FRENCH “LIBERATION” PUBLISHES LETTER OF PROTEST FROM TURKISH INTELLECTUALS
Hurriyet, Turkey
May 11 2006
A group of 9 well-known Turkish intellectuals co-wrote a letter of
protest against the bill to be considered in the French Parliament
next week which would, if passed, mandate prison sentences for people
publicly denying Armenian genocide claims.
The letter was published in yesterday’s edition of the French
newspaper “Liberation,” and warns French people of the repurcussions
from possible passage of the drafted bill, which is to be debated in
parliament on May 18.
A portion of the letter, which was written by Murat Belge, Halil
Berktay, Elif Safak, Hrant Dink, Muge Gocek, Ahmet Insel, Etyen
Mahcupyan, Baskin Oran, and Ragip Zarakolu, says: “What is for
certain is that this law would make the process for those searching
for solutions to these claims even more difficult. And a resulting
paradox is that if France itself passes such a law, blocking free
debate on the Armenian genocide question, the result will create
similar or even stronger reactions in Turkey.”

TURKEY TRIED TO HEAD OFF PM’S VERDICT ON ‘GENOCIDE’
Brian Laghi
Globe and Mail, Canada
May 11 2006
The Prime Minister of Turkey sent Stephen Harper a letter last month
asking him to not characterize the mass killing of Armenians in the
early 1900s as a genocide and instead support an academic inquiry
into the matter.
One day later, Mr. Harper went ahead with the statement, sparking a
diplomatic contretemps that led to the recall of Turkey’s ambassador
to Canada and the country’s decision to withdraw from a military
exercise in Alberta.
The Turkish letter, an unofficial translation of which was obtained
by The Globe and Mail, says that a push by the Armenian community
to have the mass killing of Armenians recognized as a genocide has
clouded Turkish-Canadian relations.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also asked that Mr. Harper instead
support a Turkish initiative to have scholars from Turkey and Armenia
study the matter and issue a report to the international community.
“As you know, the allegation of ‘genocide’ is a sensitive issue for
both the Turkish people and Turkish Governments,” the letter said.
“In fact, the events that took place in 1915 constitute a period
which historians consider as contentious.”
The letter is being made public after Turkey’s decisions this week
to recall its ambassador for consultations and to pull out of an
international military exercise that is to begin in Cold Lake, Alta.,
next week. Turkey is upset about Mr. Harper’s affirmation of a free
vote of Parliament two years ago in which a majority of MPs voted to
condemn the brutal treatment of the Armenians. However, the cabinet
of the day voted against the motion and it was considered non-binding.
About two dozen other countries have recognized the deaths of 1.5
million Armenians as a genocide. Turkey maintains the deaths were
caused by civil strife, diseases and famine during the turmoil of
the First World War while Armenia was under Turkish Ottoman control.
The Turkish Prime Minister’s letter was dated April 18.
The letter said that although Armenia has yet to respond positively
to Turkey’s proposal for an academic study, Mr. Erdogan hoped that
Mr. Harper would support the idea.
He said that while bonds between Canada and Turkey have deepened —
including co-operation on stabilizing Afghanistan — “the Armenian
lobby in your country has not given up its intentions to create
problems in Turkish-Canadian relations.”
Turkish authorities confirmed yesterday there had been
correspondence. They would not say how Canadian officials replied,
if at all, although government sources said yesterday that officials
informed the Turkish embassy in advance of their plans.
Conservative sources have said that the move is not an effort to win
the votes of the Armenian diaspora in Canada, of whom there are about
70,000. Rather, the issue is seen by many in the Conservative caucus
as a historic wrong.
Conservative MP Jason Kenney, parliamentary secretary to Mr. Harper,
and a long-time supporter of the Armenian viewpoint, said yesterday
that the Prime Minister was simply acknowledging the House of
Commons vote.
“I think that personally the Parliament was right to take the decision
and the Prime Minister had no option but to recognize that decision,”
Mr. Kenney said. “I’m hopeful that the government of Turkey will have
as much respect for the decisions of the Parliament of Canada as our
government does.”
Mr. Kenney said the idea of having the two sides co-operate in a
study should not involve Canada.

RUSSIA TO PAY FAMILIES OF BLACK SEA AIR CRASH VICTIMS $3,700
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 11 2006
MOSCOW, May 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government will pay 100,000
rubles ($3,700) to the families of 113 people killed in a Black Sea
air crash a week ago, the Russian health minister said Thursday.
An Airbus owned by Armenia’s Armavia airline crashed in stormy weather
near the Russian resort of Sochi on May 3.
On May 4, the head of Armavia said all passengers had been insured and
their families would receive $20,000 each, and the Armenian government
promised compensation worth $3,400.

