Paruir Hairikyan, Hrant Bagratyan declared to make greatest contribution to formation of Armenia
Regnum, Russia
Sept 23 2006
Leader of the Association for Self-Determination Paruir Hairikyan and
Armenian ex-prime minister Hrant Bagratyan have been acknowledged
as persons who made a greatest contribution to the establishing of
political independence and ensuring economic progress of Armenia. The
two are chosen by a survey conducted by a Club of Economic Journalists
NGO among 60 Armenian journalists.
Figures recognized as having strengthened Armenian statehood are
listed in the survey as follows: first president of Armenia Levon
Ter-Petrossian, acting president Robert Kocharyan, ex-prime minister
Vazgen Manukyan, entrepreneur Khachatur Soukiasyan, US billionaire
Kirk Kirkoryan, and others.
Hrant Bagratyan who attended the conference at which the survey
results were made public Sep 23, said that 15 years is not too long
of a term for a country’s independence, and in the coming 15 years,
the nation should ensure the division between property and politics.
“We need to create a stratum of entrepreneurs who will not interfere
with politics but do private business,” he maintained.

Canadian Press
Sept 23 2006
Suspected Kurdish guerrillas set off a truck bomb in eastern Turkey,
17 hurt
Canadian Press
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Suspected Kurdish guerrillas set off an
explosive-laden minibus across from a police guest house in eastern
Turkey, injuring 17 people Saturday, the governor’s office said.
The Ford minibus parked across from the police guest house, went off
in eastern city Igdir on the Armenian border, the governor’s office
announced. Two of the injured were in serious condition, he said.
The injured included five police officers and some officials of a
small soccer club who travelled from Ankara to Igdir for a match,
private Dogan news agency said. The blast shattered the windows of
the police guest house and other buildings in the area.
“Thank God, we don’t have any loss,” Dogan quoted deputy governor
Mehmet Yilmaz saying.
The explosion coincided with complaints by imprisoned guerrilla chief
Abdullah Ocalan about his prison conditions, which were relayed by
his lawyers, the pro-Kurdish news agency Firat reported on its
website Saturday.
The attack also comes after recent declaration of co-operation
between Turkey, the United States and Iraq in fighting the
guerrillas, who are based in northern Iraq.
The guerrillas have recently intensified their attacks across the
country and have so far ignored a recent call by the pro-Kurdish
Democratic Society party to declare a unilateral ceasefire in the
hopes of establishing dialogue with the state.
Earlier Saturday, autonomy-seeking Kurdish guerrillas detonated a
remote-controlled bomb, derailing a freight train in southeastern
Turkey, officials said. No injuries were reported in that attack
which occurred in Elazig province. Seven train carriages derailed and
a total of eight were damaged.
The guerrillas have also carried out bomb attack in Mediterranean
resorts, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, including
10 Britons in a minibus bombing in the popular resort town Marmaris
in late August.
Ocalan’s guerrilla group has long demanded Ocalan be moved out of
solitary confinement. Ocalan has been in prison on the prison island
Imrali, off Istanbul, since his capture Feb. 15, 1999 in Kenya.
His guerrilla group and supporters have long expressed concern about
Ocalan’s health. But a delegation from the Council of Europe’s
committee for the prevention of torture, which visited Ocalan on the
island in 1999, said the leader’s cell was well lit and suitably
equipped.
Turkey also maintains doctors closely monitor Ocalan’s health.
The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 37,000 people since
the guerrillas took up arms for autonomy in 1984.
The United States and the European Union have called on Turkey to
improve the economy of the war-ravaged southeastern Turkey to end the
22-year-old conflict, which has killed 37,000 people. Turkey insists
it will not negotiate with terrorists, threatening to fight until all
guerrillas are killed or surrender.
Gen. Yasar Buyukanit, chief of the Turkish military, recently ruled
out any compromise and said negotiations with “terrorists” are out of
question. Buyukanit said the new co-operation with the United States
was aimed at finishing off the guerillas.
A special U.S. envoy, retired air force general Joseph Ralston,
visited Ankara earlier this month and assured Turks of Washington’s
commitment to helping Turkey and Iraq confront the Kurdistan Workers
party, or PKK, which the United States lists as a terrorist
organization. The PKK is also labelled as a terrorist group by the
EU.
Ralston, the former NATO supreme allied commander, stressed however
the use of force against the autonomy-seeking group should be a last
resort.
