TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
Azeri, Turkish, Georgian ambassadors to UN lead BTC-related
conference
Source: Trend
Author: Ì.Òagiyev
14.07.2006
The ambassadors of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia to UN lead a press
conference in respect to opening of BTC pipeline, Trend reports with
reference to Turkish media.
In particular, during this conference Azeri ambassador Yashar Aliyev
provided details on BTC pipeline.
Turkish and Georgian ambassadors Baki Ilkin and Revaz Adamia also
replied to the journalists questions. The five-minute move was
demonstrated on the project. In turn, Mr Adamia said BTC pipeline
will give a boost to welfare in the entire region.
Answering the question why the pipeline was not laid through Armenia,
Turkish ambassador Mr Ilkin said in case official Yerevan denies
its unreasonable prejudices Turkey can develop cooperation with
this country.
Turkish diplomat said all three states the pipeline is laid in possess
all necessary means to ensure its security.
–Boundary_(ID_S17uRTuG4aSWAyj+s/lQJQ)- –

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
Romania supports independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan – Romanian President Bãsescu
Source: Trend
Author: А.Mammadova
14.07.2006
Exclusive interview of Trend with Romanian President Traian Bãsescu
Question: How do you estimate the current level of bilateral
relationship between Azerbaijan and Romania? Did you achieve any
essential result during the meeting with the President of Azerbaijan
Ilham Aliyev in Bucharest? Answer: As Head of the Romanian state, I am satisfied with the very
good level of the political relations, that was reconfirmed both by
the last official visit to Romania of president Ilham Aliyev as well
as on each and every meeting we had during the last year and a half. We come with a new proposal meant to confer dynamism and substance
to the bilateral economic relations, building on the excellent basis
offered by the political dimension. If we are going to make a profound
study of the current and future status of the bilateral Romanian-Azeri
relations, it would result that this sector of the economic relations
needs to be consolidated. At the same time, I attach a particular
importance to the quality of the interpersonal relations between
our peoples, to the openness that exists on both sides regarding the
consolidation of the relations between our citizens. During our last bilateral meeting in June the 5th, due to the
limited time, President Aliyev and I didn’t have the possibility to
go deeply into issues of mutual concern, we only have an overview of
the bilateral relations; this detailed analysis will be made during
the official visit that I will pay to Azerbaijan, at the beginning
of October, this year. We welcomed the beginning of the negotiations between the European
Union and Azerbaijan concerning the Individual Action Plan, included
in the European Neighborhood Policy and also Azerbaijan’s engagement
in the Individual Action Plan with NATO. We reiterated our support for
the efforts of the Baku authorities to conclude and to adopt these
plans as soon as possible. We also manifested our availability to
share the expertise that Romania gained in the period prior to the
accession to the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. We appreciated the economic relations have not reached the potential
of the two states’ economies. We hope that the meeting, in Baku, of
the second session of the Intergovernmental Commission for technical
and scientifical cooperation, in June, has indicated the need for
progress in this direction. The final result of all these endeavors
will be counted and analyzed this fall, on the occasion of my official
visit to Azerbaijan. Then, we will see which of these are feasible
and deserve our sustained involvement. Question: How do you estimate the totals of the summit “Black Sea
Forum for dialogue and partnership”, held in Bucharest at the beginning
of June? Answer: The Black Sea region is the number one priority of Romania’s
regional policy. We consider that the region is an area with a
significant potential, yet undiscovered and unexploited, whose security
is directly linked to the security of the European and Euro-Atlantic
space, especially regarding the soft security and energy risks. We are convinced that, both for Romania and for Azerbaijan, the Black
Sea represents an area of particular importance: a gateway towards
the European and Euro-Atlantic space. This is the most direct link
between Europe and Azerbaijan and therefore, we believe that it is
in your country’s interest to contribute to the improvement of the
existent instruments that connect the Black Sea region to Europe
(these are often limited to bilateral and sectorial instruments). We believe that for the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Black Sea forum
for Dialogue and Partnership will be an useful instrument in order to
deepen the cooperation at the regional level or to attract new partners
both from the European and Euro-Atlantic area, as well as the private
sector, into the region, so that the regions’ priorities and needs
identified by the regions’ states should be reached and fulfilled. Regarding the first summit of the Forum which took place in Bucharest,
in June the 5th, we appreciated that it represented a first step
in materializing our joint efforts to reunite the political will of
the states on the need to sustain the initiatives coming from inside
the region. The citizens of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia,
Greece, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine
are being creative and wish to do something from the region they live
in. In order to meet their demands, we have to offer the support of
the governmental sector. This is a process that we hope will shorten
the path between initiatives and debates and their translation into
practice. Question: How do you estimate the activities of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan, Moldova)? Is Romania expected to enter this organization? Answer: The interest Romania has regarding the evolutions in its
East represents the natural attitude of a member state preoccupied to
support the objective of the Euro-Atlantic community: to expand the
area of stability, security and prosperity beyond the frontiers of
EU and of NATO. Recently, I had the pleasure, through the voice of
Romania’s minister of foreign affairs, to greet the transformation
of GUAM into an international organization – the Organization for
Democracy and Economic Development – GUAM. We express our best wishes
for the success of all the activities that will be carried out under
this new framework. I consider that ODDE-GUAM is a regional structure relevant for the
critical need to fight the new risks to the European security. Also the
importance of the cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and
the Republic of Moldova is critical in fields such as the improvement
of the security climate, the hydrocarbons transportation and transit
towards the rest of Europe, having as main projects TRACECA and
INOGATE. I welcome the interest of the GUAM states concerning the frozen
conflicts, true sources of instability for the region and sources of
insecurity beyond their own frontiers. Decisive actions and common
plans of cooperation are needed in order to fight these threats. I don’t think you have to consider the possibility of Romania’s joining
GUAM. This is an organization that fits a certain geographical profile
which Romania doesn’t belong to. Although, due to the fact that the
GUAM’ region is adjacent to the geographical space that Romania belongs
to, I can affirm that we are going to actively support deepened and
efficient cooperation between the GUAM member states. Question: What role could Azerbaijan plan in the provision of energy
security of Europe, including Romania Answer: Europe’s energy security is an issue of particular importance
in the context of increased demand for energy resources and Romania,
as an country importing oil and natural gas is interested to identify
new sources of import and alternative routes of transportation. We are interested in identifying the ways in which the Nabucco project
will be feasible. Azerbaijan can and should play an important role in
this respect both as a country of safe transit as well as a provider
for this pipeline. Romania is interested in developing a closed cooperation with
Azerbaijan in the energy field. We analyze the possibility to sign
a bilateral agreement between the relevant ministries that will
formalize prior identified projects of cooperation in the industrial
and energy sector. I am sure that these projects will be put on the
agenda before my official visit to Baku. Question: Does Romania support territorial integrity of Azerbaijan? What are your visions about the ways and perspectives of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement? Answer: Of course. As I always stated on every occasion, Romania
supports the independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrality
of Azerbaijan. I consider that frozen conflicts in the Eastern neighbourhood are
both a symptom and a test: a symptom of Eastern Europe’s troubled
history and a test of NATO and the EU’s ability to bring stability
and security to the region. If we looked at a map of unsettled conflicts, we would see that
there is a constantly fuelled arch of instability in the Black Sea
region, which generates more serious security problems, such as arms
trafficking, trafficking in human beings, trans-border crime, the
undermining of democratic institutions and widespread human rights
violations. This unpleasant reality underscores the importance of
multiple, co-ordinated action from the wider international community
to settle frozen conflicts. There is no unique, universal solution to frozen conflicts. The
conflicts in Transdnister, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh or South Ossetia
are different, so the solutions, too, should be different. Regardless of whether we are acting through the EU or NATO or other
possible formats, our actions need to be adapted to each and every
situation, starting from the cause of the conflict, the political,
social, economic specificity and a clear understanding of the
position of all the players involved We consider that 2006 has to
be put into value as a unique window of opportunity in the process
of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and, in this respect, I welcome the
positive results of the meeting that took place in Bucharest. I am honored that the two presidents have decided to meet in Bucharest,
in the framework offered by the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and
Partnership, whose main purpose is to promote a culture of dialogue
and cooperation within this region. I consider that the Minsk process needs an input both from the
international organizations as well as the regional actors. Romania
wishes to bring its contribution to provide the right climate for
the continuation of negotiations between the two countries situated
in its neighborhood. The meeting that took place in Bucharest itself
sustains the rationale for which Romania considered that the process
of the Black Sea Forum for Dialogue and Partnership is needed. Romania is not a directly involved partner, but as an OSCE member
state follows closely the evolutions linked to the Prague process, from
the perspective of its expanded regional interests. The conflict has
multiple facets and the solution will have the same characteristics. We
are ready that, together with the international organizations’
expertise, to share, at our turn, from the experience gained in the
field of ensuring national minorities rights, when the time comes. Romania is the advocate of a peaceful solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict by fully taking into account the diplomatic instruments
available. We express our hope that the Bucharest meeting will be the
beginning of a new encouraging framework for discussions that will
mark real progress and even an agreement upon precise steps meant to
accelerate the negotiations. Your success will represent the success
of the whole Black Sea region, the success of each country belonging
to this region. I can assure you that you benefit from Romania’s support especially
because, as I stated before, we understand very well the issues
you are facing. The Romanians are in a similar situation, generated
by unfortunate solutions from the Soviet era – the frozen conflict
of Transdnister. The solution we identified is to sustain, in each instances we have
at our disposal, the European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the
Republic of Moldova. Within the EU, the frontiers, irrespective of
their nature, disappear. We encourage you to keep going on this path. The first steps have already been taken, through the opening of the
negotiations regarding the Individual Action Plans with your countries. –Boundary_(ID_JHdqVAsNBWuVScW91kHcPg) —

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
Armenian foreign minister to continue working in post of foreign
policy department head
Source: Trend
Author: A.Mammadov
14.07.2006
The Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan told that he is going to
continue working in the post of head of the foreign policy department
and doesn’t think to participate in 2008 presidential elections.
“At the moment, I have fully focused on the foreign policy work,”
told Oskanyan, Medimaks news agency reports.
Besides, the minister told that he hasn’t received any cooperation
proposal from the political parties functioning in Armenia,
Trendreports.

TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
Armenian FM: Disclosure of some details of conversation process
‘enables open healthy discussion in society’
Source: Trend
Author: A.Mammadov
14.07.2006
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan said today in Yerevan
‘disclosure of some details of conversation process on Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement was not the surprise for Armenia’.
Mediamax agency reports, Oskanyan told journalists ‘disclosure of some
details of conversation process enables open healthy discussion in
the society’. Alongside, he underlined, full disclosure of proposal
“bears the threat of one of another party rejecting the principles
of such settlement”.
Oskanyan says the time hasn’t come for Armenian government to start
persuading Armenian society in necessity of accepting announced
principles as ‘Azerbaijan disagreed with some issues of this document’.
Speaking of the possibility of arranging the meeting between Azeri
and Armenian presidents, Oskanyan said there is no such question on
the agenda. “However, we do not rule out anything. Probably, something
will become clearer upon Mr Bryza’s visit to the region”, he added.

Landscape with a Pipeline // Caspian oil goes to the West detouring Russia
Kommersant, Russia
July 14 2006
The opening ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Jeikhan pipeline took place
yesterday in Turkish city of Jeikhan. It is the first pipeline on
post-Soviet territory which detours Russia. Kommersant correspondent
Vladimir Solovyev who attended the ceremony said the main heroes
of yesterday’s event were 3 men absent at the ceremony. First,
late Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliev. Second, US President George
Bush who decided not to irritate Vladimir Putin by visiting Jeikhan.
Third, Nursultan Nazarbaev who is now expected to fill the pipeline
with Kazakh oil.
Filling up the pipeline
The organizers optimistically called yesterday’s ceremony
“First Oil”. Before letting the oil in, Turkish authorities
prepared thoroughly, spending $4 million on the ceremony only. The
Baku-Tbilisi-Jeikhan (BTJ) pipeline opening ceremony was held on a
small cape on the Black Sea coast, about 1 kilometer away from the
sea oil terminal with which the pipeline ends.
The itinerary for processions-the highway connecting Jeikhan and
Adana, where all guests lived,-was decorated with flags of Azerbaijan,
Georgia, and Turkey. Pieces of pipe with BTJ logo and a direction
arrow put along the highway served as guide signs. Security measures
were extensive, using sharpshooters and helicopters, because it was
expected that US President George Bush, or at least Condoleezza Rice,
would visit the ceremony.
US energy secretaries visited all previous BTJ events, Spencer Abraham
in 2002, and his successor Samuel Bodman in 2005. Now, when BTJ does
not need patronage from the White House anymore, Washington sent only
Deputy Secretary of Energy Clay Sell.
Turkish newspapers were shocked, because not only George Bush ignored
the invitation to the ceremony, but also Kazakh President Nursultan
Nazarbaev, who went to St. Petersburg for the G-8. He sent Minister
of Energy Bahytkoju Izmuhambetov instead. No one was sorry about the
absence of Russian representatives, although Putin had been officially
invited as well.
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Georgia Ilham Aliev and Mikhail
Saakashvili only smiled and shrugged shoulders in response to
journalists’ questions, when they entered the VIP marquee.
Top managers of BP pipeline operating company spoke first. BP CEO
Lord Browne called BTJ a major project of the 21st century which
changed the energy map of the world. “This pipeline will make Turkey
the major player of world oil market,” echoed BP president in Caspian
region David Woodword. Then Clay Sell delivered George Bush’s address
which called Jeikhan the gates to world oil market and reminded that
Washington more or less supported the project all these years.
These speeches produced a positive effect on the 3 presidents.
Turkish Prime Minister promised to turn Jeikhan into energy supermarket
refining absolutely all types of oil, and shared plans on building
another pipeline between Samsun and Jeikhan for pumping Russian
and Kazakh oil. Then Ilham Aliev took the floor. He recalled “the
destructive forces” who hindered the project. Mikhail Saakashvili, who
spoke next, did not even try to conceal that he spoke of Russia. He
emphasized that the BTJ pipeline is the symbol of independence for
Georgia and Azerbaijan. “BTJ united us all. It gave us new hopes, hopes
for stability and security, gave us new partners and new relations,”
said Saakashvili.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev looked the happiest winner at
yesterday’s oil festivity. Although it was, in fact, the achievement
of his late father Geidar Aliev. Almost all speakers acknowledged
Geidar Aliev’s merit for making the pipeline connect Baku and the
Mediterranean sea, after all. As a sign of gratitude, Turkey named
the oil terminal in Jeikhan after Geidar Aliev. Turkey also named a
park and an avenue in Istanbul after Aliev.
Pipeline’s significance
BTJ became the first and largest non-Russian geopolitical project
on post-Soviet territory. The West spent $4 billion on building the
pipeline which is absolutely independent from Russia. This pipeline
gives space for maneuver both for the West and for the countries in
the region, and guarantees uninterrupted oil supplies to Europe.
Caspian reserves of oil cannot entirely substitute the resources
of the Persian Gulf, but they are a good alternative. Governmental
agreement between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on transporting Kazakh
oil across the Caspian sea was signed a month ago in Astana.
Turkey will benefit from the new pipeline as well. Turkey stopped
receiving Iraq’s oil ever since the war in Iraq began. Now, Caspian
oil will compensate Turkey’s losses over and above.
Israel is also interested in the BTJ pipeline. Israeli Minister of
Energy and Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer attended the opening
ceremony. Israel plans to be buying oil in Jeikhan and then transport
it to Ashkelon, and from there to the markets of East Asia, India,
and China through the KATSA pipeline.
Meanwhile, the pipeline has already begun influencing the region. The
U.S. is now creating special forces called Caspian Guard, to guarantee
absolute security for the pipeline. Washington’s reverent concern
about the pipe means the U.S. will not put up with main threats to
it existing in the region-the frozen conflicts. Now, the West will
not risk anymore and will actively seek ways to solve Karabakh,
Abkhazian, and South Ossetian conflicts. The U.S. now pushes Erevan
and Baku to sign the declaration on Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Similar
steps would probably be taken in regard to Georgia.
The BTJ pipeline might stabilize the region. Yet, it does not
guarantee the conflicts will be solved according to Tbilisi’s and
Baku’s wishes. On the other hand, BTJ greatly changes the status of
the countries in the region, and cements the new pro-West alliance.
Stretching the pipeline up to the Mediterranean sea, Washington has in
fact created a new block, which has been already joined by Azerbaijan,
Georgia, Turkey, and Israel.
Vladimir Solovyev, Jeikhan
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

BÝA, Turkey
July 14 2006
Dink Verdict on Way to European Court
Turkish-Armenian weekly “Agos” Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink’s lawyer
Fethiye Cetin says they will take his suspended 6 months prison
sentence to the European Court of Human Rights. Cetin expresses
sorrow for justice system, noting that the opportunity to s
BIA News Center
13/07/2006
BÝA (Ankara) – Armenian-Turkish bilingual weekly “Agos” newspaper
Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink’s lawyer Fethiye Cetin has said they will
take his suspended 6 months prison sentence to the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR) following this week’s ratification of the verdict
by the Turkish Court of Cassation.
Cetin said they would apply to the ECHR as soon as they received
written notification of the Appeals Court’s decision that was taken
despite objections of the prosecution, saying the verdict was “at
the very least, sad for justice”.
“With regard to the interpretation of article 301, they could have
created a precedent that would have been extremely just and in
accordance with democracy. This would have been in the interest of
Turkey. This opportunity was lost” Cetin said, evaluating the court’s
conclusive decision that confirmed Dink’s sentence.
Dink was originally sentenced under article 301 by an Istanbul court to
6 months jail on October 7, 2005 where opinions expressed in his 2004
article series “The Armenian Identity” published in Agos were found
to be “insulting and ridiculing Turkishness”. Subject to the verdict
were Dink’s remarks “The poisoned blood that will spill from Turks will
be replaced by noble blood of the Armenians who will create Armenia”.
The same court later suspended the sentence justifying it with the
convict’s goodwill but the deferment was on condition that he did not
commit a similar offence for a period of five years and if he did,
would serve the previous sentence in full alongside any new sentence.
Following an appeal against the decision, the high court prosecutor
demanded Dink’s acquittal, but the demand which relied on the
evaluation that Dink’s controversial expressions were “allegorical”
rather more than insulting “Turkishness” was turned down. (EO/II/YE)
–Boundary_(ID_IHB8L2UqpPZ+/eZwjNKU7w) —

The critical BTC pipeline
TODAY’S COLUMNIST
By S. Rob Sobhani
July 14, 2006
Washington Times, DC
July 14 2006
Yesterday, at the southern Turkish Port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean
Sea, the 1,087-mile Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) crude-oil pipeline will
be inaugurated at an official ceremony with the presidents of Turkey,
Georgia and Azerbaijan in attendance. This historic event marks
the culmination of a major U.S. foreign policy effort to connect
the Mediterranean with the heretofore landlocked but energy-rich
Caspian Sea.
Since the discovery of sizable hydrocarbon reserves in the Caspian
Sea, a fundamental premise of U.S. energy policy has been the
uninterrupted transportation of the Caspian’s 80 billion barrels
of oil to international markets, thereby diversifying world energy
supplies and easing Western reliance on Middle East crude supplies.
The new pipeline is the linchpin of this policy because it carries
crude oil directly from the offshore oil fields of Azerbaijan to the
Mediterranean via Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.
This world-class marvel of the 21st century runs entirely underground
in order to preserve the environment. Operated by BP, it has the
capacity to deliver more than 1 million barrels per day of crude oil
to the port of Ceyhan, where the oil can be offloaded to tankers with
destinations worldwide.
Support from both the private (BP) and public (World Bank) sectors
for the BTC pipeline has helped bring prosperity to the region. More
than 500 villages along the pipeline route have received improvements
in their medical, water and educational facilities.
Interestingly, of the 15,739 micro-loans issued by the World Bank
in Azerbaijan, 49 percent were to women. The gross domestic product
of Azerbaijan alone is expected to grow by 20 percent per annum,
transforming this nation into the Kuwait of the Caspian Sea.
Sadly, the man most responsible for making the BTC pipeline a reality
died before it was completed. Former Azerbaijan President Heydar Aliyev
used his formidable leadership capability, determination and courage
to bring the pipeline into existence. The obstacles Mr. Aliyev faced
were tremendous. When the U.S. government determined that it did not
want a pipeline from the Caspian Sea to run through the territory
of Iran, then-President Aliyev showed enormous courage and stood up
to the clerical regime in Tehran, despite the latter’s vociferous
objections. Azerbaijan’s neighbor to the north also objected to the
U.S. policy of multiple pipelines, but Mr. Aliyev did not buckle
under Moscow’s pressure. He forged ahead because he realized that
U.S.-Azerbaijan interests were mutually reinforcing, and nowhere did
they overlap more than in the uninterrupted exploration, development
and transportation of Caspian Sea oil and natural gas to international
markets.
Upon Mr. Aliyev’s death in December 2003, the responsibility for
ensuring the completion of BTC was inherited by his son, Ilham
Aliyev, who was elected president after his father’s death. The young
president, who recently visited President Bush at the White House to
discuss global energy security, has continued his father’s legacy
and can be credited for turning this South Carolina-sized country
of 8 million into the transport hub of the Caspian Sea region,
thus elevating Azerbaijan’s strategic importance to the West. Just
last month, oil-rich Kazakhstan signed a long-term agreement to
transport 140 million barrels per annum through the BTC pipeline,
thereby enabling it to deliver crude oil to Western markets without
Russian involvement.
Credit for today’s historic event must also be given to those many
individuals within the U.S. government who fought day and night
for years to see this pipeline become a reality. Furthermore, the
personal commitment to the pipeline by Sir John Browne, chairman of
BP, was also instrumental in giving confidence to the international
financial community to finance the $3.4 billion project.
BTC must be seen as a project of geo-strategic significance: linking
three allies of the United States along an East-West energy corridor,
loosening Russia’s long-standing grip over oil exports from the
Caspian and denying the Islamic regime of Iran transit revenues.
In order to ensure the viability of this strategic asset, which is
of enormous importance to Western energy security, Washington might
consider the following initiative: First, the resolution of the
Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict over the territory of Nagorno-Karabagh
should be a priority of American diplomacy because resumption of
this conflict could negatively affect the flow of oil to the United
States. And second, Congress must immediately allocate funding to
bolster U.S.-Azerbaijan military ties.
Over the last decade, the strategic partnership between the United
States and Azerbaijan has helped both countries significantly.
Today, with the flow of oil through the BTC pipeline, this important
relationship has also enhanced global energy security.
S. Rob Sobhani, Ph.D., is president of Caspian Energy Security.

Turkey faces pressure over freedom of speech
Gulf Times, Qatar
July 14 2006
Published: Friday, 14 July, 2006, 01:03 PM Doha Time
ISTANBUL: Turkey yesterday faced growing demands to ease restrictions
on freedom of speech after a court confirmed a six-month suspended
jail sentence for an editor convicted of “insulting Turkishness”.
The European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, said after the ruling
this week that Ankara should rewrite its penal code.
Human rights groups and Turkish commentators urged the government to
abolish the code’s controversial Article 301, which carries a jail
sentence of up to three years.
The High Court of Appeals ruling in the case of Hrant Dink,
editor-in-chief of the Turkish and Armenian weekly Agos, would send a
chill through the domestic media, said Joel Simon, executive director
of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“It calls into question the country’s commitment to press freedom
and legal reforms which are a pre-condition for its goal of joining
the European Union,” Simon said.
Turkey started EU entry talks last October but negotiations are
expected to last more than a decade. In recent months it has faced
growing criticism from Brussels over the pace of reform.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said on Wednesday the latest
ruling showed the reformed penal code still restricted freedom of
expression and would set a binding precedent for other pending human
rights cases.
He said the Commission would review the situation in the light of the
EU’s political criteria in its upcoming progress report on Turkey in
late October or early November.
Sensitive to those concerns, the government has said it may call
parliament back from its summer recess two weeks early in mid-September
to push through the latest package of reforms.
Rights groups and Turkish commentators said it should use this
opportunity to abolish Article 301.
“A revision of Article 301 must urgently be incorporated into this
package,” said Radikal newspaper editor Ismet Berkan.
The government has not yet commented on the court’s ruling and
officials were not immediately available.
Jonathan Sugden from New York-based Human Rights Watch said it was
difficult for the government to abolish such laws given its uneasy
relationship with the state bureaucracy.
The onus was thus on judges who could acquit in such cases on the
grounds that a conviction would contravene Article 10 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, which has been incorporated in Turkish law.
“It is staggering that seven years into a reform programme and several
programmes dedicated to training judges in applying the convention,
a substantial section of the judiciary … still hasn’t grasped the
fundamentals,” he said.
Internationally acclaimed Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk is among a
host of other writers who have been prosecuted under the same laws,
although his case was dropped.
Dink was sentenced for Armenian-related comments.
Armenians say 1.5mn Armenians were killed in a genocide by the
Ottoman Turks in 1915, but Turkey rejects this and says both Christian
Armenians and Muslim Turks suffered mass killings in partisan conflict.
London-based Amnesty International called for an immediate repeal of
the law, which it says muzzles peaceful dissenting opinion, and said
it could be part of the next reform package.
* Turkish prosecutors have charged nine people with killing a top
judge and bombing a secularist newspaper, attacks which fuelled
tensions between the government and hardline secularists, Turkish
media said late on Wednesday.
The prosecutors said the shooting at the top administrative court,
the Council of State, was an attack on the secular order as the court
had upheld rules restricting the wearing of the Muslim headscarf and
faced fierce criticism in Islamist circles.
Wearing the headscarf in public offices and universities is a central
issue in the debate over the significance of Islam in Turkey, which
is largely Muslim but has a secular constitutional system. Courts
have blocked government attempts to ease the ban.
The Ankara prosecutor’s office has completed the indictment over the
killing of a senior Council of State judge in May, state-run Anatolian
news agency reported. According to popular newspaper Hurriyet, the
indictment statement said the attack was linked to the headscarf ban.
The prosecutor’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Prosecutor Semsettin Ozcan charged a total of nine people, including
Alparslan Arslan, a young lawyer arrested for the killing, with
“attempting to overthrow the constitutional order by force”.
The prosecutor sought four life terms for Arslan, and three life
terms for two other defendants.
The prosecutor also charged the three defendants with “founding and
administering an illegal armed organisation”.
Tensions between the secularists, who include the armed forces, and
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have intensified ahead
of next year’s elections.
Secularists accuse the highly popular party, which has former political
Islamists among its founders, of having a hidden Islamist agenda. The
AKP denies this.
The prosecutor also completed the indictment of six people over a bomb
attack against Turkey’s most staunchly secularist newspaper Cumhuriyet.
The left-leaning Cumhuriyet recently ran a media campaign directed
at what it saw as rising Islamic fundamentalism in the European Union
candidate country.-Reuters

TREND, Azerbaijan
July 14 2006
American co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group to pay visit to Azerbaijan and
Armenia in early August – Azeri FM
Source: Trend
Author: V.Sharifov
14.07.2006
The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov doesn’t approve
the self-removal of co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group from the process
of talks on regulation of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Mammadyarov pointed out that co-chairs should continue their activity,
Trend reports with reference to ATV. Almost all moments have been
agreed, and several aspects have remained which don’t allow the sides
to reach a common denominator. At the moments, the sides exchange
views on this issue. The minister considers expedient the active
participation of co-chairs in the negotiations process.
According to minister, he has met in Turkey with the American co-chair
of the OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Bryza who is expected to pay a visit
to Azerbaijan and Armenia in early August and bring new ideas on
settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because new co-chairs usually
proposes new ideas.

Defamation Cases May Harm Turkey EU Bid
By Amberin Zaman, Special to The Times
July 14, 2006
Los Angeles Times
July 14 2006
ANKARA, Turkey – Six months after internationally acclaimed author
Orhan Pamuk was cleared on charges of insulting the Turkish identity,
another best-selling novelist is facing similar charges.
Elif Shafak could serve up to three years in jail if convicted over
remarks made by a fictional character in her latest book, “The Bastard
of Istanbul.” The novel touches on one of the most sensitive subjects
in Turkey, the Armenian genocide.
Shafak’s case is likely to further tarnish the image of Turkey, which
is engaged in membership talks with the 25-member European Union. EU
politicians and diplomats are expressing concern over the number of
cases brought against Turkish writers and journalists under Article
301 of the penal code, which outlines penalties for defaming the
Turkish Republic or “Turkishness.”
Olli Rehn, the European official supervising membership talks, said
Wednesday that Turkish courts were failing to comply with EU standards.
Rehn’s statement came after a court Tuesday confirmed the conviction of
Hrant Dink, an ethnic Armenian journalist, who was given a six-month
jail sentence for writing an article in which he exhorted Armenians
to overcome their hatred of Turks. The article was construed as an
insult to Turks.
The court postponed Dink’s sentence and asked a local court to review
the case. Rehn said the ruling served as an example that could be
followed in similar cases.
According to the Turkish Publishers’ Assn., 47 writers are being
prosecuted on charges that include insulting Kemal Ataturk, the
founder of modern Turkey, and “inciting racial hatred.”
The cases fly in the face of broad reforms introduced in 2002 that
helped persuade the EU to open long-delayed membership talks with
Turkey. The EU repeatedly has warned that it could suspend the talks
if Turkey continues to breach accession requirements.
Shafak’s book is the story of an Armenian family in San Francisco and
a Turkish family in Istanbul whose lives intersect over nine decades.
Its references to the slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenians by
the Ottoman Turks during and after World War I are by Shafak’s own
admission “difficult to digest” because the overwhelming majority of
Turks deny that the genocide took place.
However, the book has topped best-seller lists, selling more than
50,000 copies since its publication in March. “The feedback I received
has been very, very positive,” Shafak, 35, said in a recent interview.
Ragip Zarakolu, president of the publishers’ association, said such
works are gaining a wider audience because more Turks are seeking to
explore their country’s past.
But the books also face a nationalist backlash.
Zarakolu is facing three court cases over books he has published. Two
of them deal with the Armenian genocide.
Kemal Kerincsiz, a right-wing lawyer, filed charges against Shafak
last month. In one of the passages, presented by Kerincsiz as evidence
against the author, an Armenian character says, “I am the grandchild
of genocide survivors who lost all their relatives in the hands of
Turkish butchers in 1915.”
Shafak argued that comments made by fictional characters could not be
used to press charges, and the case was throw out. An appeals court,
however, overruled that decision last week.
Kerincsiz and his ultra-nationalist lawyers group known as the Turkish
Jurists’ Union also filed the complaint against Pamuk for asserting
in an interview with a Swiss newspaper that “1 million Armenians
and 30,000 Kurds died in these lands, but no one but I dares talk
about it.”
Shafak says she believes the wave of prosecutions is part of a broader
campaign by those who oppose EU membership.
“In my country there is a clash of opinions between those who want
Turkey to join the EU and to become a more open society and those
who want to keep Turkey as an insular, xenophobic, nationalist and
closed society,” she said.
Support for EU membership among Turks plunged over the last year to 43%
from 74%, according to one survey. And a 13-nation Pew Global Attitudes
report that was released in June said only 16% of Turks surveyed had
a favorable opinion of Christians and 15% had a favorable opinion
of Jews.