ERDOGAN BLUFFS WHEN SAYING TURKEY DOESN’T ASPIRE TO EUROPE
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2006 13:32 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In today’s Europe the fact of the Armenian
Genocide recognition has a political basis, said Hilda Tchoboian,
the chairperson of the European Armenian Federation (EAFJD) in an
interview with PanARMENIAN.Net. According to her, Turkey’s membership
in the EU depends on the importance the European states attach to this
issue. “Turkey should face with the fact that it cannot become a full
EU member that without political resolution of this issue. As for the
statements made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who assures
that this country doesn’t aspire to Europe, this is nothing else but
bluff. Turkey is not ready to join Europe and tries to insist on its
own terms to make things look as if Europe joins Turkey but not vice
versa,” Ms. Tchoboian said.
At that she underscored that one should see the difference between the
state and the people. “The U.S. wishes to see Turkey as an EU member,
however the Armenian lobby launched a successful counteraction.
For example the French public is not willing to have Turkey
in the EU. In general, the European Union is a heterogeneous
organization. Each state proceeds from its own aims and it’s
natural. Turkey for its part establishes relations with each state
individually and can enlist their support,” Ms. Tchoboian said.

FRENCH SOCIALISTS URGE TURKEY TO ACKNOWLEDGE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2006 14:16 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ By the offer of French socialists the agenda
of the European Parliament session to be held September 25-28
includes 5 items referring to Turkey. These are cancellation of the
Talaat-Pasha movement, recognition the Armenian Genocide by Turkey,
establishment of diplomatic relations with Armenia and opening of the
Turkish-Armenian border. Besides, the recognition of the Armenian
Genocide was suggested as a precondition for Turkey’s accession to
the EU. The French socialists also insist on inclusion of an item
on Turkey’s deliberate non-acknowledgement of the Armenian Genocide,
reported APA.

THE ARMENIANS OF THE DIASPORA ARE ELATED?
Satenik Kirakosyan
A1+
[01:20 pm] 20 September, 2006
The third conference “Armenia-Diaspora” will be concluded today. NA
deputy, businessman Khachatour Suqiasyan answers the questions of
“Ayb-Fe”.
– Mr. Suqiasyan, you have participated in the previous two
conferences. What differences are there between the third conference
and the previous two ones?
– During the previous conferences the Armenians of the Diaspora were
mostly complaining; and today they are more elated. Today the situation
is more balanced. We think the Diaspora liked the new image of Yerevan.
– Do you agree with NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan that the role of the
Diaspora is more important for Armenia than the financial investments?
– I consider the role of the Diaspora important in any sphere, be it
cultural, financial or social.
– Many of the Armenians of the Diaspora tell us that they do not trust
in the Armenian authorities and that the majority of their investments
do not serve their aim as they are pocketed by the authorities.
– I think that the relations between Armenia and the Diaspora must
be transparent. Whatever is done with the invested sums must be
made public. I agree that the Armenians of the Diaspora making the
investments must get an answer about the fate of the sums.
– Does Armenia need the Diaspora or vice versa?
– I think today Armenia needs the Diaspora, and this situation will
last long. But in any case, in the end it will be the Diaspora that
will need Armenia.

INDEPENDENCE IS HAPPINESS AND RESPONSIBILITY
A1+
[02:08 pm] 20 September, 2006
RA NA Speaker Tigran Torosyan has made a congratulating statement
in connection with the 15th anniversary of the Independence of the
Republic of Armenia. The message says:
“DEAR COMPATRIOTS.
The 15 years of independence have a period of ordeals and struggle,
heavy losses and deprivations, but at the same time of victories
and achievements. Thanks to the power of the nation we were able to
stand all the tests. Today we have two Armenian states, a national
army which protects our borders, and strong economy.
We also have to state that on our way to the realization of the
dreams of many generations we still have problems and challenges
– the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic,
social welfare of the nation, full integration into the international
community, full realization of the legal and democratic state, etc.
Independence is happiness and at the same time responsibility. I
congratulate you on the 15th anniversary of the independence of the
Republic of Armenia. I wish you love for the Homeland and for each
other, and happiness and success to each of us.”