The bulk of the PKK’s estimated 5,000 guerrillas are thought to be in
Turkey but many operate in Iraq and Iran.
The guerrillas have benefitted from the years of a power vacuum in
northern Iraq to stage cross-border offensives in Turkey’s
Kurdish-dominated southeast, as Turkey complained of lack of U.S.
support in fighting the guerrillas while Turkish soldiers served in
Afghanistan to support the U.S.-led war against global terrorism.
The appointment of Ralston came after Turkey issued thinly veiled
threats to stage a unilateral cross-border offensive into northern
Iraq to hunt down Kurdish guerrillas.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials have
repeatedly warned Turkey against entering northern Iraq, one of the
few stable areas in that country, fearing an incursion would alienate
Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-U.S. group in the region.
From: Baghdasarian

Controversial Monument Poses Diplomatic Challenge to Tbilisi
Civil Georgia, Georgia
Sept 23 2006
Plans to erect a monument to Armenian Gen. Gurgen Dalibaltyan in
predominately ethnic Armenian-populated Georgia’s southern city of
Akhalkalaki have triggered Baku’s angry reaction.
Gen. Dalibaltyan a native of Akhalkalaki district, who is currently
80 years old, will reportedly be honored for his contribution in
fight against Azerbaijani’s troops in Nagorno-Karabakh in early 90s.
Local officials in Akhalkalaki say that funding to erect the monument
comes from “the Armenian sources,” according to the Imedi television
stations.
A spokesman of the Azerbaijani Embassy in Tbilisi Elkhan Polukhanov
said on September 23 that the move will be perceived to be
“non-friendly” by Azerbaijani authorities.
“At first we want to know whether there is a relevant authorization
by the Georgian state agencies on creation of this monument… The
monument will definitely bring negative elements in relationship
between the two states – Georgia and Azerbaijan, which is in
a condition of war with Armenia,” Elkhan Polukhanov told Imedi
television.

Oregon Senator Praises President’s Special Envoy To Bring America’s Power To Bear On Darfur
By office of Senator Gordon Smith
Glendale Oregon News, OR
Sept 23 2006
WASHINGTON, DC – Recently, U.S. Senators Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) and
Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) released statements regarding the
president’s appointment of former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios
as Presidential Special Envoy to lead America’s efforts to protect
the people of Darfur. In legislation introduced in August, Senators
Smith and Kennedy called for the appointment of a special envoy to
work with the international community to advance the ceasefire and
disarm the Janjaweed militia.
“This is a much needed step to stop the bloodshed and killing,”
Senator Smith said. “A Sudanese leader needs to know the eyes of the
world are watching their actions closely. Mindless murder is
intolerable. Sudan must allow the UN peacekeeping force to secure
the region.”
“Convincing the Sudanese Government to end the genocide must be the
Envoy’s top priority,” Senator Kennedy said. “If the Sudanese
Government continues on its perilous course of intransigence, there
must be economic and diplomatic consequences. The United States must
make it clear that our government is prepared to impose economic
sanctions and restrict the travel of Sudan’s leaders and their
families.
Sudan’s membership in international organizations, restrictions on
loans to and investment in the Sudanese Government, and bilateral
diplomatic relations should also be on the table. It must be crystal
clear that the United States is prepared to urge our allies across
the globe to do the same. Our basic humanity compels us to remember
the Holocaust, the Armenian, Rwandan and Cambodian genocides. We
must act, and act now.”
The Peace in Darfur Act of 2006 (S.3801), introduced by Senators
Smith and Kennedy, outlines several formidable actions that need to
be taken to enforce the Darfur Peace Agreement. The bill calls for:
The Government of Sudan to immediately allow a UN peacekeeping force
to operate in Darfur and implement the Darfur Peace Agreement
NATO, if requested by the UN, to enforce the no-fly zone over Darfur
and to provide airlift, logistical and intelligence support to the
peacekeepers
The international community to support the current African Union
Mission in Sudan and a follow-on UN peacekeeping mission to Darfur,
and to promptly act to fill the outstanding humanitarian assistance
needs
The President of the United States to impose economic sanctions if
Sudan fails to implement the peace agreement
An additional $150 million in funding to be authorized by the U.S.
Congress that can be spent in fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to fill
the unmet humanitarian needs in Darfur.
To contact Senator Smith, go to
ction=Contact.Home
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towns throughout Oregon.
Do you have a story you’d like to publish about your community? You
can publish it using our Citizen Journalism feature.
There is no cost for using our news sites. Registering as a citizen
journalist is free. It’s easy to publish your stories on our
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news websites when you place an ad in any one of our sites.
The following link provides a list of all 350 news websites,
including forums, event listings and Citizen Journalism sections:
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OhmyNews International, South Korea
Sept 23 2006
Turkey Drops Charges Against Novelist
Elif Shafak was on trial for insulting national Identity
Amin George Forji (amingeorge)
On Thursday a court in Istanbul acquitted Elif Shafak, age 35 and one
of the country’s best selling novelists, from charges of insulting
Turkishness.
The insults in question appeared in her novel The Bastard Of
Istanbul. The characters in the story condemned Turkey’s mass killings
of ethnic Armenians at the close of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
The Armenians believe that those killings in fact constituted a
genocide, and demand that Turkey apologizes, and redresses its past
wrongs. Turkey has traditionally rejected such claims of genocide
as baseless.
Under Article 301 of Turkey’s penal code it is a crime to insult
Turkish national identity. The crime is punished with up to three
years in prison.
The trial was closely watched by the European Commission, who earlier
indicated that it will serve as a veritable test of freedom in Turkey.
The European Union says the controversial Turkish law seriously
violates the right to freedom of speech.
The commission, while qualifying the Istanbul acquittal decision as
“good news,” requested that Turkey use this opportunity to scrap off
the “bad law” under which the artist was prosecuted.
Krisztina Nagy, an E.U. spokeswoman, expressed caution and skepticism
about the decision.
“The fact remains that (Turkey’s courts) established a restrictive
interpretation of article 301 of the penal code which is not in line
with the European Court of Human Rights and European standards of
freedom of expression.”
Turkey is seeking admission into the European Union, and is presently
already undergoing membership talks. The law against insulting
Turkishness is seen as one of the major obstacles against Turkey
joining the union.
The Istanbul court, after 40 minutes deliberation, decided that
there was lack of ample evidence to prove that Ms Shafak in fact
“denigrated Turkish national identity” in her novel.
While welcoming the decision, the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, announced that the government will consider amending that
section of the law in future.
“The ruling party and the opposition can sit down together again to
discuss this issue as laws are not eternal,” Erdogan declared.
Shafak was exempted from attending the court hearing because she gave
birth to her first daughter just five days ago. Speaking after the
court decision, she said she was very delighted with the decision.
“I’m very happy with the outcome but only on a personal basis. As
long as 301 is out there and interpreted or misinterpreted like that
there’ll be many other cases like this … This is not the last one,”
Reuters quoted her as saying.

INTERNATIONAL BERTELSMANN FORUM 2006 COMMENCES IN BERLIN
[September 23, 2006, 14:16:09]
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2006
The International Bertelsmann Forum 2006 commenced in Berlin on
September 22, AzerTAc’s personal correspondent reports from the
German capital.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev arrived at the Federal Foreign
Office to join leading representatives from 20 counties gathered here
to discuss the future of the European continent.
The forum is dealing with a wide range of issues including the future
of the Balkan states and the Black Sea region, Eastern Europe, West’s
strategies in the Middle East, migration and integration within Europe
and others.
Werner Weidenfeld, member of the Executive Board of the Bertelsmann
Foundation made opening remarks.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission President Manuel
Barroso, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Belgian Prime
Minister Guy Verhofstadt and Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany
gave keynote addresses.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev addressed the 1st session of the
forum held under the title The Balkans and the Black Sea – A Litmus
Test for Europe.
President Ilham Aliyev spoke of the legal, political and economic
reforms in Azerbaijan.
“Today, the South Caucasus region is of significant importance to
Europe, especially the delivery of the Caspian Sea energy resources
to the world markets. But the region’s Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is
a huge obstacle to ties between Europe and South Caucasus. Europe
should seek establishment of peace in the region through playing a
key role in settlement of this dispute”, he said.
President Ilham Aliyev noted Azerbaijan today has become a significant
oil and gas producing country, adding it is ready to play the role
of a reliable partner in providing energy security in Europe.
Then President Ilham Aliyev, Romanian President Traian Basescu,
Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, Montenegrin Prime Minister and
Armenian Foreign Minister had wide-ranging discussions.
President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan is actively involved in the
European new neighborhood policy.
“Integration into the West is one of the major priorities of
Azerbaijan’s foreign policy”, he noted.
The Azerbaijani leader reiterated his country’s stance on the
Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Romanian President Traian Basescu who supported Azerbaijan’s position
said the policy of protecting the rights of national minorities should
not infringe upon territorial integrity of a state.
“It is impossible for each national minority to establish its own
state, there is a practice of autonomy. Such conflicts should be
solved on the base of these principles”, the Romanian leader noted.
President Ilham Aliyev said Armenia today is the only state that has
no national minorities in its territory, describing it as a monostate.
“Creation of two Armenian states is impossible, it doesn’t meet any
international legal standards and principles, including the European
standards as well as poses a huge threat to Europe’s future”, he added.
The Azerbaijani leader also responded to a variety of questions
covering global energy problems, the country’s oil and gas policy,
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and other projects as well as international
problems.
The Forum’s first day ended with sessions entitled “Eastern Europe –
New Power, Old Order” and “From the Middle East to the Hindu Kush –
Collapse of Western Strategies?”.
The International Bertelsmann Forum 2006 wraps up on September 23.
* * *
President Ilham Aliyev also attended the official reception given
in the Bertelsmann Foundation in honor of the participants of the
International Bertelsmann Forum 2006.
* * *
Later in the evening, President Ilham Aliyev addressed the “Challenge
Democracy” event, which also involved Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo
Djukanovic and former Polish leader Aleksander Kwasniewski.

U.N. envoy dismisses fear of Kosovo precedent
KOSOVAREPOR
Sept 23 2006
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The U.N. envoy charged with
proposing a solution to Kosovo’s final status on Friday dismissed
arguments that granting the breakaway Serbian province independence
would set a dangerous precedent.
Martti Ahtisaari said after briefing the Security Council on talks
he is conducting between Belgrade and Pristina, “We would be totally
paralyzed if people would say, don’t do this because it may have an
effect on something else.”
“This is a special case,” the former Finnish president told reporters,
arguing that Kosovo’s history made it different from any other conflict
in the Balkans or the Caucasus.
Major powers in a six-nation Contact Group overseeing Balkan diplomacy
authorized Ahtisaari this week to propose a final status for Kosovo
widely expected to lead to U.N.-imposed independence against Belgrade’s
will by the end of this year.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk warned Western nations
that granting independence to Kosovo, whose population is 90 percent
ethnic Albanian, could have a ripple effect from the Black Sea to
the Caucasus.
“A lot of separatist regimes in the region are waiting for a solution
of the Kosovo problem in order to undertake their action to separate,”
he said in a Reuters interview.
“Kosovo might be the precedent on which separatist regimes may take
their decisions. This may undermine the efforts of the international
community to bring settlements in Transdnestr, Abkhazia, South Ossetia
and Nagorno-Karabakh.”
He was referring to so-called “frozen conflicts” in breakaway regions
of the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia, where minorities
backed by Moscow are seeking to secede, as well as in Azerbaijan.
Kosovo has been in limbo under U.N. administration since 1999 when
NATO waged an air war to drive Serbian forces out of the southern
province to stop ethnic cleansing ordered by the late Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic.
FULL SPEED AHEAD
Ahtisaari said the solution to any of these conflicts would need
the consent of the U.N. Security Council, where the United States,
Russia, China, Britain and France have veto power.
“This precedent discussion is perhaps more political than anything
else. It’s a reminder that somebody may in the debates in the Council
use those arguments. But I don’t think it has more importance than
that. Because otherwise it would prevent us from solving this,”
he added.
Leaders of the Bosnian Serb republic have suggested in campaigning
for an Oct. 1 election they would see independence for Kosovo as
legitimizing their own right to secede.
Western governments this week brushed aside Russian and Serbian pleas
to slow the process and allow more time for talks, and decided to
press ahead for a settlement this year.
Asked whether he feared that Serbia or the Kosovo Albanians might
walk out of the talks, Ahtisaari said he did not think they would.
“Both sides have assured me — whenever I have called them, they have
come,” he said.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told reporters,
“We think it’s important after seven years of uncertainty for Kosovo
that the people of Kosovo and Serbia and the region deserve to have
their status resolved.”
Serbian President Boris Tadic, a pro-Western reformer, told the U.N.
General Assembly this week that Belgrade had offered Kosovo greater
autonomy than any other region in Europe.
But significantly he did not echo nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav
Kostunica’s insistence that Kosovo must remain forever Serbian.

Today, Azerbaijan
Sept 23 2006
Azeri official: “Monument to Armenian general can harm Azeri-Georgian
relations”
23 September 2006 [15:58] – Today.Az
A monument to Armenian general Gurgen Dalibaltian who fought against
Azerbaijan during a war in Nagorno Karabakh will be erected in
Akhalkalaki.
APA Bureau in Georgia reports that this intention of Armenians was
not welcomed in Georgia. Georgian living in Akhalkalaki, Soso Tetavdze
says that monuments to Georgian martyrs haven’t been erected yet but
Armenians want to make a monument to an Armenian here. “We are to
blame,” he said.
Akhalkalaki Mayor Artur Yerimyan said they have consulted all bodies
of the city and there is no concern for making the monument.
MP and Armenian-language Vrastan newspaper editor-in-chief Van Bayburt
says Dalibaldyan was born in Georgia and a good-will man for Georgia
but he didn’t get the rank of Colonel-general in Garabagh War.
Chairman of foreign affairs committee of the Georgian Parliament,
Konstantin Gabashvili says it is necessary to request local authorities
and governor’s office to take measures if the monument causes standoff
in the region.
Azerbaijan’s embassy in Georgia spokesman Elkhan Polukhanov told
APA bureau that relevant bodies of Azerbaijan were informed of the
happenings.
“Azerbaijan’s embassy notified Georgian Foreign Ministry orally. We
contacted Georgian Culture, Monuments and Sport Ministry. Ministry
representative Zurab Chipashvili told us that the monument can be
made if the ministry permits. But Deputy Minister Nika Vasheishvili
said the decision of local authorities is enough if the place for
monument is suitable. Azerbaijan will make an official reaction if it
is confirmed that Georgian officials authorize the monument building.
We know that Georgia is tolerant toward all nations living here. But
permitting construction of this monument can harm friendship between
our countries,” he said.
Georgian officials didn’t take a stance on the issue.
80-year-old Armenian General Dalibaltyan approved the place for his
8-meter-high monument.
URL:

Zaman, Turkey
Sept 23 2006
Ultranationalist Lawyer Appeals Novelist Shafak’s Acquittal
By Cihan News Agency
Saturday, September 23, 2006
zaman.com
An ultranationalist lawyer named Kemal Kerincsiz has appealed the
acquittal of renowned Turkish novelist Elif Shafak.
Shafak had been accused of insulting Turkishness, due to her remarks
in her novel titled, “The Bastard of Istanbul”.
Lawyer Kerincsiz, who was responsible for opening the case against
author Elif Shafak, submitted an appeal petition to the Beyoglu
Court, where the controversial trial was held on Thursday.
The lawyer claimed in his petition that the court jury was under
pressure from Turkish and European politicians.
Beyoglu 2nd Court of First Instance decided on Thursday to acquit
Shafak on lack of evidence that the author had insulted Turkishness.
Shafak who gave birth to her first child, a girl named Sehrazat
Zelda, on Saturday, was unable to attend the first trial.
Shafak’s book recounts the story of relations between an Armenian
family and two Turkish families.
An Armenian character in the book says that “Turkish butchers” killed
her family and that the deaths were “genocide.”
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on
Thursday that he was happy that Shafak was acquitted in the
controversial case.
Erdogan also signaled an amendment on the much debated Article 301 of
the Turkish Penal Code, under which many well-known Turkish writers
and authors were tried or prosecuted, saying that a consensus is
required between the government and the opposition parties for such
an amendment.

Azerbaijan Can Buy Armament from U.S. and France
PanARMENIAN.Net
23.09.2006 14:50 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Having a cash flow Azerbaijan can purchase
armament from France and the U.S. or from member states of the Warsaw
agreement. The Azerbaijani military can get an opinion from the U.S.,
experts of Stratfor intelligence center consider.
The experts remark that in 2005 the Armenian state budget made $930
million while Azerbaijan’s budget reached $2 billion 986 million. In
2005 the Azeri military budget made $300 million, in 2006 – $600
million. The military budget of Armenia made $100 million last year
and $160 million this year.
To note, the world defense expenses will reach 1,059 trillion, says
Oxfam international fund.