SECRET PRISONS FUNCTIONING IN 10 EU STATES
By Petros Keshishian

AZG Armenian Daily
01/12/2006

Most of the EU states authorities have known that CIA airplanes
are landing on their territory and secret prisons functioning, but
this was carefully concealed form the public, states a report by a
special commission of the European Parliament. Parts of the report
were published on Tuesday. France Presse reports that Claudio Fava,
head of the commission, stated that the most of the Governments have
actively or passively cooperated with the CIA.

According to Mr. Fava, the heads of the European states have well known
about the prisons were people suspected in terrorism are illegally
kept. He added that only the authorities of Spain and Germany were
willing to cooperate with the commission.

In the report of the commission is said that CIS secret prisons are
functioning in Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain,
Italy, Poland, Portugal and Sweden, as well as Bosnia, Macedonia and
Turkey, which are not EU members. It is also said that CIA airplanes
have landed in the European states at least 1245 times. The airplanes
were transporting illegal prisoners – terrorism suspects.

Evidence of about 130 people – EU officials, special service employees
and reporters, were collected during the 6 month long activity of
the commission. Since 2005 rights protection organizations have
been declaring that existence of such "air prisons" and illegal
places of the execution is a severe violation of the terms of the
International Law.

SERGE SARGSIAN STATES MUTUAL COMPROMISES ARE IMPORTANT FOR SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT

AZG Armenian Daily
01/12/2006

RA Defense Minister Serge Sargsian stated that mutual compromises are
needed for the peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. In
response to the question whether Armenia may agree to cede Kalbajar
too, Sargsian said that he never mentioned any specific territory. "I
always spoke about mutual compromises and worthy peace, but I
have never said: "we will give 15 meters, 20 meters or 500 km,"
he explained. Besdies he added that he has no information about
agreements on cession of 7 districts. He emphasized that such agreement
is hardly possible.

INTERNATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE ACCREDITS HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER’S OFFICE OF ARMENIA HIGHEST STATUS OF CONFORMITY TO PARIS PRINCIPLES

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 30 2006

The International Coordination Committee of National Institutions for
the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC), United Nations,
has given the human Rights Defender’s Office of Armenia (Ombudsman)
the highest status of conformity "A" to the so-called Paris Principles,
Human Rights Defender’s Office told ArmInfo.

This status gives an opportunity to the Human Rights Defender’s Office
to participate in the sessions of the UN Human Rights Council as well
as to make speeches and initiatives at the sessions.

The Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions for
the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (Paris Principles),
which were adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993,
provide for the competence and responsibilities of the National
Institutions for Human Rights, for composition and guarantees of
independence and pluralism, methods of operation, as well as for
additional principles concerning the status of commissions with
quasi-jurisdictional competence. There are 4 statuses: the highest is
"A," the lowest is the status of non-conformity – "C."

GAS IS NOT A CORNER STONE OF YEREVAN-MOSCOW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP: ARMENIAN PM

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 30 2006

"Gas is not a corner stone of our strategic partnership," said Armenian
Prime Minister Andranik Margaryan in an interview with the Moscow-based
"Kommersant" before his visit to Moscow.

Asked about the influence of the gas issue on the strategic
partnership of Russia and Armenia and the attitude of Yerevan to
the rise of the Russian gas tariff, the premier said that the term
"strategic partnership," which is used to define the two countries’
relations, is an evidence of the high level of relations in all the
spheres. The strategic partnership of Armenia and Russia is based
on close cooperation of our countries in the political, military,
trade- economic, scientific-technical, humanitarian spheres,
as well as on the common vision of the global developments, the
high level of coordination in the international arena, respect of
national interests. "I’d not like to emphasize the gas sphere as a
corner stone of our strategic partnership," the premier said. "Gas
is only one of the spheres of our energy cooperation. We effectively
cooperate in the sphere of atomic energy, thermal and hydro power
engineering etc.. Russia has its grounds to rise the gas tariff,
which are connected with many factors. At the same time, our strategic
partnership must be insured against the current political and economic
conditions and proceed from the logic of long-term interaction,"
the prime minister said.

At the same time, speaking of the possibility and the terms of the
transfer of Iran-Armenia gas pipeline under management of Gazprom,
Andranik Margaryan said that the construction of the pipeline has not
been completed so far and it is untimely speaking of its transfer
to any operator, including to Gazprom. "Armenia and Iran have been
successfully cooperating in the energy sphere for a long time already
and Iran-Armenia gas pipeline is one of the key bilateral energy
projects. It is at the stage of construction. A 39.5 km part of the
pipeline Meghri-Kajaran will open soon," the premier said.

The construction is to be completed by December 20. The company to
be exploiting the pipeline will be announced in the spring. The
pipeline is built on the funds of the Iranian party. The project
costs $30 million. AT present, the CJSC ArmRosgazprom is working on
the extension of the pipeline from Kajaran to Yerevan and on raising
the capacity of the operating gas transport net to 2.3 billion cubic
meters of gas annually.

FRENCH EVENTS ON THE YEAR OF ARMENIA

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 30 2006

The Year of Armenia in France (YAF) is celebrated in France.

Press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia reported to ArmInfo
that a celebration will be organized in Grenoble on 25 November.

Edward Nalbandyan, Ambassador of Armenia to France, Mayor of Grenoble,
MP Michael Deston, and many other officials participated in the
event. At the closuring ceremony the Mayor of Grenoble passed a golden
medal to the Mayor’s House of Yerevan.

The YAF is set out in Montpelier on 28 November. Celebration was held
in the city’s Mayor’s House. One of the streets in Montpelier will be
named after Misak Manoushyan. Armenian Ambassador was awarded with the
title of honorable resident of Montpelier. The YAF in Montelimar was
celebrated on 27 Nov. An exhibition of Armenian ornament crafts was
held there. Over 700 activities in 150 cities of France are planned
within frames of YAF.

WWF ADVOCATES LEGALIZATION OF HUNTING IN ARMENIA

ArmInfo News Agency, Armenia
Nov 30 2006

Every year poachers kill about 300 bezoar goats, 30 bears and 15
moufflons on the territory of Armenia. All these animals are registered
in the International Red Book, Karen Manvelyan, the representative
of the Caucasian Office of the World Wildlife Fund in Armenia, told
an ArmInfo correspondent.

For an efficient fight against poaching, the Armenian Government has
worked out a draft law regulating hunting and activity of hunting
grounds. The first public hearings of the draft law took place in the
Yerevan office of Arhus Ecology Center. In K.Manvelyan’s opinion,
Armenia needs a legal document not only to regulate the hunting
activity, but also organize the protection of wild animals. He
said that some items of the bill don’t comply with international
standards. In the global practice, hunting grounds are created near
reserved zones making hunters interested in protecting objects of
hunting and organizing a struggle against poaching.

The draft law doesn’t stipulate the quantity of rare kinds of
animals, hunting of which will be allowed for trophy or scientific
reasons. In the global practice, this quantity is 0.3-0.5% of the
general population of animals. 50% of funds received from the trophy
hunting should be spent on recovery of the animal’s population. The
draft law should also provide for the inventory of animals which was
held in Armenia 40 years ago. According to the WWF estimation, the
livestock of some species of wild animals in Armenia is no more than
250, so the hunting of them should be forbidden. The share of reserved
zones on the territories of national parks is underestimated in the
draft law, according to international standards, it should be no less
than 75% of the park’s territory. If all the proposals are taken into
account, it will be possible to decrease the risks of corruption in
the regional ecology inspections which shut their eyes to the poaching
by high ranking officials. We are not against the law on hunting and
hunting grounds, as forbidden fruit is sweet, K.Manvelyan said.

VATICAN: POPE NOT TO SPEAK OF "GENOCIDE" DURING ARMENIAN PATRIARCHATE VISIT

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 30 2006

Istanbul, 29 November: Pope Benedict XVI, spiritual leader of the
Catholic world, will not use the word of "genocide" during his visit
to the Armenian Patriarchate in Istanbul on Thursday [30 November].

Vatican sources said that the Pope would refer to the past sufferings
and difficulties of the Armenian people during his scheduled meeting
with Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II.

According to the sources, the Pope will not use the words of "genocide"
or Armenian "Medz Yeghern" (malice) during the meeting.

The same sources noted that the Pope decided not to use those words
by taking into consideration Turkey’s sensitivities.

ITALY’S BONINO HAILS POPE’S VISIT, SAYS EU "PREVARICATING" OVER TURKEY

Corriere della Sera website, Milan, Italy
Nov 30 2006

Interview with Italian European Affairs Minister Emma Bonino in Rome;

"’Pope? He is Farther-Sighted than Many European Politicians’",
from Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera website on 30 November:

Rome – "Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey will be historic." Minister
Emma Bonino is convinced of it. The Radical leader, like her party,
has not indulged the pope, but now acknowledges that Ratzinger "is
better able to interpret the world than many European politicians".

[Corriere della Sera] Are you surprised by the pope’s new line?

[Bonino] I am not surprised that Pope Benedict XVI expresses himself
differently from Cardinal Ratzinger: having the responsibilities
of a head of state is different from being a very authoritative
theologian. I welcome the change on his part and think it should
prompt a more visionary outlook on the part of all Europe’s capitals.

[Corriere della Sera] Do you mean that?

[Bonino] Of course, I regret the fact that this message of dialogue is
being imparted by religious authorities and not politicians. I consider
it significant that it is the Vatican itself that realizes that Europe
cannot remain a Catholic fortress, that it is counterproductive to
erect another iron curtain against an entire world, the Muslim world,
because it would ultimately create a non-inclusive and intolerant
society, restricting the scope of democracy, the rule of law, and
human rights observance.

[Corriere della Sera] So is the pope behaving like a politician?

[Bonino] The Vatican has understood the need to clarify the "Regensburg
misunderstanding," partly by means of a clear message to Europe’s
governments: there is no Catholic pretext for what are entirely
political decisions. In this respect it seems to me that the message
conveyed to [Turkish Prime Minister] Erdogan was addressed chiefly to
certain European governments. This, because I see in this detachment
a great deal of cynicism, many electoral calculations, a great deal
of political short-sightedness… The very same that I see when,
out of pure national selfishness, a country blocks a directive on
the certification of Parmesan cheese or fishing quotas, but applied
here to an epoch-making decision, perhaps the most important decision
that Europe has ever made and will ever make. I am astonished by the
pettiness of the arguments and pretexts used, the fears cynically
brought into the debate…

[Corriere della Sera] Indeed the Vatican’s change of course occurs just
as mutual incomprehension is occurring between Europe and Turkey. The
Commission’s decision on the negotiations is no surprise.

[Bonino] Recent history shows a unilateral rapprochement on Turkey’s
part – NATO, the customs union, the launch of EU membership
negotiations. Unfortunately this approach has always been too
problematical. The Commission is proposing a suspension of membership
negotiations on some of the economic chapters. Of course this would
constitute a lull on the political plane. But not a break in the
process. Having said that, I am disappointed and frustrated. It is
47 years since Turkey’s first request to join, and we are still here
prevaricating, after setting criteria, the so-called Copenhagen
criteria, interpreted by Turkey alone, successively introducing
further obstacles such as "absorption capacity" or recognition of
the Armenian massacre…

[Corriere della Sera] So much for Europe’s mistakes. What about Turkey?

[Bonino] Turkey is unfortunately often the worst enemy of its own
national cause, with a tradition of diplomatic inflexibility verging on
the paradoxical. If there are three possible solutions, they generally
choose the one most problematical for the other side. I must say that
things are no better with regard to Cyprus, on the Greek-Cypriot side.

[Corriere della Sera] What role could the Italian Government perform?

[Bonino] That which befalls a major EU government, a friend of
Turkey’s. But we do not make these decisions on our own.

POPE URGES TURKISH CHRISTIANS TO MEET ‘MANY CHALLENGES’
by Malcolm Moore in Ephesus

The Daily Telegraph (LONDON)
November 30, 2006 Thursday

THE Pope drew attention to the plight of Turkey’s tiny Christian
community yesterday and paid tribute to a Catholic priest who was
shot dead earlier this year.

On the second day of his four-day trip, the Pope visited a shrine in
Ephesus where the Virgin is said to have spent her final days. The
small stone house, which has been converted into a church, is close
to Turkey’s only significant Catholic community, at Izmir. A few
hundred locals were invited to pray with the Pope.

During the outdoor mass, under a canopy of flowers in the Vatican’s
colours of yellow and white, the Pope appeared to be nursing a cold,
coughing often and wiping his nose.

"Let us sing joyfully, even when we’re tested by difficulties and
dangers, as we have learned from the fine witness given by the Rev
Andrea Santoro, whom I am pleased to recall in this celebration,"
he said.

Fr Santoro was shot in February by a teenager as he knelt in prayer at
his church in Trabzon on the Black Sea. The Pope encouraged Turkey’s
"little flock" of Christians to stand firm in the face of "many
challenges and daily difficulties".

Out of Turkey’s 70 million people, who are mostly Muslims, only 20,000
are Roman Catholic. Another 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians,
3,500 are Protestant and 2,000 are Greek Orthodox.

The Christian minority has faced a series of persecutions. A Catholic
priest in Izmir was harassed during the Danish cartoon controversy
and bulldozers arrived to level his church. In July, a priest was
stabbed in Samsun.

The Pope appealed again for understanding between Muslims and
Christians, citing Mary as a figure that united the two faiths.

Turkish security forces cordoned off the hill on which the shrine
stands. Snipers patrolled the surrounding forest and trees were
whitewashed to remove possible cover for assassins.

The trip has been dogged by controversy since September, when the
Pope made comments in which he appeared to link Islam with violence.

VISIT ‘A GREAT BOOST’ FOR MARGINALISED CHRISTIANS

The Irish Times
November 30, 2006 Thursday

TURKEY: Patsy McGarry meets an Irish priest in Istanbul who will
concelebrate Mass with the pope

Pope Benedict’s visit to Turkey will help bring about "renewed respect"
between Muslims and Christians, Irish Dominican priest Fr Paul Lawlor
said in Istanbul yesterday.

Fr Lawlor, who will concelebrate Mass with the pope in the Cathedral
of the Holy Spirit tomorrow, has been based in the Turkish metropolis
since November last year.

A native of Tralee, Co Kerry, he served with the Dominicans in Tehran
from 1974 until all foreign clergy were expelled in 1980.

The pope’s visit, he said, would also be "a great boost for Christians
of this area of Turkey, who could feel marginalised".

He pointed out that the Catholic Church was not recognised in Turkey,
which created ownership problems when it came to property and meant
Catholic clergy could not wear clerical dress in public.

Other Christian churches, such as the Armenian and Orthodox churches,
were recognised and so could wear clerical dress, for instance, but
recognition also meant coming under the state’s religious affairs
directorate, which maintained tight control over all recognised
religions in Turkey.

However, the other churches had other problems too in that, for
instance, all Orthodox seminaries had been closed by the state some
decades ago.

In theory there was complete religious freedom in Turkey, he said,
and it was true that a Muslim there who converted to Christianity
was not made to suffer repercussions, unlike the case in Iran, for
instance, where such a person could face execution.

But Muslims in Turkey had become "very defensive and sensitive" where
their religion was concerned and feared the rise of Islamophobia in
the West. Particular areas of Istanbul had become strongly Islamic
in culture and were places where Christians would feel "very excluded".

On the other hand, there were Christians among the Greek Orthodox
and Armenians who did not consider themselves Turkish and would not
allow any part of their liturgy to be in Turkish, he said.

There are an estimated 100,000-plus Christians in Turkey and Istanbul,
approximately 32,000 of whom are Roman Catholic. "The Christian
community is very scattered into so many little groups," Fr Lawlor
said. Among them are Chaldeans, Armenians, Greek and Turk Orthodox.

All had felt some repercussions since the Muhammad cartoons controversy
last year and again following the pope’s Regensburg address last
September, he said. Both had generated "resentment" towards Christians
in Turkey.

That Regensburg address may also have been the reason why a meeting
by President Mohammad Khatami of Iran with the pope was cancelled by
Iran’s supreme leader, he felt. Fr Lawlor was to accompany Mr Khatami
on the visit, as he speaks Farsi.

A newer group of Christians in Istanbul were the "thousands" of
Chaldeans who had fled Baghdad and Mosul since the war began in Iraq.

Some of their priests had been killed and their churches bombed. Fr
Lawlor described their situation as "tragic", with parents accompanying
children to schools set up by the Catholic charity Caritas in Istanbul
"because their houses are so cold and they cannot heat them".

He and other priests in the Dominican community say Mass for them,
at least part of which is in Aramaic.

In their own Church of St Peter and Paul in the Galata Gate area
of Istanbul, they have upwards of 50 at Mass every Sunday, with a
far larger number tending to treat the church and its grounds as the
centre of their community. It is in the Genoese quarter of Istanbul,
where the Dominicans have been since the 12th century.

Currently there are five priests in the community, including Fr
Lawlor. Two are doing further study at Istanbul university while also
trying to restore the community’s library.

Another member, Fr Giuseppe, was organist at the pope’s Mass in
Ephesus yesterday and regularly gives concerts in the Church of St
Peter and St Paul. The community superior, Fr Lorenzo, is also vicar
of the diocese and has been in Turkey for 32 years, 23 of them at
the St Peter and Paul community, where all live in frugal comfort.

Fr Lawlor has regular contact with another Irish priest in Istanbul,
Rev Ian Sherwood from Wicklow, who is of the Anglican tradition.

Fr Lawlor described him as "an amazing character". Rev Sherwood is
based at the nearby Crimean Memorial Church, which he had restored
completely.