EU rebellion could slam door on Turks

DAILY MAIL (London)
September 30, 2005
EU REBELLION COULD SLAM DOOR ON TURKS
by BENEDICT BROGAN. POLITICAL EDITOR
TONY Blair’s European presidency was under strain last night after
Britain was forced to call an eleventh-hour crisis summit on Turkey’s
entry to the EU.
Austria yesterday threatened to scupper the whole process by holding
out for Turkey to be offered an alternative to full membership,
something rejected by Ankara as ‘second class’.
It forced Britain to call a meeting of EU foreign ministers in
Luxembourg on Sunday to try and break the deadlock.
Landmark accession talks with Turkey are due to begin the following
day.
Mr Blair has championed Turkey’s entry as an example of the West’s
positive engagement with the Muslim world at a time of heightened
tension, and the failure of talks to get off the ground would be a
devastating blow to his presidency.
Mounting grassroots opposition to Turkish membership in several
countries has jeopardised the whole accession process, which would
see the EU expand beyond Europe’s historical frontiers.
Polls show 80 per cent of the Austrian electorate opposes the move.
In France the public is overwhelmingly opposed, causing President
Jacques Chirac to pledge a referendum on the issue. Likely German
chancellor Angela Merkel is firmly against Turkey joining.
Public opposition was fuelled this week by accusations that mental
health patients in Turkey have been subjected to serious abuses,
including the use of electric shock treatment without anaesthesia.
Several countries have also been pushing Turkey to recognise EU
member Cyprus, and the European Parliament this week called on it to
recognise the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks at the beginning
of the 20th century as genocide.
Yesterday, ambassadors were unable to agree even a negotiating
framework for the accession talks – which themselves are expected to
take ten years.
Turkey’s foreign minister Abdullah Gul said that his country will not
send its delegation to Luxembourg for talks on Monday unless his
officials have seen the details of the EU’s negotiating positions.
‘Of course there is a possibility that negotiations will not start,’
he said.

“Let the enemy know”: Karabakh conflict settlement is delayed

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 30, 2005, Friday
“LET THE ENEMY KNOW”
SOURCE: Voyenno-Promyshlenny Kurier, No 36, September 28 – October 4,
2005, p. 3
by Aleksei Matveev
KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT IS DELAYED
Attention of the international community is once again centered on
Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the self-declared states in the post-Soviet
zone denied international recognition. President of Armenia and
Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharjan and Ilham Aliyev, met in Kazan
(Tatarstan, Russia) in late April and discussed conflict settlement
with nothing to show for it. Even official press releases indicate
that the failure did not become a breakthrough. As a matter of fact,
many analysts predicted it. The dialogue has been under way for a
long time now without, however, a single accomplishment in over a
decade. Practically all meetings of the leaders of Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh result in vague declarations on how
negotiations continue and how progress is made towards peace and
stability when in fact absolutely no progress worth mentioning is
ever made.
In the meantime, Nagorno-Karabakh exists as a de facto republic. The
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh celebrated its 14th anniversary of
independence on September 2. Kocharjan attended the festivities.
Kocharjan mentioned in his speech that the negotiations had “positive
tendencies” and said that he had never implied that “Armenia might
change its stand on the matter of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.” In
fact, the Armenian president was refuting himself. What positive
trends are possible when Armenia would not even hear of a compromise?
Ditto Azerbaijan, for that matter.
Aliyev of Azerbaijan is criticizing Nagorno-Karabakh openly. “Let the
enemy know that the Azerbaijani national army can liberate our lands
at any moment,” he was quoted as saying not long ago (at the opening
of a monument to former president Heydar Aliyev in Lenkoran on
September 8). Aliyev had arguments to substantiate his threats. “Arms
spending amounted to $175 million in 2004, and to $300 million in
2005. They will amount to $600 million next year,” he said. Stripped
of diplomatic finesse, it means that Azerbaijan will stop at nothing
to accomplish its goals.
The president of Azerbaijan may be understood. A six-day joint
exercise of the Russian Army Group in the Caucasus and Armenian Armed
Forces began in Armenia the day before, on September 7. Aliyev could
not let it go without comments. There are no doubts that the
maneuvers were planned, but official Baku took them for
muscle-flexing on the part of Yerevan backed by a foreign power.
Indeed, the legend of the exercise was really something. An enemy
makes a forced march 15-20 kilometers into Armenia across the border
with Turkey. Armenian and Russian servicemen check the enemy advance
and use artillery and aviation to force the enemy to fall back. Sure,
no implications with regard to Azerbaijan were intended, but in the
light of the situation with Nagorno-Karabakh the ambivalence is
certainly undeniable. Aliyev could not help condemning the exercise.
He did so obliquely – speaking about combat readiness and increased
arms spending as a certain counterweight to Armenia’s military
preparations. It is a different matter altogether that Baku was
fairly rude and openly resorted to threats…
Azerbaijani leaders are critical of Russia too. Conference Parallel
CIS: Abkhazia, Trans-Dniester, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh As
Realities Of The Post-Soviet Zone in Moscow on September 14-15 (here
CIS stood for the Commonwealth of Ignored States), was taken in
Azerbaijan as a provocation. Addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh
Provisional Commission of the Parliamentary Assembly in Paris the
other day, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov announced
that his country had waged a war on two foreign powers at once –
Russia and Armenia. Azimov also said that Russia had transferred a
great deal of weapons to Armenia. Shavarsh Kocharjan of the Armenian
delegation in return cited chapter and verse on what weapons and
ordnance Armenia had received from Russia before 1993. He said that
all arms deals were then suspended in honor of the Tashkent Accord
(May 1992). Kocharjan added that even according to official reports
Azerbaijan had received twice as many tanks from Russia, 2.5 times
more armored personnel carriers, 1.5 times more artillery pieces, and
twice as many helicopters. Armenia did not receive a single aircraft
from Russia while Azerbaijan received 53. “Armenia has more reasons
to begrudge Russian military assistance to Azerbaijan,” Kocharjan
said. “And yet, Armenia recognizes the role Russia has been playing
in connection with the truce made in 1994, because there would have
been no truce without Russia.”
In any case, Russia finds itself between the frying pan and the fire
in the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute. Generally speaking, settlement
of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is delayed…

Armenia is interested in Russian military base on its territory

Agency WPS
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
September 30, 2005, Friday
ARMENIA IS INTERESTED IN A RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE ON ITS TERRITORY
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, September 28, 2005, p. 5
On September 27, at a joint press conference with Tarya Halonen, the
president of Finland, Robert Kocharyan, the president of Armenia,
said Armenia is interested in the location of Russian military base
on its territory. “The presence of a Russian military base in Armenia
is meant for security and is part of the Armenian security program,”
Kocharyan said. He denied the information that Russia imposes its
military presence on Armenia. “Armenia is interested in the location
of a Russian military base on its territory, because the country is
situated in a troublesome region where conflicts are not rare. Russia
and Armenia have a mutual agreement on the subject, which is recorded
in a treaty,” noted President Kocharyan. However, he said at present
there would be no further strengthening of Russian military presence
in Armenia.

System of a Down shows music as a way to speak the truth

Edmonton Journal (Alberta)
September 30, 2005 Friday
Final Edition
System of a Down shows music as a way to speak the truth: Band’s
intense message connects with real people
by Chanel Carson, The Edmonton Journal
Welcome to the Soldier side, where there’s no one here but me … or
should I say 12,000 fans flicking on lighters, swaying in time to the
strumming of an acoustic guitar, watching the black, curtain-covered
stage as Serj Tankian’s singing silhouette is illuminated from a
spotlight behind.
Then, the curtain drops, and guitarist Daron Malakian screams out his
long-awaited question “Why do they always send the poor?!”
I am talking, of course, about System of a Down. Performing at Rexall
Place last week with opening guests Hella and the Mars Volta, SOAD
was a blast of fresh air after a somewhat uneventful summer for the
Edmonton concert scene.
I admit that even after seeing acts like David Bowie and Aerosmith,
it is safe to say that this was the best and most enjoyable concert
I’ve ever attended.
The lights went down half an hour before the concert was scheduled to
start, and an already confused audience got even more confused with
the band Hella, not knowing whether the group was just warming up, or
actually playing songs.
Confusion turned to psychedelia as the Mars Volta took the stage,
Mexican entourage and all. One in tight jeans, the other sporting an
even tighter pin-striped suit, singer Cedric Bixler Zavala and
guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez shimmied out the famous 32-minute-
long Cassandra Gemini, followed by The Widow.
Throwing in some improvising to go along with Cedric’s screaming and
dancing, the Mars Volta completed their nearly hour-long set to a
standing ovation, unplugged and took down the Mexican flag draped
over the keyboard.
It was then that System of a Down took their place onstage. They
plowed through 26 of their hits, joked with the audience, and made up
their own words to Dire Straits’ Sultans of Swing, with Malakian
singing at the chorus, “We are the System of a Down.”
Since forming in 1993, SOAD has recorded four studio albums: System
of a Down (June 1998); Toxicity (September 2001); Steal This Album!
(November 2002); and most recently their two-part album
Mezmerize/Hypnotize. Mezmerize was released in May; Hypnotize will be
available in November.
SOAD are widely known for their controversial songs about the
American government, the American economy and the destructive
lifestyles of people living in Los Angeles. But the messages they try
to get across on their albums don’t end when they leave the studio.
Tankian, along with guitarist Malakian, bassist Shavo Odadjian and
drummer John Dolmayan are lobbying the U.S. government to officially
recognize the genocide that occurred in Turkey between 1915 and 1923,
acknowledging the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians.
When politicians block the road to justice, SOAD turns to music to
get the truth out.
As I watch Malakian’s eyes bulge as he screams insanely into the
microphone, or Tankian twirl childlike in the middle of the stage, it
dawns on me that these guys are cool. Like, really cool. There is
something in their performances, the way they interact with their
fans, the things they sing about, and the way they live their lives.
They don’t try and pretend to be badass rock stars, because what they
really are is themselves. They are real, fighting for real people,
speaking out and defending the real people that can’t defend
themselves. System of a Down is the voice of the people.
Chanel Carson is in Grade 12 at Harry Ainlay high school
GRAPHIC:
Photo: Larry Wong, the Journal; Vocalist Serj Tankian of System of a
Down in concert at Rexall Place
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Armenian patriarch: Turkish EU bid critical for Muslim-Christian…

The Associated Press
September 30, 2005, Friday, BC cycle
Armenian patriarch says Turkish EU bid critical for Muslim-Christian
understanding
By LOUIS MEIXLER, Associated Press Writer
ANKARA, Turkey
The head of the Armenian church in Turkey warned European leaders
that postponing Turkey’s bid for EU membership could undermine
efforts to bring together the Muslim East and the Christian West.
Turkey has worked hard to implement criteria required by the European
Union and has “been steered toward real change on the democratic
road,” the leader of the largest non-Muslim group in Turkey,
Patriarch Mesrob II of the Armenian church, wrote in a letter
released Friday.
“However, because of oppositionist and suspicious attitudes directed
toward Turkey, it seems as though it is being forced to take backward
steps and turn in on itself,” he wrote.
The Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million
Orthodox Christians also released a statement in support of Turkey’s
bid to join the 25-nation European Union amid growing frustration
over delays in membership talks.
Turkish nationalists planned a rally in Ankara on Sunday, the same
day EU foreign ministers were to hold an emergency meeting in
Luxembourg aimed at overcoming Austrian objections to starting entry
talks with the poor, predominantly Muslim nation.
Austria’s insistence that Turkey be offered the option of a lesser
partnership with the EU have thrown plans to begin formal entry
negotiations on Monday into disarray.
Turkey has threatened not to attend the talks unless it is satisfied
the EU will offer nothing less than full membership.
Minorities in Turkey have strongly supported the country’s EU bid in
the hopes it will lead to greater democratic reforms and freedoms.
Turkey already has enacted sweeping changes aimed at gaining EU
membership, such as abolishing the death penalty and passing laws
that improve democracy.
Mesrob urged EU leaders not to postpone Turkey’s quest for
membership. There are fears that if the EU bid collapses, nationalism
in Turkey will rise.
“Such undesired developments will be a blow not only to Turkey and
Europe but to reconciliation between East and West,” he wrote in the
letter, which was sent to EU foreign ministers ahead of their Sunday
meeting.
Armenian Christians, numbering 70,000, belong to the remnants of a
community largely destroyed by deportations and massacres at the time
of World War I.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of Orthodox
Christianity, said in his statement that “Turkey definitely has the
right to be part of this union.”
The patriarchate dates back to the Orthodox Greek Byzantine Empire,
which ruled the region from Constantinople, now called Istanbul.
European opposition to Turkey’s membership bid is increasingly
leading Turks to question their decades-long dream of being the only
predominantly Muslim country to enter the union.
“Some circles in the EU are anxious to anger and humiliate Turkey as
much as possible so that the indignant Turkish nation simply forces
its government to scrap the EU dream,” chief columnist Ilnur Cevik
wrote in The New Anatolian.
Columnist Hasan Cemal was more blunt.
“There is no end to the dynamite being thrown” on the EU path, he
wrote in the Milliyet newspaper. “They think that Turkish public
opinion is a stone of patience. It isn’t.”

