Panorama.am
15:01 27/10/06

DEPUTY PINPOINTS TO ARMENIAN FOREIGN POLICY FAULTS
Stepan Zakaryan, member of Justice block, said if
Armenia had not lost its independence because of
incorrect foreign policy, Iran-Armenia gas pipeline
would not have the diameter it has now. In his words,
even the West agreed that the pipeline would be
transit but Armenia could not protect her interests,
he said.
The deputy said Armenia has become a `pillar’ for
Russia because of the faults of the Armenian
authorities. He said in the case of Javakhk Armenia
should protect her interests, too. He said the Armenia
authorities should clearly say that they protect human
rights and will defend the interests of Armenians
living in Javakhk. Speaking about Russian-Armenian
relations, Zakaryan said Russian should be made to
understand that Armenia is not her `pillar.’ /Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
15:12 27/10/06

GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO KEEP TO THE CURRENT NATIONAL ANTHEM
The executive approved RA Law on National Anthem with
some changes to be submitted to the National Assembly.
The government did not approve the decision of the
tender committee, which selected music without song as
the national anthem. The government decided to keep
the current national anthem for one more year until a
new national anthem will be selected. Ruben
Hovasapyan, member of Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnakcutiun) approved the decision,
saying, `It will make our motherland stronger for one
more year.’
The tender committee selected the music of Aram
Khachatryan which was the national anthem of Soviet
Armenia. Hovasapyan said Aram Khachatryan’s music was
only attachment to the national anthem of the Soviet
Union, saying it by no means discredits the great
composer. He also said despite of all shortcomings,
Our Motherland, the current national anthem of
Armenia, has biography and reflects the creation and
declaration of our independent republics. /Panorama.am/

Panorama.am
15:27 27/10/06

WB SAYS CUSTOMS SERVICE NOT THE MOST CORRUPT IN ARMENIA

`We do not think that the most corrupt sector in
Armenia is customs,’ Rojer Robinson, head of Yerevan
office of the World Bank (WB), told a news conference
today, speaking about sharp criticism of WB report by
the state customs services of Armenia.
In his words, the report said no progress was reported
in the customs and tax services of Armenia in 2005,
moreover, a reverse process started. `We have been
conducted bilateral consultation with the customs
services for several years and declare that they have
implemented all the agreements,’ Robinson said.
Vigen Sarkisyan, press secretary of WB Yerevan office,
said WB will publish data on the most corrupt sector
in Armenia in 2007. /Panorama.am/

Armenian National Committee of Quebec Presents Quebec Capital with Komitas
Statue
27.10.2006 13:44
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – The Armenian National Committee of Quebec (ANCQ)
presented Quebec City with a bust of the famous Armenian composer
Komitas during a special ceremony on the afternoon of October 24, 2006
at the City Council’s Chamber.
Mrs. Andrée Bouchard, Quebec City Mayor, said `Quebec City is
very honoured to receive from the Armenian community the bust of a
musician and poet who has left his mark on Armenian culture. This
symbol will not only introduce Armenian culture to others but will
also help spread the artistic and historic contributions Komitas had
on the evolution of his people, On behalf of the citizens of Quebec, I
express my deepest gratitude to the representatives of the Armenian
community who, with this generous donation, show their support for
multiculturalism.’
Poet, composer and musicologist, Komitas was an apolitical person with
many talents who represented a spirit of openness and unification. His
music is still omnipresent with Armenians on an international scale
and his tragic faith is the symbol of the Armenian Diaspora.
The sculpture, which was donated by the Armenian Community members,
was given to Quebec City as a reflection of the synergy created in
Quebec due to its cultural integration and harmonisation policy. The
ANCQ and Quebec City are planning the permanent display of the
sculpture for 2007.

PanARMENIAN.Net
Schiff: High Time That We as Nation Recognize Armenian Genocide
28.10.2006 15:19 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ US Congressman Adam Schiff, the
author of Armenian Genocide legislation which passed
the House International Relations Committee, commended
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for her support
of Genocide recognition legislation. Leader Pelosi
recently committed to support Armenian Genocide
legislation in the 110th session of Congress if she
becomes Speaker of the House, Schiff’s Press Secretary
Sean Oblack told PanARMENIAN.Net. “There is no hiding
the fact that one and a half million Armenians were
deliberately murdered at the beginning of the 20th
Century, and it is high time that we as a nation
recognize these heinous crimes for what they were – a
genocide,” Schiff said. “I stand with Leader Pelosi in
her commitment to get this important legislation
passed. We need to acknowledge these horrible
atrocities of the past, in order to progress towards a
brighter future.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PanARMENIAN.Net
History continuously rewritten in Azerbaijan
If the Armenians did not exist then they should have
been thought up to justify their own lack of talent
and weakness.
27.10.2006 GMT+04:00

It is quite a useless and unnecessary thing to answer everything that
is written in the Azerbaijan press concerning the Armenians and the
Armenian history. But lately our neighbors have completely lost their
sense of proportion and they blame the Armenians in anything they
like.
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Singer Aygun Kazimova’s imagination played up to the
extent that she blamed AzTV in that `somebody works in the favor of
the Armenians in the television! Before it only seemed to me but now I
am sure that a specified person works for the benefit of the Armenians
in Baku, and the Azerbaijan pop art purposefully directs into the
abyss! They try to bullshit the nation with the help of their stupid
programs and on the quiet they carry out their dirty business. The
number of the songsters is springing up like mushrooms after the rain
and all of them are given certain places in the television,’- she
shares her frankness with the correspondents of Day.az.
Indeed, if the Armenians did not exist then they should have been
contrived to justify own lack of talent and feebleness. But it is so
unserious. The accusations in that it was exactly the Armenians who
expelled the Germans from Azerbaijan in 1941 are more serious. The
author of that version is Abbas Seidov; leading researcher of the
Institute NANA of Archaeology and Ethnography, professor of Azerbaijan
Economic University, Doctor of History. It is rather an unpleasant
thing to prove the truth especially when there is no one to prove it
to. For some reason Azerbaijan is sure that it can assert whatever it
likes in its virtual world and adjust the history to its interests.
It is exactly the case with the Germans from Hanler and Shamkhor who
were evicted by Stalin’s order into the Kazakhstan steppes at the same
time. The same Germans that lived in the neighborhood of the Armenians
and the Caucasian Tatars for about 200 years and they almost did not
communicate. In 2003 Alexander and Rudolf Yaskorskies, emigrants from
Hanler published a book; `Germans of Black sea and the Caucasus’
(concerning the origin and life of the German ethnic group of Black
Sea and the Caucasus)’, where photographs and documents enlightening
the life of the German colony are collected. In particular there is a
remarkable paragraph in the book; `The German immigrants fundamentally
settled in a planned way at the periphery of the Russian empire. It
solved two tasks at one stroke; on the one hand the borders of the
empire were strengthened and a buffer zone was created between the
territories populated with uncivilized tribes and Christian
population. And on the other hand the cultural economies of the
Germans involved new uninhabited areas, that had not been earlier
cultivated, into the economic revolution and fortified them into the
structure of the empire. The Armenians made friends with the Germans,
learned their language and behavior It was a natural striving towards
each other as the Armenians and Russians were the only Christian
neighbors of the Germans in the surroundings of the Caucasian Tatars,
who from time to time organized massacres from which the German
colonists suffered as well’.
Neither the archives nor the contemporaries’ illustrations turn to be
edicts for Abbas Seidov- he has his own sources according to which for
some reason the arrival of the same Germans is related to Alexander I
though they had been invited by Catherine II. But at the same time
everything is all right with the Armenians – they turned to appear
here in the course of the World War I…
But it is not all. Seidov goes on writing `Later the Armenians began
demolishing the graves of the Germans using the tombstones with their
own ends. With all this going on they longed to wipe all the traces of
the Germans’ habitation in Hanler’. However there is nothing
surprising – during all their realized history that means during the
last 40-50 years the Azerbaijanis have been ascribing all their deeds
to the Armenians. And all that began from the times of Heydar Aliev
and it is quite possible that it will be concluded with Ilham Aliev’s
government. Suddenly more responsible people may come to power in
Azerbaijan for whom the Armenian will be just a neighbor, who is
simply not like themselves. But it is not necessary to expect it
without fail-it depends on the good luck. «PanARMENIAN.Net»
analytical department

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2006
EU’s only Plan for Turkey is Membership
By Economy News Desk
Saturday, October 28, 2006
zaman.com
Graham Watson, leader of the Group of the Alliance of Democrats and
Liberals in the European Parliament (EP), is certain Turkey will
become a member of the European Union.
Watson said accession would ultimately take place but some circles
had an unfavorable opinion about free circulation and noted the
European Union had no Plan B for Turkey.
Invited to Turkey by Zaman daily, Watson spoke at a meeting organized
by the Confederation of Turkish Businessmen and Manufacturers
(TUSKON).
Watson focused on Turkey’s E.U. process and said the European Union
should keep enlarging and include countries that fulfill the criteria
in order to continue the success it had so far obtained.
`No matter how long it lasts, this reform process should be a peg to
increase economic stability and life standards,’ he said.
Describing the supporters of Turkey’s E.U. membership process as
optimistic and those who oppose it as pessimistic, Watson believes
the optimists try to turn difficulties into opportunities whereas the
latter group refuses to take advantage of any opportunity.
While there were vast opportunities for optimists, he said,
pessimists remained reluctant in regards to politics, causing doors
to shut in Turkey’s membership process.
There were still some difficulties for Turkey’s membership process
but the Turkish government was determined to do its best, he added.
Calling for calmness in discussions on Cyprus, Watson said, `We
should come through this storm because everything will ultimately
settle down.’
Stating France was influential on the UK’s 10-year wait during the
E.U. membership process, Watson believes the membership process
should continue in agreement with the Copenhagen criteria. Confidence
must be established without worrying over the increasing goals of
politicians because getting public confidence is no easy task.
Seven percent of the Turkey believes in the European Union, a
newspaper survey revealed. Turkey should overcome these obstacles in
the public opinion and struggle against those opposing enlargement,
he said.
Graham added that there were 12 E.U. members in 1980. Today, there
are 27 countries because a single market offers great opportunities
and the trade is an important tool in this sense.
Terming the French parliament passing a bill on an Armenian genocide
as `madness,’ Watson said: `Such a law is totally absurd in today’s
world. If it becomes a law, they will regret it.’

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2006
Is Turkey’s EU Bid Becoming a Mirage?
SELCUK GULTASLI
10.28.2006 Saturday – ISTANBUL 14:55
The EU progress report on Turkey, to be released on Nov. 8, is just
as important as the one that paved the way for membership talks with
Ankara two years ago.
The report’s tone and the recommendation to be made on the Cyprus
issue will, to a great extent, affect the opinions of leaders who
will be attending the EU summit in December.
While an ordinary report was being expected on a country which has
already started membership talks, both Turkey and the European Union
agree that the document has become very important, amid rumors that
the negotiation process will be suspended, making many people wonder
how far the entanglement will go.
Or, as eloquently stated by an Arab writer, have the negotiations
become a mirage? And if they have, is it wise to vent anger only
against the European Union?
Turkey has started to believe that what it has done for the sake of
progress does not mean much to the European Union. If the already
ambiguous full membership goal is further diluted by the influential
EU leaders, who believe 2025 is Turkey’s most probable admission
date, it means it is time for those in Brussels to clarify their
minds over what they have offered to Turkey. Jose Manuel Barroso, the
president of the European Commission, whose remarks imply that Turkey
cannot be a full member in 15-20 years, is as irrational as France’s
bill on the so-called Armenian genocide. Just as the voices of those
who sought amendments to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code have
become weaker since the French bill was adopted, Brussels is now
compelled to figure out how to encourage a candidate country to
embark upon further reforms for the sake of a very vague membership
perspective that will materialize in 15 years at the earliest.
And just as the anti-Turkey meeting between Paris, the capital of
secularism, and the Vatican, the capital of Christianity, is seen as
contradictory; it is also strange that the Justice and Development
Party (AKP) administration, the innovator of the Ankara criteria,
cannot comprehend what the reluctance in implementing the reforms
signifies. This is because for the AKP administration, the EU
membership process is like riding a bicycle; when the reforms come to
a halt, the pedals of the administration’s bicycle spin aimlessly.
In such an environment, the visionary politician turns into a
populist, while President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and People’s Republican
Party leader Deniz Baykal `confuse’ official messages with Ramadan
holiday messages, and issue `progressive’ warnings against
reactionary movements. Then, Washington-based think tanks express
support for the remarks of Baykal, who gives assurances that they
will replace the reactionary order with the enlightened revolution of
the secular republic. All of a sudden, these think tanks label Sezer
and Chief of Staff Yasar Buyukanit as the Turkish `Senate.’ Hence,
the generals, aware that their statements will be reflected on the
progress report, partake in politics with their uniforms on to show
that the EU membership goal, in fact, is nothing more than a mirage.
No matter how negative it might be, the Nov. 8 report and the
decision to be made at the December summit may present new dynamics
that could possibly prevent the process from turning into a mirage,
and make both Turkey and the EU question the weight of the whole
issue. We are getting closer to the days when both sides will need to
make such evaluations.

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2006
An Open Letter to Orhan Pamuk
MEHMED NIYAZI
10.28.2006 Saturday – ISTANBUL 14:57
Dear Mr. Pamuk:
As you know, no other novelist’s writing style has been discussed as
much as yours.
Some tend to portray you as the author of best-selling novels that
are not widely read. Some argue it is only when your books are
published that you create a commotion. Some describe your command of
the Turkish language as weak, your linguistic style as stuttering and
your novel technique as poor. And some regard you as a top novelist.
As you know quite well, a novel as a work of art has its own limits;
however, these limits are not based on units; they focus on
subjectivity because they entail beauty, pleasure and harmony.
Otherwise, we cannot explain why a man with great interest in the
arts and culture like Cengiz Aytmatov, who boasts such works as `The
White Ship,’ `Jamilya,’ and `The Day Lasts More than a Hundred
Years,’ has not won a Nobel Prize. However, no matter what they say,
it is really pleasing to see you win the Nobel Prize as a citizen of
the Turkish Republic.
Apart from the debates about what distinguishes Nobel Prize winners
from the rest of us, your being awarded this very important prize
will keep you in the spotlight for at least a year. You will
gradually be relegated to the list of Nobel laureates because someone
else will be awarded the prize next year. But nowadays, your
utterances will have wide-ranging repercussions. Those recently
included on this list, which excludes the names of several literary
giants such as Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Andre Malroux and Marcel
Proust, have no significance today. Hence, their words have lost
their impact. We sincerely wish that your name and works are never
forgotten.
We have no right to expect the boldness of Fedor Dostoyevsky from you
or any other novelist. Dostoyevsky was a pious Orthodox of pure
Russian origin. The young man fainted from excitement during his
nationalistic speech upon the death of Aleksandr Pushkin, which shook
the whole Russian nation. He was never afraid to speak his mind
because he believed he could resist international rejection and
condemnation with his outspoken nationalistic writings. As an
ordinary citizen, I do not expect you to defend our nation since
great nations have always had great enemies. I am well aware of the
fact that it is not easy to stand up against them, but expressing the
truth is the first prerequisite for being an intellectual.
You certainly know that our historians, journalists and others really
do not say anything when talking about the so-called `Armenian
genocide.’ I don’t know the circumstances under which you spoke on
this issue; but it is clearly obvious that you did not do the
necessary research. Of course, human beings are not flawless or
faultless. We all make mistakes. Stubbornly insisting on making
mistakes is tantamount to bigotry, whereas admitting a mistake and
regretting it represents wisdom. Bigotry definitely does not befit an
intellectual and world-renowned author. In fact, such an author does
not have the right to insist on bigotry.
Even if you make a superficial review, you will see that the Armenian
Diaspora did not even dare to launch an initiative during the British
Empire to make the so-called genocide allegations recognized because
there were millions of Muslims living in that country. Instead, they
opted for recognition of their allegations in the United States.
President Woodrow Wilson sent the U.S. chief of staff, along with a
crowded delegation, to our country to investigate the claims. The
delegation comprised mostly of sociologists, psychologists,
anthropologists and historians began its inquiry with Armenians who
migrated to Paris from Turkey.
When they asked an Armenian how the genocide was committed, they
received this response: `It was awful, I was slaughtered twice.’ They
sensed the populist dimension of the issue and then conducted an
investigation at Turkish sites where the genocide was allegedly
committed. After completing the entire investigation process, the
chief of staff submitted his famous report indicating no evidence of
genocide. When the Armenians, unsatisfied with this report, put
pressure for further investigation, Rear Admiral Marc L. Bristol was
ordered to substantiate the genocide. However, he also conceded that
no genocide was committed on Turkish territory. Istanbul was occupied
and those suspected of committing genocide were arrested. Ziya Gokalp
and those who shared the same fate were exiled to Malta. War crime
tribunals were set up in Istanbul and Malta to try the suspects. All
of them were acquitted. Sait Halim Pasha, the prime minister of the
time, who was notified of the tribunals while he was in Italy,
applied to the League of Nations and the International Court of
Justice in The Hague for a trial in an effort to clarify and conclude
the matter. Both replied that there was no need for a trial. It is
stated in the book, on which the Armenians base their allegations,
that we committed this heinous crime under instructions from the
Germans. In the mid-1920s, the British government notified the German
government that this was merely war propaganda. If you conduct basic
research on this matter, you will discover these facts, and most
probably many more. And if you so desire, I can send all of them to
you by e-mail.
Mr. Pamuk, your style as a novelist has come under intense
discussion, but you are an enlightened person anyway. An enlightened
person is someone who understands his responsibilities. These
responsibilities start from his family, then the society to which he
belongs and the human race at large. You are expressing this as a
fact, but this does not put you in a position to criticize the
promotion of Turkish nationalism because you should definitely
recognize the Turks as part of the human race. After all, past
unanimity among Christian countries in making all these decisions to
accuse Turkey must have relieved you of your doubts that a nation was
facing a Crusader mindset. It is time to speak up if you are also
upset by this mindset.
Yours truly,

Zaman, Turkey
Oct 28 2006
French Radio Halts Broadcasting in Turkish
By Ali Ihsan Aydin
Saturday, October 28, 2006
zaman.com
Radio France International (RFI) has cut Turkish broadcasts, which
have been on the air for 35 years, on grounds of financial
difficulties.
The radio station, which broadcasts in 19 languages, cut only its
broadcasts in Turkish.
Ugur Hukum, coordinator of Turkish broadcasts at the RFI, called the
decision an example of France’s imprudence and added, `This move
confirms that France has never viewed Turkey and Turkish as a
strategic partner.’
However, Hukum said the decision to halt Turkish broadcasts had
nothing to do with the Armenian genocide bill, adding that it had
been planned long before the bill was passed.
Dutch and Swedish radios had also cut their Turkish broadcasts.
The radio management announced the end of Turkish broadcasts was a
part of financially-triggered reform program, but they decided to
continue broadcasting in Lagos, Bulgarian, Albanian, Vietnamese and
Serbian.
The broadcasts in Turkish will be replaced with a website to inform
the public on Turkey-EU relations.
Hukum said they had suggested to the radio management a project
called `Paris’s Europe Agenda.’
The RFI had broadcast Turkish programs once a week since 1971.
RFI Turkish broadcasts were set up to inform Turkish emigrants to
France. The radio broadcasts in Parisian neighborhood and is
available worldwide on the Internet.
The RFI Turkish broadcasts lost much of their audience when Turkish
TV channels started broadcasting in Europe.