GERMAN CHANCELLOR MEETS MUSLIM, CHRISTIAN, JEWISH LEADERS IN TURKEY
Anatolia news agency, Ankara,
8 Oct 06
Istanbul, 6.10.2006 -Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met representatives of the four
monotheist religions in Istanbul on Friday [6 October], giving messages
of peace against “disaster scenarios of the clash of civilizations”.
“Such a gathering is the best and the most effective answer to
scenarios of the clash of civilizations,” Erdogan told a press
conference after the meeting with Istanbul Mufti Mustafa Cagirici,
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II, Chief Rabbi of Turkey Isak Haleva and
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.
Erdogan qualified the meeting as “very meaningful in such a critical
moment when the world needed peace more than ever”.
“I believe that politicians and clergy all over the world as opinion
leaders should avoid remarks and attitudes that provoke an exclusionist
culture of violence and conflict,” Erdogan said.
“In a place where Europe and Asia meet, we cry out to the world
for the universality of peace and the alliance of civilizations,”
the Premier added. Erdogan urged for global cooperation against what
he described as “trends that seriously threaten world peace and drag
them into an endless obscurity.”
“Our joint initiative with Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero, the
Alliance of Civilizations, and the initiative ‘Ernst Reuter’ with
Germany are the best examples for that cooperation,” Erdogan stated.
Speaking afterwards, the German chancellor expressed her gratitude
for the meeting which she described as “very useful.”
“We are in accord that practicing violence in the name of religion
is unacceptable. I hope that this meeting will contribute to the
peaceful co-existence of religions,” Merkel said.
After the press conference, Merkel departed from Istanbul’s Ataturk
Airport for Germany.

NATO CLOSELY WATCHES KARABAKH TALKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2006 13:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO closely watched the peaceful talks on the
Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, NATO’s Special Representative
for the South Caucasus and Central Asia Robert Simmons said in Baku.
According to him, his visit to Baku supposes consideration of a scope
of issues including the Azerbaijan-NATO relations and the current
situation in the region. Robert Simmons met with Azeri Defense Minister
Safar Abiyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, reported Trend
news agency.

DUTCH FM CALLED ON ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO FACE UP TO PAST
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2006 13:55 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot asked the
Turkish community in the Netherlands to stay calm in regards to the
exclusion of Turkish members from the parliamentary member election
list due to their rejection of the Armenian Genocide. Bot said the
government is not the cause of the problem, noting that the parties
had decided on the exclusion themselves. Attending the iftar meal
organized in Rotterdam by Zaman Daily, he evaluated the crisis, which
broke out after Turkish candidates, who refused to acknowledge the
Armenian Genocide, were withdrawn by the Christian Democrats (CDA)
and the main opposition, the Labor Party (PvdA). Asking Armenia and
Turkey to face up to their past, Bot added that the Armenian Genocide
issue should not strain both communities until an agreement based on
serious and detailed research is reached, reported zaman.com.

TURKEY’S MEMBERSHIP IN EU WOULD BE END OF POLITICAL EUROPE
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2006 14:02 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ French Interior Minister and presidential hopeful
Nicholas Sarkozy on Friday reiterated his opposition to Turkey’s
membership in the European Union. Speaking to French magazine Le
Meilleur des Mondes, Sarkozy claimed that Turkey’s possible membership
in the Union would be the end of “political Europe.” “I love Turkey,
but its membership would be the end of Europe politically,” Sarkozy
said, reiterating his support for a “privileged partnership” for Turkey
rather than full membership. Accusing British Prime Minister Tony Blair
and U.S. President George W. Bush of not wanting the development of
Europe politically, meaning their support for Turkish membership,
Sarkozy also described their attitude as “inconsistent,” reported
The New Anatolian.

TURKEY MAY HIT BACK AT FRANCE WITH ALGERIA ‘GENOCIDE’ LAW
Agence France Presse — English
October 7, 2006 Saturday 9:11 AM GMT
Turkey may retaliate to a draft French law making it a jailable
offense to deny the Armenians were the victim of genocide under the
Ottoman Empire with a similar law on French killings under colonial
rule in Algeria, a senior lawmaker said in remarks published Saturday.
Koksal Toptan, head of the Turkish parliament’s justice commission,
told the mass-selling Sabah daily he had initially ignored proposals
made in May for Turkey to brand killings of Algerians under French
colonial rule as genocide and introduce prison terms for those who
deny it.
“I just swept them under the carpet,” he said.
But following renewed attempts in France to pass a bill calling for
five years in jail to anyone who denies Turks committed genocide
against Armenians during World War I, Toptan said he had ordered
that the proposals be put on the commission’s agenda for Wednesday,
a day before the French draft is debated in Paris.
“What is France trying to do? Their attitude is damaging Turkish-French
ties and is doing no good to Turkish-Armenian ties either,” Toptan
told Sabah.
“If the French parliament is acting like that, we must give a response
… in the name of our pride,” he said.
The justice commission is the first instance where draft laws are
debated before being sent to a vote at the general assembly.
France already passed in 2001 a resolution recognizing the 1915-17
killings of Armenians as genocide.
The bill to criminalize genocide denial was first tabled in May but
the debate ran out of parliamentary time before a vote could be held.
Toptan said Turkish MPs had filed three proposals for retaliative laws.
According to parliamentary records, two of them call for the
recognition of the killings of Algerians under French colonial rule —
from 1830 to 1962 — as genocide and the introduction of jail terms
for those who deny it.
The third calls for the imprisonment of those who assert the Armenians
were victims of genocide under Ottoman rule.
All three proposals were sumbitted in May — apparently in reaction
to the debate in France.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were slaughtered in
orchestrated killings between 1915 and 1917.
Turkey rejects the genocide label, arguing that 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians rose
for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian
troops as the Ottoman Empire was falling apart.
On Friday, the Turkish foreign ministry warned that a positive vote
at the French parliament next week could jeopardise “investments, the
fruit of years of work, and France will — so to speak — lose Turkey”.

GEORGIAN AMBASSADOR’S ADVISOR DIED IN ACCIDENT
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2006 14:41 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Georgian Ambassador’s Advisor on security Gocha
Merabishvili died in a car accident in Armenia. The RA Police
say the accident took place on Saturday on Ashotsk-Gyumri highway
(Shiraki region).
Mersedes-Benz-E200 turned off the road and fell into the
canyon. Merabishvili, who was driving the car, died immediately. His
wife and son were taken to hospital with injuries. A criminal case
in compliance with Article 242 and 245 of the RA Penal Code was
initiated. Investigation is being carried out, reports newsarmenia.ru.

PORTERFIELD MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR REACHES ARMENIA
by Tony Halpin
The Times (London)
October 7, 2006, Saturday
Tony Halpin on the latest posting for a man who knows a bit about
miracles
LOCATED within sight of biblical Mount Ararat, where Noah landed
his ark, the tiny former Soviet republic of Armenia knows a thing
or two about miracles. So it seems an appropriate place to find Ian
Porterfield, who earned football immortality with his winning goal for
unfancied Sunderland in the 1973 FA Cup Final against Billy Bremner’s
mighty Leeds United.
Porterfield, 60, was appointed Armenia head coach in August, the
latest stop on a foreign management career that has taken him to
Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
His mission is to qualify for the 2008 European Championship finals
and, as miracles go, this is a tall order.
Armenia, who are bottom of group A, face Finland, the leaders, at
home in Yerevan today in a group that includes Portugal, Poland,
Serbia and Belgium. Armenia are not without hope, however, because
Porterfield has made a specialty of improving unheralded teams.
Dismissed by Chelsea in 1993 after eight years at the club, the Scot
was recruited to coach Zambia. Most of the first-choice players had
been killed in a plane crash and Porterfield agreed to stay for six
months to complete Zambia’s qualifying matches for the 1994 World
Cup. His makeshift young team came within a whisker of reaching the
finals in the United States.
“We lost 1-0 in Morocco when one point would have taken us to the
USA,” Porterfield said from his Yerevan hotel after training with
Armenia’s squad. “I was really sad for the players but after that game
in Morocco, I was going to go home because I had sacrificed a big part
of my life being there. I didn’t realise that I was going to sacrifice
a lot of my life over the next 12 years to work outside (abroad).”
The Zambian authorities persuaded him to return and Porterfield led
his young team to the African Cup of Nations, going all the way to
the final before losing 2 1 to Nigeria.
Spells in Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe followed, before a brief and
unsuccessful return to the Premiership in 1996 as assistant manager
with Bolton Wanderers.
Porterfield moved abroad again, first to Oman and then to Trinidad &
Tobago to seek qualification for the 2002 World Cup. “When I went
to Trinidad, I won the Caribbean Cup of Nations and I was so near
qualifying for the World Cup, but just missed it,” Porterfield said.
“That team went to 25th in the world.”
Porterfield moved again in 2003, to South Korea and the club side,
Busan I’Park.
“I won the league and cup and went to the semi-finals of the Asian
Champions League,” he said.
He left Korea in May but soon after his return to Britain he was
offered another national team’s coaching job. “Not many of my friends
knew much about Armenia,” Porterfield said. “But I went to have a
look and I was surprised by the friendliness of the people.”
He signed a 16-month contract and Armenia played their first match
under Porterfield on September 6, losing 1-0 to Belgium. On their
Euro 2008 challenge, Porterfield said: “This is a very difficult
group and no one is expecting us to win it, but what I would love to
see is that the football improves and develops here.
“When I look back over being on four different continents, it has
made me a better human being, more patient and understanding.”

RUSSIA AND GEORGIA SHOULD PROVE FRIENDSHIP WITH ARMENIA IN DEED
PanARMENIAN.Net
09.10.2006 14:54 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “One thing is clear: both Russia and Georgia should
do the utmost to alleviate tension and prevent any impact on Armenia,”
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Tigran Torosian told reporters
on Monday. “Otherwise the assurances of friendship will remain
mere words,” Torosian said adding that “words should be proved in
deed.” “It’s another matter what should be done for it. Russia and
Georgia should consider the problem first of all,” the Speaker said.
Tigran Torosian thinks use of Armenian interparliamentary ties for the
settlement of the Georgian-Russian collision unlikely. “The tension
between the states has deepened and resolution of the problem depends
on Russia and Georgia only,” he said.
“Maybe something can be done within international organizations,
the OSCE for example, but the situation depends on the leaders of
the two states,” he said.
Tigran Torosian also informed that the Russian-Georgian relations
may be considered at the sitting of the PACE Monitoring Committee on
October 16 in Yerevan. “It will help the committee members to have
a proper notion of the issue, since representatives of many states
are not well informed of the problem,” Torosian said, reported
newsarmenia.ru.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

ARMENIA, FINLAND DRAW 0-0 IN A EURO 2008 QUALIFIER
Associated Press Worldstream
October 7, 2006 Saturday 7:06 PM GMT
Armenia held Finland to a goalless draw Saturday, earning its first
point in 2008 European Championship qualifying while the Finns settled
for a second straight tie.
The result left Finland with five points from three games while the
hosts remained at the bottom of Group A with one point.
Finland controlled the pace of the game and had its first scoring
opportunity in the 20th minute when Jonatan Johansson drove a low
show shot toward the right corner before Armenian goalkeeper Gevorg
Kasparov thwarted the chance with diving block.
A minute later, Finnish goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen denied Yegishe
Melikian on a counterattack.
Finland had three near misses in the second half. Kasparov blocked
Shefki Kuqi’s low shot in the 54th minute and fisted away Mika
Vayrynen’s header off a corner kick in the 75th.
Nine minutes later he blocked Mikael Forssell’s header off Jari
Litmanen’s pass from the left.
Finland’s final chance came in the 85th minute, but Forssell’s shot
from the edge of the box was cleared by Kasparov.
Armenia next travels to Serbia while Finland goes to play Kazakhstan,
both on Wednesday.
Lineups:
Armenia: Gevorg Kasparov; Sargis Hovsepian, Robert Arzumanian,
Karen Dokhoian, Yegishe Melikian, Armen Tigranian, Karen Aleksanian
(Aram Hakobian, 54), Arman Karamian (Aghvan Mkrtchian, 45), Armen
Shehgeldian, Edgar Manucharian (Ara Hakobian, 78).
Finland: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Petri Pasanen, Sami Hyypia, Mika Vayrynen
(Mika Nurmela, 73), Hannu Tihinen, Jari Litmanen, Joonas Kolkka,
Shefki Kuqi (Mikael Forssell, 66), Noni Kallio, Jonatan Johansson
(Aki Riihilahti, 83), Markus Heikkinen.

SUREN ABRAHAMYAN HAS BEEN BEATEN UP
A1+
[02:00 pm] 09 October, 2006
Suren Abrahamyan, former Minister of Internal Affairs, former mayor
of Yerevan, and member of the Republican party political council,
was attacked yesterday. Two people attacked him, threw him down to
the ground and started to kick him, the Republican party informs. The
details of the case will be revealed during today’s press conference.
Let us remind you that Suren Abrahamyan had made a speech within the
framework of the “Anti-criminal movement”. When the journalists asked
him to mention names, he mentioned that of Prime Minister Andranik
Margaryan.
The Yerevan police informed that on October 8 at 01:30 p.m. citizen of
Yerevan Suren Abrahamyan (b. 1947) turned to the police and informed
that the same day about 10:20 a.m. he was attacked by two unknown
people and beaten up.
The police took measures to find out the criminals.
Preliminary investigation is under way.