TAKING IT OUT ON TURKEY
by Josie Appleton
Spiked, UK
Oct 4 2005
The tortured debate about the Turks joining the EU is a product of
crises in the West more than the East.
Turkey appears to be causing drama in the European Union (EU). First
there was talk of crisis, when EU nations couldn’t agree on the issue
of Turkish membership. Austria led the opposition, backed up by blocs
within countries such as France and Germany. Now that accession talks
are agreed, rhetoric abounds about this being a ‘truly historic day
for Europe’.
This isn’t about Turkey, though. Instead, it’s about EU elites
jostling for position. Elites shaken over the recent ‘no’ votes
on the EU Constitution are now trying to take a stand on Turkish
accession. Some hope that Turkish membership will pave the way to
a confident, multicultural Europe; others think that keeping Turkey
out will keep Europe secure. But Turkey is neither the cause of nor
solution to the EU’s problems – and the membership debate can only
expose the EU elites’ isolation and vacuity.
The UK, which currently holds the EU presidency, is the staunchest
supporter of Turkish entry. By letting in a Muslim nation, the Brits
argue, the EU will prove its cosmopolitan credentials. Part of this
is about invigorating Europe internally; sociologists Ulrich Beck and
Anthony Giddens recently argued that accession is part of a project
for a vibrant, post-national Europe, based on diversity (1). European
politicians also hope to win the favour of Muslim communities both
abroad and at home, an argument that gets US backing. The Turkish
prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently claimed that membership
‘would help to build a bridge between Christian and Muslim countries’,
while rejection would reveal the EU as a ‘Christian club’ (2).
Austria and co, meanwhile, counter Turkey in an attempt to win favour
with their own populations. One opponent warned of the danger of
letting in ‘a poor, culturally alien nation’. Former French president
Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who spearheaded the effort to rewrite the
Constitution, has taken this tack in an attempt to save his reputation,
arguing that ‘there is an obvious contradiction between the pursuit
of Europe’s political integration and Turkish entry into European
institutions’ (3).
Both sides are on a hiding to nothing. It will take more than a bit of
‘diverse’ Eastern spice to enliven stodgy EU politics. Similarly, it is
delusional to think that radical Islamists will call off their battles
just because Erdogan has a seat in Brussels, any more than they will
be won over by Bush and Blair reading the Koran. Meanwhile, posturing
against Turkey isn’t going to solve the problems of Giscard and others
– that is a see-through attempt to cover up their own failures.
This debate reveals the isolation of EU leaders from their publics.
On the one hand, both Turkish and European people are told to just
accept that accession is inevitable. Erdogan counsels that ‘in today’s
Turkey, there is no possibility left other than change.
Turkey will no longer yield to political deadlocks to those who are
ideological exploiters of emotion’ (4). Similarly, US deputy assistant
secretary of state, Matthew J Bryza, argued that ‘our friends in the
EU completely understand how important it is to continue that process
of Turkey’s anchoring in Europe. It would be a shame if that process
didn’t complete itself. But I think it will’ (5).
‘The process’ is really a business for Brussels lawyers. Turkey has
been busily passing the kinds of laws that will help it jump through
EU hoops – giving Kurds more autonomy, abolishing capital punishment,
and cleaning up archaic legislation such as the rape law. These changes
aren’t bad things in themselves; the problem is the automatic way in
which they were brought through. ‘We returned the abnormal heartbeat
of this country to normal’, said the prime minister.
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better
Supporters present accession as a continuation of Turkey’s past,
especially the dramatic Westernising reforms brought through by Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk in the 1920s. But while Ataturk’s (often heavyhanded)
reforms were driven by revolutionary zeal, today’s Turkish elite is
copying out the EU lawbook. Modernisation now is about bowing down in
acceptance, not seizing the reins of national destiny. Hence the EU’s
insistence that Turkey recognise the Armenian genocide. The Turks are
asked to prove their membership of the Western club by flagellating
themselves – joining UK prime minister Tony Blair in apologising for
the potato famine, and former US president Bill Clinton in apologising
for slavery.
EU publics are viewed with similar contempt. Opposition to Brussels’
plans is seen as the result of a chauvinistic yearning for security.
Beck and Giddens say that suspicion of the EU is driven by ‘social
and economic anxieties’ and an ’emotional return to the apparent safe
haven of the nation’; they warn that there is no option but to adapt
to globalisation and adopt their cosmopolitan attitudes.
Given this, it’s no surprise that both EU and Turkish publics have
started going cool on the idea of Turkish membership. Turkish support
has gone down from three quarters to two thirds over the past year, and
60,000 people gathered in Ankara on Sunday to voice their opposition
to the process. Speaking to the rally, party leader Devlet Bahceli
argued that Turkey was facing ‘an environment of enmity from outside
and an environment of treason from within’ (6).
The crowd-playing opponents of accession are no better, though. This is
a desperate attempt to connect with a distant public, appealing to what
elites see as the masses’ knee-jerk racism. Their attempt at populism
could win them attention, but is unlikely to provide a secure support.
The debate about Turkish membership may be leading to a fracas in the
EU, but Turkey itself isn’t the cause of the problem. The discussion
may look east, but its roots lie in the west.

ARMENIAN AND AZERI FMS TO MEET IN LJUBLJANA ON DEC. 4-5
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 4 2005
Armenian and Azeri FMs may meet within the frames of OSCE member
countries FMs summit in Ljubljana on December 4 – 5. Azeri FM Elmar
Mamedyarov informed of the fact, Day.Az reports.
Elmar Mamedyarov also said the OSCE MG American Co – Chair Steven
Mann was to visit Baku in mid – October. In the course of the visit
the American Co – Chair is to meet Azeri leadership.
The OSCE MG three Co – Chairs are to arrive in the region in early
November. The mediators are expected to negotiate with Azeri and
Armenian Presidents on the Nagorno Karabakh settlement process.

MAMEDYAROV REFUTES THE INFORMATION CONCERNING BREEDING IMPEDIMENTS TO AZERBAIJAN’S COOPERATION WITH EU
DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Oct 4 2005
In the course of the press conference conducted on October 30 Azeri
FM Elmar Mamedyarov stated there were no obstacles to Azerbaijan’s
cooperation with the European Union (EU), Trend reports.
When commenting on “the EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Heikkie Talvitie’s statement on braking the program “Enlarged
Europe: New Neighbors” in the South Caucasus in connection with Cyprus’
stand towards Azerbaijan circulated by Armenian mass media” Azeri
FM said “there have been no statements on breeding impediments to
Azerbaijan – EU cooperation in the context of the present realities”.
It is strange that Azeri FM refers to Armenian mass media, as the
information concerning the fact that Republic of Cyprus has vetoed
Azerbaijan’s candidature and blocked Baku’s participation in the
program titled “Enlarged Europe: New Neighbors” has been spread by
Day.Az Azeri agency.
To note, in the course of the press conference in Yerevan the EU
Special Representative for the South Caucasus Heikkie Talvitie
stated consultations between the South Caucasus and the EU, which
were to start in early September, had been postponed for early
October because of differences between Azerbaijan and one of the
EU countries. According to Talvitie, unless the issue referring
to Azerbaijan is settled they will begin cooperating with Armenia
and Georgia.

STUDY BY UNICEF’S INNOCENTI RESEARCH CENTER
By Bradley S. Klapper
The Associated Press
10/04/05 13:40 EDT
GENEVA (AP) – Many disabled youths in the former communist countries
of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are being institutionalized,
perpetuating the Soviet Union’s practice of “child abandonment,”
according to a report released Wednesday by the U.N. Children’s Fund.
While attitudes toward disabled children are getting better in these
regions, improvements in state support are lagging behind, said the
64-page study undertaken by UNICEF’s Innocenti Research Center in
Florence, Italy.
Instead of searching for ways to integrate children with disabilities
into general schools, these countries still overwhelmingly employ a
policy of “defectology,” a leftover Soviet discipline where disabled
children are put in residential schools and institutions, separated
from society, community and family.
As of 2002, some 317,000 children in these countries lived in such
separated institutions, a number largely unchanged since the fall
of the Iron Curtain, the report found. By contrast, the rate of
institutionalization in Western countries is up to three times lower.
“The prospect for these children is to graduate to an institution
for adults and to face a pattern of denial of human rights,” the
study said.
The countries studied included eight former communist states that
have since become members of the European Union – Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia –
and two others scheduled to join soon – Bulgaria and Romania.
The study also included Balkan states Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, as well as former
Soviet republics Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and
Uzbekistan.
“Although children with disabilities have become more visible since
the beginning of (the post-communist) transition and attitudes towards
them and their families are changing, many of them are simply ‘written
off’ from society,” said Innocenti’s director Marta Santos Pais.
Santos Pais said the “high rates of child abandonment” could be
explained by these countries’ outdated medical approaches and lack
of alternative methods for dealing with disabilities.
UNICEF is calling for an end to the segregation of disabled children,
suggesting instead an increase in social benefits to affected families
and greater participation of parents in decisions affecting their
children.
“The reality is many parents feel they have no choice but to give
up their children,” Santos Pais said. “What these families need is
strong social and economic support.”
Some 1.5 million children in these 27 countries were registered as
disabled in 2000, triple the number in 1990, the report said.
However, the surge was largely the result of better recognition and
registration of disabilities, rather than any actual increase in the
number of children disabled.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT SETS CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM FOR NEXT MONTH
The Associated Press
10/04/05 12:36 EDT
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia’s President Robert Kocharian has
signed an order to hold a constitutional referendum next month,
the presidential office said Tuesday.
Kocharian signed the constitutional amendments, passed by the Armenian
parliament last month, and scheduled a referendum for Nov.
27 to vote on them, his office said in a statement.
The amendments are intended to impose a more strict separation of
powers between the judicial, executive and legislative branches. The
proposed changes also include removal of a clause outlawing dual
citizenship for members of Armenia’s large foreign Diaspora.
Lawmakers passed the amendments on Sep. 28 by a 89-0 vote, with one
abstention. The 24 opposition deputies, however, boycotted the vote,
just as they have boycotted most sessions of parliament on the grounds
that their proposals were not taken into account.
The opposition has called on Armenians to reject the amendments in
a late November referendum.

ARMENIA’S FOREIGN DEBT ON RISE
Armenpress
Oct 4, 2005
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 4, ARMENPRESS: Armenia’s foreign debt is expected
to stand at $1.227 billion by the end of the year, deputy economy
and finance minister Pavel Safarian said today.
He said Armenia’s next year’s budget includes $107.9 million in
credits, of which $95.202 million under government liabilities. The
budget also foresees $50.2 million in re-payment of the debt. By the
end of next year the overall foreign debt will increase further making
$1.285 billion. In 2006 Armenia expects loans from International
Development Agency, International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), German KfW and the International Japanese Cooperation Bank.

DO NOT EAT UNFAMILIARS
Panorama News
14:31 04/10/05
On October 3 N. Iskandaryan (55 years old) and D. Sargsyan (46 years
old) have been poisoned with mushrooms and sent to hospital N 1
in Vanadzor.
According to the doctors the health situation of two patients is
satisfying.
“We always say, do not gather mushrooms from unknown places, but people
don’t listen to us”, said the deputy chief of hygienic anti epidemic
inspection of Ministry of Healthcare Marieta Basilisyan referring to
the frequent mushroom poisoning incidents.
As she mentioned, among food poisoning, especially during autumn and
winter, botulism and mushroom poisoning are largely spread. To avoid
these incidents M. Basilisyan advised to boil canned goods and do
not eat unfamiliar mushrooms.
“Unfortunately, food poisoning sometimes becomes the main reason
of death for the whole family. It is pity that nobody follows our
advices”, added Mrs. Basilisyan.

TURKEY CLOSER TO DECADES-OLD EU DREAM, BUT NO ONE’S CELEBRATING
By Suzan Fraser
The Associated Press
10/04/05 08:42 EDT
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – There were no street parties, no firework
displays. When Turkey took a huge step toward fulfilling its
decades-old dream of membership in the European Union by opening
accession talks Tuesday, no one was in the mood to celebrate.
The negotiations were meant to be a straightforward affair – all 25
EU members had agreed in December to beginning talks with Ankara on
Oct. 3. Instead, they opened only after EU ministers held painful
crisis talks Sunday and Monday in Luxembourg, and nearly foundered
as Austria insisted that Turkey be offered a lesser partnership as
an alternative to full membership. Turkey refused and said it would
prefer to walk out.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the agreement to launch
talks with predominantly Muslim Turkey as a victory over prejudice
in the mainly Christian bloc.
“We stood firm and got results,” Erdogan said. “Common sense prevailed
over prejudice. From time to time there were moments when they made
us lose our tempers, when we were made to feel really tired, when we
went through difficult moments.”
It is not unusual for Turks to take to the streets for spontaneous
street parties to celebrate sporting victories or major milestones.
Hundreds celebrated in Ankara in December when EU leaders set Oct. 3
as the date for starting entry talks.
But there were no celebrations to mark the start of the talks.
“I am not anti-EU, I want EU membership,” said Seher Besyaprak, a
24-year-old employee at an Ankara pharmaceutical company. “But Europe
has never been fair to us. We are always having to make concessions,
concessions, concessions.”
There were numerous hurdles in the final days leading up to Oct. 3.
Several countries pushed Turkey to recognize EU-member Cyprus, and
the European Parliament called on Turkey to recognize the killing of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the beginning of the 20th century as
genocide – further angering Turks who thought they had an agreement.
“Turkey is starting full membership talks. But it is clear that this
is not taking place in a festival atmosphere,” columnist Semih Idiz
wrote in Milliyet newspaper. “This step is unfortunately being taken
in a brokenhearted atmosphere.”
Deniz Baykal, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s
Party, criticized the terms. He complained Turkey was treated
differently than other countries that had joined – including being
given no guarantees of joining after 10 years of talks.
“The EU approach toward Turkey is different from its approach to the
25 other members,” Baykal said. “This is cause for concern.”
Those concerns were also heard on the streets of Istanbul.
“They’re not tolerant of us,” said Ozlem Aydin, 34, who works at
a store selling Italian designer clothes in a wealthy Istanbul
neighborhood. “We can be crushed. We’ll be insulted. They’ll look
down on us. It can be bad for us.”
But Sukru Ozdemir, 50, a street vendor selling sesame-seed rolls,
said “we’re going to better days. It will be good for us. We’ve been
waiting for this.”
Turkey’s ardent striving for EU membership is the legacy of Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, who founded the secular and modern Turkish republic
from the ashes of the Islamic Ottoman empire 82 years ago – and set
Turkey’s course toward the West. Turkey has been trying to join what
started out as the Common Market since 1963.
“We passed the most important phase on the way to reaching our 40-year
goal and the founding principles of our republic,” Erdogan said.
No one expected Europe to greet Turkey – a predominantly Muslim and
largely poor country of 70 million – with open arms. But last-minute
hurdles disheartened even the strongest EU supporters.
There were efforts “to prevent membership and make Turkey accept
several heavy conditions,” said Sami Kohen, a foreign affairs analyst
for Milliyet.
Newspapers and the stock market were upbeat. The Istanbul benchmark
stock market index, the IMKB-100, rose 2.9 percent Monday, reaching
a record 34,300 point after news of a breakthrough in Luxembourg.
Radikal newspaper printed the headlines “Happy ending: Turkey-EU at the
negotiation table,” and “The journey has begun.” Hurriyet newspaper’s
headlines read “Hello Europe,” and “Turkey’s 42-year-old EU dream
is coming true.” Ulkede Ozgur Gundem, a newspaper that supports more
rights for Kurds, said: “The EU door has opened.”
Associated Press writer Benjamin Harvey in Istanbul contributed to
this report.

POLITICAL ANALYSIS: GEORGIAN-ARMENIAN HARMONY
By M. Alkhazashvili
The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 4 2005
During an official visit to Yerevan, Armenia September 29-30 by
Georgian Prime-Minister Zurab Noghaideli, several pertinent issues
regarding the two countries’ economic relations were agreed upon
and several significant political statements were made as well. The
agreement reached by Armenian and Georgian representatives is of key
importance not only for the two countries, but for the Caucasus region
as a whole.
Part of the agreement regards the restructuring of Georgia’s USD
12 million debt towards Armenia. The sides agreed again to deepen
cooperation in the energy and transportation spheres. On the table
at negotiations was the issue of constructing a 330-km electric
transmission line linking the Georgian and Armenian energy systems.
The newspaper Rezonansi writes that the Georgians side considers
this to be a potential additional resource for energy supply. It is
decided that the Georgian and Armenian energy systems will work in a
parallel regime, much as Armenia does with Iran. This will strengthen
the stability of Georgia’s energy system.
Zurab Noghaideli strove to calm Armenian fears that certain projects
underway in Georgia will not go against Armenian interests. He then
stated that Georgia is ready to assist in the creation of transport
links with Armenia, namely automobile, railway and air transport in
the directions Tbilisi-Yerevan and Yerevan-Batumi directions.
Zurab Noghaideli and his Armenian counterpart Andranik Margarian
applied together to the European Union to allot a grant for the
rehabilitation of the Airum-Sadakhlo highway that connects the two
countries.
Margarian thanked Noghaideli for Georgia’s re-activation of the
Poti-Kavkaz ferry route, which gives Armenia a stable route to
Russia. In addition, the Armenian Prime-Minister thanked the Georgian
side for the stable functioning of the vehicle route linking the two
countries. Akhali Taoba reports that the Armenian side mentioned that
since the creation of the Patrol Police, bribe-taking and blackmail
on this road has all but completely ceased.
The meeting in Yerevan also witnessed an agreement in regard
to certain Armenian activist groups’ demands for autonomy of the
Javakheti region. As Noghaideli stated, “the people that demand the
autonomy of Javakheti are only a small part of the community there
and do not speak for the whole population.”
At the same time, he said, all citizens of Georgia will have
equal opportunities for development. For his part, the Armenian
Prime-Minister stated that the issue of Javakheti’s autonomy would
never be on the agenda. “This issue is always mentioned when somebody
wants to use it for his own interests,” he said, as quoted by Akhali
Taoba.
Armenia expressed its satisfaction with Georgian plans to restore
the Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki road within the framework of the United
States’ Millennium Challenge program. This, they say, will help the
Samtskhe-Javakheti region’s future integration into Georgia and also
serve as a “window to Europe” for Armenia.
During the visit the Georgian side once again warned Armenia that given
safety concerns, large cargo-bearing vehicles will not be allowed to
cross the Georgian-Russian boarder checkpoint at Kazbegi-Lars this
coming winter.
On Noghaideli’s demand, Georgian specialists will soon be given the
opportunity to tour the Armenian Atomic Energy Plant in order to
inspect the safety situation there. The Armenian side maintains that
the plant is completely safe and that it poses no risk to neighboring
countries.

AKHALKALAKI’S ARMENIAN POPULATION DEMANDED AUTONOMY
The Messenger, Georgia
Oct 4 2005
Press Scanner
As reported in Akhali Taoba, Armenian population of Javakheti region
prepared a big surprise for the central government as well as for the
whole country this fall. The paper notes that separatist organization
“Virk” held a forum with the Armenian population of Javakheti region.
According to the article, about 800 Armenians took part in this
forum and demanded that the government create an Armenian autonomy
in the region.
According to Akhali Taoba, the government thinks that Russian
special services are behind this demand of the Armenian population,
although “Virk” and close friends of this organization are reportedly
insulted by those allegations. The paper reports that at the forum
the participants expressed their complaints toward the government.
According to them, “Virk” hopes Georgian society will correctly
understand their demand for autonomy.
However, according to the article, Georgians have been less than
sympathetic to their demands; Virk has reportedly received obscene
messages from Georgian citizens. After the forum, the paper noted
that Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli visited Yerevan and
met with his colleague Andranik Margarian , and informed him about
the Akhalkalaki Armenians’ demands.
Akhali Taoba reported that Margarian promised Georgia that the
official Yerevan does not stand behind this demand of Akhalkalaki
Armenians. The paper notes that Margarian added that the creation of
the Javakheti autonomy should never be included in the agenda.