EU: TURKEY URGED TO REINVIGORATE REFORMS AND ADMIT CYPRIOT PLANES AND VESSELS
European Parliament
Sept 6 2006
The Foreign Affairs Committee remains firmly committed to accession
as the goal of EU negotiations with Turkey, but says that both in
Turkey and in the EU important reforms are needed in order to achieve
this outcome. In a report adopted on Monday, the committee welcomes
the start of the accession negotiations with Turkey, but expresses
regret that the reform process in Turkey has slowed down. The text
will be debated by the whole Parliament during the plenary session
of 25-28 September.
The report, prepared by Camiel Eurlings (EPP-ED, NL) and adopted by 53
votes in favour to 6 against with 8 abstentions, notes “persistent
shortcomings” in areas such as freedom of expression, religious
and minority rights, the role of the military, policing, women’s
rights, trade union rights and cultural rights. It urges Turkey to
“reinvigorate” the reform process.
MEPs also urge Turkey “to take concrete steps for the normalisation
of bilateral relations” with Cyprus “as soon as possible”. They refer
to the Council declaration of 21 September 2005, which said that
continuing negotiations would depend on Turkey opening its borders to
Cypriot vessels and airplanes and that the situation would be reviewed
in 2006. Regarding Cyprus itself, MEPs welcome the meeting between
Mr Papadopoulos and Mr Talat, which led to the agreement of 8 July.
On other issues, the Foreign Affairs committee call on Turkey to
recognise the Armenian genocide as a precondition for accession. And
it called for a lowering of the threshold of ten percent of the votes
below which political parties cannot enter the Turkish parliament.
MEPs repeat that negotiations do no lead automatically to accession
and said that whether or not negotiations are successfully concluded,
Turkey must remain “fully anchored in European structures.”
Before the start of the vote, Mr Eurlings said that “unfortunately,
reforms have clearly slowed down.” He hoped that the Turkish government
would regard his report “as a signal and an incentive to reintroduce
the vigorous speed of reform it had shown in the year before accession
negotiations started.”

“JIHAD MEANS LIFE, AND NOT WAR AND MURDER”
National Assembly of RA, Armenia
Sept 6 2006
On September 4, Mr. Tigran Torosyan, the President of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia received the delegation headed
by Mufti of the Arab Republic of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hasun.
The Catholicos of all Armenians Garegin II and Ambassadors of two
countries were present at the meeting.
Closely observing the goal and the process of Mufti of the Arab
Republic of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hasun’s visit to Armenia His
Holiness highlighted friendly relations between the two countries, and
particularly the fact of providing a shelter to our compatriots, who
survived after the Armenian Genocide at the beginning of last century.
Mr. Tigran Torosyan, the RA NA President, greeting the spiritual
leader of Syria in the Parliament, gratefully touched upon the
fact of brotherly reception and treatment of our suffered people
as fully citizens in 1915. The RA NA President noted that he is
closely observing the events that keep the region in chaos and he is
concerned not only with the fate of his compatriots, but with the one
of the friendly nations. Mr. Torosyan highlighted the Mufti’s visit
in a period when the spiritual leader of the neighboring country is
threatening with Jihad and expressed a hope that religions cannot be
divisive. Other high values exist, which unite the people and give
the opportunity to confront the challenges.
The Mufti of the Arab Republic of Syria Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hasun,
conveying the greetings of the people and the President of the Syrian
Arab Republic Bashar Asad, expressed his satisfaction to be on a visit
to the Parliament of the Republic of Armenia as a country, which was
the first to adopt Christianity as a state religion – a light which
guided throughout its future history.Touching upon the Jihad declared
by the spiritual leader of the Muslims of the Caucasus, the Mufti
noted that Jihad means life, and not war and murder, because Jihad
unites the people around good idea, and the task of the spiritual
leaders should be supporting the political leadership to establish
peace and well being.
Mr. T. Torosyan, the RA NA President, noted that as Jihad may
receive various interpretations within the same religion, so various
interpretations are given to the conception of democracy. It is
interpreted as a way of governance, which brings welfare and safety to
a human being. But there are people and groups that use the democracy
for war. Though, the welfare is not given by war and is not obliged.
The issues of globalization to meet the challenges were mutually
highlighted: to protect and save the national identity, since the
loss of identity is a sin before God, who awarded that identity and
peculiarities.
Other issues were also discussed during the meeting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

HUMMUS? IT CAN BE SUBLIME
By Charles Perry, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, CA
Sept 6 2006
PROPERLY served, hummus is a grand thing to see. A cook scoops pale
yellow paste into a shallow brick-colored bowl and then stirs it madly
with a mortar, forcing it up against the sides of the bowl in a thick,
luxurious coil.
Ostensibly, this is for your convenience, because you can scoop
genteelly from the wall of hummus erected for you. But it also
shows off the quality. If the paste is too thick, it won’t form that
glamorous coil. Too slack, and it slumps shamefully.
ADVERTISEMENT There’s a lot of hummus in our town, particularly in
the San Fernando Valley, which has seen wave after wave of immigrant
nationalities.
How does Valley hummus stack up, as it were? I recently checked out
30 restaurants and cafes to find out.
The Valley’s hummus scene is based on three main Middle Eastern ethnic
clusters. A lot of Armenians live in Glendale and Burbank.
Many are from the Republic of Armenia, where hummus is scarcely known,
but others are from western Armenia, often by way of Syria or Lebanon,
and they have clear-cut hummus tastes. There are a few Lebanese places
in North Hollywood and Valley Village. Israeli restaurants cluster on
Ventura Boulevard in Encino and Tarzana. Half a dozen more Armenian
places are scattered through the mid-Valley, from North Hollywood to
Sherman Oaks, along with two Lebanese places, and there’s an Israeli
nightclub in Studio City.
Here’s where I’m coming from as a hummusivore. I first tasted it
back in the ’60s when I was studying in Lebanon, a very quiet place
at the time. In principle, none of the ingredients was exotic –
I’d certainly tasted chickpeas (though not pureed), sesame seeds
(though not ground to a paste called tahini), lemon juice and garlic –
but the combination seemed original and gratifying.
Different garnishes
AND there was more to hummus than those pureed ingredients. When the
cook was done stirring it around, the bottom of the serving bowl was
nearly bare, leaving room for a garnish. Different Middle Eastern
cities, I found, had different tastes in the garnish department.
Beirut had a rather classical preference, just a couple of whole
chickpeas and a spoonful or two of good local olive oil (I understand
that Beirutis are tending to finish if off with a sprinkle of
paprika these days), or maybe toasted pine nuts. In Tripoli, they
would substitute toasted walnuts and melted butter. Some restaurants
(too pricey for the student’s budget I was on) were reputed to top
hummus with richer things such as roast meat.
A few years later, health foodies discovered hummus and popularized
it far and wide, just as they did with falafel and tabbouleh. Its
attractions for them were obvious. Hummus was a vegetarian source of
protein, it had a rich flavor, it was exotic.
As a result of their efforts, you can now get hummus – or something
like it – at lots of restaurants and snack stands, even in
supermarkets. But it’s still hard to find good hummus.
The problem, I think, is that health foodies were dazzled by the
nutritional value of chickpeas and sesame seeds and went overboard
on those two ingredients, doing violence to the aesthetic of the dish.
Health-food hummus has nearly always been too thick with chickpeas,
with far too much tahini flavoring and nowhere near enough lemon
juice. It tends to scant the garlic flavor too, though there’s
difference of opinion about how much garlic to use even in the
Middle East.
Hummus really needs a sharp note of lemon juice to counteract the
flat, faintly bitter effect of the chickpeas. And too much tahini not
only overwhelms the other flavors, but also makes the hummus heavy
and gummy.
Crossover hummus ignores the garnish aspect of the Middle Eastern
dish while the culinary avant-garde seems to feel unfairly constrained
by the traditional recipe. Now some fusion restaurants are giving us
edamame hummus or sun-dried tomato hummus – undermining the whole idea
because hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea – while commercial
producers are adding flavors such as horseradish and kalamata
olive. Some of these experiments are interesting, but I suspect if
they ever tasted the real thing, most chefs would reconsider messing
with the fine balance of flavors and texture that is the classic
hummus recipe.
On my hummus quest in the Valley, I was looking for rich-textured
hummus with a good balance of chickpea, lemon and sesame flavors,
preferably with a subtle note of garlic, though I was OK with
variations if the cooks seemed to know what they were doing. I didn’t
bother with many Greek or Iranian places, because in my experience
they tend to be unclear on the hummus concept (one prominent exception:
Raffi’s Place in Glendale).
To tell the truth, though, Middle Eastern ancestry doesn’t necessarily
mean you make good hummus. According to its website, the Zankou
Chicken chain, which was founded in Beirut, puts no lemon in its
boring hummus. Maybe it’s afraid of upstaging its roast chicken.
A distinct geographical pattern emerged. Lemon juice is more likely to
be underplayed in the west end of the Valley (though not everywhere;
Sassi, for one, does a good job). But in Burbank and Glendale,
nearly every hummus is distinctly tart – in fact, Kotayk Kabob Deli
in Burbank and Elena’s Greek and Armenian Food in Glendale may even
take the tartness thing a little too far.
I didn’t find the hummus of my dreams, but I did come across some
very good ones, a nicely rounded Top 10 worth seeking out.
Ambience and flavor
IN terms of texture, the best was clearly the regular hummus at
Alcazar in Encino, though I thought it could have used a dash more
lemon. With its high ceilings, airy patio and handsome Lebanese decor,
Alcazar is probably the best hummus-eating location in the Valley –
it exudes that Mediterranean feeling that time ceases to exist when
you’re noshing with friends.
Cedar House Cafe in Valley Village, a lively Lebanese hangout with a
cheery belly dancer in the evenings, makes a slightly thinner hummus
with a better balance of flavors. Uniquely, it gives you chips of
crisp toasted lavash bread as well as pita, and it positively loads you
with condiments: tomatoes, pickled turnips, pickled peppers and olives.
The fairly new Van Nuys cafe Noah’s Ark also makes well-balanced hummus
with a creamy texture, emphasizing the sesame flavor but contriving
not to be heavy; it’s garnished with green olives as well as olive
oil. The cuisine is mostly a mixture of eastern and western Armenian
dishes, served in a room embellished with a wall-filling mural of
Noah descending from Mt. Ararat after the great flood.
Two smaller, humbler places show that you can have a very distinctive
flavor and still belong to the classic hummus tradition. Kilikia in
Glendale, located up a couple of steps from the street, feels like
some kind of secret clubhouse (I’ve never seen it full) and makes a
unique hummus, showing a good balance of chickpeas, lemon and garlic
with one additional flavor: a lot of cumin. Odd, but successful.
ADVERTISEMENT Chicken Al-Wazir, also in Glendale, is your basic
ethnic storefront, only more ambitious, with beaded lampshades and
a musical soundtrack.
Its hummus has a faintly smoky, chunky effect, but Larissa Bedrosyan,
who makes it, says the only ingredients are the usual chickpeas,
tahini, garlic and lemon, plus a little vegetable oil. Maybe the
secret is in the wrist.
“Everybody puts hummus together a little different,” says owner Victor
Tahmazyan, who stresses the importance of fresh garlic.
For me, Alcazar, Carousel (in Glendale) and Cedar House are in
a category of their own because they offer those rich toppings of
shawarma or sausages or toasted pine nuts that I couldn’t afford when
I was a college kid. All these places are basically doing the right
thing. They’re pointing a direction – a direction that does not lead
down the path to sun-dried tomato hummus.
*
————————————– ——————————————
charles [email protected]
*
(INFOBOX BELOW)
Top 10, for hummus lovers
Here are 10 of the best places to get hummus in the San Fernando
Valley:
*
Alcazar, 17239 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 789-0991. The best-textured
hummus in the area, piled up in a gleaming ridge around the edge
of the plate. Garnished Beirut-fashion with chickpeas and virgin
olive oil, it lacks garlic, but you could order a plainer-looking
“chef’s hummus” mixed with garlic and toasted pine nuts, or versions
flavored with herbs or red pepper or topped with grilled meat. $5.50
(other versions $6 to $8).
Carnival Restaurant, 4356 Woodman Ave., Sherman Oaks, (818) 784-3469.
Smooth texture, bright lemon note and rather little tahini make for
a light and attractive hummus, if not a very classical one. $3.75
to $5.50.
Carousel, 304 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 246-7775. The texture
of this hummus is a little grainy and liquid, but the flavor shows
good understated lemon and garlic flavors. Lots of optional toppings
are available, such as pine nuts, lamb sausages and shawarma. $5.50
(with toppings, $7.50 to $8.50).
Cedar House Cafe, 4805 Whitsett Ave., Valley Village/North Hollywood,
(818) 769-9994. A well-balanced hummus with a touch of garlic. The
texture is nice and smooth, if a little slack. Available topped with
chicken shawarma or grilled meat and pine nuts. $5 (with toppings,
$8 to $9).
Chicken Al-Wazir, 1219 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale (818) 500-1578. A
unique hummus with an elusive smokiness and a non-classical texture –
slightly chunky, as if there were some kind of minced vegetable in
it. Very flavorful, though. $4.
Kilikia Grill, 627 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale, (818) 545- 7070. Nice
balance of chickpea, lemon and sesame flavor. Probably the only hummus
in Glendale that doesn’t have the usual Armenian garnish of paprika –
instead, it’s sprinkled with cumin. $5.
Noah’s Ark, 13641 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, (818) 786-1202. Smooth,
slightly tart, good sesame flavor; garnished with virgin olive oil and
(unusually) green olives. $5.
Papa Joe’s, 514 W. Colorado Blvd., Glendale, (818) 500-1785. This
awkwardly located place (you practically have to be exiting the north 5
Freeway to reach it) shows a rather Lebanese flavor, balancing lemon
with a good amount of tahini. $2.50.
Raffi’s Place, 211 E. Broadway, Glendale, (818) 240-7411. A smooth,
mild hummus with good balance of lemon, garlic and sesame, very light
sprinkle of paprika. $4.