BAKU: Azeri, Finnish presidents discuss NK, integration into Europe

ANS TV, Azerbaijan
Sept 29 2005
AZERI, FINNISH PRESIDENTS DISCUSS KARABAKH, INTEGRATION INTO EUROPE
[Presenter] As a country that will chair the OSCE from 2007, Finland
will help Azerbaijan resolve the Nagornyy Karabakh problem, visiting
Finnish President Tarja Halonen has said.
[Correspondent over video of the ceremony to welcome the Finnish
president ] Opportunities for developing bilateral relations between
Finland and Azerbaijan should be expanded. This issue topped the
agenda of the one-to-one and expanded talks Halonen held as part of
her two-day visit to Baku.
The presidents held a news conference after an agreement on avoiding
double taxation and preventing tax evasion and a memorandum of
understanding were signed by the foreign ministers. They expressed
their satisfaction with the level of the political dialogue in
relations between the two countries. [Azerbaijani] President Ilham
Aliyev said that the state will support the common interests of
private companies in tomorrow’s business forum. Aliyev said that
stability is the main condition for investing in Azerbaijan and that
conflicts like the Nagornyy Karabakh problem prevent development.
[Aliyev speaking in English at the news conference with Azeri
voice-over] The South Caucasus region has common problems. The
settlement of the conflict and the implementation of political,
economic and social reforms are priorities of our policy. We attach
great importance to integration into Europe. The EU’s New
Neighbourhood Policy can make a great contribution to this issue.
Integration into Europe is the main direction of our policy and we
have been actively working on this sphere.
[Correspondent] Finnish President Halonen said that they are
interested not only in Azerbaijan’s rich economic potential, but also
in political processes. She said that Finland was closely watching
the November parliamentary election and hopes that the Council of
Europe principles would be observed. Halonen supported the peaceful
settlement of the Karabakh issue and pledged that as a country that
will chair the OSCE from 2007, Finland would make more efforts to
solve the issue.
[Halonen, speaking in English with Azeri voice-over] We all know that
a good condition for one country may not be regarded as good for
another. Therefore, one of the sides does not always agree with
compromises. I think that both sides should be satisfied with the
agreement. You can discuss the issue together with Armenia in the
Council of Europe, the OSCE and the European Union. As the president
of the country that will chair the EU and the OSCE, I can say that we
will do everything we can to contribute to the resolution of the
conflict. We will try to ensure people’s security.
[Correspondent] Halonen said that Azerbaijan had great prospects for
integrating into Europe and that Azerbaijan would benefit from the
EU’s New Neighbourhood Policy. The key to stability in the South
Caucasus is in the hands of peoples living there, end quote.
Zamina Aliyeva, Emil Babaxanov, ANS.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Iran to expand trade with Algeria, Sri Lanka, Armenia

Mehr News Agency, Iran
Sept 30 2005
Iran to expand trade with Algeria, Sri Lanka, Armenia
TEHRAN, Sept. 30 (MNA) – Iran is to expand its trade ties with
Algeria, Sri Lanka and Armenia in a move to promote joint investment
in various economic sectors, the Economic Affairs and Finance
Minister Danesh-Jafari emphasized in three separate meetings held
last week with his counterparts from the said countries.
Algeria and Iran are members of the same group in the World Bank (WB)
and IMF. In 2004, Algeria headed the group in WB while Iran kept the
same group position at the IMF. So it is of paramount importance to
develop further the role of effective investment in both countries,
said Jafari.

Iran may benefit a lot from Sri Lanka’s know-how in tea industry by
applying the proven techniques in order to promote its tea
production. Encouraging Sri Lanka to invest in this sector was
another matter that was jointly discussed, the minister stated.
Jafari’s counterpart also expressed his appreciation for the credit
facilities given to his country by Iran to purchase oil in return.

The finance minister also kept a meeting with his Armenian
counterpart Karen Chshmaritian in the office branch of Iran at the WB
headquarters in another occasion and asked for a joint economic
session in the near future and solving the minor problems standing on
the way of investments by the Iranian companies in Armenia. He
emphasized on mutual assistance for further development in various
economic fields, particularly in transportation sector at the
conclusion of their talk.

BEIRUT: Turkey far from ready to a seat at the EU negotiating table

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 1 2005
Turkey is still far from ready to have a seat at the EU negotiating
table
By Hratch Varjabedian
Commentary by
Saturday, October 01, 2005
The European Union will start membership negotiations with Turkey on
October 3, more than 15 years after Turkey’s application to become a
full member of the European Economic Community in 1987.
Turkey’s rapprochement with Europe started long before, however, when
the Ottoman Empire reached the gates of Vienna in 1697 only to suffer
a major defeat and be forced to sign the Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699
which put an end to its westward expansion. Turkey has been known as
the “sick man” of Europe ever since, but its efforts to integrate in
Europe started gaining momentum again in the 1950s.
EU leaders decided during their December 2004 summit that Turkey was
ready to sit at the negotiating table for full membership. However,
many prominent European politicians, such as former French president
Valery Giscard d’ Estaing, staunchly oppose Turkey’s membership of
the EU.
The vast majority of European citizens in countries such as France
and Austria also oppose Turkish membership and express concern at the
dire consequences of such an event.
A look at the current situation of Turkey on the political, economic
and social levels explains these concerns. Territorial disputes with
neighboring countries, rule by the military, a record of repression
of minorities and human rights violations, economic underdevelopment
and low indicators of human development render Turkey unable to match
up to EU member countries and unsuitable for membership.
Politically, Turkey continues to be an invader of Cyprus’ territory,
a neighboring country and a member of the EU. Despite pressures from
EU leaders to the contrary, Turkey still refuses to officially
recognize the Republic of Cyprus and instead is the only country to
have recognized the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Democracy and the rule of law are common victims in Turkey, where
despite pretenses of a secular democracy, occasional outbreaks of
violence and gross violations of human rights attract the attention
of the world media, reminding the world of Turkey’s true character.
Turkey’s repression of its Kurdish population and other minorities in
the country continues despite some reforms. Freedom of expression is
often curbed; recognition of the Armenian Genocide and statements in
favor of Turkey’s withdrawal from Cyprus are considered punishable
crimes under the newly reformed Turkish Penal Code.

Despite increased international pressures and recognition by the
world community of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Ankara continues to
practice an official policy of denial. Countries recognizing or
planning to recognize the Armenian Genocide are threatened, an
official blockade is still applied against Armenia and lands
rightfully belonging to Armenians, namely Western Armenia, are still
occupied in Eastern Turkey. In an attempt to conceal the Armenian
identity of these lands and erase traces of Armenian existence on
them, Turkey regularly destroys centuries-old Armenian monuments.
Economically, Turkey suffers from high unemployment rates, large
government debt and impoverishment, especially in the central parts
of Anatolia. Life in these regions is still primitive and poor in
comparison to most European cities.
In the case of full membership, the EU would have to make large
investments to put Turkey’s economy on a par with that of other
member countries. Unemployed Turkish citizens would spill in their
millions across the border to Europe.
Turkish values, beliefs and lifestyles fundamentally differ from
those of Europe; the two parties have gone through a completely
different course of development over the centuries. Respect for human
rights, freedom of thought and expression and the value of an
individual human being are the values on which the EU is based. In
Turkey, these are more often victims than values.
Turkey is still far from ready to have a seat at the negotiating
table for EU membership. Now that the negotiations are set to start
however, EU leaders should demand real and tangible changes from
Turkey. The future will show just how much Turkey is prepared to do
for EU membership.

Hratch Varjabedian is an Armenian journalist in Lebanon. He wrote
this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.

BEIRUT: Gloomy and frustrated, Turkey gears up for EU showdown

The Daily Star, Lebanon
Oct 1 2005
Gloomy and frustrated, Turkey gears up for EU showdown
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 01, 2005
ANKARA: Turkey urged the European Union to show “honesty” on its
troubled membership bid, as anger and frustration simmered over what
Turks see as European backpedaling on pledges to admit the country
into the bloc. Britain meanwhile stressed the “enormous strategic”
stakes of admitting Turkey to the European Union.
With just three days left before the start of membership talks, EU
countries are still wrangling over accession terms for Turkey,
leaving Ankara on the edge and its decades-old dream of integrating
Europe shrouded in uncertainty.
“If we fail to see the honesty we expect, Turkey’s response will
undoubtedly be very different from what has been said so far,” Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in the northern city of Corum, the
Anatolia news agency reported.
The EU will hold an emergency meeting of foreign ministers tomorrow
to seek a compromise on a negotiating.
The deadlock is blamed on Austria’s insistence to offer Turkey
“privileged partnership” as an alternative to full membership, an
option Ankara flatly rejects.
“Some people in the EU have fallen prey to fanaticism, unable to free
themselves from prejudice,” Erdogan said.
Britain warned that the stakes are high if Turkey is left out in the
cold, because it could serve as a democratic “beacon” for the
troubled Middle East across its borders.
“Turkey is of enormous strategic importance to the EU,” Britain’s
Europe Minister Douglas Alexander told BBC radio.
“Successfully integrating Turkey in the EU we believe would help us
tackle most of the many difficult problems that we face in the modern
world,” he added.
Sweden, Denmark and Finland joined Britain in rejecting a delay in
entry talks.
Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said the European Commission
had clearly stated that “we are launching these negotiations with the
aim of including (Turkey).”

“If this is not possible (by the end of the process), then we should
try to find a different solution (but) it is too early now to
determine what this other solutions should be,” he said.
For her part, Austria’s Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik argued that
Vienna’s concerns are shared “all over Europe.”
Many Europeans are concerned about the EU’s ability to absorb Turkey.
“What we propose is an option in case membership does not work out,”
Plassnik told the Associated Press.
Full membership for Turkey is possible “one day – if Turkey fulfills
the requirements and if the European Union is also in a position to
absorb Turkey,” she said. “However, we should now listen to the
concerns voiced by so many people across Europe.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Armenian Church in Turkey sent a letter to
EU foreign ministers warning that a delay in entry talks could
undermine efforts to bring together the Muslim East and the Christian
West.
Minorities in Turkey have strongly supported the country’s EU bid in
the hopes of greater democratic reforms and freedoms.
The leader of the largest non-Muslim group in Turkey, Patriarch
Mesrob, wrote: “Turkey has expended great efforts to implement the
union criteria and has in a positive sense been steered toward real
change on the democratic road.
“Pressures in recent days from various circles to postpone Turkey’s
membership process cause us concern,” he added.
“Such undesired developments will be a blow not only to Turkey and
Europe but to reconciliation between East and West,” he wrote. –
Agencies
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Voters’ lists must be put in order in Armenia: Artur Baghdasaryan

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2005
VOTERS’ LISTS MUST BE PUT IN ORDER IN ARMENIA: ARTUR BAGHDASARYAN
YEREVAN, September 28. /ARKA/. Voters’ lists must be put in order in
Armenia, Speaker of the RA Parliament Artur Baghdasaryan told
reporters. According to him, local elections showed the voters’ lists
to be in a poor state. “Inaccuracie4s in voters’ lists may be an
extra argument for various comments on the election results,”
Baghdasaryan said. He pointed out the importance of specifying
voters’ lists. Baghdasaryan stated his intention to get in touch with
relevant bodies and draw their attention to putting voters’ lists in
order in conformity with law. P.T. -0–
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress