ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BY TURKEY ADDRESSED TO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2006 15:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Discussion of the opportunity to attain recognition
of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey by appealing to the International
Criminal Tribunal was the main issue on the agenda of the Yerevan
session of the Expert Commission on Genocide. “The issue of
responsibility for the crime based on a legal procedure or arbitration
is submitted for consideration at the level of experts. Thus Commission
members will have to discuss the document and clearly determine
their attitude to that extremely imprint and responsible matter,”
says a news release provided to PanARMENIAN.Net.
The Expert Commission includes well-known scholars from Armenia,
Russia, US, Germany, Israel and Austria.

AZERI, BRITISH STUDENTS PROTEST AT LOP-SIDED KARABAKH FILMS
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
A series of films on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno
Karabakh screened in a British educational institution have stirred
a scandal.
According to AssA-Irada, the tension escalated after an influential
London-based university held an event on Tuesday dedicated to the
causes underlying the long-standing dispute and ways of solving it.
The attending Azeri, Armenian and European students were presented
with six films featuring the Karabakh war.
Half of the movies screened were acquired from Armenia and
the other three were presented as films directed by Azerbaijani
cinematographers. However, after the films were shown, it turned out
that all of them served Armenian interests.
The films authored by Armenians featured gruesome developments
and showed Azeri soldiers allegedly committing atrocities against
Armenians.
The films shot by Azerbaijanis, on the contrary, portrayed humanism
and tolerance of Azerbaijanis toward Armenians. It is astounding that
these films did not feature the devastated Azeri towns and villages,
destroyed historical monuments and mosques, as well as the vicious
Khojaly massacre committed by Armenians, and just showed the occupied
territories.
The Armenian-authored presentations described the development of
Karabakh and its forging ties with Europe.
Azerbaijani students, joined by their British classmates, protested at
the injustice. They further appealed to the university administration,
saying the films were one-sided and served propaganda purposes.
Nagorno Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of
Azerbaijan, has both Azeri and ethnic Armenian population. It was
occupied by Armenia in early 1990s, along with seven other Azerbaijani
districts, after large-scale hostilities that killed up to 30,000
people and forced over a million Azeris out of their homes.
The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but peace talks have been
fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.

TURKEY FEELING EU HEAT
EUPolitix.com, Belgium
May 18 2006
A row between Paris and Ankara over the massacre of Armenians in 1915
is threatening to increase anti EU resentment in Turkey.
A controversial law making it a crime to deny the alleged Armenian
genocide by Turkish troops over 90 years ago has been dramatically
postponed by the French Parliament.
Ankara has always denied accusations of genocide and has threatened
Paris with trade sanctions if the law is adopted.
French MEPs are also divided with many seeing the move as an
“unfriendly gesture” against the Turkish people.
“Our patience has limits” said Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan, “we will not have hate but we will impose sanctions”.
France, where more than 400,000 Armenians live, passed a law officially
recognising the Armenian genocide in 2001.
Armenia alleges that 1.5 million Armenians were systematically deported
and killed by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, in 1915.
The controversy threatens to increase already strained EU membership
talks.
EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn made it clear on Wednesday
that Ankara had to speed up reforms; otherwise Turkey would face a
“train crash” in EU membership talks.
“It is necessary that the Turkish government takes immediate action
to restart the momentum of reforms in the country,” said Rehn.
Ankara is also feeling the heat over its unyielding position over
Cyprus.
Finland, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency on July 1,
called on Ankara on to embrace an agreement broadening the customs
union that links the EU and Turkey to the island.
Turkish historian Halil Berktay, one of the first Turks to openly speak
out against Ankara’s official version of the Armenians mass murders,
has warned that the French legislation may increase anti-European
feelings in Turkey.
“That law would be a direct message to the Turkish government to
get rid of its European outfits” the historian told French newspaper
Le Monde.
Brussels favours “reconciliation” on the Armenian issue , but the
European parliament voted in 2005 for a non binding resolution blocking
EU membership if Ankara refused to recognise the genocide.
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ISRAELI GOVERNMENT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE OWING TO POLITICAL REASONS
PanARMENIAN.Net
18.05.2006 16:00 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The people and society of Israel recognize the
Armenian Genocide . However, the question is not raised at the
level of the Government, Executive Director of the Institute on
the Holocaust and Genocide, Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of
Genocide, Psychology Professor Israel Charny stated in a conversation
with a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, at the state level
only former Minister of Culture of Israel Yossi Sarid recognized the
Armenian Genocide.
“There are three people in our state, who openly speak of the Armenian
Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. These are Professor Yair Auron, Yossi Sarid
and I. All others keep silent due to political considerations. Israel
is in an Islamic circle and most importantly it depends on Turkey in
water supplies. Proceeding from this the Israeli Government is silent
on the events in 1915.
Though Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger visited Tsitsernakaberd
Memorial in Yerevan and in fact recognized the tragedy in 1915 as
a genocide, which is a good precedent. The chief rabbi has much
influence, but he does not represent the Israeli Government,” Charny
underscored.
The Israeli scholar also remarked that for a crime committed it
is not important when it was committed and against whom. “Genocide
is a genocide: whether it is 1915, Holocaust, annihilation of Gypsy
population in Hitler Germany, Darfur, Rwanda. I always ask: why people
recognize Holocaust and keep silent on the Armenian Genocide?” he said.
As of addressing the International Criminal Tribunal, Charny believes
“it is a game.” In his opinion, only Europe is able to make Turkey
recognize the Genocide.
“If Turks really want accession to the EU, they should recognize the
Armenian Genocide. This is one of compulsory conditions,” Executive
Director of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide underscored.

ENVOY SAYS CONFLICTS AFFECT EU ENLARGEMENT
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
The European Union “big three” (Germany, Britain and France) has
analyzed the results of its representatives’ recent visit to the South
Caucasus and issued specific recommendations to all regional states,
the EU special envoy in Azerbaijan, Alan Adams, said.
Adams called on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to step up efforts to
resolve the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict. He added that the EU
was in favor of concessions in line with the Geneva Convention on
territorial integrity. With regard to the impact of the long-standing
dispute, the ambassador said its unresolved status was affecting the
process of the EU enlargement.
He said only after the existing conflicts have been resolved will
it be possible to speak of effective regional cooperation. “From
this standpoint, solution to the Garabagh conflict represents special
importance to the EU,” Adams told journalists. Adams said the National
Action Plan being prepared by Azerbaijan and the European Union as
part of the European New Neighborhood Policy will be approved in the
coming two months. The diplomat said the plan would identify specific
areas of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.
“This will open up a new area of political and economic cooperation.”
Adams said the 25-member union intends to implement a number of
projects in the S. Caucasus. The projects will serve the enforcement
of assumed commitments, while those scheduled for 2006 mainly cover
regional development, social and economic reforms, he added.

ISRAEL W.CHARNY: I HAVE BEEN ALWAYS STRUGGLING AGAINST POSITION OF ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IN ISSUE OF RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 18 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. “The Israeli society
knows about the Armenian Genocide, recognizes it, a different matter
is the attitude of the Israeli government to this fact. I consider its
position wrong, treat it critically and regret as a Jew. I have been
always struggling against such a position,” Israel W. Charny, Executive
Director of the Institute of Holocaust and Genocide in Jerusalem,
President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars,
declared to the journalists. According to him, there is “small success”
in the respect of recognition of the Armenian Genocide: two members
of the former Israeli government declared about the recognition
of the Armenian Genocide but this was immediately followed by an
answer from the government that these two ministers are speaking on
behalf of themselves. “The main reason of Israel’s not recognizing
the Armenian Genocide is that our government thinks just like my
father. My father was a Jew from Europe, he lost the most part of his
family during the Holocaust and he was saying that only Jews should
be taken care of. In my opinion, this attitude is understandable but
wrong,” I.Charny declared. According to him, the Israeli government
declares that Israel needs Turkey, Turkey is a mighty neighbor, with
which they should develop military cooperation, Israel needs Turkey
as an Islamic country, with which Israel is on good terms, which,
as the Israeli scholar mentioned, is a truth. In response to Noyan
Tapan correspondent’s question, whether the statement of the chief
rabbi about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide can be a step
towards progress in the issue of recognition of the Genocide in Israel,
I.Charny said: “Yes, the chief rabbi is an official person but he is
not a member of the government. If the President of Israel declared
this, it would be fine. I think the statement of the chief rabbi was
great and of cource, it is very important”. He regretted to say that
many Jews refuse to recognize the victims of Nazism who were not Jews:
“These were Gipsies, non-full-value children who were killed by Nazis
still before the Holocaust and Soviet war prisoners who were burnt
in the same crematoriums where Jews were burnt.
But the Armenians also demonstrate the same stinginess when they do
not want to mention Greeks and Assyrians among the victims of the
Genocide,” I.Charny declared. As for the position of the Turkish
society in the issue of recognition of the Genocide, I.Charny noted
that today the number of people daring to speak about the Genocide is
growing in Turkey. As he estimated, these are really brave people. In
its turn, the Turkish government is striving for showing the first
signs that it is able to hear such a position.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

MP SUGGESTS REVIEWING OIL CONTRACTS
AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
May 18 2006
The contracts signed with foreign oil companies operating in Azerbaijan
must be reconsidered, the chairman of the opposition-leaning Whole
Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev has said.
“Azerbaijan had signed very unprofitable agreements with foreign oil
companies at the end of last century and the main objective pursued at
the time was to secure the assistance of these companies in resolving
the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict,” he said
in parliament on Friday.
In 1994, the Contract of the Century was signed with major oil
companies of the world to develop the country’s oil fields. The MP said
that over the years that have passed since the signing the companies
have not provided Azerbaijan with any assistance although billions of
dollars in additional profits have been earned in the Caspian basin
following a hike in the crude price. Hasanguliyev said oil companies in
the US were having to pay extra taxes due to the rising oil price and
suggested that the government apply a similar practice in Azerbaijan.

‘GENOCIDE’ BILL, A MODERN INQUISITION
By Selcuk Gultasli, Brussels
Zaman, Turkey
May 18 2006
Olivier Corten, a professor at Belgium’s ULB University Faculty of Law,
believes bills that would criminalize denial of the Armenian Genocide
are a “modern inquisition” and said if the Armenian massacres are
defined as “genocide,” we could say that Europe’s colonial history
is full of “genocides.”
Corten, one of the experts who informed the genocide committee at
the Belgian Senate, said since he is not a historian he does now know
about the 1915 incidents in detail, but he is against the bill.
He spoke to Zaman before discussion of the denial bill begins in
France.
Speaking to Corten after he advised the Senate Commission not to accept
such a bill, Corten told Zaman he is against the bill punishing those
who deny the Armenian “Genocide” for two reasons.
Firstly, he stresses there is no court verdict about Armenian genocide,
and secondly, there is not a retrospective principle in law.
If we expand the genocide expression to cover the pre-World War II
period, many incidents could be called genocide, Corten said, “Then,
we should go back to 18th and 19th centuries, probably even to Roman
Empire period.”
Corten said it is difficult to adapt “genocide” laws to penal code
and commented, “You commit a crime, but at the time you commit the
crime the consequences are not clear; namely, you commit a crime that
is non-existing in law.”
‘Belgium’s Attitude is Unethical’
Corten, pointing out Belgium is still trying to face its past with
Congo, said it is unethical for Belgium to give lessons to Turkey
before “cleaning the front side of its own house.”
Corten does not call the acts Belgian King Leopold II committed
in Congo a “genocide,” saying instead: “This is not genocide since
the massacres were held for money. In the same way, if there is no
intention of categorically destroying, an event cannot be called
genocide no matter how many people died.”
Corten, indicating he uses very narrow criteria for the definition
of genocide, said ethnic cleansing is not genocide; genocide can
be used in reference to the massacres of the Jews and the massacres
in Rwanda where the intention of exterminating a race was obvious:
“If in war time people are killed for the security of a region,
this is not genocide according to me, but instead a war crime. Even
if you apply current conditions of genocide, this situation does not
constitute genocide.”
“Emir Kir Started the Discussion”
Emphasizing his doubt that Belgium would pass the draft bill in its
current form, in which a prison sentence and a hefty fine would be
given to those found guilty of denying the so-called genocide, Corten
believes that the discussion was started by Turkish origin minister,
Emir Kir, only for domestic political reasons.
“If this bill passes unchanged, it will be a surprise to me,” said
Corten, pointing out that thousands of Turkish Belgians and Turkish
officials coming to Brussels for EU negotiations might be imprisoned
if the bill becomes law.
Underlining that in the past Belgium had issued a similar problematic
law to judge war criminals worldwide, which was later dissolved,
Corten stated that Belgium make the same mistake again.
Belgian Minister Emir Kir was attacked when he used the term,
“so-called genocide” during an interview. Some Belgian politicians
in relation with the lobby called for Kir’s resignation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NON-VOTE IN FRANCE DISRUPTS THE PARLIAMENT
By Anadolu News Agency, Paris
Zaman, Turkey
May 18 2006
The final version of the draft bill that would criminalize denial of
the Armenian “genocide”, submitted to the parliament by the Socialist
Party without a prior vote at the general assembly session, troubled
the French parliament today.
Deputies backing the draft bill stood applauding in protest of
Parliament President Jean-Louis Debre’s decision to end the session.
Armenians also following the session from an observation balcony
shouted “We want voting.” Upon this disruption parliament security
employees intervened, and escorted the Armenian observers out of
the session.
Parliament President Debre closed the session without voting for the
draft bill, though the State Council President vowed to address the
matter later.
On the other hand, French parliament sources report that a possible
vote will not happen before the new legislation year.

WAC EXPERT COMMISSION DISCUSSES PROBLEM OF IMPLEMENTATION OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR GENOCIDE ON BASIS OF LEGAL PROCEDURE
Noyan Tapan
May 18 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 18, NOYAN TAPAN. A regular session of the expert
commission on Genocide is being held in Yerevan within the framework of
the events organized by the World Armenian Congress (WAC). The expert
commission was created by WAC and includes well-known scientists
from Armenia, Russia, USA, FRG, Israel and Austria. The main point
of the commission’s agenda is the discussion of the issue about
the possibility of solution of the problem of recognition of the
Armenian Genocide by Turkey by means of the international justice
and as a consequence, the responsibility of the Turkish state. A
large document was submitted to the discussion of the experts, in
which various variants of implementation of responsibility for the
Armenian Genocide within the framework of the international justice are
minutely considered. It is the first time the problem of implementation
of responsibility for the Armenian Genocide on the basis of a legal
procedure or arbitration is discussed. The commission’s sitting will
last until May 19.