Sassi Restaurant, 15622 Ventura Blvd., Encino, (818) 986-5345. Nice
lemon note, texture might be smoother; altogether quite good.
Generously garnished with toasted pine nuts, olive oil and paprika.
Certified kosher. $6.

EP CASTS ARMENIAN SHADOW OVER TURKEY’S EU BID
The New Anatolian, Turkey
Sept 6 2006
The European Parliament late Monday approved a sharply critical report
on Turkey, calling on Ankara to recognize the Armenian genocide claims
before becoming a member of the European Union.
The report entitled “Turkey’s Progress Towards Accession,” which was
prepared by EP Committee on Foreign Affairs Rapporteur and MEP Camiel
Eurlings, was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee with some
amendments which made it harsher towards Turkey than it had been. It
also criticized a number of issues, including Cyprus, a slowdown in
the EU reform process, the situation in the southeast, problems with
religious minorities, cultural rights and civilian-military relations.
The report, which was approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee,
isn’t binding but plays a role in making recommendations for Turkey
and will be put to a vote by the EP’s full 732-member assembly during
Sept. 25-28 meetings.
Taking note of a Turkish proposal to set up a bilateral committee of
experts to deal with controversial past incidents and of Armenia’s
position on the proposal, the report urged the Turkish and Armenian
governments to continue their process of reconciliation leading to a
mutually acceptable proposal and asked Turkey to take the necessary
steps, without any preconditions, to establish diplomatic and good
neighborly relations with Armenia and open their land border as soon
as possible.
It also claimed that Turkey committed “genocide against the Pontic
Greeks and Assyrians.”
EU rebukes Ankara on pace of reforms
In Eurlings’ report, EU lawmakers sharply criticized Turkey over its
slow pace of reforms and warned that failure to make progress on the
Cyprus dispute risks bringing entry negotiations to a halt.
Turkey’s reservations about opening its airports and harbors to the
Greek Cypriots will have serious implications for the EU process and
could even bring it to a halt, warned the draft report, calling on
Turkey to take steps towards the recognition of the Greek Cypriot
administration during its accession process. It also raised the idea
of an early withdrawal of forces from the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC). It also called on the European Council to renew efforts
to implement trade regulations with Northern Cyprus.
Report urges progress in human rights
The toughly worded report also called on Ankara to take steps towards
making progress on freedom of expression and raised concerns about the
country’s treatment of religious minorities, the Kurdish population
and women.
Noting that certain progress has been made in women’s rights after
the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK) came into force last year,
the report however then stressed that a lack of respect for women’s
rights in Turkey remains a matter of serious concern.
The EP report also urged Ankara to take concrete steps to remove
obstacles facing religious minorities related to, in particular,
their legal status, the training of clergy, and their property rights,
and called for an immediate stop to all seizures and selling off of
property belonging to religious communities by the Turkish authorities
and the immediate reopening of the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary and
public use of the “ecclesiastical title of the ‘ecumenical’ patriarch.”
It also called for the protection and recognition of Alevis, including
the recognition of cemevis as religious centers, and for all religious
education to be voluntary and not cover just the Sunni branch of Islam.
Taking into consideration the amendment requests of MEPs Joost
Lagendijk and Cem Ozdemir, the report also called on Ankara to find
a solution to the headscarf ban in universities.
Solidarity with Turkey in fighting terror
The EP also condemned a resurgence of violence in the southeast by
the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and stressed that there
can never be an excuse for violence against Turkish citizens in any
part of the country. The report also expressed solidarity with Turkey
in fighting terrorism.
The report severely condemned May’s killing of a Council of State
judge, expressing concern over the low level of security offered to
judges by the police despite clear and public threats, and called on
the government to rectify the situation.

THREE STALEMATES OF IRAQI KURDS
Sedat Laciner
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 6 2006
The Kurds in Iraq, like other Iraqi citizens, have suffered heavily
from the Saddam Hussein’s regime. When Saddam was toppled with the
invasion of coalition troops, Iraqi Kurds were among the ones who
were pleased the most. However, the secessionist Kurds were not only
glad with this, but also thought that they had a great historical
opportunity to achieve an independent Kurdish state. Trying to form
a de facto independence beginning from the Gulf War (1991) until the
invasion of Iraq (2003), Barzani and Talabani first resolved their
conflict with each other thanks to their good relations with the
US, Britain and Israel. Afterwards, they tried to establish an army
made up of only Kurds. This army, named “Pashmarga”, is still being
armed and trained by the US and some other states. Barzani’s closest
military consultants are Israeli officers. The influence of the US
and Britain is clearly noticed in the training of pashmargas. The
recent expenditures on heavy weapons and air force clearly suggest
that Iraqi Kurds don’t want to remain as part of an Iraqi state.
The armament of a community which has been used to the attacks
of Baghdad and trying to curb Baghdad’s influence on them are
understandable to some extent. There is even no problem for Kurdish
independence if the conditions are met. After all, if millions of
people are unable get services from Baghdad, they can naturally
decide to establish their own state. In contrast to general belief,
the most troublesome issue for Turkey and other regional states is
not the foundation of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq.
This state may even get the support of neighboring states. However,
the Iraqi Kurds are making vital mistakes and these mistakes may not
only harm them, but also the region:
They want to found a state without achieving consensus: Their first
critical mistake is that they are trying to achieve what they want by
fait accompli. The Iraqi Kurds are taking steps without getting the
consent of the neighboring countries and, more importantly, other
communities in Northern Iraq. They are even taking these steps by
defying the demands of these elements. They are trying to make gains
by fait accompli and by relying on the regional and international
balances. However, Kurds are not the only community living in the
North. Moreover, the Kurds are not even the majority in most places.
The Northern Iraq accommodates many other ethnic groups, most prominent
of which are Turcomans and Arabs. The Kurds in Iraq take the past
as a model to expand their territories and authority by changing
the demographic structure of the towns. They hamper other groups
to vote in the elections and commit fraud by opening some ballot
boxes. Kirkuk is the number one place of these frauds. The Turcomans
and Arabs are oppressed in Kirkuk, a city which historically is known
to be a Turcoman settlement. These communities either have to pretend
like they are Kurds, or live under oppression.
There are similar situations in other parts of Northern Iraq but
Kirkuk is the main target. For the Kurdish leaders think that an
independence without Kirkuk will be short-lived. The oil-wealthy
Kirkuk will finance the dream of an independent Kurdish state. But
usurping other communities’ rights and freedoms are not enough to
realize this dream. If the Kurds make the same mistake the Arabs
did in Saddam period, the fate of Northern Iraq will not change. A
Kurdish state established by usurping the rights of Turcomans
cannot be a stable one. On the contrary, a Northern Iraq having
achieved a fair representation of Arabs and Turcomans and acting
with consensus over essential issues can be stable and wealthy as a
separate state or as part of Iraq. In other words, the Iraqi Kurds
should consider a Kurdish-Turkish-Arab federation rather than an
independent Kurdish state. Otherwise, any other political entity is
doomed to be short-lived and weak.
They are making politics by relying on external powers: The second
vital mistake of Iraqi Kurds is that they are making politics based
on the external actors and particularly, by relying on these actors.