OFFERS FROM ARMENIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION ARE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY – AFFA
Author: Z.Safarov
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
“Offers from Armenian Football Federation (AFF) on elimination
matches between the two national teams may not be taken seriously,
reportedly said Fuad Asadov, Secretary General of AFFA, commenting
the forthcoming meeting among Azeri, Armenian delegations and UEFA
for possible match on neutral field.
Asadov said also he is skeptic with AFF’s assurances on ensuring
security to Azeri national team in case they arrive in Yerevan.
Alongside, he suggested organizing a match in some third country
quite possible. “We have an example of Israeli team that often plays
outside their homeland”, – Secretary General said.

TOTAL HISTORY AND FRANCE’S FUTURE
Cem Oguz
New Anatolian, Turkey
May 11 2006
Late last night I finished a book by Emine Caykara that contains an
interview of nearly 500 pages with Professor Halil Inalcik. In several
parts of the interview, Inalcik, the doyen of Ottoman studies who
used to teach me during my short academic career as well, asserted
the importance of the concept of “total history.”
Towards the end of the interview, Professor Inalcik points out
a fundamental dilemma faced by historiography: While the natural
sciences, such as mathematics, offer a kid of even the age of 12 the
opportunity to show genius, the social sciences, first and foremost
history, require long-term dedication as well as experience supported
by fastidiousness. Without knowing the fundamental elements and marking
points of history one would lose the focus. This, in turn, demands
knowledge about each aspect of history or the notion of total history.
The concept of total history is the most significant contribution
of the “Ecole des Annales” to modern-day historiography. Born of the
well-known French scholarly journal “Annales d’Histoire Economique et
Sociale,” the Ecole des Annales was founded in 1929 by prominent French
historians Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre. However, the most popular name
among those from annales has been Fernand Braudel, the author of “The
Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II.”
Previously, traditional history was built around the acts and
facts of the leading personalities of the time. The Annales
school, in turn, proposed a shift in the historian’s focus and a
global vision of history, particularly emphasizing the medium- and
long-term evolution of societies and civilizations. Its followers
pioneered a new and stimulating approach to the study of historical
structures over events. Committed to broadening the range of history,
they incorporated the other humanities, ranging from economics and
sociology to linguistics and geography, into historical study. Over
time mentalities (attitudes) became their focus as well.
The influence of the Ecole des Annales soon spread well beyond the
borders of France, and Turkish historians, too, were not immune to its
rapidly growing attraction. It was first Omer Lutfi Barkan who applied
annales principles to his works. He then was followed by Inalcik.
The Annales school is actually the world-renowned foundation on
which modern-day French historiography is grounded. It is in this
regard that French historians’ outspoken opposition against political
involvement in history and historic events over the last two years
deserves particular appreciation. Nevertheless, the reason I’ve touched
on it is not because I naively believe that praising motivated by a
narrow opportunism will help strengthen the Turkish standpoint. It
is rather related to my desire to conduct a little projection into
France’s future.
As some French themselves admit, France, once the worldwide leading
promoter of universal values, is a rapidly decaying power in this
new global era. Paradoxically, the political elite rather seem to be
merely mourning this self-imposed isolation. What I am particularly
wondering about, however, is whether this gradual transformation,
or the “long duree” as Braudel described it, is simply the outcome of
some French politicians’ narrow-mindedness or lack of vision. It is,
of course, the French people that will judge their politicians.
However, I humbly need to warn them that if this judgment is late in
coming, sooner or later they themselves won’t be able to escape from
the transformation that has affected their politicians.
As far as some French politicians’ attitude towards the Armenian
allegations is concerned, there remains nothing left to say except to
assert what my dear professor, Halil Inalcik, used to repeat during
his lectures: “Understanding is forgiving.”
How otherwise will we Turks be able to tolerate certain French
politicians, with their longings to be geniuses in the field of
history at age 12?

3 WEEKS TO FIND BLACK BOXES AT BLACK SEA CRASH SITE
RIA Novosti, Russia
May 11 2006
SOCHI, May 11 (RIA Novosti) – Recovery teams have about three weeks to
locate and retrieve the flight data recorders of an Armenian airliner
that crashed last week killing 113 people, a Russian transportation
official said Thursday.
The black boxes are seen as the key to understanding why the Airbus
plunged into the Black Sea in stormy weather six kilometers (3.7 miles)
from the Russian coast early on the morning of May 3.
“We have a time limit, about 30 days from the moment of the crash,”
said Alexander Davydenko, who is coordinating the operation to locate
the black boxes.
He added that batteries of the black boxes, which are thought to be
a depth of 400-450 meters (1,300- 1,470 feet), would run down in 30
days. Earlier wreckage had been reported at 680 meters (2,230ft).
Vladimir Yerygin, who oversees technological support for the
operation to recover the recorders, said earlier that specialists from
Toulouse-based Airbus were planning to use advanced hydroacoustic
equipment to find the precise location of the black boxes and later
recover them using a deep-sea vehicle.
He said the main group of French experts, which left the port of Sochi
Wednesday morning, would set up a data-processing center on board one
ship, and another ship with the Kalmar deep-sea craft would continue
scanning the seabed for parts of the A-320.

ARMENIA KICKS OFF WITH FIRST REHEARSAL
esctoday.com, Netherlands
May 11 2006
At 9:30 local time, the arena opened its doors to the press as the
first participant, Andre from Armenia, rehearsed on stage.
Esctoday.com collected some opinions about Without your love, the
stage and the venue itself as well!
‘Armenian Sertab’
The “Armenian Sertab”, as some journalists referred to him during
Andre’s first rehearsal, brought four female dancers to Athens, as
well as a backing singer. While Andre is standing on a big box, his
four dancers are dancing around doing a “Houdini-alike chain act”,
as Peter Walsh from the Irish Sunday World referred to the performance.
It took Andre a few times to get his ear monitoring right and to get
used to the stage. At his second try, things went much better and he
got awarded a nice applause from the present fans and journalists.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

PARISHIONERS RALLY BEHIND ACCUSED PRIEST
Hartford Courant
May 11 2006
By DON STACOM, And HILDA MUNOZ Courant Staff Writers NEW BRITAIN —
A small group of parishioners spent Wednesday trying to organize a
show of support Sunday for the Rev. Krikoris Keshishian, the longtime
priest at St. Stephen’s Apostolic Armenian Church who was charged
Tuesday with molesting a 12-year-old girl.
“Several parishioners on their own are calling the list of church
members, asking them if at all possible to come to church on Mother’s
Day as a show of solidarity for the priest,” said George Rustigian,
adviser to St. Stephen’s trustees.
Keshishian is scheduled to lead the services at 10 a.m. at the church
on Tremont Street.
Keshishian, 53, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. He was
driving to Massachusetts to meet with a priest who has been assigned by
the Armenian Prelacy in New York to investigate the incident,according
to a church leader.
Armenian church officials declined to say much about the case. Vazken
Ghougasian, first secretary at the Armenian Prelacy in New York, said
the church doesn’t know enough about the allegations to discuss them.
Rustigian said it would be premature for the St. Stephen’s board
to comment.
“We don’t really know the context of the charges,” Rustigian said.
“But I can say he is innocent until proven guilty. He is our pastor
and the spiritual leader in our community. Just as much as he needs
us, we need him. We’re the only congregation he has, he’s the only
pastor we have.”
Police said Keshishian inappropriately touched the girl while acting
in his official capacity. He is charged with fourth-degree sexual
assault and impairing the morals of a child by sexual contact, and
is scheduled to be arraigned on May 23. Fourth-degree sexual assault
is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
The charge stems from a single incident in May 2005, but there may
be more counts involving the same victim, said police Sgt. Michael
Baden. The girl reported the alleged abuse to relative, who then
called police, according to Baden.
One St. Stephen’s leaders said Keshishian is “very distraught, as is
his wife.” The man said Keshishian will remain as priest, but has been
directed by the church to have no unsupervised contact with children
until the case is resolved.
Lifelong church member Lila Winters said Wednesday that she and other
parishioners were “devastated” by the arrest.
“There is no way in hell he did something like this,” Winters said.
“He is warm and affectionate, but not inappropriate. He is the backbone
of our church. Something just doesn’t seem right about this.”
Winters and two other church members have said they believe the charge
stems from a day when Keshishian grabbed a girl after she fell – or as
she was falling – from a table. They say other children were nearby,
and that Keshishian only touched the girl while trying to help her.

TURKISH PM SENDS LETTER TO HARPER
Josh Pringle
580 CFRA Radio, Canada
May 11 2006
The Turkish Prime Minister has reportedly sent a letter to Prime
Minister Stephen Harper.
The Globe and Mail reports Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
asked Harper not to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Instead, he is asking Canada to support an academic inquiry into the
mass killings.
Harper became the first Canadian Prime Minister to declare that the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians during the First World
War amounted to genocide.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND MINORITY PROBLEMS
Written by Walter R Hunziker
Newropeans Magazine, France
May 11 2006
The EU has few subjects that nobody in Brussels likes to talk about,
among which we find minority problems. Corsica and the Bask country may
serve as examples for many others that are less visible or audible…
Paris and Madrid don’t mind, or actually demand EU subsidies to
help the economic development of its regions. However, they would
oppose vehemently any questioning by the EU parliament concerning
the political situation of these minorities, which they consider to
be a purely national affair.
Where democratic representation is involved, there are no national
affairs that do not concern the EU. The EU is to be a coherent body,
all its members being part of the total living community, like a human
body which cannot have totally independent members, legs or hands.
Can it be a real national affair if those concerned do not consider
themselves part of that “National”community? In such cases a higher
supranational instance such as the EU is the logical place to deal
with the matter.
Switzerland, a confederation of some 25 cantons, had a minority
problem with the French-speaking minority inside the canton of Bern.
Like Corsica , they had an independence movement with bombings,
demonstrations, etc. After years of repression, the minority was
finally permitted to create its own canton of Jura, thus adding a new
canton to the Swiss confederation, a solution that satisfied everybody.
There is no reason not to give any of the concerned European minorities
a chance to create their own state community within the EU, if after
careful comprehensive socio-economic studies, the inhabitants of a
region democratically vote and approve such a change.
What are the motivations for secession? Why do national governments
want to prevent such regional political formations? Is it a question
of national pride, historic patriotism etc. France, e.g. because of
Napoleon being a French icon, might oppose a Corsican secession. Is
it matter of regional egotism, the rich not wanting to share with the
poor as may be the case in northern Italy and Spain’s Catalonia ? Or is
it a cultural entity fearing to lose its character, its language , its
religion, or on the contrary an oppressed minority demanding liberty?
The EU should develop clear criteria to deal with these situations
faced within its present borders, including Wallonia, Bretagne, Kosovo
and many more regions, before engaging new more complex problems in
new eastern EU candidate countries such as Turkey , which faces three
big minority problems:
1. The Armenian genocide, although a historic event, is still being
denied by the Turkish government and people. This problem must be
overcome by a clear revelation and acceptance of the truth, e.g.
as established by an international court procedure, before Turkey
can join the EU.
2. The Cypress problem concerning its Turkish and Greek
communities. The EU and UN reunification proposal , which was accepted
by the north and rejected by the south shows a deep psychological
barrier. The immediate economic and practical advantages of
reunification could not overcome an anxiety concerning the unknown
risks of joining a Turkish minority in Cypress with 62.7 mi. more
Turks living on the close-by mainland. Would they not use Cypress as
the entrance door to Europe? The proposal was too much of an academic
dream. A unified Cypress can only come after Turkey joins the EU.
3. The EU adhesion of Turkey as it is now would probably solve the
Cypress question, but a much greater problem would arise with the Kurd
minority on its eastern borders. With Constantinople as the capital
of the Eastern Roman Empire, Turkey displays a cultural historic role
in Europe. Kurdistan however is definitely not part of it. In Turkey,
there are some 15 mi. Kurds, in Iran 6.6 mi., in Irak 6 mi, in Syria
2 mi, in Germany 0.6 mi., in Armenia and Azerbaijan some 50 000,
and elsewhere another 1.1 mi. a total of 31.l mi. Kurds.
They aspire an independent state; there is no population of that size
on earth that has not its own state.
If Turkey would give independence to its 15 mi Kurds, this would
reduce its population to some 45 mi, this could be perhaps more
easily acceptable by the EU, and it might lead to the formation of
a new Kurdistan together with the Kurds from Iraq, Iran, Syria, etc.
and thus create a new stable buffer state to Iran.
Kurd population dispersed over Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Azerbaijan
and Armenia
Such geostrategic thoughts must be included in the debates on
the eastern extension of the EU, if we are not to fall into an
“IMPERIALISTIC TRAP”. The EU has no business in Kurdistan except to
help the Kurds to become independent, and possibly to have new good
friends in this oil-rich region. We must remind our parliament in
Brussels that the EU is not in need of more territory, it needs to
create more democratic, and efficient administrative structures, it
should develop closer and better relations with all its neighbours and
specially with those that are part of our cultural family, wherever
they are. In today’s world territorial closeness or distance means
less than cultural affinity.