PARTICIPANTS OF ARMENIA-DIASPORA CONFERENCE ENVISION FUTURE
Panorama.am
14:52 20/09/06
The participants of Armenia-Diaspora Forum tried to envision Armenia
and Diaspora in the year 2020.
Everybody was optimistic in the visions but everyone also agreed that
serious steps must be taken to accomplish the tasks.
Chairman of Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutunyan, said that a
pan-Armenian board should be established comprising Armenia and
Nagorno Karabakh with their statehoods and a representation from
Diaspora. An open vote among participants supported this idea. Fewer
people backed the idea of a ministry as a coordinating unit between
Armenia and Diaspora.
Tom Samuelyan, representative of the American University of Armenia,
envisioned that the Armenian genocide would be recognized and Nagorno
Karabakh conflict settled as well as the task of unified language
accomplished by the year 2020. It may be possible that Turkey also
hands over our ancient land.
We will have developed economy, thousands of citizens with double
citizenship, Samuelyan thinks.
The editor-in-chief of Turkey based Akos weekly, Hrant Dink, also
thinks that the genocide will be recognized by 2020. Moreover, he
believes that most states must take their share of responsibility
for the tragedy.
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan said, “We must have expectations
but should also be realistic.” In his words, despite of limited
opportunities, the blockade and the war, Armenia manages to compete
with its neighbors and even wins the competition. The foreign
minister said our challenge should be to give our sons and daughters
a democratic, stable and developed state that will be able to face
competition.
“If Artsakh, Armenia and Diaspora unite, you will see we will
accomplish wonders. I am sure the 21st century will be ours,” Oskanyan
summed up.

THE INDEPENDENCE DAY BELONGS TO THE VICTIMS
A1+
[04:24 pm] 20 September, 2006
“This is a political movement the aim of which is to clear the country
of garbage”, announced commander of group “Artsakh” Miqael Apresyan in
club “Pastark”. He also informed those present about the formation of
the “Armenian Volunteers Movement”. The authors of the initiative are
commanders who participated in the Karabakh war – Arkadi Karapetyan,
Manvel Eghiazaryan, Voskan Gyulumyan and others, who are concerned
about the fate of the country and especially about the settlement of
the Karabakh conflict.
“They are speaking about giving territories. They have forgotten
that we have given 12 thousand lives in order to liberate those
lands. During the war we never spoke about liberating them in order to
give them to Azeris later. How shall we look into the eyes of those
12 thousand soldiers? The Independence day belongs to those who are
not with us today”, commander of group “Artsakh” did not even try to
suppress his anger.
The commanders were also angry with the speeches delivered during the
third conference “Armenia-Diaspora” which do not correspond to reality.
“Look at their plump faces talking about the reduction of poverty! The
Prime Minister announces that the poorest regions are the villages. How
come the peasants working from morning till night and they are still
the poorest? ”
According to Mr. Apresyan, part of the liberated lands is not populated
because of the indifference of the authorities, “They speak about
giving lands so often that the population of Qelbajar thinks about
leaving those territories. The same situation is present is Lachin”. He
is convinced that if conditions are created, Armenians who came to
Armenia from Lebanon and Syria will be glad to go and live there.
The members of the movement were concerned about the fate of the
Armenians in Lebanon. “There are 120 thousand Armenians in Lebanon. The
realization of a peace-keeping mission in Lebanon is extremely urgent.
Turkey has already sent 100 thousand soldiers to Lebanon who will be
allocated in the Armenian districts. This means we are facing a new
danger”, Miqael Apresyan said.
By the way, the members of the “Armenian Volunteers Movement” announced
that they will not participate in the coming elections. They have
not decided whom they will support either.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GENERAL WARD THANKED ARMENIAN PEACEKEEPERS FOR SERVICE IN IRAQ AND KOSOVO
PanARMENIAN.Net
20.09.2006 15:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command
(EUCOM), General William E. “Kip” Ward, visited Armenia September
19-20 as part of a regional familiarization trip. General Ward visited
Georgia before arriving in Armenia, and will also travel to Azerbaijan,
U.S. Embassy press office told PanARMENIAN.Net.
In Armenia, General Ward visited Armenia’s 12th Peacekeeping
Battalion. He thanked the battalion for its honorable service in
the multinational operations in Iraq and Kosovo and emphasized
the importance of international efforts to support Iraq’s growing
democracy and ensure peace and stability in the Balkans. In addition,
General Ward met with Minister of Defense Serge Sargsyan, with
whom he discussed a number of issues, including regional stability,
U.S.-Armenian cooperation in the security and defense spheres, and
the Kansas-Armenia State Partnership Program.

GENERAL WILLIAM WARD, DEPUTY COMMANDER OF U.S. EUCOM, VISITED ARMENIA
Panorama.am
15:54 20/09/06
The Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command (EUCOM), General William
E. “Kip” Ward, visited Armenia September 19-20 as part of a regional
familiarization trip. General Ward visited Georgia before arriving
in Armenia, and will also travel to Azerbaijan.
In Armenia, General Ward visited Armenia”s 12th Peacekeeping
Battalion. He thanked the battalion for its honorable service in
the multinational operations in Iraq and Kosovo and emphasized
the importance of international efforts to support Iraq”s growing
democracy and ensure peace and stability in the Balkans. In addition,
General Ward met with Minister of Defense Serge Sargsian, with
whom he discussed a number of issues, including regional stability,
U.S.-Armenian cooperation in the security and defense spheres, and
the Kansas-Armenia State Partnership Program.
As the deputy commander of U.S. EUCOM, General Ward is responsible
for U.S. forces operating in 91 countries in Europe, Africa, parts
of Asia and the Middle East, and most of the Atlantic Ocean. Prior
to assuming his current position, General Ward was the Deputy
Commanding General/Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Europe and Seventh
Army. While in this capacity, he was selected by the United States
Secretary of State to serve as the United States Security Coordinator,
Israel-Palestinian Authority, where he served from March 2005 through
December 2005. His military service has included overseas tours in
Korea, Egypt, Somalia, Bosnia, Israel, Germany, and a wide variety
of assignments in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.

ELIF SHAFAK, UNE APôTRE DU COSMOPOLITISME QUI DERANGE LES NATIONALISTES
Agence France Presse
19 septembre 2006 mardi 3:05 PM GMT
Au nom du cosmopolitisme et du droit de se reconnaître dans des
identites multiples, la romancière turque Elif Shafak s’est attaquee
a nombre de tabous de la societe turque, s’exposant a l’ire des
nationalistes a l’origine du procès devant s’ouvrir contre elle jeudi.
Non contente de depeindre dans ses romans des personnages deracines,
qui changent de nationalite comme de religion, voire de sexe
-une attitude deja suspecte aux yeux des defenseurs de l’identite
nationale-, la jeune femme s’en est prise a l’intouchable heritage
d’Ataturk, fondateur de la Turquie moderne.
Aux partisans de la revolution kemaliste, qui a accouche en 1923
d’une Republique turque laïque et resolument tournee vers l’Occident,
la femme de lettres reproche d’avoir rejete le passe multiculturel
de l’empire ottoman pour lui substituer une vision monolithique et
appauvrie de l’identite et de la culture turques.
Petite-fille de militaire et fille d’une diplomate, deux institutions
faisant figure de fiefs de l’elite laïque, Shafak s’est en outre
illustree en publiant des chroniques dans le quotidien islamiste
modere Zaman et en epousant un des ses anciens chroniqueurs.
Plus grave, l’intellectuelle, auteur a 35 ans de plusieurs best-sellers
et enseignante a l’universite d’Arizona (Etats-Unis), prône une
reflexion collective de la societe turque sur les massacres d’Armeniens
commis sous l’empire ottoman, que l’Etat turc se refuse a qualifier de
“genocide”.
C’est pour les propos des personnages armeniens de son dernier roman,
“Baba ve Pic” (“Le Père et le Bâtard”, 2006), que la romancière doit
comparaître jeudi pour “denigrement de l’identite turque”, sur la
base d’une plainte d’une association de juristes nationalistes.
Le roman suit les peregrinations de quatre generations de femmes
entre les Etats-Unis et la Turquie pour raconter l’histoire d’une
famille armenienne et des descendants d’un de ses enfants, abandonne
en Turquie lors des massacres d’Armeniens de 1915-1917, qui s’est
converti a l’islam et a vecu comme un Turc.
Des peregrinations, Shafak en a connues aux côtes de sa mère diplomate,
de la France de sa naissance en 1971 a sa jeunesse en Espagne, en
passant par la Jordanie, qui ont instille en elle ses convictions
multi culturalistes.
“J’ai des racines, mais mes racines ne sont pas en un seul endroit
(…) Je suis connecte a differentes cultures, et c’est en partie la
raison pour laquelle je pense qu’il est possible d’etre multiculturel,
multilingue et multifoi”, expliquait-elle a l’ete 2005 dans le New
Perspectives Quarterly.
La jeune femme a publie en 1998 son premier roman, Pinhan, racontant
l’histoire d’une mystique musulman hermaphrodite.
Ont suivi Sehrin Aynalari (Les Miroirs de la Ville), sur la vie
a Istanbul de juifs sepharades convertis, Mahrem (Confidentiel),
evoquant a travers les siècles la quete d’autonomie des femmes, et
Bit Palas (Le Palais du Pou) sur la degradation morale et physique
des habitants d’un immeuble stambouliote.
The Saint of incipient insanities (Le Saint des Insanites Naissantes),
ecrit en anglais et publie en 2004, raconte la quete sans fin
d’accomplissement d’une vingtaine d’amis, etrangers vivant aux
Etats-Unis.
–Boundary_(ID_nmhCewlIJPyHK7PwTX ioGw)–

UN NOUVEL ECRIVAIN TURC POURSUIVI POUR DES ECRITS SUR LA QUESTION ARMENIENNE
Avant-Papier
Agence France Presse
19 septembre 2006 mardi 7:33 AM GMT
La romancière turque Elif Shafak comparaîtra jeudi devant un tribunal
d’Istanbul pour un livre sur les massacres d’Armeniens sous l’empire
ottoman, un procès qui soulève des doutes sur la democratisation de
la Turquie a une periode cruciale de son processus d’adhesion a l’UE.
Elif Shafak, 35 ans, est la dernière en date d’une serie
d’intellectuels poursuivis au titre d’un article controverse du code
penal turc, portant sur le “denigrement de l’identite nationale” et
dont l’Union europeenne reclame la modification de facon a respecter
la liberte d’expression.
L’affaire a suscite d’autant plus de critiques que la romancière
risque jusqu’a trois ans de prison, non pas en raison de prises de
position publiques, mais pour les propos de personnages fictifs de
son dernier roman, “Baba ve Pic” (“Le Père et le Bâtard”), publie en
mars 2006 en Turquie.
L’article 301 du code penal a deja servi de base a l’ouverture de
poursuites, finalement abandonnees, contre le celèbre ecrivain Orhan
Pamuk et conduit a la condamnation du journaliste armenien de Turquie
Hrant Dink a six mois de prison avec sursis.
Personne n’a encore ete emprisonne en raison de cet article, mais
des dizaines d’autres affaires sont en attente, ce qui a pousse
le commissaire europeen a l’Elargissement Olli Rehn a reclamer en
juillet que la disposition soit amendee “pour garantir la liberte
d’expression”.
Le ministre des Affaires etrangères Abdullah Gul a recemment laisse
entendre que l’article pourrait etre modifie dans le cadre de reformes
democratiques que le gouvernement entend presenter au Parlement
avant la publication par la Commission europeenne, le 24 octobre,
d’un rapport crucial sur les progrès de la Turquie sur la voie de
l’adhesion au bloc europeen.
Les negociations d’adhesion entre la Turquie et l’UE sont deja en peril
en raison du refus d’Ankara d’ouvrir les ports et aeroports turcs aux
navires et avions chypriotes grecs, pourtant membres du bloc europeen.
La procedure contre Mme Shafak a ete lancee a la suite d’une plainte
de Kemal Kerincsiz, un avocat nationaliste qui s’est acquis une
certaine notoriete pour sa “traque” infatigable des intellectuels
questionnant la position officielle sur les massacres d’Armeniens
commis en Anatolie entre 1915 et 1917.
La question de ces massacres est très sensible en Turquie, qui juge
inapproprie le terme -adopte par plusieurs pays dans le monde- de
“genocide” pour les qualifier.
Les Armeniens estiment que jusqu’a 1,5 million des leurs ont peri
dans un genocide, Ankara affirme que des massacres ont ete commis de
part et d’autre.
La presence de Mme Shafak a son procès etait peu probable, la jeune
femme ayant accouche samedi d’une petite fille.
“Baba ve Pic”, situe a Istanbul et San Francisco, raconte les histoires
entremelees de quatre generations de femmes turques et d’une famille
armenienne americaine ayant survecu aux massacres.
Fille de diplomate, Elif Shafak est nee en France et a passe son
adolescence a l’etranger. Elle ecrit en anglais et en turc.
Elle est professeur associee a l’universite de l’Arizona et partage
son temps entre la Turquie et les Etats-Unis.
–Boundary_(ID_ZpRItAWWZhBQKgdKBksTlw )–