ARMENIAN POLITICIANS, US INTELLIGENCE CHIEF DISCUSS SITUATION IN COUNTRY – PAPER

Iravunk, Armenia
Sept 16 2005

Headlined “‘Velvet season’: it smacks of a ‘velvet’ revolution”

Today it is difficult to say what political developments will take
place in Armenia this year. Will the opposition manage to topple the
authorities by means of a revolution or in some other way? One thing
is already clear: autumn will be full of unexpected and interesting
meetings.

According to a source close to the US embassy, such a meeting has taken
place at the US embassy. Some opposition leaders Aram Sarkisyan [leader
of the Anrapetutyun Party], Ovanes Ovanesyan, Aram Karapetyan, Stepan
Demirchyan [leader of the opposition Justice faction in parliament],
Viktor Dallakyan [secretary of the Justice faction] and Vazgen Manukyan
[leader of the National Democratic Union] were officially invited to
meet the head of the Eastern Europe and Russia department of the US
National Intelligence Council, Martin Schwartz.

This information is interesting because this is the first time that a
top official of the US secret services has officially met the leaders
of the Armenian opposition. It is remarkable that the format chosen
by the opposition for the meeting was not homogeneous in terms of
its geo-political orientation.

According to the same source, the meeting lasted for a long time and a
wide spectrum of local and foreign political issues were discussed in
detail. Incidentally, Mr Martin Schwartz also met some media chiefs
and even a reception was organized in his honour at the US embassy
at the end of his visit.

AUSTRIANS SEE ACCESSION BID AS NEW SIEGE BY OTTOMANS
Stephen Castle

The Independent, UK
Oct 3 2005

Across Europe, opinion may be divided on whether Turkey should be
allowed to enter the EU. But in Austria there is little sign of a
debate because history ensures that the issue touches the rawest
of nerves.

In 1683 the Ottoman army of Kara Mustafa Pasha was routed at the gates
of Vienna in a defeat that marked the last Turkish effort to take the
city. All around the Austrian capital are reminders of the battle and,
so strong is the event in the national consciousness, that newspapers
have characterised Ankara’s EU bid as a new siege of Vienna.

To complicate matters further Austria is a strong supporter of
(Christian) Croatia, which also wants to join the EU. This step has
been held up because of a row over Zagreb’s lack of co-operation in
hunting down a suspected war criminal, Ante Gotovina.

Austrians feel it would be wrong to start talking to Turkey while
holding back on Croatia. Vienna’s critics sometime suggest darkly
that Austria’s own past may prompt it to worry less about punishing
war crimes than other nations.

His tough stance has proved politically popular for the Austrian
Chancellor, Wolfgang Schnssel, whose party was crushed in regional
elections yesterday.

Elsewhere in Europe, the echoes of history have played a part in the
debate. France, home to Europe’s largest Armenian population, has
sometimes had difficult relations with Turkey. In 2001 its parliament
formally recognised the Armenian genocide (during the collapse of
the Ottoman empire) provoking fury from Ankara.

Ironically Ankara’s biggest rival, Greece, never sought to hold up
talks, believing that a Turkey inside the EU would be more modern,
restrained and susceptible to outside influence.

UPCOMING ELECTIONS WIIL HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ECONOMIC REFORMS IN ARMENIA, US AMBASSADOR STATES

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005

WASHINGTON, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN. The US Ambassador to Armenia
John Evans considered the 7th meeting of the US-Armenia Task Force
in Washington on September 26 as the most successful one of those
attended by him. He said that the meeting was remarkable for the
extensive discussion of democratic reforms with a simultaneous
coverage of their relationship with economic growth. “We have come
to an agreement that the upcoming elections may have a significant
impact on the process of economic reforms in the country, and these
elections must be free and fair,” J. Evans noted.

In 1992, the US government allocated more than 1.6 bln dollars
as development and humanitarian aid for Armenia. According to a
press release submitted to NT by the US embassy in Armenia, the
US government’s aid is aimed at ensuring stability in the region,
strengthening democracy and promoting the development of market
economy in Armenia.

The purpose of the US-Armenia Task Force (USATF), which was set
up in 2000, is to encourage the economic cooperation between the
two countries and increase the efficiency of assistance programs
implemented by the US government. USATF meetings are convened twice
a year, with one meeting to be held in Armenia, and another – in the
US. The next meeting is scheduled for spring, 2006 in Armenia.

