CIS INTERSTATE COUNCIL FOR EMERGENCIES OPENS IN YEREVAN
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 26 2006
YEREVAN, September 26 (Itar-Tass) – – International cooperation
to prevent emergencies of natural and technogenic character play
an important role, says a message which Armenian Prime Minister
Andranik Margaryan sent to participants in the 20th meeting of the
CIS Inter-State Council for Emergencies of Natural and Technogenic
Character which opened here.
“We all are well aware that not a single country can oppose major
disasters alone,” the Armenian prime minister said. According to
him, “steps directed to raise the efficiency of the activity on
forecasting and monitoring emergencies on the CIS territory, joint
scientific-research works, exchanges of information and preparations
of rescue forces deserve praise, are very useful and contributes to
growth of our countries’ interaction.”

OPEN LETTER TO KURDISTAN’S PRIME MINISTER NECHIRVAN BARZANI
By Xemgine Welat
Kurdish Media, UK
Sept 26 2006
Dear Mr. Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani,
As a Kurd, I am so honored to see the promising developments in
the southern part of our homeland and also to see you as the Prime
Minister of a unified Kurdish government. I have no doubt that you
will serve our nation in the best possible way.
As the Kurds of the North (of Kurdistan) who are victims of cruel
denial and suppression policies of the Turkish state and deprived
of basic human rights, we turn our hope to southern Kurdistan and
expect you to take some steps for 25 million Kurds in the biggest
part of Kurdistan.
As you well know, we still can not speak Kurdish freely or get
education in our mother tongue. Our language can not have any channels
to survive and flourish. Due to this, the situation of the Kurdish
language is getting worse by the day and speakers of our beloved
language are decreasing gradually. Even in the capital city, Amed,
the daily social, cultural and political life is in Turkish.
Needless to say, PKK is just as guilty as the Turkish state for not
paying enough attention to the Kurdish language and culture and not
prioritizing it. As Dr. Ismail Besikci states in one of his recent
interviews, PKK uses the words Kurd and Kurdistan quite often,
yet it has always used Turkish in its publications. There is also a
significant amount of Turkish on Roj TV despite the worsening language
issue; TV officials don’t seem to take any precautions on this matter.
While this is the gloomy picture of the North, we are enthusiastically
looking forward to seeing good news from you about the world’s most
oppressed language, the Kurmanji Kurdish dialect. It is a Kurdish
dialect spoken by more than 25 million Kurds and subjected to countless
repression; it wasn’t ever allowed to live freely, to be the language
of academia, or be studied in universities except in the tiny Kurdish
community in Armenia. Its speakers have always been tortured, beaten
and killed; singers and writers were always persecuted. As a result of
such brutal policies, millions of Kurds are not able to speak their
mother tongue and the numbers of Kurmanji speakers seem to be dying
day by day.
Your Excellency,
As the Prime Minister of Kurdish Regional Government, we expect
your government to take immediate measures to protect Kurmanji from
disappearing all together. In my opinion, a Kurmanji conference
should be organized, for instance in Duhok, as soon as possible with
the participation of Kurmanj linguists, academicians, and writers to
determine the strategies needed to keep Kurmanji alive and ways to
flourish it.
In addition, some funds should be arranged in order to publish Kurmanji
books, newspapers, magazines and learning materials such as CDs and
computer programmes.
Such suggestions can be increased but must be prioritized in accordance
with most urgent ones. While, as I mentioned before, we are expecting
excitedly, for you to make the misfortunate situation of our beloved
Kurmanji better, we are shocked by the recent news coming from the
south. Kurmanji, which you call Behdini over in the south, has no value
and status. Although the amount of Kurmanji speakers in the South is
not much less than the Sorani speakers, it is very disappointing that
the Iraqi Kurdish leaders and politicians treat it like a step-son.
According to Permanent Committee on Geographical Names
( nymy%20of%20Northern%20Iraq.pdf)
the amount of Sorani speakers is 2.8 million (10.6% of Iraqi
population) whereas the amount of Kurmanji speakers is 2.2 millions
(8.4 of Iraqi population). Despite the fact that there is little
difference in the figures of the statistics, it is very saddening to
see Kurmanji be put in this position.
Furthermore, it is no doubt that Kurmanji is the widely spoken dialect
of the Kurdish language spoken by 75% of all Kurds. It is also the
only dialect spoken in all four parts of Kurdistan, while Sorani is
only spoken in two parts; some parts of Iraqi Kurdistan and Iranian
Kurdistan.
If Kurdistan is one and Kurdish people are brothers, then there
should be more respect and value for Kurmanji, and thus Kurmanji
speakers. It is obvious that Kurdish people can not have a common
language by ignoring Kurmanji or trying to lower its value. For this
reason it is a shame to recently come across what we have been hearing
and seeing all that is being discoursed in the news and the media.
First of all, there is an obvious intention to remove Kurmanji/Behdini,
where this removal includes the removal of Kurmanji even from classes
in the Behdinan region and make all classes Sorani.
Secondly, we have read with great enthusiasm that, on behalf of the
Kurdistan Regional Government, you signed an agreement with Microsoft
as a participant of a world wide Windowsa Kurdi (Kurdish Windows)
initiative. I, along with a number of other Kurds, felt honored and
pleased to see such a development. Yet, like millions of Kurmanji
speaking Kurds, it devastated me to hear that this Microsoft Windows
will only be in Sorani with Arabic letters which means we, the Kurds
of Turkey, will not be able to utilize such a product. I hope what
has been reflected in the media is not true and that your government
has made a deal with Microsoft for a Kurmanji Windows as well.
We have to understand the situation at hand was the doing of our
enemies and those whose wish is to divide Kurds. To further the work
of such enemies, that is by banning and removing Kurmanji, we are not
progressing in any way but rather retreat the accomplishments we have
made over the years. To make official such a decision will further
deteriorate the unity the Kurds have experienced. Such an action is
being done at the expense of the majority, where democracy fails to
work and absolutism seems to prevail.
Your Excellency,
I am a proud Kurd and I love anything related to Kurds and Kurdistan.
Although I am a Kurmanji Kurd, I also learned some Sorani not because
it is superior or special, but because it is a part of my language. I
love all Kurdish dialects and spend a great number of hours trying to
learn more about them. Yet, our beloved Kurmanji, which was passed down
to us by Ehmede Xani, Melaye Ciziri, Feqiye Teyran, Ehmede Beyazidi,
Cegerxwin and beautiful voices of Mihemed Arife Ciziri, Hesen Ciziri,
Eyshe Shan, Meryemxan, Mihemed Shexo, Karapete Xacho, Sheroye Biro,
Kawis Axa and many others seems to come to a downfall for reasons we
can overcome. It is our nationalistic and patriotic duty to preserve
and promote it and pass it to future generations. At this point,
the biggest responsibility falls onto Your Excellency’s shoulders and
the hard working Kurdish politicians like yourself since you are the
Prime Minister of the only free part of the homeland and along with
your colleagues are the hope for all Kurds in South Kurdistan.
I wholeheartedly hope and believe that your government will take
necessary measures to preserve and develop Kurmanji and that Kurmanji
Microsoft Windows will be the first step in this direction.
Patriotically Yours,
Xemgine Welat
Xemgine Welat can be contacted on: [email protected]

EXTINGUISH ACTS OF HATRED THAT CAN IGNITE GENOCIDE
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
Sept 26 2006
Tatyana Seyko Chiley
Guest essayist
(September 26, 2006) – Genocide is “the deliberate and systematic
extermination of a national or racial group.” When I read this
definition, it sends chills down my back.
A well-known genocide is the Holocaust: the mass murder of Jews during
the 1940s. Throughout world history, and up to the present day, many
genocides have occurred. And it seems as if every time a genocide ends,
people say, “Never again.”
Yet here we are today, in 2006, with too many people ignoring the
Darfur genocide. However, it cannot be ignored no matter how hard the
world tries. Once a genocide begins, the scars are deeply rooted in
a people and nation.
It takes just a single person to start a genocide, but it also takes
a large group of believers to get the process going. If nations
continue to ignore the warning signs, most definitely a genocide
will start rapidly unwinding. In a short time, hundreds are dead,
then thousands and then millions. Genocides occur mainly because of
the four-letter word: hate. One group thinks it is superior, so it
plans carefully to exterminate that target.
Small acts of persecution, abuse and hate can rapidly spin out of
control. How? Simple. No one stands up for the truth. Thousands watch
on the sidelines, thinking, “It’s not my fight,” or “I’ll get hurt
if I try to intercede.” I believe it’s worth it to suffer for others
rather than to idly watch them suffer.
Genocides first start very small and quietly. Witnesses and even
victims think that a mass murder will not occur from such a small
event. Large, powerful nations hope the genocide disappears on its
own. Why don’t people show interest when millions are killed? Aren’t
a thousand innocent lives slaughtered enough to gain attention? The
only way for a genocide to subside is if it is stopped or if the
extermination is completed.
Don’t let small acts of hatred mushroom. If you see someone putting
down someone or someone’s belief, step in.
We, as the new generation, cannot let history repeat itself. Don’t let
the Armenian genocide, Holocaust, Cambodian genocide, Bosnian genocide,
Rwandan genocide or Darfur genocide go unnoticed or be repeated. If
one person can send hate around the world, then one soul can also
send love around the world and back! Little things matter.
Tatyana is a ninth-grader at Greece Olympia High School.

AZERBAIJANI EMBASSY EXPRESSES PROTEST TO IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
Sept 26 2006
Azerbaijan’s embassy in Iran expressed an official protest to the
Foreign Ministry in connection with some Iranian businessmen’s
establishing relations with the alleged regime in Nagorno Garabagh
province of Azerbaijan, Ambassador Abbaseli Hasanov told the APA
exclusively.
He said Armenia is cheating foreign businessmen into taking them to
the occupied Azerbaijani territories in order to change the negative
international opinion on the regime functioning in Nagorno Garabagh.
“They try to convince businessmen that foreign capital is guaranteed
by the government of this regime,” the ambassador underlined.
Mr.Abbasov said some Iranian tradesmen believe this propaganda and
go to Armenia and Garabagh, “Iranian businessmen attended the events
organized in the Armenian-occupied lands of Azerbaijan. They agreed
to hold Iranian industry and trade exhibition in Nagorno Garabagh in
future. I was at Iranian Foreign Ministry and expressed Azerbaijan’s
official position related to this. The Ministry tried to assure us
that the Iranian government has nothing to do with this matter and
that it is not keen in Iranian businessmen convinced by Armenians
engaging in trade in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.”

EP REPORT ON TURKEY TO BE DISCUSSED TODAY
By Cihan News Agency
Zaman Online, Turkey
Sept 26 2006
The controversial report on Turkey’s progress towards accession to
the E.U. will be discussed in the European Parliament (EP) General
Assembly on Tuesday.
The draft report prepared by Dutch rapporteur Camiel Eurlings is
at the top of today’s agenda of the EP General Assembly, which will
convene in Strasbourg this afternoon.
The provision, which makes the recognition of the so-called Armenian
genocide a precondition for Turkey’s E.U. membership, is expected to
be removed from the draft with motions. Certain amendments are also
expected to be made on the Cyprus issue in favor of Turkey.
The report also asserts that Turkey had committed genocide against
the Pontus Greeks and Assyrians.
Voting on the report is to take place on Wednesday.

ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN STILL FAIL TO CO-ORDINATE TWO MAJOR ELEMENTS – AZERI FM
Author: A.Ismayilova
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
Sept 26 2006
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made a statement for
the General Debate of the 61st session of the UN General Assembly
on 25 September 2006, Trend reports. At the outset, Mammadyarov
congratulated the participants in the Assembly with the election to
the post of the President of UN General Assembly.
The situation in the occupied territory of Azerbaijan recently has
become a subject of urgent consideration by the General Assembly due
to massive fires registered in those areas. The Assembly adopted a
resolution, without a vote, stressing the necessity to conduct an
urgent environmental operation with a view to suppressing the fires,
overcoming their detrimental impact and rehabilitating the affected
territories.
“The resolution has a two-fold purpose. On the one hand, it envisages
a number of practical steps to counteract the fires, while on the
other hand, it serves to attract the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, which will help in the implementation of the resolution
and create mutual confidence, which will undoubtedly have a positive
impact on the talks process. It is only a temporary achievement’
the Minister stressed.
Mammadyarov stated that there are still two elements that the
parties are still to co-ordinate. This is the issue of a status for
Nagorno-Karabakh and the withdrawal of the Armenia forces from the
occupied territory of Azerbaijan. There is a general agreement in that
the status should be defined with the participation of representatives
of both Armenian and Azerbaijani communities. From this end, the
Armenian armed forces should step away from their current positions
and residents of the occupied territories should be repatriated.
Furthermore, the Minister touched upon the admission of a unified
resolution by GUAM countries on resolving static conflicts,
the economic situation in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan’s activities
at the Organization of the Islamic Countries (OIC), the upgrade
of relationships between the UN and Azerbaijan, as well as
inter-civilization problems.

EU ASSEMBLY SET TO AMEND TURKEY REPORT
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
Sept 26 2006
The European parliament is set to amend a controversial report on
Turkey’s EU membership bid.
Dutch MEP Camiel Eurlings says he is hopeful that his colleagues will
remove calls for Ankara to recognise the Armenian genocide before
Turkey is allowed to join the EU.
The clause, which provoked a political storm in Turkey, was inserted
during the amendment process in the parliament’s foreign affairs
committee.
Speaking to Turkish Daily News on Monday, Eurlings stressed that he
would seek to tone down conclusions on Armenia.
“Certain things were added to my report during the vote in the foreign
affairs committee,” he said.
Eurlings insists it was never his intention to force the Turks to
formally recognise this chapter of their history.
“This amendment was added when my report was being debated in the
parliament’s foreign affairs committee, and it is an amendment I
regret,” the Dutch MEP said.
The Armenia amendment was proposed in committee by the Socialist MEP
Veronique De Keyser.
“That was against my will. This is not my line, and I will do my very
best during the plenary to get this out,” Eurlings declared.
MEPs will debate the report on Tuesday – ahead of a Wednesday vote.

SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CONTINUES MEETINGS IN NEW YORK
SANA – Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
Sept 26 2006
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem met South Africa’s Foreign Minister
Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on the sidelines of the 61st UN General
Assembly’s session.
Talks during Monday meeting dealt with the bilateral relations between
the two friendly countries and means of bolstering them.
The Foreign Minister also discussed with his Armenian counterpart
Vartan Oskanian the bilateral relations between Syria and Armenia
and the agenda of the current session of the UN Assembly.
Al-Moallem discussed with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov the necessity of enhancing relations between Syria and
Azerbaijan and activating the role of the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC) as Azerbaijan is the duty president of the current
session of the OIC Ministers.
He also discussed with Executive Director of the UN Developmental
Program Kamal Darwish the activities which the Program is carrying
on in Syria, and prospects of cooperation between Syria and the
UN agencies.
The Foreign Minister congratulated Sheikha Haya Rashed al-Khaleifa,
President of the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly on electing
her as the first Arab woman to chair this office, asserting the
importance of enabling the UN to achieve real reforms inside the
organization during the current session in a way that achieves
democracy in the international relations.
Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Faisal Miqdad attended the meetings.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DINK FACES NEW TRIAL UNDER ARTICLE 301
Turkish Daily News , Turkey
Sept 26 2006
A prosecutor in Istanbul filed an indictment against Turkish Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, saying that he had committed the crime of
“insulting Turkishness” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code
(TCK).
The case was opened for remarks Dink made in an interview with a
foreign news agency in which he said the killings of Armenians
in Turkey around the time of World War I constituted genocide,
Anatolia news agency said yesterday. The remarks were published in
Agos newspaper, of which Dink is the editor in chief, on July 21, 2006
Dink could face up to three years in prison if convicted.
Two other executives of Agos newspaper, Arat Dink and Serkis Seropyan,
are also facing the same punishment.
This is the second case Dink faces a court under Article 301, which
the European Union says restricts freedom of expression in Turkey.
In July, the Supreme Court of Appeals agreed to approve Agos a
six-month suspended sentence for Dink for “insulting Turkishness.”
The ªiºli Second Criminal Court had found Dink guilty of insulting
Turkishness and sentenced him to a six-month suspended sentence. The
Supreme Court of Appeals Ninth Bureau had reversed the suspension,
arguing there was no doubt Dink was guilty of committing the crime.
The decision to suspend the sentence by the ªiºli Second Criminal Court
was appealed by Dink, who is seeking acquittal rather than suspension,
and the complainants. The Supreme Court of Appeals Prosecutor’s Office
had sought annulment of the sentence, arguing that the material and
emotional elements of the crime “insulting Turkishness” had not taken
place. The Ninth Bureau said there was no doubt Dink’s statement,
“The clean blood that will replace the poisoned blood of the Turk is
present in the honored veins that will be established between the
Armenian and Armenia,” insulted Turkishness. “It is impossible to
justify belittling a society while praising another with the freedom
of expression as defined by the European Convention on Human Rights,”
the bureau said. Dink had argued that what he meant by the statement
was that Armenians had the strength to overcome their destructive
hatred of Turks.
–Boundary_(ID_1HCbXzW1xheOYyVkcuY49w)–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STATE PENSION DIVESTMENT BILL SIGNED
By Nancy Vogel, Times Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times, CA –
Sept 26 2006
The law requires the teachers and public employees retirement systems
to withdraw funds from firms aiding Sudan’s government.
SACRAMENTO – California’s giant public pension systems must rid
themselves of investments in companies that help the Sudanese
government, under a measure that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed
into law Monday.
University of California students and others who led a campaign for
divestment said they hoped that it would persuade other states to
do the same. Ultimately, they want to pressure the Arab-dominated
government of Sudan, which is blamed for the deaths of at least
200,000 non-Arabs since 2003 and the displacement of more than 2.5
million people in the nation’s western Darfur region.
ADVERTISEMENT “Divestment will show our defiance against the murderers
and their inhumanity,” Schwarzenegger said at a bill-signing ceremony
at the Hilton Burbank Airport and Convention Center, recalling that
a similar divestment movement two decades ago helped end apartheid
in South Africa.
Joining him at the ceremony were actors Don Cheadle and George Clooney,
and UC student activist Adam Sterling. “State by state, pension fund
by pension fund, your genocide will not occur on our watch and it
will not occur on our dime,” Sterling vowed.
When the law takes effect in January, it will require the California
Public Employees’ Retirement System and the California Teachers’
Retirement System to liquidate their holdings in certain companies
that operate in Sudan if, after 90 days’ warning, the companies fail
to halt business activities there.
About two dozen oil, energy and telecommunications firms – most of them
Chinese, Russian, Malaysian, Indian or French – are the targets of the
divestment, said Jason Miller, a UC San Francisco medical student who,
with Sterling, helped create the Sudan Divestment Task Force.
The bill, AB 2941 by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood), is
narrowly tailored to force divestment of only those companies that
provide revenue or weapons to the Sudanese government and refuse to
change their practices.
No American companies are on the list for potential divestment, Miller
said, and American companies must get U.S. permission to do business
in Sudan because the nation is considered a state sponsor of terrorism.
Miller conceded that divestment of the two state pension systems
won’t be enough to change the stock price of any potential divestment
targets.
But he and others see the Koretz bill as model legislation that
may spur enough divestment nationwide to pressure the companies and
thus Sudan.
Said Clooney: “As more states begin to adopt it, and they just might,
then perhaps we can take a giant step in making sure that a government
that systematically eliminates its citizens at the very least doesn’t
profit from it.”
Four other states – Illinois, Maine, Oregon and New Jersey – also
have ordered pension funds to divest from companies operating in
Sudan. Legislation that is modeled on the Koretz bill is pending in
15 other states, Miller said.
“It’s a more sophisticated route than a couple of other states have
tried,” Koretz said. “If it’s too broad of a brush, you wind up
picking up companies that are there and doing good.”
The legislation, which passed with the opposition of 13 Republicans in
the Assembly and seven Republicans in the Senate, hastens a movement
already underway at the teachers and public employees pension systems
and the University of California.
In March, pressured by student activists, UC regents voted to liquidate
holdings, worth tens of millions of dollars, in nine foreign companies
that do business with Sudan. The governor signed another, related bill,
AB 2179 by Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City), that indemnifies
UC regents, employees and investment managers from litigation that
may arise out of the Sudanese divestment.
The teachers pension system on Monday reported holding $12 million
worth of stock in 10 companies operating in Sudan, including Sinopec
Corp., PetroChina Co., Bharat Heavy Electrical of India and Sudan
Telecom Co. Those companies are targeted for divestment under a policy
the teachers pension board adopted in April.
“They have gone through quite an extensive back-and-forth with
a number of these companies,” teachers pension system spokeswoman
Brenna Neuharth said. “The bill just speeds the process along.”
Public employees pension system spokesman Brad Pacheco said the fund,
with $207 billion in assets, has invested in 39 companies doing
business in Sudan, none of them the nine companies from which UC has
divested. He said he could not estimate how much the system may need
to divest under the legislation because system officials are still
trying to determine the nature of the firms’ Sudanese operations.
Last December, the public employees pension system warned three
European companies that it would sell its hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of shares if they did not sever ties with the Sudanese
government. “We’re still working with those companies” to achieve
change, Pacheco said.
Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, who as state
treasurer sits on the public employees pension system board, has
pushed for several years for divestment in firms complicit in what
the U.S. Congress has declared genocide.
He praised the signing of the Koretz bill, saying, “Californians have
a moral responsibility to help end the genocide in Sudan.”
On Monday, Schwarzenegger also signed a bill that would allow any
Californian who was a victim of the Armenian genocide or an heir
or beneficiary of a victim to sue financial institutions to recover
assets stolen or lost between 1890 and 1923. Under SB 1524 by Sen.
Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough), Californians of Armenian descent
would have through 2016 to file claims.
Schwarzenegger signed another bill that would require insurance
companies to disclose how much money they are investing in low- and
middle-income communities. Some insurers had opposed the bill, as had
the governor’s insurance advisor, Kathleen Webb, a former State Farm
official. In May, Webb sent a letter to the author, Assemblyman Mark
Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), stating her office’s opposition.
“The question is, what is there to hide?” Ridley-Thomas said.
“Disclose what you’re doing: the good, the bad and the ugly.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress