CHIRAC URGES GENOCIDE RECOGNITION, KARABAKH PEACE
By Karine Kalantarian and Gayane Danielian
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 2 2006
French President Jacques Chirac ended on Sunday a state visit to
Armenia during which he urged Turkey to recognize the mass killings
and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide. He
also called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to take the “final step”
towards the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Chirac, the first French head of state to set foot on Armenian soil,
received a red-carpet reception during his three-day stay in the
Armenian capital that included talks with President Robert Kocharian
and the inauguration of a central Yerevan square named after France.
Although the two leaders signed no bilateral agreements, officials
said the trip cemented a warm relationship binding the Armenian and
French governments. “France is our reliable partner in the European
and international arenas,” said Kocharian.
According to Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, the unresolved
Karabakh conflict topped the agenda of Saturday’s talks between
Chirac and Kocharian. The latter singled out the issue at an ensued
news conference, praising his French counterpart’s “expert knowledge
of this problem.” But neither leader commented on prospects for a
near-term solution to the Karabakh dispute.
“I want to believe that the time for peace has come,” Chirac said in
a speech earlier on Saturday before thousands of people present at
the inauguration of the new “France Square” in downtown Yerevan. “I
want to believe in it because I know the price of war. Peace requires
one final step. A difficult step, a step which is an act of faith in
the future of people.”
Chirac, who has personally arranged Armenian-Azerbaijani summits
on Karabakh, went on to urge the conflicting parties to display the
“courage to move against the apparent security of the status quo.”
“This final step can and must be taken both in Yerevan and Baku,”
he said.
The French president also described the Karabakh conflict as the most
serious of the challenges facing post-Soviet Armenia. “A challenge
which Armenia can and must meet because only a lasting and just peace
will allow your people to turn their hopes into reality,” he said in
remarks broadcast live by Armenian state television and repeatedly
interrupted by rapturous applause.
Chirac, accompanied by Kocharian, clearly enjoyed the limelight, taking
more than 20 minutes to mingle with the jubilant crowd waving Armenian
and French flags after the inauguration ceremony. The 73-year-old must
have won over more Armenian hearts and minds when he indicated at the
subsequent news conference that recognition of the Armenian genocide
should be a precondition for Turkey’s membership in the European Union.
“Should Turkey recognize the genocide of Armenia to join the European
Union? Honestly, I believe so,” Chirac said. “Each country grows by
acknowledging its dramas and errors of the past.
“Can one say that Germany, which has deeply acknowledged the Holocaust,
has as a result lost credit? It has grown.”
The comments are certain to irk Ankara which denies that the 1915-1918
massacres of Ottoman Armenians constituted genocide and rejects any
linkage between this issue and its EU membership bid.
France already ignored strong Turkish protest in 2001 by enacting a
law that recognizes the genocide.
Chirac’s Armenia itinerary also included a visit to the Tsitsernakabert
memorial in Yerevan and the adjacent Armenian Genocide Museum. He
wrote a single world in the museum’s guest-book: “Remember.”
Turkey’s accession to the EU is strongly opposed by France’s
500,000-strong Armenian community which mainly consists of descendants
of genocide survivors.
Kocharian indicated, however, that official Yerevan does not object
to Turkish membership in the bloc so long as Turkey agrees to lift
its economic blockade of Armenia and address its troubled past. “We
are interested in having more stable and democratic countries in our
neighborhood,” he said. “In that sense, we don’t see any dangers in
that process. Perhaps quite the opposite.”
Later on Saturday, Chirac and Kocharian attended an open-air concert
in Yerevan’s main Republic Square by renowned French-Armenian singer
Charles Aznavour and other French singers. Tens of thousands of people
packed the sprawling square to watch the show.
Chirac flew back to Paris the next day after meeting with the head of
the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II, in the church’s
Echmiadzin headquarters.

ISSUE OF MISSING PEOPLE IN AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA AND GEORGIA MAY BE INCLUDED IN PACE AGENDA – AZERI AMBASSADOR
Author: A.Ismaylova
TREND, Azerbaijan
Oct 2 2006
The Autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) begins on October 2. The meeting will begin at 18:00
Baku time, The Azerbaijani Ambassador in the Council of Europe Akshin
Mehdiyev told Trend.
The session will be opened by the President of PACE, Rene van der
Linden. Later, it is planned to elect the Vice President of the
Assembly, make changes to the composition of the Committees and
organize debates on several issues. In addition, the Chairman of the
Russian State, Duma Boris Grizlova, is expected to make a speech.
According to the Ambassador, the priority of the second day of the
session will be dedicated to the situation in the Balkans. For this
topic, reports will be delivered by the Prime Minister of Albania,
Sali Berish, Prime Minister of Croat, Iv Sandar and the Serbian
President Boris Tadich. After dinner, discussions on the Balkans
will continue. The second issue of this day will be the situation
in Kosovo. Mehdiyev believes that this topic will be interesting
for Azerbaijan.
The Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferens Durchan, will make a speech at
the session on 4 October. In addition, the Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov is expected to deliver a report. The issue of Kurds will
also be discussed and Lord Russell Johnson will present a speech in
this regard.
The Ambassador stressed that there is a possibility that the statement
of the PACE reporter for missing people in South Caucasus Leo Platvoet
will be presented at the discussions on October 5.
It should be mentioned that after his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh and
Abkhazia, Leo Platvoet made a statement that it is possible to achieve
progress on the issue of missing people in Azerbaijan, Armenia and
Georgia. He came to the conclusion that the parties intend to engage
in these issues not from a political, but humanitarian, point of view.
Moreover, a center for victims of forced emigration and ethical
cleansing will be created on October 5. The session will draw to a
close on October 6.

JACQUES CHIRAC: I BELIEVE IN THE CAPACITY OF THE ARMENIAN PEOPLE TO STRUGGLE FOR PEACE
Public Radio of Armenia
Sept 30 2006
“I believe in the capacity of the Armenian people to struggle for
peace,” declared French President Jacques Chirac, speaking at the
ceremony of opening the French Square in Yerevan.
“It is the hardest challenge, and the most difficult is that Armenia
has to resist. It is a challenge, which Armenia can and must win,
since only fairs and long-lasting peace will let our people realize
its hopes,” the French President declared.
The times, when one could think that conflicts can be resolved through
forces have passed. Nowadays one cannot develop hereditary hatred,
while ignoring the real aspirations for peace and security.
Only the dialogue based on dignity and mutual respect allows to
look into future,” Jacques Chirac underlined. The French President
reminded that in the course of over 10 years France has not been
sparing efforts to find a solution to the painful Karabakh conflict
in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. “I want to believe that
the time has come for peace, since I know the cost of war. One last
step is needed for establishing peace, a hard step, which inspires
belief in the future of humanity. Yerevan and Baku can and must take
this last step, since this will allow to open the horizon of light,
peace and prosperity. This is my wish to all Caucasian peoples,”
Jacques Chirac declared.

OSCE MG CO-CHAIRS HOPE FOR SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATIONS IN AZERBAIJAN – AMERICAN CO-CHAIR
Author: A.Ismaylova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Oct 2 2006
The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group hope for successful negotiations
in Azerbaijan, American Co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Bryza told
on October 2 in Baku during consultations at the Foreign Ministry of
Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
Hs stressed that the co-chairs will discuss with the Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov the key principles of the
negotiations regarding the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Together with American co-chair, the negotiations are attended by
the Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov, French co-chair Bernar Face,
as well as the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office
Andzey Kasprzyk. In addition, the mediators intend to meet with the
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

FANS HAD HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
A1+
[01:43 pm] 02 October, 2006
The concert “Aznavour and friends” had a sad ending for some of the
fans of the chansonnier. 49 people turned to the ambulance for medical
treatment during the concert. There were four ambulance cars around
the Republic Square.
We learned from the “1-03” service that the majority of the patients
had high blood pressure and headache.
There were also cases of fainting. After the treatment of the
specialists the patients quickly got better.
By the way, there were also people who did not turn to doctors relying
on the pills they carried with them.

EXPERT: “RECOGNITION OF SO-CALLED UNRECOGNIZED STATES IS NOT FAR OFF”
Regnum, Russia
Oct 2 2006
“Russia has always stuck to the principle of territorial integrity
in conflict settlement in the post-Soviet territories; however, as
time goes by, we have come to understanding that settlement of those
conflicts on the ground of the territorial integrity concept without
infringing upon the right for self-determination is impossible. Today
we can see a drastic turn in attitudes of policymakers towards
necessity to respect the right for self-determination and people’s
will,” Head of the Institute for CIS Countries, MP Konstantin Zatulin,
who has visited recently Stepanakert, is quoted as saying on air of
Nagorno Karabakh Public Television.
As a REGNUM correspondent in Stepanakert reports, at the same time
Zatulin added that Russia considers ceasefire as the main achievement
and nonrenewal of operations in conflict zones. “Recognition of the
so-called unrecognized states is not far off. Unrecognized republics
have all attributes of state system and stable democratic system,”
Konstantin Zatulin is quoted as saying.
Speaking on the referendum in Transdnestr, the MP noted: “If the
West considers it appropriate to hold another referendum in Nagorno
Karabakh, why doesn’t it recognize the outcome of the referendum
in Transdnestr?” At the same time, he noted that in Russia the
struggle of opinions has continued over the issue of recognizing
the Transdnestr independence. According to the expert, recognition
of Kosovo independence can become a precedent for recognizing newly
established countries in the post-Soviet territory, particularly,
for Nagorno Karabakh.

CHIRAC CALLS FOR TURKEY TO RECOGNISE WW1 ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
EuroNews – English Version
September 30, 2006
President Jacques Chirac has begun a two day visit to Armenia. The
French leader paid his respects at a monument to thousands of people
who were killed in the area during the World War One. Chirac used the
occasion to urge Turkey to recognise the 1915 to 1919 massacres at
the hands of the former Ottoman Turk regime. He said “All countries
grow up acknowledging their dramas and their errors.”
According to Armenian sources, more than 1.5 million people died
in mass killings and deportations. They claim the deaths amounted
to genocide. But Turkey, which wants to be a member of the EU,
continues to reject this and says the total number of deaths were
nearer a quarter- of- million and sparked by an internal conflict.

LAW ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE IS EQUAL FOR ALL: FRENCH PRESIDENT
ARMINFO News Agency
September 30, 2006 Saturday
ArmInFO. France has recognized the Armenian Genocide on a legislative
level and this law is equal for all, French President Jacques Chirac
said during a joint press-conference with Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan.
Commenting on the initiative of the Socialist Party of France to
adopt a law providing for criminal responsibility for denying the
Armenian Genocide, Chirac said that France is a legal state and in
a legal state calls for hatred and racism must be punished.

AZERI LEADER HOPES PEACE TALKS TO RESOLVE NK CONFLICT
Lider TV, Baku,
2 Oct 06
[Presenter] We reported earlier that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
has touched upon the resolution of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict
between Armenia and Azerbaijan during his speech in the Milli Maclis
[parliament]. Now we present you with a brief report on this.
[Aliyev] We are not thinking of giving up the format of the OSCE
Minsk Group [which mediates between the two countries in the Karabakh
peace process]. At the same time, we think that other organizations’
participation may help resolve the issue too. True, Armenia is trying
to use the discussion of the issue at the UN as a ground to break the
[Karabakh peace] talks. However, this is their own business. They
may break the talks. If they are looking for a pretext, it is not
to difficult to find that pretext. Azerbaijan acts in a constructive
way, is involved in the talks and hopes the issue can be resolved as
a result of the talks.
[The president was speaking at the autumn session of the Azerbaijani
parliament which started on 2 October]

CHIRAC MEETS WITH ARMENIAN PATRIARCH KATEKIN II
Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 2 2006
French President Jazques Chirac met with the leader of the Armenian
Orthodox Church yesterday on the final day of his two day visit to
Armenia. Chirac and Patriarch Karekin II came together to take a tour
of Armenia’s Etchmiadzine Cathedral yesterday, with Chirac writing
the following in the cathedral’s guest book:
“In memory of my visit to the spiritual heart of the Armenians,
and the touching visit I have had with the great Armenian people……”
At a visit to a memorial for the so-called Armenian genocide in
Yerevan two days ago, Chirac was asked by a reporter whether he thought
Turkey should be forced to recognize Armenian claims of genocide as
a pre-condition for EU membership. The French president responded:
“If we are going to speak honestly, yes, I do believe this is
necessary.”