The support of the US, Israel and Britain is obvious and it is
also obvious that this support is given despite the opposition of
regional countries. Syria and Iran see the Kurds as spies of the US and
Israel. For example, Tehran thinks that the Kurds will assist the US
in an operation against Iran. Who can say that the pashmargas helping
the US in Fellujah will not help the US in Iran? Same concerns also
exist in Syria. The armament of Kurds by Israel particularly raises
concerns in these countries. Syria, whose Golan Heights are under
Israeli occupation, knows that it will weaken against Israel in its
border and Lebanon if it clashes with Kurds. Moreover, if the Kurds
in Syria revolt for secessionism, this will give Israel the chance
to hit Syria from inside, which is a nightmare for Syria. It is also
clear that a campaign of hatred is also taking place in Iraq against
the Kurds. The involvement of Kurds in massacres committed by the US
against the Sunnis may lead to a lasting animosity. Along with Syria,
Iraq and Iran, Turkey is also discontent about the armament of a
Kurdish political entity in its proximity. Ankara’s discontent is
intensified by the US’ and Israel’s armament of this entity without
informing Turkey. In short, the Kurds are confronting the three main
groups in the region, namely the Turks, the Arabs and the Iranians.
Unfortunately, the Kurds’ fellows substituted for these groups, that
is, the US, Britain and Israel, don’t have good reputations in the
region. The US is infamous with giving promises to ethnic groups but
leaving them in the lurch. As a matter of fact, it was the US which
abandoned the Kurds in the half way, leaving them to Saddam’s mercy
in 1970s. It was again the US which gave promises and encouraged the
Kurds to revolt against Saddam after the Gulf War and then leaving
them alone at the end. When Saddam attacked hundreds of thousands
of Kurdish civilians, they took shelter in Turkey. Similarly,
the current situation of Israel’s allies in Lebanon doesn’t need
explanation. There is no need to discuss Britain’s image in the
region. When Iraq was under British mandate, the Royal Air Forces
(RAF) was carrying out trainings in Kurdish regions and the British
aircrafts were frequently hunting Kurds.
Even if we trust the sincerity of the US, Israel and Britain and assume
that their support to Iraqi Kurds is long-lasting; it is still easy
to predict how difficult it is to survive for this entity.
Israel case is evident. If Iraqi Kurds wants to establish a second
Israel, there is no problem. But the Kurds should keep in mind that
the US will not support any other country as much as it does Israel.
Shortly, having close ties with the US has no disadvantage. Turkey
is also an ally of the US. It also has good relations with Israel
and Britain. It is a member of the NATO and a candidate for full EU
membership. Despite all of these, Ankara doesn’t base its regional
policy on external powers. For it is quiet difficult to survive in
the Middle East or somewhere else by solely relying on external
powers. The biggest mistake is relying on someone else’s powers
instead of yours. This mistake was made by some groups in the Middle
East. Armenians were one these. They ignored the rights of their Muslim
neighbors and assumed that they could set up a large and independent
state by counting on the great powers of the period. They killed
hundreds of thousands of Turks, Kurds and other people and hundreds
of thousands of Armenians lost their lives for this case. At the end,
many people have died and hundreds of thousands of Armenians had to
leave their homelands. These events must be an example for Kurds.
Apart from separatism, they are also irredentist: It is well-known
to many that there is a strong historical separatist movement among
the Iraqi Kurds. The Barzani family has carried out armed struggle
for decades in order to establish an independent state by breaking
up from Iraq. The US, Israel and Iran supported this idea in the 1970s.
The number of the supporters of the idea that the Kurds must found an
independent state in the north of Iraq has increased in the aftermath
of the Iraq War. However, the ambition of some Kurdish groups is not
confined to a small Kurdish state. With the existence of Kurds in
Syria, Iran and Turkey, these groups think that a greater Kurdistan
is not merely a utopia. Hence, the irredentist ambitions towards the
neighboring countries are felt more than ever. The Kurdish groups in
Turkey, which benefit from the democratic structure of the country,
are trying to display Barzani as the leader of a pan-Kurd movement.
Syria also blames Barzani for Kurdist movements in the country. More
important than all of these, PKK, one of the bloodiest terrorist
organizations in the world, gets the covert support of Barzani and
Talabani just because of its Kurdist discourse. The PKK is included
in the terrorist organizations lists of the EU, Britain and the US,
but the organization has many offices and armed camps in the Barzani-
and Talabani-controlled Northern Iraq. It is so important for the
Turkish state and public to eliminate PKK terror that it is almost
impossible for others to understand this thoroughly. PKK terror has
claimed 37.000 lives so far and Turkish people are still suffering
from the continuing killings. In such a circumstance, the relations
between Turkey and Kurdish groups (or Iraqi state) supporting this
terrorism will surely deteriorate. Nowadays, Syria and Iran are on
the same side with Turkey on combating PKK terrorism. Both countries
arrest PKK militants and prevent them to use their territories. Iran
has been bombing the PKK camps since the last spring. The number of
PKK militants arrested or killed by Syrian and Iranian forces in one
year has exceeded 1200. However, there is not even one PKK militant
detained or arrested by Barzani or Talabani. PKK opens up offices
in the streets of big cities, uses its flag and PKK terrorists walk
around as they like in Northern Iraq. This picture naturally raises
questions whether Barzani and Talabani have irredentist goals. As
long as the Iraqi Kurds maintain their attitude of backing PKK,
it is impossible for them to get Turkey’s support and satisfy other
countries in denouncing their irredentist ambition.
Turkey and the Kurdish State
Contrary to the general belief, there is no fear of the establishment
of a Kurdish state among Turkish public opinion. The premise that
a possible Kurdish state in Northern Iraq will threaten Turkey is
not a majority view in Turkey. On the contrary, a Kurdish state in
Northern Iraq may have some advantages for Turkey:
A Northern Iraq having a developing economy and a relatively good
democracy will contribute both to Turkey’s security and economy.
As the civil war spreads and intensifies in Central and Southern Iraq,
the formation of a relatively stable region between Turkey and these
zones will have a protective role as a buffer.
A rapidly developing economy in Northern Iraq will accelerate the
development of Turkey’s relatively less-developed Southeastern region.
The foundation of a Kurdish state will show the conditions of Kurds
in Turkey better to the outside world. Those preferring to live in
Turkey and immigrating to Turkish cities such as Istanbul from Iraq
will strengthen the claim that Turkey is the best country to live for
Kurds. If we take into consideration that almost half of the MPs in
Turkish Parliament are of Kurdish origin and keep the anti-democratic
practices in Barzani- and Talabani-controlled region in mind, the true
dimensions of “Kurdish problem” in Turkey will be understood better.
As a result of all these advantages, many circles in Turkey
are quiet content with the rapid development process in Northern
Iraq. As a matter of fact, Turkey gives the biggest support for this
development. For some sources, the amount of Turkey’s investments
and bids taken in this region has already exceeded $5 billion. The
Turkish-Northern Iraqi border crossing is always active and it is the
most important source of income for the Kurdish region. The Turkish
entrepreneurs invest and make deals in every field from construction
to education in the Kurdish region. All this evidence shows that
Turkey has no problem with the strengthening of Kurds in Northern
Iraq. However, the PKK problem and the unilateral fait accompli of
Iraqi Kurds negatively influence the Turkish views on them. It is clear
that as the PKK stays in Northern Iraq and the Iraqi Kurds tolerate
it, Turkish military operations in Iraqi border will continue. And as
long as these operations continue, full support from Turkey to Iraqi
Kurds is impossible. Similarly, if the policies excluding Turcomans
continue, anti-Iraqi Kurd campaigns in Turkey will not end.
Turks and Kurds achieved the “miracle” of the Middle East in Turkey.
There is no reason for this not to happen in Northern Iraq. But
miracles don’t happen easily.
Sedat LACINER: Director of the USAK and a Davos Economic Forum 2006
Young Global Leader.

FOR MANY LEBANESE, WAR IS NEW REALITY: BUT WILL THEY STAY?
By Katherine Zoepf
New York Observer, NY
Sept 6 2006
AMMAN, JORDAN-By now, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
is winding down his latest Middle East trip, a grueling 11-day tour
that has had him hop-scotching from Beirut to Tel Aviv to Tehran
to Damascus to Ankara. The trip was organized in order to shore
up regional support for a Security Council resolution that ended
the month-long conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militia,
Hezbollah, and to discuss Lebanon’s reconstruction. So far, the most
concrete result of all this diplomacy appears to be a plan, still not
yet firm, to lift Israel’s naval blockade on Lebanon later this week.
But even if Mr. Annan succeeds and the Israeli blockade is lifted,
it will still come too late for Jack Yacoubian, a Lebanese Armenian
goldsmith that I met in Amman yesterday. Mr. Yacoubian, who is in
his early 30’s, has spent his entire life in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut’s
Armenian enclave. He recently lost his job with a large Lebanese
jewelry company because the Israeli blockade has made it impossible for
his employers to ship their products to overseas customers, mainly in
the Persian Gulf countries; about 170 employees were laid off, he said.
“I have lost my work; I have lost everything,” Mr. Yacoubian said.
“Many of us Armenians are jewelers, and our business has been ruined.
Our boss tried to help us; he paid all of us out of his own pocket
for a whole month, even though he couldn’t sell anything. But after
that it was all over. He finally had to let us go.”
When I met him in Amman’s Queen Alia International Airport early
yesterday morning, Mr. Yacoubian was on his way to seek his fortune
in Bogota, Colombia, where he has friends that he believes may be
able to help him to find a new job. He doubts that he will be coming
back to Beirut any time very soon.
“I will give it two months, three months, in Colombia, and then I
will see what is the situation in Beirut again,” Mr. Yacoubian said.
“But I do not feel very hopeful now. I think that Lebanon has many
difficulties still ahead.”
Whatever promises to aid Lebanon or to support its troops near
the Israeli border that Mr. Annan succeeds in extracting from Arab
leaders this week, rebuilding Lebanon’s economy will take a very long
time. Many highly educated or specially skilled Lebanese like Mr.
Yacoubian, even including some of those who stayed throughout the
war, are now making very painful and personal choices: about whether
to stay in their country, or to seek greater stability and better
opportunities overseas.
Many Lebanese who fled during their country’s long civil war had
returned in recent years, and thanks in large part to their skills,
energies and investments, Beirut had once again become a thriving
Mediterranean capital. But many middle and upper-class Lebanese have
dual passports, and extended families abroad. They have ambitions
for themselves and their families that are not necessarily rooted in
Lebanon, and they have options.
“How many times in your life can you rebuild everything?” a middle-aged
Lebanese woman asked me the other week in Damascus. “Two times,
three times maybe? You rebuild your home, your business two or three
times. And after that maybe you say, that’s enough, and you find a
home someplace else.”
A extraordinarily cosmopolitan people, many Lebanese, particularly the
educated elite, are asking similarly agonized questions these days,
trying to figure out whether the ceasefire will last, trying to decide
whether they can bear to start all over again in the midst of such
a tenuous peace. Loving your country is all very well, they say, but
what good is patriotism in the face of domestic factionalism and the
constant threat of Israeli attack? What sort of crazy devotion would
make an educated, ambitious young person forsake other opportunities
in order to stay in such a place?
In Beirut last week, and among the groups of Lebanese who remain in
Damascus and Amman in recent days, I’ve heard these questions asked
constantly. How the majority will eventually decide to answer them
will have a huge effect on Lebanon’s prospects for a speedy recovery.
Among those Lebanese who have already resolved to stay, there is
naturally some resentment of those who are on the fence. A young
university professor that I met in Beirut last week spoke witheringly
of his privileged students, most of whom had fled to Europe or the
United States with the onset of Israeli air strikes, and some of whom
have said that they don’t plan to return.
“These kids are rich,” the professor told me bitterly. “That means
they have the chance to decide whether or not they are Lebanese.”
For parents, the questions are even more difficult. It is impossible
to spend much time in Lebanon these days without hearing a great deal
about the effects that the war has had on Lebanese children, about the
unusual tearfulness and aggression shown by even normally even-tempered
young children. A Lebanese friend, Patrick, spoke of his decision to
send his 10-year-old daughter to stay with relatives in Europe during
the worst of the fighting, and then his eventual decision to bring her
home again, despite some relatives’ urgings that he educate her abroad.
“These children, this generation, knew nothing of war,” Patrick said.
“When I was a teenager, we used to go out dancing, and we’d hear
explosions. We’d leave the club for a few minutes, pull people out
of the rubble and take them to the hospital, and then go right back
to drink and dance. We didn’t think anything of it. This was normal
life for us.
“I had really thought that for my daughter it would be different,”
Patrick continued. “I felt angry when the fighting began, and I decided
to send her abroad, so that she wouldn’t see this. But I’ve decided
to bring her home. She will start the school year here, whatever
happens. She is Lebanese, and this fighting, these bombings, are her
heritage. She is 10 years old; she is old enough to understand.”
1/20060911_Katherine_Zoepf_thecity_newyorkersdiary .asp

THE UN CRIES POOR ON LAWLESS SOMALIA, WHILE ITS EX-SECURITY CHIEF DOES BUSINESS THROUGH RULELESS REVOLVING DOOR
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
Inner City Press, NY
Sept 6 2006
UNITED NATIONS, September 6 — The UN accepts military intelligence
from governments it will not name, because the member states refuse
to provide funds for such intelligence, the head of the UN Political
Affairs Ibrahim Gambari said Wednesday. Inner City Press had asked
about Somalia, and UN DPA’s previous statement that it relies for
information on its office in Nairobi, which says it has no monitoring
mandate in Somalia.
“That it is based in Nairobi is instructive,” answered Mr. Gambari,
adding that the UN is keeping a close eye on Somalia and is “doing
the best we can.” He explained the lack of plans for any UN force
to Somalia in terms of the lack of financing, pointing to the
African Union’s shortfall for its Darfur mission. “Where is the
financing?” asked Prof. Gambari. He suggested increased use of such
UN agencies and affiliates as the humanitarian unit OCHA and the UN
Development Program.
Mr. Gambari’s response was decidedly more restrained that a recent
online commentary by the ex-UN head of security for Somalia, American
Wayne Long, who last month wrote of U.S. strategy in Somalia:
“in order to win a war like this at least cost in US lives, a true
superpower plays the Great Game. Playing the black hats against the
blacker hats of America’s enemies saves US military lives and treasure
– HELLO!!!”
Call it conflict prevention. The above is online, as of September 6,
at 1PABE9RG9
On September 6 at UN Headquarters, Inner City Press again asked about
the reports of Ethiopian troops in Somalia and how the UN might at
least confirm this. Mr. Gambari responded that “some governments
share some intelligence, I don’t want to mention names.
Otherwise we would have no capacity. Member-states would not
welcome the enhancement of the Secretariat in terms of intelligence
gathering.” Video here, from Minute 49:15.
Somalia per UN: Money Can Be Made
On UN Ethics, A Long Hypothetical — Wayne Long, That Is
Inner City Press’ sources in Somalia provide a quite different picture
of member-states’ actions and intelligence gathering in Somalia,
which is recounted here including to serves as a hypothetical for
reform. They say that retired general William Garrison, who commanded
U.S. forces in Somalia in 1993 and for identification purposes was
played by Sam Shepherd in the movie Black Hawk Down, has been plotting
for some time to open a private, for profit airport or landing strip in
Somalia, and more recently to buy and run an airline, Trackmark. They
say that Garrison’s entrepreneurialism, which may also not be unrelated
to intelligence gathering, is being assisted by Wayne Long, who was
previously the United Nations’ head of security in Somalia. Mr. Long
is an American, graduate of Texas A&M.
Apparently unlike the UN Political Office on Somalia, Inner City Press
in pursuing its monitoring mandate remains in contact with informed
sources, and even… consults “open source” resources, otherwise
known as the Internet. Whereon one finds ex-UN staffer Wayne Long,
hiding in plain site. Listing his address, accurately, as Nairobi,
Kenya, Mr. Long on August 3, 2006 posted an exasperated comment of a
(U.S.) true believer:
“in order to win a war like this at least cost in US lives, a true
superpower plays the Great Game. Playing the black hats against the
blacker hats of America’s enemies saves US military lives and treasure
– HELLO!!!”
This is online, as of September 6, at
CJO1PABE9RG9
Slightly more diplomatic, writing as Wayne E. Long he has published
an op-ed in the International Herald Tribune urging the U.S. to beef
up its military with immigrants with green cards; the IHT op-ed,
of March 1, 2006, identified him only as “a retired colonel in the U.S.
Army,” nothing about the UN.
Contrary to Ibrahim Gambari’s statement Wednesday that the UN must
rely on unnamed governments for intelligence, some close observers note
that the UN’s operations in Somalia and places like it are “top-heavy
with Americans,” in part so that the U.S. can gather intelligence
either on-the-cheap and/or under cover of the UN’s blue flag. The
revolving door profit making comes later (but may also be connected).
As summarized by an Inner City Press source who has seen Mr. Long, in
this case the UN employed as its chief security officer in a volatile
country a gung-ho, red-blooded “use the black hats” American, who since
leaving the UN is reportedly cashing in with dodgy business ventures
in the same country in which he represented the United Nations.
Wednesday afternoon Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane
Dujarric for an on-the-record statement about the existence or
non-existence within the present UN, or that UN envisioned by Kofi
Annan’s reform proposals, of any safeguards against revolving doors
by which former UN officials could make money in the locales of their
UN tour of duty, using their UN contacts. A closed place UN source,
insisting on not being identified, said he doubts any current rules
prohibit it, since the rules were “made in the 1950s.” Speaking
on-the-record, Mr. Dujarric said he had asked upstairs and would
provide an answer later on Wednesday. After 7 p.m. the following was
provided to Inner City Press as an official on-the-record statement
of the UN on its policy:
“After leaving its employment, the United Nations expects its staff
members to conduct themselves in a manner which would not bring
disrepute to the organization.
“The current UN staff rules and regulations only apply to serving
staff. There are currently discussions in-house focusing on the
subject of post-employment restrictions so as to avoid any possible
conflict of interest. Substantive changes to staff rules would need
to be approved by the General Assembly.”
The General Assembly meetings are about to begin. But it does
not appear that Mr. Annan included any anti-resolving door or
post-employment safeguards in his package of proposed reforms.
Developing…
UN-Heard on Uighurs
The UN’s Alliance of Civilizations, or at least its High Level Group,
has met in New York for the past two days. There have been stakeouts
for photographer in the UN basement, on Tuesday, and on 1st Avenue
and 46th Street on Thursday. The main “get,” fruitlessly pursued by TV
and print reporters, has been ex-Iranian president Katami. Following
remarks he made in Chicago on his way to New York he has decided,
or it has been decided for him, to not speak to the press.
Appearing for a press conference Wednesday were the co-chairs of
the Alliance, Mr. Federico Mayor of Spain and Mr. Mehmet Aydin of
Turkey. The latter began by demanding that questions relate solely to
the Alliance and its work. Okay then. Back in June 2006, Inner City
Press asked Messrs. Mayor and Aydin what the Alliance was doing to
the East, in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Mr.
Mayor back in June said, good question, and pointed out that there
are representatives of China and India in the high level group. It’s
not just about Muslims and the West, they said.
Now the Alliance’s website uses as two of its three lead examples
precisely this phrasing: the West, or Western societies.
Click here to view. So on Wednesday Inner City Press asked what the
Alliance has done, even in speaking to its Chinese representative
Pan Guang, about the treatment of Uighurs, including those freed
from Guantanamo Bay but now in limbo in Albania. (Most recently, it
is reported that if Albania does not refoule these Uighurs, China’s
Security Council veto may impact the pending status talks on Kosovo.)
“You are absolutely right,” said Mr. Mayor, who went on to saying
that in China “the authoritarian mechanisms are still there,” and
that the Alliance has to “denounce realities as they are.” A fellow
journalist noted that no concrete actions were mentioned in response
(video here, from 30:30 to 31:30). Mr. Mayor said that the Alliance
is deciding what to report and recommend to the Secretary General,
“not only on religion but also on freedom of expression.”
On that, note that Uzbekistan has mostly recently denied the right
of counsel to folk singer Dadakhon Khasanov, indicted by the Karimov
government, for his song “Andijan.” Click here to hear and download
an MP3 of the song, and pass it on.
Feedback: editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter’s mobile: 718-716-3540
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At the UN, Micro-States Simmer Under the Assembly’s Surface, While
Incoming Council President Dodges Most Questions
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS, September 5 — Nagorno Karabakh, one of the world
most frozen and forgotten conflicts, surfaced at the UN on Tuesday,
if only for ten minutes. The General Assembly was scheduled to vote
on a resolution concerning fires in the occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. The diplomats assembled, or began to assemble, at 4 p.m..
At 4:15 it was announced that in light of ongoing negotiations,
the meeting was cancelled, perhaps to reconvene Wednesday at 11:30.
Sources close to the negotiations told Inner City Press that the
rub is paragraph 4 of the draft resolution, which requests that
the Secretary-General report to the UN General Assembly on the
conflict. Armenia wants the matter to remain before the Minsk Group
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has
presided over the problem for more than a decade. Leading the OSCE’s
Minsk Group are Russia, France and the United States, members of the
veto-wielding Permanent Five on the UN Security Council, nations which
Azerbaijan claims have ignored its sovereignty as well as blocking
Security Council action, as for example Russia has on Chechnya.
Of the fires, Azerbaijan has characterized them as Armenian arson,
and has asked for international pressure to allow it to reach the
disputed territories where the fires have been.
Nagorno-Karabakh, per WFP
At a July 13, 2006 briefing on the BTC pipeline, Inner City Press
asked the Ambassador of Azerbaijan Yashar Aliyev about the pipeline’s
avoidance of Armenia. We cannot deal with them until they stop
occupying our territory, Ambassador Aliyev said. “You mean Nagorno
– Karabakh?” Not only that, Amb. Aliyev answered. That’s only four
percent. Few people know this, but Armenia has occupied twenty percent
of our territory.
Both Amenia’s Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and UN Ambassador
Armen Martirosian have said publicly in the past month that if
Azerbaijan continues pushing the issue before the United Nations,
the existing peace talks will stop. Armenian sources privately speak
more darkly of an alliance of Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova,
collectively intent on involving the UN in reigning in their breakaway
regions including South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transdniestria
— examples of what some call the micro-states. Armenia is concerned
that in the UN as opposed to OSCE, Azerbaijan might be able to rally
Islamic nations to its side.
It is not only to predominantly Muslim nations that the Azeri’s are
reaching out. The nation’s foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov met
recently with this Swedish counterpart Jan Eliasson, the outgoing
president of the General Assembly.
Following Tuesday’s General Assembly postponement, Inner City Press
asked Mr. Eliasson if, in light of his involvement in reaching the
1994 cease-fire, he thinks the GA might have more luck solving the
Nagorno-Karabakh than the OSCE has.
“I hope so,” he said. “I’m in favor of an active General Assembly.” He
recounted his shuttle diplomacy to Baku in the early 90s. And then
he was gone.
Elsewhere in the UN at Tuesday, the income president of the Security
Council, Greek Ambassador Adamantios Vassilakis held a press conference
on the Council’s plan of work for September. Inner City Press asked
when the Council will get the long-awaited briefing on violations
of the arms embargo on Somalia. Amb. Vassilakis responded about a
meeting on September 25, at Kenya’s request, on the idea of the IGAD
force in Somalia. Inner City Press asked what has happened with the
resolution on the Lord’s Resistance Army of which the UK has spoken so
much. It will be up to them to introduce the motion,” Amb. Vassilakis
replied. He did not reply on the issue of the outstanding International
Criminal Court indictments against LRA leaders including Joseph Kony
and Vincent Otti.
Inner City Press asked why, on Ivory Coast, the long-delayed report
by the Secretary-General’s expert on the prevention of genocide has
not been released. In this response, Amb.
Vassilakis grew animated, saying that one has to choose between justice
and peace. This implies that the finished report identifies alleged
perpetrators, as pertains to genocide, but is being withheld either
to facilitate peace, which has not come, or as negotiating leverage
over some of the perpetrators. To be continued, throughout the month.
Rare UN Sunshine From If Not In Chad While Blind on Somalia and
Zimbabwe, UNDP With Shell in its Ear on Nigeria
BYLINE: Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS, August 29 — In Chad there are ninety political
parties and over seventy rebel groups, with a focus on overthrowing
Idriss Deby. Meanwhile Deby last Friday ordered Chevron and Petronas
out of the country, for failure to pay taxes.
Chad is the fifth poorest country in the world, with countries in
turmoil or trouble along at least half of its perimeter. To the west,
Niger and to the east, on the other side of camps housing over 200,000
refugees from Darfur, lies Sudan. To the south, the Central African
Republic with its own rebel groups. In the tri-border area of the
Sudan, Chad and the CAR is a lawless zone of mercenaries for hire,
and area none of the three governments control.
Tuesday the head of the UN’s operations in Chad, Kingsley Amaning,
provided reporters a lengthy and well-received briefing. He began by
sketching how the situation in Darfur is further destabilizing Chad,
spreading ethnic conflict and banditry across borders. Mr. Amaning
said that alongside 90 political parties, the roster of rebel groups
has grown from 47 to 72. Inner City Press asked, as even invited
political parties have, why the rebels are excluded from Deby’s new
national dialogue. There are a dozen refugee camps in eastern Chad,
each with fifteen to twenty thousand residents, in a region where the
average town size is only three thousand. In fact, Mr. Amaning said,
right now “the quality of life of the refugees is higher than the
quality of life of the local population.”
Mr. Amaning, originally from Ghana and having previously served the
UN in Guinea, has been in Chad for a year and a half.
During that time, rebels marching on the capital N’djamena were
stopped only by a bomb dropped by the French air force. A colleague
of Mr. Amaning, OCHA Chad desk officer Aurelien Buffler, noted in
an interview that the official description of the French bomb was a
“warming shot.” He added that Chad is not even on the agenda of the
Security Council and that raising funds for development is difficult,
since donors don’t know where the money goes. Later this week 25
donors led by Canada will meet with Mr. Amaning in UN Headquarters.
The dichotomy seems to be that while emergency humanitarian funds
can be raised, long-term funds for development are more difficult. Mr.
Amaning said, “Humanitarians get resources, but we don’t follow up
political solutions with development so that people have jobs.”
Refugees in Chad per UNHCR
Inner City Press interviewed Mr. Amaning after the briefing, and asked
him first about specific vulnerable refugee camps near the border with
Darfur, Am Nabak and Ouve Casson. Mr. Amaning confirmed that these
camps will be moved, belated, to a lot north of Biltine, now that
it’s thought there is underground water on the government-owned site.
Turning to history, the UN Security Council, history and one of its
veto-wielding Permanent Five, Inner City Press asked about France’s
involvement. Mr. Amaning said that the UN principles are to oppose
violent takeovers and to encourage dialogue. “I tell the French
Ambassador that instead of trying to explain what type of intervention
that was,” Mr. Amaning said, referring to France’s bomb-drop in
support of Idriss Deby, “they should say they did it on behalf of
the international community, so there would be no violent overthrow.”
Speaking more generally, or regionally, Mr. Amaning said, “If we do
not stabilize Darfur,” weapons will continue to spread throughout
the region. “It’s a line that’s going to join up… from DRC through
Central Africa to the northern part of Uganda, to Chad and the Sudan —
where are we going?” At least Mr. Amaning is asking.
For weeks Inner City Press has asked all and sundry in UN Headquarters
to confirm or deny that Ethiopian troops are present in Somalia. Kofi
Annan’s representative for Somalia, Francois Lonseny Fall, skirted
the issue despite six questions from Inner City Press last time he
was in New York. Mr. Fall’s spokesman has told Inner City Press to
look elsewhere, since his office does not have a monitoring mandate
in Somalia. In a stakeout interview, the head of the UN’s Department
of Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari responded with generalities. An
email followed, that DPA relies for information on Mr. Fall’s office —
which has not monitoring mandate.
Kofi Annan’s spokesman’s office suggested that Inner City Press
contact the members of the group monitoring the UN’s Somalia arms
embargo. Group member Joel Salek confirmed receipt of Inner City
Press’ request, but said he would “give floor to Bruno [Schiemsky],
the Chairman of our Group, to answer your questions.” Time passed,
Inner City Press sent a second request. Mr. Schiemsky responded,
“Sorry, at this stage I have no comments. I need first to brief the
Sanctions Committee” of the Security Council.
Tuesday at the Security Council stakeout, Inner City Press asked
UK Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry who in the UN can speak regarding
Somalia. Amb. Jones Parry responded that the UK is working on a
resolution. Video here.
But when Inner City Press five minutes later asked the President of
the Council, Ghana’s Nana Effah-Apenteng, about Amb. Jones Parry’s
resolution, the Ghanaian Ambassador said no resolution has been
introduced. Video here. Meanwhile the Horn of Africa slides toward
regional war.
Earlier this year at the African Union summit in Banjul, Kofi Annal
pulled back from involvement in Zimbabwe, saying he was deferring
to the new mediator Ben Mkapa. Now documents from the AU submit
show that Mkapa never accepted the role of mediator. Tuesday Inner
City Press asked Kofi Annan’s spokesman if this now means that the
Secretary-General will re-engage. Video here, at Minute 21:50.
The spokesman said he will respond; this has not taken place by 6
p.m. deadline.
Nor as the spokesman answered Inner City Press’ question of Monday,
about why UNDP took funding from Shell Petroleum to write a report on
human development in the Niger Delta, where Shell has a long record
of violating human rights. I will get you an answer, the spokesman
said. We’re still waiting [this remains true as of September 6, 2006 –
still no answer.]
.html

RA POLICE MAKES A STATEMENT IN CONNECTION WITH DEATH OF OPERATIVE-INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT HEAD OF RA STATE TAX SERVICE
ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 6 2006
YEREVAN, September 6. /ARKA/. The RA Police made a statement
in connection with the murder of Shahen Hovasapyan,
operative-investigation department head of the RA State Tax Service.
According to the Information-Analytical Office of the Police, on
September 6, at 9.35 a.m. the Central Office of the Police received
a signal of explosion on Byron Str. in the center of Yerevan.
An operative group, which had drove out to the place of the incident,
found out that the explosion occurred in GAS-31 with 005LL03 state
number.
As a result of the explosion Hovasapyan, who was in the car, died
and his driver was injured and was taken to hospital.
Police found it difficult to announce the preliminary version of the
accident, emphasizing that details of the case are being investigated;
motives of the murder are not known yet.
Police continues its work in the place of the incident.
A criminal case is instigated into the fact, stipulated by the article
402 of the RA Criminal Code “Murder”, the case is processed by the
investigative department of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

ARMENIA PRESIDENT ORDERS TO SOLVE MURDER OF TAX SERVICE GENERAL
by: Tigran Liloyan
ITAR-TASS News Agency
September 6, 2006 Wednesday 08:45 AM EST
Armenian President Robert Kocharian ordered the republican law
enforcement agencies to solve the murder of a general of the tax
service as quick as possible, Kocharian’s spokesman Viktor Sogomonian
told Itar-Tass.
Chief of the investigation department of the Armenian State Tax
Service Shagen Ovasapian was killed in the blast in downtown Yerevan
on Wednesday morning. The blast went off, when the 49-year-old
Major-General of the tax service was getting in his service car to go
to work. The driver of the service car was slightly injured. Criminal
proceedings were instituted, the investigation is in progress.
Robert Kocharian offered condolences to the family of the killed
general and condemned “the criminal methods aimed against the
efforts of the state to tighten the tax administration and create
equal taxation conditions for all.” These criminal actions “cannot
change the task-oriented state policy in this field,” the Armenian
president pointed out.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

LE PARLEMENT EUROPEEN DEMANDE A ANKARA DE RECONNAîTRE LE GENOCIDE ARMENIEN
Alexandrine Bouilhet
Le Figaro, France
06 septembre 2006
LE PARLEMENT europeen fait pression sur Ankara pour obtenir la
reconnaissance du genocide armenien dans le cadre des negociations de
la Turquie a l’Union europeenne. Lors d’un vote très serre, survenu
dans la nuit de lundi a mardi, a Strasbourg, la commission des Affaires
etrangères du Parlement europeen a adopte trois amendements appelant
“la Turquie a reconnaître le genocide armenien en tant que prealable
a l’adhesion”. Cette formulation, la plus radicale jamais adoptee au
Parlement europeen, a ete denoncee dès hier par Ankara.
“Nous sommes consternes par les efforts visant a imposer des
preconditions qui sont loin d’etre objectives sur des questions qui
necessitent une discipline academique serieuse”, indique le communique
du ministère turc des Affaires etrangères.
Pourparlers Ankara estime que c’est aux historiens, et non aux deputes,
de s’exprimer sur la question armenienne. Plusieurs Parlements
nationaux, notamment l’Assemblee nationale francaise et le Parlement
belge ont vote des resolutions demandant a la Turquie de reconnaître
le genocide armenien. Le Parlement europeen a egalement vote en ce
sens a deux reprises, en 2004 et 2005, sans toutefois faire de la
reconnaissance une condition a l’adhesion. Consultatif, le vote du
Parlement europeen nourrit la polemique autour de la candidature
turque, très mal en point depuis six mois. Pilote des pourparlers
d’adhesion, la Commission europeenne, qui doit rendre un rapport
strategique decisif le 24 octobre, estime que la question armenienne
ne peut pas devenir, en cours de negociations, une precondition
d’adhesion. “La reconnaissance du genocide armenien n’est pas un
prealable a l’adhesion turque” a repete lundi, a Bruxelles, Jose Manuel
Barroso, invite par les deputes liberaux belges. “Il faut du temps pour
ce genre d’exercice, qui doit etre effectue sur une base volontaire”,
a-t-il ajoute, demandant a son auditoire : “Combien de temps l’Eglise
catholique a-t-elle mis pour reconnaître les crimes de l’Inquisition
?” Levee de boucliers Les deputes europeens ont adopte cet amendement
conteste, a l’occasion d’un vote sur le rapport du depute conservateur
neerlandais Camiel Eurlings, dont la tonalite est très critique sur
la Turquie. (Nos editions d’hier). Sur la seule question armenienne,
chère aux Francais, une vingtaine d’amendements ont ete deposes. Ce
vote n’est pas definitif. Le Parlement europeen sera appele a adopter
le rapport Eurlings, en seance plenière, fin septembre. Compte
tenu de la levee de boucliers en Turquie, il n’est pas certain que
l’amendement pro-armenien tienne jusque-la. “C’est typiquement le
genre d’amendement qui peut etre remis en cause en seance plenière”,
indiquent les elus liberaux du Parlement, très favorables a la
candidature de la Turquie. Si elle fait l’unanimite en France, la
question armenienne divise encore l’Europe. Par solidarite avec la
Turquie, la Grande-Bretagne et l’Allemagne ont toujours evite de
faire pression sur Ankara pour la reconnaissance du genocide armenien.
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