TURKISH SPEAKER SAYS EU SHOULD BE HONEST, OBJECTIVE ABOUT EU ACCESSION

Anatolia news agency
1 Oct 2005

Ankara, 1 October: Turkish parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on
Saturday [1 October] that Turkey had its most critical days regarding
its EU bid, adding “Europe is being tested for honesty, equity and
objectivity. We see and denounce those who try to impede Turkey’s
membership to the EU by taking some political manoeuvres.”

The new parliamentary term started the same day and the parliamentary
general assembly convened under the leadership of Arinc.

Addressing the parliament, Arinc said that Turkey would not cope with
terrorism by restricting freedoms. “This parliament should give the
best response to terrorism by staying in solidarity,” Arinc said.

Referring to Turkey’s EU bid, Arinc said that the Turkish people had
difficulty in understanding the hypocrisy shown by EU towards Turkey.

Arinc stressed that Turkey was a big state and it had the power to
change some balances, adding that Europe was on the eve of taking an
important decision.

“Europe will either accept our membership, adapt itself to the change
in the world and get stronger or will impede our membership by looking
inwards and loose its impact on world politics. Turkey’s membership
means the integration of the East and the West, and the meeting of
civilizations,” Arinc said.

Denouncing the attempt to bring claims like Armenian genocide onto
the agenda prior to 3 October, Arinc said that the Turkish parliament
would not accept a crime which its ancestors didn’t commit just to
be a member of the European Union.

NATO PA “ROSE ROTH” REGULAR SEMINAR TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN ON OCT. 6-9

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The “Rose Roth”
regular seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will be held at the
“Marriott-Armenia” hotel of Yerevan on October 6-9. Participation
of about 70 deputies of the Assembly as well as of representatives
of international organizations and centers of strategic studies is
expected at the seminar. As Mher Shahgeldian, the head of the Armenian
delegation to the NATO PA, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee
on Defence, National Security and Internal Affairs informed the Noyan
Tapan correspondent, security problems of the region will be discussed,
developments of the region as a part of the world being globalized,
reforms of the military sphere will be touched upon. A separate
discussion of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is envisaged.

According to M.Shahgeldian, though an information on the Azerbaijani
delegation’s refusal to participate in the Yerevan seminar was in
the Azerbaijani press, as for October 3 I haven’t been officially
informed about that. The deputy affirmed that guarantees of security
were given to the Azerbaijani side. The NATO heads were also informed
that in Armenia “the atmosphere is just another that in Azerbaijan.”

ARMENIA MUST PROVE ITS ADHERENCE TO EUROPEAN VALUES THROUGH CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 1 2005

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1. ARMINFO. ‘Europe does not force European
integration upon Armenia. It was Armenia that has proclaimed itself
a follower of western values. Thus, Armenia must prove its adherence
to these values through Constitutional reforms,’ said Head of the
Parliamentary Commission for Defense, National Security and Internal
Affairs, Vice Chairman of Orinats Yerkir party, Mher Shahgeldyan at
today’s seminar on constitutional reforms.

He noted the recent interest of Europe in the South Caucasus,
especially the inclusion of South Caucasian states in the
EU-implemented program “Wider Europe: new Neighborhood.” Despite its
traditions and culture, the Armenian people has a European mentality,
Shahgeldyan thinks. Constitutional reforms will be the first step
to bring the political structure of the country in harmony with the
people’s mentality. Each political forces must bear responsibility
for a possible failure of the draft constitutional reforms at
the referendum, Shahgeldyan said. To overcome corruption, social
polarization and other negative phenomena, it is necessary to display
a political will and consistency, Shahgeldyan thinks.

GENOCIDE FINALLY GETS SCHOLARLY INQUEST
by Dorian Jones, Istanbul

The Times Higher Education Supplement
September 30, 2005

Despite death threats, two postponements and the presence of hundreds
of protesters, an academic conference on the mass killings of Armenians
living in Turkey in 1915 went ahead under heavy police protection at
Istanbul’s Bilgi University.

Participants hailed it as a success and pledged to hold more.

Organiser Halil Berktay of Sabanci University said: “It is enormously
important. This has been the most enduring taboo of Turkish nationalist
mythology. Five years ago, hardly anyone was speaking out about this.”

Although he has received many death threats for raising the issue, he
promised: “We will go on to organise a series of books, translations,
pamphlets and future conferences, and we will call for official
spokesmen to join an open debate not just in Turkey but in front of
world historians abroad.”

The Armenian Government accuses Turkey’s Ottoman rulers of killing
1.5 million Armenians. But the Turkish state argues that a civil
war was to blame for the deaths. Until now, the official historical
interpretation has not been challenged in Turkish academic circles.

The conference angered many in Turkey’s academic community: 320
professors signed a petition condemning the meeting. One organiser
said that the careers of young academics linked to the event could
be blighted.

An injunction to stop the event was circumvented by changing the
venue. The decision to proceed was apparently made after the deputy
prime minster intervened.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZERI PARLIAMENTARIANS TO RAISE KARABAKH CONFLICT ISSUE AT PACE

ArmInfo News Agency
Oct 1 2005

Autumn Session

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1. ARMINFO. Azeri parliamentarians are going to
raise the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at the PACE autumn
session. As “Trend” informs, member of the Azeri delegation to PACE,
deputy Bakhtiyar Aliev says.

He says that they will raise the issue of “elaborating a legal
mechanism for the Political decision on the withdrawal of Armenian
military units “from Azeri territories”, recognizing the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, and returning refugees to their home,
approved at the PACE sub-committee session for the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, Jan, 2005″. In his words, a new report on the condition of
refugees and migrants in the South Caucasus is being prepared, based
of the resolution adopted in 2002. “The document notes that Armenia
has no right to settle people in the occupied territories. However,
in fact, Armenia settles Armenian people from other places in these
territories. We will carry a work at the sub-committee sitting to
stop this process’, Aliev says. The PACE session is to be conducted
on Oct 3-7, 2005.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

UN-HOLY ALLIANCE – OBSERVER FROM ANKARA
By Vincent Boland

Financial Times (London, England)
October 3, 2005 Monday
London Edition 1

There can be little doubt that the stakes involved in Turkey’s quest
for EU membership are high for Erdogan and his ruling Islam-tinged
Justice and Development party.

He raised expectations very high – perhaps excessively so – in the
first two years of his administration, ahead of last December’s EU
summit at which Turkey was invited to become a member.

In doing so, some critics say, he made Turkey, and perhaps his own
political future, too dependent on the EU issue.

Still, in going out on a limb for EU entry, Erdogan has won friends
in unlikely places. When a minor court ordered the suspension of
a recent conference on the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman
soldiers in 1915, he was quick not only to object to the verdict
(the conference went ahead a day late) but to insist that one needed
to respect opinions with which one might disagree.

The statement was welcomed by the academics attending the conference.

As members of Istanbul’s sizeable chattering class, they are not
automatic Erdogan supporters. Perhaps they recalled that he, too,
has suffered for freedom of speech: he was jailed in 1999 for reciting
a banned Islamist poem when Istanbul mayor.

FOREIGN MINISTER VARTAN OSKANIAN’S MEETINGS IN ABU DHABI

Noyan Tapan News Agency
Oct 3 2005

ABU DHABI, OCTOBER 3, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Minister Oskanian
visited Abu Dhabi, on the occasion of the groundbreaking of the
Armenian Embassy building in the United Arab Emirates. Large number of
representatives of the government, together with the diplomatic corps,
and members of the Armenian community from throughout the Emirates
were present.

In a brief ceremony, Minister spoke, followed by Ambassador Arshak
Poladian, and then the first stones were laid for what will be a
7,000 sq. meter building.

As Noyan Tapan was informed by the RA Foreign Minsitry’s Press and
Information Department, during his visit, the Minister also met with
Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for External Relations,
Sheikh Hamdan Ben Zayed Al Nahanyan. The two discussed bilateral and
regional issues, including Armenia’s having provided suitable embassy
state for the Emirates, which will be opening an embassy in Yerevan.

On the second day of the visit, the Minister also met with Ahmad Bakr,
the Deputy Director of the Abu Dhabi Development Fund. The Minister
described Armenia’s economic development and prospects for growth. The
Minister returned to Yerevan late Monday.