ANKARA REACTS TO ARMENIAN BILL IN FRENCH PARLIAMENT
By Suleyman Kurt, Ankara
Zaman, Turkey
Sept 30 2006
Ankara has harshly criticized a bill in the French Parliament that
would make it a crime to publicly deny the Armenian genocide.
An official told Zaman that if such a regulation was legalized,
France would be at a loss. Reactions to the bill are being evaluated
in Ankara.
Turkish Ambassador to France Osman Koruturk is not expected to be
called back to Ankara.
A group of Turkish MPs will issue attempts to present their position
in Paris on the genocide bill, scheduled to be discussed on Oct. 12.
The parliamentarian will remind their counterparts about Turkey’s
expansions related to the 1915 events by pointing at their offer to
establish a “joint history commission.”
While paying a visit to France, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul called on his French counterpart Phillippe Douste-Blazy to join
the commission.
Bids on the Agenda
Turkish MPs have insinuated that France’s economy could suffer
significantly from the proposed law. French companies are interested in
a nuclear power station bid and demand selling helicopters to Turkey.
Ankara also points out that the regulation France seeks to implement
counters the freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac’s visit to Yerevan is
being closely monitored. His statements during the visit are likely
to determine a much clearer policy in the upcoming week.

CHIRAC TELLS TURKEY TO ADMIT GENOCIDE
By Simon Ostrovsky And Mariam Haroutunian – Yerevan
Middle East Online, UK
Sept 30 2006
French President urges Ankara to recognize 1915-1917 massacres in
Armenia before joining EU.
French President Jacques Chirac on Saturday urged Turkey to recognize
World War I-era massacres of Armenians as genocide if it wants to join
the European Union, speaking during a visit to the Armenian capital.
In comments that are likely to irritate Ankara and put a further
strain on its relations with France, Chirac told a news conference
Turkey needed to face up to its past in response to a question on
the nation’s EU ambitions.
Asked if he thought Turkey should recognize the 1915-1917 massacres
as genocide before it joins the EU, the French president replied:
“Honestly, I believe so.”
“All countries grow up acknowledging their dramas and their errors,”
said Chirac, who is on a two-day visit to Armenia, where he has paid
homage to Yerevan’s “genocide” memorial and attended the inauguration
of a “France Square” in central Yerevan.
Until now, France had refused to make a direct link between the
genocide issue and Turkey’s EU membership bid. The bloc has not made
it a condition of entry.
But a response to the same question by Chirac’s Armenian counterpart
Robert Kocharian was markedly softer, reflecting Armenia’s desire to
mend ties with its neighbor and improve its struggling economy.
“We don’t see any danger in this process,” Kocharian said of Turkey’s
EU aspirations, “but we would like that our interests would be
discussed in the process too,” he added.
Kocharian said it would be in Armenia’s interests to have a neighbor
“with a value system that allows for free movement and open borders.”
France, which has 400,000 citizens of Armenian descent, officially
recognized the events as genocide in 2001, putting a strain on its
relations with fellow NATO member Turkey.
A proposal by France’s socialists to make genocide denial a crime
punishable by a year in prison and a 45,000-euro fine has elicited
further ire in Turkey, but Chirac said he did not support the proposal.
“France has fully recognized the tragedy of the genocide and all
the rest is more like polemics than legislative reality,” he said of
the proposal.
Armenia has campaigned for Turkey to recognize the WWI massacres,
in which it says 1.5 million Armenians died, as genocide.
But Turkey argues that that 300,000 Armenians and at least as many
Turks died in an internal conflict sparked by attempts by Armenians
to win independence in eastern Anatolia.

CHIRAC CALLS ON TURKEY TO ‘RECOGNIZE ITS PAST’
Hindu, India
Sept 30 2006
Yerevan, Sept. 30 (AP): The French President, Jacques Chirac, called
on Turkey on Saturday to “recognize its past” in connection with the
mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century and acknowledge
them as genocide.
“Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European
Union?” Chirac asked, echoing a question posed by a reporter at a joint
news conference with Armenian President Robert Kocharian. “Honestly,
I believe so. Each country grows by acknowledging its dramas and
errors of the past.”
Armenians say that as many as 1.5 million of their ancestors were
killed in 1915-1923 in an organized campaign and have pushed for
recognition of the killings as genocide around the world. Turkey
rejects the claim that a mass evacuation and related deaths of
Armenians was genocide and says the death toll is inflated.
Chirac’s comments went farther than in the past, using the word
genocide directly for the first time. In 2004, Chirac said Turkey
should recognize the killings and make “an effort at memory” to join
the EU, and France’s parliament has officially recognized the killings
as genocide.
Many French have grave misgivings about Turkey entering the EU, fearing
an influx of cheap labor and questioning Turkey’s human rights record.

SEPARATISM IN CAUCASUS DISCUSSED IN BAKU
Author: S.Agayeva
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 30 2006
Separatism in Caucasus is a call for ethnograty and its base has
always been comprised by the big nationalism ideology of small nations,
the Director of the Human Rights Institute of the Azerbaijan National
Academy of Sciences, politician Rovshan Mustafayev told on September
30, by making a speech in the round table on the topic “Caucasus
without separatism and separatists” that was organized within the
first meeting of Baku Club, Trend reports.
Mustafayev considers the Armenian separatism a cause for all conflicts
existing in South Caucasus. The politician regretfully stressed that
the ideology started from the beginning of XX century to create an
ethically clean zone in Caucasus still continues.
“Armenian ideologies also stumped Armenian people. The Armenian
ideologies need to recognize that Armenian illusions achieved nothing,”
the politician said.
Mustafayev considers necessary to cerate a special group organized by
the recognized Caucasian countries to define the scenario of counter
rules to decrease the rate of conflicts in the region.
The participants of the round table – the Head of the Department for
Work with Citizens of CIS and Baltic Countries of Russian Foreign
Ministry, Russian politician Tatiana Poloskova, Co-chairman of the
European Forum Maxim Meyer and outstanding Georgian lawyer, Professor
Patu Davit exchanged views on the key principles of restoring the
peace and stability in the region, the necessity of holding dialogue
regarding the questions that are important for the future of region and
mentioned the important role of Baku Club in implementing this mission.
In addition, the participants of the forum discussed the relations
between Russia and Georgia. According to the participants, the problems
preventing the development of the bilateral relations between the two
countries should be resolved through joint efforts of the two sides.
The event has been organized by the Human Rights Institute of
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, European Union and Russian
Foreign Center of Russian Foreign Ministry. The project reflects
conceptual variant of international union of new elite and id held
under motto “New Development. New Generation. New Corridors”.

PRESIDENT CHIRAC CALLS ON TURKEY TO RECOGNIZE GENOCIDE OF ARMENIANS
Focus News, Bulgaria
Sept 30 2006
Yerevan. The French President Jacques Chirac call on Turkey to
“acknowledge its past” while he was speaking about the mass murders
of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Macedonian TV A1 reports.
“Turkey should acknowledge its mistakes from the past. I believe
that each country should recognize its tragic moments and mistakes
from the past”, the French head of state announced at a joint press
conference with the Armenian President Robert Kocharian.
According to President Chirac who is on a two days’ visit in Yerevan,
Turkey should declare the killing of Armenians as genocide.
The Armenian community claims that some 1.5 million Armenians were
killed between 1915 and 1923.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE “GENOCIDE” MOTION
Turkish Press
Sept 30 2006
French opposition Socialist Party is again bringing a motion to
criminalize rejection of the so-called Armenian genocide to the
agenda of Parliament. In line with the Socialist Party’s proposal,
the motion will go to a vote on Oct. 12 in the full Parliament after
debate. A motion prepared by the Socialists about this issue was also
debated this May, but then was pushed back to the fall session.
MEPS: “HISTORICAL INCIDENTS HAVE NO PLACE IN REPORTS ON TURKEY”
Members of the European Parliament yesterday reacted to a just-passed
report on Turkey raising new issues. Turkey-European Union Joint
Parliamentary Commission Co-Chairman Joost Lagendijk stated that
he was uncomfortable with statements about the Greek Pontians and
Assyrians in the report. Lagendijk said that making these historical
events into a political issue by putting them into EP reports wouldn’t
benefit anyone and that he regretted the Greens’ proposal to remove
these was rejected. EP Liberal Party leader Graham Watson also said
that the report was far from balancing praise and criticism and that
the European Union should approach Turkey with understanding.

COE EMPOWERS CHILDREN TO DEAL WITH BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIDES OF THE INTERNET AND OTHER NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Council of Europe

Sept 29 2006
/noticias.info/ The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has
called on member states to make information technology an integral
part of school education from an early age, to help children maximise
benefits and avoid pitfalls of the Internet and other new technologies.
The 46-member Council of Europe is taking a positive approach to deal
with harmful content on the Web, partly in response to the dangers
posed by the Internet.
Measures approved in a new Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation
include giving children the skills to create, produce and distribute
content in new technologies, respecting the rights and freedoms of
others while also promoting their own right to freedom of expression.
The recommendation calls for member states to ensure that these
skills enable children to better understand and deal with questionable
content, including violence, pornography, discrimination and racism.
In addition, the forthcoming Council of Europe Pan-European Forum
in Yerevan, Armenia, on 5 and 6 October 2006 will bring together
representatives of Council of Europe member states, civil society,
the private sector, academia and the media, and other interested
organisations.
“Empowering children to use the Internet is the best filter,” said
Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General,
several days ahead of the forum.
The forum will stress that filtering and labelling Internet content
is not enough to ensure that children and young people can surf the
web safely – in the exercise of their rights and freedoms, including
the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information
and ideas.
Children and young people need to be, and to feel, empowered when using
the Internet, so they can competently use its tools and services and
critically analyse Internet content and communications.
By equipping them and their educators with appropriate skills and
knowledge, they will be able to exercise their rights and freedoms
fully and responsibly, to improve their development and well-being
online.
On the web: .

MILITANT INTELLECTUALS DECLARE ‘WAR’ ON GOVERNMENT
Irina Hovannisian
Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 30 2006
More than a hundred intellectuals sympathetic to the Armenian
opposition called on Friday for a popular uprising against the
government which they claimed is “illegitimate” and infested with
“criminal elements.”
A joint statement adopted by them at a conference urged Armenians
to “declare war on this regime and return power seized by criminal
traitors to the people.” They accused the authorities of planning to
rig next year’s parliamentary election.
The militant activists also said their anti-government group
called Intellectual Forum is joining the “anti-criminal movement”
launched by 15 opposition parties the previous night. In a joint
declaration, the parties expressed concern at what they see as a
growing “criminalization” of the government and the political scene.
Intellectual Forum leaders had earlier pledged to name those government
officials who they believe have underworld connections.
However, their angry statement mentioned only President Robert
Kocharian and Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian.
“These two men have effectively usurped power,” a leader of the group,
Rafael Ghazarian, told RFE/RL. “They have not been legitimate since
[the presidential election of] 2003.”
Asked to name the alleged “criminal elements,” Ghazarian singled
out Minister for Local Government Hovik Abrahamian, Transport and
Communications Minister Andranik Manukian and even Prosecutor-General
Aghvan Hovsepian. “He is simply a criminal element,” he said of
Abrahamian. “He has no right to hold any state post.”
The latest opposition accusations have already been dismissed by the
Armenian authorities and their supporters. In a joint statement last
week, a group of other prominent intellectuals mostly supportive of
the Armenian leadership described the verbal attacks as an “attempt
to undermine our statehood.” They alleged that Intellectual Forum
is being manipulated by unspecified opposition leaders collaborating
with foreign intelligence services.

IRAN NAMES CHESS PLAYERS FOR WORLD YOUTH MEET
Tehran Times, Iran
Sept 30 2006
TEHRAN – Iran’s Chess Federation here Saturday named four players
for the world youth tournament in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
Atussa Purkashian and Mina Hemmati will represent the country in
women’s event and Seyyed Javad Alavi-Moqaddam and Homayun Tofiqi in
men’s competitions.
According to the schedule, the team will depart for Armenia on Oct. 2
to compete at the Swiss-style 13-round event.

IRANIAN ENERGY MINISTER EXPECTED IN ARMENIA
Persian Journal, Iran
Sept 30 2006
Energy Minister Parviz Fattah is to begin a visit to Armenia today to
participate in the Iran-Armenia-Georgia trilateral meeting as well as
follow up joint border projects and a bilateral agreement for supply
of electricity to Armenia.
On the two countries’ energy cooperation, he said a third 230-kilovolt
transmission line being set up by the Iranian Sanir company in
Armenia is one of their ongoing projects and is to become operational
by year-end.
Electricity networks of Iran, Armenia and Georgia will be linked in
the near future so that Iran can have greater access to international
networks through Geogria, the minister told.
Construction of a dam on their joint Aras river is another Iran-Armenia
ongoing joint project, he said, adding that talks are underway for
construction of another dam in Armenia.
The 235-km Aras river forms an international border between Iran,
Azerbaijan Republic and Armenia.