torture, la
pratique de la torture n’est pas en diminution, loin de là. Elle
prend des formes plus « sophistiquées » et difficilement décelable,
surtout dans les lieux de détention et sur la personne des opposants
politiques. L’impunité des auteurs d’actes de torture persiste. La
justice et l’État de droit Plusieurs changements législatifs ont
contribué à renforcer l’efficacité du système judiciaire turc, mais
certaines de ses caractéristiques demeurent très préoccupantes. Le
maintien des Cours de sûreté de l’État, le non-respect du droit à un
procès juste et équitable, l’inexistence de tribunaux d’appel ou
encore l’inapplication des décisions de la CEDH sont autant
d’éléments qui détournent la Turquie de l’État de droit.
Les conditions de détention De trop nombreux cas de violations des
droits des détenus persistent en Turquie. Malgré les récentes
réformes, l’accès à un avocat n’est toujours pas garanti pour les
personnes en détention préventive et des cas d’intimidation des
détenus et de leurs avocats sont signalés. Dans les provinces du
Sud-Est du pays, et particulièrement dans les prisons de type E et F,
les violations se multiplient. Le problème des minorités La Turquie a
fait quelques avancées en matière de traitement des minorités
nationales ou religieuses. Ces avancées restent cependant limitées
(la Turquie évite en outre tout engagement international concernant
les minorités) et illusoires, puisqu’en pratique la situation des
minorités, en particulier des Kurdes, reste dramatique. Les minorités
se voient déniés leurs droits fondamentaux, et notamment les droits
culturels.
La FIDH condamne également la politique de négation menée par les
autorités turques concernant le génocide arménien, et appelle la
Turquie à se conformer à la résolution du Parlement européen du 18
juin 1987 sur la question arménienne. La fragilisation de la société
civile Les libertés d’association, d’expression et de réunion, en
dépit de certains assouplissements, demeurent particulièrement
contrôlées en Turquie et participent au musellement de la société
civile. Leurs restrictions sont utilisées pour faire taire, en
particulier, les défenseurs des droits de l’Homme, les minorités,
ainsi que les opposants politiques. De plus la législation turque,
même lorsqu’elle est révisée, n’empêche souvent pas des pratiques peu
compatibles avec les dispositions du Pacte international relatif aux
droits civils et politiques et de la CEDH.

Los Angeles Daily News, CA
May 23 2004
Blaming others
The Costa Ricans look down on the Nicaraguans. The Mexicans bad-mouth
Guatemalans. In Japan they discriminate against Koreans. In New
Zealand, the native Maoris are the underclass.
The Germans spit on the Turks, who have done quite a bit more in
recent history than just spit on the Armenians and Greeks. In Sudan,
militias of lighter-skinned Arabs are slaughtering darker-skinned
Africans. The Palestinians and Israelis blow each other up so often
that it’s no longer big news.
It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, there’s always a group
that gets the blame for everything from economic woe to the spread of
disease. And in the United States, the scourge du jour is the “Latino
invasion.”
It always comes down to the same complaint, no matter if you’re
talking about the ethnic Nicas in Costa Rica, the Koreans looking for
jobs in Japan, the Pakistanis raising their families in London: They
steal our jobs. They threaten our way of life. We didn’t ask them to
come here. They won’t abandon their odd foreign ways for our good old
American/Mexican/Muslim/Teutonic traditions. They aren’t like us.
They are parasites that we have to support with our hard-earned tax
dollars. They should go home.
Last week, I wrote about the rising tension in Los Angeles and
elsewhere over the ever-growing Latino population in the United
States, as well as the fears that raises. I didn’t delve into the
whole question of illegal immigration, leaving that treacherous
subject for another day.
The piece drew a few very thoughtful letters from readers who are
individually working out what all this change means for them and
their communities.
But, like Mexicans in Maine, those were a distinct minority.
>>From the East Coast to the Midwest, I was inundated with angry,
sputtering letters from people incensed by the growing numbers of
Latinos. Some used the opportunity to disparage me personally for
taking up the topic, calling me “shallow and narrow-minded,” noting
that clearly I am only a columnist because I am Latina, that if I
don’t like the tension “I should go back to where I came from.”
(What, Indiana?)
All of which, sadly, just proved my point that there are some very,
very bad feelings in this country.
Nearly all of the angry writers couched their anger in terms of the
“illegals,” turning their intolerance into a policy question. Yes,
it’s true there are millions of Mexican and Central American illegal
immigrants in the country, and we don’t even know how many. Yes, they
use government services they are not entitled to. But there’s plenty
of data, not to mention common sense, showing that while they may be
using the emergency rooms for primary care, illegal immigrants also
contribute into a system from which they are legally unable to
benefit.
They do so by providing dirt-cheap labor in the fields and factories,
and even Wal-Mart, which means we legal Americans benefit from lower
prices. They pay taxes. They pay thousands of dollars to independent
businesses for usurious fees because they’re unable to conduct
business in anything other than cash. They work cheaply in our yards,
our kitchens and caring for our kids, but without any insurance or
worker’s comp protection or Social Security.
Who benefits? We do. We like to be proud of the idea that the United
States is a strong beacon of hope for the downtrodden around the
world, but then we cringe when we find that the actual downtrodden at
our doorstep are often poor, uneducated, in need of help, maybe even
a little smelly. All that generosity fades away.
I’m not advocating illegal immigration. But our federal government
has turned a blind eye to a great many of those downtrodden creeping
inside the gates. They are here, among the many millions of legal
immigrants. And that’s no excuse for intolerance.
There was more bad news the other day for those worried about the
“Latino invasion.” The California Department of Finance predicts that
within a decade, Latinos will be a majority in Los Angeles County
and, by 2040, a majority of the state’s population.
And when that happens, don’t be surprised when the comfortable Latino
majority starts agitating against how the new foreign invaders —
maybe it’ll be North Koreans next — are trashing the country and
ruining the fabric of society.
Mariel Garza is an editorial writer and columnist for the Los Angeles
Daily News. Write to her by e-mail at [email protected]
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘Excluding Turkey would be the Failure of EU Arguments’
Zaman, Turkey
May 23 2004
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul declared that using lame excuses
to exclude Turkey from the EU would mark the failure of EU arguments
and warned that a soulless bureaucratic structure would remain instead.
Gul, delivering the opening speech of the ‘New Horizons in Turkish
Foreign Policy’ meeting held at the Dedeman Hotel, said that if the EU
could overcome the Dark Ages’ arguments then it would give Turkey a
date for talks at the December summit. Gul emphasized that it would
be grave injustice towards Turkey if the EU said it did not meet
Copenhagen Criteria. He said that the “Lists of to-do have turned
into the tally of already-done.”
Gul also pointed out that the narrow-minded powers that object
Turkey’s membership are condemned not only in Europe but also in
other regions. He added, “Whenever an unfair opinion is spoken against
Turkey, its response is given within Europe.”
‘We Pursue Soft Power Strategy’
Gul talked about the shift in the mentality of Turkey’s foreign
policy, stressing that Turkey now pursued the ‘soft power’ strategy.
He explained that this method was both more effective and respected.
Gul added that the ideals of big country could only be achieved by
self-confidence.
Gul said that the government’s foreign policy has the content and
dynamism that spreads a culture of compromise. Gul stressed that
Turkey has a few active and inactive problems around itself, but
added that an atmosphere of cooperation and dialogue should take the
lead in helping Turkey to progress beyond the mentality that it is
“surrounded by enemies”. Gul pointed out that relations with Greece
are developing into a ‘strategic partnership’, and that Turkey wants
to be a ‘catalyst’ in Azeri-Armenian conflict.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress