PRO-PKK PROGRAMS BROADCASTED ON FRENCH RADIO
By Zaman, Paris, Istanbul

Zaman Online, Turkey
Nov 26 2006

France had stopped broadcasting Turkish programs on Radio France
International (RFI) on grounds of financial difficulties, while it
remained silent on pro-PKK broadcasts. The Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union,
which includes France.

Pro-PKK associations are allowed to broadcast on the Frequence Paris
Plurielle, a state radio station allocated to associations by France.

During the yesterday’s broadcast, PKK supporters were asked to attend
a program that would be organized for the 28th anniversary of the
PKK on Sunday.

The announcement was delivered in both in French and Kurdish.

A number of Kurdish artists will attend the program. "We celebrate
the 28th anniversary of the PKK," a program ticket reads.

One-third of radio frequencies were allocated to stations during
presidency of Francois Mitterand.

Funded by France, many associations conduct their activities and
organize broadcasts on French radio stations for an allotted time
every week.

‘Year of Armenia’ Conference Addresses Turkey

The history of Kurdish, Pontus Greek, Chaldean and Armenian minorities
in Turkey was discussed in a conference held in the Parisian suburb
of Versailles by Armenians.

The conference was held as part of the "Year of Armenia" in France
and attended by Pontus Greek historian Vassia Karkayannis-Karabelias,
head of the Kurdish Institute of Paris Kendal Nezan, Secretary-General
of the International Federation of Human Rights Raffi Kalfayan and
President of the Chaldean Association of France Naman Adlun.

The French Chaldean community asserts Chaldeans were exterminated by
Turkey and built a Chaldean genocide monument in Paris last year.

The monument was received with surprise by Turkish diplomats in Paris,
who have good relations with Chaldeans.

Representatives from the Chaldean community were invited to this
year’s Republic Holiday reception at the Turkish embassy in Paris as
usual despite the genocide monument.

Chaldean priests in Paris attended the reception.

46 OF 100 WOMEN IN ARMENIA ARE SUBJECTED TO FAMILY VIOLENCE

Regnum, Russia
Nov 26 2006

According to a poll conducted in Armenia, 46 of 100 women have been
subjected to family violence, 67 were subjected to gender-based
infringement. UNDPA Resident Representative in Armenia Consuelo
Vidal made the announcement at a news conference dedicated to the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
on November 25. According to her, most women were subjected to
gender-based violence did not turn to appropriate institutions
for help.

The UN representative stressed that despite the fact that in Armenia
women’s rights are protected by law and they enjoy equal rights with
men, but in reality they are subjected to violence in family, at work
and in society. To eradicate this evil it is necessary to change the
way of thinking in family and in society. UN institutions active in
Armenia have continued rendering assistance to find roots of violence
against women and conducting activity in eradicating the violence.

Consuelo Vidal also noted that since November 25 to December 10
(International Human Rights Day) in Armenia actions against
gender-based violence will be held.

At the news conference, an address by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women. It particularly says: "Fighting this scourge requires us
to change a mindset which is still too common and deep-seated. To
demonstrate, once and for all, that when it comes to violence against
women, there are no grounds for tolerance and no tolerable excuses. …

Together, we must work to create an environment where violence against
women is not tolerated."

FLOWERS OF TURKEY
Gerhard Pils

Kurdish Info, Germany
e=News&file=article&sid=5010
Nov 26 2006

Kurdishinfo-I am the Austrian teacher, who had to leave Turkey because
of mentioning the word "Kurdistan" in a completely apolitical member
in the Austrian school in Istanbul.

During the last decades Turkey experienced an enormous touristic
boom. At present about 20million visitors are pouring into the country
each year, among thema considerable number with an interest in Turkeys
natural beauties. Unfortunately this desire to learn more about nature
is hindered gravely by the lack of well illustrated literature. With
4153 species of ferns and flowering plants infull colour this
book intends toclose the gap.It should make plant identifications
mucheasier for both, professional botanists but also interested
"laymen" as entomologists, geographers, gardeners ornaturalists.

Knowledge of the Turkish Flora is still rather rudimentary in
comparisonwith the situation in European countries. This is due
partly to its highbotanic diversity, but also to the peculiar
development of scientific botany in Turkey. Until the middle of the
20. century, floristic exploration was mainlydone by foreigners. The
most importantof these early pioneers was PIERRE EDMOND BOISSIER,a
Swisscitizen. Withhis monumental "Flora Orientalis"(5 vols.,
1867-1888) he laid the fundamentals for all further research
in this area. The first local botanist with an international
reputation was GEORGES VINCENT AZNAVOUR (1861-1920), a wealthy
Armenian of Christianconfession. His collection of plants fromthe
Bosporus regioncomprised about 20.000 samples. After his deathTurkish
botanyagain sank back into stagnation. One possible reason was repeated
ethnic cleansing by the Turkish Republic. Thereby a considerable part
of the intelligentsia was slaughtered or expulsed, namely Armenians
andGreeks.

A final impetus to the explorationof the Turkish flora came from
the Flora of Turkey Project (DAVIES & al. 1965-2000). Specialists
frommany European countries contributed to this monumental work. One
of the most active collectors at that time wasmy compatriot Mrs.

FRIEDERIKE SORGER(Linz). Her private herbarium of Turkish plants
finally comprised about 33,000 samples. The Flora ofTurkey Project was
also a considerable stimulus for the development of systematic botany
in Turkey. Inconsequence the last supplement to the "Flora of Turkey"
was already published by an exclusively Turkish team of scientists
(GUENER & al. 2000).

The present book is the result of my 5-years stay as a teacher at the
Austrian school ("Avusturya Lisesi") inIstanbul. Fieldwork for this
project was originally planned for at least 8 years. Unfortunately,
however, my Turkish work permit was withdrawn suddenly in summer
2004. TheTurkish authorities argued that I was ~Da danger to the
security of the Turkish Republic". But apart froma single use of
the word "Kurdistan" in a completely apolitical manner there was
no concrete accusation whatsoever against me. Unfortunately, the
Austrian government showed no interest at all in startingdiplomatic
quarrels with the Turks because of this human rights violation
against an Austrian teacher.Therefore all my attempts to take legal
steps against this completely arbitrary verdict were underminedby
the Austrian authorities. In the end also my wife lost her jobat the
Austrian school and we had to leave Turkey*

*The withdrawal of my working permit was an obvious violation of
articles 6 und 8 of the Human RightsConvention (right for a fair
trial, protection of the family) and the Agreement of Association
between Turkey and the EU. Nonetheless theAustrian education ministry
ordered my immediate transfer back to Austria,refusing any possibility
of objection. In addition the Austrian ministry of foreign affairs
did everything possibleto hinder my defence against the Turkish
verdict. For form’s sake the lawyer of the Austrian embassyin
Ankarawas entrusted with my defence.But the man did not even write
a simple objection in time. In last minute I had todo everything by
myself, including translation works. Then at the crucial moment of
deciding over a suit against the Turkish authorities, I was forced
to renounce due to false informations from the ministry. Attempts
of the Austrian Television Company (ORF) to inform the public about
the affair were blocked. Only some monthslater, when my case already
had been discussed in the Austrian press, the ORF was allowed to
report; but thiswas done in a completely one-sided manner. Finally
the education ministrydirectly intervened, forbidding any further
information of the press. But the peak of hypocrisy was reached by
Dr. U.Plassnik, Austrian minister for foreign relations, when she
informed the public about her personal efforts to solve my case. As
far as I can judge,these efforts had been purely symbolic. Their
intention was to deceive the public over the previous nine month of
continuous sabotage byher own ministry.

With our return to Austria my botanical projects in Turkey came to
an abrupt end. Also this book could not be finished in the planned way.

A lot of species I would have liked to include could not be
photographed any more (e.g. Phelypaea tournefortii, Zelkova
carpinifolia). But nonetheless about 45% of the Turkish Flora could be
illustrated, making this photo guide by far the most comprehensive
one for Mediterranean, Black Sea and Irano-Turanian flora. As I
intended to keep the book within reasonable dimensions, text hat to
be limited to an absolute necessary minimum. Therefore no keys were
added. For non specialists they would be of a rather limited use,
whereas for scientific purposes they never could replace the use of
"Flora of Turkey".

The preparation of a book of this kind would have been completely
impossible without the continuous support of my wife Inge. In the first
years she was a most reliable and patient companion on my journeys to
the most remote corners of Anatolia. At this time we climbed together
a lot of the best known peaks of the country. After the birth of our
son Felix, she took by far the bigger part of parental obligations,
thus keeping me free for further work on the project.

Another crucial point was access to scientific literature. In Turkey
I was confronted with such a lot of bureaucratic obstacles that I
decided to do my literature studies whenever possible in Austria.

Most disappointing was the refusal of admitting loans, photocopies
or photos by the Istanbul office of WWF, which is in custody of a
rather interesting collection of local botanical literature.

The contrast to the generous and always friendly treatment by my
Austrian colleagues could not have been greater. Dr. G. Leute and Dr.

R. Eberwein, both botanists at the Karnter Landesherbar, gave me free
access to scientific literature in a completely unbureaucratic way.

The same is valid for the botanists at the Vienna Natural History
Museum, Dr. E. Vitek und Dr. B. Wallnofer as well as for Doz. Dr. F.

Speta (Biologiezentrum Linz). The latter also controlled my
identifications of Scilla and Ornithogalum and identified Ornithogalum
cydni, not included in Flora of Turkey. Mag. H.

Standhartinger (Linz) had the kindness to review the English text.

All of them I would like to thank for their help.

STARTING JANUARY 1 THE MINIMUM SALARY IN ARMENIA WILL BE 20,000 DRAMS

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

Starting January 1, 2007 the minimum salary of Armenian citizens
will comprise 20 thousand drams, increasing with 5 thousand drams
as compared to 2006. RA Minister of Labor and Social Issues Aghvan
Vardanyan said in the National Assembly today that by the year 2009 the
minimum salary in Armenia will reach 30 thousand drams. According to
the Minister, in case of undertaking adequate measures, this process
can be accelerated. It is envisaged to allocate 505 million drams
from the state budget to resolve the issue.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ROBERT KOCHARYAN TO PARTAKE IN THE SITTING OF THE CIS COUNCIL OF PRESIDENTS

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

November 28 Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will leave for Minsk
to participate in the recurrent sitting of Council of leaders of CIS
member states.

The sitting of the CIS Council of Presidents will open with the
meeting of the heads of states. Later the Foreign Ministers will
joint the Presidents to hold the plenary sitting.

The discussions will mainly focus on the report on raising the
effectiveness of the CIS and prospects of its development.

Views will be exhanged on the cooperation in the humanitarian and
economic spheres, as well as the issues of fighting illegal migration.

More than ten documents will be signed during the sitting, which will
enlarge the legal basis of cooperation between the CIS member states.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FIBA EUROPE CONFIRMS ARMENIA’S PARTICIPATION IN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA Europe) has confirmed
the participation of the under 16 and under 18 basketball teams of
Armenia in the European Championship contests to be held in Italy,
Romania and Macedonia, "Armenpress" was told at the Basketball
Federation of Armenia.

MEMORIAL TO ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS ERECTED IN ROME

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

November 23 the festive opening of the memorial to the Armenian
Genocide victims was held in Rome. "Armenpress" was told from the
European Armenian Federation Office in Italy that the opening ceremony
was attended by representative of the Mayor of Rome, Chairman of the
Cultural Issues Commission Saverio Galeota, RA Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to Italy Ruben Shugaryan, a great number of secular
and religious figures, representatives of different organizations
and unions.

In his speech Saverio Galeota highly assessed the role of the Armenian
community in Italy, adding that " Justice and democracy are cherished
objectives, for the achievement of which no effort should be spared."

Robert Shugaryan thanked the Municipality of Rome for this initiative,
noting that "Armenia, which recently celebrated the 15th anniversary
of independence, takes an example of democracy from Italy."

RF AMBASSADOR TO MEET WITH ARMENIAN PARTICIPANTS OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE OLYMPIAD

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

November 28 Russian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to
Armenia Nikolay Pavlov will meet with two Armenian participants of
the Russian language and literature Olympiad held in Moscow recently.

ArmInfo was told at the Press Office of the Russian Embassy in Armenia
that the participants of the Olympiad will share their impressions
from the visit to the capital of the Russian Federation and from
their victory in the contest. Fore his part, Nikolay Pavlov will
congratulate the winners and will present memorable gifts.

THE DUTCH PARLIAMENT MAY ADOPT A BILL ON PENALIZING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DENIERS

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

In case the "Christian Union" Party is included in the Government and
coalition of Netherlands, it is possible that before spring the country
will adopt a bill penalizing the negation of the Armenian Genocide,
ARF Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office Director for Netherlands Masis
Abrahamyan told "Armenpress." In his words, the parliamentary elections
served as a reason for launching a serious discussion of the Armenian
Genocide issue. "The Armenian Genocide issue is a very urgent one in
Dutch politics. When the National Assembly starts working, the bill
penalizing the Armenian Genocide negation will again be discussed,"
Masis Abrahamyan assured, noting that the left-wing Socialist and
Workers’ Party oppose the bill.

The "Christian Union" faction had presented the bill on "Punishment of
genocide deniers" to the Dutch Parliament still during the previous
session in June. The bill envisages 1-2 years of imprisonment or a
financial charge for negating the Armenian and other genocides. The law
in force in Netherlands applies only to the negation of the Jewish
Genocide, but the party suggests to apply it to other genocides
as well.

TURKEY IN PANIC AND TRYING TO ATTACK FIRST

Public Radio, Armenia
Nov 27 2006

Turkey’s statements about transferring the discussion of the Armenian
Genocide issue to the International Hague Tribunal are attempts to
find ways out of a panic in the country, Director of the Oriental
Studies Institute of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences Ruben
Safrastyan said in an interview with "Armenpress." He said that
after the victory of Democrats in the US Congress and election of
pro-Armenian politicians to responsible positions those in Turkey
realize pretty well that the Democratic Party can pursue the
recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Turkey is trying to attack
first. In Ruben Safrastyan’s opinion, Turks realize that if the
Congress adopts a bill condemning the Armenian Genocide a new wave
of Genocide Recognition will rise in the world, and 1-2 dozens of
countries will follow the example of the US.

In Safrastyan’s words, despite the statements that Turkey has launched
a serious study of the opportunity to apply to the International Court,
it will not take this step. Instead, it will continue the policy
of denialism. Representatives of the Turkish elite also know that
the Armenian Genocide really occurred, but they will not question
the Turkish policy on this issue. The question of applying to the
International Tribunal was discussed in Turkey still in the year 2000.

Director of the Oriental Studies Institute considers that
Armenian should launch a serious preparation work. To transfer the
Armenian Genocide recognition issue from the political level to the
international legal field. In his words, we should create commissions
comprised of historians, lawyers and political scientists, which will
turn the great historical material on the Armenian Genocide into
a legal document, and Armenia, as a state, should prepare to apply
to the International Court, accusing Turkey as the successor of the
Ottoman Empire, of committing the Genocide and demand reimbursement.

"It is a question that should assemble the whole Armenian nation. As
the center of all Armenians, Armenia should take the initiative and
call a pan-Armenian forum, where all the political forces and NGOs
of Armenia and Diaspora will be represented.

"The Genocide is a heaviest international crime and the criminal
should be punished," Safrastyan assures. Armenia should decide what
kind of reimbursement it will demand. Forms of compensation should
also be correctly assessed.

It should be noted that up to now 18 states have recognized the
Armenian Genocide. Ruben Safrastyan emphasized the importance of
adoption of the bill criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide
by the French Parliament. Discussions of adopting similar bills are
underway in Belgium and Netherlands.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress