THIRD MOBILE OPERATOR TO APPEAR IN ARMENIA BY 2009
TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 9 2006
(ARKA) – The third mobile telecommunications operator will appear
in Armenia by 2009, Andranik Manukyan told reporters Wednesday. He
explained that the government has made a commitment that it will not
grant a license to a new operator until 2009.
“The Armenian market of mobile communications is so small that two
operators fully share it,” the minister said.
The Russian VimpelCom OJSC (Beeline brand) signed an agreement
with the Greek Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (OTE)
on purchasing 90% shares of the Armenian ArmenTel Company for EUR
341.9mln, reports Trend.
According to the report by VimpelCom, the company will take the debts
and liabilities of ArmenTel for about EUR 40mln.
ArmenTel Company is one of the two mobile operators in Armenia. It has
the biggest number of subscribers in Armenia. The company holds 40%
of the mobile communications market of Armenia.
In July 1, 2005, the second mobile operator K-Telecom of VivaCell
brand entered the Armenian market of mobile communications.

RENEWED PUSH FOR GENOCIDE BILL
By Lisa Friedman, Washington Bureau
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
Nov 9 2006
WASHINGTON – The e-mail early Wednesday from the Armenian National
Committee of America was positively enthusiastic.
“It’s just past 1:30 a.m. on election night and I’m wide awake,”
Chairman Ken Hachikian wrote to the organization’s members as news
networks projected the Democratic Party takeover in the U.S. House.
Hachikian and others said they now see a hopeful future for passage
of Armenian issues in Congress, including a hotly disputed resolution
officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide.
“Our chances are excellent,” agreed Bryan Ardouny, executive director
of the Armenian Assembly for America.
The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, passed the
House Foreign Relations Committee this year, but Republican Speaker
Dennis Hastert blocked it from a full House vote.
As recently as last week, Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi, D-San
Francisco, expressed support for the bill.
“I think the prospects for passage of the genocide resolution just
got much, much better,” Schiff said.
Armenians contend that the Ottoman Empire began an orchestrated
slaughter in 1915 in which about 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
Turkey denies that it was a genocide, saying about 300,000 were killed
and noting that Armenians sided with invading Russian troops in the
aftermath of World War I and took up arms against Turks.
Bural Gengiz, president of the American Turkish Association of
America, said he believes Pelosi will consider Turkey’s alliance
with the U.S. and its position as a NATO ally when the genocide issue
next arises.
Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, who co-sponsored the Armenian genocide
resolution but did not push GOP leaders to bring it to the floor,
was circumspect about predicting the bill’s future.
“There will clearly be a discussion on that,” Dreier said.

ILKHAM ALIYEV VISITS BRUSSELS, MOSCOW
Dmitry Butrin
Kommersant, Russia
Nov 9 2006
Today Russian President Vladimir Putin will suggest to Azerbaijani
President Ilkham Aliyev, who is visiting Moscow after a trip to
Brussels to meet with European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso, that he decide whether Azerbaijan intends to continue with its
“strategic partnership” with Russia. If Azerbaijan responds positively,
Moscow will request Baku’s cooperation in Russia’s struggle with
Georgia and will offer Russian arms and investment by UES Russia and
RusAlum in return.
President Aliyev’s visit to Europe unnerved the Kremlin chiefly
because of Azerbaijan’s projected defense spending for 2007: the
country will spend $1 billion on the military next year, up from $600
million currently. Russia fears that this could be a preliminary step
towards membership in NATO. If Azerbaijan joins neighboring Georgia
in a NATO bid, the ex-Soviet Caucasus could end up hosting NATO and
American military bases as the West seeks to control Iran.
In an effort to forestall the possibility of NATO bases near its
southern border, Russia is attempting to lure Azerbaijan back to its
own camp with promises of increased sales of cut-rate Russian-made
weapons. Russia has been curtailing its arms trade with Azerbaijan,
fearing to fan the flames of Azerbaijan’s long-standing feud with
neighboring Armenia.
Russia is also focusing on Azerbaijan in an attempt to create a
unified front within the CIS against the Kremlin’s latest enemy,
Georgia. Moscow is seeking to impose an energy blockade on Georgia
in the winter of 2006-2007, while Azerbaijan last winter stepped
in with emergency supplies of electrical energy and gas when Russia
interrupted deliveries to Georgia. In 2007, Gazprom is threatening
to raise the price of gas for Georgia from $110 to $230 per thousand
cubic meters. According to unofficial sources, the same proposal
has been made for Azerbaijan as well, angering President Aliyev. The
country currently pays $95-100 per thousand cubic meters for the 1.5
billion cubic meters of gas that it imports from Russia annually.
Other proposals from the Kremlin are more palatable: according to
Kommersant’s sources, Vladimir Putin will offer President Aliyev
investment by the company RusAlum to the tune of a $1 billion aluminum
plant in Azerbaijan. Mr. Putin will also mention interest on the
part of the Russian company UES Energy in investing in Azerbaijan’s
energy sector.
Technically, Mr. Aliyev’s trip to Europe before coming to Moscow puts
Mr. Putin in the position of asking rather than dictating with regard
to his Azerbaijani colleague. Mr. Aliyev demonstrated in Brussels
that his trip to Europe was more about energy than military matters,
though he met with the NATO leadership. After his meeting with Mr.
Barroso, Mr. Aliyev announced agreements between Azerbaijan and
the EU to guarantee energy supplies from the Caspian region and
negotiations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine on a project to deliver
oil to Eastern Europe. President Aliyev has held similar talks with
Belarus, a project that cannot be interpreted as pro-Russian.
With regard to the “anti-Georgia bloc,” the Azerbaijani president
announced yesterday in Brussels that he hopes that relations between
Russia and Georgia improve, since Azerbaijan “is building strategic
partnerships with both countries.” That stance is hardly likely to
appeal to Vladimir Putin, meaning that today’s meeting promises to
be tense.

ASIAN GAMES TORCH IN ESFAHAN
Peninsula On-line, Qatar
Nov 9 2006
A man astride a horse carries the 15th Asian Games torch in Mashad,
Iran.
Esfahan ~U The 15th Doha Asian Games Torch Relay left the Holy City
of Mashad, Iran, and reached the 2006 Cultural Capital of the Islamic
world, the ancient Iranian city of Esfahan.
A bright and clear, sunny day greeted the Flame Plane as it touched
down at Esfahan Shahid Beheshti International Airport yesterday.
H E Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the 15th Asian Games Torch Relay
Ambassador, was welcomed by girls and boys dressed in brightly coloured
traditional outfits as he walked down the steps from the aircraft.
Sheikh Joaan was welcomed by the dignitaries from the province of
Esfahan, Governor, Dr Mourteza Saghaian Nejad; Mayor, Dr. Sayaid
Morteza Saghaiannejari; together with the Secretary-General of
Physical Education, Behrouz Momtakhabi and representatives from
the Iranian Olympic Committee; President Dr Reza Gharakhanlou and
Secretary General Ali Kafashian.
The Torch Relay started the day with a reading from the Koran at
Monar-e-Jonban, the Shaking Minarets.
First Torch-bearer, the city Mayor, Bakhtiari, stood under the famous
minarets which both shake in harmony if one is vibrated by someone
inside. Once the shaking began, the Relay was off on its six hour,
40km route through the city. Bakhtiari ran across a small footpath
then exchanged the Flame with Momtakhabi. The Relay continued on
along the Atashgah Boulevard before crossing the 186m Marnan Bridge,
built in 1636CE by the Armenian administrator, Khaje Sarfaraz.
After a loop up to Sofeh Park, taking in the beautiful Armenian Vank
Church, the Torch Route hugged the banks of the Ziyande River:
Three more bridges were crossed, the Khagou Bridge, built during the
Safavid Dynasty; the Sharestan Bridge, the oldest bridge in Esfahan and
the Siospol Bridge, a unique construction with 33 spectacular arches.
Some of the alternative modes of transport used in the Esfahan leg
of the Relay included grass skiers, a first for the 2006 Relay,
kayaks on the Ziyande River – the kayaks escorting the Flame showing
their commitment to the day by capsizing to show the Torch Relay
logo emblazoned on their bottoms – and a horse and carriage along
Charbagh Street.
As dusk fell on the city, the Flame arrived on horseback at the UNESCO
World Heritage Site and second largest city square in the world,
the Naghsh-I Jahan Square.
Overlooked by the breathtaking Shah and Sheikh Lotf Allah Mosques on
the southern and eastern sides of the square, the Flame was handed
to Ahmad Reza Kiani and Ali Malekpour who were joined by taekwondo
world champion and Athens 2004 gold medallist, Hadi Saee.
Saee, Malekpour and Kiani walked along 76 metres of beautiful,
hand-woven Persian carpet to the Torch Relay celebration site.
Together they ignited the cauldron which initiated the performance of
a traditional Iranian song sung in three languages; Arabic, English
and Farsi, and a performance from a twirling dance troupe.
Today, the Flame travels to its last stop in Iran, the capital city
Tehran, which hosted the 1974 Asian Games.
From: Baghdasarian

FINAL DATE OF THE OSCE MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS’ VISIT TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH REGION TO BE AGREED
Author: E.Huseynov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Nov 9 2006
The final date of the next visit of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group to the region of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not been agreed
yet, the Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov informed
Trend, commenting on the information regarding the visit of mediators
at the end of November.
We have not agreed upon the final date of the visit, and therefore,
I can not to say something exactly. The date and route of the visit
will be specified on November 14 in Brussels where the co-chairs
will conduct consultations with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign
Ministers, Merzlyakov said.
The Russian diplomat also stressed that the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group have not worked out a common position regarding the referendum on
the changes to the Constitution scheduled to tale place on December
10 in Nagorno-Karabakh. “Yet we have not met and considered this
question. It will take place in Brussels,” Merzlyakov concluded.

NEW US CONGRESS TO POSE MORE TROUBLES FOR TURKEY
Turkish Daily News
Nov 9 2006
The Democratic Party’s landslide win in Tuesday’s U.S. congressional
polls will mean more headaches for Turkey, at least in the House of
Representatives, whose control now belongs to the election’s victors.
Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who is expected to become the
House’s first female speaker in the new Congress, already has pledged
to support efforts for recognition of the Armenian killings in the
last days of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
The Democratic Party garnered a clear majority in the House, Congress’
lower chamber, and also may win control of the Senate after the fate
of at least two contested seats there becomes clear.
The election outcome is a clear defeat for Republican President George
W. Bush and his Iraq policies.
The repercussions of losing even one of the houses is enough to pose
grave consequences for Bush, whose “lame duck” presidency in his
remaining 26 months in office will likely worsen under increasing
attacks by a hostile Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
There will also likely be adverse implications of the Democratic
takeover of Congress for Turkey, although Turkey is never an actor in
U.S. domestic politics, Turkish diplomats fear. The likeliest fallout
will be on the Armenian genocide controversy.
“I have supported legislation … that would properly acknowledge the
Armenian genocide. It is imperative that the United States recognize
this atrocity and move to renew our commitment to eliminate genocide
whenever and wherever it exists. This effort enjoys strong bipartisan
support in the House, and I will continue to support these efforts in
the 110th Congress,” Pelosi said in a recent message to a prominent
U.S. Armenian publisher.
In the outgoing House, there were also resolutions for genocide
recognition, but Dennis Hastert, current speaker and a close Bush ally,
had never brought them to a full floor vote.
As Pelosi points out, there is strong bipartisan backing for
genocide recognition in the House, and her speakership will be a
great encouragement for Armenian groups who emphatically will seek
a genocide resolution’s passage before April 24 of next year.
The new Congress will meet in January, and new genocide recognition
resolutions are expected shortly after.
A potential U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide would be a top
prize for the Armenians, who subsequently would raise compensation
and land issues with Ankara, the Turkish diplomats fear.
And that is not all. There is also the Iraq quagmire, and the Democrats
want to shape U.S. policies in ways that could hurt Turkey’s interests
even more.
Turkey has suffered enough from the Republican invasion of Iraq,
but there is more to come from Democratic-inspired approaches,
the diplomats fear. Ankara supports continued U.S. commitment to a
unified Iraq because other options will present even worse outcomes.
Recently, prominent Democrats, including leading former diplomat
Richard Holbrooke, have called for a redeployment of U.S. troops in
Iraq to Kurdish-controlled northern areas.
At a time when Sen. Joseph Biden, a top foreign policy figure in
the Democratic Party, is calling for Iraq’s effective partitioning
through the creation of three statelets in a very loosely federated
Iraq, such proposals are likely to be increasingly embraced by the
Democrats as well as by some Republicans.
Biden will become chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee
if the Democratic Party wins the upper chamber’s control.
Such plans, including redeployment of U.S. forces in the north,
are seen by Ankara as moves that would finalize the formal creation
of a Kurdish state that could have huge repercussions on Turkey’s
Kurdish population.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION RELEASES TURKEY’S PROGRESS REPORT
Anatolian Times, Turkey
Nov 9 2006
BRUSSELS – The European Commission argued that there are communities
which can be defined as a minority in Turkey other than Jews,
Armenians and Greek Orthodox people, according to international and
European standards.
The European Commission released today the report on the progress
made by Turkey on the road to EU membership.
On the minority rights, the Commission said, “Turkey’s position on
minority rights has not changed. According to Turkish authorities,
minorities in Turkey are defined by the Lausanne Treaty signed in
1923 as the Jews, Armenians and Greek Orthodox people .”
Referring to the lawsuits filed against Turkey in the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) regarding human and minority rights, the
Commission’s report drew attention to the fact that Turkey adhered to
some international conventions on human rights in the last one year,
and asked Turkey to improve human rights and the related institutions.
The report noted that cases regarding torture and mal-treatment are
declining, but emphasized necessity of improving forensic medicine
practices.
-FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION-
On the other hand, the Commission stated that Turkey made some progress
in broadcasting in local languages and dialects.
Pointing out that the Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK)
constitutes an obstacle before the freedom of expression, the report
said that the Supreme Court of Turkey ratified the punishment of
journalist Hrant Dink.
The progress report noted that Turkey has to amend Article 301 to get
closer to EU standards, and expressed concern over the newly-enacted
Anti-Terror Law.
Under the religious freedoms chapter, the Commission complained that
the seminary in Heybeliada is still closed and the religious minorities
are restricted from raising clergymen. Also noting that the rights
of religious foundations to acquire properties are restricted, the
report claimed that the Directorate General of Religious Affairs is
“assuming a hostile approach” to the missionary works.
Referring to the Alawites, the Commission’s report said that there
are problems in opening their places of worship, and these places
are not suppoted by state funds.
On the other hand, the report referred to some other topics like
violence in the family, honor killings, not letting girls to go to
school, insufficient participation of women in politics, and gender
equality. However, it said that Turkish people are getting more and
more conscious about women’s rights.
On union rights, the Commission argued that Turkey made no progress
in the last one year.
-EASTERN & SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA-
The report recalled that Turkey allowed two local channels to broadcast
in Kurdish within the scope of cultural rights, but criticized the
time limitation in this regard. It said that children, whose mother
tongue is not Turkish, cannot learn their mother tongue in schools.
Recalling that victims of terrorist attacks have been compensated, the
progress report said, “the PKK, which is in the list of EU terrorist
organizations, staged 774 attacks between November 2005 and June 2006
and 44 soldiers, five police officers and 13 civilians lost their
lives in these attacks.”
The report also referred to some measures taken by Turkey and Greece
to prevent recurrence of some incidents over the Aegean like the recent
“dog fight” which resulted in death of a Greek pilot.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

SOLDIER TO SHARE HIS STORY OF WAR
By Emanuel Parker Staff Writer
Whittier Daily News, CA
Nov 9 2006
PASADENA – Shant Kenderian will be in Pasadena next week to discuss
the harrowing experience of being drafted into the Iraqi army and
forced to fight in the Iran-Iraq War and in Operation Desert Storm.
Kenderian has written a book about his experiences, “1001 Nights in
the Iraqi Army: The True Story of a Chicago Student held as a POW by
the Americans During Desert Storm.”
He will speak at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. Gregory, the Illuminator
Apostolic Church, 2215 Colorado Blvd. and sign copies of his book.
Tickets to the event will be $15 and include a noon luncheon.
Kenderian was in Iraq visiting his father in 1980 when Saddam Hussein
issued an order to all men between the ages of 18 and 55, “Register
for the army within 72 hours or be shot!”
The high school senior was born in Iraq and discovered Iraqi officials
considered him an Iraqi citizen, despite his American Green Card.
He served in the front lines of the army during the Iran-Iraq war
and was transferred to the Iraqi navy during Operation Desert Storm.
The boat he was assigned to hit an Iraqi mine, and he was captured
by U.S. Naval forces and held at various POW camps in Kuwait before
re-establishing his Green Card status.
“I served in both wars,” he said, “but never had a gun. You can’t
fight when you don’t have a gun.”
He also said the government supplied his boat with the wrong caliber
ammunition.
“The contrast between the American and Iraqi soldiers and the way they
were equipped was astounding,” he said. “The 15 soldiers on the L-87
had – collectively – two guns, one helmet and 15 old gas masks with
ineffective chemical kits.”
Kenderian earned an undergraduate degree in engineering in Baghdad.
He earned his Ph.D. from the Materials Science and Engineering
Department at Johns Hopkins University in 2002, and in September 2002
became an American citizen.
He joined a NASA team in the aftermath of the Space Shuttle Columbia
disaster, and helped investigate the cause of the disaster and make
improvements on the shuttle.
He is currently vice president of the Armenian Engineers and Scientists
of America, based in Glendale, and is a senior member of the technical
staff at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo.

EUROPE DIARY: HEADSCARF CHIC
Designer Cheek
BBC News, UK
Nov 9 2006
BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell talks to headscarf wearers and headscarf
opponents to get a full picture of the Turkish debate on Muslim dress –
plus more thoughts on the Ottoman slaughter of Armenians.
Undo the clips, and it’s a revealing halter neck Rabia Yalcin looks
stunning. I am not sure I should write that about someone who prides
themselves on dressing in accordance with the Islamic dress code,
but she is an Istanbul fashion designer who says her aim is “to show
the beauty of the flower, while covering the flower”. She’s wearing
a bright scarlet headscarf, a grey jacket and trousers modelled on
Turkish pantaloons.
She has an interesting, not to say cheeky, take on the religious
rules. She shows us one of her latest creations. It’s a floor length
pink gown with a black velvet headscarf. Very modest. But a couple
of clips undone here and there and it becomes a very revealing halter
neck evening dress leaving little to the imagination. Rabia says it’s
of course only to be worn at home in front of husband and family.
FUNKY HATS She has a similarly ingenious way of coping with Turkey’s
headscarf ban.
That’s a kalpak, not a fez
The Turkish Republic has a bit of a thing about the political symbolism
of headgear. Its founder, whose picture still adorns every office,
every public place, Kemal Ataturk banned the fez as a head covering
and expected men to wear the hat. His own favourite was evidently
the Panama, although he’s often depicted wearing a kalpak, a tall
black fuzzy number which in certain lights could pass for a fez,
but which obviously has some crucial difference that I’m missing.
Like all his dramatic changes to Turkish society, from a new alphabet
to public dances, it appears to have been accepted with remarkably
little fuss. Although he banned religious dress in public places and
railed against veiling women he didn’t make much progress against the
headscarf. It was left to a government in 1979 to make that illegal.
Rabia’s ingenious solution? Her daughter is at university and she
has designed haute couture items to satisfy both Koranic law and
the Turkish state. Her daughter wears funky hats that cover all her
hair… Many of her fellow students and lecturers just thought she
was ultra-fashionable, and I guess rather eccentric and blessed with a
talented mum, until they saw her out of class wearing the traditional
head dress. Then the penny drops.
HARD CHOICE The story of Rabia’s personal assistant, who doesn’t have a
designer mum is rather different. Aslinur Kara is one of those people
who immediately makes you think: “I wish she worked for me.” She
exudes no-nonsense efficiency and directness. She’s also devout and
had a hard choice when the time came to go to university.
Aslinur wanted a degree, so she had to remove her veil She told me that
she decided not to waste her education and ruin her life. So she took
the scarf off at the doors. She said it was hard, against her values,
an insult and against human rights. But in time it didn’t hurt so much,
and she came to feel that for her fellow students it was brains, the
person inside, that mattered, not what they wore. One is tempted to
say, “Well, precisely!” But I don’t.
She now has a job where she can wear the headscarf. But the law
remains and she couldn’t go into politics or the civil service or
teaching without making that hard choice again.
PRO-MILITARY LIBERALS I suspect many, probably most people in
Britain would see this as a matter of freedom of choice, but it’s
not seen like this here. The government’s tentative plans to change
the law meet fierce opposition. Just last weekend there was a march
through Ankara, a crowd of 12,000 people, to protest against the very
possibility. It’s an interesting twist that people who most probably
would be leftie Hampstead liberals in Britain are here supporters of
the army – the principal opponents of any weakening of what they see
as the secular state.
Bedri Baykam is an artist who clearly loves to shock. He’s working
on a series called Picasso’s women and his studio is covered with
photographs of naked women. He says that women who wear the headscarf
these days are making a statement that they are warriors for militant
Islam. He says their head covering is not like the headscarves worn
by his mother or grandmother but have tight elastic so that not one
scrap of hair escapes. He says it’s ridiculous that people should
treat hair as though it’s a sexual organ.
SLIPPERY TERMINOLOGY The former four-star general Edib Baser goes
further. He says that religious groups pay poor women to wear the
headscarf and he too makes the point that these are not the traditional
dress of his mother and grandmother. What the secularists miss is
that mum and granny would not be allowed into universities.
Spending a great deal of time and effort passing laws required by
the EU is not the usual prelude to Islamic revolution
I don’t know how Rabia and Aslinur vote but they certainly don’t
strike me as having a particularly strong political agenda. But terms
like “political Islam” are slippery. The ruling party is Islamic but
prefers to see itself as Conservative. As one academic remarks dryly,
spending a great deal of time and effort passing laws required by
the EU is not the usual prelude to Islamic revolution.
I spend some time chasing a rumour that high taxes have been imposed
on alcohol in some parts of the country, before it strikes me that
Tessa Jowell is Urging the same thing at home.
ANGRY DOCTORS But there’s no doubt some people feel deeply
uncomfortable with the current order.
The Cetins think the headscarf ban is like a growing cancer Nilufer
Cetin was in her fourth year studying to be a doctor when the headscarf
ban was introduced. She went to Hungary to finish her education but
still can’t practise as a doctor. She said: “I was shocked. It was
unbelievable, it was a terrible situation. But I think it was just
a pretext to attack believers.”
Her husband, also a doctor, is still angry. In fact he radiates
anger. When I tell him that I can never see the headscarf being banned
in public institutions in Britain he is derisive and insists I will
be proved wrong. He says the ban will have to go: he’s a doctor and
“it’s like suppressing the function of a cell, if it goes on a cancer
will grow, there will be chaos.”
THANKS FOR YOUR MESSAGES Thanks to all of you who answered my plea to
help me with understanding attitudes to the Armenia killings within
Turkey. They are all very thought-provoking and interesting.
Read your comments below last week’s diary I haven’t met many people
here who deny that something terribly wrong happened. Many however want
to put it in context. It’s true I did speak to one highly intelligent
individual who should know better than to try to convince me that
Ottoman soldiers were merely trying to escort Armenians out of a danger
zone when attacked by Kurdish brigands. But such effrontery is rare.
I have heard several stories of how Turkish families sheltered
Armenians or helped them escape. One academic made the point that
while Germany, as a state, has made full apology and admitted the
Holocaust, few Germans who were around during that time talk easily
about it. By contrast, he said, Turkish people have many stories to
tell and it is the state that cannot tolerate debate.
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION But it was Professor Halil Berktay who had us
entranced. The interview went on for rather a long time and I was
about to apologise to the rest of team when Xav the cameraman said:
“That guy is so interesting, I could stay here all afternoon and
listen.” So I’ll offer without adornment Prof Berktay’s take on why
the Turkish state cannot face up to what happened.
The Armenian genocide, the tragic uprooting, deportation and
annihilation is not something that sits well with [Turkey’s] narrative
of pure victimisation and suffering
Professor Halil Berktay As the Ottoman empire broke up, nations were
created from the Balkans to the Arab world, he says: “All of which
were conceived in anger and hatred and enmity and antagonism towards
one another. In each case, these nationalisms never like talking
about what they have done to others. But they can speak for hours and
hours of what others have done to them. Especially in this part of
the world. In the Balkans and south-east Europe and the Middle East
everybody loves to talk about how they have been victimised but they
have never hurt anyone else.
“The Turkish grand narrative turns to a very large extent on how Great
Power imperialism kept hounding and persecuting the Muslim Turks of the
Ottoman empire, and eventually the Turkish rump that was left. Then
we had to wage this glorious nationalist struggle against them and
against plots to partition us. Now, the Armenian genocide, the tragic
uprooting, deportation and annihilation is not something that sits
well with this narrative of pure victimisation and suffering.”
He compares it to a child believing that they were brought by a stork,
that their parents couldn’t possibly have had sex and calls his theory
“the immaculate conception of the nation state.”
30218.stm

RA FM DOES NOT EXPECT SERIOUS OUTCOMES FROM MEETING WITH HIS AZERI COUNTERPART
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Nov 9 2006
RA FM Vardan Oskanian will leave for Brussels “without much
expectations”, however, “with some interest” to hold a current meeting
with AR FM Elmar Mammadyarov within the frames of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement.
“There are some issues to be discussed on the negotiating table and
I am going to Brussels without much expectations, however, with some
interest, always hoping we will be able to make positions closer
and really create conditions for a meeting of the two countries’
Presidents current year”, Vardan Oskanian told RFE/RL.
To note, RA and AR FMs’ meeting will be conducted in the capital of
Belgium November 14, PanARMENIAN.Net reports.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress