RECOGNITION OF UNRECOGNIZED: NAGORNO KARABAKH PRESS DIGEST
Regnum, Russia
Sept 27 2006
Will the talks be continued?
“Vardan Oskanyan’s refusal to meet with the Azeri FM means that he is
afraid that his arguments might be weak,” 525th Daily (Baku) reports
the Spokesman of the Azeri Foreign Ministry Tair Tagizade as saying.
Tagizade says that the main point is that the talks must be
continued. “All Oskanyan’s statements about Azerbaijan’s activities at
the UN show the real extent of Armenia’s commitment in the regional and
world politics,” says Tagizade. He notes that the OSCE MG co-chairs
still believe that the next meeting should be between the Armenian
and Azeri FMs.
The press office of the Armenian Foreign Ministry has published the
response of the acting spokesman of the FM Vladimir Karapetyan to
Public Radio’s question:
“In their last few days’ comments some Azeri officials have used
quite new diplomatic vocabulary. Particularly, the spokesman of the
Azeri Foreign Ministry has appeared with a very strange statement
that the Armenian side is “avoiding” the FM meeting because of “the
weakness of its arguments.” Do we actually have nothing to say during
the forthcoming meeting?
I am trying to understand what psychic complexes might have forced
my Azeri colleague to make such unbecoming statements about the FMs
meeting. Perhaps, the only thing left for a diplomat of a country who
has lost the war it started itself is to cover his impotence with
senseless arrogance and idle talk. I am really surprised to hear
such a bunch of words from Azeri officials. I say “bunch of words”
because what they are saying makes absolutely no sense, no logic,
nothing one could call a thought. I see absolutely no responsibility
and sense of the moment in their words.
The Armenian side takes the talks very seriously and expects the same
from the opposite side. We have repeatedly said that we approve of the
last proposals of the OSCE MG co-chairs and hope that the talks will
be continued. In the last years Azerbaijan has shown increasingly
strong negation towards the peace talks: in 1998 they rejected the
“common state” scenario, in 2000 they dismissed the Key-West proposals
and, today, they are drawing back from the agreements produced by the
Minsk Group. We would like to say once again that the Minsk Group is
the best format for the Armenian side at the moment.
The transfer of the problem to other instances necessitates the
involvement of Nagorno Karabakh in the talks. Talks are not an end in
itself for us: we are not going to take part in the Azeri games. If
Azerbaijan has no more arguments to give to the MG and hopes to get
some dim profits in a structure where members are not well aware of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, it is playing a dangerous game. If
Azerbaijan got into this game against its will only because it tried
to capitalize on the agendas of other participants, it should have
well estimated the possible consequences of such a policy. Azerbaijan
must realize that we will not solve the problem by imposing scenarios
on each other. We must find the solution ourselves however hard it
might be.
On the other hand, the Azeri authorities may well be trying to use
the “card” of Nagorno Karabakh for their own domestic needs. If
so, this is not a political question. In any case, the Azeri side
will not be able to mislead anybody. They will not be able to deny
that it was they who carried out the first ethnic cleansing in the
former Soviet Union, it was they who first started a large-scale war
against people they consider to be their own citizens, it is they
who are destroying Armenian cultural heritage, it is they who are
showing absolute negation of any contacts with the Armenian side –
contacts that could pave the way for cooperation and could alleviate
the tensions (Noyan Tapan).
“One could expect such a position from Armenia. Armenia believes
that it has won the war, and Azerbaijan must concede during the
talks, but Azerbaijan will not deign to do it,” Azeri political
expert Rasim Musabekov says in an interview to APA news agency while
commenting on Armenia’s attempts to evade the talks. Musabekov says
that there is only one way to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem:
“The hegemonic states must bring Yerevan to reason, otherwise, the
talks will give no results, and Armenia will continue pushing forward
its non-constructive position.”
Azeri political expert Zardusht Alizade says that, in fact, there
is no negotiating process, it’s just a show: “Neither side wants
to drastically change its position. There is no real ground for
concessions. Armenia says that Nagorno-Karabakh must become independent
and join it, Azerbaijan says that it will not give Armenia a single
inch of its land. Nobody is searching for concessions outside these
principles and appeals to the public and the international law. Both
the sides and the co-chairs approach the problem superficially and
are trying to find a solution that would bring closer the interests
of the sides, but the interests are not coming closer. For the
problem to be resolved, one of the sides must renounce its basic
principles.” Alizade says that some powerful forces are trying to
freeze and to prolong the conflict. Now, the sides are in a stalemate
and are just feigning talks.
Meanwhile, political expert Vafa Guluzade calls the Karabakh peace
process “just a nonsense.”
168 Zham daily asks Spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vladimir
Karapetyan: “A few months ago Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said
that, if the Karabakh talks reach a deadlock, Armenia will recognize
the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Will Armenia actually
do it?”
Karapetyan responds: “You have said yourself – ‘if the talks reach
a deadlock.’ The present situation is not a deadlock.”
168 Zham asks: “And what about Armenia’s statements that if Azerbaijan
continues its attempts to transfer the Karabakh problem to the UN,
it will have to negotiate with Nagorno-Karabakh – something Azerbaijan
will never agree to. Isn’t it a deadlock?”
Karapetyan answers: “You can’t be 100% sure it will not, more
precisely, we will learn this during the forthcoming processes.” “One
thing is sure, Armenia wants the talks to be continued in one or
another form. The Armenian side will in no way lead the process into
a deadlock.”
“The present deadlock in the Karabakh peace process is the result of
Azerbaijan’s illegal territorial claims, the removal of Karabakh – the
most interested party – from the talks and the excessive stupidity and
historical-legal ignorance of various mediators,” the first Russian
Ambassador to Armenia Vladimir Stupishin says in an interview to
PanARMENIAN.Net. He says that for the same reasons one should not
expect progress in 2007 and 2008. “That’s exactly why it is hard to
say when Karabakh will come back into the process.”
As regards the possibility of military solution, Baku is not calling
for application of force, in fact, it is threatening Armenia
with war. This is inadmissible, even if this is just a bluff,”
says Stupishin. He says that the optimal way now is to preserve the
status quo in all parameters lest the Armenians might be charged with
wrecking the talks: “Talks – however long they might be – are always
better than war.” “During the 15 years of their independence the
Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic have strengthened
their statehoods, have tried to overcome the problems of blockade
existence, have successfully resisted the aggression of Azeri revenge
seekers. Armenia have preserved friendly, allied relations with
Russia and has cooperated with Moscow in the framework of the CIS,
CSTO and other organizations,” says Stupishin.
“Though not recognized formally by any government, Karabakh’s
continued march to secure lasting independence is irreversible,”
says Nagorno-Karabakh’s Representative to the United States, Vardan
Barseghyan.
Referring to DiplomaticTraffic.com, PanARMENIAN.Net reports Barseghyan
as saying: “There is no going back for us.” “Just because Stalin gave
Karabakh to Azerbaijan does not mean that the international community
has to reinforce what Stalin did.” “What Stalin did at the beginning
of the last century was against the will of our people. And now we
are at the beginning of the 21st Century.”
So far, negotiations among the key players since the 1994 ceasefire,
notably through the OSCE’s Minsk Group, have produced a lot of
statements and occasional glimmers of hope, but no concrete progress
on a lasting political solution.
But, clearly, Karabakh is not waiting for others to decide its
future. It has been working to shore up its defenses while steadily
improving its economy and the lot of its 145,000 people. Barseghyan
notes that GDP doubled from 2001 to 2005 (increasing to $114 million
from $53 million), and economic growth last year was 14 percent.
Although Karabakh is still a very poor country in a seemingly
precarious political situation, its people are evidently working hard
to improve their economy and prospects for the future.
Asked about possible recognition of their republic, Barseghyan
says: “There are positive tendencies” in that direction. He said
“governments recognize the fact that the Nagorno Karabakh Republic
has been established and functioning as a country, and more and more
contacts look like regular government-to-government contacts.”
“However, Washington closely watches the developments in Karabakh
including economic progress and democratization though the US
government tries not to portray these as regular contacts, for obvious
reasons,” says Barseghyan.
“I believe the world recognizes that we deserve to be free,
and as a minimum we should avoid another disaster. International
recognition of Karabakh’s independence will discourage another
attack by Azerbaijan. The ceasefire has lasted for 12 years already,
and we believe this is due to the natural balance of forces,” says
Barseghyan. He notes that Azerbaijan’s oil revenue has been used in
part to strengthen its armed forces, and Karabakh (and Armenia) stress
to the US Congress and administration that a military balance should
be maintained to prevent a new attack by Azerbaijan,” says Barseghyan.
Recognition of unrecognized
Nagorno Karabakh welcomes the conduct of referendums in Transdnestr
and South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh President Arkady Gukasyan says
in an interview with Novosti Armenia news agency. “I believe that
the peoples of Transdnestr and South Ossetia have the right to hold
referendums and to once again confirm the will they expressed long
before,” says Gukasyan. “I think it is always wrong and bad to ignore
a nation’s will. Such problems must be solved on the basis of the
right of a nation to self-determination and, naturally, we welcome
these referendums,” says Gukasyan.
On Sept 18 Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba received Vice
Chairman of the Commission on International Cooperation and Public
Diplomacy of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Sergey
Markov and Director of the Russian and Asian Programs of International
Security Institute (Washington) NikolaiZlobin.
Caucasian Knot news agency reports the sides to discuss the political
results of the referendum in Transdnestr and to express their support
for the political rights and sovereignty of the Transdnestr people.
The sides also discussed some practical steps to raise the
international authority of the Republic of Abkhazia and security in
the region. If Kosovo’s independence is recognized, the world community
will universally apply this principle in Abkhazia, Transdnestr, South
Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, Markov said after the meeting. He said
that this principle will generate a new wave of independences in the
post-Soviet area.
“We must respect the wish of the residents of Transdnestr to get
independence,” Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vladimir
Zhirinovsky said on Sept 20. He said that a hundred of new independent
states will appear on the world map soon and mentioned Karabakh and
other unrecognized states. Zhirinovsky proposed opening a Russian
consulate in Transdnestr. (Analitika.az).
The European Union does not recognize the results of the September
17 referendum in Transdnestr. Before the referendum, EU and OSCE
officials had repeatedly said that it was inexpedient to hold a
referendum in Transdnestr. OSCE President Karel de Gucht said that
the Transdnestr referendum would make the situation in the region
even more complicated, PanARMENIAN.Net reports with reference to the
official representative of the European Commission Pietro Petrucci.
Concerning the referendum in Transdnestr, Deputy Chief Editor of
Kommersant daily (Russia) Azer Mursaliyev says that referendum is a way
to pressure the other conflicting party. “This referendum will have no
legal consequences. It was declared illegal from the very beginning
by all big international organizations. In fact, it was just a way
for Transdnestr to remind of itself. The referendum in South Ossetia
will have the same scenario and outcome,” says Mursaliyev. Concerning
Nagorno Karabakh, Mursaliyev says that they have already held several
referendums: “But all this is simply miserable from the legal point of
view. Any referendum is considered recognized if its very conduct is
recognized, if it is observed by experts from specific organizations –
from the UN to the CE; while several foreigners coming to unrecognized
units on their own will or on somebody’s request are not a guarantee
of serious legal consequences” (525th Daily).
The separatist units existing in the post-Soviet area have picked
up the habit of holding referendums. Thereby, they are trying to
“Balcanize” the post-Soviet area and to acquire the Serbian-Montenegrin
and Kosovan experience of ethnic-national self-determination. They
are doing it in different ways: electing “presidents,” voting for
“constitutions,” imitating “independence referendums.” And all
those “countries” forget that the US and the EU have recognized the
Montenegrin and Kosovan cases as unique and not subject to blind
political imitation. (Zerkalo).
The head of the Inter-Ethnic Relations Department of the Institute
of Political and Military Analysis of Russia Sergey Markedonov says
that Azerbaijan’s attempt to transfer the Karabakh peace process to
the UN is not just a coincidence. “Nagorno Karabakh Republic will
shortly join the ‘parade of referendums’ of unrecognized post-Soviet
republics – on December 10 2006 the Karabakh people will vote on draft
Constitution. The key point of the NKR Constitution is not division
of government or distribution of powers among the president, the
parliament and the Cabinet, but the territorial problem: the key
question of the political debates over the draft Constitution is
where the homeland starts and where it ends for the Karabakh people.
They in Stepanakert are sure that in three months they will
institutionalize their republic both territorially and politically.
The last attribute of a fully-fledged state is Constitution and the
adoption of own Constitution will bring NKR closer to international
recognition,” says Markedonov.

MAN GETS 26-YEARS-TO-LIFE IN ROAD-RAGE SLAYING
NBC4.TV, CA
Sept 27 2006
34-Year-Old Was Extradicted To US From Armenia For Trial
VAN NUYS, Calif. — The first man to be handed over to U.S. authorities
by Armenia to face criminal charges was sentenced Wednesday to
26 years to life in state prison for the road-rage murder of a
documentary filmmaker.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Kathryne Stoltz rejected the defense’s
request for a new trial for Shahen Eghia Keshishian and refused to
reduce his first-degree murder conviction to second-degree murder.
Keshishian, 34, was also found guilty Aug. 25 of vehicular manslaughter
with gross negligence and leaving the scene of an accident.
Jurors also found true the allegation that Keshishian used his GMC
Suburban as a dangerous and deadly weapon when he ran down Michael
Craven on April 29, 2000, as he stood on the shoulder of the Hollywood
(101) Freeway, south of Barham Boulevard.
The 44-year-old Canoga Park resident had been driving southbound when
someone in the SUV that Keshishian was driving began lobbing eggs at
his Jeep, authorities said.
Both motorists pulled over and Keshishian ran down Craven as he stood
on the shoulder, then sped away.
The filmmaker died at a hospital.
Keshishian was charged with Craven’s slaying on June 23, 2000, and
charged separately by federal authorities that November with unlawful
flight to avoid prosecution.
He was placed on the Los Angeles Police Department’s most wanted list
and named as a fugitive on the FBI’s Web site.
In October 2004, with the help of various agencies in the United
States and in Yerevan, the LAPD’s homicide unit located Keshishian
in Armenia, where he had ties, according to Glendale police.
He was arrested a month later by the Armenian government for
overstaying his visa and subsequently extradited to the United States.
Glendale police said then that it was the first time someone located
in Armenia was handed to U.S. authorities to be returned to face
criminal charges.

EXHIBITION REVIEW – TEXTILES AND TRIBAL ART
The Muslim News, UK
Sept 27 2006
Current events in London illustrate the immense interest in the art
and designs of the Islamic World: the popular 2006 exhibition “World
in the Art” at the British Museum, the refurbished Islamic Galleries
at the V&A.
One such exhibition was the grand and annual show, ‘Textiles and Tribal
Art – The HALI Fair 2006’, which was established almost 10 years ago.
The context and content of the show were absolutely vast: textiles,
rugs and ethnographic works of art, were shown by 75 dealers from
across five different continents.
Those who know me will agree, as a hand woven textile artist, that I
am being biased to focus and highlight the Textiles of the Islamic
World. It is also due to an overall interest and concern regarding
the contemporary issues of textiles in the art and design of the
Islamic World.
Traditional weaving techniques are widely practised in all Muslim
countries. Colour, technique, weight of cloth, design and equipment
vary according to the different continents and the countries
themselves. They are woven by specialist master weavers, who are
usually from established and talented families with a long weaving
tradition. The HALI Fair highlights these extraordinary hand-woven
pieces which deserve to be appreciated as works of Art.
The exhibition was a pleasant surprise, a cultural melting pot,
like the Silk Road. It consisted of a wealth of Ikat weaving from
Uzbekistan, rare fabrics from Algeria, carpets from Turkey and fine
woven fabrics from Mughal India and Africa.
The Nemati Collections of Rugs truly caught my attention – Tousanian
Prayer Rug, Turkey, C.1920 Silk and metal. 132×198.
Tousanian was an Armenian who lived in England and set up a workshop
in Kumpaki, a district inhabited by Armenians. In 1915, Tousanian
began to recreate some of the finest silk woven carpets, modelled
after traditional pieces. This particular piece is rare in design.
The central area illustrates a kingdom of exotic birds and animals,
while the upper mihrab depicts verses of the Qur’an. Tousanian used
traditional Kumpaki carpet techniques of weaving with metallic
threads. The texture of the Prayer Rug is incredibly smooth and
uniquely thin.
I then came across a rare collection of hand-woven fabrics from Lybia
and Tunisia. These amazing pieces of cloth are hand-dyed with natural
dye and spontaneously woven. They are very old and the collector
‘Menzel Galerie NordAfrika’ could not tell me much about the time
they were produced. I found them very contemporary and although they
were traditionally used as a bridal head cover and veil, they all
have the potential to be contemporary interior pieces.
Hand-woven textiles are a central and integral part of Islamic Art and
Design. However, the question that begs to be asked is if the art of
textiles is just part of the historical heritage of the Islamic Art
and Design or if we can revive it within the contemporary Islamic
Art and Design?

SPEIER BILL FOR FAMILIES OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS SIGNED BY GOV.
California Chronicle, CA
Sept 27 2006
SACRAMENTO – State Senator Jackie Speier announced yesterday that
Gov. Schwarzenegger has signed her legislation, SB 1524, which
removes the statute of limitations for 10 years so that the families of
Armenian Genocide victims can file a claim again financial institutions
to recoup the loss of personal financial assets.
“I authored this legislation on behalf of the 900,000
Armenian-Americans living in our state. As result of the Armenian
Genocide, thousands of Armenian orphans and survivors were robbed
of their country, their families, their ancestral homes, as well as
personal property and other assets, including bank deposits,” said
Speier (D-Hillsborough). “The time has come to return these deposits
to their rightful owners.”
SB 1524 allows any Californian who was a victim of the Armenian
genocide, or who is an heir or beneficiary of a victim, to sue
financial institutions to recover assets stolen or lost between 1890
and 1923. Under the new law Californians of Armenian descent will
have through 2016 to file claims.
At the time of the Armenian Genocide, there were several international
banking institutions which held the deposits of the Armenian subjects
living in Ottoman Turkey. As a result of the brutal Genocide and
deportations of 1915, few Armenians were left to withdraw and recover
their assets on deposit from these banks.
Because many depositor documents were lost or destroyed during
the Genocide, no public disclosure has been made by these banks of
the names of their depositors. Many of the international banking
institutions that operated in Ottoman Turkey during the early 1900’s
currently conduct business here in California.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

EU TELLS ANKARA TO SPEED UP REFORMS
Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Reuters
Sept 27 2006
Strasbourg, France: The European Parliament on Wednesday warned Turkey
that it must speed up far-reaching reforms if it wants to join the
European Union.
EU lawmakers adopted a highly critical, non-binding report which
accused Ankara of failing to live up to promises it made to win the
green light from EU leaders to start talks last October on joining
the bloc.
“The European Parliament … regrets the slowing down of the reform
process,” the report said.
It said Turkey had shown “insufficient progress” on freedom of
expression, religious and minority rights, women’s rights and the
rule of law since the start of accession talks.
It demanded Turkey fulfil its obligation to open its ports and airports
to EU member Cyprus under a customs agreement. But parliament voted to
delete a clause which would have sought to make recognition by Ankara
of the mass killing of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as “genocide”
a precondition.

EU PARLIAMENT ENDORSES CRITICISM ON PACE OF TURKISH REFORMS
AKI, Italy
Sept 27 2006
Strasbourg, 27 Sept. (AKI) – Members of the European Parliament on
Wednesday overwhelmingly adopted a report levelling stern criticism
at European Union candidate country Turkey over its recent progress in
implementing reforms, especially in the areas of freedom of expression,
rights of religious minorities and the issue of its recognition of
Cyprus. MEPs voted 429 in favour of the report, with 71 against and
125 abstentions.
MEPs nevertheless welcomed some recent steps by the Turkish government
in the fields of combating torture, fighting corruption and extending
women’s rights. They also rejected a controversial provision in
the report that would have made Turkey’s recognition as ‘genocide’
of the killing of over one million Armenians by Ottoman Turks during
and after World War I a precondition for EU membership.
MEPs called on the Turkish government to recognise the Republic of
Cyprus (an EU member state) and to withdraw its forces from the island
and lift its embargo on Cypriot vessels and aircraft. The report –
prepared by Conservative Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings – reminds Turkey
that a lack of progress in normalising relations with Cypus “will
have serious implications for the negotiation process and could even
bring it to a halt.” It also urges Greece and Turkey “to refrain from
tension-prone military activities.”
The parliament called on the Turkish authorities to facilitate the
work of researchers, intellectuals and academics studying the Armenian
mass killings by ensuring them access to the historical archives and
all the relevant documents. MEPs urged Turkey to establish diplomatic
and good neighbourly relations with Armenia, to withdraw the economic
blockade and open the land border at an early date.
On the Kurdish question, MEPs noted the continued intimidation of
non-governmental organisations in southeast Turkey, while welcoming the
start of broadcasts in Kurdish. Eurlings’ report “strongly condemns the
resurgence of terrorist violence on the part of the banned separatist
Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK)” but also urges a democratic solution
to the issue of a Kurdish homeland in southeast Turkey.
Despite the recent acquittal of leading novelist Elif Shafak on
charges of “insulting Turkishness,” MEPs said they remained troubled by
persisting barriers to freedom of expression in Turkey. They called for
the abolition or amendment of those provisions of Turkey’s penal code
which threaten freedom of speech, notably Article 301, which foresees
punishment for ‘denigrating Turkishness’. Charges were brought against
Shafak and, previously, another leading Turkish writer, Orhan Pamuk
under Article 301.
Ahead of a debate of his report by the parliament on Wednesday,
Eurlings described it as “tough but fair.” He said it regretted above
all a slowdown in implementing reforms on the role of the security
forces in public life, trade union rights, torture and ill-treatment
of prisoners, as well as individual freedoms.
The European Commission is due to release its annual report on Turkey’s
progress on 8 November. It began membership talks with Turkey on 3
October last year and Turkey is not expected to join the EU until
2015 at earliest.

TRANSPORT MINISTERS OFFER TO BUILD BLACK SEA RING ROAD
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 27 2006
SOCHI, September 27 (Itar-Tass) – Transport ministers of the
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation have inked a
memorandum of understanding on building a ring road around the
Black Sea.
The decision on building this road will be finalized in November,
when the OBSEC foreign ministers will sign the relevant memorandum,
Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said.
At present, transport ministries of the interested parties submit
their proposals for the road construction.
The International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the
OBSEC Bank have expressed the readiness to invest in the construction
project.
Armenian Transport Minister Andranik Manukian offered to define a
highway’s route taking into account those member-countries that have
no transport access to the Black Sea.
According to preliminary estimates, a ring road will stretch over
7,100 kilometers via Istanbul (Turkey), Batumi (Georgia), Novorossisk,
Taganrog (Russia), Mariupol, Odessa (Ukraine), Chisinau (Moldova),
Bucharest (Romania), Kharkov (Ukraine) and Alexandroupolis (Greece).

DUTCH PARTIES EXPEL TURKISH CANDIDATES FOR NOT ACCEPTING ARMENIAN CLAIMS
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
Sept 27 2006
Three Turkish candidates have been expelled from their parties in the
Netherlands due to their refusal to accept Armenian claims regarding
1915 Events, which the Armenians claimed the Ottomans committed
so-called ‘genocide’ during the World War One (WWI).
Ahead of general elections to be held in the Netherlands on Nov. 22,
on Tuesday two separate Dutch parties removed three Turkish-origin
politicians from their lists of candidates to run for a seat in
the parliament.
The Christian Democrat Appeal (CDA) officials decided to expel Ayhan
Tonca and Osman Elmaci from the party because they do not accept the
existence of the so-called Armenian genocide. The Labor Party of the
Netherlands also expelled Erdinc Sacan for the same reason.
More than 450.000 Turkish people live in Netherlands and Turkish people
in this country mostly believe that the recent expels are vivid example
of discrimination against Turkish and Muslim people of Netherlands.
CDA candidates Tonca and Elmaci are expected to hold a press conference
about the issue on Wednesday.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN ADDRESS ISSUE OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN UN ASSEMBLY DEBATE
UN (United Nations)

Sept 27 2006
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on the fifth day of
its annual high-level debate, the foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan expressed their views on the Nagorno-Karabakh region
of Azerbaijan.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Monday that “the
people of Nagorno-Karabakh chose long ago not to be represented by the
Government of Azerbaijan. They were the victims of state violence, they
defended themselves, and succeeded against great odds, only to hear
the State cry foul and claim sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Mr. Oskanian said that last December Azerbaijan destroyed or removed
thousands of hand-sculpted mediaeval Armenian tombstones.
“Such destruction, in an area with no Armenians, at a distance from
Nagorno-Karabakh and any conflict areas, is a callous demonstration
that Azerbaijan’s attitude towards tolerance, human values, cultural
treasures, cooperation or even peace, has not changed.”
He added that “one cannot blame us for thinking that Azerbaijan is
not ready or interested in a negotiated peace.”
Elmar Mammadyarov, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, told the Assembly
that a recent joint environmental operation between the two countries
to tackle major fires inside Nagorno-Karabakh has been “the only
positive development so far.”
“The occupying forces have to withdraw from the occupied territories
and necessary conditions have to be in place to allow secure
and dignified return of the Azerbaijani displaced persons to the
Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding territories of Azerbaijan,”
he said.
Nagorno-Karabakh’s status can only be defined “through peaceful,
democratic and legal process with direct participation and consent
of both Azerbaijani and Armenian communities,” he said, adding
that the region’s economic development must be strengthened and its
inter-communal relations enhanced.
But “it is difficult to hope for a breakthrough in the negotiations
when Armenia rejects face-to-face meetings and refuses to take a
constructive approach to solve existing problems.”

E.P. ADOPTS TURKEY REPORT, CALLING TURKEY TO ACCELERATE REFORMS
Turkish Press
Sept 27 2006
STRASBOURG – European Parliament on Wednesday approved Turkey report
which was prepared by Dutch parliamentarian Camiel Eurlings.
During voting of the report, 429 parliamentarians voted positive
against 71 parliamentarians, and 125 parliamentarians abstained.
The report, which is not binding but recommendatory, calls Turkey to
accelerate reforms on the path to EU membership.
The report wants Turkey to speed up reforms and implementations
especially on freedom of expression, religious rights, minority
rights, civilian-soldier relations, women rights, labor unions,
cultural rights and independence of jurisdiction areas.
Expressing pleasure over Turkish government’s preparing the 9th
reform package, the report recommended the new anti-terrorism law
not to include restrictive elements against basic rights and freedom.
The report called Turkey to amend articles 216, 277, 288, 301, 305
and 318 of Turkish Penal Code (TCK) claiming that they are open to
arbitrary interpretation.
The report also strongly condemned PKK terrorist organization.
Noting that discharge of Van Public Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya from
his post was concerning, the report claimed that developments after
Semdinli incidents showed that the role of army continues in Turkish
society.
The report asks Turkey to drop 10 percent election threshold, and
thus, a broader representation, including Kurdish parties, will be
provided at Turkish Parliament.
Noting that a new constitution may be needed to reflect the reforms
on the path to EU membership, the report also condemned attack on
Council of State.
Expressing regret that Turkey could not record a progress in religious
freedom area since the last report of EP, the report calls Turkey to
overcome problems in education of clerics of minorities as well as
their owning properties.
Condemning the attacks of PKK terrorist organization, the report
stressed that EP is in solidarity with Turkey in fight against
terrorism.
The report calls Turkey to abolish village guard system, to find
democratic solution to Kurdish problem and to apply European standards
in custody and arrests.
The report noted that modern, democratic and secular Turkey can
undertake a constructive role in dialogue among civilizations. It
also asked Turkey to take necessary steps and swiftly open border gate
with Armenia to start diplomatic and good neighborhood relations with
this country.
The report also wanted Turkey to open its ports to Greek Cypriot
vessels, stating that Turkey’s recognition of all EU countries
including Greek Cypriot administration is a compulsory part of EU
negotiation process.